First elected: 6th May 2010
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
These initiatives were driven by Valerie Vaz, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Valerie Vaz has not been granted any Urgent Questions
The Bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament before the end of the session. This means the Bill will make no further progress. A Bill to require action plans to be prepared for the provision of education and health services for children and adults with epilepsy and related conditions; to make provision about support for children and adults with epilepsy and related conditions; and for connected purposes.
The Bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament before the end of the session. This means the Bill will make no further progress. A Bill to make provision to equalise leave, pay and allowance arrangements for adoptive parents with those of parents whose children are born to them; to equalise eligibility for adoption leave and pay with that of maternity leave and pay; to equalise the rates of pay for the first six weeks of maternity leave and adoption leave; to equalise the entitlement to allowances for self-employed adopters and self-employed mothers; and for connected purposes
Spiking Bill 2022-23
Sponsor - Richard Graham (Con)
Lithium-ion Battery Storage (Fire Safety and Environmental Permits) Bill 2022-23
Sponsor - Maria Miller (Con)
Criminal Appeal (Amendment) Bill 2022-23
Sponsor - Barry Sheerman (LAB)
Firearms and Hate Crime Bill 2021-22
Sponsor - Luke Pollard (LAB)
Victims of Crime and Anti-social Behaviour, Etc (Rights, Entitlements and Related Matters) Bill 2019-21
Sponsor - Peter Kyle (Lab)
Events and Festivals (Control of Flares, Fireworks and Smoke Bombs Etc) Bill 2015-16
Sponsor - Nigel Adams (Con)
The Government has today published Command Paper CP 822, which contains a draft Media Bill.
The draft Bill contains measures which will ensure that UK radio remains available to listeners via their smart speakers over the coming years, while providing scope for innovative collaboration and partnerships between stations and the smart speaker platforms.
The Government has today published Command Paper CP 822, which contains a draft Media Bill.
The draft Bill contains measures which will ensure that UK radio remains available to listeners via their smart speakers over the coming years, while providing scope for innovative collaboration and partnerships between stations and the smart speaker platforms.
The Parliamentary Works Sponsor Body was abolished on 1 January 2023 and its staff transferred into a new joint department in Parliament, the Restoration and Renewal Client Team. Replacing the Sponsor Board will be two new Boards—the R&R Client Board, comprising the membership of the two House Commissions, and the R&R Programme Board, which is currently in the process of being established.
The costs of these changes thus far have been primarily absorbed within the existing budgets of the two Houses and the Sponsor Body.
The following items are costs that would not have been incurred had it not been for the transfer of functions:
The ongoing live capital infrastructure projects as of 18 January 2023 are summarised in the table below. There are 61 projects in progress on the Parliamentary Estate. Around £452 million has been spent to date on these projects and they are forecast to cost £1,370 million at completion.
Following the change to Government guidance in February 2022 individuals were no longer required to inform their workplace if they tested positive for Covid. The figures below therefore represent the number of positive cases where an individual chose to share their result.
As the original case information has now been deleted in line with our privacy policies, only a summary per week is available.
25 March–1 April: 47
18–24 March: 75
11–17 March: 51
4–10 March: 47
25 February–3 March: 11
18–24 February: 15
11–17 February: 18
The numbers below represent the number of validated case numbers, using data held by the UKHSA and the Parliamentary test and trace team.
4–10 February: 63
28 January–3 February: 61
21–27 January: 89
14–20 January: 68
7–13 January: 69
31 December–6 January: 110
24–30 December: 119
17–23 December: 128
10–16 December: 193
3–9 December: 66
26 November–2 December: 38
19–25 November: 34
12–18 November: 31
5–11 November: 20
29 October–4 November: 28
The application of the Catholic Relief Act 1829 to the Sovereign’s advisers is a matter for the Government, not for the Church Commissioners.
Advice and support for parishes and cathedrals is available via the Church of England’s platform ‘Church Care’, this website acts as a portal for advice on management, maintenance, development and grants available to parishes and cathedrals.
During the pandemic period, £30m of grants that have been awarded to Church of England churches and cathedrals from a combination of the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund (CRF) and the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Emergency Fund. The Church of England is grateful for this support and recognition by the Government of the key role these buildings play in their local communities.
The grants awarded by the Culture Recovery Fund were allocated to 227 churches and cathedrals with 43% of this money is going to the 30% most deprived parishes – over £12.9m; 20% of the money going to the 10% most deprived parishes, totalling over £5.9m.
The Lichfield Diocese received of six grants totalling £342,825 from the Culture Recovery Fund and the National Lottery Heritage Emergency Fund, this included five awards to parish churches totalling £199,925 and a grant to Lichfield Cathedral of £142,900
A second Culture Recovery Fund has now launched, and churches with listed buildings are being encouraged to apply for support.
While the primary responsibility for decisions on resourcing mission and ministry rests with the dioceses, the Church Commissioners have provided an extra resource to dioceses (distributed by The Archbishops’ Council) to support mission and ministry in deprived communities in the form of Lowest Income Communities Funding. Across England, £82.1m has been allocated by the Commissioners for this purpose in 2020-22. Recipient dioceses are required to report on their use of this funding to The Archbishops’ Council each year. The Diocese of Lichfield, which covers Walsall South, will receive over £1.7m of this funding in 2021. In 2019, the diocese allocated some £200,000 of this to support ministry and mission in parishes in Walsall.
The dioceses can also apply for Strategic Development Funding (SDF) for significant projects which support their mission and financial strength, in line with their own strategies. The criteria for this funding seeks to focus on areas of deprivation, and on work with children and young people and within large urban areas. In 2019, £1.7million was awarded to Lichfield Diocese to fund a project to enhance mission and ministry in Telford, which includes some of the diocese’s most deprived areas.
A further £35m Sustainability Funding has also been made available to help diocese whose income has been reduced by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. This funding is focused on those dioceses with fewer historic assets and whose populations have lower average incomes. Grants worth £15m were made to 24 dioceses in 2020.
On 20 January 2023, the Foreign Secretary announced that the UK will play a leading role in a core group of likeminded partners to pursue criminal accountability for Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. Alongside other international partners invited by Ukraine, the UK will shape thinking on how to ensure criminal accountability for Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. An investigation into the Crime of Aggression by any new tribunal could complement established mechanisms investigating war crimes, including the International Criminal Court and Ukraine’s domestic investigations and prosecutions. In joining this additional core group focused on Crimes of Aggression, the UK will complement its support on those other mechanisms in pursuit of accountability for war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide. Investigations for those international crimes are well underway, supported by UK initiatives such as the UK-US-EU Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group, and judicial training by Sir Howard Morrison KC and Uk-based Advocates for International Development. On 4 March 2023, it was announced that an International Centre for the Prosecution of Crimes of Aggression against Ukraine will be established in The Hague, within the structure of Eurojust’s Joint Investigation Team for Ukraine. |
On 20 January 2023, the Foreign Secretary announced that the UK will play a leading role in a core group of likeminded partners to pursue criminal accountability for Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. Alongside other international partners invited by Ukraine, the UK will shape thinking on how to ensure criminal accountability for Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. The first meeting of the core group took place in Prague on 26 January 2023. On 4 March 2023 at the United for Justice conference in Lviv, it was announced that an International Centre for the Prosecution of Crimes of Aggression against Ukraine will be established in The Hague, within the structure of Eurojust’s Joint Investigation Team for Ukraine. I was delighted to represent the UK at that conference: this government stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine in its search for justice. |
As part of broad civil contingencies duties, all local authorities are expected to assess the risks of emergencies and have plans in place to respond to a range of scenarios.
In extreme emergency circumstances, discretionary funding may be made available where the expenditure of local authorities is more than could be reasonably expected to cover, such as severe weather events.
Strengthening national resilience is a key priority for the Government.
The Deputy Prime Minister delivered the first Annual Statement to Parliament on risk and resilience in December 2023. Since then, in February he has convened the UK Resilience Forum to garner insight from key stakeholders from across the resilience system and drive a whole of society approach. He will do so again in July.
The Government has already taken significant steps to implement the Resilience Framework, including publishing the most transparent ever National Risk Register, an updated list of Lead Government Departments for the risks it sets out and testing Emergency Alerts.
Under reforms introduced in 2007 by the then Prime Minister, The Rt Hon Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister does not choose bishops or advise on the choice of bishops. His or her role is confined to putting the name of the nominated candidate to Her Majesty The Queen.
The Government does not have any current plans to review the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829.
Under the Green Homes Grant voucher scheme, installers were TrustMark-registered, MCS-certified for heat and PAS-certified for energy efficiency, therefore thoroughly vetted against trading practices. Installers regularly had their work inspected to ensure quality. The scheme monitored quotes provided by installers to prevent over-charging and robust counter-fraud measures were built into the scheme.
Interim findings from the scheme evaluation, including on installation quality and initial assessment of value for money, were published in January 2023. The final evaluation will be published Summer/Autumn 2023.
Constituents should raise complaints regarding an installation directly with their installer. If their issues are not resolved, further information can be found here: https://www.trustmark.org.uk/homeowners/if-things-go-wrong.
People living in charitable accommodation paying all-inclusive service charges will be eligible for support depending on the type of contract existing between the accommodation provider and the energy supplier.
If the accommodation provider has a domestic energy account, they will receive the EBSS discount and should pass this to their tenants. The Government is introducing legislation to ensure this happens.
If the accommodation provider has a business energy account, they will not receive EBSS. However, tenants will be able to apply for equivalent funding through the EBSS Additional Fund, details of which are to be announced in due course.
The recently announced Energy Bill Relief Scheme (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-outlines-plans-to-help-cut-energy-bills-for-businesses) ensures that all businesses and other non-domestic customers are protected from excessively high energy bills over the winter period. A review of the scheme, to be published in three months, will identify the most vulnerable non-domestic customers and how the government will continue assisting them with energy costs after the initial six months.
The Government is also providing support via freezing alcohol duty rates on beer, cider, wine and spirits, and increasing the employment allowance. Government is also providing a 50% business rates relief for businesses across the UK and reducing employer national insurance. This is in addition to the billions in grants and loans offered throughout the pandemic.
We have established the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry chaired by Sir Wyn Williams to find out what happened. We can look at accountability in relation to the Post Office and Fujitsu only when we have Sir Wyn’s findings.
We have established the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry chaired by Sir Wyn Williams to find out what happened. We can look at accountability in relation to the Post Office and Fujitsu only when we have Sir Wyn’s findings.
We have established the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry chaired by Sir Wyn Williams to find out what happened. We can look at accountability in relation to the Post Office and Fujitsu only when we have Sir Wyn’s findings.
UKAS is appointed by Government as the National Accreditation Body for the United Kingdom to assess, against nationally and internationally agreed standards, organisations that provide conformity assessment services such as certification, testing, inspection, calibration and verification.
UKAS has stated they do not operate in Myanmar or provide accreditation services to companies owned by the Myanmar military. UKAS treats these matters very seriously and would investigate any such claims thoroughly.
The Government is aware of the incident in Australia. The Department will continue to work with the industry-led electricity storage health and safety governance group to analyse incidents around the world and derive conclusions, as soon as these become available.
As announced in the Innovation Strategy, in early 2022 we are establishing a Business Innovation Forum to galvanise action from the business community, drive implementation and to hold government to account on delivery.
The Forum will include representatives from the UK's largest R&D intensive businesses, smaller innovative businesses, and experts on innovation more broadly.
The Forum will meet at least quarterly, with the first meeting expected to take place soon. The full attendee list will be confirmed and published online in due course.
As announced in the Innovation Strategy, in early 2022 we are establishing a Business Innovation Forum to galvanise action from the business community, drive implementation and to hold government to account on delivery.
The Forum will support the Government in the implementation of the ‘UK Innovation Strategy’, galvanising action from the business community and reviewing progress against actions set out in the UK innovation Strategy.
I will attend each Forum meeting to receive members’ views directly
We will publish our comprehensive Net Zero Strategy ahead of COP26, setting out the Government’s vision for transitioning to a net zero economy, and raising ambition as we outline our path to meet net zero by 2050, our Carbon Budgets and 2030 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).
The proposed closure of the GKN Automotive plant in Erdington in Birmingham, putting over 500 jobs at risk, is deeply worrying for the employees and their families. While this is a commercial matter. Ministers and officials have met with the management of GKN Automotive, Unite the Union, and the local constituency MP. The purpose was to gain a more detailed understanding of the reasoning behind the proposed closure, and to explore options for securing a future for the site, to safeguard the jobs of the employees.
The statutory consultation process is ongoing, providing an opportunity for stakeholders to ask questions and present alternative proposals. The government is monitoring developments.
In the event of the plant being closed, the government stands ready to support those impacted back into work. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Jobcentre Plus lead on this. They have doubled the number of frontline Work Coaches across the network of jobcentres to ensure people have access to bespoke advice and guidance.
The Government is working in partnership with the automotive sector to exploit the opportunities from the transition to zero emission vehicles. Nearly £500m has been committed through the Automotive Transformation Fund to build an internationally competitive electric vehicle supply chain, which will create jobs in our industrial heartlands.
The proposed closure of the GKN Automotive plant in Erdington in Birmingham, putting over 500 jobs at risk, is deeply worrying for the employees and their families. While this is a commercial matter. Ministers and officials have met with the management of GKN Automotive, Unite the Union, and the local constituency MP. The purpose was to gain a more detailed understanding of the reasoning behind the proposed closure, and to explore options for securing a future for the site, to safeguard the jobs of the employees.
The statutory consultation process is ongoing, providing an opportunity for stakeholders to ask questions and present alternative proposals. The government is monitoring developments.
In the event of the plant being closed, the government stands ready to support those impacted back into work. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Jobcentre Plus lead on this. They have doubled the number of frontline Work Coaches across the network of jobcentres to ensure people have access to bespoke advice and guidance.
The Government is working in partnership with the automotive sector to exploit the opportunities from the transition to zero emission vehicles. Nearly £500m has been committed through the Automotive Transformation Fund to build an internationally competitive electric vehicle supply chain, which will create jobs in our industrial heartlands.
The Government published its response to the recommendations made by the Independent Fan-Led Review of Football Governance in April 2022. The Government recognises the need for the long-term financial sustainability of football clubs, throughout the football pyramid.
The Government will publish a White Paper on Football Governance reforms imminently, to set out our detailed plans to improve the financial stability and governance of football clubs across all leagues. The Government remains clear that the preferred outcome on financial distributions is a football led solution. The football authorities can take forward some of the reforms needed now, and we continue to work with industry to push toward this.
The Government published its response to the recommendations made by the Independent Fan-Led Review of Football Governance in April 2022. The Government recognises the need for the long-term financial sustainability of football clubs, throughout the football pyramid.
The Government will publish a White Paper on Football Governance reforms imminently, to set out our detailed plans to improve the financial stability and governance of football clubs across all leagues. The Government remains clear that the preferred outcome on financial distributions is a football led solution. The football authorities can take forward some of the reforms needed now, and we continue to work with industry to push toward this.
The Government recognises that listed places of worship represent some of the nation's finest heritage, and that there are particular burdens to the upkeep of such spiritual architecture. The Government funded Listed Place of Worship Grant Scheme aims to support the works by giving grants that cover the VAT incurred in making repairs to listed buildings in use as places of worship. This supports the effective conservation of these sites.
In 2012, my Department and the Treasury became joint funders, with annual funding increased up to £42 million per annum. I am pleased to confirm this amount of funding has been secured for the current spending period until 31st March 2025. Whilst the government cannot confirm this funding permanently, my officials remain in close contact with the sector and are aware of the ongoing need for support for this scheme.
The Government published its response to the recommendations made by the Independent Fan Led Review of Football Governance in April 2022. We absolutely recognise the need for football to be reformed to ensure the game’s sustainability in the long term. We are now taking the time to consider the policy, but we remain committed to publishing a White Paper setting out our detailed response to the fan led review of football governance, and will set this out in due course.
The Government has published its response to the recommendations made by the Independent Fan Led Review of Football Governance. This was in April 2022.
The Government accepts or supports all of the ten strategic recommendations which set out the government’s planned reform of football. The Queen’s Speech confirmed our commitment to an independent regulator for English football and we will bring forward proposals in this Parliamentary session. A White Paper will be published in the summer that will set out the details on the implementation of our football governance reforms. We are working at pace to deliver these measures that will bring sustainable reform that ensures current and future fans continue to enjoy our national game.
Information on the school workforce in England is published in the annual ‘School Workforce in England’ national statistics release, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
The number of teachers without qualified teacher status in all state funded schools in England, including a breakdown by primary and secondary, and by local authority, is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/29d83b82-2aba-44c7-bb82-08db371944c7.
Data relating to schools in individual constituencies can be found in the ‘teacher and support staff numbers by school’ file, within the additional supporting files section, available at: https://content.explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/api/releases/0728fb07-f014-492c-aac9-fd11bb441601/files/2dfcc772-c410-46ac-cb9d-08da713e9200.
There are 24,000 more teachers now than in 2010. The quality of teaching is the most important in school factor in improving outcomes for children, especially for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Evidence is clear that high quality professional development can lead to improved pupil attainment.
The Department has invested in transforming training for teachers and head teachers. Every teacher and head teacher now has access to high quality, evidence based training and professional development at every stage of their career, starting with initial teacher training (ITT).
By 2024, a reformed ITT provider market will be delivering quality assured training leading to qualified teacher status (QTS) that places a greater emphasis than ever before on embedding structured practice into courses, ensuring trainees are ready to thrive in the classroom.
A new system of higher quality training provider partnerships will be supported by £36 million to introduce new Quality Requirements, including better training for mentors and the delivery of new, cutting edge, intensive training, and practice activity. Every teaching school hub will be involved in ITT to ensure that training places are available across the country.
QTS is considered desirable for teachers in most schools in England. In some schools, including academies, free schools, and independent schools, QTS is not a legal requirement. Academies have a fundamental freedom to employ talented people who do not necessarily have QTS.
Most teachers in all schools, including academies, have QTS and have undertaken initial teacher training. In the 2021/22 academic year, the latest data available, 14,771 teachers (headcount) did not have qualified teacher status, equivalent to 2.9% of teachers.
Information on the number of qualified teachers of the deaf is not collected by the department.
Information on the school workforce in England is collected as part of the annual School Workforce Census each November. Information is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
On 2 March 2023, the department published the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan in response to the Green Paper published in March 2022. This outlines the government’s mission for the SEND and AP system to fulfil children’s potential, including those with sensory impairment.
As stated in the Plan, to support the supply of teachers with a mandatory qualification in sensory impairment (MQSI), the department has developed a new approval process to determine providers of MQSIs from the start of the 2023/24 academic year. The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) are also developing an apprenticeship for teachers of sensory impairment. They are working with universities, local authorities and sector representatives, including the National Deaf Children’s Society, the Royal National Institute of Blind People and the British Association of Teachers of Deaf Children and Young People, to develop the qualification and expect it to be available from 2025. In addition to this, the department is exploring further options to maximise take up of MQSIs, with a view to improve the supply of teachers for children with sensory impairments.
This is a matter for Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have asked its Chief Regulator, Dr Jo Saxton, to write to the right hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
The government’s priority, in our response to the report of the Independent Panel of the Review of Post 18 Education and Funding, is to put the student finance system on a sustainable footing for the long term.
As part of our response, we are introducing the Lifelong Loan Entitlement (LLE). We are considering if and how Alternative Student Finance (ASF) could be delivered as part of the LLE.
We believe it is sensible to align future delivery of an ASF product with these major reforms to ensure fair treatment for all students.
As outlined in the guidance for education and childcare settings on new national restrictions from 5 November 2020, out-of-school activities such as private tuition may continue to operate during the period of national restrictions: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/education-and-childcare-settings-new-national-restrictions-from-5-november-2020#ooss. Providers of these activities who are operating out of their own homes or private studios should ensure they are only being accessed for face-to-face provision by parents if their primary purpose is registered childcare. If they are providing other activities for children, this should be done only where it is reasonably necessary to enable parents to work or search for work, to undertake training or education, or for the purposes of respite care.
Out-of-school activities that are primarily used by home educating parents, as part of their arrangements for their child to receive a suitable full-time education, may also continue to operate for face-to-face provision for the duration of the national restrictions. This could include, for example, private tutors.
Where online lessons are not reasonably possible, providers are permitted to offer face-to-face provision in pupils’ homes, where it is necessary for them to continue to work.
Tutors that continue to operate face-to-face provision during this period should continue to undertake risk assessments and implement the system of controls set out in the protective measures for holiday clubs, after-school clubs and other out-of-school clubs for children during the COVID-19 outbreak: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/protective-measures-for-holiday-or-after-school-clubs-and-other-out-of-school-settings-for-children-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak/protective-measures-for-out-of-school-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak. Providers operating out of other people’s homes should also implement the guidance on working safely in these environments: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/homes.
All other out of school activities, not being primarily used by parents for these purposes and that can offer remote education, should close for face-to-face provision for the duration of the national restrictions. This will minimise the amount of mixing between different groups of people and therefore reduce the risk of infection and transmission of COVID-19.
The call for evidence on music education was launched on 9 February and closed on 13 March, the findings from which will inform the refreshed National Plan for Music Education. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the refresh of the plan is currently on hold but will be published in due course.
The Government has been clear in its intention to keep schools open throughout the COVID-19 outbreak and ensure all pupils get a high-quality education. Schools should undertake a COVID-19 risk assessment by following the advice set out in the Department’s guidance for full opening of schools. The guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools. There may be an additional risk of infection in environments where singing and the playing of wind or brass instruments takes place. The guidance also includes advice on how schools can teach music safely, including on musical equipment. Guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/performing-arts.
The guidance is also clear that the curriculum should remain broad so that the majority of pupils are taught a full range of subjects over the year, including the arts. In Key Stages 4 and 5, the majority of GCSE and A-level students are expected to continue to study their examination subjects, including those who are due to take exams in music, to support them towards their preferred route to further study.
The Government has been clear that it is a top priority to keep schools open throughout the COVID-19 outbreak and ensure all pupils get a high quality education.
The Department’s guidance for the full opening of schools for this academic year makes clear that the curriculum should remain broad so that the majority of pupils are taught a full range of subjects over the year, including the arts. The guidance also states that in Key Stage 4 and 5, the majority of GCSE and A level students are expected to continue to study their examination subjects, including those due to take exams in music, to support them towards their preferred route to further study.
There may be an additional risk of infection in environments where singing, and playing of wind or brass instruments, takes place. The guidance also sets out detailed advice on how schools can teach these aspects of music safely. Schools should take the necessary steps to ensure those singing or practicing woodwind or brass instruments in school can do so safely. The Department’s full guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools#music-dance-and-drama-in-school.
In August, Ofqual published decisions on subject-level changes to exams and assessments in 2021, including for GCSE and A level music, to reduce pressure on teaching time next year and respond to public health requirements. On Monday 12 October, the Government confirmed that no further subject-level changes to exams and assessments will be made for GCSEs, AS and A levels. This confirmation gives teachers, school and college leaders, and students clarity on what will be assessed in exams next summer.
The call for evidence on music education was launched on 9 February and closed on 13 March, the findings from which will inform the refreshed National Plan for Music Education. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the refresh of the plan is currently on hold but will be published in due course.
The Government has been clear in its intention to keep schools open throughout the COVID-19 outbreak and ensure all pupils get a high-quality education. Schools should undertake a COVID-19 risk assessment by following the advice set out in the Department’s guidance for full opening of schools. The guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools. There may be an additional risk of infection in environments where singing and the playing of wind or brass instruments takes place. The guidance also includes advice on how schools can teach music safely, including on musical equipment. Guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/performing-arts.
The guidance is also clear that the curriculum should remain broad so that the majority of pupils are taught a full range of subjects over the year, including the arts. In Key Stages 4 and 5, the majority of GCSE and A-level students are expected to continue to study their examination subjects, including those who are due to take exams in music, to support them towards their preferred route to further study.
The call for evidence on music education was launched on 9 February and closed on 13 March, the findings from which will inform the refreshed National Plan for Music Education. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the refresh of the plan is currently on hold but will be published in due course.
The Government has been clear in its intention to keep schools open throughout the COVID-19 outbreak and ensure all pupils get a high-quality education. Schools should undertake a COVID-19 risk assessment by following the advice set out in the Department’s guidance for full opening of schools. The guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools. There may be an additional risk of infection in environments where singing and the playing of wind or brass instruments takes place. The guidance also includes advice on how schools can teach music safely, including on musical equipment. Guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/performing-arts.
The guidance is also clear that the curriculum should remain broad so that the majority of pupils are taught a full range of subjects over the year, including the arts. In Key Stages 4 and 5, the majority of GCSE and A-level students are expected to continue to study their examination subjects, including those who are due to take exams in music, to support them towards their preferred route to further study.
The UK Land Carbon Registry is operated on behalf of the UK and Devolved Governments. It contains information about projects registered under the UK Woodland Carbon Code and the UK Peatland Code, the location of registered projects, and the quantity of carbon units issued to date and expected to be issued in future subject to verification of the carbon savings delivered ( https://www.woodlandcarboncode.org.uk/uk-land-carbon-registry).
Agricultural and planning policies are devolved matters. In England Her Majesty's Land Registry publishes information on all companies (UK and overseas) which own property in England and Wales ( https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/land-registry).
We are continuing to support the Access for All programme which has delivered over 230 accessible stations so far, with another 70 stations in various stages of development or construction and hope to announce further stations that will benefit from accessibility improvements in due course. The rail industry is already subject to the Equality Act 2010 and under a duty to make reasonable adjustments to allow disabled passengers to access services. Network Rail is also subject to the provisions of the Public Sector Equality Duty. In addition, whenever the industry installs, replaces or renews station infrastructure they must comply with current accessibility standards or face possible enforcement action by the Office of Rail and Road.
We are continuing to support the Access for All programme which has delivered over 230 accessible stations so far, with another 70 stations in various stages of development or construction and hope to announce further stations that will benefit from accessibility improvements in due course. The rail industry is already subject to the Equality Act 2010 and under a duty to make reasonable adjustments to allow disabled passengers to access services. Network Rail is also subject to the provisions of the Public Sector Equality Duty. In addition, whenever the industry installs, replaces or renews station infrastructure they must comply with current accessibility standards or face possible enforcement action by the Office of Rail and Road.
The Government commissioned a study of cycling opportunities along the spine of HS2 corridor in 2013 and this was published in 2018 National cycleway feasibility study associated with HS2 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The Department for Transport has been engaging regularly, through meetings and working groups, with representatives of the specialist haulage industry that provides logistics services for the creative sectors. The Department continues to explore ways to support the industry as it adapts to the requirements of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA).