Uma Kumaran

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.

The UK will announce a 1.5°C aligned 2035 Nationally Determined Contribution at COP29 and will submit the Information to facilitate Clarity, Transparency and Understanding to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change before 10 February 2025. The UK is committed to meeting all 23 Global Biodiversity Framework targets and will publish the full National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) in due course. The Departments for Energy Security and Net Zero and Environment, Food and Rural Affairs are working closely on these publications - recognising the importance of a joined-up approach to tackling the climate and biodiversity crises across NDCs and NBSAPs.

This Government believes that we can only ensure climate security for further generations in the Uk if we lead globally.

And that was the message of the Prime Minister at the United Nations General assembly with our:

• World leading 2030 clean power plan
• No new oil and gas licenses
• And playing our part in reforming the global financial system

And next month I will be attending the cop29 talks in Azerbaijan to stand up for Britain's interests.

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.

The majority of school funding is driven by pupil numbers. As such, the department understands that falling rolls can have a significant impact on schools’ budgets.

The lagged funding system, where schools are funded on the basis of their pupil numbers in the previous October census, helps to give schools more certainty over funding levels to aid their planning and is particularly important in giving schools that see year-on-year reductions in their pupil numbers time to reorganise their costs before seeing the funding impact.

In addition, the department allocates falling rolls funding on the basis of the reduction in pupil numbers that local authorities experience each year. Local authorities can choose to operate a falling rolls fund to support schools which see a short-term fall in the number of pupils on roll.

The department will continue to keep the national funding formula under review, including the impact it has on schools with falling rolls.

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 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.

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.

Reducing avoidable disability and death from heart disease and stroke is a priority for the Government. This is why the Government has set a goal for fewer lives being lost to the biggest killers, including from cardiovascular disease (CVD), and why the NHS England's Long Term Plan (2019) sets out a number of actions that aim to help prevent up to 150,000 heart attacks, strokes, and dementia cases by 2029.

The Government continues to support the delivery of the NHS Health Check programme, England’s CVD prevention programme, to people aged 40 to 74 years old. This programme identifies people at risk of CVD, supports people in reducing their risk, and prevents approximately 400 heart attacks or strokes each year. To improve access and engagement with the life-saving programme, we are developing a digital NHS Health Check which will be ready for testing in early 2025 and will enable people to undertake a check at home. We are also trialling the delivery of heart health checks to over 130,000 people in workplaces across the country.

Community pharmacies also provide a free blood pressure check service for anyone over 40 years old. In cases where this results in a high reading, pharmacists can make sure people receive the right National Health Service support to reduce their blood pressure and risk of death or serious disability.

We know there is more to do. The Department and NHS England are working together to achieve the Government’s ambition for fewer lives lost to the biggest killers, including CVD, and we will share more in due course.

We are working to increase the general practice (GP) workforce in England, including in the Stratford and Bow constituency. This includes measures to boost recruitment, address the reasons why doctors leave the profession, and encourage them to return to practice.

NHS England is working to address training bottlenecks so the health service has enough staff for the future, and we will provide £82 million to fund the recruitment of over 1,000 newly qualified GPs, via the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme, so patients can get the care they need.

The Government is completely committed to ratification of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement, also known as the High Seas Treaty), which is in line with our determination to reinvigorate the UK's wider international leadership on climate and nature. The Foreign Secretary and the Leader of the House of Commons have discussed the measures needed to implement the detailed and complex provisions of the Agreement before the UK can ratify.

The UK condemns the recent attacks on UN Peacekeepers. We have been clear: Israel must act in accordance with International Humanitarian Law. Alongside the Foreign Ministers of France, Germany and Italy, the Foreign Secretary expressed deep concern about attacks by Israeli Defense Forces on United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) bases and condemned all threats to UNIFIL's security. The Prime Minister has spoken with international leaders, including Prime Minister Netanyahu, His Majesty King Abdullah II, President Macron and Chancellor Scholz, to press the case for a ceasefire. This builds on extensive discussions by the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary at the UN with regional leaders. We have been working with all parties to prevent escalation and will spare no effort to reduce tensions and find a path to stability.

Sri Lanka is a human rights priority country for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and we regularly engage with the Government of Sri Lanka on the need for truth, justice and accountability. The Global Human Rights sanctions regime is one tool in our foreign policy toolkit. The UK uses sanctions when we judge that they will be effective to achieve our foreign policy goals.  It would not be appropriate to speculate about future sanctions designations as to do so could reduce their impact.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is working closely with relevant departments and BIOT Administration to respond to the health and welfare needs of all the migrants present in Diego Garcia.

The Foreign Secretary and I have publicly called for an immediate end to the violence and unrest in Bangladesh, and for access to the internet and communications services to be restored. I discussed my concerns regarding the situation with the Bangladesh High Commissioner to London on 19 and 23 July. The British High Commissioner to Bangladesh has engaged with Bangladesh government ministers to reinforce messages on de-escalation, the need for constructive dialogue to reduce tensions and for communications to be restored. We will continue to call on all sides to find a peaceful way forward.

This Government is determined to tackle all forms of hate crime across England and Wales, including transgender identity hate crimes.

Under the Victims’ Code all victims, including victims of hate crime, are entitled to be referred to support services when they report a crime.

The Government funds vital support services to help victims cope and recover from the impact of crime, through a mix of local and nationally commissioned services. The Government also provides Police and Crime Commissioners with annual grant funding to commission local practical, emotional, and therapeutic support services for victims of all crime types, including hate crime.

The Home Secretary has made a clear commitment to strengthen neighbourhood policing through the introduction of a Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, which includes the addition of thousands more neighbourhood officers and other police personnel, as part of the Government’s Safer Streets mission. Funding for 2025/26 will be subject to the Spending Review.

All registered providers of social housing are required to meet the outcomes of the regulatory standards set by the independent Regulator of Social Housing.

On 1 April 2024, the Regulator introduced a new, proactive consumer regulation regime. It has begun proactively seeking assurances that registered providers are meeting the outcomes of the strengthened consumer standards through routine regulatory inspections of large landlords. Following a programmed inspection, the Regulator will issue all large landlords with a consumer grading to make clear how landlords are performing. In addition, it continues to issue all large private registered providers with governance and viability gradings.

There are a range of actions the Regulator can take where the outcomes set by the standards are not being delivered, including formal enforcement action.

All registered providers of social housing are required to meet the outcomes of the regulatory standards set by the independent Regulator of Social Housing.

On 1 April 2024, the Regulator introduced a new, proactive consumer regulation regime. It has begun proactively seeking assurances that registered providers are meeting the outcomes of the strengthened consumer standards through routine regulatory inspections of large landlords. Following a programmed inspection, the Regulator will issue all large landlords with a consumer grading to make clear how landlords are performing. In addition, it continues to issue all large private registered providers with governance and viability gradings.

There are a range of actions the Regulator can take where the outcomes set by the standards are not being delivered, including formal enforcement action.

The level of service charge that leaseholders pay depends on many factors, including the terms of a lease and the age and condition of a building.

By law, variable service charges must be reasonable. Should leaseholders wish to contest the reasonableness of their service charges they may make an application to the appropriate tribunal.

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 includes measures designed to drive up the transparency of service charges to make them more easily challengeable if leaseholders consider them to be unreasonable. We will set out details in due course about the extensive programme of secondary legislation need to bring the various provisions of the Act into force.

Leaseholders in shared ownership properties whose leases qualify for protections set out in the Building Safety Act are protected from the costs of internal building safety defects, with a cost cap proportionate to their equity stake in the property.

All leaseholders can benefit from the Government’s Cladding Safety Scheme or Developer Scheme for the removal of unsafe cladding. The Government understands the difficulties some leaseholders are still experiencing and has committed to review how to better protect leaseholders from costs and to accelerate the pace of remediation.

The level of service charge that leaseholders pay depends on many factors, including the terms of a lease and the age and condition of a building.

By law, variable service charges must be reasonable. Should leaseholders wish to contest the reasonableness of their service charges they may make an application to the appropriate tribunal.

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 includes measures designed to drive up the transparency of service charges to make them more easily challengeable if leaseholders consider them to be unreasonable. We will set out details in due course about the extensive programme of secondary legislation need to bring the various provisions of the Act into force.

Leaseholders in shared ownership properties whose leases qualify for protections set out in the Building Safety Act are protected from the costs of internal building safety defects, with a cost cap proportionate to their equity stake in the property.

All leaseholders can benefit from the Government’s Cladding Safety Scheme or Developer Scheme for the removal of unsafe cladding. The Government understands the difficulties some leaseholders are still experiencing and has committed to review how to better protect leaseholders from costs and to accelerate the pace of remediation.

The level of service charge that leaseholders pay depends on many factors, including the terms of a lease and the age and condition of a building.

By law, variable service charges must be reasonable. Should leaseholders wish to contest the reasonableness of their service charges they may make an application to the appropriate tribunal.

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 includes measures designed to drive up the transparency of service charges to make them more easily challengeable if leaseholders consider them to be unreasonable. We will set out details in due course about the extensive programme of secondary legislation need to bring the various provisions of the Act into force.

Leaseholders in shared ownership properties whose leases qualify for protections set out in the Building Safety Act are protected from the costs of internal building safety defects, with a cost cap proportionate to their equity stake in the property.

All leaseholders can benefit from the Government’s Cladding Safety Scheme or Developer Scheme for the removal of unsafe cladding. The Government understands the difficulties some leaseholders are still experiencing and has committed to review how to better protect leaseholders from costs and to accelerate the pace of remediation.