Uma Kumaran

As set out in the King’s Speech in July, the government is committed to introducing mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting for large employers. These measures will be part of the upcoming Equality (Race and Disability) Bill.

We will shortly be consulting on our proposals to help us shape the legislation. This will include considering how the new reporting requirements will be monitored and enforced.

As set out in the King’s Speech in July, the government is committed to introducing mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting for large employers. These measures will be part of the upcoming Equality (Race and Disability) Bill.

We will shortly be consulting on our proposals to help us shape the legislation.

This Government believes it is crucial that all LGBT+ people are safe and protected from discrimination in all its forms.

Work is underway on the various Manifesto commitments that will enhance legislative protections for LGBT+ individuals. This Government has already committed to bring forward parity in the law to make all existing strands of hate crime constitute an aggravated offence to greater protect LGBT+ victims and to deliver a trans-inclusive ban on abusive conversion practices.

The police are operationally independent and work in line with the College of Policing’s standards. The Government of course expect the police to fully investigate all offences and to work with the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure perpetrators are brought to justice.

Information about attendees of the training sessions is not being disclosed to protect individual confidentiality.

Between 4 July 2022 and 4 July 2024, the Cabinet Office has not organised any away days for Senior Civil Servants. During the same period, there were a total of seven leadership conferences for Senior Civil Servants.

I apologise to the Honourable Member for the delay in responding to her Parliamentary Question of 13 January. An answer has now been issued, as of 3 February.

The Cabinet Office routinely provides or procures media or voice training for Ministers and Senior Officials who carry out frequent or high-profile media appearances in the course of their official duties. The Cabinet Office spent c.£75,800 on this type of training during the time period stated.

The fees applied for Persons at Risk of Violence (PARV) orders should never have the effect of denying access to the courts. The government is presently reviewing the fee framework for PARV orders.

The government is also undertaking a wider review of the personal insolvency framework, which includes whether the Individual Insolvency Register should be private.

The Department for Business and Trade has not spent anything on media and voice training for Ministers between 4 July 2022 and 4 July 2024.

The rules of the Heat Network Technical Assurance Scheme (HNTAS) are still under development, and it would be inappropriate to pre-emptively set out potential costs ahead of publishing our technical standards consultation and options assessment this summer.

To support the sector with remediation costs arising due to HNTAS, the Heat Networks Efficiency Scheme will deploy up to £75 million of capital grants and £2 million of revenue grants between 2023 and 2028.

The rules of the Heat Network Technical Assurance Scheme (HNTAS) are still under development. They are designed to be proportionate, deliver better quality of service and to reduce consumer costs in the longer term. We plan to publish a consultation on HNTAS this summer. We are exploring options to support the sector, including leaseholders. Recognising that the availability of support will have a significant bearing on the sector’s ability to fund and achieve proposed HNTAS requirements, we encourage stakeholders to respond to the consultation once published.

The UK’s 2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), to reduce all greenhouse gas emissions by at least 81% on 1990 levels is an economy-wide target, covering all greenhouse gases, sectors and categories and aligned with limiting global warming to 1.5c. Our NDC is aligned with the advice of the independent Climate Change Committee (CCC) and consistent with the effort required to deliver our ambitious Carbon Budget 6 (2033-2037). In providing advice on pathways to meet CB6 and the UK’s 2050 Net Zero target, the CCC emphasised the host of health benefits attached to the net zero transition and appointed an expert advisory group on Health to support their advice.

The UK is fully committed to taking forward the outcomes of the Global Stocktake, including through our recently announced 1.5 aligned Nationally Determined Contribution of at least 81% reduction in emissions by 2035 based on 1990 levels. We are disappointed that COP29 failed to follow up on historic commitments made at COP28 and will champion ambition to ensure that COP30 delivers on implementation of the Global Stocktake. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is expected to agree the scope and timeline for the publication of its Seventh Assessment Report at its next plenary in February 2025.

The Government welcomes the commitment by energy suppliers to support consumers this winter.

The Government and industry have worked together to deliver a £500m Winter Support Commitment, and we applaud suppliers stepping up on this matter.

We expect energy suppliers to do everything they can to support customers who are struggling with bills, especially vulnerable customers. It is important that anyone who is struggling to pay their energy bills contact their supplier.

The Government has assessed the potential impact of adopting digital tools on public sector efficiency through detailed analysis.

This work identified up to £45 billion in potential annual benefits from digital transformation, including through automation of routine tasks, migrating services to lower-cost online channels, and reducing fraud via digital compliance tools.

Government continues to evaluate the effectiveness of these tools, recently publishing a study on Microsoft CoPilot across 20,000 Civil Servants. The Incubator for AI also deploys bespoke tools to unlock mission delivery. For example, the PM recently announced the rollout of Extract, an AI planning tool, to all local authorities in England by Spring next year.

These initiatives will enhance efficiency and reduce duplication, ensuring we can deliver public services which are fit for the future, while also making it easier for people to interact with their government’s digital services.

The Government recognises the value of the grassroots music sector - it provides the foundation for the entire music industry, fostering creativity, innovation and cultural expression.

The Government response to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee's report on grassroots music venues sets out our commitment to working across the music sector to support the sustainability of grassroots music. In particular, the Government is urging the live music industry to introduce a voluntary levy on tickets for stadium and arena shows, to help safeguard the future of the grassroots music sector. The Government response can be found here: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/45646/documents/225972/default/

As part of our support for the sector, we are continuing to help fund Arts Council England’s successful Supporting Grassroots Music Fund which provides grants to grassroots music venues, recording studios, promoters and festivals of live and electronic music in England, including London.

This government is facing a very challenging fiscal context. Fixing the foundations of the economy will take time and tough decisions are needed across the public sector to get finances back under control and ensure delivery on priorities through the Plan for Change.

The department will spend about £1.4 billion on the Adult Skills Fund (ASF) in the 2025/26 academic year to ensure that adult learners can access the education and training they need to get into employment or progress in work. Currently, 62% of the ASF is devolved to 9 Mayoral Strategic Authorities (MSAs) and Greater London Authority. ASF allocations to MSAs are based on 2017/18 learner data and these authorities are responsible for the allocation of the ASF to learning providers.

The department is responsible for the remaining ASF in non-devolved areas, and allocations are made on an academic year basis. Our allocation methodology for the 2025/26 academic year recognises where providers have delivered above their allocations. It also recognises priority courses at higher funding rates introduced in August 2024. We are choosing to prioritise those higher funding rates which recognise delivery in certain subjects, such as engineering or construction.

The measures in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill for statutory Children Not in School registers in every local authority in England, and the accompanying duties on parents and out-of-school education providers to provide information for these registers, will support local authorities in identifying all children not in school in their areas, including those with special educational needs (SEN). By identifying these children, local authorities will be better able to support them and their families so they can achieve and thrive.

In order to make sure that these measures are implemented appropriately, the department has established stakeholder implementation forums to enable us to engage with a wide group of stakeholders at regular intervals during the progress of the Bill and subsequently after. This includes a group of home educating representatives and families, some of whom have children with SEN, and we are factoring their views into our delivery and the planned support offer to local authorities.

The department will be issuing statutory guidance to support local authorities to carry out their new duties proportionately. As part of our planned engagement with stakeholders, we will consider whether additional support is required, such as training for local authority staff.

The department is currently undertaking business planning to consider spending plans for the 2025/26 fiscal year following the Budget on 30 October. National Helpline services will form part of those considerations.

In developing a child poverty strategy, the child poverty taskforce is considering all children across the United Kingdom. The taskforce recognises the distinct challenges faced by migrant children. The causes of child poverty are deep-rooted, with solutions both for and which go beyond government, and the taskforce is exploring all available levers in response.

To develop the strategy, the taskforce has committed to engaging extensively with families, charities, campaigners and leading organisations across the UK to shape and inform our plans. We are engaging with organisations who have made representations on behalf of migrant children and will continue to do so as our plans develop.

The government recognises the impact that the cost of living crisis has had on students. That is why we are increasing maximum loans for living costs for the 2025/26 academic year by 3.1%, in line with the forecast rate of inflation based on the RPI All Items Excl Mortgage Interest (RPIX) inflation measure, to ensure more support is targeted at students from the lowest income families. In addition, vulnerable groups of students eligible for benefits, such as lone parents and some disabled students, qualify for higher rates of loans for living costs.

The department publishes an Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) each year which sets out the impact of changes to student support on students with protected characteristics and from disadvantaged groups. We plan to publish an EIA for the 2025/26 academic year early in 2025.

There is much more to do to expand access and improve outcomes for disadvantaged students. That is why we have announced that we expect the higher education (HE) sector to do more to support students by working with the government and the Office for Students, and by making the most of the Lifelong Learning Entitlement.

The government’s longer term plan for HE reform will be set out by summer 2025.

We are committed to making the nine new river walks accessible to a wide range of users where it is feasible to do so, so that where possible they can benefit walkers, cyclists and horse riders.

The UK Biodiversity Conference (COP16) was the first opportunity for Parties to take stock of the progress made in implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) adopted at COP15.

Of the 27 important decisions taken at COP16, many provided guidance and support for Parties to help them implement the GBF. These decisions will not require significant changes to our domestic policies but do provide useful additional guidance, which we will consider in greater detail in due course.

We are still considering how to implement the decision adopted on digital sequence information (DSI) on genetic resources, which agreed the modalities for operationalising the multilateral benefit sharing mechanism for the use of DSI, and invites Parties to put in place measures to incentivise companies to contribute.

The Government intends to implement the recommendations set out in the report, of which a number have already been implemented by the programme. Due to the General Election and subsequent change in Government earlier in the year, the strategic landscape that the programme is part of has changed and therefore the Government is reviewing some of the intended target dates for the implementation of the recommendations to ensure that they align with the Governments Missions. The Government is committed to ensuring successful implementation of the Collection and Packaging Reforms as set out in the Autumn budget presented to the House in October. These reforms remain intrinsic to providing the sector much needed certainty to encourage future investment, along with a transition towards a Circular Economy.

Health and Safety Executive is currently preparing a UK REACH dossier for a restriction on PFAS in fire-fighting foams (FFFs), which is due to be published for consultation in 2025.

Ministers and officials meet regularly with Mayors and their representatives to discuss a wide range of transport issues, including enabling more people to walk, wheel and cycle.

The Child Poverty Taskforce is considering all children across the United Kingdom and is exploring all available levers to drive forward short and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty.

The Taskforce is listening to experts and campaigners and ensuring the voices of families and children with experience of poverty are brought into policy thinking and decision making as part of the development of the Child Poverty Strategy. This programme of work has ensured people’s experiences have been shared with Ministers and senior decision makers, and the findings are directly informing the development of the Strategy.

The Department is committed to making the right decision as early as possible in the claim journey.

Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) is a valuable process that supports the resolution of disputes as early as possible, so that customers do not need to appeal, reducing unnecessary demand on His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS). At the MR stage, a different Decision Maker will thoroughly review the decision, taking into account all available evidence and contacting the customer for further information where necessary. Decisions will be changed at the MR stage where the evidence supports this.

Tuberculosis (TB) is a statutorily notifiable disease in the United Kingdom. Surveillance data on all individuals diagnosed with TB is collected via the UK Health Security Agency’s (UKHSA) National TB Surveillance System (NTBS), which was launched in 2021 to replace older systems.

Scotland joined the NTBS in March 2025, bringing all four UK nations into a single system to improve TB control. Regular data and analysis to support TB control activities is published by the UKHSA, with both annual and quarterly analyses and updates available, respectively, at the following two links:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tuberculosis-in-england-2024-report

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tuberculosis-in-england-national-quarterly-reports/national-quarterly-report-of-tuberculosis-in-england-quarter-3-2024-provisional-data

Annual data sorted by National Health Service and local authority geographies is also available publicly on the Fingertips website, which is available at the following link:

https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/tb-monitoring

The UKHSA and NHS England’s joint Tuberculosis (TB): action plan for England, 2021 to 2026 details actions to support prevention, detection, and control of TB. This includes actions targeted at improving treatment completion and ensuring effective management of drug-resistant TB.

The UKHSA routinely undertakes whole genome sequencing of all TB strains through the National Mycobacterial Reference Service to support treatment decisions based on resistance profiles and public health action with high resolution typing.

NHS England and the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital’s Getting it Right First Time review of TB services reported in March 2025, with a series of recommendations to reduce unwarranted variation and improve care, including to underserved populations. Work is underway, including a call for evidence launched on 2 April 2025, to review and update the national action plan, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/tuberculosis-national-action-plan-2026-to-2031#:~:text=The%20government%20is%20developing%20the,for%20England%2C%20published%20in%202021

Improving the environment where we live, work, and play is critical to support everyone to live longer healthier lives. We know that air pollution is one of the greatest environmental risks to public health in the United Kingdom and so tackling it plays a crucial role in the shift from treatment to prevention of ill health.

Leading our Health Mission, the Department of Health and Social Care is working across Government on ways to reduce the health harms of air pollution, including with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to support their plans for cleaner air so that everyone’s exposure to air pollution is reduced.

We recognise that the overall number of people being referred to National Health Service adult mental health services is increasing, including in East London, and too many people are not receiving the mental health care they need.

That is why, as part of our mission to build an NHS that is fit for the future and that is there when people need it, the Government will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers to reduce delays and provide faster treatment, which will also help ease pressure on busy mental health services.

To address the current mental health workforce shortages in trusts, like the East London NHS Foundation Trust, we plan to recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers across child and adult mental health services, to reduce waiting times and provide faster treatment.

We are working to consider options to deliver this expansion of the mental health workforce, including where they should be deployed to achieve maximum effect. NHS England is also working to improve retention through clearer career progression pathways.

The Department is working across the Government to deliver on our commitment of a specialist mental health professional in every school, including primary schools. We need to ensure that any support meets the needs of young people, teachers, parents, and carers, which is why we are exploring a range of options.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) takes seriously its statutory obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and has complied with all relevant directions issued by the Tribunal. The FCDO accepts the Tribunal's decision of March 2024 not to call Mr Walker as a witness in the case. It would be inappropriate for the FCDO to comment any further on ongoing legal proceedings.

The UK uses its diplomatic reach and political influence in support of access negotiations by impartial humanitarian actors.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is finalising an internal humanitarian diplomacy training module focused on access and protection, in partnership with the British Red Cross, to bolster capability across the FCDO. The UK also recently published the Conflict, Hunger and International Humanitarian Law: A Practitioner's Legal Handbook, which sets out rules relevant to addressing conflict-induced hunger, including rules on humanitarian access. This is a free resource, available online and intended to support understanding of these issues at a global level. The FCDO regularly briefs UK Defence Attachés on humanitarian access and protection. The UK is also working with partners and allies to maximise collective impact on humanitarian access and protection in crises. This includes partnership with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, who lead access negotiations, and an Australian-led partnership with other states to develop a political declaration to protect humanitarian personnel.

The UK is strongly committed to the International Development Association, and we will prioritise spending our Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget through multilaterals. ODA allocations and the impact on programmes are currently being worked through and we will set out our spending plans following the completion of the resource allocation processes.

The UK is playing a leading role in response to the crisis in Sudan, including efforts to facilitate more consistent humanitarian access to help facilitate the delivery of lifesaving supplies and the provision of critical services. At the April London Sudan Conference, the Foreign Secretary highlighted the importance of humanitarian access. The co-chairs' statement from the Conference called on the warring parties to facilitate rapid, safe and unimpeded humanitarian access in accordance with commitments made in the Jeddah Declaration, and in adherence with their obligations under international humanitarian law. He also announced £120 million which will deliver lifesaving support to more than 650,000 people.

We do not plan to re-convene another Development Minister meeting in the immediate future. The Foreign Secretary recently hosted the London Sudan Conference in April alongside France, Germany, the Africa Union and EU which brought together senior figures from the international community to discuss the conflict in Sudan. UK Ministers remain engaged on the crisis with the Minister for Development visiting Chad in May which included a focus on Sudan.