Tim Roca

The Government was elected on the basis of a manifesto commitment to reset the UK’s relations with the European Union, including through a broad-based security pact and tackling barriers to trade. There are no plans to establish an independent inquiry into options for the future UK-EU relationship. As we move forward, we recognise the importance of maintaining an effective dialogue with Parliament, industry leaders, trade unions and civil society.

The government recognises the invaluable contribution of emergency service workers to the people of the United Kingdom. Those that lose their lives as a result of their duties and their next-of kin are now rightly honoured with the award of the Elizabeth Emblem.

The Government is happy to consider the case for any new medal or award, subject to comprehensive assessment across relevant departments.

Ultimately, advice on new awards sit with the Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decoration and Medals, which provides recommendations to His Majesty.

All extant licences to Israel are kept under careful and continual review as standard.

Through our clean power mission, including through investments made by Great British Energy, and the National Wealth Fund, we will work with industry to deliver the jobs and investment required to achieve our clean power 2030 ambition.

Whilst we are still deciding where investments will be made, we expect that good jobs will be available across the country as we see a rapid expansion in the renewable workforce by 2030.

COP29 will be a major moment in the international climate and diplomatic calendar. The UK will be well represented at Ministerial level – exact attendance across Government Departments is still being determined.

From the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, I look forward to attending as Minister for Climate, alongside Ed Miliband MP as Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero.

The life sciences sector will play a crucial role in both kickstarting economic growth and building an NHS fit for the future. To support this potential, we will cement this sector’s world-leading status. By ensuring the NHS works hand-in-hand with life sciences, research institutions and medical technology companies, we will drive the development of new treatments and help grow our industries across the UK.

The table below provides per pupil funding units from the 2018/2019 to 2023/2024 financial years. This represents the funding provided for schools in Cheshire East each year in the schools block of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG).

The department cannot provide comparable funding for Cheshire East back to 2010, due to the changes in the funding system since that time. The scope of the per pupil funding before and after 2018/19 are not directly comparable. In particular, in 2018/19 the central services provided by local authorities were split out from the schools block funding, and instead became funded separately through the central school services block from that year onwards.

The figures in the table below are provided on a cash basis. The department also publishes real-terms statistics on schools funding at the national level which does not distinguish by phase. The department uses the GDP deflator to calculate real-terms funding levels. The schools funding statistics for the 2023/24 financial year are available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-funding-statistics. The methodology used to calculate the statistics is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/methodology/school-funding-statistics-methodology.

These figures do not include funding for growth, premises or additional funding received through supplementary grants.

Simpler Recycling will mean that people across England will be able to recycle the same materials at home, work or school, ending the confusion over what can or cannot be recycled in different parts of the country.

Ministers are currently reviewing final Simpler Recycling policy decisions, including guidance on the approach to collections, and we hope to provide further certainty and clarity to stakeholders as soon as possible.

Where an owner has applied for a certificate of exemption and no longer thinks that their dog is an XL Bully, it will be possible to ask Defra to withdraw the certificate. Defra will provide more information about this process soon.

Labour introduced National Parks 75 years ago, and introduced the Rights of Way Act that secured public access and preserved natural beauty.

This Labour Government is committed to empowering Protected Landscapes to become greener, wilder and more accessible to all.

We are actively considering options to ensure Protected Landscapes bodies like National Park Authorities have the tools and powers they need to deliver for people and nature, including through regulation and guidance.

Improving local transport services is a key part of this government’s growth mission, and the government has set out plans to deliver better bus services, grow passenger numbers and drive opportunity to under-served regions.

As announced in the King’s Speech on 17 July 2024, the government will introduce a Buses Bill later this session. This will put the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders right across England, including in Cheshire, to ensure networks meet the needs of the communities who rely on them. The Bill will seek to increase the powers available to local leaders to choose the model that works best in their area, whether that be franchising, high-quality partnerships with private operators or local authority ownership.

The government will continue working closely with local transport authorities including Cheshire East Council, to deliver better bus and public transport services throughout England.

Improving local transport services is a key part of this government’s growth mission, and the government has set out plans to deliver better bus services, grow passenger numbers and drive opportunity to under-served regions.

As announced in the King’s Speech on 17 July 2024, the government will introduce a Buses Bill later this session. This will put the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders right across England, including in Cheshire East, to ensure networks meet the needs of the communities who rely on them.

The Bill will seek to increase the powers available to local leaders to choose the model that works best in their area, whether that be franchising, high-quality partnerships with private operators or local authority ownership. The government will continue working closely with local leaders and bus operators to deliver on its ambitions.

Improving local transport services is a key part of this government’s growth mission, and the government has set out plans to deliver better bus services, grow passenger numbers and drive opportunity to under-served regions.

As announced in the King’s Speech on 17 July 2024, the government will introduce a Buses Bill later this session. This will put the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders right across England, including in Cheshire East, to ensure networks meet the needs of the communities who rely on them.

The Bill will increase powers available to local leaders to choose the model that works best in their area, whether that be franchising, high-quality partnerships with private operators or local authority ownership. Government will continue working closely with local leaders and bus operators to deliver on the government’s ambitions.

I am aware of the recent coverage of a number of prosecutions undertaken by one rail operator. It would be inappropriate to comment on the details of individual cases, but we expect operators to ensure their policy on ticketing is clear and fair for passengers at all times and have instructed the operator to review the details of these cases urgently. Ticketing has become far too complicated which is why we plan to simplify it as part of the biggest overhaul of our railways in a generation.

Improving local transport services is a key part of this government’s growth mission, and the government has set out plans to deliver better bus services, grow passenger numbers and drive opportunity to under-served regions.

As announced in the King’s Speech on 17 July 2024, the government will introduce a Buses Bill later this session. This will put the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders right across England, including in Cheshire East, to ensure networks meet the needs of the communities who rely on them.

The Bill will increase powers available to local leaders to choose the model that works best in their area, whether that be franchising, high-quality partnerships with private operators or local authority ownership. Government will continue working closely with local leaders and bus operators to deliver on the government’s ambitions.

My Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, wrote to general practices on 20 December 2024 to confirm an £889 million uplift to the contract for 2025/26 and set out the proposed areas of reform. The proposed changes to the contract bring about important reforms and make progress towards manifesto commitments. This announcement recognised the benefits in providing reassurance to the sector and supporting forward planning. The final details of the contract will be announced in the usual way following the close of the consultation with the General Practitioners Committee England in Spring 2025.

There are no current plans to support a fluoridation scheme in Macclesfield. Public consultation is required on proposals for new, or the expansion of existing, community water fluoridation schemes. The Water Fluoridation (Consultation) (England) Regulations 2022 set out the requirements, and are available at the following link:

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2022/1163/contents/made.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) manages the central storage and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines for the United Kingdom’s programme. In their published accounts for the financial year 2022/23, the figure was £143.280 million. The following table shows a summary of vaccine related losses for the latest published account:

Source: pages 124 to 125 of the UKHSA’s Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, which is available at the following link:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65c0cf5763a23d000dc821bb/UKHSA-Annual-Report-2022_23-printable_file-2.pdf

Further information regarding vaccine expiry will be published as part of the UKHSA’s Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24.

The allocation process for the UK Foundation Programme this year was changed to a Preference Informed Allocation method. This new process saw applicants being given a computer-generated rank and the removal of the requirement to sit the Situational Judgement Test. The move to the new system aimed to address concerns about the previous system, including that was it was perceived as unfair and stressful for applicants, and that there was lack of standardisation within and across schools. This change was based on extensive stakeholder engagement by the four statutory education bodies in the United Kingdom.

When confirming the move to the new system last year, Health Education England, now part of NHS England, set out that once implemented it would be kept under constant review to make sure it is working well for applicants.

All 9,702 eligible applicants for the 2024 Foundation Programme were allocated to a Foundation School, with 75% of those applicants getting their first preference. This is an improvement on last year when 8,655 applicants were placed and 71% got their first preference.

Since 2020, the National Health Service in England has invested significantly in supporting people with long COVID. This includes setting up specialist post-COVID services nationwide for adults, and children and young people, as well as investing in ensuring general practice teams are equipped to support people affected by the condition.

As of 1 April 2024, there are more than 90 adult post-COVID services across England, along with an additional ten children and young people’s hubs. These services assess people with long COVID and direct them into care pathways which provide appropriate support and treatment. General practitioners will assess patients that have COVID-19 symptoms lasting longer than four weeks and refer them into a long COVID service where appropriate. Referral should be via a single point of access, which is managed by clinician-led triage.

Over the last five years, the Government, through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and the Medical Research Council (MRC), has invested over £57 million in long COVID research, with almost £40 million of this through two specific research calls on long COVID. The NIHR specifically has invested £42.7 million towards research funding for long COVID. The projects funded aim to improve our understanding of the diagnosis and underlying mechanisms of the disease and the effectiveness of both pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies and interventions, as well as to evaluate clinical care. Further information on the research into long COVID commissioned through the NIHR is available at the following link:

https://www.nihr.ac.uk/about-us/what-we-do/covid-19/long-COVID

It is a priority for the Department to publish the final myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) delivery plan, and it is our intention to publish a consultation response summary later this autumn. We cannot comment on the exact content of the final delivery plan at this time, but it will be shaped by the consultation responses, along with continued close engagement with stakeholders, with three broad themes of attitudes and education, research and living with ME. We aim to publish in the winter of 2024/25.

The Department is also currently working with NHS England to develop an e-learning course on ME/CFS for healthcare professionals, with the aim of supporting staff to be able to provide better care and improve patient outcomes.

Additionally, the Government funds research into ME/CFS through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and the Medical Research Council (MRC), through UK Research and Innovation. In 2020, the NIHR and the MRC came together to fund the world’s largest genome-wide association study of ME/CFS. This £3.2 million study, termed DecodeME, will analyse samples from 25,000 people with ME/CFS to search for genetic differences that may indicate underlying causes or an increased risk of developing the condition. Further details of the study are available at the following link:

www.decodeme.org.uk

The UK is committed to supporting vital health services in Afghanistan, including for pregnant women and newborn babies. Our £161 million aid programme provides support to the most vulnerable, delivered through non-governmental organisations, UN agencies, and the Red Cross Movement. In 2023/24 the UK helped more than 1.4 million people, of whom over 1 million were women, to access essential health services, and we reached at least 57,000 children under 5 and pregnant and lactating women with dietary supplements.

The UK works with governments and development partners to strengthen the delivery of climate-resilient water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services. We work to strengthen systems in six countries: Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Tanzania, Malawi, Nepal and Bangladesh, and we support the Heads of State Initiative to gain high level political commitment for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 acceleration. Through this initiative, the President of Ghana recently committed $1.7 billion for WASH-related SDG 6 targets. The UK is also implementing the £39m Just Transitions for Water Security programme, enhancing resilience for 40 million people in insecure countries through better planning, water governance and increased investment in water infrastructure.

In 2024/25, the FCDO will provide the British Council with £162.5 million Grant-in-Aid funding. The British Council is projected to generate £885 million from other sources over the same period, according to its Corporate Plan 2024-25. This self-generated income is largely derived from the British Council's teaching and exams businesses.

The Government is committed to a successful British Council that is financially stable. Our funding to the British Council underlines our support.

Where the FCDO has welfare or human rights concerns in relation to British nationals detained overseas, consular staff seek the consent of individuals before raising concerns with the relevant authorities. The FCDO does not hold statistics on the number of British nationals who have provided the FCDO with their consent to raise welfare or human rights concerns.

Providing consular support to British nationals abroad, particularly in cases involving arbitrary detention, is a vital public service and one of the FCDO's top priorities. The Government is reviewing how to strengthen that support, including by considering the appointment of a new envoy.

The Government currently provides VAT reliefs to aid the purchase of defibrillators. For example, when an Automated External Defibrillator is purchased with funds provided by a charity and then donated to an eligible body, no VAT is charged. Furthermore, all state schools in England have been fitted with AEDs.

A key consideration for any potential new VAT relief is whether savings would be passed on to the consumer. Evidence suggests that businesses only partially pass on any savings from lower VAT rates.

The Government recognises that cash continues to be used by millions of people across the UK, including those who may be in vulnerable groups.

The Financial Conduct Authority has recently assumed regulatory responsibility for protecting access to cash, and its new rules went live on 18 September. The rules require the UK’s largest banks and building societies to assess the impact of a closure of a relevant cash withdrawal or deposit facility and put in place a new service if necessary.

It is for each business to decide on the forms of payment it chooses to accept, based on a variety of factors, including cost and customer preferences. Research published by the Financial Conduct Authority found that 98 per cent of small businesses surveyed would never turn customers away if they needed to pay in cash. The new rules by the Financial Conduct Authority will also support businesses to accept cash by ensuring they have reasonable access to deposit facilities.

The Government also recognises that promoting digital inclusion is essential to building the skills and confidence people need to participate in a modern digital economy and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, as the lead department, is considering barriers to this.

The Asset Purchase Facility (APF) is indemnified by HM Treasury so that all profits and losses accrued in the APF are owed to, or borne by, HM Treasury. This is in line with its financial relationship with the Bank and supports the Bank’s operational independence by allowing the MPC to make decisions on asset purchases without being constrained by the financial risk of the operations.

The advantages of HM Treasury’s indemnity arrangements were outlined in the Autumn Statement 2023 in Box 1.E, and are in line with best practice as set out in a recent IMF working paper.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/financial-relationship-between-the-treasury-and-the-bank-of-england

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/autumn-statement-2023

https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2023/06/02/Quasi-Fiscal-Implications-of-Central-Bank-Crisis-Interventions-534076

Excess cash from asset purchases between 2009 and 2012 initially accrued in the APF. When it became clear that asset purchases under QE were being held for longer and at a larger scale than initially envisaged, the government decided to normalise the cash management arrangements such that any excess cash would be transferred to the Treasury on a quarterly basis. The cash transfers from the APF to the Treasury that took place until 2022 helped reduce the government’s cash requirement and the amount of gilts that would need to be issued by the DMO, therefore reducing the government’s future debt interest costs and supporting the overall position of the public finances. Cashflows were always expected to reverse as quantitative easing is unwound and gilts are sold back into the market.

On 29 July, the Government announced that, as of 1 January 2025, all education services and vocational training provided by a private school in the UK for a charge will be subject to VAT at the standard rate of 20 per cent. This includes vocational music and dance schools where funding is provided by the Music and Dance Scheme.

Where parents or families are paying fees for their child to attend a private music or dance school, they will pay VAT on those fees following this change. The right time to consider any changes to schemes like the Music and Dance Scheme is at the Spending Review.

The Government recognises the importance of banking to communities and high streets and has committed to work closely with banks to roll out at least 350 banking hubs over the next five years.

147 banking hubs have already been recommended and Cash Access UK, the industry body responsible for banking hub deployment, expects 100 banking hubs to be open before the end of the year. These will provide individuals and businesses up and down the country with critical cash and banking services.

While not the same as a bank branch, alternative options to access everyday banking services can also include telephone banking, through digital means such as mobile or online banking, and via one of the UK’s 11,500 Post Office branches.

We have created the Border Security Command to lead the fight against the criminal smuggling gangs who threaten our border, put lives at risk, and undermine our national security, and we have been delighted to appoint the former Chair of the National Police Chiefs' Council, Martin Hewitt, to lead that work.

Backed by £75 million of funding, the Border Security Command is already working closely with operational partners in the UK and overseas towards our shared goal to disrupt and dismantle this criminal trade in human lives.

The Home Office has never centrally collected data on the number of police station closures and has not collected this data previously.

The Armed Forces Commissioner is the first in a series of steps that will be taken by the new Government to improve Service life and renew the contract between the nation and those who serve.

The Armed Forces Commissioner Bill was included in the King’s Speech and will be published in due course.

This Government is fully committed to rejuvenating our high streets and supporting the businesses and communities that make our town centres successful.

MHCLG has provided £11.5 million from the core UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) to Cheshire East Council. The Council have developed a number of schemes that local businesses and communities can apply to for support. The Council are also funding at least two UKSPF projects in Macclesfield that aim to enliven the town centre, as well as refurbishing the indoor market.

More broadly through the English Devolution Bill we will introduce a strong new ‘right to buy’ empowering local communities to reclaim and revitalise empty shops, pubs, and community spaces.

Offenders who refuse to attend their sentencing hearings deny victims and their families the opportunity to explain how their crimes have impacted their lives. This Government wants victims to have faith that justice will be delivered and to see criminals face the consequences of their actions. That is why we intend to change the law so that courts have the powers to order the most serious offenders to attend their sentencing hearings.