Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
Update the Equality Act to make clear the characteristic “sex” is biological sex
Gov Responded - 26 Jan 2023 Debated on - 12 Jun 2023 View 's petition debate contributionsThe Government must exercise its power under s.23 of the Gender Recognition Act to modify the operation of the Equality Act 2010 by specifying the terms sex, male, female, man & woman, in the operation of that law, mean biological sex and not "sex as modified by a Gender Recognition Certificate"
Commit to not amending the Equality Act's definition of sex
Gov Responded - 25 Jan 2023 Debated on - 12 Jun 2023 View 's petition debate contributionsIt has been reported that the Government may amend the Equality Act to "make it clear that sex means biological sex rather than gender." The Government has previously committed to not remove legal protections for trans people, an already marginalised group, but this change would do so.
Make non-binary a legally recognised gender identity in the UK
Gov Responded - 20 May 2021 Debated on - 23 May 2022 View 's petition debate contributionsHave non binary be included as an option under the GRP (Gender Recognition Panel)/ GRC (Gender Recognition Certificate), in order to allow those identifying as non binary to be legally seen as their true gender identity. As well as having ‘Non-binary’ be seen as a valid transgender identity.
Release the Home Office's Grooming Gang Review in full
Gov Responded - 19 May 2020 Debated on - 3 Feb 2021 View 's petition debate contributionsThe Government is refusing to release official research on the characteristics of grooming gangs, claiming it is not in the “public interest”.
We, the British public, demand the release of the official research on grooming gangs undertaken by the Government in full.
We the British People Request a Public Inquiry into Grooming Gangs
Gov Responded - 5 Nov 2020 Debated on - 3 Feb 2021 View 's petition debate contributionsThe Home Secretary said what happened to victims of child sexual exploitation gangs was “one of the biggest stains on our country’s conscience.” Last year local authorities identified 18,700 suspected victims of child sexual exploitation. We want an independent public inquiry into Grooming Gangs.
Extend maternity leave by 3 months with pay in light of COVID-19
Gov Responded - 14 May 2020 Debated on - 5 Oct 2020 View 's petition debate contributionsIn light of the recent outbreak and lock down, those on maternity leave should be given 3 extra months paid leave, at least. This time is for bonding and social engaging with other parents and babies through baby groups which are vital for development and now everything has been cancelled.
These initiatives were driven by Tim Loughton, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Tim Loughton has not been granted any Adjournment Debates
To make provision about the registration of marriage; to make provision for the extension of civil partnerships to couples not of the same sex; to make provision for a report on the registration of pregnancy loss; to make provision about the investigation of still-births; and for connected purposes.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 26th March 2019 and was enacted into law.
The Bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament before the end of the session. This means the Bill will make no further progress. A Bill to amend the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 and make provision in connection with financial settlements following divorce
A Bill to require the Secretary of State to report annually on restrictions on access by UK nationals to Tibet and Xinjiang in comparison with other regions of China; to make provision to deny persons involved in imposing such restrictions permission to enter the UK; and for connected purposes.
A Bill to require Her Majesty's Government formally to recognise the Armenian genocide of 1915–23; and for connected purposes.
A Bill to amend the Civil Partnership Act 2004 to provide that opposite sex couples may enter a civil partnership; and for connected purposes.
A Bill to require Her Majesty's Government formally to recognise the Armenian genocide of 1915–23; and for connected purposes.
A Bill to require the Secretary of State to report annually on restrictions on access by UK nationals to Tibet in comparison with other regions of China; to make provision to deny persons involved in imposing such restrictions permission to enter the UK; and for connected purposes.
The Bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament before the end of the session. This means the Bill will make no further progress. A Bill to require the Secretary of State to report annually on restrictions on access by UK nationals to Tibet in comparison with other regions of China; to make provision to deny persons involved in imposing such restrictions permission to enter the UK; and for connected purposes.
A bill to establish a Rail Ombudsman to scrutinise performance and complaints and represent the interests of passengers; to make provision for the Ombudsman to levy fines on train operating companies for late running and cancellation of trains and about the use of such fines; and for connected purposes.
A Bill To amend the Civil Partnership Act 2004 to provide that opposite sex couples mayenter into a civil partnership; and for connected purposes.
A Bill to amend the Civil Partnership Act 2004 to provide that opposite sex couples may enter into a civil partnership; and for connected purposes.
The Bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament before the end of the session. This means the Bill will make no further progress. A Bill to amend the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 to provide that parents may register the death of a child stillborn before the threshold of 24 weeks gestation.
The Bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament before the end of the session. This means the Bill will make no further progress. A Bill to amend the Children (Performances) Regulations 1968 to streamline opportunities for children to take part in performances; to reduce unnecessary regulation; to clarify when a licence is required; to strengthen the emphasis on protecting children; and for connected purposes.
Kinship Care Bill 2022-23
Sponsor - Munira Wilson (LD)
Aviation Banning Orders (Disruptive Passengers) Bill 2022-23
Sponsor - Gareth Johnson (Con)
Supply of Drugs to Children Under 16 (Aggravated Offence) Bill 2022-23
Sponsor - Kevin Hollinrake (Con)
Schools and Educational Settings (Essential Infrastructure and Opening During Emergencies) Bill 2021-22
Sponsor - Robert Halfon (Con)
Electric Vehicle Charging Points (New Buildings) (No. 2) Bill 2021-22
Sponsor - Felicity Buchan (Con)
Supported Housing (Regulation) Bill 2019-21
Sponsor - Kerry McCarthy (Lab)
Education Employment (Accompaniment to Hearings) Bill 2019-21
Sponsor - Brendan Clarke-Smith (Con)
Children (Access to Treatment) Bill 2019-21
Sponsor - Bambos Charalambous (Ind)
Planning (Proper Maintenance of Land) Bill 2019-21
Sponsor - Jonathan Gullis (Con)
Domestic Energy Efficiency Plan Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Sarah Newton (Con)
Bathing Waters Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Scott Mann (Con)
Hereditary Titles (Female Succession) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Philip Davies (Con)
Child Cruelty (Sentences) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Tom Tugendhat (Con)
Automatic Travel Compensation Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Huw Merriman (Con)
Low-level Letter Boxes (Prohibition) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Vicky Ford (Con)
Gypsy and Traveller Communities (Housing, Planning and Education) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Andrew Selous (Con)
Fetal Dopplers (Regulation) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Antoinette Sandbach (LD)
Courts (Abuse of Process) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Liz Saville Roberts (PC)
Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill 2016-17
Sponsor - Liz Saville Roberts (PC)
Family Justice Bill 2016-17
Sponsor - None ()
Diplomatic Service (United Kingdom Wines and Sparkling Wines) Bill 2016-17
Sponsor - None ()
Crime (Aggravated Murder of and Violence Against Women) Bill 2016-17
Sponsor - None ()
I am engaging with a wide range of stakeholders who hold different views in relation to conversion practices, as are officials. We continue to consult extensively with stakeholders across the spectrum including victims, representatives from a range of religions, LGBT groups, clinicians, medical regulatory professionals, and parent groups. Our public consultation will close on 4th February and I urge all those with an interest to respond. In this way and with our wider engagement with the full range of stakeholders, victims and members of the public, we will ensure the ban is effective in ending different forms of conversion therapy.
The Attorney General’s Office has not allocated any funding to Stonewall in the last 5 years
The Cabinet Office is not aware of any standalone Transgender champion roles. The role is often incorporated into the LGBT champion role which is a role appointed in addition to the individual's existing portfolio.
We are currently aware that there are 31 LGBT champions across the 44 ministerial and non-ministerial departments.
Of these 31 LGBT champions, the Cabinet Office as a department has one LGBT champion.
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon Gentleman's Parliamentary Question of 5 June is attached.
The Cabinet Office has not engaged with Global Butterflies and has not funded any of their projects.
The Guidance for the Disposal of Surplus Land has been withdrawn as, in part, it has been overtaken by updated policy and standards, including the recently updated Government Functional Standard for Property, published in September 2021.
Cabinet Office allocated £3000 per year up and until 2020 for Stonewall funding. This was the Cabinet Office’s Stonewall membership fee. The Cabinet Office ceased its Stonewall membership in 2020.
The Cabinet Office is advised on the management of designated heritage assets in its portfolio by Historic England’s Government Historic Estate Unit. Further details can be found here: https://historicengland.org.uk/services-skills/our-planning-services/advice-for-government-historic-estates/
The Cabinet Office does not collect or collate data on the value (property value) or income data for these assets.
I apologise for the delay in responding to the important points my Hon. friend has raised on behalf of his constituents. We recognise the great importance of the effective and timely handling of correspondence.
The letter received on 5 February 2021 has been passed to the Department for International trade, as the Department best placed to provide a helpful response.
Lord Frost has now responded to the letter dated 25 March, and Lord Agnew has responded to letters dated 22 January, 26 January, 9 February and 11 February.
Lord Agnew will be responding to the remaining letters, dated 22 January and 31 March. I would like to reassure my Hon. friend that responses are in progress and will be issued as soon as possible.
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.
This issue cuts across multiple departmental responsibilities, as is the case for many complex concerns, and therefore engages various Ministers including in DfE, DHSC and DWP.
Details of Ministerial responsibilities can be found on GOV.UK.
The previous Leader of the House, Andrea Leadsom, laid out the recommendations of the Inter-Ministerial Working Group on Early Years on 16 July 2019. This Government is fully committed to supporting working families, and their children. Relevant Secretaries of State will take into account the work of the Inter-Ministerial Working Group on Early Years as the government moves forward with this agenda.
Senior officials have travelled to China since January 2019.
The Government is aware of concerns relating to non-compliant and unsafe toys sold by third parties through online marketplaces. Although we have not made an assessment of specific numbers, the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) has acted, including increasing border checks and test purchasing and assessment of goods available on-line.
OPSS is tackling the most serious cases by requiring recalls and takedowns and where necessary, taking enforcement action to prevent unsafe products from being made available to UK consumers. I and senior officials have held meetings with the major on-line marketplaces demanding they take more action to fulfil their responsibilities for supplying safe goods.
Our Product Safety Review, including proposals to tackle unsafe products being sold through online marketplaces, is being finalised and will be published shortly.
Only in certain limited circumstances, and with the prior written consent of the British Business Bank, can an accredited lender transfer the guarantee of the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme to another accredited lender.
The Department already collects employee data on legal sex. Arms-length bodies are responsible for collecting data relating to their employees to review the impacts of policies and procedures and to meet statutory obligations.
Details of travel by Senior Civil Servants are recorded in the Government's transparency date, which is published at:
The quantities in which pre-packed alcohol, including English sparkling wine, can be sold will be considered as part of the Government’s review of EU-derived law. Further details will be provided in due course.
Customers who have a direct domestic electricity supply with a licensed electricity supplier are eligible for the Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS). The Government has legislated to ensure landlords pass through support provided by EBSS to households paying for energy through a rent or service charge.
Under Ofgem’s Maximum Resale Price rules, landlords with a domestic contract with an energy supplier are required not to charge tenants more than they have paid suppliers for the energy.
EBSS Alternative Funding will provide equivalent support for households who will not be reached through EBSS. Eligibility, timescales and delivery method will be announced shortly.
The Government remains committed to the important measures in the Energy Security Bill and expects to set out how it will proceed shortly.
All toys placed on the UK market, including those sold online, must meet essential safety requirements under the UK Toys (Safety) Regulations 2011 and there are criminal sanctions for non-compliance. Where non-compliant products, including toys, are being sold online by third party sellers the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) is taking action.
This includes using data and intelligence to target the supply routes, and disrupt the sale, of unsafe products sold by third-party sellers online as well as acting to remove listings. As a result, OPSS has helped take down more than 10,000 unsafe products, including toys, from online marketplaces in 2021.
OPSS is also raising public awareness of the risks of buying online from third-party sellers who are based overseas. An Important Product Safety Message to consumers, encouraging them to check who they are buying from when using online marketplaces, was published on 10th November and OPSS is running a Christmas Toys product safety information campaign.
All toys placed on the UK market, including those sold online, must meet essential safety requirements under the UK Toys (Safety) Regulations 2011 and there are criminal sanctions for non-compliance. Where non-compliant products, including toys, are being sold online by third party sellers the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) is taking action.
This includes using data and intelligence to target the supply routes, and disrupt the sale, of unsafe products sold by third-party sellers online as well as acting to remove listings. As a result, OPSS has helped take down more than 10,000 unsafe products, including toys, from online marketplaces in 2021.
OPSS is also raising public awareness of the risks of buying online from third-party sellers who are based overseas. An Important Product Safety Message to consumers, encouraging them to check who they are buying from when using online marketplaces, was published on 10th November and OPSS is running a Christmas Toys product safety information campaign.
The UK COP26 Presidency is committed to amplifying the voices of young people in the UK and across the world leading up to and at COP26. My Rt. Hon. Friend the President for COP26 committed to meeting with young people in every international visit over the last year and has established the COP26 Civil Society and Youth Advisory Council. The UK is committed to COP26 being inclusive and established several advisory groups to guide planning and delivery of COP. This includes youth and civil society advisory groups co-chaired by youth representatives.
At COP26, the UL has hosted a dedicated Youth & Public Empowerment Day to elevate youth voices and demonstrate the critical role of education and empowerment to drive climate action. We worked closely with YOUNGO (the official children’s and youth constituency to the UNFCCC) to co-create the events programme for the day.
As set out in our Net Zero Strategy, we will continue to give people opportunities to participate in and shape our plans for reaching net zero.
In the last five years, the Department has paid a membership fee to Stonewall of £2,500 + VAT every year as part of the Diversity Champions programme. Membership of the Stonewall Diversity Champions programme is reviewed on an annual basis by the Diversity & Inclusion team and the LGBT+ Network and will be reviewed again ahead of the 2022-2023 financial year.
The Government agrees with the broad aims of the Local Electricity Bill but does not support it as the means to enable local energy supply. There are already mechanisms in the market to allow local supply. The current Ofgem regulatory regime allows for a company to supply a specific geographic area, and small-scale generators can also apply for a licence exemption in some cases to reduce the regulatory burdens of operating at a community level.
The Government are supporting community energy projects through the Rural Community Energy Fund and the Government will work with Ofgem to ensure that local communities can play their role in delivering Net Zero and a Green Recovery.
The National Academies, including the British Academy, are an integral part of the UK’s R&D landscape and provide an important contribution to securing the UK’s status as a global science superpower. In 2018 a grant of £14m was provided to the British Academy to support the extension of the lease on their premises. This also enabled a private donation of £10m, which was conditional on the capital investment. The funding secured the Academy’s long-term future in Carlton House Terrace, close to the other National Academies, providing an intellectual and cultural hub of world-leading knowledge and expertise. In line with usual practice, the government does not publish detailed commercial terms and conditions of grant agreements with individual organisations.
The following table provides a list of heritage assets recorded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, alongside valuation and income data where available:
Property | Annual Income | Valuation 31.03.21 |
Pelham House (ID 1356190), | £120,051 | £1,045,000 |
Calder Farm Stangs Cottage (ID 1068621) | £0 | £150,000 |
Seascale Hall (ID 13360641) | £16,000 | £1,000,000 |
Berkeley Summerhouse (ID 1274730) | £0 | £1 |
Seascale Farm stone circle | £0 | £0 |
Bushy House (ID 1089870) | £0 | n/a |
Dounreay Castle (ID SM6401) | £0 | n/a |
Cnoc-na-h’Uiseig Chambered Cairn (ID SM444) | £0 | n/a |
Knock Stanger Cairn (ID SM458) | £0 | n/a |
Dragon Square Garden (ID 422271) | £0 | n/a |
Dame Sylvia Crowe Garden (ID 422272) | £0 | n/a |
Cestyll Garden (ID 301555) | £0 | n/a |
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is advised on the management of designated heritage assets in its portfolio by Historic England’s Government Historic Estate Unit. Further details can be found here:
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy does not collect or collate data on the value or income data for these assets.
The Government appreciates the great work of the UK’s many great Learned Societies, including those located at Burlington House. They have made vast contributions to their respective fields over their long histories, and are vital to the networking, visibility, and overall health of the disciplines they represent.
We recognise the proposed rent increases do introduce a challenge to their current level of operations. Learned Societies are independent of government and will be best placed to make decisions on how they can best move forward and adapt to changing circumstances. We hope they will continue to make the contributions that they do to STEM skills, Scientific Research, and International Collaboration. I am aware that the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, along with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, are exploring whether there is a solution that can deliver value for taxpayers and help the Learned Societies to remain at New Burlington House.
The Government has provided extensive guidance for businesses and employers on how to conduct a Covid-19 risk assessment and the steps that should be taken to make the working environment Covid-secure for employees or volunteers that cannot work from home.
Under existing health and safety laws, employers have a duty to protect the health, safety and welfare of their employees and other people who might be affected by their business. Employers must do whatever is reasonably practicable to achieve this.
If workers think their employer is exposing them to risks or is not carrying out their legal duties with regards to health and safety, they can report this to their local authority or the Health and Safety Executive who can take a range of actions.
Key suppliers in the running of the National Lottery must complete an annual supplier assessment on their compliance with the Modern Slavery Act 2015. This includes International Game Technology (IGT), which supplies gaming system technology and hardware to Camelot, the current National Lottery operator.
IGT has confirmed in its most recent assessment that it did not have any convictions, breaches or risks in relation to modern slavery. Additionally, IGT publishes an annual Modern Slavery Statement, available here.
Personal data of UK National Lottery players has not been disclosed to or processed by Chinese state-owned businesses.
The Operator of the National Lottery must ensure that it and its suppliers are compliant with Data Protection legislation.
Between 2011/12 and 2021/22, 710,774 young people participated in the National Citizen Service (NCS) programme. In 2022/23, more than 100,000 young people benefited from the NCS programme. The final participation number will be confirmed in the NCS Trust’s 2022/23 Annual Report and Accounts, which will be published later this year.
Consecutive, independent evaluations have demonstrated the positive impacts that NCS delivers both to its participants on key target areas including social cohesion, social mobility, leadership and civic engagement. NCS has been shown to have an even greater positive impact on certain priority groups. NCS’ 2019 evaluation showed that for every £1 of taxpayer money spent, £3.05 was provided back to society in terms of wellbeing benefits.
The NCS programme has been allocated a total of £1.4 billion since inception. The table below shows the allocated funding per year, to the nearest million. In this period, the NCS programme transitioned from being delivered by NCS Trust Community Interest Company to being delivered by NCS Trust, a Public Body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Year | 2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | 2014/15 | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
Total grant funding (£M) | 21 | 62 | 84 | 117 | 155 | 181 | 186 | 189 | 176 | 75 | 96 | 72 | 49 |
The cost-per-head of NCS experiences has decreased during that period. In 2015, the cost-per-head was £1,825 coming down to £1,721 in 2019. Since the start of the covid-19 pandemic, NCS Trust offered a range of experiences including schools-based, community-based and digital opportunities with a lower cost-per-head.
In respect of employee data, DCMS collects both biological sex and gender identity data on our HR System. Our processing and handling of this data is set out in our HR privacy notice published on gov.uk. The Department does not have oversight of staff data collected by its ALBs.
The Department also follows the Government Social Research and Government Statistical Service guidance and best practice on biological sex and gender identity as published on gov.uk.
The UK Government has made it clear in writing to both the Association of Tennis Professionals and the Women’s Tennis Association that we fully supported the decision of the Lawn Tennis Association and the All England Lawn Tennis Club to decline entries from Russian and Belarusian players to competition in England.
It is essential that the international sport community stands united in ensuring President Putin cannot use sport to legitimise his barbaric invasion of Ukraine. Fining the AELTC and LTA sends completely the wrong message to Putin, and we strongly urge the ATP and WTA to reconsider.
Following public consultation on video-on-demand regulation, the government continues to view the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) age ratings as best practice. As set out in the government’s consultation response, the government is keen to encourage video-on-demand services to consider applying BBFC age ratings to their content, but is of the view that the existing evidence does not warrant mandating the use of age ratings at this time.
Alongside improved Ofcom protections for video-on-demand audiences, the government has set out plans to give Ofcom an enhanced ongoing duty to assess all video-on-demand providers’ audience protection measures, including measures like pin codes and content warnings alongside age ratings, to ensure that the systems put in place are effective and fit for purpose. Ofcom will have powers to provide guidance, report, and deal effectively with any future rogue providers.
The Parthenon Sculptures in the British Museum were legally acquired under the laws pertaining at the time and are legally owned by the Trustees of the British Museum, which is operationally independent of the Government. Decisions relating to the care and management of the museum's collections are a matter for the Trustees of the British Museum. The Government fully supports the position taken by the Trustees of the British Museum.
DCMS ministers have not had any recent discussions on this matter with Greek counterparts. When the Greek Prime Minister called on the Prime Minister in November last year, Mr Mitsotakis raised the issue of the Parthenon Sculptures. The Prime Minister reiterated the UK’s longstanding position that this is a matter for the Trustees of the British Museum. There have been no subsequent ministerial discussions on the Parthenon Sculptures, although we continue to talk to colleagues in the Greek government on wider issues of cultural co-operation.
The Parthenon Sculptures in the British Museum were legally acquired under the laws pertaining at the time and are legally owned by the Trustees of the British Museum, which is operationally independent of the Government. Decisions relating to the care and management of the museum's collections are a matter for the Trustees of the British Museum. The Government fully supports the position taken by the Trustees of the British Museum.
DCMS ministers have not had any recent discussions on this matter with Greek counterparts. When the Greek Prime Minister called on the Prime Minister in November last year, Mr Mitsotakis raised the issue of the Parthenon Sculptures. The Prime Minister reiterated the UK’s longstanding position that this is a matter for the Trustees of the British Museum. There have been no subsequent ministerial discussions on the Parthenon Sculptures, although we continue to talk to colleagues in the Greek government on wider issues of cultural co-operation.
We recognise the importance of ensuring public access to leisure facilities and swimming pools, which are great spaces for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy, and play an important role within communities. The ongoing responsibility of providing access to public leisure facilities lies at Local Authority level, and the government continues to encourage Local Authorities to invest in leisure facilities.
We also recognise the impact rising energy prices will have on businesses of all sizes. Ofgem and the government are in regular contact with business groups and the leisure sector to understand the challenges they face and explore ways to protect consumers and businesses. The Government is also working with partners within the sector to monitor the availability and supply of pool chemicals.
Russia's recent actions are a flagrant breach of its international commitments, and the government has made clear our serious concerns about the hosting of sporting events in Russia, including the Champions League Final.
We are discussing these concerns with the relevant governing bodies.
The international community should not allow President Putin to exploit sporting and cultural events on the world stage to legitimise his renewed illegal invasion of Ukraine.
The UK has sufficient legal powers to tackle the illicit trade in cultural goods and the import of cultural goods which have been unlawfully removed from another country. These powers are set out in existing domestic law, and in some cases also derive from our obligations in international law, notably UNESCO Conventions. The UK has a strong record of finding and returning unlawfully removed cultural goods, and remains determined to tackle the illicit trade in cultural objects.
The majority of the imports of cultural goods from Great Britain into Northern Ireland are carried out by museums rather than businesses or private owners. The revocation of EU Regulation 2019/880 on the introduction and the import of cultural goods in Great Britain will not significantly affect any potential export of illicit cultural property from Northern Ireland to the EU. Any changes to the pattern of imports will be identified and will lead to closer scrutiny. As much of the EU Regulation may not be implemented before 2025, precisely how it will need to be applied in Northern Ireland is still being evaluated.
The government is considering levelling the playing field between traditional broadcasters and on-demand streaming services to provide a fair competitive framework, and to give viewers confidence that equivalent standards are applied regardless of the technologies they choose to use.
The Department has engaged with a wide range of stakeholders including video-on-demand providers, broadcasters, Ofcom, and the British Board of Film Classification. The government is considering responses to the recent consultation, which closed on the 26 October, and will respond in due course.
The government is considering levelling the playing field between traditional broadcasters and on-demand streaming services to provide a fair competitive framework, and to give viewers confidence that equivalent standards are applied regardless of the technologies they choose to use.
The Department has engaged with a wide range of stakeholders including video-on-demand providers, broadcasters, Ofcom, and the British Board of Film Classification. The government is considering responses to the recent consultation, which closed on the 26 October, and will respond in due course.
The below figures are excluding VAT and are categorised by the financial year they were paid in.
2017-18:
Stonewall Diversity Champions Membership 2017-2018 - £2,500
Stonewall Proud Employers Founding Partner Membership 2018-2019 - £6,000
2018-19:
Stonewall Diversity Champions Membership 2018-2019 - £2,500
Stonewall speaker fee at Civil Service luncheon - £500
2019-20:
Stonewall Diversity Champions Membership 2019-2020 - £2,500
Stonewall Proud Employers Founding Partner membership 2019-2020 - £6,000
2020-21:
Stonewall Diversity Champions Membership 2020-2021 - £2,500
Introduction to LGBT Allyship Digital Workshop x 2 - £1,100 (£550 per workshop)
2021-22:
Stonewall Diversity Champions Membership 2021-2022 - £2,500
The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport owns the freehold to the following Listed Buildings:
Property | Estimated value of freehold (2017) | Annual income |
22 Park Street, Windsor | £195,000 | £50 |
23 Park Street, Windsor | £210,000 | £120 |
Historic England is Government’s statutory advisor on heritage and funded by DCMS. The Government Historic Estates Unit (GHEU) is a small, dedicated team within Historic England, which helps government departments and other public bodies, such as the Royal Household, to look after the historic buildings and structures in their care.
In financial year 2021/22 Historic England received £69.2 million baseline Grant in Aid from DCMS. An allocation of this grant for 2021/22 is staffing costs for those working in the GHEU which amounts to £61,000.
‘Heritage asset’ is a broad term used in planning policy. The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is responsible for the statutory heritage protection system, including the designation of Listed Buildings, Scheduled Monuments and Protected Wreck Sites. Details of these assets can be found online in the National Heritage List for England, hosted by Historic England on behalf of the Secretary of State.
The circa 400,000 Listed Buildings, Scheduled Monuments and Protected Wreck Sites in England or UK territorial waters adjacent to England have intrinsic value to our cultural heritage. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) does not collect or collate data on the value (property value) or income data for these sites.
DCMS and its arms length bodies produce data on the economic impact of the heritage sector; this is published within DCMS Sectors Economic Estimates and Historic England's Heritage Economic Estimate Indicators. DCMS’s Culture and Heritage Capital Programme is looking to develop broader measures of value for heritage assets.
Following a grant competition in March 2021, the UK Youth Parliament grant for 2021/22 was awarded to the British Youth Council. This decision was communicated to the British Youth Council on 6 April 2021, and the total grant budget allocated by DCMS was £233,300.
The Government monitors vessel movements in relation to selected heritage assets in the UK Marine Area if there is good reason for doing so. In addition, Historic England - Government's statutory adviser on the historic environment - maintains a National Record of the Historic Environment. Through the implementation of its Heritage Information Access Strategy, Historic England is in the process of building on this by creating a National Marine Heritage Record that will collate details of heritage assets located in the region between Mean High Water and the 200 nautical mile sea limit.
No such formal assessment has been made, however the advice provided over a number of years by the marine archaeology community, generally and in relation to specific wreck sites, has been invaluable to decision making and understanding these sites. There are no plans at this time to meet with representatives of the marine archaeology community.
The Department has no current plans. Her Majesty The Queen surrenders the revenue from The Crown Estate (which she owns as reigning Monarch) to the Government. As a result, over the last ten years, The Crown Estate has returned a total of £2.9 billion to the Exchequer. The Crown Estate revenues are not hypothecated and have been invested in vital public services such as the NHS, transport, schools and defence, which benefit the UK as a whole.
Under customary international law, naval warships, state vessels, aircraft and associated artefacts enjoy protection through Sovereign Immunity wherever in the world they lie. This means that they are not subject to the jurisdiction of any other State. Sovereign Immune vessels cannot have salvage services conferred upon them without the consent of the Flag State. The UK is of the view that Sovereign Immune wrecks should be left in situ and undisturbed.
Where applicable, some wrecks are afforded additional protection through the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986
In order to sustain these particular wrecks, the Government is monitoring all three sites.
The policies relating to heritage assets that are set out in the UK Marine Policy Statement apply equally to those located in UK Territorial Waters and those located beyond UK Territorial Waters but within the UK Marine Area. These policies inform delivery of the Marine Management Organisation’s responsibilities - including the development of Marine Plans and the determination of applications for marine licences. The Marine Management Organisation routinely consults Historic England.
I indicated to my honourable friend in my response to his letter of 8th February that my officials have discussed the Galloper wreck site with their counterparts at the Ministry of Defence and Historic England. Consequently, the Government is monitoring the site and understands that vessel traffic monitoring occurs as part of conventional site security.
I am also content that steps have been taken to facilitate management of the site through the action taken by Galloper Wind Farm Ltd to engage with other maritime authorities - including the Royal Navy, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the Marine Management Organisation.
Though Historic England has no remit to impose requirements on future development proposals relating to the Galloper wreck site, the Marine Management Organisation routinely consults it on applications for marine licences. DCMS are not routinely part of such discussions, however Historic England do provide information and advice on request.
Regarding the guidance published by DCMS and the Ministry of Defence in 2014 on how existing policies and legislation apply to historic military wreck sites (‘Protection and Management of Historic Military Wrecks outside UK Territorial Waters’), I can confirm that this remains in place. I can also confirm that DCMS would give due consideration to any proposals by developers or other parties to undertake detailed investigations of the Galloper site. However, Government funding to undertake these investigations would need to be considered alongside other priorities.
I indicated to my honourable friend in my response to his letter of 8th February that my officials have discussed the Galloper wreck site with their counterparts at the Ministry of Defence and Historic England. Consequently, the Government is monitoring the site and understands that vessel traffic monitoring occurs as part of conventional site security.
I am also content that steps have been taken to facilitate management of the site through the action taken by Galloper Wind Farm Ltd to engage with other maritime authorities - including the Royal Navy, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the Marine Management Organisation.
Though Historic England has no remit to impose requirements on future development proposals relating to the Galloper wreck site, the Marine Management Organisation routinely consults it on applications for marine licences. DCMS are not routinely part of such discussions, however Historic England do provide information and advice on request.
Regarding the guidance published by DCMS and the Ministry of Defence in 2014 on how existing policies and legislation apply to historic military wreck sites (‘Protection and Management of Historic Military Wrecks outside UK Territorial Waters’), I can confirm that this remains in place. I can also confirm that DCMS would give due consideration to any proposals by developers or other parties to undertake detailed investigations of the Galloper site. However, Government funding to undertake these investigations would need to be considered alongside other priorities.
I indicated to my honourable friend in my response to his letter of 8th February that my officials have discussed the Galloper wreck site with their counterparts at the Ministry of Defence and Historic England. Consequently, the Government is monitoring the site and understands that vessel traffic monitoring occurs as part of conventional site security.
I am also content that steps have been taken to facilitate management of the site through the action taken by Galloper Wind Farm Ltd to engage with other maritime authorities - including the Royal Navy, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the Marine Management Organisation.
Though Historic England has no remit to impose requirements on future development proposals relating to the Galloper wreck site, the Marine Management Organisation routinely consults it on applications for marine licences. DCMS are not routinely part of such discussions, however Historic England do provide information and advice on request.
Regarding the guidance published by DCMS and the Ministry of Defence in 2014 on how existing policies and legislation apply to historic military wreck sites (‘Protection and Management of Historic Military Wrecks outside UK Territorial Waters’), I can confirm that this remains in place. I can also confirm that DCMS would give due consideration to any proposals by developers or other parties to undertake detailed investigations of the Galloper site. However, Government funding to undertake these investigations would need to be considered alongside other priorities.
I indicated to my honourable friend in my response to his letter of 8th February that my officials have discussed the Galloper wreck site with their counterparts at the Ministry of Defence and Historic England. Consequently, the Government is monitoring the site and understands that vessel traffic monitoring occurs as part of conventional site security.
I am also content that steps have been taken to facilitate management of the site through the action taken by Galloper Wind Farm Ltd to engage with other maritime authorities - including the Royal Navy, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the Marine Management Organisation.
Though Historic England has no remit to impose requirements on future development proposals relating to the Galloper wreck site, the Marine Management Organisation routinely consults it on applications for marine licences. DCMS are not routinely part of such discussions, however Historic England do provide information and advice on request.
Regarding the guidance published by DCMS and the Ministry of Defence in 2014 on how existing policies and legislation apply to historic military wreck sites (‘Protection and Management of Historic Military Wrecks outside UK Territorial Waters’), I can confirm that this remains in place. I can also confirm that DCMS would give due consideration to any proposals by developers or other parties to undertake detailed investigations of the Galloper site. However, Government funding to undertake these investigations would need to be considered alongside other priorities.
The British Board of Film Classification’s (BBFC) age ratings are currently used by a number of video on demand providers and, although adoption is voluntary, we welcome their use. We were particularly pleased to see Netflix announce on 1 December 2020 that they have become the first platform to achieve complete coverage of their content under the BBFC’s ratings. We will continue to engage with industry to encourage platforms to use age ratings, and will keep the evidence for legislation in this area under review.
The video sharing platform regime, for which Ofcom is the regulator, came into force on 1 November 2020. UK-established video sharing platforms must now take appropriate measures to protect the public, including minors, from illegal and harmful material. Video sharing platforms are not currently mandated to adopt BBFC ratings, nor is it expected that they will be mandated to do so under Ofcom’s regulatory regime for video sharing platforms. In order to comply with the video sharing platform regime, age assurance measures may be adopted by video sharing platforms along with other measures such as age ratings and parental controls. Age assurance measures comprise a broad range of technical measures which can be used by a service to establish the age of their users. Under the video sharing platform regime, services must take into account freedom of expression and should consider what measures are most appropriate and proportionate prior to introducing them.
Ofcom and the BBFC have a strong collaborative relationship when working on audience protection issues. The BBFC is engaging actively with both Ofcom and video sharing platforms to share their expertise on emerging technologies and the applicability of content ratings.
Protecting children is at the heart of our online harms agenda, and wider government priorities. Where sites host user-generated content or facilitate online user interaction such as video and image sharing, commenting and live streaming, then that content will be subject to the new duty of care. The government is working at pace to prepare online safety legislation, which will be ready this year.
Old Royal Naval College (formally called The Greenwich Foundation for the Old Royal Naval College) was established as a charity to conserve the Baroque buildings and grounds for present and future generations and to provide opportunities for wide and diverse audiences to enjoy and share its significance.
The Dame Jennifer Jenkins Report, completed in 1996, was the main assessment undertaken when the Royal Navy had vacated the site and discussions about its future took place. This report considered the public value benefit of transforming the site into a commercial space that allows visitors to experience and enjoy the historic assets located on the site, such as the Painted Hall and Chapel. The report concluded that the creation of a Trust to manage the site would bring considerable scope to enhance public enjoyment and understanding of the site, as well as the opportunity to generate independent commercial income which would be used for the benefit of the site.
Government recognises the value of Learned Societies and the cultural and heritage contributions of their collections which are housed at New Burlington House.
Government is working with the Learned Societies to enable them to remain at the site. The current rent agreement was put in place following a legal decision by the High Court in 2005 and subsequent arbitration in 2015. The Learned Societies agreed to the current rent agreements which allow them to pay discounted rents over the next 80 years.
Both DCMS and MHCLG understand the societies’ position and are working closely together to explore whether there is a solution that can deliver public value and help the Society to remain in situ at New Burlington House
The notebook which contains “In Excelsis” was issued by the Governor of Wormwood Scrubs prison to Lord Alfred Douglas while he was in custody there in 1924. As such the notebook was then, and is now, property of the Crown. As a Public Record in line with the provisions of the Public Records Act 1958, it is permanently preserved as a public record at The National Archives and it would not be appropriate to de-accession it.
The original text of ‘In Excelsis’ by Lord Alfred Douglas (file reference EXT 11/75) has been available to the general public for viewing under supervision at The National Archives since 27 November 1997.
The National Archives’ reading room service is currently suspended, in line with the new national restrictions in England, although it continues to provide access to its collections and a range of services online.
Guidance for both individual metal detectorists and organisers of events operating during the covid-19 lockdown was published on the gov.uk page Guidance on searching for archaeological finds in England during COVID-19 on 9 July 2020. The guidance points organisers to directions on operating inside and outside events and also advises organisers and finders what to do if they discover a new archaeological site. The page also directs finders and organisers to the National Council for Metal Detecting guidance on best practice when detecting.
Rallies and club events are legally permitted and take place on private property with the landowner’s consent, The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport does not currently monitor or record activities at these events.
Responsibility for reporting possible treasure finds and arranging for an export licence lies with the finder and owner of the cultural object. Guidance on reporting treasure and applying for an export licence during the present situation is included on the gov.uk pages Guidance on searching for archaeological finds in England during COVID-19 and Export art, antiques and cultural goods: special rules. Anyone not reporting a potential treasure find or not obtaining an export licence where necessary can be subject to legal sanctions.
Guidance for both individual metal detectorists and organisers of events operating during the covid-19 lockdown was published on the gov.uk page Guidance on searching for archaeological finds in England during COVID-19 on 9 July 2020. The guidance points organisers to directions on operating inside and outside events and also advises organisers and finders what to do if they discover a new archaeological site. The page also directs finders and organisers to the National Council for Metal Detecting guidance on best practice when detecting.
Rallies and club events are legally permitted and take place on private property with the landowner’s consent, The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport does not currently monitor or record activities at these events.
Responsibility for reporting possible treasure finds and arranging for an export licence lies with the finder and owner of the cultural object. Guidance on reporting treasure and applying for an export licence during the present situation is included on the gov.uk pages Guidance on searching for archaeological finds in England during COVID-19 and Export art, antiques and cultural goods: special rules. Anyone not reporting a potential treasure find or not obtaining an export licence where necessary can be subject to legal sanctions.
Guidance for both individual metal detectorists and organisers of events operating during the covid-19 lockdown was published on the gov.uk page Guidance on searching for archaeological finds in England during COVID-19 on 9 July 2020. The guidance points organisers to directions on operating inside and outside events and also advises organisers and finders what to do if they discover a new archaeological site. The page also directs finders and organisers to the National Council for Metal Detecting guidance on best practice when detecting.
Rallies and club events are legally permitted and take place on private property with the landowner’s consent, The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport does not currently monitor or record activities at these events.
Responsibility for reporting possible treasure finds and arranging for an export licence lies with the finder and owner of the cultural object. Guidance on reporting treasure and applying for an export licence during the present situation is included on the gov.uk pages Guidance on searching for archaeological finds in England during COVID-19 and Export art, antiques and cultural goods: special rules. Anyone not reporting a potential treasure find or not obtaining an export licence where necessary can be subject to legal sanctions.
Guidance for both individual metal detectorists and organisers of events operating during the covid-19 lockdown was published on the gov.uk page Guidance on searching for archaeological finds in England during COVID-19 on 9 July 2020. The guidance points organisers to directions on operating inside and outside events and also advises organisers and finders what to do if they discover a new archaeological site. The page also directs finders and organisers to the National Council for Metal Detecting guidance on best practice when detecting.
Rallies and club events are legally permitted and take place on private property with the landowner’s consent, The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport does not currently monitor or record activities at these events.
Responsibility for reporting possible treasure finds and arranging for an export licence lies with the finder and owner of the cultural object. Guidance on reporting treasure and applying for an export licence during the present situation is included on the gov.uk pages Guidance on searching for archaeological finds in England during COVID-19 and Export art, antiques and cultural goods: special rules. Anyone not reporting a potential treasure find or not obtaining an export licence where necessary can be subject to legal sanctions.
The Department is working closely with the NCS Trust, the Government Arms’ Length Body commissioned to deliver the programme, to develop an alternative offer for this summer. The details of the alternative summer programme, and its financial implications, are being developed at pace between DCMS,the NCS Trust and their supplier network.
The table below shows the funding provided by Government to the National Citizen Service since the programme started in 2011. Please note that the NCS programme was sponsored by the Cabinet Office from inception until 2016/17.
Year | 2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | 2014/15 | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 |
Total grant funding (£M) | 21 | 62 | 84 | 117 | 155 | 181 | 186 | 189 | 176 |
As per the Main Estimates the total funding envelope for NCS Trust in 2020/21 (including depreciation) is £177.8m. A delegated budget to the NCS Trust will be agreed following a review of funding requirements for the 2020 Summer programme.
The spend per participant was £1,764 for financial year 2018/19, as noted in the 2018/19 NCS Annual Report. The 2019/2020 NCS Annual Report will include a best estimate unit cost and will be published in Q4 2020. The 2020/2021 Annual Report will be published after the end of the financial year.
By April 2020, an estimated 64.6 full-time equivalent youth workers contracted by the NCS network have been furloughed. This figure is based on self-reported data from NCS Providers to the NCS Trust.
The most recent publicly available figure from the NCS 2016 evaluation report show that for every £1 of taxpayer money spent on the 2016 summer programme, £1.79 is provided back to society by the NCS programme in terms of the economic benefit. For the 2016 Autumn programme for every £1 spend, £2.21 is provided back in terms of the economic benefits. The economic benefits relate to the identified impact the NCS programme has in respect to volunteering and leadership.
The NCS Trust is the Royal Chartered Arms-Length Body overseeing and implementing the programme, in line with the NCS Act 2017. The NCS Trust’s budget is reviewed and approved by DCMS on an annual basis in line with Managing Public Money standards. The National Audit Office audits the NCS Trust’s accounts each year.
Earlier this month we were made aware of an unacceptable exit package proposed for the outgoing NCS Chief Executive.
We have taken swift action on this issue, and are investigating wider issues around governance. We have made clear that every element of the outgoing Chief Executive’s departure must comply with HM Treasury guidance on Managing Public Money.
A new CEO has joined the NCS Trust this week and we are clear that we expect the organisation going forward to be completely focussed on helping level up the country with strong opportunities for young people from all backgrounds.
In July 2019 my department commenced a review of the statutory guidance which sets out the statutory duty placed on Local Authorities to provide local youth services. Since July 2019 officials have held roundtables with the youth sector, consultations with young people, and ran a public call for evidence, which closed in December 2019. DCMS officials are currently reviewing responses to inform the next stage of the review.
This government has announced it will be investing £500 million over five years through the Youth Investment Fund to increase the availability of youth services. The fund will be used to build new youth centres across the country, refurbish existing youth facilities, provide mobile facilities for harder to reach areas, and invest in the youth work profession and frontline services. Government is also funding up to £7 million through the Youth Accelerator Fund that will expand existing successful projects delivering positive activities, and address urgent needs in the youth sector by delivering extra sessions in youth clubs.
Our 15 national museums hold world-class collections in trust for the nation that are seen in their global context by over 40 million visitors each year. Decisions relating to museum collections are a matter for the trustees of each museum, who operate independently of government. UK law prevents some national museums from removing items from their collections. The two exceptions to this are human remains, under 1000 years old, and cultural property spoliated during the Nazi era.
We are committed to supporting our museums in dealing confidently with all aspects of restitution. Our national development agency for museums, Arts Council England, which is sponsored by my department, is currently working to refresh existing sector guidelines on restitution for UK museums.
Yes, senior officials have travelled to China since January 2019.
There needs to be a fundamental shift away from crisis intervention and towards earlier intervention, and ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’ sets out how the department intends to achieve that. These are complex reforms, with complicated systemic interactions. It is critical that the department takes a test and learn approach and ensures that these models can be rolled out effectively.
Alongside the Implementation Strategy, the department announced funding of £200 million by 2024/25 to address urgent issues facing children and families now, to lay the foundations for whole system reform, and set the national direction for change. This is on top of the £142 million by 2024/25 to take forward reforms to unregulated provision in children’s social care, £160 million as announced in March 2022, over the next three years to deliver our Adoption Strategy. This is also in addition to £259 million over the Spending Review 2021 period to maintain capacity and expand provision in secure and open residential children’s homes, and £230 million over the same period to support young people leaving care.
This is in addition to the £3.85 billion social care grant to local authorities for adults and children’s social care this year.
The government continuously assesses threats posed to the UK. As a matter of longstanding policy, we are unable to release information regarding threat assessments, on the grounds of national security.
The government is clear that any challenges to our core values, whatever their origin, will not be tolerated. Departmental officials will continue to work closely with their counterparts across government to strengthen protective measures.
The National Security Bill currently before Parliament brings together vital new measures to protect our national security. The new Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS) has now been added to the Bill, which has been created to tackle covert influence in the UK. The scheme is designed to strengthen the integrity of our politics and institutions, and protect the UK from state threats.
The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill will ensure that lawful freedom of speech is fully supported in English higher education (HE), regardless of where the challenge comes from. It will require and empower registered HE providers, colleges and students’ unions to push back on freedom of speech related threats from overseas. The Bill will also address concerns about the possible influence of overseas money in English HE. These new measures will help the Office for Students (OfS) understand the possible impact of overseas income on freedom of speech and academic freedom, and monitor any trends and patterns of concern. The Bill will allow the OfS to take appropriate action, including issuing penalties, if there is evidence that an HE provider has breached its freedom of speech duties.
The department continuously strengthens protective measures, and expects universities to do the same. Universities UK, with government support, continues work to increase the understanding and awareness of the threat from interference within the HE sector. A key output of this is the publication of two sets of guidelines and a set of case studies, which can be found at the following links: https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/what-we-do/policy-and-research/publications/managing-risks-internationalisation, https://www.ukri.org/publications/managing-risks-in-international-research-and-innovation/ and: https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/universities-uk-international/insights-and-publications/uuki-insights/case-studies-how-universities-are.
With regards to Confucius Institutes, like all similar bodies they should operate transparently, and with a full commitment to our values of openness and freedom of expression. Universities have a responsibility to ensure that any partnership with a Confucius Institute is managed appropriately, and the right due diligence is in place. The government encourages any providers with concerns to contact the government.
The government continuously assesses threats posed to the UK. As a matter of longstanding policy, we are unable to release information regarding threat assessments, on the grounds of national security.
The government is clear that any challenges to our core values, whatever their origin, will not be tolerated. Departmental officials will continue to work closely with their counterparts across government to strengthen protective measures.
The National Security Bill currently before Parliament brings together vital new measures to protect our national security. The new Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS) has now been added to the Bill, which has been created to tackle covert influence in the UK. The scheme is designed to strengthen the integrity of our politics and institutions, and protect the UK from state threats.
The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill will ensure that lawful freedom of speech is fully supported in English higher education (HE), regardless of where the challenge comes from. It will require and empower registered HE providers, colleges and students’ unions to push back on freedom of speech related threats from overseas. The Bill will also address concerns about the possible influence of overseas money in English HE. These new measures will help the Office for Students (OfS) understand the possible impact of overseas income on freedom of speech and academic freedom, and monitor any trends and patterns of concern. The Bill will allow the OfS to take appropriate action, including issuing penalties, if there is evidence that an HE provider has breached its freedom of speech duties.
The department continuously strengthens protective measures, and expects universities to do the same. Universities UK, with government support, continues work to increase the understanding and awareness of the threat from interference within the HE sector. A key output of this is the publication of two sets of guidelines and a set of case studies, which can be found at the following links: https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/what-we-do/policy-and-research/publications/managing-risks-internationalisation, https://www.ukri.org/publications/managing-risks-in-international-research-and-innovation/ and: https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/universities-uk-international/insights-and-publications/uuki-insights/case-studies-how-universities-are.
With regards to Confucius Institutes, like all similar bodies they should operate transparently, and with a full commitment to our values of openness and freedom of expression. Universities have a responsibility to ensure that any partnership with a Confucius Institute is managed appropriately, and the right due diligence is in place. The government encourages any providers with concerns to contact the government.
The government continuously assesses threats posed to the UK. As a matter of longstanding policy, we are unable to release information regarding threat assessments, on the grounds of national security.
The government is clear that any challenges to our core values, whatever their origin, will not be tolerated. Departmental officials will continue to work closely with their counterparts across government to strengthen protective measures.
The National Security Bill currently before Parliament brings together vital new measures to protect our national security. The new Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS) has now been added to the Bill, which has been created to tackle covert influence in the UK. The scheme is designed to strengthen the integrity of our politics and institutions, and protect the UK from state threats.
The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill will ensure that lawful freedom of speech is fully supported in English higher education (HE), regardless of where the challenge comes from. It will require and empower registered HE providers, colleges and students’ unions to push back on freedom of speech related threats from overseas. The Bill will also address concerns about the possible influence of overseas money in English HE. These new measures will help the Office for Students (OfS) understand the possible impact of overseas income on freedom of speech and academic freedom, and monitor any trends and patterns of concern. The Bill will allow the OfS to take appropriate action, including issuing penalties, if there is evidence that an HE provider has breached its freedom of speech duties.
The department continuously strengthens protective measures, and expects universities to do the same. Universities UK, with government support, continues work to increase the understanding and awareness of the threat from interference within the HE sector. A key output of this is the publication of two sets of guidelines and a set of case studies, which can be found at the following links: https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/what-we-do/policy-and-research/publications/managing-risks-internationalisation, https://www.ukri.org/publications/managing-risks-in-international-research-and-innovation/ and: https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/universities-uk-international/insights-and-publications/uuki-insights/case-studies-how-universities-are.
With regards to Confucius Institutes, like all similar bodies they should operate transparently, and with a full commitment to our values of openness and freedom of expression. Universities have a responsibility to ensure that any partnership with a Confucius Institute is managed appropriately, and the right due diligence is in place. The government encourages any providers with concerns to contact the government.
As the regulator for higher education in England, the Office for Students is an independent public body. Any investigations that they conduct are a matter for them and it is not for the department to provide comment.
The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill includes a range of measures aimed at protecting and promoting freedom of speech and academic freedom in higher education in England. In particular, it introduces a new complaints route for staff, members, students and visiting speakers, to be operated by the OfS, and creates a new statutory tort, enabling individuals to seek legal redress in the courts for loss they have suffered as a result of breaches of the specified duties.
The department carried out an open grant competition in which the bids received were assessed against the required criteria, which were: understanding the anti-bullying agenda, ability to design a plan to meet the project needs, approach to stakeholder engagement, project management and governance arrangements, evaluation plans, and sustainability plans.
All five organisations had previously delivered anti-bullying support under previous department and Government Equalities Office grant schemes. The department is working with all five organisations in the normal way to ensure any training and resources produced as part of these projects are in line with our requirements.
During Anti-Bullying Week, the department announced funding to five leading organisations, including Diversity Role Models, to deliver new anti-bullying projects which are aimed at preventing and tackling bullying of all children and young people, including those with protected characteristics. Diversity Role Models has been offered £187,530.00 grant funding for the period from 10 August to 31 March 2022 Further details can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/more-support-for-schools-to-tackle-bullying.
In addition to this, across financial years 2016-2020 Diversity Role Models was involved in two projects as part of the Government Equalities Office (then part of the Department for Education) Anti-Homophobic, Biphobic and Transphobic (HBT) Bullying programme. They received a payment of £57,057.45 in April 2016 and were provided with £131,231.25 to as part of the 2019-20 financial year extension of the Anti-HBT Bullying programme. Further details can be found here: https://www.diversityrolemodels.org/news/diversity-role-models-appeals-to-schools-to-use-new-funding-to-tackle-bullying-of-lgbt-pupils.
During the period from 1 April 2017 to 9 December 2021, the department has made no payments to Global Butterflies.
The inconsistency between the two responses consists of two elements:
This is set out in the attached table.
The department has looked into the impact that this discrepancy has had on previous FOIs and at this stage we think it is limited to three responses. The department will amend and reissue those FOI responses accordingly.
During Anti-Bullying Week, the department announced funding to five leading organisations, including EqualiTeach, to deliver new anti-bullying projects which are aimed at preventing and tackling bullying of all children and young people, including those with protected characteristics. EqualiTeach has been offered £163,765.54 grant funding for the period from 10 August 2021 to 31 March 2022.
In addition to this, across financial years 2016-2020 the Government Equalities Office (then part of the Department for Education) provided £105,016.00 to Equaliteach as part of the 2019-20 extension of the anti-homophobic, biphobic and transphobic (anti-HBT) bullying programme. Further details can be found here: https://equaliteach.co.uk/equaliteach-statement-on-geo-and-free-to-be/.
The £300 million investment announced by my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, will transform services for parents, carers, babies and children in half of council areas across England.
This package of support will provide funding for: the creation of a network of family hubs (£82 million), selected local authorities to co-design their Start for Life offer with parents and carers and publish it in an accessible format (£10 million), infant and perinatal mental health support (£100 million), breastfeeding support (£50 million) and parenting programmes (£50 million) in 75 areas. Trials of innovative workforce models for health visitors will also be funded in a smaller number of council areas to test approaches to improve the support available to new parents.
The Budget set out the 2024-25 financial year profile as follows: £18 million to create a network of family hubs to improve access to services for families; £20 million for parenting support; and £66 million for the Start for Life offer for families, including breastfeeding advice and parent-infant mental health support. The Budget is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/autumn-budget-and-spending-review-2021-documents. Further information on funding profiles will be published in due course.
The Department for Education and Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) will work together to deliver this. The Department for Education will oversee the family hubs and parenting programmes, with DHSC overseeing the other components of the package.
We will set out more detail in due course on how this funding will be allocated.
The £300 million investment announced by my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, will transform services for parents, carers, babies and children in half of council areas across England.
This package of support will provide funding for: the creation of a network of family hubs (£82 million), selected local authorities to co-design their Start for Life offer with parents and carers and publish it in an accessible format (£10 million), infant and perinatal mental health support (£100 million), breastfeeding support (£50 million) and parenting programmes (£50 million) in 75 areas. Trials of innovative workforce models for health visitors will also be funded in a smaller number of council areas to test approaches to improve the support available to new parents.
The Budget set out the 2024-25 financial year profile as follows: £18 million to create a network of family hubs to improve access to services for families; £20 million for parenting support; and £66 million for the Start for Life offer for families, including breastfeeding advice and parent-infant mental health support. The Budget is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/autumn-budget-and-spending-review-2021-documents. Further information on funding profiles will be published in due course.
The Department for Education and Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) will work together to deliver this. The Department for Education will oversee the family hubs and parenting programmes, with DHSC overseeing the other components of the package.
We will set out more detail in due course on how this funding will be allocated.
The £300 million investment announced by my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, will transform services for parents, carers, babies and children in half of council areas across England.
This package of support will provide funding for: the creation of a network of family hubs (£82 million), selected local authorities to co-design their Start for Life offer with parents and carers and publish it in an accessible format (£10 million), infant and perinatal mental health support (£100 million), breastfeeding support (£50 million) and parenting programmes (£50 million) in 75 areas. Trials of innovative workforce models for health visitors will also be funded in a smaller number of council areas to test approaches to improve the support available to new parents.
The Budget set out the 2024-25 financial year profile as follows: £18 million to create a network of family hubs to improve access to services for families; £20 million for parenting support; and £66 million for the Start for Life offer for families, including breastfeeding advice and parent-infant mental health support. The Budget is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/autumn-budget-and-spending-review-2021-documents. Further information on funding profiles will be published in due course.
The Department for Education and Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) will work together to deliver this. The Department for Education will oversee the family hubs and parenting programmes, with DHSC overseeing the other components of the package.
We will set out more detail in due course on how this funding will be allocated.
The government has announced a £300 million package to transform services for parents and babies, carers and children in half of local authorities in England, helping to deliver our levelling up ambitions. £50 million will be available for parenting support. The department will set out more detail in due course, including on which parenting programmes will be available in the selected local authorities.
The contents of the Trustees’ Report and Financial Statements of Stonewall are a matter for the Trustees of Stonewall and its appointed auditors.
At present, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has no plans to expand the future use of Social Outcome Partnerships/Social Impact Bonds within the context of children who are Looked After.
The department has previously engaged with the model in 2018, as part of the government’s commitment to supporting care leavers to live independent lives. The department has commissioned three projects, as part of the Care Leavers Social Impact Bond programme, to deliver support to care leavers, aged 16-25. These projects are yet to receive a full evaluation.
In May 2021 a summary report was published by the department, which documents current experience with Social Outcome Partnerships/Social Impact Bonds: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1003308/CSC_Summary_report_20210629_TH.pdf.
At present, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has no plans to expand the future use of Social Outcome Partnerships/Social Impact Bonds within the context of children who are Looked After.
The department has previously engaged with the model in 2018, as part of the government’s commitment to supporting care leavers to live independent lives. The department has commissioned three projects, as part of the Care Leavers Social Impact Bond programme, to deliver support to care leavers, aged 16-25. These projects are yet to receive a full evaluation.
In May 2021 a summary report was published by the department, which documents current experience with Social Outcome Partnerships/Social Impact Bonds: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1003308/CSC_Summary_report_20210629_TH.pdf.
Please find attached an Excel file summarising payments that the Department for Education has made to Stonewall. The data has been provided on a financial year basis and covers 2017-18 through to 2020-21. The majority of the spend incurred was not by the Department for Education, but instead the Government Equalities Office.
Expenditure data for the 2016-17 financial year is subject to an ongoing data migration process from a previous service provider and is therefore not accessible at this time.
The Department for Education has an internal five year Diversity and Inclusion Strategy to create a department where everyone is able to bring their whole self to work and where honesty, challenge and innovation are encouraged and valued. By forming these relationships and spending, the department is helping to create an environment where all staff, regardless of their protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 (including but not limited to sexual orientation or gender identity), are supported and do not face discrimination, and supports the department to fulfil its requirements under the Public Sector Equality Duty.
The department does not hold information on the number of all children in England who are adopted. However, we hold information on children who have been adopted from care.
The latest information on children looked after in England is contained in the ‘Children looked after in England’ statistical release, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions.
Figures for the numbers of children looked after who were adopted are available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/bc87ab18-fc58-4c83-a12b-f65dbedbba9b.
Nothing is more important than the safety of children, which is why private tutors are already eligible to receive basic Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificates, which parents and carers should ask to see to assure themselves of a tutor’s suitability. In addition to asking to see a private tutor’s basic DBS certificate, parents and carers might also consider what other information may be available to help them assess a tutor’s suitability to work with their children. It is recommended that parents confirm a tutor’s identity. Testimonials from parents and/or pupils themselves will help provide reassurance about the tutor’s teaching ability and about the way in which they interact with the pupil.
Parents and carers should also look to ensure that the home tutoring takes place in a room in the home that allows the parent access to enable them to supervise.
The Government is exploring ways to allow self employed people, including tutors, to access enhanced criminal records checks.
On 21 October 2020, the Department published ‘Keeping children safe during community activities, after-school clubs and tuition: non-statutory guidance for providers running out-of-school settings’. This guidance is for organisations or individuals who provide community activities, tuition or after school clubs for children, also known as out of school settings (OOSS) providers, as well as their staff and volunteers.
The guidance aims to help providers of OOSS understand best practice for creating a safe environment for children in their care and give parents and carers confidence that their child is in a safe activity or teaching environment. The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-out-of-school-settings-code-of-practice.
Alongside this, the Department has also published accompanying guidance for parents and carers to help support them when choosing OOSS providers for their children, including positive signs and red flags to look out for. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-for-parents-and-carers-on-safeguarding-children-in-out-of-school-settings.
Schools are advised against all educational visits at this time. The Department is working on advice for schools on the planning and booking of residential trips when it is safe to do so and in line with the Government’s roadmap to recovery, as set out in: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-response-spring-2021/covid-19-response-spring-2021. The advice will be published shortly.
I can confirm that a response has been sent to my hon. Friend, the Member for East Worthing and Shoreham.
Funding for the Adoption Support Fund will be continuing for the next financial year of 2021-22.
Our national voucher scheme launched on 31 March. Edenred, the supplier, has reported that over £380 million worth of voucher codes had been redeemed into supermarket eGift cards by families, as of 19 August, and over 20,350 schools had placed orders for the scheme as of 28 July. This covers both term time and holiday provision. Schools also had the option to order via local voucher schemes and claim costs back through the exceptional costs fund. The free school meal (FSM) voucher scheme has now closed. Schools and their kitchens are open, so normal FSM provision has resumed, enabling children to have a nutritious healthy meal at school. We do not hold data relating to the value of vouchers that have not been redeemed and such a figure would still be subject to change. The expiry date on an eGift card varies depending on the retailer (the shortest term being 12 months).
The Residential Care Leadership Board is no longer being convened because the board’s remit of responding to recommendations made in Sir Martin Narey’s 2016 Review of Residential Children’s Care, has been successfully completed. The department is taking steps to ensure that we draw on sectoral expertise through a range of different forums to address current issues affecting the sector, not least in our response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The government has committed to undertaking a bold, broad and independently led care review. This will launch as soon as possible and will support improvements in the children’s social care system.
The department does not hold information on the number of all children in England who are adopted.
The latest figures on the number of children in England who have been adopted from care are published in table H1 of the statistical release, entitled ’National tables: Children Looked after in England including adoptions 2018-19’, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2018-to-2019. Figures for the reporting year ending 31 March 2020 will be published later this year.
The department does not collect information on adoptions that were disrupted. National figures on numbers of children who started to be looked after, and who had a previous permanence arrangement, including adoption orders, are available in table C1 of the above release. However, these figures were collected for the first time in 2014 and should be treated with caution. The information is based on self-declaration and, for several children, the previous permanence arrangement is not known.
The department assess and address barriers to increasing adoption numbers on a regular basis. One barrier has been in recruiting the right adopters for the children waiting. To address this, the government is investing £1 million in adopter recruitment during the 2020-21 financial year, with a focus on generating an increase in people of all backgrounds coming forward to adopt children who wait the longest. This includes funding the cross-sector national recruitment campaign, #YouCanAdopt. Launched in September 2020, a key aspect of this campaign is its inclusivity. It aims to break down perceived barriers to adoption, encouraging more adopters of diverse backgrounds to step forward.
The COVID-19 outbreak has introduced new challenges for adoption. Early in the outbreak, we introduced regulatory flexibilities to ensure adoption processes could continue despite the lockdown restrictions and some of these changes remain in place. For example, this includes the flexibility relating to health assessments for prospective adopters. This allows agencies to proceed to stage 2 of the assessment process without a health check, as long as those checks are completed before the end of that stage. Where new challenges have arisen with the announcement of a second lockdown, further regulatory changes have been introduced. This includes exemptions to allow adoption introductions to continue during the new lockdown, alleviating delays for children moving to their new loving homes.
The COVID-19 outbreak has also introduced barriers in progressing adoption cases through the courts. However, adoption is included in the list of priorities for the courts, which have been encouraged to make use of hybrid courts (a combination of virtual and physical hearings) to progress cases where possible. The department continues to work closely with the Ministry of Justice, the judiciary, The Association of Directors for Children’s Services and Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service on these issues.
We know that some prospective adopters have concerns about what support will be available to them. The core Adoption Support Fund (ASF) has provided £177 million since 2015 to help pay for essential therapeutic services for over 62,000 adoptive and eligible special guardianship families. The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Adoption and Permanence published a report in July 2019, and our own independent evaluations of the Fund have concluded that the ASF was having a positive transformative effect on the lives of children and families.
Higher education establishments are independent, autonomous organisations and the government does not collect data of this sort. A number of UK higher education providers host and publicise their Confucius Institutes and are responsible for ensuring their partnerships are managed appropriately with the right due diligence in place.
The government does not collect data on which education establishments host a Confucius institute.
The Department has always been clear that the reception baseline assessment (RBA) is not a diagnostic assessment and should not be used to track or group individual children or hold early years settings to account. Data gathered from the assessment will only be used to create a baseline for school-level progress measures and will not be shared with schools, teachers, or parents. However, teachers will receive a series of short, narrative statements on how each child did at that time, which can be used to inform teaching.
The latest data on the attendance of children with an education, health and care (EHC) plan in educational establishments since 23 March was published on Tuesday 9 June and covers data up to Thursday 4 June. The data is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings.
The data is collected from individual education establishments and the published figures include estimates for non-response.
An estimate of the number of children with EHC plans who have a parent designated as a critical worker has not been made.
The latest data on the attendance of children with an education, health and care (EHC) plan in educational establishments since 23 March was published on Tuesday 9 June and covers data up to Thursday 4 June. The data is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings.
The data is collected from individual education establishments and the published figures include estimates for non-response.
An estimate of the number of children with EHC plans who have a parent designated as a critical worker has not been made.
As part of the current consultation on reforms to unregulated provision for children in care and care leavers the department is considering equality implications of the proposals. An equality impact assessment will be published as part of the government’s response to the consultation.
As part of the public consultation on reforms to unregulated provision for children in care and care leavers, a task and finish group has been established. It is chaired by Sir Alan Wood and has been asked to:
1. Support the development and drafting of new national standards for semi-independent provision for children in care;
2. Further develop our evidence regarding the use of these placements for U16s; and
3. Advise on what should be taken account of when considering the implementation of the results of the consultation.
Those asked to attend the group represent some of those directly involved in the delivery of the proposed reforms – including providers, commissioners and inspectors as well as those who advocate for young people. This includes representatives from:
Throughout the consultation we are seeking the views of as many people as possible who are affected by the proposed reforms. This group is one way of achieving that. We are continuing to work with children and young people, local authorities, social workers and providers to seek their views and discuss the proposals.
The consultation is open until 8 April 2020 and we welcome responses from anyone who wishes to contribute. The task and finish group’s work, including supporting development of new minimum standards, will be informed by consultation responses and it will report after the consultation has closed.
The number of women aged 60 and over that have started an apprenticeship from the 2014/15 academic year onwards is shown in the table below:
| 2014/15 | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 |
Female, 60+ apprenticeship starts | 1,690 | 1,780 | 1,900 | 980 | 980 |
Notes:
1) Volumes are rounded to the nearest ten.
2) The data source is the Individualised Learner Record (ILR).
3) Age is calculated based upon age at start of the apprenticeship programme.
4) Numbers are counted for the full, final academic years from August to July.
5) Apprenticeship starts include all funded and unfunded learners reported on the ILR.
Yes, senior officials have travelled to China since January 2019.
The Secretary of State is keen to ensure that rights of way policy is delivering for users, landowners and local authorities. The 2026 cut-off date is currently under review and we will provide a further update shortly.
The Government is committed to implementing the rights of way reform measures which will streamline processes for recording rights of way with landowners, local authorities and users benefitting from a faster, more cost effective, less confrontational and less bureaucratic process. We will also introduce the right to apply regulations which will give landowners a statutory right to apply to have rights of way diverted or extinguished in certain circumstances, such as where paths pass through hazardous farmyards.
The Secretary of State is keen to ensure that rights of way policy is delivering for users, landowners and local authorities. The 2026 cut-off date is currently under review and we will provide a further update shortly.
The Government is committed to implementing the rights of way reform measures which will streamline processes for recording rights of way with landowners, local authorities and users benefitting from a faster, more cost effective, less confrontational and less bureaucratic process. We will also introduce the right to apply regulations which will give landowners a statutory right to apply to have rights of way diverted or extinguished in certain circumstances, such as where paths pass through hazardous farmyards.
Local authorities have a number of powers to tackle air pollution, such as introducing speed restrictions including on school streets, enforcing anti-idling laws and environmental permitting to reduce emissions from many local industries.
On domestic sources of air pollution and specifically domestic burning, local authorities have the power to declare Smoke Control Areas (SCAs), where householders are not allowed to emit a substantial amount of smoke from a chimney. The recently introduced Environment Act makes it easier for local authorities to enforce SCA requirements by replacing the criminal offence applying to smoke emissions in SCAs with a civil penalty regime. Local authorities in England can now issue financial penalties of up to £300 to those emitting a substantial amount of smoke from their chimneys in an SCA. The Environment Act also extends the system of statutory nuisance under the Environmental Protection Act to private dwellings in SCAs, enabling local authorities to take action against smoke emissions that are harmful to human health.
To further support local authorities, we have also provided £880 million to help local authorities develop and implement local nitrogen dioxide (NO2) reduction plans and to support those impacted by these plans. We also have awarded £11.6 million from Defra's annual Air Quality Grant Scheme to 40 local authorities in England for local projects to tackle air pollution. The scheme will reopen for applications later this year, building on more than £38 million investment so far since 2010.
Payments made to Stonewall Equality Ltd for the last five financial years are shown in the table below, along with a brief description as to what the payment relates to.
Financial Year | Amount paid | Description |
2016-17 | £390.00 | Attendance at a training programme for LGBT Role Models |
2016-17 | £2,400.00 | Membership of the Stonewall Diversity Champions programme 01/02/16 - 31/01/17 |
2017-18 | £3,000.00 | Membership of the Stonewall Diversity Champions Programme 01/02/17 - 31/01/18 |
2017-18 | £3,000.00 | Membership of the Stonewall Diversity Champions Programme 01/02/18-31/01/19 |
2018-19 | £3,000.00 | Membership of the Stonewall Diversity Champions Programme 01/02/19-31/01/20 |
2018-19 | £813.60 | Attendance at Stonewall Workplace Conference |
2018-19 | £252.00 | Attendance at Stonewall Workplace Conference |
2019-20 | £8,400.00 | Subscription to Proud Employers website (for advertising vacancies) |
2019-20 | £3,000.00 | Membership of Stonewall Diversity Champions Programme 01/02/20 to 31/01/21 |
2020-21 | £741.60 | Attendance at Stonewall Workplace Conference |
Live animal checks will continue to be carried out at the point of destination as introduced on 1 January 2021. Live animal checks will move from the point of destination to designated Border Control Posts when sufficient capacity allows.
This information is set out in the table below.
(a) Site | (b) Value (Existing Use Value) | (c) Income |
Rhydymwyn, North Wales | £0 In accordance with accounting standards. | £0 |
Weybourne Building, Weybridge. One building on a large site, with many different specialist buildings. | Unable to identify the value of just the Weybourne building as it is value is a function of its role as part of a larger science campus. It cannot be segregated from the rest of the campus. | £0 |
Defra is advised on the management of designated heritage assets in its portfolio by Historic England’s Government Historic Estate Unit. Further details can be found here:
https://historicengland.org.uk/services-skills/our-planning-services/advice-for-government-historic-estates
Defra does not collect or collate data on the property value or income data for these assets.
Details of eligibility criteria for the fisheries support scheme will be announced in the coming weeks. Defra will ensure that necessary checks and procedures are in place to minimise the risk of fraud. Seafood firms and individuals convicted of fraud in the context of fisheries funding schemes have previously been ineligible to access other financial support made available to the sector.
My Department takes the issue of livestock worrying very seriously, recognising both the distress this can cause farmers and animals, as well as the financial implications.
According to the National Sheep Association’s annual survey 94.85% of respondents had experienced sheep worrying by dogs on their farm, and SheepWatch UK estimate that 15,000 sheep are killed each year in dog worrying incidents.
Data on prosecutions relating to the offence of livestock worrying (which includes sheep worrying) are consolidated in the Criminal Justice Statistics Quarterly (England and Wales) under the broader category ‘other offences related to dogs’. We do not hold separate data on this.
Products containing aminopyralid are used to control weeds in cereals, oilseed rape and grassland. Before these products were authorised, risks to consumers were fully assessed by the UK regulator, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). HSE concluded that there were no concerns for consumers.
Aminopyralid does not break down rapidly in compost produced from treated plants or manure from animals that have grazed treated grassland. There is thus potential for residues to affect susceptible plants and so requirements are in place to ensure that contaminated materials do not go for use by gardeners and others. These arrangements are kept under review to ensure that they remain effective.
The Secretary of State has not yet received this byelaw, given that all non-emergency IFCA byelaws are subject to a quality assurance process, undertaken by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) on behalf of Defra, prior to being sent to the Secretary of State for confirmation. The MMO aims to return comments to IFCAs within 45 working days of submission. In respect of the Sussex IFCA Nearshore Trawling Byelaw, the MMO deadline for quality assurance is 17 June to respond to Sussex IFCA. The Secretary of State will consider the Sussex Nearshore Trawling Byelaw when the MMO’s quality assurance process is completed.
Attacks on livestock by dogs are unacceptable and Defra works with the relevant stakeholders to find ways to prevent them. This includes advice to owners to keep their dogs under effective control. In 2018 we wrote to all police forces and local authorities to explain the powers and initiatives available to help tackle irresponsible dog ownership, including attacks on livestock.
Details on the number of cases of dogs attacking livestock that have been reported to the police would be held by each separate police force and are not collated centrally. No data are collected centrally on the number of livestock lost. The attached table provides the numbers of prosecutions and convictions in each of the last five years for England and Wales for which figures are available.
Numbers of people prosecuted/convicted for allowing a dog to worry livestock under s1 of Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953
Values | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
Prosecuted | 47 | 47 | 37 | 25 | 23 |
Convicted | 40 | 35 | 28 | 20 | 21 |
Attacks on livestock by dogs are unacceptable and Defra works with the relevant stakeholders to find ways to prevent them. This includes advice to owners to keep their dogs under effective control. In 2018 we wrote to all police forces and local authorities to explain the powers and initiatives available to help tackle irresponsible dog ownership, including attacks on livestock.
Details on the number of cases of dogs attacking livestock that have been reported to the police would be held by each separate police force and are not collated centrally. No data are collected centrally on the number of livestock lost. The attached table provides the numbers of prosecutions and convictions in each of the last five years for England and Wales for which figures are available.
Numbers of people prosecuted/convicted for allowing a dog to worry livestock under s1 of Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953
Values | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
Prosecuted | 47 | 47 | 37 | 25 | 23 |
Convicted | 40 | 35 | 28 | 20 | 21 |
As inspections for imported wine are undertaken on a risk-based percentage, regardless of origin or import certification, no specific assessment has been made regarding additional costs of controls, although it is expected to be nil or negligible.
In 2019, the UK was the second-largest global wine importer by value and volume. Leaving the EU provides the opportunity for the UK to establish an independent wine regime tailored to its growing and vibrant domestic production while building further on the UK’s current position as a global hub for the international trading of wine.
The Government intends to prohibit the hunting of Greenland white-fronted goose by removing the species from schedule 2 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. The legislation will be laid by the spring.
HM Government is satisfied that decisions on licence applications to Turkey can be taken, by following a careful assessment against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria on a case-by-case basis.
The Criteria provide a thorough risk assessment framework and take into account a full range of factors such as our international obligations, including the Arms Trade Treaty.
These are not decisions we take lightly. We will not issue any export licences where to do so would be inconsistent with the Criteria.
The Department for International Trade (DIT) was established in July 2016 so is only able to cover the period from this date. Our financial records show a payment to Stonewall of £2,500 + VAT in financial years 2016/2017, 2017/2018, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021. These payments were for membership fees given to Stonewall as part of their Diversity Champions programme. DIT has no records of payment to Stonewall for any other activity.
Neither Ministerial colleagues nor officials in London have met with the Chinese administration during this time.
Through the UK’s diplomatic missions in China, there is regular engagement with Chinese government counterparts to support UK trade interests.
The Department for Transport has increased the funding available for Bikeability each year since 2020 and is providing at least £21 million in the financial year of 2023-24. This is sufficient for half a million children to attend Bikeability cycle training. The Department remains committed to offering Bikeability cycle training to every child that wants it and is considering additional actions and investment to meet this target.
Provisional figures from the Bikeability Trust show that the proportion of year 6 children outside London that received basic road training by the end of primary school was at 51 per cent in 2022/23.
Not all countries offer recognition of UK issued Blue Badges and the US is one country that currently does not. Holders may either need to obtain a temporary badge for the duration of their stay, or may need to park in standard parking bays, and pay any applicable charges. UK Government advice to disabled travellers is always to check locally in the area of travel before parking.
The Government offers financial support to consumers via the Plug-in Motorcycle Grant,which helps bridge the price gap between the cost of zero emission and internal combustion engine vehicles. The grant pays for 35% of the purchase price for selected models, up to a maximum of £500 for motorcycles and £150 for mopeds.
The Government continues to work with the UK industry to grow the motorcycle sector and ensure it has a prosperous future in the UK. In February 2022, the Motorcycle Industry Association and Zemo Partnership published a government-commissioned action plan, “Realising the Full Potential of Zero Emission Powered Light Vehicles”, to support the take-up of zero emission L-category vehicles. The Government has also made up to £350,000 of funding available to grow the zero-emission motorcycle supply chain in the UK.
Information has been received from the Ukrainian licensing authority on its driver testing and licensing standards which has been assessed by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency is currently progressing the work needed to introduce an exchange agreement for Ukrainian lorry and bus licences as soon as possible subject to a public consultation and the necessary legal process.
Enquiries have been received about the use and exchange of Ukrainian driving licences in the GB.
Holders of a Ukrainian driving licence can drive small vehicles (cars up to 3,500kg and motorcycles) for 12 months from the date they become resident in GB. To continue driving after this time, they must obtain a GB licence.
Ukrainian driving licences for cars can also be exchanged for the GB equivalent without the need to take a test. However, drivers who took a test in Ukraine before 28 December 2021 will only be granted entitlement to drive automatic cars when the GB licence is issued. This is because the Ukrainian driver licensing authority does not have information to confirm whether a test was taken in a manual or automatic vehicle before this date.
Officials are currently progressing the work needed to introduce an exchange agreement which would allow holders of a Ukrainian licence to drive larger vehicles to exchange it for a GB equivalent. This is subject to a public consultation and the necessary parliamentary process.
Finally, driver licensing is devolved in Northern Ireland so the relevant regulations would need to be followed by those Ukrainian Refugees resident there.
The Government is taking a phased approach to the rollout of our inbound vaccination programme and will continue to work with international partners to expand the policy to more countries and territories where it is safe to do so. Vaccine certification between countries and territories varies considerably and the government has published minimum criteria on gov.uk that both digital and paper certificates must meet.
The Department for Transport, including its Executive Agencies (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, Vehicle Certification Agency, and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency), has allocated the following funding to Stonewall in the last five years:
The Department has no plans currently to renew its Stonewall membership.
As part of the Government’s Transparency Agency information about Department for Transport properties is published on the data.gov.uk website. Please follow the below link, and select the ‘Property (excel download)’ file and download.
https://data.gov.uk/dataset/epimstransparency
Information on the properties classified as heritage assets, value of those properties and income derived from those properties can only be provided at disproportionate cost.
As part of the Government’s Transparency Agency information about Department for Transport properties is published on the data.gov.uk website:
https://data.gov.uk/dataset/epimstransparency
Information on the properties classified as heritage assets, value of those properties and income derived from those properties can only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has put in place a number of measures to increase practical driving tests. These include offering overtime and annual leave buy back to examiners, asking all those qualified to conduct tests, but who do not do so as part of their current day job, to return to conducting tests, and conducting out of hours testing (such as on public holidays). The DVSA has also started a recruitment campaign to increase the number of examiners. The aim is to increase testing capacity and reduce the backlog as quickly as possible, whilst maintaining a COVID-secure service for customers and examiners.
The Government is making every effort to reach a swift understanding with France regarding long-term licence exchange arrangements for UK nationals resident in France, and vice-versa. UK nationals who became resident in France before 1 January 2021 can continue to use their valid UK licences until 31 December 2021. The French authorities have confirmed that a valid UK licence will continue to be exchanged in this period, until a reciprocal agreement is reached between the United Kingdom and France.
The maximum duration of two years between passing the theory test and a subsequent practical test is in place for road safety reasons; to ensure that a candidate’s knowledge is current. This validity period is set in legislation and the Government has no current plans to lay further legislation to extend it.
It is important that road safety knowledge and hazard perception skills are up to date at the critical point that they drive unsupervised for the first time. Those with theory test certificates expiring may have taken their test in early 2019. Since then, their lessons and practice sessions will have been significantly curtailed during recent lockdowns and it is likely that their knowledge base will have diminished. Research suggests that this would be particularly harmful for hazard perception skills, a key factor in road safety.
Ensuring new drivers have current relevant knowledge and skills is a vital part of the training of new drivers, who are disproportionality represented in casualty statistics. Taking all this into consideration, the decision has been made not to extend theory test certificates and learners will need to pass another theory test if their certificate expires.
The total cost for delivery of the A27 Arundel Bypass preferred route (Grey, Option 5BV1), which was announced on 15 October 2020, will be between £320 and £455 million, as set out at the further public consultation in 2019. This figure is subject to the development of the scheme through detailed design and ongoing commercial discussions.
Construction will commence in 2023/24 and will take approximately 36 months.
The Secretary of State’s decision to approve the A303 (Amesbury to Berwick Down) Development Consent Order was issued on 12 November 2020. The reasons for the decision are set out in the decision letter published on the Planning Inspectorate’s website at: https://infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/projects/south-west/a303-stonehenge/. It includes consideration of the representations made by archaeological groups and other Interested Parties.
The number of archaeologists required and consequently deployed will vary as the HS2 project moves forward. HS2 Ltd has estimated that they will need the skills of over 1,000 archaeologists and associated specialisms for the entire HS2 archaeology programme.
The second Road Investment Strategy will confirm the Government’s plans for the Strategic Road Network. We expect this to be published before the start of the second Road Period on 1 April 2020.
The information required is not retained by Grade. However, the total number of DWP staff that have travelled to China and/or Hong Kong from January 2019 to present is 151, with 2 of these being official business trips.
Winter fuel payments are an age-related payment payable this winter to all people who have reached State Pension age on or before 24 September 2023 and who are ordinarily resident in the UK, including Ukrainian refugees. There is no need to be in receipt of a social security benefit in order to qualify.
Winter fuel payments are made on a household basis. If there is more than one eligible person in a household, the payment will be divided between them. The sharing of bills is a matter for the house owner and any guests they may be hosting.
The Government understands the cost-of-living pressures people are currently facing which is why we are providing total support of over £94bn over 2022/23 and 2023/24 to help households and individuals with their bills.
Pensioners who are entitled to a winter fuel payment this winter will receive a pensioner Cost of Living Payment of £300 per household paid with their normal payment, meaning over 8 million pensioner households across the UK will receive an increased winter fuel payment of £500/£600 depending on age.
Over 8 million UK households on eligible means tested benefits will receive additional Cost of Living Payments totalling up to £900 in the 2023/24 financial year and over 6 million individuals in receipt of eligible disability benefits will have received a £150 payment to help with the additional costs they face.
There is no current data standard for biological sex, gender or gender identity.
The Department for Work and Pensions has not made any independent assessment to ensure arms-length bodies record biological sex as opposed to gender identity.
The Government is rightly targeting the £650 Cost of Living Payment support at low-income households in receipt of qualifying means tested benefits.
Contributory Employment and Support Allowance is not a means tested income replacement benefit. Many People in receipt of contributory Employment Support Allowance receive a means tested benefit, therefore they will be eligible for the £650 Cost of Living Payment. As of November 2021, around 400,000 claimants received both income and contributory Employment and Support Allowance, and around 100,000 claimants received Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit.
In addition, individuals may be able eligible for the £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment if they are in receipt of a qualifying disability benefits.
The guidance with the full list of support can be found at:
Overall government support for the cost of living: factsheet - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
People in receipt of Contributory Employment Support Allowance can also benefit from the support being provided for by the Government. This includes £400 of support for energy bills through the expansion of the Energy Bills Support Scheme and an additional £500 million to help households with the cost of essentials, bringing the total funding for this support to £1.5 billion. In England, £421m will be used to further extend the Household Support Fund (October 2022 – March 2023). Guidance and individual local authority indicative allocations for this further extension to the Household Support Fund will be announced in due course.
Further measures to help people with the cost-of-living challenges including frozen fuel duty, raising the NICs threshold, the £150 council tax rebates and the further rise in the National Living Wage to £9.50 an hour from April 2022.
DWP does not allocate set funding to Stonewall, however spending has occurred out of the sexual orientation and gender identity budget. We routinely pay an annual membership fee for the Diversity Champions scheme of £3000 (including VAT).
21/22 £3000 for membership, £750 for conference
20/21 £3000 for membership, £750 for conference
19/20 £3000 for membership, £480 for event
18/19 £3000 for membership, £234 for event
17/18 £3000 for membership
DWP is advised on the management of designated heritage assets in its portfolio by Historic England’s Government Historic Estate Unit. Further details can be found here:
DWP does not collect or collate data on the value (property value) or income data for these assets.
For parts a) and b) the latest information is contained in Table 1 below.
Table 1: Women in employment
| Full-time | Part-time |
60-66 | 505,000 | 675,000 |
Source: Labour Force Survey, Jul-Sep 2019
For part c), table 2 shows the number of women aged 60-65 and over 65 who are claiming Universal Credit and are in employment (figures for the specific age group 60-66 are not available within Stat-Xplore).
Table 2: Women claiming Universal Credit and in employment, October 2019
| In employment |
60-65 | 16,676 |
Over 65 | 57 |
Source: DWP Stat-Xplore
For part d), table 3 shows the number of women aged 60-65 who are claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (figures for the specific age group 60-66 are not available within Stat-Xplore).
Table 3: Women claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance, May 2019
|
|
60-65 | 10,703 |
Source: DWP Stat-Xplore
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
No senior members of the Department have booked travel to China via the Departments central travel contract between January 2019 and October 2023.
We have assumed that by Senior Officials you mean those that are above the grade SCS1.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is the independent regulator of nurses and midwives in the United Kingdom and nursing associates in England. It sets the standards that registrants must meet to demonstrate that they are capable of practising safely and effectively in those professions.
The NMC does not break down its data into categories of “disciplinary” and “competency” at the point of referral. Although the Department does not collect information on the number of midwives referred to the NMC, the NMC has informed the Department that 175 new concerns regarding midwives were raised with it between 1 July 2022 and 30 June 2023.
Further information on the number of referrals received by the NMC regarding midwives during 2022/23 is available at the following link:
https://www.nmc.org.uk/about-us/reports-and-accounts/fitness-to-practise-annual-report/
The following travel vaccines are available free on the National Health Service from general practice surgeries: polio (given as a combined diphtheria/tetanus/polio jab); typhoid; hepatitis A; and cholera.
These vaccines are free because they protect against diseases thought to represent the greatest risk to public health if they were brought into the country.
Every child is assigned a National Health Service number at birth or the first time they have contact with NHS services. The NHS number acts as a unique patient identifier and is used to share information within electronic healthcare records. This contributes to improved health outcomes for children including those with complex health needs, by ensuring that health professionals identify patients correctly and have access to information to inform the delivery of appropriate care.
The Department for Education are leading a cross-Government programme to meet the legislative commitment in the Health and Social Care Act 2022 for the Government to report to Parliament by summer 2023 on its policy on information sharing in relation to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. The report will include a consideration of the use of a consistent child identifier across agencies.
The Child Protection Ministerial Group (CPMG) brings together Ministers from the Department for Education, Department of Health and Social Care, Home Office, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Ministry of Justice to provide oversight of the programme. The CPMG last met in April, and the consistent child identifier was discussed at that meeting.
On 15 December 2022, we wrote to patient groups and to MPs, to provide an update on COVID-19 treatments this winter. This correspondence did not refer to Evusheld campaigners’ request for a meeting because the purpose of this letter was to provide an update on the Department’s latest position on Evusheld. The Department has met with Evusheld campaigners on multiple occasions and appreciate their continued engagement.
The Government held a call for evidence earlier this year to inform long-term priorities for mental health, wellbeing and suicide prevention. We are currently considering the responses received and further information will be available in due course. In addition, we are working with stakeholders, national and local government, the voluntary sector and academics to consider aims for the reduction of suicide prevention rates.
As of 30 April 2022, there were 519 children and young people and 171 adults aged 24 years old and under with an eating disorder occupying an inpatient bed. No estimate has been made of the number of people awaiting inpatient treatment for an eating disorder.
The ‘2019 Health Survey for England’ indicated that 16% of adults aged 16 years old and over in England received a positive screen for a possible eating disorder or reported that their feelings about food had a significant negative impact on their life.
Data is not held for all those aged under 18 years old. However, for children and young people aged 11 to 16 years old, the ‘Mental Health of Children and Young People in England 2021 - wave 2 follow up to the 2017 survey’ found that 13% screened positive for possible eating problems. For those aged 17 to 19 years old, 58.2% screened positive. However, a positive screening result does not confirm that the child or young person had an eating disorder but indicated an increased likelihood of problems with eating.
The information requested is not currently held in the format requested. While NHS England and NHS Improvement collect data on the number of inpatient beds commissioned for patients with eating disorders, this information has not been centrally validated.
We are unable to provide the information requested on specific assessments as this relates to the development of Government policy. However, we continue with the National Health Service to assess the impact of the end of free universal testing on primary, community and acute healthcare settings. From 1 April 2022, our testing strategy is focussed on protecting the most vulnerable population groups and settings, continuing surveillance to identify variants of concern and maintaining the ability to respond to potential new variants. We will continue to provide some asymptomatic testing in NHS services during periods of higher prevalence, including for staff and patients.
Local authorities are responsible for commissioning public health services for children aged 0 to five years of age. Expectations for health visiting mandated reviews are supported by commissioning and professional guidance. Commissioners and providers may wish to consider development of recovery plans in partnership with other agencies, including monitoring and evaluation. Recovery planning should also consider household vulnerability in prioritising the support provided to families.
The collection of health visitor service metrics is currently under review and associated guidance for 2022/23 will be updated shortly. This follows the changes made during initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic and advice on use of virtual contacts. The review on data collection will reflect the national service model, which confirms that mandated reviews should be conducted face to face.
Clinical advice is that effective mandated reviews should include face to face assessment. This advice is set out in the health visiting and school nurse service delivery model, which is available at the following link:
Guidance on collection of service delivery metrics for 2022/23 is being reviewed and will be updated shortly.
The following table shows the number of full time equivalent (FTE) and actual headcount of health visitors employed by the National Health Service in England.
Date | FTE | Headcount |
September 2012 | 7,687 | 9,337 |
September 2013 | 8,304 | 9,983 |
September 2014 | 9,162 | 10,877 |
September 2015 | 10,236 | 12,105 |
September 2016 | 9,521 | 11,310 |
September 2017 | 8,497 | 10,171 |
September 2018 | 7,884 | 9,509 |
September 2019 | 6,981 | 8,445 |
September 2020 | 6,677 | 8,098 |
September 2021 | 6,279 | 7,593 |
Source: NHS Digital https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-workforce-statistics/september-2021
Notes:
The Pregnancy Loss Review Advisory Panel last met on 24 October 2018. Work on the Review was paused in 2020 owing to the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This has now resumed and we aim to publish the report in due course. We are unable to provide the information requested on the membership of the panel as disclosure of this information would contravene data protection principles.
The Government’s response to the consultation on coronial investigations of stillbirths has been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We are working to publish the response as soon as possible.
This information is not held in the format requested as the there is no available data on whether stillbirths occur in or out of hospitals.
However, the following table shows data from the Office of National Statistics’ child mortality dataset on the number of stillbirths in England in each year from 2011 to 2019. Data for 2020 is not yet available.
Year | Number of stillbirths in England |
2019 | 2,346 |
2018 | 2,520 |
2017 | 2,679 |
2016 | 2,895 |
2015 | 2,952 |
2014 | 3,047 |
2013 | 3,103 |
2012 | 3,357 |
2011 | 3,619 |
Note:
Data shows babies born at 24 weeks gestational age or greater which did not breathe or show signs of life.
Officials have confirmed that the response given to Question 61062 is correct. A further check of our financial records has established that no additional payment was made to Stonewall for this event. An amendment to our previous Freedom of Information response will be sent to the original requesters.
The investment will allow us to invest in a package of support for staff, training and interventions to support the social and emotional development of parents and infants from conception until a child’s second birthday. Service provision varies across the country according to need, therefore local areas will be given the opportunity to tailor their perinatal and parent-infant mental health support offer. Provision is likely to be a combination of support for perinatal mental health and infant mental health. Further details on the process for allocating funding for these services will be confirmed in due course.
We are working with leading academics, clinicians, Health Education England and NHS England and NHS Improvement to determine how this funding should be invested to support existing services. Further details will be confirmed in due course.
We have announced a £500 million investment to support babies and families, £100 million of which will focus on enhancing parent-infant mental health support. This will help promote the social and emotional development of babies. the social and emotional development of babies. Local areas will decide where this additional support should be allocated, which could form part of children and young people’s mental health services or elsewhere within the early years system such as within family hubs.
We will work closely with selected local authorities to design a robust approach to implementing and evaluating workforce models for health visiting teams to enable them to better support the needs of all families. This includes tailoring approaches to engage with the most disadvantaged families. We will invest in testing and evaluating different workforce models to understand the impact on the wellbeing of families and children as well as the capacity of the workforce to identify best practice.
‘Best Start for Life: A Vision for the 1,001 Critical Days’ recognised the importance of continuity of care to improve outcomes. The Government has announced £10 million to trial innovative workforce pilots in a small number of local authorities. Funding will be available to selected authorities to establish teams with a range of skills, under the clinical leadership of health visitors. As part of the design and evaluation of the trials, continuity of care will be considered to ensure there is a key point of contact for each family within the multidisciplinary team.
We are investing in developing a diverse and highly skilled workforce by trialing and evaluating innovative workforce models. Funding will be available to five local authorities to establish teams with a range of skills under the clinical leadership of health visitors. These new roles within teams will be provided with specialist training where specific needs have been identified, such as perinatal mental health needs. The investment in trialing, evaluating and testing the value of different approaches will identify best practice models and ensure families receive the support they need.
The workforce trials will run for two years. We will design a robust approach to evaluate the impact of this approach against key metrics, including the impact on the experience and wellbeing of families and babies. A range of areas will be selected to improve our understanding of what approaches work in different settings.
It is a legal requirement for all prepacked foods to be fully labelled with an ingredient list. Therefore, if yeast or yeast extract is used as an ingredient in a prepacked food at any level, it must be included in the ingredient list. If one of the 14 major allergens defined in legislation is present in a pre-packed food, it must be emphasised within the ingredient list to distinguish it from other ingredients. Yeast is not currently included in the 14 major allergens. Any additions to this list would only be made based on relevant scientific evidence and views gathered through public consultation.
For those who are hypersensitive to foods not in the major allergens list, the Food Standards Agency recommends that consumers check the ingredients list on prepacked food and speak to businesses when they purchase non-pre-packed food.
NHS England and NHS Improvement and Health Education England are working with the profession to increase the general practitioner (GP) workforce in England. This includes measures on recruitment, to address the reasons why doctors leave the profession and encourage them to return to practice.
The updated GP Contract Framework for 2020/21 announced a number of new retention schemes alongside continued support for existing schemes. These schemes include the GP Retention Scheme, the International Induction Programme, the Return to Practice Programme, the Fellowship Programme, the New to Partnership Payment and Supporting Mentors Scheme. Last year, 3,793 doctors started GP training and we are committed to increasing the number of training places available to 4,000 a year.
The information requested is shown in the following table.
Date/year | Payment description | Amount paid including VAT |
1 January 2016 to 31 December 2016 | Diversity Champions annual membership | £3,000 |
1 January 2017 to 31 December 2017 | Diversity Champions annual membership | £3,000 |
25 October 2017 | Fee for attending the Stonewall Workplace conference on 22 September 2017 | £240 |
1 January 2018 to 31 December 2018 | Diversity Champions annual membership | £3,000 |
1 January 2019 to 31 December 2019 | Diversity Champions annual membership | £3,000 |
1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020 | Diversity Champions annual membership | £3,000 |
As of February 2021, the Department’s membership with Stonewall has ended.
On 14 September 2021, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation advised that individuals who were vaccinated in phase one of the COVID-19 vaccination programme should be offered a booster vaccine. This includes those in the chronic respiratory disease (CRD) clinical risk group. In phase one, those with asthma needing continuous or repeated use of systemic steroids or required hospital admission were included in the CRD risk group.
On 16 September, the Green Book definition of asthma was updated to state that those with ‘poorly controlled asthma’ would be eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine booster dose. This includes individuals who have had two or more courses of oral corticosteroids in the preceding 24 months; or are on maintenance oral corticosteroids; or have had one or more hospital admission(s) for asthma in the preceding 24 months. A specific assessment of the impact of the revised definition of poorly controlled asthma has not been made.
The potential merits of using the influenza clinical risk groups as a potential way to identify and prioritise individuals for COVID-19 vaccination was assessed during the development of phase one recommendations for the primary COVID-19 vaccination programme. However, when evaluating the data, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation found that there were differences between those at high risk of severe flu and those at high risk of severe COVID-19 infection.
The COVID-19 booster vaccine programme follows the priority groups one to nine in phase one of the programme to be offered a third dose of vaccine six months after their primary course.
The Department has, since 2018, owned a number of properties adjacent to the Barts Royal London Hospital Site, which are vacant or being vacated and held for redevelopment as a life science cluster. Of these, three properties are classified as heritage assets detailed in the following table along with the most recent estimate of the value of those properties where available and any annual income derived from those properties:
Heritage status | Asset | Book Value | Income |
Listed | 34 Mount Terrace, London E1 | £620,000 | NIL |
Within a conservation area | Former Outpatients Department, Stepney Way, E1 | Part of larger plot - not individually valued | NIL |
Within a conservation area | Ambrose King Centre, Turner Street, E1 | Part of larger plot - not individually valued | £251,875 per year |
The information is not held in the format requested.
The Department does not hold the data requested.
The data requested is not collected centrally.
NHS England and NHS Improvement have worked closely with trusts to adopt the actions set out in the guidance and to remove barriers which prevent parental presence in neonatal units. The guidance is clear that parents of babies in neonatal critical care are partners in care and should not be considered to be visitors.
While we have no plans to implement the specific recommendations made by NHS Providers, we are working to the same aims as we focus on restoring services. These ambitions, to increase capacity, invest in diagnostics, achieve efficiency and productivity gains, improve pathways, and use technology to improve patient care, are reflected in the National Health Service priorities and operational planning guidance for this year.
We are supporting a series of innovation initiatives to help reduce waiting list backlogs, including a pathway improvement programme, community diagnostic hubs and an elective accelerator programme. These innovations will help speed up diagnosis, increase capacity and reduce the length of hospital stays, with the latest data suggesting that 86.9% of procedures are carried out without an overnight stay. We hope to see further innovation delivered rapidly across NHS services to increase treatment capacity and improve patient experience, for those with heart valve disease and other conditions.
In England, decisions about local fertility services are determined by clinical commissioning groups, taking account of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) fertility guidelines.
The NICE guidelines were updated in 2013 to include provision for same sex female couples, who have demonstrated their clinical infertility. The criteria in the guidelines were developed as a way of achieving equivalence between opposite-sex and same-sex couples in establishing clinical infertility and accessing National Health Service fertility treatment services. The guidelines are now due for review and the Department has started discussions with NICE about plans for such a review.
Current clinical commissioning policy is that mercaptamine hydrochloride eye drops are not recommended to be available as a treatment option through routine commissioning for corneal cystine deposits, following the prioritisation process undertaken by NHS England and NHS Improvement in July 2020. However, NHS England and NHS Improvement have determined that there is sufficient clinical evidence to consider commissioning mercaptamine hydrochloride eye drops. This treatment will therefore be considered at the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group prioritisation meeting in May 2021, along with a number of other treatments being considered for funding.
This funding will allow an additional 22,500 children and young people to access community mental health services and an additional 2,000 children and young people to able to access eating disorder services compared to what was planned as part of the NHS Long Term Plan, and will accelerate the roll-out of mental health support teams in schools so that we reach our target of 20-25% coverage a year earlier than planned.
The funding is being made available to support the 2021/22 National Health Service operational planning and contracting round which is ongoing. Through this process, local systems will work with their partner organisations, including clinical commissioning groups and local authorities, to agree their mental health finance planning for financial year 2021/22.
‘Implementing the Recommendations of the Neonatal Critical Care Transformation Review’ sets out an action for Local Maternity Systems (LMS) and Neonatal Operational Delivery Networks (NODN) to work together to profile the provision in local providers by reviewing the extent to which providers are integrating families into care, which should also include information on and access to emotional wellbeing and psychological support and the provision of resources and accommodation. NHS England and NHS Improvement asked LMS and NODNs to develop action plans to address any gaps.
The NHS Long Term Plan committed to enhance the experience of families with a child in neonatal critical care. From 2021/22, care coordinators will work with families within each of the clinical neonatal networks to support families to become more involved in the care of their baby.
NHS Digital publishes Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) workforce statistics. These include staff working in hospital trusts and clinical commissioning groups, excluding staff working in primary care, local authorities or other providers.
As at August 2019 there were 287,458 full time equivalent (FTE) nurse and health visitors working in the HCHS workforce, 322,810 headcount.
Data for March 2021 is not yet available. In November 2020, the latest period for which data for FTE and headcount is available, there were 307,227 FTE nurse and health visitors working in the National Health Service, or 343,240 headcount.
NHS Digital publishes Hospital and Community Health Services workforce statistics. These include staff working in hospital trusts and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), but not staff working in primary care, local authorities or other providers.
The number of nurses and health visitors joining hospitals and CCGs between August 2019 and November 2020 was 50,904. This is based on headcount.
The Pregnancy Loss Review Advisory Panel last met on 24 October 2018. The report is expected to be published in 2021.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency will publish details of all suspected reactions reported in association with available COVID-19 vaccines shortly, including narrative assessment of the data and any issues identified on our website.
We are working to provide all Members and external correspondents with accurate answers to their correspondence, as well as supporting the Government’s response to the unprecedented challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The hon. Member’s letter will be answered as soon as possible.
Local authority public health grant allocations for 2021-22 will be subject to a detailed financial planning exercise and finalised in due course.
Measures to limit the transmission of COVID-19 in hospitals should not lead to unnecessary separation of mother and babies.
The Department expects clinicians to provide care in keeping with clinical guidelines. Guidance on COVID-19 infection in pregnancy published by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Royal College of Midwives states that women and their healthy babies should be kept together in the immediate postpartum period if they do not otherwise require maternal critical care or neonatal care. Women with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 should be supported to remain together with their baby and to practice skin-to-skin/kangaroo care, if the newborn does not require additional medical care.
Guidance produced by the British Association of Perinatal Medicine sets out that a mother and her newborn should have unrestricted contact when admission to a neonatal unit is unavoidable.
Our ambition in the NHS Long Term Plan is to create a comprehensive offer for 0-25 year olds that reaches across mental health services for children, young people and adults.
Through the Plan we are increasing mental health funding by at least an additional £2.3 billion a year by 2023/24. This will see an additional 345,000 children and young people, and 370,000 adults, accessing specialist mental health care if they need it.
In addition, the Rt hon. Member for South Northamptonshire (Andrea Leadsom MP) is leading a new review, commissioned by the Prime Minister, into improving health outcomes of babies and young children. The review will consider the barriers that impact on early-years development, including social and emotional factors and early childhood experiences.
She is expected to submit her findings and policy recommendations from the first phase of the Review into Early Years Health in January 2021. This will contribute to the Government’s vision for excellence in early-years health.
This information is collected by NHS Digital via the mental health services dataset. However, data cannot be provided in the format requested until an agreed methodology is in place based on recent changes to the way the data is collected.
Public Health England does not collect health visitor redeployment data, decisions regarding deployment is locally determined.
Supporting babies and families has been a priority for local authorities, National Health Service community services and community restoration. Health visiting services have remained in contact with families during the pandemic and will continue to provide interventions and support through a mixture of face to face and virtual contacts prioritising very young babies and vulnerable families.
NHS England and NHS Improvement lead on the implementation of the COVID-19 vaccination programme. This information is not held centrally as it is a local commissioning decision.
‘The Independent Pregnancy Loss Review: Care and support when baby loss occurs before 24 weeks gestation’ was commissioned by the Department. The purpose of the review is to consider the impact on families of the current threshold of 24 weeks gestation before being able to formally register a miscarriage if they so wish, and whether it would be beneficial to look at legislative options to amend existing primary legislation to allow parents to register a miscarriage if they wish to do so.
Good progress has been made on the review, but work was delayed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Work has resumed and the review now plans to report to the Secretary of State for Health in the new year.
Responsibility for commissioning of health visiting services transferred to local authorities in October 2015. Local authorities are best placed to respond to the needs of their local population through commissioning National Health Service trusts and private sector organisations to provide health visiting services.
There is no single source that counts health visitors across the whole public sector.
NHS Digital publishes Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) workforce statistics. These include staff working in hospital trusts and clinical commissioning groups, but not staff working in primary care, general practitioner surgeries, local authorities or other providers.
The following table shows the number of HCHS health visitors as at September each year since 2010 and July 2020, the latest available data, full time equivalent (FTE).
HCHS health visitors, FTE | |
September 2010 | 7,849 |
September 2011 | 7,802 |
September 2012 | 7,687 |
September 2013 | 8,304 |
September 2014 | 9,162 |
September 2015 | 10,236 |
September 2016 | 9,521 |
September 2017 | 8,497 |
September 2018 | 7,884 |
September 2019 | 7,063 |
July 2020 | 6,644 |
Source: NHS Workforce Statistics
NHS Digital also collects and publishes data on staff, including health visitors, in some English independent sector healthcare organisations. These statistics do not represent the entire independent sector workforce as only 59 organisations provided data for September 2019.
The following table shows the number of FTE independent sector health visitors as at September each year since 2015 to 2019, this is the latest available data.
| Independent sector health visitors, FTE |
September 2015 | 957 |
September 2016 | 1,132 |
September 2017 | 1,240 |
September 2018 | 1,085 |
September 2019 | 1,147 |
Source: NHS Digital. Independent Healthcare Provider Workforce Statistics
We are aware that the adult social care insurance market is changing in response to the pandemic and recognise that some care providers may encounter difficulties as their policies come up for renewal. We have heard from a small number of charities working in the care sector about challenges with insurance and possible implications for their trustees. We continue to work closely with insurance representatives and care providers to better understand the breadth and severity of such issues, and whether there is any action the Government should take.
Health visitor service delivery metrics are collected and published on a quarterly basis by Public Health England. The latest figures relate to October to December 2019, the statistics relate to all children resident in a local area, characteristics of the child such as if they are on child in need or child protection plans are not recorded. Annual data for 2019/20 will be published in February 2021. The delivery metrics are available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/health-visitor-service-delivery-metrics-2019-to-2020
No timescales for national data collection from local areas for 2020/21 activity have been established. Virtual contacts will be counted as valid, mandated service delivery for data for 2020/21 during the period of the pandemic response.
The data is published on Skills for Care’s website at the following link:
On 18 April, the Government announced a further £1.6 billion to be made available to provide essential services and support to those who need it most.
NHS England and NHS Improvement have been working with local government to modify and prioritise community health services. This has been compiled in line with clinical advice, with community health services prioritising service delivery so that the most urgent needs continue to be met. Health visiting services are continuing to deliver the healthy child programme predominantly via virtual methods, with health visitors encouraged to identify children that require a home visit.
Mental health services are working around the clock to support people with mental health issues through the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Providers are seeking to maximise the use of digital and virtual channels to keep supporting existing and new service users.
The ‘COVID-19 Prioritisation within Community Health Services’ guidance was published on 19 March and provides advice to National Health Service organisations and to local authorities on the provision of community services at this time.
Decisions regarding redeployment of staff during COVID-19 are for health organisations and local authorities.
The department does not hold the data requested.
The department does not hold the data requested.
The information requested is not held centrally.
Work on the Pregnancy Loss Review is ongoing and we expect to publish a report in 2020.
The Healthy Child Programme is a universal offer for all children in England. The latest data, for the financial year 2018/19, shows that 77.6% (521,528) of children aged two to two-and-a-half years received their Universal Health Visitor Review. These data are available to view at the following link:
Local authorities commission and monitor the provision of the Healthy Child Programme based on local population needs.
Public Health England is undertaking a systematic review and refresh of the Healthy Child Programme in England. The refresh will ensure that the future approach is both universal in reach and personalised in response to those families needing extra support. It is proposed that the programme will extend coverage from the pre-conception period until age 24 years.
The five mandated Universal Health Visitor Reviews (antenatal, new birth visit, six to eight week review, one-year review and two to two-and-a half year review) will remain a core element of the Healthy Child Programme.
The UK Government is clear that there is no military solution to the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. We continue to raise the urgent need to resolve the conflict through negotiations in direct talks with the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides, as well as through the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the United Nations Security Council. The UK Government, including Ministers and our Ambassadors in Baku and Yerevan, continue to engage with both parties to the conflict to encourage a sustainable, peaceful settlement that will underpin stability and security in the region.
The UK Government has publicly highlighted the importance of re-opening the Lachin Corridor and addressing the humanitarian needs of the local population, including at the United Nations Security Council on 16 August 2023. The UK has a strong record of supporting humanitarian responses in this region and FCDO officials are in close contact with humanitarian agencies about the current situation. The START FUND, a humanitarian response fund to which the UK is a significant donor, has allocated £350,000 to the region to support those affected by the closure of the Lachin Corridor.
As noted in my [Minister Docherty] letter to the Member for East Worthing and Shoreham of 13 April, I am due to visit Armenia during the week commencing 22 May, and would welcome the opportunity to meet with him and the wider All Party Parliamentary Group for Armenia in due course.
The UK's long-standing position has been to support the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan within its internationally recognised borders, which include Nagorno Karabakh. The UK Government is clear that there is no military solution to the conflict in Nagorno Karabakh, and we continue to urge the parties to the conflict to de-escalate tensions and to engage in substantive negotiations, without preconditions, to reach a peaceful settlement which preserves the security of the population.
The UK Government is committed to supporting UK businesses to engage with China in a way that reflects the UK's values and takes account of national security concerns.
The UK Government has made clear that the closure of the Lachin corridor risks severe humanitarian consequences. I [Minister Docherty] issued a statement highlighting the importance of re-opening the Lachin corridor on 13 December. Our Embassies in Baku and Yerevan continue to urge the Governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan to abide by all commitments in relation to the Lachin corridor in good faith and to settle the remaining conflict issues as soon as possible. The UK has spoken at the Organization for Security Co-operation in Europe and at the United Nations Security Council, as well as in Baku, to urge the immediate reopening of the corridor given the risk of severe humanitarian consequences.
The UK Government has made clear that the closure of the Lachin corridor risks severe humanitarian consequences. I [Minister Docherty] issued a statement highlighting the importance of re-opening the Lachin corridor on 13 December. Our Embassies in Baku and Yerevan continue to urge the Governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan to abide by all commitments in relation to the Lachin corridor in good faith and to settle the remaining conflict issues as soon as possible. The UK has spoken at the Organization for Security Co-operation in Europe and at the United Nations Security Council, as well as in Baku, to urge the immediate reopening of the corridor given the risk of severe humanitarian consequences.
The UK voted in support of the resolution to renew the mandate of the Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen. The Group had a crucial role to play in providing ongoing reporting on the actions of parties. We continue to urge the parties involved to investigate these allegations and take action to promote and protect human rights. Yemen remains a human rights priority country for the UK. We urge all parties to respect International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law and we aim to help create the conditions for the legitimate Government to improve its capacity to protect human rights.
The UK plays a leading diplomatic role in Yemen, we continue to encourage the parties to engage in the UN-led peace process and maximise our role as the penholder at the UN Security Council to extend the truce. We are providing technical advice, engaging with regional actors and the UN and supporting discussions on the economic, security and political future of Yemen. Yemenis experienced significant tangible benefits from the truce and the UK urges all parties to refrain from provocations, engage with the Special Envoy on his proposals and protect progress so far.
The apparent behaviour of Consulate-General officials during the incident in Manchester on 16 October, as it appears from the footage, is completely unacceptable. We await details of the police investigation. In the meantime, the UK Government has delivered clear messages to the Chinese Embassy in London and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing about the depth of our concern. If the police determine there are grounds to charge any officials, we would expect the Chinese consulate to waive immunity for those officials.
A planning application for a new Chinese Embassy is currently before the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. As the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has a quasi-judicial role in the planning system, it would not be appropriate to comment on the merits of the proposal, as it could come before Ministers at some point in the future.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has not provided funding to Global Butterflies in the last five years.
As noted in the response provided on 8 November the FCDO works closely with a range of civil society organisations, including Stonewall, to defend the human rights of LGBT+ people around the world. Stonewall is a world leading organisation supporting for the protection and promotion of the human rights of LGBT+ people. The UK and Argentina currently co-chair the Equal Rights Coalition alongside Stonewall as one of three civil society co-chairs. The Equal Rights Coalition, an international grouping of 42 countries and over 120 civil society organisations committed to advancing LGBT+ rights around the world.
The following is a detailed breakdown of funding provided to Stonewall since 2018. This is based on financial year reporting whereas Stonewall reports against calendar years accounting for differences. We acknowledge a discrepancy in the figure previously provided, which is due to technical complications caused by the legacy departments' different accounting systems.
2021/22: £45,000
2020/21: £549,190
2019/20: £201,375.55
2018/19: £143,457
The UK Government is fully committed to the promotion, protection, and realisation of children's rights, and to the principles laid out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Children are a central part of the FCDO's work, whether through ensuring access to quality education and healthcare, or through protecting them from violence, and working to end child marriage.
The FCDO recently collaborated with the Bond Child Rights Working Group to hold a learning session on child rights, and specifically the international child rights framework. We are considering further capability development sessions on child rights issues in 2022 based on knowledge needs across the department, and will continue to work closely with the BOND Child Rights Working Group as we develop these plans.
The UK is committed to the principle of non-discrimination on any grounds, including on the basis of sexual orientation and/or gender identity. The FCDO works closely with a range of civil society organisations, including Stonewall, to defend the human rights of LGBT+ people around the world. Stonewall is widely recognised as a world-leading advocate in this space. As co-chair of the Equal Rights Coalition, the UK is working with Stonewall and two other civil society co-chairs to deliver on our collective ambition to ensure that all LGBT+ people can live their lives free from the discrimination and violence that persists today. The following details funding provided to Stonewall as part of our international programming work:
2021/22: £80,000; 2020/21: £140,219; 2019/20: £105,459.55; 2018/19: £101,426
Projects include:
As the Government has previously made clear, no decisions have yet been made about Government attendance at the Beijing Olympics in 2022.
As the Government has previously made clear, no decisions have yet been made about Government attendance at the Beijing Olympics in 2022.
On 12 January, the Government committed to review existing export controls as they apply to China to identify whether we can bring into scope any additional goods which could be used for internal repression or human rights violations in Xinjiang. This review is ongoing and the Department for International Trade will report back to Parliament on the outcome of the review in due course.
Border restrictions are the prerogative of the receiving state. Norway will exempt travellers who are fully vaccinated with a European Medicines Agency approved vaccine from presenting evidence of a negative test on arrival, completing an entry registration form, being tested at the border or quarantining after arrival. As outlined on FCDO Travel advice, this can be evidenced by UK travellers through presenting the NHS COVID Pass with a verifiable QR code (or their Devolved Administration equivalents).
Those who have been vaccinated with one of the 5 million doses of AstraZeneca/Vaxzevria manufactured in India but deployed in the UK's rollout do not need to have their vaccine recognised separately. All AstraZeneca vaccines given in the UK are the same product and appear on the NHS COVID Pass as Vaxzevria. The European Medicines Agency has authorised Vaxzevria and we're confident that travel to Norway should not be affected. Where there have been instances of confusion about the vaccine used in the UK, our officials have worked to clarify those misunderstandings with the governments concerned.
As stated in my answer to Question 44163, Historic England's Government Historic Estate Unit holds all information on Heritage Assets owned by the UK Government. The FCDO does not collate or collect data on the value or income derived from these properties.
The FCDO is advised on the management of designated heritage assets in its portfolio by Historic England's Government Historic Estate Unit. Further details can be found here: https://historicengland.org.uk/services-skills/our-planning-services/advice-for-government-historic-estates/. The FCDO does not collect or collate data on the value (property value) or income data for these assets.
We expect the final report to be completed in the near future. We remain in close contact with our European partners and continue to press for completion and publication of the review as soon as possible. We will review the findings carefully before deciding on any next steps.
British diplomats last visited the Tibet Autonomous Region in July 2019, following a request for access by our Embassy in Beijing. We periodically request access to the Tibet Autonomous Region, but did not do so in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic and related reasons. A British Ambassador has not visited Tibet since 2017. Our Ambassador is the UK representative to the whole of China and we believe it is important she is able to visit all parts of the country. We have not requested access to Tibetans in detention. Our consular access is limited to British nationals. However, we continue to express our concerns about the human rights situation in the Tibet Autonomous Region with the Chinese authorities, and call on them to uphold the rights of all citizens guaranteed in international law and China's own constitution.
The UK Government is deeply concerned by all allegations that prisoners of war have been subjected to cruel, degrading or inhuman treatment. During my recent visits to Armenia and Azerbaijan, I urged both parties to ensure thorough investigations into all allegations, and welcomed those Azerbaijani investigations already underway. I also underlined the importance of returning all prisoners of war and urged both parties to work closely with the ICRC to expedite the returns where relevant. I also encouraged both sides to abide by the 10 November trilateral peace deal and settle all outstanding matters through talks under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group. The UK Government welcomes the most recent exchange of prisoners of war on 10 February.
As noted, the Prime Minister announced on 19 February that the majority of any surplus COVID-19 vaccines would be shared with the COVAX international vaccine procurement pool. We cannot yet say when we will have a surplus, including because of uncertainty over how many doses will be needed to deal with new variants or to administer boosters. Funding mechanisms, including the implications for our commitment to spend 0.5% of GNI as Official Development Assistance in 2021, will be set out in more detail if and when a surplus has been identified.
Our Ambassador in Ankara has raised our concerns about this issue with the relevant authorities in the Turkish Government. We will continue to encourage best practice when it comes to preserving the collection.
VAT has been designed as a broad-based tax on consumption, and the twenty per cent standard rate applies to many goods and services, including pet food.
The Government keeps all taxes under review and continues to welcome representations on how the tax system can be improved.
The information is not available. HMRC does not hold information on VAT revenue from specific products or services because businesses are not required to provide figures at a product level on their VAT returns, as this would impose an excessive administrative burden.
Following Lord Morse’s Independent Loan Charge Review in 2019, HMRC established the Disguised Remuneration (DR) Repayment Scheme 2020 to repay voluntary payments that taxpayers had agreed to make as part of settlements concluded before changes were made to the scope of the Loan Charge. Individuals and employers had until 30 September 2021 to apply to HMRC for a refund or waiver.
HMRC repays amounts that were paid in DR scheme settlements, and/or waives amounts of instalments due that have not yet been paid if certain conditions are met.
By the end of November 2022, HMRC had processed approximately 2400 applications, of which approximately 1375 had received either a repayment, a waiver, or both. Over 1000 of the applications processed at that date were either invalid or ineligible.
The UK has continued to make clear to the mainland Chinese and Hong Kong authorities our strong opposition to the National Security Law, which is being used to curtail freedoms, punish dissent and shrink the space for opposition, free press and civil society.
We can also pursue an economic relationship with China in a safe, mutually beneficial way without compromising our values. UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogues (EFDs) provide a key mechanism for doing this. We have always been clear that our economic relationship does not come at the expense of human rights, and where we have concerns, we will continue to speak out and act.
Year | Annual membership subscription fee |
2016-17 | 0 |
2017-18 | £3000 |
2018-19 | £3000 |
2020-21 | £3000 |
2021-22 | £3000 |
The Treasury has not allocated any project funding to Stonewall over the past five years.
HM Treasury is advised on the management of designated heritage assets in its portfolio by Historic England’s Government Historic Estate Unit. Further details can be found here:
HM Treasury does not collect or collate data on the value (property value) or income data for these assets.
Revenue from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy is not formally linked to any specific spending, nor do we take applications for funding. Departmental spend to tackle obesity and promote children’s health is allocated through Spending Reviews.
The Government has provided enhanced support through business rates relief to businesses occupying properties used for retail, hospitality and leisure given the direct and acute impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on those sectors.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has published guidance for local authorities on eligible properties. As set out in the guidance, support is targeted at premises that are wholly or mainly being used as shops, restaurants, cafes, drinking establishments, cinemas and live music venues; for assembly and leisure; or as hotels, guest and boarding premises, and self-catering accommodation. It is for local authorities to determine eligibility for reliefs, having regard to guidance issued by the Government.
A range of further measures to support all businesses, including those not eligible for the business rates holiday, such as wholesalers, has also been made available.
The Government recognises that this is a very challenging time for businesses in a wide variety of sectors. Small businesses occupying properties for retail, hospitality or leisure purposes are likely to be particularly affected by COVID-19 due to their reliance on customer footfall, and the fact that they are less likely than larger businesses to have sufficient cash reserves to meet their high fixed property-related costs. The Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund (RHLGF) is intended to help small businesses in this situation.
Local Authorities (LAs) can choose to make discretionary grants to businesses in supply chains, like the wholesale food and drink sector, if they feel there is a particular local economic need. The Government has allocated up to an additional £617 million to LAs to enable them to give discretionary grants. While food and drink wholesalers are not one of the priority groups which Government has asked LAs to focus on, LAs may choose to make payments to businesses outside of these priority groups if they feel there is a local economic need to do so, so long as the business was trading on 11th March, and has not received any other cash grant funded by central Government (with the exception of grants from the SEISS).
Small businesses which are not eligible for business grants should still be able to benefit from other elements of the Government’s unprecedented package of support. The Business Support website provides further information about how businesses can access the support that has been made available, who is eligible, when the schemes open and how to apply - https://www.gov.uk/business-coronavirus-support-finder.
The UK and Switzerland have a strong and established relationship on financial services, with a large volume of cross-border financial services trade.
To ensure continuity in our relationship, the government has converted all equivalence decisions that the European Union currently has with Switzerland (with the exception of Central Clearing Counterparties equivalence), into UK domestic law. This means that they will continue to apply when the transition period ends.
The ability for HM Treasury to make equivalence decisions becomes active from the end of the Transition Period. After this time, HM Treasury will be able to grant equivalence to non-EEA jurisdictions. The UK is committed to maintaining an outcomes-based model of equivalence which recognises that a combination of different rules and supervisory practices may be used to achieve the same levels of resilient, market integrity, consumer protection, and financial stability.
HMRC has published the number of CTF and contributions in the following publications for the years requested. The following links provide the last edition of these publications.
Link to “Child Trust Fund Statistical Report” – https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/255886/statistical-report.pdf
Link to “Child Trust Funds: detailed distributional analysis” - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/255881/dda.pdf
HMRC does not have records of, nor have they made any estimations of, CTF accounts where the child or their parents is unaware of which firm is maintaining the account. CTF providers are required in legislation to send out regular statements to the contact for the account. However, although the primary relationship is between the account provider and the child’s parents, if they don’t know which provider is managing their child’s account, they can use the following online form to track the account.
https://www.gov.uk/child-trust-funds
HMRC estimates the market value of all Child Trust Funds (as at 2015-16), which will start to be eligible to be accessed by their beneficial holder from September 2020, to be £7,450 m. This estimate used the latest complete Child Trust Fund information available to HMRC – relating to 2015-16. This may not necessarily be reflective of the market value the accounts when they reach maturity.
A complete list of authorised Child Trust Fund Providers is held at the following webpage: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/list-of-authorised-child-trust-fund-providers/child-trust-fund-account-providers
HMRC has published the number of CTF and contributions in the following publications for the years requested. The following links provide the last edition of these publications.
Link to “Child Trust Fund Statistical Report” – https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/255886/statistical-report.pdf
Link to “Child Trust Funds: detailed distributional analysis” - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/255881/dda.pdf
HMRC does not have records of, nor have they made any estimations of, CTF accounts where the child or their parents is unaware of which firm is maintaining the account. CTF providers are required in legislation to send out regular statements to the contact for the account. However, although the primary relationship is between the account provider and the child’s parents, if they don’t know which provider is managing their child’s account, they can use the following online form to track the account.
https://www.gov.uk/child-trust-funds
HMRC estimates the market value of all Child Trust Funds (as at 2015-16), which will start to be eligible to be accessed by their beneficial holder from September 2020, to be £7,450 m. This estimate used the latest complete Child Trust Fund information available to HMRC – relating to 2015-16. This may not necessarily be reflective of the market value the accounts when they reach maturity.
A complete list of authorised Child Trust Fund Providers is held at the following webpage: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/list-of-authorised-child-trust-fund-providers/child-trust-fund-account-providers
HMRC has published the number of CTF and contributions in the following publications for the years requested. The following links provide the last edition of these publications.
Link to “Child Trust Fund Statistical Report” – https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/255886/statistical-report.pdf
Link to “Child Trust Funds: detailed distributional analysis” - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/255881/dda.pdf
HMRC does not have records of, nor have they made any estimations of, CTF accounts where the child or their parents is unaware of which firm is maintaining the account. CTF providers are required in legislation to send out regular statements to the contact for the account. However, although the primary relationship is between the account provider and the child’s parents, if they don’t know which provider is managing their child’s account, they can use the following online form to track the account.
https://www.gov.uk/child-trust-funds
HMRC estimates the market value of all Child Trust Funds (as at 2015-16), which will start to be eligible to be accessed by their beneficial holder from September 2020, to be £7,450 m. This estimate used the latest complete Child Trust Fund information available to HMRC – relating to 2015-16. This may not necessarily be reflective of the market value the accounts when they reach maturity.
A complete list of authorised Child Trust Fund Providers is held at the following webpage: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/list-of-authorised-child-trust-fund-providers/child-trust-fund-account-providers
HMRC has published the number of CTF and contributions in the following publications for the years requested. The following links provide the last edition of these publications.
Link to “Child Trust Fund Statistical Report” – https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/255886/statistical-report.pdf
Link to “Child Trust Funds: detailed distributional analysis” - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/255881/dda.pdf
HMRC does not have records of, nor have they made any estimations of, CTF accounts where the child or their parents is unaware of which firm is maintaining the account. CTF providers are required in legislation to send out regular statements to the contact for the account. However, although the primary relationship is between the account provider and the child’s parents, if they don’t know which provider is managing their child’s account, they can use the following online form to track the account.
https://www.gov.uk/child-trust-funds
HMRC estimates the market value of all Child Trust Funds (as at 2015-16), which will start to be eligible to be accessed by their beneficial holder from September 2020, to be £7,450 m. This estimate used the latest complete Child Trust Fund information available to HMRC – relating to 2015-16. This may not necessarily be reflective of the market value the accounts when they reach maturity.
A complete list of authorised Child Trust Fund Providers is held at the following webpage: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/list-of-authorised-child-trust-fund-providers/child-trust-fund-account-providers
HMRC has published the number of CTF and contributions in the following publications for the years requested. The following links provide the last edition of these publications.
Link to “Child Trust Fund Statistical Report” – https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/255886/statistical-report.pdf
Link to “Child Trust Funds: detailed distributional analysis” - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/255881/dda.pdf
HMRC does not have records of, nor have they made any estimations of, CTF accounts where the child or their parents is unaware of which firm is maintaining the account. CTF providers are required in legislation to send out regular statements to the contact for the account. However, although the primary relationship is between the account provider and the child’s parents, if they don’t know which provider is managing their child’s account, they can use the following online form to track the account.
https://www.gov.uk/child-trust-funds
HMRC estimates the market value of all Child Trust Funds (as at 2015-16), which will start to be eligible to be accessed by their beneficial holder from September 2020, to be £7,450 m. This estimate used the latest complete Child Trust Fund information available to HMRC – relating to 2015-16. This may not necessarily be reflective of the market value the accounts when they reach maturity.
A complete list of authorised Child Trust Fund Providers is held at the following webpage: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/list-of-authorised-child-trust-fund-providers/child-trust-fund-account-providers
The UK has a proud history of providing protection to those who need it. All asylum claims are considered on a case-by-case basis in line with published policy including those raised by Hong Kong nationals.
Individuals from Hong Kong may also be able to apply for the Hong Kong British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) route which reflects the UK’s historic and moral commitment to those people of Hong Kong who chose to retain their ties to the UK by taking up BN(O) status before Hong Kong’s handover to China. To be eligible, applicants must have BN(O) status, or be the eligible family member of someone with BN(O) status.
In November 2022, the BN(O) route was expanded to allow adult children of BN(O) status holders, aged 18 or over and who were born on or after 1 July 1997 to apply to the route independently. As of 31 March 2023, a total of 166,420 applications to the BN(O) route have been granted since its introduction.
The UK has a proud history of providing protection to those who need it. All asylum claims are considered on a case-by-case basis in line with published policy including those raised by Hong Kong nationals.
Individuals from Hong Kong may also be able to apply for the Hong Kong British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) route which reflects the UK’s historic and moral commitment to those people of Hong Kong who chose to retain their ties to the UK by taking up BN(O) status before Hong Kong’s handover to China. To be eligible, applicants must have BN(O) status, or be the eligible family member of someone with BN(O) status.
In November 2022, the BN(O) route was expanded to allow adult children of BN(O) status holders, aged 18 or over and who were born on or after 1 July 1997 to apply to the route independently. As of 31 March 2023, a total of 166,420 applications to the BN(O) route have been granted since its introduction.
The number of people who fall into irregular status due to the absence of a fee waiver for indefinite leave to remain applications does not form part of any current transparency data or migration statistics and is not published.
The number of people applying for renewal of limited leave to remain with a request for a discretionary grant of indefinite leave to remain under the five-year route to settlement concession outside of the Immigration Rules between 21 October 2021 and 19 June 2022 does not form part of any current transparency data or migration statistics and is not published.
However, the transparency data and migration statistics do include a range of processing data relating to family visas and can be found at:
www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data#uk-visas-and-immigration.
The letter of 19 April 2023 has been received by the Home Office and a response will be issued in due course.
Home Office officials continue to work collaboratively with the Children’s Commissioner’s Office in response to this request for information. We have introduced weekly meetings to provide the Children’s Commissioner’s office with progress updates directly and I have personally met with the Children’s Commissioner twice. We will continue to work through the required legislative and legal processes to ensure this request is managed in the right way which is essential when answering a request of this sensitivity and size.
The Government continually assesses potential threats in the UK, and takes protection of individuals’ rights, freedoms, and safety very seriously. The Home Office works closely with its partners to protect people identified as being at risk, and to ensure the UK is a safe and welcoming place for those who choose to settle here.
All attempts by foreign Governments to coerce, intimidate, harass or harm their critics overseas, undermining democracy and the rule of law, are unacceptable.
The Defending Democracy Taskforce was established last year to help protect the democratic integrity of the UK from foreign interference.
The UK has some of the toughest powers in the world to manage sex offenders and those who pose a risk, and we are committed to ensuring our system is as robust as it can be.
Registered sex offenders are required to notify their personal details to the police - including their name, date of birth and bank details - annually and whenever these details change. Failure to comply, including providing false information, is a criminal offence punishable by up to five years' imprisonment.
Data on registered sex offenders is published in the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) Annual Report. The most recent report was published by the Ministry of Justice on 27 October. It shows that on 31 March 2022, there were 66,741 registered sex offenders in England and Wales. Data on the number of registered sex offenders who have changed their name or gender are not centrally collected.
We have strengthened police powers through the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 with new provisions that came into force on 29 November. To help ensure our processes are as robust as possible, the Home Office has conducted an internal review into the issue of offenders changing their name and the name change process to ensure it as robust as possible.
The purpose of a criminal record certificate issued by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is to assist employers and others to make safer recruitment decisions by providing details of an individual’s criminal history. A criminal record certificate will include the individual’s gender and any other names that they may have used in the past.
The DBS also offers a sensitive applications route which takes into account both the Gender Recognition Act 2004 and the Equality Act 2010. This gives transgender applicants the choice not to have any gender or name information disclosed on their DBS certificate that could reveal their previous gender identity.
Those applying via the sensitive applications route are required by law to provide all name details to the DBS, including any previous identity, in the same way as applicants using the mainstream route. The criminal record certificate issued by the DBS will contain exactly the same criminal record information as a certificate obtained via the main route, including any relevant convictions, cautions or other information dating from when the applicant had a different gender identity.s
The purpose of a criminal record certificate issued by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is to assist employers and others to make safer recruitment decisions by providing details of an individual’s criminal history. A criminal record certificate will include the individual’s gender and any other names that they may have used in the past.
The DBS also offers a sensitive applications route which takes into account both the Gender Recognition Act 2004 and the Equality Act 2010. This gives transgender applicants the choice not to have any gender or name information disclosed on their DBS certificate that could reveal their previous gender identity.
Those applying via the sensitive applications route are required by law to provide all name details to the DBS, including any previous identity, in the same way as applicants using the mainstream route. The criminal record certificate issued by the DBS will contain exactly the same criminal record information as a certificate obtained via the main route, including any relevant convictions, cautions or other information dating from when the applicant had a different gender identity.s
All applicants for criminal record certificates issued by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) are required to sign a legal declaration confirming that they have disclosed both their current and previous identities. The DBS has systems in place, including working with HM Passport Office and the police, to verify identity and detect previous cautions and convictions an applicant may hold, including those obtained under a previous identity. Police forces supply all relevant nominal data to DBS to ensure that checks are as complete and robust as possible.
Ukrainian nationals who arrive in the UK through both the Homes for Ukraine and the Ukraine Family Scheme are permitted to work and have access to public funds and services, including those offered by Local Councils.
The Home Office does not routinely publish data on applications for Certificates of Sponsorship for overseas nationals waiting to start employment in the UK.
The Home Office Transparency data sets out how the Department is performing against its service standard. The latest published information can be found on the GOV.UK webpage at Sponsorship transparency data: Q3 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
This information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
A pilot was launched on 15 June 2022 with the purpose of establishing whether electronic monitoring is an effective way to improve and maintain regular contact management with asylum claimants who arrive in the UK via unnecessary and dangerous routes, in order to progress their immigration case.
The total numbers of migrants who have broken the conditions of tag is 151.
The Home Office collects and publishes data on the size of the police workforce in England and Wales on a biannual basis in the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, available here: Police workforce England and Wales statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). These data are collected by Police Force Area only and information at lower levels of geography, such as local authority are not held by the Home Office.
Data on the number of police officers and PCSOs in Sussex Police, on both a full-time equivalent (FTE) and a headcount basis are available in the Open Data Table that accompanies the release:
The deployment of officers across a police force area is a decision for operationally independent Chief Constables.
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) services require that applicants disclose all previous names and addresses so that they can process an application correctly and return accurate results.
The DBS provides a confidential service for transgender applicants in order to help protect their identity, via a dedicated ‘Sensitive’ application team. This process allows applicants to disclose previous gender/name information only to DBS so that the previous names are checked, but are not disclosed on the completed certificate unless criminal record information exists in that name.
On 25 March 2022, the Presidential Panel of the Upper Tribunal, concluded in their determination that: “It is amply sufficient to prove the matter on the balance of probabilities, which is the correct legal standard… we do not consider that the evidential burden on the respondent in these cases was discharged by only a narrow margin (as in SM and Qadir v SSHD)”.
In view of this, we do not believe there is a need to make any major change in our approach to ETS cases.
We believe the changes the Home Office has made since 2019 have already brought significant redress this includes grant leave to many who might have otherwise been refused.
The Department will now look to update the casework guidance in light of RK and DK to ensure applicants are signposted to their right to obtain the voice recording of their TOEIC test from ETS. We believe, in light of the Upper Tribunal’s findings, this to be fairest and most objective way in which an individual can challenge the allegation before them.
The Government recognises and values the professionalism, dedication and sacrifice shown by volunteers involved in policing. Special constables, along with the full range of police volunteers, make a vital contribution to keeping our communities safe. They bring diverse and valuable skills that complement the roles officers and staff play in delivering the best service to the public.
It is up to Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to decide how best to recognise and reward their contribution and they have the flexibility to do so.
The Home Office collects and publishes data on the size of the police workforce in England and Wales on a biannual basis in the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, available here: Police workforce England and Wales statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Information on the number of special constable joiners in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales, covering the situation to 31 March each year, from 2007 onwards can be found in the ‘Joiners Open Data Table’ available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1005766/open-data-table-police-workforce-joiners-280721.ods
PINS are non-legislative tools and the Home Office has not collected information centrally on the number issued.
Responsibility for the publication of information by a police force sits with the Chief Constable. However, on the basis of information provided by the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the Home Office considers that the number of PINs issued since 2020 is likely to have been close to zero.
We are working at pace across government and with local authorities (LAs) to source appropriate accommodation for Afghan families who were evacuated to the UK.
Once properties are identified and referred to the Home Office, a matching exercise is undertaken which enables us to offer the property to a suitable family. Where possible, we will match families from local bridging hotels allowing them to remain in the area where they may have started to form connections and settle.
The Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities have set up an online housing portal Afghanistan housing portal - offers of support - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) to allow people to submit offers of housing support for people who have arrived from Afghanistan. We are also engaging with landlords, letting agencies and industry bodies to promote the portal and encourage participation in the resettlement programme.
This includes a partnership with Rightmove to identify potential properties available in the private rented sector, providing councils with additional information to source appropriate properties.
We give families seven days’ notice of their move to long-term accommodation. This allows families time to prepare and discuss any concerns with their Home Office Liaison Officer. We also make them aware of their LA contacts.
Once families move, LAs will support them to settle and integrate, into their new community including help accessing local services such as a GP, schools and employment.
To assist with the successful integration of families to life in the UK we are piloting a ‘Jobs First Pilot’ in partnership with the Department of Work and Pensions. This pilot went live on 31 January. Participants will receive a range of support from Work Coaches to move into work. Importantly, participants will also receive support from a specialist cross government case working team to tackle non-employment barriers. LAs and charities are also actively supporting the pilot. The focus on both employment and non-employment barriers that prevent the take up of job offers will, it is hoped, increase the likelihood of a person moving into work, either in their current geographical area or in another part of the country.
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The UK has a proud track record of helping those who need our protection – and this will continue.
The Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) launched on 1 April 2021. More than 7,000 people have been relocated under ARAP so far, with more continuing to arrive.
The ARAP scheme remains open to eligible applicants.
The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) is separate to ARAP and commenced on 6th January, providing up to 20,000 women, children and others at risk with a safe and legal route to resettle in the UK.
Alongside our response to Afghanistan, the UK continues to welcome those most at risk, including refugees through the UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS), Community Sponsorship and Mandate Resettlement Schemes. Since 2015, we have resettled more than 26,000 refugees through safe and legal routes direct from regions of conflict and instability - around half of whom were children.
The Nationality and Borders Bill is the most significant overhaul of our asylum system in over two decades with the aim of promoting safe and legal routes. Only by tackling illegal migration can we effectively help those in greatest need. It will bring in a new, comprehensive, fair but firm long-term plan, which seeks to address the challenge of illegal migration head on, and to take down the serious organised criminals exploiting people and profiting from human misery.
The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme will provide up to 20,000 women, children and others at risk with a safe and legal route to resettle in the UK.
The scheme will prioritise those who have assisted UK efforts in Afghanistan and stood up for UK values such as democracy, women’s rights, freedom of speech and rule of law; and vulnerable people such as women and girls at risk, and members of minority groups (including ethnic / religious minorities and LGBT+).
Those we resettle will be prioritised according to risk and protection need. Further details on referral for resettlement can be found in the recent statement to Parliament on 6 January: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/oral-statement-on-the-afghan-citizens-resettlement-scheme
The capacity of the UK to resettle people is not unlimited, and therefore difficult decisions about who will be prioritised for resettlement will have to be made.
The UK is committed to working with our international partners to protect and promote the human rights of those in Afghanistan including cultural heritage workers, and encourage the international community to share our long-term interest in providing homes for those whose lives are at risk in Afghanistan.
The Home Office have no records of any such payments or grants.
The Government views any allegation of misuse of INTERPOL’s systems very seriously and works closely with INTERPOL to ensure the legitimacy of the Red Notice system.
Article 3 of INTERPOL’s Constitution forbids the organisation from undertaking any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character.
All Red Notices are subject to review by a multi-disciplinary Notices and Diffusions Task Force in INTERPOL prior to publication to ensure legal compliance and prevent abuse of INTERPOL systems. In November 2019 the Home Office seconded a lawyer to INTERPOL to support the work of the Taskforce. Furthermore, the Commission on the Control of INTERPOL’s Files (CCF) can provide additional scrutiny of Red Notices where requested by individuals.
We continue to monitor the effectiveness of existing safeguards and will not hesitate to recommend further reforms to Interpol as necessary.
The Home Office has not allocated any grant funding to Stonewall Equality Ltd in any of the last five years. However payments have been made as a supplier of services. Please see the table below which detail payments made in each of the last five years, and the reason for payment.
| Invoice Date | Amount £ | Description |
1 | 31-Mar-17 | 708.00 | Fee for attending the Stonewall Workplace Conference |
2 | 18-Aug-17 | 3,000.00 | Diversity Champions annual membership |
3 | 14-Feb-18 | 6,300.00 | Stonewall In-house Allies Programme |
4 | 02-May-18 | 813.60 | Fee for attending the Stonewall Workplace Conference |
5 | 22-Aug-18 | 3,000.00 | Diversity Champions membership |
6 | 16-Nov-18 | 1,200.00 | Fee for attending the Stonewall Scotland Workplace Conference |
7 | 26-Sep-19 | 3,000.00 | Diversity Champions membership |
8 | 05-Nov-20 | 3,000.00 | Diversity Champions Membership |
9 | 19-May-21 | 3,000.00 | Diversity Champions Membership |
10 | 31-May-21 | 240.00 | Network Group Masterclass |
The transfer of minors from hotel accommodation into Local Authority care is fluid and evolving and data is not held in a reportable way, to provide them would be done at a disproportionate cost.
We publish statistics on how many unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors are transferred into Local Authority care at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-year-ending-june-2021
The Home Office publishes data on returns in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’.
Data on the number of returns and by nationality to EU Member States are published in table Det_D01 of the returns detailed datasets. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to the year ending June 2020.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.
Providing the information requested on the number of those where removal did not proceed and the costs in each case would require a manual check of individual records which could only be done at disproportionate cost.
The Home Office publishes data on returns in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’.
Data on the number of returns and by nationality to EU Member States are published in table Det_D01 of the returns detailed datasets. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to the year ending June 2020.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.
Providing the information requested on the number of those where removal did not proceed and the costs in each case would require a manual check of individual records which could only be done at disproportionate cost.
The fee for a statutory civil partnership formation is set in line with the fee for a statutory marriage ceremony, and is prescribed in the Registration of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Fees) Regulations 2016.
Local authorities are required to offer a statutory civil partnership, where this fee will apply.
Local authorities may otherwise charge an additional fee for the civil partnership registrar’s attendance on approved premises. Guidance issued to local authorities sets out this additional fee should cover the cost of providing the service.
The failings of the Metropolitan Police Service in Operation Midland had devastating consequences for those falsely accused and also risked damaging the confidence of the public.
That is why the Home Secretary requested, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services conduct an inspection of the Metropolitan Police Service to ensure lessons have been learned.
We will continue to seek assurances from the Metropolitan Police that policy and practice is being changed so the failures are not repeated.
The police are responsible for assessing the suitability of those applying for the grant or renewal of firearm, shotgun and some explosives licences, to ensure that they do not pose a danger to public safety. Consideration of an applicant’s medical suitability is part of the assessment.
The Government consulted last year on the introduction of new statutory guidance to the police on their firearms licensing functions. The consultation included proposals for revised medical arrangements to ensure a more consistent approach in which forces do not grant a licence without sight of medical information from the applicant’s GP. We will publish the statutory guidance in due course following consideration of the responses to the consultation.
At the end of the Transition Period, the UK will no longer be bound by the Dublin Regulation. Any Dublin family reunion cases, which have entered the system prior to completion day will continue to be processed.
The Government provides a safe and legal route to bring families together through its refugee family reunion policy under the Immigration Rules. This allows a partner and children under 18 of those granted protection in the UK to join them here, if they formed part of the family unit before the sponsor fled their country. This will not change at the end of the Transition Period.
The leak of any Government information or material is not acceptable and the Government takes such incidents very seriously.
It has been the policy of successive Governments not to comment on security matters other than in exceptional circumstances.
Statistics on the number of firearm and shotgun certificates on issue are published annually but they do not identify whether a certificate holder is disabled or where a certificate is voluntarily given up by the holder.
Firearms controls in this country are among the toughest in the world. They are kept under review and strengthened whenever necessary to protect the public from the misuse of firearms. For example, the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 recently banned the manufacture and sale of rapid-firing rifles, owing to the serious threat they present should they fall into the hands of criminals or terrorists. Possession of such rifles will be banned following a surrender and compensation scheme later this year.
Senior officials from the Ministry of Defence have travelled to China to participate in discussions and international fora during the period specified.
As outlined in the Integrated Review Refresh 2023, the UK will engage directly with China, bilaterally and in international fora to preserve and create space for open, constructive, predictable and stable relations that reflect China's importance in world affairs.
Under Categories 1-2 of the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy only current or former Locally Employed Staff that were employed by Her Majesty's Government (HMG) or who were contracted to provide linguistic services in support of UK Armed Forces would be considered eligible for relocation to the UK.
There is some discretion under Category 4 of the ARAP to consider, on a case-by-case and exceptional basis, those who worked in meaningful enabling roles alongside HMG, in extraordinary and unconventional contexts, and where a responsible HMG unit builds a credible case for consideration under the scheme.
Individuals may also be eligible for the Afghan Citizens' Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) now up and running under the auspices of the Home Office. Through the ACRS, the UK will relocate up to 20,000 at risk Afghans so they can rebuild their lives in safety.
In my response to Question 103509 on 18 January and to Question 106613 on 21 January, the Army spent £17,181 in FY2017-18. £2,500 of this was for Stonewall Membership. The remaining £14,681 was spent on Stonewall Conferences as well Stonewall training courses which are purchased on an ad-hoc basis by the Army LGBT+ network. As the full breakdown and specifics are held on archived IT systems it would take time to retrieve and collate the information in a more granular format.
FY2017-18 | Cost |
Training | £13,641 |
Conference Fees | £1,040 |
Government policy is that financial records should be kept for up to seven years. Government departments and agencies’ accounts have to be laid before Parliament and are therefore preserved as published Parliamentary papers. Therefore, supporting documentation may be destroyed after any limitation periods have expired.
Ministry of Defence (MOD) staff do the best they can within the given time available to supply necessary information for Freedom of Information (FOI) requests and Parliamentary Questions (PQs). Staff strive to ensure the information supplied is as accurate as possible and, where inaccuracies or inconsistencies are later found, the Department will set the record straight at the earliest opportunity. It must be recognised that requests for large data sets, over many years, present a significant challenge to locate, retrieve, and extract information, especially where such data is not collated or held centrally and is dispersed among different branches of Defence. In cases where FOI/PQs are made for historic information before the advent of widespread electronic filing, this task is made yet harder where paper records need to be manually interrogated. This can be further complicated by the time constraints imposed by the nature of such requests. Where time is limited, in the case of Named Day PQs staff typically have around one working day or less, it is not always possible for staff to ensure all records are thoroughly reviewed and the total accuracy of the data supplied. In such cases, estimates may be given. In the case of Question 61052, a Named Day Question, MOD staff produced the best estimate possible within the time constraint the question imposed. Having had the time to conduct a more thorough search and analysis in the time since, MOD staff were able to supply revised and more detailed information in response to Question 103509.
Ministry of Defence (MOD) staff do the best they can within the given time available to supply necessary information for Freedom of Information (FOI) requests and Parliamentary Questions (PQs). Staff strive to ensure the information supplied is as accurate as possible and, where inaccuracies or inconsistencies are later found, the Department will set the record straight at the earliest opportunity. It must be recognised that requests for large data sets, over many years, present a significant challenge to locate, retrieve, and extract information, especially where such data is not collated or held centrally and is dispersed among different branches of Defence. In cases where FOI/PQs are made for historic information before the advent of widespread electronic filing, this task is made yet harder where paper records need to be manually interrogated. This can be further complicated by the time constraints imposed by the nature of such requests. Where time is limited, in the case of Named Day PQs staff typically have around one working day or less, it is not always possible for staff to ensure all records are thoroughly reviewed and the total accuracy of the data supplied. In such cases, estimates may be given. In the case of Question 61052, a Named Day Question, MOD staff produced the best estimate possible within the time constraint the question imposed. Having had the time to conduct a more thorough search and analysis in the time since, MOD staff were able to supply revised and more detailed information in response to Question 103509.
The requested information is set out below:
British Army:
Prior to July 2019, records on expenditure on Stonewall were not centrally held. It has not, therefore, been possible to provide a detailed breakdown of the money spent.
Financial Year 2017-18:
Costs (£) | Purpose |
2,500.00 | Organisation Membership |
14,681.00 | Information not held |
MOD Centre Diversity and Inclusion Directorate:
Financial Year 2018-19:
Stonewall Membership: £3,000.00
Stonewall speaker fee: £240.00
Stonewall Allies Training programme: £6,300.00
Stonewall Workplace Conference: £1,686.00
You will recall that I responded to your Question 76548 of 17 November 2021 on 22 November 2021 to advise that it would take time to collate the information required for a detailed breakdown and, in response to your further Question 84298 of 30 November, I reiterated that position. I am now able to respond substantively to your Question.
As you will know from my answer of 1 November 2021 to Question 61052, no donations are made to Stonewall. However, the Ministry of Defence (MOD), the three Services, and the MOD Police, are all members of Stonewall's 'Diversity Champions programme' for which membership costs an annual fee. In addition, a number of courses and professional development sessions are purchased on an ad-hoc basis, primarily by the LGBT+ networks.
I can confirm that all MOD Memberships are reviewed regularly, to ensure that they deliver value for money and continue to meet our Diversity and Inclusion ambitions and strategic direction, as set out in the Defence Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, A Force for Inclusion.
Information held by the MOD is provided in the table below. You will wish to note that further investigation of expenditure means that in many cases the estimated figures provided in answer to Question 61052 have now been revised upwards.
Financial Year | Royal Navy | British Army | Royal Air Force | MOD Centre D&I | MOD Police |
2016-17 | - | £1,050 | £3,000 | - | £3,696 |
2017-18 | £9,045 | £17,181 | £3,000 | £3,000 | £3,000 |
2018-19 | £8,084 | £9,150 | £3,000 | £11,226 | £3,000 |
2019-20 | £6,155 | £5,104 | £6,708 | £4,854 | £9,326 |
2020-21 | £2,500 | £6,000 | £3,000 | £3,000 | £3,209 |
Notes:
As the hon. Member was advised in my answer to Question 76548, it will take time to collate the information needed to produce the breakdown requested and I will write to you with an answer in due course. I hope to be able to do so later this month.
It will take time to collate the information needed to produce the breakdown requested and I will write to the hon. Member with an answer in due course.
No donations are made to the charity; however, the Ministry of Defence (MOD), the MOD Police, the Royal Navy, Army, and Royal Air Force are all members of Stonewall's 'diversity champions programme' for which membership costs an annual fee. In addition, a number of courses and professional development sessions are purchased on an ad-hoc basis, primarily by the LGBT+ networks.
Estimated total expenditure by the MOD can be found in the table below:
Financial year | Total |
2017/18 | £23,181 |
2018/19 | £15,150 |
2019/20 | £11,790 |
2020/21 | £18,691 |
2021/22 (to date) | £11,500 |
A list of the properties classified as heritage assets by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has been placed in the Library of the House. There is a wide range of heritage assets, other than properties, including below ground archaeology, memorials, walls and milestones which have not been included in this list.
The MOD does not record the economic value of heritage assets. The annual income provided by these properties is not held centrally by the MOD.
The department is exploring with the Learned Societies whether there is a solution that can deliver value for taxpayers and enable the Learned Societies to remain in their historic home at New Burlington House.
In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.
Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on Gov.uk.
The department is exploring with the Learned Societies whether there is a solution that can deliver value for taxpayers and enable the Learned Societies to remain in their historic home at New Burlington House.
In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.
Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on Gov.uk.
The department is exploring with the Learned Societies whether there is a solution that can deliver value for taxpayers and enable the Learned Societies to remain in their historic home at New Burlington House.
In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.
Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on Gov.uk.
The department is exploring with the Learned Societies whether there is a solution that can deliver value for taxpayers and enable the Learned Societies to remain in their historic home at New Burlington House.
In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.
Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on Gov.uk.
The department has been engaging with the Learned Societies at New Burlington House for several years in efforts to find a viable solution that will enable them to deliver public value and remain in situ in their historic home. Discussions with the Learned Societies are ongoing, and the department is taking relevant factors into consideration in line with Green Book, appraisal guidance.
Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on Gov.uk.
The department has been engaging with the Learned Societies at New Burlington House for several years in efforts to find a viable solution that will enable them to deliver public value and remain in situ in their historic home. Discussions with the Learned Societies are ongoing, and the department is taking relevant factors into consideration in line with Green Book, appraisal guidance.
Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on Gov.uk.
Further to the answer to UIN 117805, the Equality and Human Rights Commission provides guidance on provision of single sex services.
The Government’s position is set out in the Home Office Statutory Guidance to accompany the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1089015/Domestic_Abuse_Act_2021_Statutory_Guidance.pdf
When it is necessary to collate data on individuals, it is best practice to mirror the methodology used in the Census which distinguishes between sex and gender identity to ensure consistency and allow for comparative statistical analysis.
In some areas of public policy (for example, DLUHC policy on the provision of separate toilets for men and women), biological sex will be a relevant and pertinent consideration.
A planning application for a new Chinese Embassy is currently before the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. As the Secretary of State has a quasi-judicial role in the planning system, it would not be appropriate to comment on the merits of the proposal in case it were to come before Ministers in the future.
We continue to review and develop plans to support guests to access economic opportunities, informed by engagement with other government departments, local councils, Voluntary and Community Sector organisations, sponsors, and guests. We have been working across government to explore wider training and support options.
Regulatory services are not the responsibility of a single department. While no DLUHC funding is currently available we will keep this under review and maintain a dialogue with other departments and local government regarding this matter.
My Department is committed to addressing capacity and capability issues affecting regulatory services in general, and the regulation of the construction products sector in particular. The Government has supported the sector through the National Regulator for Construction Products within the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) to oversee a stronger regulatory regime. Up to £10 million has been set aside for this work in 2021/22. My Department remains committed to making sure that OPSS have the necessary resources at its disposal, and we expect that OPSS will continue to work with and support Local Authority Trading Standards teams to implement the regime.
The Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) , formerly the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, became a member of Stonewall Diversity Champions in 2010. DLUHC is no longer a member of Stonewall UK Diversity Champions Programme, it concluded its membership with the 2018/19 subscription which was also the year MHCLG last applied to be included on Stonewall's "Workplace Equality Index. Detailed below is the funds allocated to Stonewall by project for each of the last five financial years
2016/17 FY | 2,400.00 | Stonewall Diversity Champions Annual Membership 16/17 |
2017/18 FY | 7,506 | Stonewall In House Allies Programme (£6,000) Stonewall – Leadership Program (£1,506) |
2018/19 FY | 3,000 | Stonewall - Diversity Champions Annual Membership 18/19 (£3,000) |
2019/20 FY | Nil |
|
2020/21 FY | Nil |
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The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is advised on the management of designated heritage assets in its portfolio by Historic England’s Government Historic Estate Unit. Further details can be found here: https://historicengland.org.uk/services-skills/our-planning-services/advice-for-government-historic-estates/
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government does not collect or collate data on the value (property value) or income data for these assets.
Ministers and officials are in frequent contact with the Learned Societies.
The Learned societies pay discounted rent on new Burlington House, currently 30% of the market rate, in line with the agreement they reached with the then Government in 2006. The current arrangement would not see them pay market rent until 2085, however the Government is sympathetic to their position and is working with them to find a solution.
A lease was agreed in 2005 by the then Government and the Learned Societies. The terms of the 2005 lease remained unchanged in the 2018 lease renewal.
Details of the 2005 lease, can be obtained from the Land Registry.
MHCLG holds the freehold for New Burlington House (NBH) in Piccadilly. We have 5 Lea