Tom Collins

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme does not currently support air-to-air heat pumps, as heat pump installations must provide both space heating and hot water heating, using liquid as a medium for delivering that heat. In most cases, air-to-air systems only provide space heating, with many installations still reliant on burning fossil fuels for hot water. We want to target support at technologies that offer the greatest potential to decarbonise our buildings.

However, the Government will keep its position on alternative electric heating technologies under review, and would consult industry and key stakeholders on any potential changes to the scheme before making any decisions.

The department is currently developing the Warm Homes Plan to ensure that homes are fit for the future. The department has been carrying out research to respond to the relevant climate change adaptation risks identified by the third Climate Change Risk Assessment.

This research is closing evidence gaps identifying the buildings most vulnerable to extreme heat and where these are located, as well as appropriate adaptation solutions. This includes considering the role of technologies, such as air-to-air heat pumps. This work is informing the development of the Warm Homes Plan.

The Office for Clean Energy Jobs (OCEJ) has been created to ensure that clean energy jobs are abundant, high quality, paid fairly, and have favourable terms and good working conditions.

The OCEJ is engaging widely with industry, experts, and trade unions for a clear assessment of the skills opportunities and challenges. It is working closely with Skills England to ensure that skills systems reforms support the clean energy transition.

The OCEJ will also set out targeted interventions to support specific skills needs in the clean energy workforce. It has recently launched the initial version of the Energy Skills Passport to support oil and gas workers into new roles in the clean energy sector.

The Committee for Climate Change has recommended the government grows the heat network sector from providing 3% of national heat demand to 20% by 2050. We are implementing heat network zoning and funding low carbon heat networks to get to this scale.

Heat networks can use a variety of heat sources such as heat from industry and natural heat sources such as rivers. Where industrial or natural heat sources are not available heat networks can use large air-source heat pumps. When deployed in the right locations will be lower cost for consumers than other low-carbon individual heating systems.

Dispersed locations form a major part of UK industry’s pathway to Net Zero, accounting for approximately half of emissions. The £6 million Local Industrial Decarbonisation Plans competition is funding 13 decarbonisation projects in local clusters, including in areas with hard-to-electrify industrial processes, supporting dispersed industrial manufacturers not located in the UK’s existing industrial clusters to start their journey towards Net Zero.

Government is also providing decarbonisation support to dispersed sites through the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF). In the 2024 Autumn Budget, the Government committed £163 million to continue delivery for all current projects of the IETF through to completion.

We recognise the need for more research and evidence to improve our understanding of people’s experiences online.

In November 2024, DSIT announced a feasibility study to further understand the impact of social media on children.

The study will review existing evidence and assess which research methods will be most effective in determining the causal effect of social media on children’s developmental outcomes. The study will conclude in May 2025.

As the governing body for cricket in England and Wales, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is independent from the Government and is responsible for the regulation of cricket, and for protecting and promoting the financial sustainability of the sport at all levels. It is for the ECB to answer for their approach.

The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, covering ages 5 to 18, chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE.

The review will seek to deliver a curriculum that readies young people for life and work, and builds the knowledge, skills and attributes needed to seize opportunity and thrive in the changing workplace.

The review group ran a call for evidence, receiving over 7,000 responses, and held events over the autumn term to gather the views of stakeholders including employers. The feedback received will help the review group to consider its next steps and recommendations.

The review group will publish an interim report in early spring setting out its interim findings and confirming the key areas for further work, and publish its final report with recommendations this autumn. We will take decisions on what changes to make in light of these recommendations.

The Government has set out its long-term vision to make farming more profitable and put more money back in the pockets of British farmers. We will work in partnership with the food and farming sectors to achieve our vision of a sector with food production at its core, where farm businesses can diversify their income to make a fair profit and remain viable in challenging times.

All agri-food products must comply with our sanitary and phytosanitary standards and wider import requirements in order to be placed on the UK market.

Our Trade Strategy will set out how we can achieve long-term sustainable, inclusive, and resilient growth through trade. It will reflect the Government’s commitment to uphold our high environmental protection, animal welfare and food safety standards, areas in which the UK is a world leader.

The Environment Agency (EA) uses a range of future rainfall assumptions in their flood prediction modelling including consideration for how our weather patterns are changing.

The EA operates a network of approximately 2,400 rain gauges across England, providing daily totals and high-resolution data. The data is shared with the Met Office, and we work closely with them and other partners, to maintain and improve our understanding of future rainfall scenarios. This, and other information, is used to inform how we issue flood warnings to the public.

In the last month the EA has updated their maps showing current and future understanding of flood risk. For the first time this new National Flood Risk Assessment (NaFRA), includes the latest UK Climate Projections (UKCP18) sharing the potential impact of climate change on flood risk, and shows that the risk from rivers and the sea in England increases by 27% from 2036 to 2069.

We are committed to moving towards a Neighbourhood Health Service with more care delivered locally to create healthier communities, spot problems earlier, and support people to stay healthier and maintain their independence for longer.

Family hubs are a community-based way of improving access to healthcare, with Start for Life services for families from conception to the age of two years old at their heart. They offer joined-up support through access to local services, including maternity, perinatal mental health, parent-infant relationships, and infant feeding.

Ministers and officials have engaged with stakeholders on the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme in the context of community-based healthcare. The Neighbourhood Health model will build on existing good practice from across the country and on the feedback received from the 10-Year Health Plan engagement.