Tulip Siddiq

The BBC is responsible for the collection and enforcement of the licence fee, not the Government. The Government expects the BBC to collect the licence fee in an efficient and proportionate manner.

The requirement to hold a TV Licence is set out in the Communications Act 2003 and the Communications (Television Licensing) 2004. The current cost of a TV licence is £159 with the maximum penalty for TV licence evasion being a fine of £1,000. The sentencing court will determine the level of the fine. MOJ statistics indicate that the average fine is around £175.

In February 2020, the Government launched a public consultation on decriminalising TV licence evasion. The responses highlighted the considerable stress and anxiety the criminal sanction can cause for individuals, including the most vulnerable in society.

The Government remains concerned that a criminal sanction for TV licence evasion is increasingly disproportionate and unfair in a modern public service broadcasting system. We will be looking at ways to ensure the BBC’s funding model is sustainable in the long-term, which will include asking whether a mandatory licence fee with criminal penalties for individual households is still appropriate.

The Government has also taken steps to support licence fee payers. This includes freezing the licence fee for two years, which aims to support households at a time when they need that support the most. The Government also introduced the Simple Payment Plan in April 2020, a flexible payment instalment scheme that allows customers to pay in fortnightly or monthly instalments throughout the year, and is available to certain customers who currently struggle to pay the TV licence fee. More information on the Simple Payment Plan and its eligibility criteria can be found here.

Under Part 7 and Schedule 16 of the Equality Act 2010, associations, including private clubs, may lawfully restrict their membership to people who share a characteristic, such as sex. This provides scope for associations to restrict membership only to women, as well as those restricting membership only to men.

This is based on the understanding that, if a group of private individuals wish to form a club, then it is appropriate that they should be able to determine membership of the club.

It is however unlawful for a private club that restricts its membership to people who share a particular protected characteristic to discriminate against members, associates, or guests because of other protected characteristics.

A determination of the status in UK law of the findings of courts in foreign jurisdictions is a matter for the UK courts, as and when the need arises for such a determination in domestic proceedings.

The Government is delighted that after years of detention, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is safely home and has been reunited with her family and loved ones.

Our records indicate that the Law Officers have consented to prosecutions under the Taking of Hostages Act 1982 on four occasions in the last 10 years.

The Attorney General’s Office currently have no apprentices. As staffing levels are below 250 the Department does not meet the criteria for the 2.3% target. However, plans are nevertheless in place to recruit 2 or 3 apprentices.

The Law Officers do not institute proceedings under this legislation but must consent to any prosecution brought under it. The Crown Prosecution Service would ordinarily institute such proceedings.

The Law Officers apply the established principles of evidential sufficiency and public interest, which have their current expression in the Code for Crown Prosecutors, when considering an application for consent. We act quasi-judicially and independent of government. We do so in accordance with the Framework Agreement between the Law Officers and the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The Law Officers do not institute proceedings under this legislation but must consent to any prosecution brought under it. The Crown Prosecution Service would ordinarily institute such proceedings.

The Law Officers apply the established principles of evidential sufficiency and public interest, which have their current expression in the Code for Crown Prosecutors, when considering an application for consent. We act quasi-judicially and independent of government. We do so in accordance with the Framework Agreement between the Law Officers and the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The Central Digital and Data Office, in the Cabinet Office, sets the policy and leads the cross-government approach to the safe, ethical, legal and secure sharing of government data. They work with the Government Security Group, who also lead on the topic of Supply Chain Security.

When sharing personal data with third party organisations, departments must make sure data is used fairly, lawfully and transparently, in compliance with the data protection principles set in UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. This includes having the requisite data protection controls and governance in place and working with vendors and partners to identify and remediate any risks. All government contracts with suppliers must consider the security of all information and set expectations for how it should be protected.

Departments are responsible for managing their security risks, including the risks to their information that is held and processed by authorised third-parties. The Government Security Standard, local security policies and assurance frameworks such as the Cyber Assessment Framework set out how they should do this. These frameworks and good practice have been collaboratively developed by the Cabinet Office, the National Cyber Security Centre and Departments themselves.

The Government’s number one job is to keep people safe. Emergency Alerts are a critical new tool in the Government’s toolkit for warning and informing people where their lives are at risk.

The total cost to date of developing the technical architecture and systems that underpin the emergency alert system, in addition to the first three years of operational delivery, will be a maximum of £25.3 million.

All the contracts were established using the civil service public procurement policy. The tender process was therefore subject to a legal framework which encountered free and open competition and value for money, in line with internationally and nationally agreed obligations and regulations.

The capability is currently within a trial period, which will review its use in the live and exercise environment. Any assessments of value for money will be carried out on completion of this.

The recommendations of the Infected Blood Inquiry’s second interim report are still under consideration by the Government. I recognise this is a matter of great importance to many in this House, and I was grateful for the opportunity to update the House on this on 22 June.

The recommendations of the Infected Blood Inquiry’s second interim report are still under consideration by the Government. I recognise this is a matter of great importance to many in this House, and I was grateful for the opportunity to update the House on this on 22 June.

The findings of Adam Tolley KC have been published and are available on the gov.uk website. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/investigation-report-to-the-prime-minister

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 amends the Companies Act 2006 to introduce a range of measures aimed at preventing the abuse of personal information. Once commenced, these will mean that (amongst other things) those incorporating and running companies will be required to verify their identities, and that the registrar of companies will have enhanced powers to ensure that people’s personal addresses are not misused.

Aside from certain specified products such as food there is no requirement for goods to be labelled with their country of origin. The Government does not have plans to introduce such a requirement on behalf of consumers.

Under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, traders are banned from using misleading statements about the geographical or commercial origin of products including in response to requests for information by consumers.

The Green Finance Strategy (March 2023) set out the Government’s plans for endorsement of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation’s recently published sustainability disclosure standards. This document explained that the Government is establishing an endorsement process that will assess the suitability of the standards for use for UK companies, with the aim of publishing a UK-endorsed version of the standards that could be used by UK companies. This version of the standards will form the basis of any regulatory or legal changes that Government or the Financial Conduct Authority may wish to make at a later stage.

Whilst there is no legal minimum term for the validity of gift cards, the Government has worked with the UK Gift Card & Voucher Association (GCVA) to encourage businesses to use expiry dates of at least two years and has made it clear that retailers should be transparent about the terms and conditions offered to consumers including card expiry dates.

We asked the Law Commission to consider the issue of gift card and voucher expiry terms and they concluded that there was not a need to introduce additional measures in this area.

This Government remains committed to tackling all areas of disparities in this country, including in employment. It is crucial that everyone is treated fairly in the workplace, so that they can thrive and reach their full potential and we want to ensure that everyone has access to the same employment opportunities.

Ethnicity pay gap reporting is just one type of tool to assist employers in doing this and it may not always be the most appropriate mechanism for some types of organisation. Therefore, as set out in the “Inclusive Britain” report published in March 2022, the Government will not be legislating to make ethnicity pay reporting mandatory at this stage. Instead we have produced guidance to support those who wish to report voluntarily.  This was published earlier this month.

The Government is committed to growing the market to 600,000 heat pump installations a year by 2028. We are supporting installations through schemes like the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, Social Housing Decarbonisation Scheme and Energy Company Obligation. From 2025, we expect the Future Homes Standard and the Clean Heat Market Mechanism to support further market growth.

The Government is supporting the supply chain, through Heat Pump Investment Accelerator Competition for manufacturers and the Heat Training Grant. We are also consulting on changes to Permitted Development Rights to make it easier for people who want a heat pump to install one.

The Government has recognised that increases in the cost of living have impacted the bills paid by heat network consumers. The Government has therefore introduced the Energy Bills Discount Scheme, and previously the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, which support heat networks. Bills will vary depending on consumption levels, network efficiency, and other variables. The table below estimates the variable gas cost element of a bill for a customer consuming 7,000 kWh of heat on a gas heat network. It includes the impact of gas prices and government support schemes. Costs such as maintenance and standing charges have not been included.

As part of the application process for these schemes, the Government require applicants to show proof of address, such as a tenancy agreement or a utility bill, to protect public funds against fraud. The Government understand that some Gypsy and Traveller households may not be able provide this evidence, which means they won’t currently be able to receive the EBSS AF or the AFP AF. Officials are working to establish whether there is a robust method for them to provide proof of eligibility, whilst protecting public funds, so they can receive support.

Online fake reviews are not within scope of the Online Safety Bill but are being addressed through separate legislation. The new Digital Markets and Consumers Competition Bill, which was introduced to Parliament on 25 April, includes a delegated power to amend the ‘blacklist’ of automatically unfair practices set out in the Bill.

The first intended use of this power is to add practices related to fake and misleading reviews following consultation during Bill passage. This will give greater clarity to business and consumers and, where fake reviews are posted, allow enforcers to take effective action quickly.

The UK’s data protection legislation is now set out in the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK General Data Protection Regulation. Like the previous legislation, consent is not the only lawful ground on which processing of personal data can occur. For example, it might be necessary for organisations to process data for public interest reasons, such as crime prevention or safeguarding, without seeking the consent of the individual first. Similarly, there may be some non-intrusive commercial activities that customers may reasonably expect organisations to take without seeking their specific consent.

We are taking steps in the Data Protection and Digital Information (No. 2) Bill to reform aspects of the current legislation. Where processing of personal data is based on a person’s consent, the Bill will not make any changes to the rules which require consent to be freely given, specific and informed. The Bill will make some changes to existing record-keeping requirements which can place unnecessary burdens on small businesses in particular. In the future, organisations will only have to keep records of their processing activities if their processing activities are likely to pose high risks to the rights and freedoms of individuals. This will help to make sure that organisations are not spending disproportionate amounts of time and resources on unnecessary paperwork.

The Department's assessment of Tech Nation is focused on the effectiveness of activities that were paid for with government grant funding, rather than on the organisation as a whole. To this end, robust monitoring and evaluation processes were in place throughout the grant-funded period to ensure taxpayers’ money was spent properly and responsibly.

In addition to monthly and quarterly monitoring, we undertook independent evaluations of our grant to Tech Nation, as per Government requirements. The most recent published assessment of Tech Nation’s activities funded by the Department was published in October 2020.

In November 2022, we commissioned an economic consultancy to undertake a second independent evaluation of our grant funding to Tech Nation. This evaluation will cover the 20/21-22/23 funding period and will assess the impact of the grant, in addition to capturing lessons learned from the Tech Nation programmes. The report's findings will be published in due course.

We thank Tech Nation for their valuable work over the years and their lasting impact on the UK tech sector.

To address the potential risks and opportunities presented by AI technology, the Office for AI is working at pace to develop a White Paper setting out our position on regulating AI.

Our starting point is that the best way to realise the full economic and societal potential of AI is through a context-based approach to regulation, leveraging the sector expertise of our world-class regulators and focusing on real risks arising from the use of AI rather than the technology itself. This approach will establish a framework based on a set of cross-cutting principles to inform how regulators should tackle risks.

As indicated by our policy statement in July 2022, we will ensure our approach to AI regulation is risk based, proportionate, and adaptable. Our approach will also look for ways to ensure effective horizon scanning, to monitor both immediate and long term AI risks. We will also make sure we deploy the full range of non-regulatory tools to support effective governance – including technical standards and assurance.

In October 2022, we launched the AI Standards Hub, led by the Alan Turing Institute, to amplify the UK’s voice in the development of global technical standards for responsible AI. The Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation have also set out their AI Assurance roadmap which aims to build an ecosystem for AI assurance.

Alongside this, the Government provides funding via UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) for academic research, and last year, the Arts and Humanities Research Council announced £8.5m funding for research towards safe and ethical AI.

Together, Government funding will ensure that the UK remains at the forefront of AI research globally – with research from the UK the third most cited globally, behind only the US and China.

There are currently no plans to review the list of Energy and Trade Intensive Industries eligible for support under the Energy Bill Discount Scheme. The Government has taken a consistent approach to identifying the most energy and trade intensive sectors, with all sectors that meet agreed thresholds for energy and trade intensity eligible for Energy and Trade Intensive Industries support. These thresholds have been set at sectors falling above the 80th percentile for energy intensity and 60th percentile for trade intensity, plus any sectors eligible for the existing energy compensation and exemption schemes.

The Government consulted on whether employers should be required to publish and report on their family-related leave and pay policies in 2019. Having reviewed consultation responses from a range of stakeholders and taken account of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Government decided that such a requirement should be considered as part of the process of considering how successful the Gender Pay Gap Reporting Regulations have been, and how Gender Pay Gap Reporting may be taken forward.

A fully considered review of Gender Pay Gap Reporting will be published in due course.

The Government consulted on whether all employees should be given a ‘day one’ right to request flexible working in 2021. Having reviewed consultation responses from a range of stakeholders, the Government decided to proceed with plans to extend the right to all employees from their first day of employment.

This conclusion was set out in our response to the consultation “Making Flexible Working the Default”, which was published in September 2022.

The UK is at the forefront of pandemic preparedness research, including the development of advanced vaccines, building on the success of the Oxford AstraZeneca Vaccine. This includes allocating £354 million to life sciences manufacturing through the Global Britain Investment Fund to strengthen UK vaccine manufacturing resilience.

BEIS stands ready to support businesses through any future pandemic, tailored to the circumstances at the time. We are increasing public R&D spending to £20 billion per annum by 2024-25, reaffirming BEIS’ record £39.8 billion allocation to 2024-25. This includes £25.1 billion for UK Research and Innovation, which provides significant funding for pandemic preparedness.