Thelma Walker

A post-legislative scrutiny review of the Equality Act 2010 took place in 2015 and is here https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/441838/Memo_to_Women_Equalities.pdf
The way that the Act operates is kept under review to ensure that it operates as intended.

In our 25 year environment plan, the Government outlined a range of measures on how we will reduce the amount of plastic in circulation through reducing demand for single-use plastic. This included a commitment to removing all consumer single use plastics from the central government estate offices.

In preparation for this year’s Civil Service Pay Remit Guidance, officials met with trade union representatives on a number of occasions.

Additionally I met with the General Secretaries of the FDA, Prospect and PCS trade unions on 27^th June.

Departments set pay strategies appropriate to their workforce and the public services they deliver; they consult with trade unions as appropriate on these issues.

I refer the Honourable Member to the answer given to the Member for Lancaster and Fleetwood to PQs 148916 and 148917 on 7 June 2018.

The Ethnicity Facts and Figures website features data across a wide range of areas including health, education, employment, housing and criminal justice. The Government is committed to updating the data as it changes. Some of the data details disparities by local authority, including Kirklees, and will identify changes over time.

The Race Disparity Unit does not collect data on the number of people engaged with in precise locations. Officials have met individuals including members of the public from Kirklees, local charity and community organisations and the local authority.

The Ethnicity Facts and Figures website features data across a wide range of areas including health, education, employment, housing and criminal justice. The Government is committed to updating the data as it changes. Some of the data details disparities by local authority, including Kirklees, and will identify changes over time.

The Race Disparity Unit does not collect data on the number of people engaged with in precise locations. Officials have met individuals including members of the public from Kirklees, local charity and community organisations and the local authority.

Interserve (our Facilities Management Contractor) have taken an active stance in reducing our impact on the environment, through their SustainAbilities programme. As a result, they have implemented a number of supply chain and contract specific initiatives to tackle waste, and impact on the environment.

Together with Interserve we have taken a number of visible actions across our catering operations, for example the use of Vegware coffee cups which are compostable.

Additionally, we are reviewing the benefits of switching plastic cutlery and take away plastic containers with a Vegware alternative, swapping out plastic water cups for glasses, and have implemented dispensers for condiments to replace single use sachets in our restaurant.

Beyond this Interserve are assessing our wider operations to determine where we can reduce avoidable plastic waste, and swap with more sustainable solutions where appropriate.

The Government has always been clear that it will only support the exploration of our shale gas resources in a safe and sustainable way. The Oil and Gas Authority is undertaking a scientific analysis of the data from Cuadrilla’s earlier operations in 2018 which will be published shortly. The Government will set out our future approach once we have considered the findings.

In 2017, 10.2 per cent of total energy consumption came from renewable sources; up from 9.2 per cent in 2016 (source: DUKES 2018) and 3.8% in 2010 (source: DUKES 6.7 – 2018). In our most recent Contracts for Difference auction we secured over 3GW of renewable electricity from as little as £57.50/MWh. The Government has made available up to £557m for future Contracts for Difference, with the next auction planned for May this year.

The Government is also supporting the decarbonisation of heat and is supporting renewable and low-carbon heating technologies through the Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme (RHI), which encourages the uptake of renewable heat technologies amongst householders, communities and businesses through financial incentives, with £4.5bn allocated for renewable and low carbon heating between 2016 and 2021.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has made a commitment to eradicate single use plastics by 2020. We are working with our contractors to realise this goal as speedily as possible.

Climate change is one of the most urgent and pressing challenges we face today, and the UK Government is committed to tackling it. The Clean Growth Strategy, published in October 2017, sets out the Government’s ambitious plans for decarbonising the economy through the 2020s. We continue to engage with Departments on implementing the strategy, including the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government.

The joint BEIS and MHCLG office for Cities and Local Growth works closely with Ministers from both Departments, as well as Local Enterprise Partnerships and local authorities. BEIS has launched a Local Energy Programme which will provide support to Local Enterprise Partnerships and local authorities to help them implement energy projects which benefit their communities. To date, £7m has been committed to this. Additionally a further £16m has been provided to Local Authorities by the Heat Networks Delivery Unit (HNDU) and £24m through the pilot phase of the £320m Heat Networks Investment Project (HNIP). Local Authorities can also bid for funding in the main scheme of HNIP.

The Government’s National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government leads on, encourages local authorities and neighbourhood planning bodies to set out positive policies to support community-led initiatives for renewable and low carbon energy. The NPPF also encourages authorities to identify opportunities where developments can draw their energy supply from decentralised, renewable or low carbon energy supply systems.

We are working with delivery partners to consider how communities wanting renewable projects can be best supported to deliver these cost-effectively. Community wind projects can be supported through the Feed In Tariff (FIT). We have reintroduced FIT pre-accreditation, including an extra six months’ validity period for community energy projects. Additionally the Rural Community Energy Fund (RCEF) provides support to community groups in rural areas for development and implementation of energy projects, including wind. RCEF is jointly funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), and is managed on behalf of Government by DEFRA.

There are strict controls on the content of all gambling advertisements, including broadcast adverts and online. Gambling operators who advertise in the UK must comply with the advertising codes, which aim to ensure gambling advertising does not target or appeal particularly to children or young people, or exploit vulnerable people. TV adverts must be pre-cleared by Clearcast and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) acts on complaints and proactively checks the media to take action against misleading, harmful or offensive advertisements.

Our Review of Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility Measures set out a package of measures to strengthen protections further. These include tougher guidance from the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP) on protecting vulnerable people, with further guidance on children and young people due soon, tougher sanctions for operators who breach advertising codes and a multi-million pound safer gambling advertising campaign.

The Industry Group for Responsible Gambling has announced that it will extend its commitment not to advertise on TV before 9pm to include advertising during sporting events. It has announced that the changes are expected to come into effect in summer. Its industry-wide code for socially responsible advertising also requires all TV adverts to feature a responsible gambling message for the duration of the advert. Separately, Sky will offer customers the option to opt out of TV gambling adverts from 2020. These are welcome steps by industry to respond to public concerns, and it is important that all those who benefit from gambling advertising think about how they can be socially responsible. We will continue to monitor issues around advertising and consider any new evidence carefully.

The regulation of premium rate services, including those offered via the PayForIT payment method, requires that consumers must not be charged for such services without their consent or knowledge. The Phone-paid Services Authority (PSA), the UK’s regulator of premium rate services, is continuing to work with the industry to tackle this issue, by improving security standards and updating consent to charge guidance. The PSA also takes robust enforcement action against breaches of its regulation and this includes imposing substantial fines, ordering refunds to be made to affected consumers and prohibiting service providers and individuals from providing phone-paid services for a period of time.

In our 25 Year Environment plan the Government outlined a range of measures on how we will reduce the amount of plastic in circulation through reducing demand for single-use plastic. This included a commitment to removing all consumer single use plastics from the central government estate offices.

There are strict controls on the content of all gambling advertisements, including television adverts. Gambling operators who advertise in the UK must comply with the advertising codes, which aim to ensure gambling advertising does not appeal particularly to children or young people or exploit those who are vulnerable. Gambling adverts must not portray, condone or encourage gambling behaviour that is socially irresponsible or could lead to financial, social or emotional harm. The Committees for Advertising Practice recently published guidance setting out tougher standards for interpreting the rules on gambling advertising, focusing on protections for those vulnerable to problem gambling and on free bets and bonuses. Further guidance on protecting children and young people will be published later this year.

Through the Gambling Industry Code for Socially Responsible Advertising there is an industry-wide voluntary commitment not to advertise on television before 9pm, with the exception of lotteries, bingo and advertising around live sporting events. This code also bans free sign up offers targeted at new customers before 9pm.

We sought evidence on protections around advertising as part of the Government's Review of Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility Measures, and outlined a package of measures in our consultation. The consultation closed in January and we will publish our response in due course.

Government recognises the role played by creative businesses, including media, right across the UK in local economic growth. Government supports this growth via tax credits, regional development programmes, relocation of Arms Length Bodies associated with the sector, rebasing of public sector broadcasters and putting ‘place’ at the heart of the Industrial Strategy. The department does not collect data on creative industries investment on a region-by-region basis.

DCMS funds Arms Length Bodies that have regional objective and invest in arts and culture, which develop future skills and talent for the Creative Industries. According to Arts Council England and British Film Institute data, Kirklees has received grant-in-aid and lottery support of almost £17m, since 2012. Yorkshire and the Humber received over £396m in the same period.

Employment in Yorkshire and the Humber’s film and TV industries increased by 40 per cent in 2016, outstripping every other UK region. A driver of this growth is Screen Yorkshire’s ‘Yorkshire Content Fund’, a public-private investment fund for the TV, film, video games and digital sectors, The fund is open to producers either based in Yorkshire or wishing to film or establish a base in the region. Screen Yorkshire has worked extensively with the British Film Institute and received regional support for its Screen Hub, which is also supported by 14 local partners, including 8 local authorities and 6 universities.

We are providing local authorities with more money to support vulnerable children, with an additional £410 million invested this year across adults’ and children’s social care. Separately, we are investing £84 million over 5 years to drive improvements in children’s services across local authorities, especially through early intervention.

In 2018, the department introduced a new, tougher Ofsted inspection framework to drive improvement in children’s services. The department intervenes robustly in every local authority judged ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted, bringing in experts to assess which improvements will ensure better services. This might include removing service delivery from the council’s control by establishing a trust, giving children’s services a fresh start.

Since May 2010, 46 local authorities have been lifted out of intervention and have not returned, and the number of inadequate local authorities has reduced from 30 to 19 since July 2017. We aim to continue making these improvements at pace so that, by 2022, less than 10% of local authorities are rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted, halving failure rates within 5 years and providing consistently better services for thousands of children and families across the country.

To get ahead of failure, we are investing an additional £20 million in our regional improvement strategy, working collaboratively with the Association of Directors of Children’s Services, Local Government Association, Solace and the rest of the sector to identify local authorities that need additional support. Our Regional Improvement Alliances and high-performing ‘Partners in Practice’ local authorities support those at risk of failure, embedding a system of sector-led improvement with more than 70 local authorities receiving support to date.

The Public Health Outcomes Framework is a comprehensive source of data at local authority unitary, county and district level on the extent to which local strategies are successful and effective in improving outcomes for children in the early years. It is available at the following link: https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/public-health-outcomes-framework.

The framework includes data on outcomes for children aged 5 from the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP). Further information on the EYFSP is broken down by local authority and available to view at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/early-years-foundation-stage-profile-results-2017-to-2018. We do not publish this data at constituency or combined authority level.

The government response document resulted from the consultation on elective home education, which ended on 2 July 2018. This document along with the finalised guidance documents will be published soon.

The number of responses received to the consultation were as follows:

We have given £252 million to local authorities to support implementation of the new duties under the Children and Families Act (2014). We have also funded a consortium of partners, including the Council for Disabled Children, to work with health and social care services, including producing guidance on improving education, health and care (EHC) plans; and funded a special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) leadership programme and legal training for all local authorities and their health partners to ensure they are clear on their statutory responsibilities.

We have strengthened the National Health Service (NHS) Provider Contract for NHS Trusts to include a requirement to report on meeting the six-week deadline for health input into EHC plans; established a national network for Designated Medical Officers and Designated Clinical Officers, funded a local authority led regional network and developed resources to support joint self-assessment and peer review.

We monitor implementation on the ground, for example, looking at the time it takes for local authorities to issue EHC plans. The Ofsted/Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspections of SEND services we introduced in 2016 have also shone a light on strengths and weaknesses in the delivery of EHC plans and have proved a catalyst for local change. Where significant concerns have been identified, written statements of action (WSOA), setting out the actions the local area will take to improve services, are supporting local areas to improve their services. Ofsted and the CQC will re-visit each area with a WSOA to assess the progress they are making; and where sufficient progress is not being made, we will take appropriate action.

64.9% of new EHC plans (excluding exception cases) were issued within 20 weeks in 2017, up from 58.6% in 2016.

High needs funding allocations for individual pupils is determined by local authorities in consultation with their schools and families. In most cases, high needs funding will be allocated following a statutory education, health and care needs assessment.

Following extensive consultation, the high needs national funding formula allocates funding to local authorities through a set of proxy factors. Further information on these factors can be found in the consultation document at: https://consult.education.gov.uk/funding-policy-unit/high-needs-funding-reform-2/.