Vicky Ford

The Government Digital Service (“GDS”) introduced and leads on implementation of the Public Sector (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No.2) Accessibility Regulations (“the Regulations”).

GDS has been providing an ongoing range of guidance and awareness raising to public sector bodies, including local authorities on implementing the accessibility requirements, but is not responsible for funding to local authorities. Guidance can be located on our accessibility regulations campaign here https://accessibility.campaign.gov.uk/.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

The National Cyber Security Strategy, supported by £1.9 billion of transformational investment, sets out measures to defend our people, businesses, and assets; deter our adversaries; and develop necessary skills and capabilities.

The National Cyber Security Centre provides advice that helps public and private sector organisations to be more resilient to cyber attacks.

Last year the government passed the groundbreaking Online Safety Act which will place much needed duties on tech companies to protect their users, especially children. We are focused on implementing the act as quickly as possible.

In January, the government introduced new offences to criminalise cyberflashing, fake news intended to cause non-trivial harm and other online abuse. The Crown Prosecution Service has already delivered the first conviction for cyberflashing, and it will not be the last.

On 8 May, Ofcom published its draft child safety codes. Once in force, these protections will significantly improve child online safety, ensuring companies shield children from harmful content, and stop their algorithms pushing inappropriate content at children.

The strongest protections in the Online Safety Bill are for children, and platforms will have to take proactive steps to prevent children being exposed to illegal content and behaviour, including child sexual exploitation and abuse and content assisting suicide.

Services likely to be accessed by children will also be required to protect children from other harmful material, including pornography and cyberbullying. If sites fail in their duties, they will be subject to tough enforcement action.

Artificial Intelligence is already starting to transform the way we live and work. We are ensuring that the UK is an excellent place for AI development, with more PhD places, a Fellowship programme and an Industry Council to provide leadership.

Our Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation will ensure we have a governance regime that supports great innovation while at the same time ensuring AI is safe, trusted and works for people.

The UK is currently the EU's biggest broadcasting hub, and the sector makes an important contribution to our thriving creative industries.

During our negotiations with the EU we will work to get the right deal for broadcasters and will support their continued growth in the UK

Departmental records show that between 2010 and 2017 five schools in Chelmsford constituency received or benefited from specific school improvement grants, and between 2017 and the end of December 2023 ten schools received or benefited from specific school improvement grants.

The following grants have been included in this analysis:

• Regional Academy Growth Fund (RAGF) 2016/17
• Multi-academy Trust Development and Improvement Fund (MDIF) 2018/19
• Trust Capacity Fund (TCaF) - 2019 to date
• Strategic School Improvement Capital Budget (SSICB) - 2016 to date
• Environmental Improvement Grant (EIG) - 2016 to date
• Emergency Strategic Improvement Fund (ESIF) - 2017 to date
• School Improvement offer (SI) - 2018 to 2020
• Trust and School Improvement offer (TSI) – 2021 to date.

The department has also included grants allocated for sponsored academy conversions (2010 to date), as well as grants for transferring academies between trusts (2012 to date) because these grants may include elements for school improvement activities.

The department has limited this analysis to these grants as they can be quantified for some of the time periods requested. The department's policy of retaining financial records for seven years limits access to data before the 2016/17 financial year. Other department grants may contribute less directly to wider school improvement. In addition, many of these and other grants are allocated via academy trusts or other organisations, and so schools may benefit indirectly without being the designated recipient from department. Finally, not all grant programs have been operational throughout the entire period between 2010 and 2023.

For a summary of the grants awarded, and for relevant school-level data, please refer to the tables below:

Table 1: Summary of school improvement grants paid for supporting schools in Chelmsford constituency.

* Grant programme not operating during this period.

** The RAGF, MDIF, and TCAF funds support growth in the capacity of academy trusts to oversee academies. Funding is allocated to trusts, and available data only reflects the total amounts received at the trust level. We are unable to attribute specific portions of the funding awarded under the RAGF, MDIF or TCaF programmes to individual school improvement efforts within any given trust or locality.

Table 2: Value of school improvement grants awarded where it is possible to identify a value attributable to the Chelmsford constituency.

The department publishes statistics on schools funding at the national level, including revenue funding to state-funded schools in England for pupils aged 5 to 16, in cash and real terms. Statistics for the 2010/11 to 2023/24 financial years are available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-funding-statistics.

In 2016/17 national per pupil funding in cash terms was £5,590 and in 2023/24 this had risen to £7,460 in cash terms. This represents a cumulative growth in per pupil funding since 2016/17 of 9.9% in real terms, as measured by the GDP deflator.

The published information has been designed to capture core funding for schools and be as consistent and comparable as possible across these years, given that the funding system has changed significantly during that time. It covers mainstream primary and secondary schools, special schools, alternative provision, pupil referral units and non-maintained special schools. Information about the methodology can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/methodology/school-funding-statistics-methodology. The department does not have a breakdown of this time series at local authority level, therefore equivalent figures are not available for Essex.

At local authority level, the department instead publish per pupil units of funding for the schools block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG) in cash terms. In 2016/17 for Essex, this was £4,392. Following changes to the funding system in 2017/18, the primary and secondary per pupil units of funding were provided separately and, in 2023/24 for Essex, these were £4,720 and £6,116 respectively. These figures are for mainstream schools only and do not include any additional grant funding outside of the DSG, such as the mainstream schools additional grant and teachers’ pay additional grant. The national equivalent to these local authority figures is £4,636 for 2016/17 and £4,954 and £6,422 for 2023/24 for primary and secondary schools respectively.

We recognise how important it is that students and institutions have information on eligibility for student support before applications for courses open.

Applications for courses starting in academic year 2020/21 do not open until September 2019. We will ensure students and institutions have the information they need well in advance of that date.

We recognise how important it is that students and institutions have information on eligibility for student support before applications for courses open.

Applications for courses starting in academic year 2020/21 do not open until September 2019. We will ensure students and institutions have the information they need well in advance of that date.

The University Mental Health Charter announced in June 2018 will drive up standards in promoting student and staff mental health and wellbeing. The Charter, which will reward institutions that deliver improved student mental health outcomes, will develop in an iterative process, shaped by co-production with students, staff and partner organisations.

71 per cent of universities do not have an explicit strategy for mental health provision although 94 per cent of higher education institutions (HEIs) report an increase in demand for counselling services over the past five years. In some HEIs, up to one in four students are using, or are waiting to use, counselling services.

Re-use has a significant role to play in driving down unnecessary waste. In accordance with the waste hierarchy, the priority should be on reuse of materials, before recycling, and so we are working to identify measures that could be used to encourage greater use of reusable packaging. We will bring forward our proposals in 2025.

In the meantime, EPR will contribute to a reduction in the creation of new packaging from virgin materials as producers are incentivised to reconsider the need for packaging and, where it is needed, to use reusable and recyclable packaging. This will contribute to climate change mitigation in line with our commitment to comprehensive action on climate change.

From October this year, we will ban the supply of single use plastic plates and cutlery, as well as expanded and extruded polystyrene food and drinks containers. Government guidance on the ban makes it clear businesses should prepare by considering reusable alternatives..

The introduction of the Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging regulations will encourage businesses to think carefully about how much packaging they use, and to design and use packaging that is easily recyclable. It will also encourage use of reusable and refillable packaging.

Re-use has a significant role to play in driving down unnecessary waste. We are working to identify measures that could be used to encourage greater use of reusable packaging, but we haven’t specifically assessed measures targeting non-plastic plates in fast food restaurants. We remain committed to introducing re-use obligations and will bring forward our proposals with the intention of introducing these in 2025.

Any deal must abolish the backstop. Our future ambition is for a best in class FTA and wider provisions covering economic, security and cross-cutting cooperation.

The number of people at risk from Neglected Tropical Diseases has decreased from 2 billion in 2010 to 1.6 billion in 2015, in large part due to the high quality, lifesaving programmes the UK supports in 27 countries. In April 2017 the UK announced we will protect over 200m people from the pain and disfigurement caused by NTDs.

At the G20 Trade Ministers Meeting I will voice our continued support for the multilateral trading system and call on all G20 countries to be WTO compliant. I will make the case against protectionism, emphasise that disputes should not be resolved through unilateral action, but through the multilateral route. I will also be discussing the New Industrial Revolution and will champion the importance of digital trade.

Out of millions of trips completed since e-scooter trials began, the vast majority of journeys have been completed safely.

From 2020, DfT has been monitoring the frequency of casualties involving e-scooters. The majority of DfT reported road casualty statistics are based on STATS19 data, the system through which the police report road casualties. STATS19 collects data on e-scooter casualties, including those using private scooters, with data published regularly in e-scooter casualty factsheets. The most recent e-scooter factsheet can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/reported-road-casualties-great-britain-e-scooter-factsheet-year-ending-june-2023/reported-road-casualties-great-britain-e-scooter-factsheet-year-ending-june-2023.

In addition, the Department routinely publishes data on casualties in reported road collisions using all other modes of road transport based upon data provided by police forces via the STATS19 system, including figures for bicycles, motorcycles, cars, HGVs and LGVs. A comparison of the casualty rates for different modes of travel can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/657c4a0983ba380013e1b610/ras0203.ods. Data from STATS19 (2022) found the severity of injuries for e-scooters and pedal cycles to be broadly similar. The most common injuries across both modes were abrasions, sprains, and bruising.

Since 2010, some 42 new stations have been opened across the rail network.

The Government supports proposals for new stations that help provide a solution to local traffic congestion or fulfill a new opportunity such as a housing development, business/retail park or airport.

Good progress is made on proposals that provide a robust business case, a sponsor and funding.

The Government already advises motorcyclists to wear high visibility clothing - Rules 86 and 87 of the Highway Code includes the advice to “wear a light or brightly coloured helmet and fluorescent clothing or strips, in daylight” and “wear reflective clothing or strips to improve your visibility in the dark”.

The Government has no plans to bring forward proposals to make compulsory the use of reflective or fluorescent clothing for motorcyclists.

The resilience of the signalling system and other railway infrastructure to extreme weather conditions is the responsibility of Network Rail. With Ministers’ support, the company has developed a Weather Resilience and Climate Change Adaptation Plan for each of its eight Routes in order to understand the risks and to provide a focus for action to mitigate these. Specific measures include the roll-out of uninterruptible power supplies to help reduce signal failures, and the greater use of remote condition monitoring technology to ensure that any emerging issues are identified as soon as practicable.

Where a need to upgrade has been identified, all the overhead wire on the line between London and Norwich has been upgraded as part of a £250m project, including the overhead line between Shenfield and London Liverpool Street.

The latest caseload data shows Universal Credit is supporting 2.8 million claimants across the country to more easily start work and access smoother incentives, such as the work allowance and taper, to increase hours. We have scrapped the cliff edges and complicated hours’ rules of the legacy benefit system to ensure claimants have flexibility to access the opportunities offered in the labour market.

There are a record number of people in work at 32.9 million – up by over 3.8 million since 2010. During August 2019 and September 2019, the latest information available, just over 200,000 Universal Credit claimants have succeeded in getting into jobs.

Monthly information surrounding the volumes of Universal Credit claimants who have moved into work is shown in the table below.

Notes:

1. Figures are for Universal Credit Full Service only

2. Figures are at household level. In some cases both members of a household may have entered work in the same month, but only one job entry would be counted in our response.

3. Figures are based upon situations when a household reports no earnings in one Assessment Period but then has earnings in the next.

4. Self-employed jobs are not included in the table.

5. Figures also include instances of a household moving out of work and at a later date moving back into work.

The Department monitors changes to the market closely to understand patient access to pharmaceutical services within the National Health Service. The law requires that every three years, local authority Health and Wellbeing Boards undertake pharmaceutical needs assessments to identify if there is a need for improvement or better access to services in the local areas. Contractors can apply to open a pharmacy where there is a gap or a need for improved access to services or if they can make a case for providing other benefits to the local communities.

When their usual local pharmacy closes, patients can choose to access any of the remaining pharmacies nearby. Patients can also choose to access NHS pharmaceutical services remotely through any of the approximately 400 internet pharmacies in England, which are contractually required to deliver medicines to patients’ home address free of charge.

There were 10,673 pharmacies on 31 December 2023 providing NHS services in England. Access remains good with 80% of the population living within 20 minutes walking distance of a pharmacy and twice as many pharmacies in the most deprived areas of the country.

The UK uses its position as penholder at the UN Security Council on Sudan to increase pressure on the warring parties. On 8 March, the UNSC adopted UK-drafted Resolution 2724 calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities and unhindered humanitarian access. On 27 February, we called for the Council to convene for a closed consultation responding to SAF withdrawing permission for the movement of aid into Sudan from the Adre border crossing. On 20 March, we also highlighted the OCHA White Note's clear warning that obstruction of humanitarian access is resulting in people in Sudan starving. On 19 April, the UK also called for an open briefing on the situation to mark the one-year point in the conflict at the UNSC.

The UK provided £42.6 million in humanitarian aid to support people in Sudan in 2023-2024, including £12.2 million to UNICEF for nutrition activities and approximately £23 million to the Sudan Humanitarian Fund for multisector response, including a high proportion of food security interventions. We also helped those fleeing to neighbouring countries in 2023-24, with £7.75 million to support existing and new Sudanese refugees as well as vulnerable returnees and host communities in South Sudan and £15 million to those in Chad. In 2024/2025, UK ODA to Sudan will nearly double to £89 million, including funding to UNICEF to provide emergency and life-saving food assistance. The UK will also be working with the World Food Programme to assist in the provision of assorted food commodities to people in Sudan.

The UK has pressed the warring parties to agree to a permanent ceasefire, to protect civilians and to allow unrestricted humanitarian access, both cross-line and cross-border, so that aid can reach people in desperate need. On 8 March, the UK-led UN Security Council Resolution 2724 called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and full, rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access. We welcome unified international messaging at the Paris Pledging Conference on 15 April - at which the UK was represented by Lord Benyon - as well as plans to re-start Jeddah talks in the next weeks to maintain pressure on the warring parties to facilitate cross-line and cross-border humanitarian access and a permanent ceasefire.

The UK condemns the lack of humanitarian access into and across Sudan, as a result of the actions of the parties to the conflict. Lack of security remains the biggest constraint for international agencies and national NGOs seeking to deliver much-needed life-saving assistance. We continue to raise humanitarian access, including bureaucratic and administrative impediments, with the warring parties, our international partners and in international fora such as the UN.

The UK condemns the lack of humanitarian access into and across Sudan, as a result of the actions of the parties to the conflict. Lack of security remains the biggest constraint for international agencies and national NGOs seeking to deliver much-needed life-saving assistance. We continue to raise humanitarian access, including bureaucratic and administrative impediments, with the warring parties, our international partners and in international fora such as the UN.

As announced at Autumn Statement, the Government will consult on the design of a new framework for encouraging the establishment and growth of captive insurance companies in the UK. The consultation will launch in Spring 2024.

The consultation will test views on proposals to introduce an attractive and competitive new UK captive insurance regime that works for businesses. Key to this will also be proportionate regulation that maintains the UK’s high regulatory standards.

The Treasury will continue to work closely with the independent regulators as it considers the case for a UK captives framework.

The information is not available. HM Revenue and Customs does not hold information on VAT revenue from specific products or services, including VAT on public electric vehicle charging points. This is because businesses are not required to provide figures at a product level within their VAT returns, as this would impose an excessive administrative burden.

The information is not available. HM Revenue and Customs does not hold information on VAT revenue from specific products or services, including VAT on public electric vehicle charging points. This is because businesses are not required to provide figures at a product level within their VAT returns, as this would impose an excessive administrative burden.

Infrastructure investment is at the heart of our strategy to drive productivity growth across the country:

• Through the £1.4 billion that will be invested as part of the Greater Anglia Franchise, a new fleet of over 1000 vehicles will be delivered by September 2020.

• The South-East LEP has secured £590 million from the Local Growth Fund for schemes to boost growth and help deliver new housing.

• £100-250 million will be invested to widen the A12 to provide extra capacity between Chelmsford and Colchester.

The UK contributes to the EU budget as a whole, not the individual programmes.

Details of the UK’s contribution to the EU budget can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/european-union-finances-2017

Details of the EU’s spending on programmes can be found here: http://ec.europa.eu/budget/figures/interactive/index_en.cfm