Virendra Sharma

In negotiations with India, the UK’s approach to intellectual property (IP) is to strike a balance between rewarding research and innovation, which can benefit all countries, whilst reflecting wider public interests such as ensuring access to medicines. We will not agree to any provisions that would increase the cost of medicines for our National Health Service. The NHS, its services, and the cost of medicines are not on the table.

In addition to our work on the FTA, we remain committed to the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health, and its agreed flexibilities that support access to medicines.

The UK’s approach to intellectual property (IP) with all partners is to strike a balance between rewarding research and innovation, which can benefit all countries, whilst reflecting wider public interests such as ensuring access to medicines.

We do not comment on specifics of live negotiations.

We have always been clear that the NHS, its services, and the cost of medicines are not on the table in our free trade negotiations.

When a signed treaty text is laid in Parliament, it will be accompanied by an Explanatory Memorandum and the Government will publish an independently scrutinised impact assessment. The impact assessment will set out the updated potential long-run impacts of the FTA on UK GDP, sectors, and employment as well as the potential implications for the UK’s nations and English regions. Specific assessments will not be provided on the global impacts for each sector as a result of the deal.

We are working with the Australian Government to ratify the UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement at the earliest opportunity so that businesses can reap the benefits. We expect to be able to bring the agreement into force in Spring 2023.

The commitments in the Youth Mobility Scheme were taken in a separate side letter which specifies that the changes will need to be implemented within two years of entry into force of the Free Trade Agreement. UK and Australian officials are working together to bring these changes into effect as soon as operationally possible.

Decisions on the closure of customer service points are an operational matter for Royal Mail, provided they are consistent with Ofcom’s regulatory obligation on Royal Mail to provide access points for the universal service.

While the Government has no role in Royal Mail’s operational decisions, I understand that Royal Mail has completed the first stage of its review of customer service points and decided to maintain the current estate.

The Government has no current plans to change the statutory minimum requirements of the universal postal service which are set out in the Postal Services Act 2011.

The Government remains committed to ensuring that the universal service obligation remains affordable and accessible to all users, and that it is financially sustainable in the longer-term.

We are tackling the culture of late payments with measures including Payment Practices Reporting, the Small Business Commissioner and Prompt Payment Code. Government is setting an example: the Cabinet Office Procurement Bill will ensure 30-day payment terms in contracts throughout the public sector supply chain.

The Government only supports sustainable biomass and there are strict sustainability criteria. Suppliers must demonstrate to the regulator Ofgem that they have met the criteria and their evidence is independently verified.

Consequently only biomass that complies with stringent sustainability criteria is eligible for support.

The UKCA (UK Conformity Assessed) marking can already be used in Great Britain as a way to place products on the market. The Government has published extensive guidance on GOV.UK regarding the activities businesses need to undertake to meet UKCA requirements. Currently the CE marking can also be used to place products on the market in Great Britain. The Government will continue to provide updates, engage and communicate with industry.

The Government will continue to take a pragmatic approach in developing the UK’s regulatory framework to ensure it works for businesses, while maintaining high standards of product safety to protect consumers. In order to achieve this, it is vital we continue to work closely with industry.

The Government also continues to welcome any feedback, comments, and suggestions from industry on any challenges they are facing, to understand how they can be best supported

The Government only supports sustainable biomass and generators only receive subsidies for biomass that complies with strict sustainability criteria.

The regulator, Ofgem, is responsible for auditing the sustainability of biomass used by biomass electricity generators who receive support under the Renewables Obligation and has a process in place for this. As is routine, Ofgem is establishing whether the sustainability criteria have been met by the generator.

Sustainability information is publicly available on Ofgem’s website, with the latest dataset accessible here: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/biomass-sustainability-dataset-2020-21.

The UK still needs oil and gas for heating, cooking, transport and electricity generation during the energy transition. In meeting net zero, the UK’s use of both these fuels is set to reduce significantly.

The production of natural gas from the UK Continental Shelf creates under half the greenhouse gas of imported Liquefied Natural Gas. Turning off the UK’s domestic source of oil and gas now would put energy security and British jobs and industries at risk. Therefore, the North Sea Transition Authority plans to launch another licensing round this autumn, taking into account the forthcoming climate compatibility checkpoint.

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funds a variety of research within this broad-ranging area. The UKRI Gateway https://gtr.ukri.org/ provides data on publicly funded research and innovation which is searchable by year and subject area.

I have been in touch with the hon. Member on 20 April 2022 to organise a meeting.

The Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme is the Government’s flagship scheme for supporting new renewable electricity generation projects in Great Britain. The latest round aims to secure more capacity than the three previous rounds combined by supporting an expanded number of renewable technologies including offshore wind, onshore wind, solar, tidal and floating offshore wind. The next CfD round will be brought forward to March 2023, and future rounds will run annually from now on. These steps will help drive forward the deployment of renewable power. The Government has committed to fully decarbonise the electricity system by 2035, subject to security of supply.

The Government will invest at least £375 million in neurodegenerative disease research over the next five years to fund projects into a range of diseases including dementia.

The Government is working to finalise outcomes from the Spending Review and to identify ways to boost dementia research. We will be setting out our plans on dementia for England for future years in 2022. This will include our ambitions for dementia research and boosting dementia research funding.

The UK and its international partners stand united in condemning the Russian state’s outrageous attack on Ukraine as a clear breach of international law and the UN Charter.

The UK is not dependent on Russian gas. In 2021, less than 4% of the UK’s gas supply was Russian gas, via liquified natural gas imports.

The Government remains committed to the Clean Growth Strategy ambition to upgrade as many homes as possible to EPC Band C by 2035, where practical, cost-effective and affordable.

In the Net Zero Strategy, the department committed to consult on phasing in higher minimum standards across all sectors to meet this ambition.

The Government has already consulted on raising the energy performance standard in domestic private rented sector to EPC Band C and how mortgage lenders could support homeowners in making upgrades. The Government will publish its response in due course.

The Government will then seek primary powers to enable a long-term regulatory framework to improve the energy performance of homes.

Huge progress is already being made to increase the energy efficiency of UK homes. In 2008, just 14% had an Energy Performance of C or above, however it is now at 46% and rising.

Following the Spending Review, BEIS is currently working to set detailed R&D budgets through to 2024/25. Further details of how this funding will be allocated will be announced in due course.

All workers who are legally working in the UK enjoy the full protection of UK employment law. Migrant workers are also entitled to the same protections under health and safety legislation as any other worker.

While most employment rights are enforced by an individual through an employment tribunal, the state has an important role to play in protecting the most vulnerable workers from exploitative practices.

We spend over £35million a year on enforcement covering:

• National Minimum and Living Wages – enforced by HMRC;
• Employment agencies and employment businesses - enforced by the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate (EAS);
• Labour exploitation and modern slavery, and the gangmasters licensing scheme for suppliers of labour in agriculture and fresh fruit supply chains - Gangmaster and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA).

The Government has also now committed to establish a single enforcement body for employment rights, which will bring together the three existing bodies to better protect vulnerable workers and create a level playing-field for the majority of employers complying with the law.

Based on the latest advice from my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister, tradespeople may continue to work if they are unable to do so from home. Installers registering and participating in the Green Homes Grant Scheme must agree to the Installer Terms and Conditions. As stated in paragraph 13f under General Obligations:

‘At all times when participating in the Scheme...the Installer must: comply, and ensure that its officers, employees, agents and subcontractors comply, with UK Government best practice “Working safely during coronavirus (COVID-19)” when working at or in any Customer’s property’.

We understand that COVID-19 restrictions may affect the ability to install measures in households. We will not be imposing any penalties for installers who are unable to undertake work they have committed to as a result of the current restrictions but, as ever, vouchers will only become redeemable once scheduled works have been completed.

The extension to the scheme will allow more flexibility for when installations can take place, and we are working to ensure that voucher validity period reflects the coronavirus situation where necessary.

Secure collection and delivery of money, receipts and other valuable items is an activity undertaken by private security firms alongside many other activities rather than being a specific industry itself. These include security guard services, installation of security equipment, security consultancy and investigation activities. Therefore, we are unable to allocate value and employment to this particular activity. Private security and investigation activities as a whole contributed £3.3bn in Gross Vale Added to the UK economy in 2019 and accounted for nearly 230,000 jobs.

UK Businesses, including those within the cash in transit industry, may be eligible to access the business support packages launched by the Government during the coronavirus outbreak. This includes Business Interruption Loans, and potentially the discretionary grant fund administered by local authorities.

Our network of 38 growth hubs also provide tailored support free of charge to firms based in England, covering sources of business finance, as well as training and networking opportunities. Firms in the devolved administrations will be able to access similar services.

All business support and advice is listed on the GOV.UK website.

The Government continues to work closely with the airline industry. We have put unprecedented levels of support in place to help industry, including airlines, who have drawn down £1.8billion of loan support through the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF) to help them continue activities.

In addition, my Rt Hon Friend, the Secretary of State for Transport, is leading an International Aviation Task Force, to help put measures in place to kickstart the sector – helping to restore jobs, trade, and opportunities for travel.

The Department has undertaken extensive engagement with businesses across a range of sectors since the start of 2020, particularly in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the Department for Transport has historically maintained regular engagement with British Airways and the International Airlines Group as important industry stakeholders.

In recognition of the challenging times that the aviation sector continues to face due to Covid-19, the Government has kept an open dialogue with UK airlines, including British Airways and the International Airlines Group.

The department does not use the term “high speed internet”, but uses the term “superfast” to denote speeds capable of 24Mbps and more. There are c.30 million households across the UK, and the superfast coverage against the 24Mbps definition is 96.8%. Against the EU definition, which is 30Mbps and above, coverage across the UK is 96.5%.

In regard to households that do not have access to high speed internet, Ofcom have defined a “decent broadband” connection as being able to access 10Mbps download speed and 1Mbps upload. According to Thinkbroadband as of 16 October, 1.4% of UK premises have speeds of less than 10Mbps.

My department continues to closely assess the impact of COVID-related restrictions on the events industry.

The rule of six does not apply to work, education and training activities. Meetings of up to 30 can still take place in permitted venues, as per the Covid-19 Secure guidance for the visitor economy. Since 11 July, a range of outdoor events have been able to take place.

Where the rule of 6 does apply, we have set out a clear and consistent limit of 6 people. Health is a devolved matter, and each administration has the discretion to implement the policy as they see fit.

As with all aspects of the Government’s response to Covid-19, our decisions have been and will continue to be based on scientific evidence and the latest public health assessments.

We continue to engage with stakeholders, including through the Visitor Economy Working Group and the Events Industry Senior Leaders Advisory Panel, to monitor the situation facing events businesses across the UK.

As we set out in the government sport strategy, Sporting Future, sport and physical activity should be accessible to all. It is so important to the health of the nation - in terms of both physical and mental wellbeing.

As announced on 9 July, from 25 July indoor gyms, leisure centres (including tennis courts) and swimming pools in England should be able to reopen. These facilities will be able to offer on-site services to customers, provided they are COVID-secure and follow Government guidance.

Sport England have announced a £195 million package of support to help community clubs through this crisis. It recently boosted its Community Emergency Fund by a further £15 million to meet the demand, taking the total up to £210 million.

The income scheme announced on Thursday 2 July by the Secretary of State for Local Government, aims to support local authorities who have incurred irrecoverable loss of income from sales, fees and charge which they had reasonably budgeted for. Further guidance will follow on the principle of the scheme.

The hospitality sector is hugely important to the UK economy, supporting 3.2 million jobs across the country and representing almost 10% of the country’s total employment. My Department has not made an estimate of the current or future contribution of the event catering industry to the broader hospitality sector.

We have been encouraged by the industry’s commitments to develop new hospitality career opportunities as part of the Tourism Sector Deal - including boosting apprenticeships and developing a new mentoring scheme.

We recognise that the COVID-19 crisis has significantly impacted multiple parts of the hospitality industry. We remain in regular contact with stakeholders, including UKHospitality, and will continue to monitor the situation. Hospitality businesses and workers can access the Government’s economic support package, including the recently extended Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the Bounce Back Loan scheme.

The Department publishes figures on the proportion of pupils in England with special educational needs (SEN) who are eligible for free school meals (FSM). The most recent figures, from the January 2022 school census, can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england/2021-22.

A table showing counts of FSM eligibility by SEN status for all pupils in England as of January 2022 can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/dd7aa9b8-0366-4317-9409-08db08498a11.

The table shows that 27% of pupils who were eligible for FSM had SEN. The school census does not collect information on pupils with disabilities.

Oak National Academy is currently reviewing the best approach to licensing materials. Oak has conducted the recent procurement for the development of its first tranche of curriculum materials, on terms up to and including an Open Government Licence. The exact licence under which Oak’s new curriculum and resources will be shared will be confirmed before their publication.

As part of its review, Oak is engaging with the Copyright Licensing Agency and a range of organisations and publishers responsible for licensing content.

Oak National Academy’s first procurement to commission new curriculum packages closed in December 2023 and Oak will be confirming successful bidders in the coming weeks. Up to £8 million was available to curriculum partners through this procurement, with more funding in future rounds.

As part of the bidding process, bidders were required to set out their full costings for intellectual property and time to develop resources. Successful bidders will be remunerated accordingly.

The procurement complies with the Public Contracts Regulations (2015).

Oak National Academy will embed quality assurance principles into every stage of developing new curriculum resources. Curriculum partners secured through the open procurement process will need to demonstrate high standards of quality in their approach to curriculum design, and all resources will be reviewed by teachers and subject experts before being finalised.

The Department is confident that Oak will be operating robust quality assurance processes and ensuring that resources are continuously improved through both active testing and responding to user feedback. Oak will be subject to a review after its first two years of operation, as part of the wider Public Bodies Review Programme.

Education on financial matters helps to ensure that young people are prepared to manage their money well, make sound financial decisions, and know where to seek further information when needed.

The current mathematics curriculum at primary level includes financial education, including calculations with money and using percentages, which provides young people with the knowledge to make important financial decisions.

Primary schools can also teach financial education through citizenship. This is not part of the National Curriculum until Key Stage 3, but the Department has published a non-statutory citizenship curriculum for Key Stages 1 and 2, to support schools to inform pupils of the benefits of saving.

There are resources available for schools, including the Money and Pension Service’s (MaPS) financial education guidance for primary and secondary schools in England. The guidance is available at: https://maps.org.uk/2021/11/11/financial-education-guidance-for-primary-and-secondary-schools-in-england/. The Department is working with MaPS on a series of joint financial education webinars during the 2022/23 academic year, to help both primary and secondary schools, to improve pupils’ skills and knowledge and build teachers’ confidence in this area.

The Department supports wider initiatives that aim to improve financial confidence and resilience, including Talk Money Week, which is led by MaPS. Talk Money Week is useful for encouraging all UK citizens, including at home, within families and at school, to talk openly about managing money. Departmental officials will continue to work closely with MaPS and other stakeholders such as HM Treasury, to consider what can be learned from such initiatives and how to provide further support for the teaching of financial education in schools.

The department does not collect information on the number or characteristics of children subject to a Deprivation of Liberty Order.

However, the President of the Family Division has established a national Deprivation of Liberty Court, which is to be supported by the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory. This aims to improve our understanding of the cases that are being heard by the Court, and to understand more about what can be done to better meet the needs of the children involved. More information is available at: https://www.nuffieldfjo.org.uk/news/nuffield-family-justice-observatory-to-monitor-data-from-new-national-dols-deprivation-of-liberty-court.

The latest information on the number of children looked after is available in the statistical release ‘Children looked after in England’ available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions.

The department does not collect information on the number or characteristics of children subject to a Deprivation of Liberty Order.

However, the President of the Family Division has established a national Deprivation of Liberty Court, which is to be supported by the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory. This aims to improve our understanding of the cases that are being heard by the Court, and to understand more about what can be done to better meet the needs of the children involved. More information is available at: https://www.nuffieldfjo.org.uk/news/nuffield-family-justice-observatory-to-monitor-data-from-new-national-dols-deprivation-of-liberty-court.

The latest information on the number of children looked after is available in the statistical release ‘Children looked after in England’ available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions.

The department will publish a national Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) improvement plan later this year, setting out our next steps for implementation and response to the consultation.

The department will publish a national Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) improvement plan later this year, setting out our next steps for implementation and response to the consultation.

Local authorities have a statutory duty to promote the achievement of previously looked-after children, including those who have left care through adoption. They must appoint an officer, the Virtual School Head, who discharges this duty through the provision of expert advice and information to those with parental responsibility, designated teachers and educators.

Previously looked-after children have priority access in school admissions, alongside looked-after children, and schools are required to appoint a designated teacher to promote their achievement. These pupils attract pupil premium plus funding of £2,410 per annum, which is managed by the school. Statutory guidance on the role of the designated teacher sets a clear expectation for schools to involve parents and guardians in deciding how best the funding is used to support their child.

As outlined in the children not in school consultation response, which was published on 3 February 2022, the government is committed to a form of local authority register for children not in school. We continue to engage with stakeholders on these proposals and we hope to legislate on this measure at the earliest suitable opportunity. The consultation response is available to view here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/children-not-in-school.

Based on the information supplied by local authorities, as of 18 March 2022[1], there were 2,966 children’s centre sites open to families and children, providing children's centre services as part of a network.

The attached table shows the number of children’s centres sites that have closed in each year since 2011[2].

The government is committed to championing the family hub model. Between 2019 and 2021, it announced £39.5 million in support of this commitment, including:

• A national centre for family hubs to provide expert advice and guidance. This is run by the Anna Freud Centre for Children and Families.

• A £12 million family hubs transformation fund, which will support at least 12 local authorities in England to transform to a family hub model of service delivery. Local authorities were invited to apply for up to £1 million to pay for the change process through both programme and capital funding. The deadline to apply has now passed and the department is currently reviewing applications.

As part of the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021, the government announced a further £82 million to create a network of family hubs. This is part of a wider £300 million package to transform services for parents, carers, babies, and children in half of council areas across England.

Children’s centres can form part of a family hub network. The National Centre for Family Hubs will work to ensure that councils understand how they can best be incorporated where it is appropriate.

[1] Source: This is based on information supplied by local authorities to Get Information about Schools (GIAS) database: https://www.get-information-schools.service.gov.uk and internal management information held by the department on historical children’s centre closure dates as of 18 March 2022. These figures may be different to previous answers, and could change again in future, since local authorities may update their data at any time. The GIAS collects data on children’s centres that local authorities have closed on a permanent basis. It does not collect data on children’s centres that local authorities may have closed temporarily in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

[2] No closures have been reported in 2022.

Apprenticeships provide people with the opportunity to earn and learn the skills needed to start an exciting career or boost their skills in a wide range of industries. The department wants more employers to offer high-quality apprenticeships.

In the 2019/20 academic year, there were 66,900 unique enterprises in England, with at least one matched start for apprenticeships. Of these, small enterprises with 0-49 employees represented 71.2% (47,633), medium enterprises with 50-249 employees represented 15.3% (10,236), and large enterprises with 250+ employees represented 13.5% (9,031). Further data breakdowns for apprenticeship employers' industry characteristics is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships-in-england-by-industry-characteristics/2019-20.

To support employers in all sectors to offer apprenticeships, the department is increasing funding for apprenticeships in England to £2.7 billion by the 2024/25 financial year. We are also encouraging the use of more flexible training models, such as front-loaded and accelerated training and flexi-job apprenticeships to ensure that apprenticeships work for employers in all sectors.

We are also engaging with employers through our Join the Skills Revolution campaign. The campaign aims to increase small and medium-sized enterprises’ awareness and consideration of apprenticeships and other skills programmes, such as traineeships and T Level industry placements, to drive action to increase uptake.

The number of apprenticeship starts for Ealing, Southall constituency, the London Borough of Ealing, London and England in the previous four academic years are presented in the table below, along with an average of those four years and figures for the first quarter of the current academic year.

Please note:

1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
2. Total values for England include a small number of learners living outside England where a home address is not known.
3. Source: Individualised Learner Record
4. Geography is based upon the home postcode of the learner.

Further information on apprenticeship starts can be found in the Apprenticeships and traineeships statistics publication:https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships-and-traineeships.

The announcement at the Spending Review 2021 confirms that public sector workers will see pay rises as the recovery in the economy and labour market allows a return to a normal pay-setting process. This marks an end to the temporary pay pause in the 2021/22 financial year.

This year's remit to the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) reiterates the government's commitment to raising starting salaries to £30,000 and seeks recommendations for pay awards in the 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years.

The department’s written evidence to the STRB will outline its proposals for pay awards for the next two years, taking account of this commitment and the wider economic context. This is due to be published later this month.

The STRB will provide their report in the summer and then the government will publish its response to the report.

As the Department’s guidance outlines, when a school is in operation, it is important to ensure that it is well ventilated and that a comfortable teaching environment is maintained. This can be achieved through a variety of measures, including using mechanical ventilation systems and/or natural ventilation, such as opening windows. In all cases, actions should be taken to encourage fresh air into the building, whilst striking a balance with thermal comfort.

The Department continues to review ventilation guidance, including considering whether monitoring carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels would be appropriate. The Department is working with Public Health England (PHE) and ventilation experts on a pilot project to measure CO₂ levels in typical classrooms and exploring options to help improve ventilation where needed. As new evidence or data emerges, the Government updates its advice accordingly to ensure that all schools, colleges and nurseries have the right safety measures in place.

The Department has worked closely with the Department of Health and Social Care and PHE to revise our guidance for schools, colleges and nurseries from Step 4 of the roadmap. The Department’s aim is to balance the risks associated with COVID-19 whilst moving to a ‘steady state’ that minimises both the burden of implementing protective measures on staff and parents and the effect those measures have on young peoples’ educational experiences.

The Department will continue keep these measures under review, in partnership with health experts and informed by the latest scientific evidence and advice.

The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak.

The behaviour hubs programme is designed to support the development and implementation of positive whole-school behaviour cultures which benefit all children, including those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other neurodiverse conditions.

The behaviour hubs programme pairs lead schools and multi academy trusts (MATs) that have exemplary behaviour practices with partner schools or MATs who want and need to improve pupil behaviour.

Lead schools and MATs have been selected from across the school sector, and include primary, secondary, alternative provision, special schools and MATs. This provides partner schools and MATs with access to good practice across different types of provision, including specialist provision. Experienced senior leaders and executive teams that have implemented strong, positive behaviour cultures within their schools will be able to support the specific challenges that a partner school is facing, including those relating to pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

All schools on the programme have access to training on specific issues, common problems, and effective approaches led by expert advisers that can be implemented in their school context. Training modules have been developed and reviewed by experts from across the school sector. The training includes a mandatory module on SEND, which covers how to ensure behaviour policies and practices are inclusive and take reasonable adjustments into account, including any adjustments required for those who are neurodiverse.

The programme is designed and delivered by the Department’s taskforce of behaviour advisers. The behaviour advisers bring experience from across the school sector, including alternative provision and special schools, providing broad representation of all schools and their specific needs, including SEND.

The Department has procured an independent evaluator to assess the effectiveness of the programme. Where possible, analysis from all components of the evaluation will seek to provide insights by school type (such as secondary, alternative provision and special schools) and characteristics of the schools and the pupils at those schools (for example the proportion of pupils with SEND or eligible for free school meals).

On 2 June 2021, as part of the government’s announcement on providing an additional £1.4 billon for education recovery, we announced a £153 million investment for high-quality professional development for early years practitioners. This includes new programmes focusing on key areas such as speech and language development, and physical and emotional development for the youngest children, of which play is an important part. This is in addition to the £18 million announced in February 2021 and the £9 million announced in June 2020 to support early language development for children in light of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The package will build on our early years foundation stage reforms, which support more effective early years curriculum and assessment, and reducing unnecessary assessment paperwork, so that practitioners and teachers can spend more time engaging children in rich activities, including through play, to support their learning.

The number of teachers remains high, with more than 453,000 working in schools across the country – over 12,000 more than in 2010.

The Department recognises, however, that more needs to be done to ensure that this level of recruitment is maintained. One of the Department’s top priorities is to ensure that we continue to attract and retain high-quality teachers, for example through transforming the support and professional development teachers receive, as well as helping create the right climate for head teachers to establish supportive school cultures.

The teacher pay increases in recent years are making a substantial difference to the competitiveness of the early career pay offer (for example, this academic year, teacher starting salaries have increased by 5.5%).

In terms of attracting new trainees into teaching, there has been an increase in the number of new trainees this year – in the academic year 2020/21, 41,472 new trainees were recruited overall – over 7,000 (23%) more than in 2019 – which shows that teaching continues to be an attractive career option.

Additionally, in the academic year 2020/21, 14,994 postgraduate trainees were recruited to EBacc subjects – 1,987 more trainee teachers than the previous year.

The quality of this year’s trainee teachers remains high, with 23% of postgraduate entrants holding a first-class degree in the academic year 2020/21, which is 3 percentage points higher than the previous year.

The Department is committed to ensuring that these recruits receive the best training possible. From this September, new trainee teachers will be entitled to at least three years of evidence-based professional development and support, starting with the new Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Core Content Framework, followed by a two-year induction based on the Early Career Framework (ECF).

The ECF is the biggest teaching reform in a generation and will give early-career teachers access to high-quality training and mentoring. In addition to this, the Department is launching new National Professional Qualifications for teachers and school leaders at all levels, from those who want to develop expertise in high-quality teaching practice to those leading multiple schools across trusts.

The Department recognises that there is further to go in some subjects. That is why a range of measures have been put in place, including bursaries worth up to £24,000 and scholarships worth up to £26,000, to encourage talented trainees to key subjects such as chemistry, computing, mathematics, and physics. There are also training bursaries available as part of the Subject Knowledge Enhancement programme, which helps trainees in seven EBacc subjects to gain the depth of subject knowledge needed to train to teach their chosen subject.

The Department is taking action to ensure recent success in increasing ITT recruitment is maintained. For example, the Department is launching a new one-stop ITT application system. The ‘Apply’ service will be fully rolled out by October 2021.

Additionally, the Department is taking steps to make it easier for schools to recruit teachers. ‘Teaching Vacancies’ is a free, national job listing service that is saving schools money and attracting high-quality candidates: https://teaching-vacancies.service.gov.uk/?_ga=2.204282384.1894025638.1594023142-892610644.1591690663. This service can help schools to quickly list vacancies for both permanent and fixed-term teaching staff.

The Department for Education takes the issue of asbestos in schools very seriously and is committed to supporting schools, local authorities and academy trusts to fulfil their duty to manage asbestos safely. Expert advice from the Health and Safety Executive is that if asbestos is unlikely to be damaged or disturbed then it is best managed in situ. We are clear that if asbestos does pose a safety risk and cannot be effectively managed in situ, then it should be removed from schools.

Since 2015, the Department has allocated over £9.5 billion, including an additional £560 million in 2020-21, to those responsible for school buildings for essential maintenance and improvements, including removing or encapsulation when it is the safest course of action to do so.

In February, we announced the first 50 schools to benefit from the new School Rebuilding Programme as part of a commitment to 500 projects over the next decade. School Rebuilding Programme investment is targeted based on a buildings condition. A full explanation of the methodology used to prioritise the first 50 schools has been published at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-rebuilding-programme.

We intend to consult later this year on the approach to prioritising schools for the longer-term programme.

On 22 February 2021, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, confirmed that, based on the Government’s assessment of the current data against its 4 tests for relaxing restrictions, it will be possible for children to return to schools from 8 March 2021. The latest data suggests that COVID-19 infection rates have fallen across all ages, including in children and young people.

Schools should continue to implement the system of controls. These are the measures that schools have been using since the start of the autumn term. We have strengthened the system of controls in secondary schools by recommending that staff and pupils wear face coverings anywhere in the school where social distancing is not possible. More information is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/964351/Schools_coronavirus_operational_guidance.pdf.

Our programme of rapid COVID-19 testing is going to continue to be an important part of how we keep COVID-19 infection rates down within schools and across the wider community. Since January 2021, we have been delivering rapid testing kits to secondary schools and colleges to help identify pupils or staff who are infected with COVID-19 but may not yet show any symptoms. Pupils returning to secondary schools from 8 March will be strongly encouraged to take a rapid test for COVID-19 before their face-to-face teaching re-starts. Staff in both primary and secondary schools are now also going to be able to be tested twice a week, whether they are showing COVID-19 symptoms or not. This means that we can ask those with positive results to self-isolate and further reduce the spread of the virus.

In the event that COVID-19 restrictions in schools are needed to help contain the spread of the virus, the Government may ask schools to change how they are delivering education for a short period of time. To assist with this, on 22 February, we published a revised contingency framework, which outlines how schools should operate in the event of any restrictions. The contingency framework is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-contingency-framework-for-education-and-childcare-settings/contingency-framework-education-and-childcare-settings-excluding-universities#contingency-framework-principles.

The contingency framework is different from the processes for managing COVID-19 cases or outbreaks in individual schools and the process for alleviating operational challenges including staff shortages. Existing processes and roles for school leaders and Directors of Public Health in addressing those issues are unchanged.

Any decision that attendance at education or childcare settings should be restricted will not be taken lightly. The Department will work with other Government Departments, the Chief Medical Officer, the Joint Biosecurity Centre, Public Health England, the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS Test and Trace and relevant local authorities to ensure the decision is informed by the available evidence and recent data. These will be ministerial decisions made on an area-by-area basis in the light of all available evidence, public health advice and local and national circumstances.

The Government has been committed to getting all pupils back into schools full-time, as soon as the public health picture allows. In doing so, the Department is guided by the scientific and medical experts. Data and evidence are considered regularly, including by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), the Joint Biosecurity Centre, Public Health England and the Chief Medical Officers.

On 22 February 2021, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, confirmed that, based on the Government’s assessment of the current data against its 4 tests for relaxing restrictions, it will be possible for children to return to schools from 8 March 2021. The latest data suggests that COVID-19 infection rates have fallen across all ages, including in children and young people.

Missing face-to-face education has severe impacts for children and young people, with clear evidence that further time out of education is detrimental for cognitive and academic development, health and wellbeing.

There should be no need to reduce occupancy in schools by implementing rotas or providing blended learning. Instead, everyone should follow the system of controls set out in our published guidance, which have been strengthened and are the correct measures for minimising the risk of transmission within schools: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/963541/Schools_coronavirus_operational_guidance.pdf.

In the event that restrictions in schools are needed to help contain the spread of the virus, the Government may ask schools to change how they are delivering education for a short period of time. To assist with this, on 22 February, we published a revised contingency framework, which outlines how schools should operate in the event of any restrictions. The contingency framework is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-contingency-framework-for-education-and-childcare-settings/contingency-framework-education-and-childcare-settings-excluding-universities#contingency-framework-principles.

The contingency framework is different from the processes for managing COVID-19 cases or outbreaks in individual schools and the process for alleviating operational challenges including staff shortages. Existing processes and roles for school leaders and Directors of Public Health in addressing those issues are unchanged.

The Department continues to work closely with other Government departments throughout its response to the COVID-19 outbreak, including Public Health England (PHE) and the Department of Health and Social Care, as well as stakeholders across the sector. We ensure that our policy is based on the latest scientific and medical advice, and we continue to develop comprehensive guidance based on the PHE-endorsed ‘system of controls’ and to understand the impact and effectiveness of these measures on staff, pupils and parents.

As new evidence or data emerges, the Department updates its advice accordingly to ensure that all our schools have the right safety measures in place. On 22 February 2021, we updated our guidance to support the full opening to education from 8 March, which includes updated advice on face coverings. The guidance can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/964351/Schools_coronavirus_operational_guidance.pdf.

We know that the predominant new variant of COVID-19 is more transmissible. PHE advice remains that the way to control this virus is with the ‘system of controls’, even with the current new variants. The ‘system of controls’ measures outlined in our guidance create an environment for children and staff where the risk of transmission of infection is substantially reduced. Schools need to continue to implement these controls to the fullest extent possible.

While it is not possible to ensure a totally risk-free environment, there is no evidence that children transmit the disease any more than adults. The Department recently published 'Evidence summary: COVID-19 - children, young people and education settings', which can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/963639/DfE_Evidence_summary_COVID-19_-_children__young_people_and_education_settings.pdf.

Based on the recent Office for National Statistics data, the risks to education staff are similar to those for most other occupations. This data can be found at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/articles/coronaviruscovid19infectionsinthecommunityinengland/characteristicsofpeopletestingpositiveforcovid19inengland22february2021.

The Department will continue to keep our guidance and advice to schools under review to help ensure they remain as safe as possible.

The Department’s guidance on face coverings can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/face-coverings-in-education/face-coverings-in-education.

As the guidance outlines, during national lockdown, in schools and colleges where Year 7 and above are educated, face coverings should be worn by adults (staff and visitors), pupils and students when moving around indoors, outside of classrooms and other teaching environments, such as in corridors and communal areas where social distancing is difficult to maintain.

Based on current evidence and the measures that schools and colleges are already putting in place, such as the system of controls and consistent bubbles, face coverings will not generally be necessary in the classroom.

Children in primary schools do not need to wear a face covering.

Some individuals are exempt from wearing face coverings. This includes people who cannot put on, wear, or remove a face covering because of a physical or mental illness or impairment, or disability, or if you are speaking to or providing assistance to someone who relies on lip reading, clear sound or facial expressions to communicate. The same legal exemptions that apply to the wearing of face coverings in shops and on public transport also apply in schools and colleges.

Face coverings can make it more difficult to communicate with pupils and students with additional needs or those who many rely on lip reading or facial expressions for understanding. We expect staff to be sensitive to these needs when teaching and interacting with pupils and students.

Schools can get advice and support for children with hearing impairments from specialist teachers of the deaf. These teachers support children and young people with hearing impairment, and their families, from the point of diagnosis. The Department for Education also funds the whole school special educational needs and disability consortium (£1.9 million per annum), hosted by National Association for Special Educational Needs, to provide schools with access to resources and tips for the classroom, including for hearing impairment.

We continue to provide information to the sector on our guidance, and any changes to it, through regular departmental communications. We will also continue to work with Public Health England, as well as stakeholders across the sector, to monitor the latest scientific and medical advice and understand the impact of the system of controls on staff, pupils and parents.

All primary schools, secondary schools and colleges in England are now expected to provide remote education for the majority of their pupils and students. To support this, the Government is investing over £400 million, including securing 1.3 million laptops and tablets for disadvantaged children and young people. This includes over 800,000 laptops and tablets that were delivered to schools, academy trusts and local authorities by 17 January. Schools already owned around 2 million laptops and 1 million tablets before the COVID-19 outbreak, and they have been invited to order more devices to help meet demand.

Delivery of devices is continuing over the course of this term. The Get Help with Technology scheme will email schools with information on the number of additional devices allocated to them, and when they will be able to order.

We have estimated the number of laptops and tablets needed by disadvantaged children in Years 3 to 11 using data on the number of pupils eligible for free school meals data and external estimates of the number of devices that schools already own. Schools, local authorities and academy trusts are able to request additional devices if their original allocation does not meet their needs.

All primary schools, secondary schools and colleges in England are now expected to provide remote education for the majority of their pupils and students. To support this, the Government is investing over £400 million, including securing 1.3 million laptops and tablets for disadvantaged children and young people. This includes over 800,000 laptops and tablets that were delivered to schools, academy trusts and local authorities by 17 January. Schools already owned around 2 million laptops and 1 million tablets before the COVID-19 outbreak, and they have been invited to order more devices to help meet demand.

Delivery of devices is continuing over the course of this term. The Get Help with Technology scheme will email schools with information on the number of additional devices allocated to them, and when they will be able to order.

We have estimated the number of laptops and tablets needed by disadvantaged children in Years 3 to 11 using data on the number of pupils eligible for free school meals data and external estimates of the number of devices that schools already own. Schools, local authorities and academy trusts are able to request additional devices if their original allocation does not meet their needs.

During the period of national lockdown, schools should continue to provide meal options for all pupils who are in school. Meals should be available free of charge to all infant pupils and pupils who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals who are in school. Schools should also continue to provide free school meal support to pupils who are eligible for benefits related free school meals and who are learning at home. Schools are free to decide the best approach for their free school meal pupils. They can provide lunch parcels, locally arranged vouchers, or they can use the national voucher scheme which re-opened on Monday 18 January 2021.

As was the case over Christmas, vulnerable children and families can continue to receive support for food and other essentials over February half-term via councils through the £170 million COVID Winter Grant Scheme launched last year. Local authorities understand which groups need support and are best placed to ensure appropriate holiday support is provided. This is why the £170 million COVID Winter Grant Scheme will be distributed by them, rather than schools, who will continue providing support for disadvantaged children during term-time. Families who need support should speak to their local authority.

The Government is investing over £400 million to support access to remote education, and on Tuesday 12 January the Department announced that it will be providing a further 300,000 laptops and tablets for disadvantaged children and young people. This is on top of our previous commitment to provide a million devices. We are delivering devices as quickly as they are available, during a time of unprecedented global demand. We have based our allocation of devices on recent data on free school meal eligibility, to ensure that they reach the children and young people that need them most.

The Department concluded a successful Autumn exam series, allowing pupils who were unhappy with the grades they received in Summer 2020 the opportunity to sit them again. The Department understands, however, that some pupils may have decided to wait until the Summer 2021 series to take their exams.

In light of the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Department will not be asking pupils to sit GCSE, AS and A level exams this summer as planned. It is important therefore that there is a clear and accessible route for private candidates, and those not in school this year, to be assessed and receive a grade.

A rapid consultation on how to fairly award all pupils a grade that ensures they can progress to the next stage of their lives will be launching shortly. The Department will continue to engage with a range of relevant stakeholders when developing plans for our policy on GCSE, AS and A level assessments in 2021, as will the exams regulator Ofqual. A full equalities impact assessment, informed by the results of the consultation, will be published in due course.

My right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister announced on 4 January 2021 that early years settings remain open for all children during the national lockdown.

Details can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak.

Schools have been restricted because additional measures are needed to contain the spread of the virus. The wider significant restrictions in place as part of the national lockdown to contain the spread of the virus in the community enable us to continue prioritising keeping nurseries and childminders open, supporting parents and delivering the crucial care and education needed for our youngest children.

Early years settings remain low risk environments for children and staff. Current evidence suggests that pre-school children (0 to 5 years) are less susceptible to infection and are unlikely to be playing a driving role in transmission. There is no evidence the new strain of the virus causes more serious illness in either children or adults and there is no evidence that the new variant of COVID-19 disproportionately affects young children.

PHE advice remains that the risk of transmission and infection is low if early years settings follow the system of controls, which reduce risks and create inherently safer environments. This report from PHE shows that, at present under 5s have the lowest confirmed case rate of all age groups: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-flu-and-covid-19-surveillance-reports.

Early years settings have been open to all children since 1 June and there is no evidence that the early years sector has contributed to a rise in virus cases within the community. Early modelling evidence from SAGE evidenced in the report: Modelling and behavioural science responses to scenarios for relaxing school closures showed that early years provision had a smaller relative impact on transmission rate when modelled with both primary schools and secondary schools. The report is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/886994/s0257-sage-sub-group-modelling-behavioural-science-relaxing-school-closures-sage30.pdf.

Early years childcare providers were one of the first sectors to have restrictions lifted last summer, in recognition of the key role they play in society. Childminders and nursery staff across the country have worked hard to keep settings open through the COVID-19 outbreak so that young children can be educated, and parents can work. The earliest years are the most crucial point of child development and attending early education lays the foundation for lifelong learning and supports children’s social and emotional development. We continue to prioritise keeping early years settings open in full because of the clear benefits to children’s education and wellbeing and to support working parents. Caring for the youngest age group is not something that can be done remotely.

These plans are being kept under review in the light of emerging scientific evidence. We are working with the scientific community to understand the properties and dynamics of the new variant VUI-202012/01 in relation to children and young people.

All children and young people have had their education disrupted as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. In order to support schools, the Government has committed to a catch-up package worth £1 billion.

This funding includes a universal catch-up premium worth £650 million to support schools to deliver any additional activities required to make up for lost teaching time. To help schools make the best use of this funding, the Education Endowment Foundation has published a support guide for schools with evidence-based approaches to catch up, and a School Planning Guide, developed in partnership with expert school leaders from across the country, to support school leaders with their planning for the 2020/21 academic year.

Alongside this, the catch-up package includes a new £350 million National Tutoring Programme for disadvantaged pupils. This will increase access to high-quality tuition for the most disadvantaged young people, further helping to tackle the attainment gap. Research shows high quality individual and small group tuition can add up to five months of progress for disadvantaged pupils.

It is vital that pupils have access to high quality and consistent remote education. The Government believes that through the hard work of teachers and staff, pupils will continue to receive the education they deserve, whatever the circumstances.

As part of over £160 million invested to support remote education and access to online social care, the Department has already provided over 220,000 laptops and tablets and over 50,000 4G wireless routers, during the summer term, for disadvantaged children who would not otherwise have access.

These devices are owned by schools, academy trusts and local authorities who can lend these to disadvantaged children and young people who need them most. We are now supplementing this support by making an additional 250,000 laptops and tablets available this term to support disadvantaged children who may experience disruption to face-to-face education.

The Department estimated the number of disadvantaged pupils without access to a suitable device or the internet using data on pupils eligible for Free School Meals in each school, taking into consideration that some pupils would already have access to a private device or internet connection.

The Department is also working with the major telecommunications companies to improve internet connectivity for disadvantaged and vulnerable families who rely on a mobile internet connection. We are piloting an approach where mobile network operators are providing temporary access to free additional data, offering families more flexibility to access the resources that they need the most. In the pilot, schools, academy trusts, and local authorities identified children who need access to free additional data.

This government will always prioritise the health and welfare of staff and pupils.

Being in nursery, school and college is vital for children and young people’s education and for their wellbeing. Time out of nursery, school and college is detrimental for children’s cognitive and academic development.

Current evidence suggests schools are not high-risk settings when compared to other workplace environments. The risk to children of becoming severely ill from COVID-19 is very low and there are negative health impacts being out of school.

We are clear about the measures that need to be in place to create safer environments within schools. That is why the Department for Education published guidance, endorsed by Public Health England, which provides a framework for schools to put in place proportionate protective measures for children and staff. The guidance also ensures that all pupils receive a high-quality education that enables them to thrive and progress. If schools follow this guidance, they will effectively reduce risks in their school and create an inherently safer environment for pupils, families and staff. The guidance for the full opening of schools available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.

The national shielding programme for all adults and children was paused on 1 August 2020 (except areas in local lockdown). Clinically extremely vulnerable children should attend education settings in line with the wider guidance on the reopening of schools and guidance for full opening, including special schools and other specialist settings. Children who live with those who are clinically extremely vulnerable or clinically vulnerable can attend school. If parents or carers of learners remain concerned, we recommend schools discuss their concerns and provide reassurance of the measures they are putting into place. The guidance for people who are clinically extremely vulnerable from COVID-19 is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19.

Where a pupil is unable to attend school because they are complying with clinical or public health advice, we expect schools to be able to immediately offer them access to remote education. Our guidance has a dedicated section on remote education support which outlines our expectations, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools#res.

Pupils no longer required to shield but who generally remain under the care of a specialist health professional are likely to discuss their care with their health professional at their next planned clinical appointment. Further advice from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health is available here: https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/resources/covid-19-talking-children-families-about-returning-school-guiding-principles.

For disadvantaged children who are unable to attend school on clinical or public health advice and do not have access to a suitable device or the internet, their school can request support through the 'Get help with technology' service. The guidance is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/get-laptops-and-tablets-for-children-who-cannot-attend-school-due-to-coronavirus-covid-19.

Keeping children safe online is essential. The statutory guidance 'Keeping Children Safe in Education' provides schools and colleges with information on what they should be doing to protect their pupils online. The guidance is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2.

The guidance published on the 2 July and updated on 15 July sets how Further Education colleges can reopen safely for all learners, including those that are older or vulnerable, in September 2020. It has been developed in close consultation with the sector and medical experts from Public Health England. It sets out in detail the steps colleges should take to protect their staff and learners with a requirement to undertake full health and safety COVID-19 risk assessments and implement the September reopening protective measures. These risk assessments must consider groups that are most at risk, including learners with protected characteristics. The guidance also provides advice on supporting young vulnerable learners and recognises that young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) may need careful preparation for a return to full time attendance.

We have also produced guidance for specialist education settings including special post-16 institutions. This sets out the actions special education setting leaders should take to minimise the risk of transmission in their setting, highlighting additional or different considerations for special education settings.

We are doing everything we can to make sure colleges and other providers are as safe as possible for learners and staff, and will continue to work closely with the country’s best scientific and medical experts to ensure that is the case. We will keep guidance under review as we continue to monitor the situation over the summer and we will adjust and adapt our approach as necessary if more evidence becomes available to us.

The guidance is available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-further-education-provision/what-fe-colleges-and-providers-will-need-to-do-from-the-start-of-the-2020-autumn-term.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-for-full-opening-special-schools-and-other-specialist-settings/guidance-for-full-opening-special-schools-and-other-specialist-settings.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education received a request directly from The Black Curriculum organisation asking for a meeting and a response has been sent. At this stage, the Department’s work responding to the COVID-19 outbreak and other diary pressures make it difficult for the Secretary of State to arrange a meeting. However, the Secretary of State’s reply makes clear that officials have met with the organisation previously and are happy to meet with them again to discuss these matters.

Getting more children back in school is vital for their education and their wellbeing – particularly for the most disadvantaged children. Time out of school leads to lost education now but will also affect children’s ability to learn in future.

We believe the very best place for children to be from the Autumn is back in schools. For the vast majority of children, the benefits of being back in the classroom far outweigh the very low risk from COVID-19 and schools can take action to reduce that risk even further. On Thursday 2 July we published guidance for schools reopening to all pupils. This sets out key principles for curriculum planning so that all pupils – particularly disadvantaged, special educational needs and disability (SEND) and vulnerable pupils – are given the catch-up support needed to make substantial progress by the end of the academic year. This includes a section on remote education and can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.

Whilst children are unable to attend school, we are committed to ensuring that all children can continue to learn remotely in a number of ways, and as such are supporting sector-led initiatives such as the Oak National Academy. This new enterprise has been created by 40 teachers from schools across England. It will provide 180 video lessons for free each week, across a broad range of subjects, for every year group from Reception through to year 10. By 28 June, 4.1 million unique users had accessed the Oak National Academy website and 14.7 million lessons had been viewed. Further remote education support can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/remote-education-practice-for-schools-during-coronavirus-covid-19.

The Government have announced a universal catch-up premium of £650 million which will be shared between all state-funded primary, secondary, and special schools in England. This premium will be in addition to schools’ core budgets for the 2020/21 academic year.

The universal catch-up premium has been set up to support schools to provide catch-up provision for those who need it most as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. It is for schools to decide how to allocate it in the most effective way, as they will know best their specific needs.

Provision could include, for example, intervention programmes, extra teaching capacity, access to technology and / or the provision of summer schools. The Education Endowment Foundation have published a COVID-19 Support Guide for Schools to make best use of this funding: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/covid-19-resources/covid-19-support-guide-for-schools/. This includes advice on summer schools and links to the Teach First Toolkit that is specifically focussed on the provision of summer schools.

In addition, the government has confirmed £9 million of funding to support Holiday Activity and Food programmes in 17 local authorities across England.

A wide range of charities, youth and sports providers will also be offering developmental programmes for young people over the summer including, for example, the National Citizen Service (NCS). NCS will be providing a range of activities to further education colleges and schools over the summer and autumn to support young people develop life knowledge and re-engage with education.

The Government understands the importance of holiday activities in providing opportunities that allow children to socialise and interact with others outside of their household whilst promoting their wellbeing. The Department for Education has therefore published guidance for providers of community activities, holiday and after-school clubs as well as other out-of-school provision for children over the age of 5, which sets out the protective measures that need to be in place to ensure that such settings can open as safely as possible.

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.

Alongside this, the Department has published guidance for parents and carers on the precautions they should be taking if they are thinking of sending their child to any provision over the summer period.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-for-parents-and-carers-of-children-attending-out-of-school-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak/guidance-for-parents-and-carers-of-children-attending-out-of-school-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.

Ealing is receiving an extra £10.1 million for schools this year, an increase of 3.7% per pupil taking total funding for 2020-21 in Ealing to £250.8 million.

It is up to each school to determine how to deliver education to its pupils, and how best to use their funding. We recognise that many schools have already shared resources – both online and printed resources – for children who are at home, and we are committed to ensuring that all children can continue to learn remotely in a number of ways during these very difficult circumstances.

We are committed to ensuring that all children can continue to learn remotely in a number of ways for as long as they are unable to attend school, and are supporting sector-led initiatives such as the Oak National Academy. By 21 June, 3.9 million unique users had accessed the Oak National Academy website and 13.2 million lessons had been viewed.

The Government has also committed over £100 million to boost remote education. This includes: providing devices and internet access for those who need it most, ensuring every school that wants it has access to free, expert technical support to get set up on Google for Education or Microsoft’s Office 365 Education, and offering peer support from schools and colleges leading the way with the use of education technology.

The Government have announced a package of support of £1 billion to ensure that schools have the support they need to help children and young people make up for lost teaching time, with extra support in the form of a tutoring programme for those who need it most. We will provide more information on exactly how this funding will be distributed in due course.

We are committed to ensuring that all pupils continue to learn remotely where they cannot attend school due to COVID-19. The Department has published guidance to support state-funded schools in providing online lessons, and using high quality digital and printed curriculum resources.

To support state schools to provide education online, the Government has committed over £100 million to boost access to remote education. This includes providing laptops and tablets and internet access for those who need it most, ensuring every school that wants it has access to free, expert technical support to get set up on Google for Education or Microsoft’s Office 365 Education, and offering peer support from schools and colleges leading the way with the use of education technology.

The Department is also supporting sector-led initiatives such as Oak National Academy. This new enterprise has been created by 40 teachers from schools across England. It will provide 180 video lessons for free each week, across a broad range of subjects, for every year group from Reception through to year 10. By 21 June, 3.9 million unique users had accessed the Oak National Academy website and 13.2 million lessons had been viewed. Additionally, the BBC has developed resources for families as part of a comprehensive new education package, which is now available on TV, BBC iPlayer and online at BBC Bitesize.

We expect all pupils to return to school in September, and the Department published guidance on Thursday 2 July. Given the possibility that groups of pupils need to self-isolate, such as for a local lockdown, all schools will be expected to have remote education contingency plans in place. The guidance sets out what is expected from schools for their remote education provision.

We are also providing a package of support worth £1 billion to support catch up for all pupils in state schools next academic year, including extra support for the most disadvantaged.

We want to get all children and young people back into education as soon as the scientific advice allows because it is the best place for them to learn. We know how important it is for their wellbeing to have social interactions with their teachers and friends. Our intention is for all children to return to school from September.

We have published further information and guidance to help schools prepare for September. The guidance is available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.

We will be guided by the latest scientific advice and are working with the sector to ensure our guidance provides schools with the further details they need. Any protective measures that may be necessary to keep children and teachers as safe as possible, advice on group sizes, staffing advice and transport considerations can be found in the guidance.

We want to get all children and young people back into education as soon as the scientific advice allows because it is the best place for them to learn. We know how important it is for their wellbeing to have social interactions with their teachers and friends. Our intention is for all children to return to school from September.

We have published further information and guidance to help schools prepare for September. The guidance is available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.

We will be guided by the latest scientific advice and are working with the sector to ensure our guidance provides schools with the further details they need. Any protective measures that may be necessary to keep children and teachers as safe as possible, advice on group sizes, staffing advice and transport considerations can be found in the guidance.

The potential effect of care proceedings on children who have had their contact with their birth family suspended will continue to be considered by judges as part of individual care proceedings.

The department has published guidance on children in care and contact with their families while the government’s social distancing guidance remains in force. The guidance makes clear that contact between looked-after children and their birth parents must continue but may be more appropriate to take place virtually at this time: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-childrens-social-care-services/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-local-authorities-on-childrens-social-care.

We are also aware that the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory commissioned an urgent new research project, Understanding how children’s connections to birth families are being managed during social isolation. This showed that those taking part in our study reported widespread use of video calls by and for children in residential, foster and kinship care.

Schools are continuing to receive additional funding in the form of the pupil premium – worth around £2.4 billion annually – to help them support their disadvantaged pupils. This includes those who have been in receipt of free school meals at any point in the last six years, and looked after and previously looked after children.

The government has also committed over £100 million to support vulnerable and disadvantaged children in England to access remote education, including by providing laptops, tablets and 4G wireless routers. The department has ordered over 200,000 laptops and tablets for vulnerable and disadvantaged children who would otherwise not have access and are preparing for examination in Year 10, receiving support from a social worker or are a care leaver.

We are providing over 50,000 4G wireless routers to disadvantaged children with a social worker in secondary school, care leavers and children in Year 10 who do not have access to a suitable internet connection through other means. We are also working with the country’s major telecommunications providers to make it easier for children in vulnerable and disadvantaged families, who are relying on mobile data, to access online educational resources.

To support the hard work of schools in delivering remote education, 40 teachers have come together to develop the brand-new Oak National Academy, launched at the start of the summer term. The Oak Academy provides 180 video lessons for free each week, across a broad range of subjects, for every year group from Reception through to Year 10. Education resources are also available offline. Children will be able to draw on support from the BBC, which is broadcasting lessons on television, and may choose to access the many hard copy resources offers which have been produced by publishers across the country.

We recognise that, for some children, there will be a need for additional support where they have not been able to learn in the same way that we would have expected this term. We are working with a range of partners, including the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), to establish how schools can best help their pupils – including those from disadvantaged backgrounds – to make up lost ground. In particular, we are very supportive of the work being taken forward by the EEF and other organisations to pilot online tutoring for disadvantaged pupils during the summer term.

We recognise that students who are studying GCSE, A level or equivalent courses, and are due to take exams and assessments in 2021, will have experienced disruption to their education. We are working with Ofqual and the awarding organisations to develop our approach to next year’s exams and assessments in light of this.

The information requested on the number of children in foster care who are in contact with their birth family is not held centrally.

We expect that contact between children in care and their birth relatives will continue during the COVID-19 outbreak. It is essential for children and families to remain in touch at this difficult time.

Operational guidance published by the department sets out the expectation that contact arrangements are assessed on a case by case basis taking into account a range of factors including the government’s social distancing guidance and the needs of the child. It may not be possible, or appropriate, for the usual face-to-face contact to happen at this time and keeping in touch may need to take place virtually. We expect the spirit of any contact orders made in relation to children in care to be maintained and will look to social workers to determine how best to support those valuable family interactions based on the circumstances of each case.

The operational guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-childrens-social-care-services/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-local-authorities-on-childrens-social-care.

Social distancing guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-social-distancing-and-for-vulnerable-people.

The information requested on the number of children in foster care who are in contact with their birth family is not held centrally.

We expect that contact between children in care and their birth relatives will continue during the COVID-19 outbreak. It is essential for children and families to remain in touch at this difficult time.

Operational guidance published by the department sets out the expectation that contact arrangements are assessed on a case by case basis taking into account a range of factors including the government’s social distancing guidance and the needs of the child. It may not be possible, or appropriate, for the usual face-to-face contact to happen at this time and keeping in touch may need to take place virtually. We expect the spirit of any contact orders made in relation to children in care to be maintained and will look to social workers to determine how best to support those valuable family interactions based on the circumstances of each case.

The operational guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-childrens-social-care-services/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-local-authorities-on-childrens-social-care.

Social distancing guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-social-distancing-and-for-vulnerable-people.

The government has set out specific measures to support childcare providers, including:

• Funding for the government’s early years entitlements will continue being paid to local authorities
• Nurseries being among the businesses eligible for a business rates holiday for one year from 1 April

Childcare providers will also benefit from the wider measures the Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced to support the people and businesses of the UK:

• A three-point plan announced in the Budget providing £12 billion of support for public services, individuals and businesses whose finances are affected by the outbreak
• A package to provide additional support for businesses and individuals totalling £350 billion
• The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to help firms continue to keep people in employment. This means that businesses can put workers on temporary leave and the government will pay them cash grants of 80% of their wages up to a cap of £2,500, providing they keep the worker employed
• The Self-Employed Income Support Scheme to enable those eligible to receive a cash grant worth 80% of their average monthly trading profit over the last three years.

More details on the support available are included in the latest guidance for early years settings, which can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-financial-support-for-education-early-years-and-childrens-social-care.

We continue to work closely with the early years sector and remain committed to doing all we can to support childcare providers through this uncertain period. We will publish further guidance where appropriate.

Defra is the lead department for the Convention on Biological Diversity, working closely with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCDO) and Cabinet Office. The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will lead the UK delegation to the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15). Lord Benyon, Minister of State for Defra, will also attend.

Ofwat and the Environment Agency can take enforcement action when a water company is in breach of its statutory duties and licence obligations. The Environment Agency can pursue criminal prosecution for which there can be unlimited fines. Since 2015, the Environment Agency has brought 54 prosecutions against water companies, securing fines of almost £140 million.

For the most serious contraventions, Ofwat can impose financial penalties on companies. For example, in 2019, Ofwat imposed a penalty package on Southern Water of £126 million for spills of wastewater into the environment from its sewerage plants and for deliberately misreporting its performance. The Environment Agency and Ofwat have recently launched the largest criminal and civil investigations into water company sewage discharges ever, at over 2200 treatment works, following new data coming to light as a result of increased monitoring.

We will not let companies get away with illegal activity and where breaches are found, we will not hesitate to hold companies to account.

We have been clear that the failure of water companies to adequately reduce sewage discharges is totally unacceptable. Our recently launched Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan will require water companies to deliver the largest infrastructure programme in water company history and our new strict targets will see the toughest ever crack down on sewage spills.

By 2035, water companies will have to improve all storm overflows discharging into or near every designated bathing water; and improve 75% of overflows discharging to high priority nature sites.

Overflows that are causing the most harm will be addressed first to make the biggest difference as quickly as possible, and water companies will be expected to consider nature-based solutions in their planning. Our plan will protect the ecology of our rivers, seas and lakes, and the public health of our water users for generations to come.

HM Government has consulted twice on the introduction of a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) and given careful consideration to the materials that should be part of the scheme. We set out in the Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging (EPR) consultation response in March 2022 that glass would not be part of the DRS in England, instead part of Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging.

We will continue to work with industry and the Devolved Administrations as we finalise policy positions and secondary legislation in order to support delivery of an efficient and effective DRS.

I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 14 June 2022 to the hon. Member for Strangford, PQ 13132.

We operate one of the most rigorous and robust pet travel checking regimes in Europe. All non-commercial cats, dogs and ferrets entering Great Britain on approved routes (every route other than Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and the Crown Dependencies) under the pet travel rules undergo 100% documentary and identity checks by authorised pet checkers.

To enter Great Britain pets must have been implanted with a microchip or have a legible tattoo imprinted prior to 3 July 2011. A pet's identity is checked by ensuring that the microchip or tattoo details correspond to the details in the pet's documentation. Carriers can refer suspected non-compliances to the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA). APHA staff are highly trained to deal with intercepted shipments.

APHA works collaboratively with Border Force and other operational partners at ports, airports and inland, sharing intelligence to enforce the pet travel rules, disrupt illegal imports, safeguard the welfare of animals and seize non-compliant animals.

The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill was introduced in Parliament on 8 June 2021 and will progress as soon as parliamentary time allows. The Bill allows us to further protect the welfare of pets by introducing restrictions to crack down on the low welfare movements of pets into Great Britain and includes powers to introduce new restrictions on pet travel and the commercial import of pets on welfare grounds, via secondary legislation.

In the last year we have already introduced our Animal Sentience and Kept Animals Bills to Parliament and published the Government's Action Plan for Animal Welfare. The Action Plan for Animal Welfare demonstrates this Government's commitment to a brighter future for animals both at home and abroad.

We are moving forward with our plans to deliver one of the toughest bans in the world on the import of hunting trophies from thousands of endangered and threatened species. We are firmly committed to the ban and this will be brought forward as soon as Parliamentary time allows. We are also looking at further measures to protect animals abroad, including banning the import and export of detached fins, and taking action against low welfare animal experiences.

The Kept Animals Bill completed Commons Committee Stage in November. Since introduction, the Government has added a new pet abduction offence to the Bill and extended the primates measure to Wales. We have also consulted on the use of powers in the Bill to tackle puppy smuggling. The Government is committed to this Bill and it will progress in its current form as soon as Parliamentary time allows.

Fur farming has been banned in the UK for over 20 years. Now we have left the EU, the Government is able to explore potential further action in relation to animal fur.

The recent call for evidence published by Defra on the fur trade in Great Britain was a key step in helping us to meet the commitment set out in the Action Plan for Animal Welfare to better understand the fur sector in Great Britain and gather evidence from those with an interest in it.

We received around 30,000 responses from businesses, representative bodies and individuals, demonstrating the strong public interest in this area. We are reviewing the evidence gathered both from our Call for Evidence and wider engagement with the fur trade and stakeholders, and a summary of responses setting out the results and key findings will be published soon.

In the 2021 consultation on Consistency in Household and Business recycling in England, we proposed that local authorities be required to collect recyclable plastic films from households by no later than the end of 2026/27. The Government response to the consultation will be published in due course.

This Government has made improving water quality a priority, and has been clear that the current use of storm overflows is completely unacceptable. However, storm overflows are a historic infrastructure issue and stopping their usage today would lead to sewage backing up into homes and businesses during the next heavy rainfall event.

This Government is the first to take steps to tackle sewage overflows, but we know that this is extremely challenging and costly, as it will require significant infrastructure upgrades including separating pipes across the country. We will therefore shortly be publishing a Storm Overflow Discharge Reduction Plan for consultation, to gather views from the public on our proposed approach and the trade-offs between ambition and pace of change, and disruption and costs to consumers.

The Government has a duty to produce this plan under the landmark Environment Act 2021 which introduces a raft of duties to reduce the adverse effects of storm overflows on the environment and public health, including a report setting out the actions that would be needed to completely eliminate discharges from storm overflows in England. We will outline further detail on this shortly.

The 25 Year Environment Plan sets out the ambition to connect more people from all backgrounds with the natural environment for their health and well-being, and the commitment to supporting people to access and enjoy outdoor spaces. The priority is for this to happen in a way that is safe for people and animals, and in line with published regulations and guidance.

Support for increasing access into the countryside will be made through existing schemes and support mechanisms already in place.

Access is currently provided for under the Countryside Stewardship scheme’s Higher Tier and Mid Tier. The scheme funds land managers for both the instalment of capital items to promote access, such as gates and stiles, as well as providing educational visits which offer school pupils and care farming clients the opportunity to visit farms to learn, understand and engage with farming and the environment. This year we have introduced a new woodland supplement, Access for people, which aims to create alternative outdoor activities, encourage engagement with nature and create further educational opportunities.

We are still considering our approach to support for increasing and maintaining access to the countryside in our future schemes including our environmental land management schemes.

To boost investment in the meantime, we have launched a new Farming in Protected Landscapes programme in National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty – this includes opportunities for farmers and land managers to provide new or easier access, links to the Public Rights of Way network, and interpretation of farming, nature and heritage.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 11 January 2022 to the hon. Member for Putney, PQ UIN 97159.

The Hunting Act 2004 makes it an offence to hunt a wild mammal with dogs except where it is carried out in accordance with the exemptions in the Act. The Government will not amend the Hunting Act 2004.

Issuing a licence or giving permission for trail hunting is an operational matter for the landowner and those organisations with a land lease or agreement in place for Government land.

The primary purpose of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 is public protection. The Government must balance the views of those who want to repeal or amend the breed specific legislation relating to the Pit Bull terrier, Dogo Argentino, Fila Brasileiro and the Japanese Tosa with that responsibility.

Historically, pit bull types are powerful dogs which have been traditionally bred in the UK for dog fighting. Data gathered from 2005 onwards on fatal dog attacks show that pit bulls were involved in around one in six tragic incidents, despite the prohibitions that we have in place that have significantly limited the numbers of pit bulls in the UK.

The Government considers that a lifting of the restrictions on these types of dogs would more likely result in an increase in dog attacks, rather than contributing to any reduction in such incidents. This position is supported by the police.

Despite the general prohibitions on these types of dog, individual prohibited dogs can be kept by their owners if a court considers certain safety criteria to be met.

The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 also gives enforcement bodies the power to take action in cases where a dog is considered to be dangerously out of control and has attacked another dog.

In December 2021, Defra published research in collaboration with Middlesex University to look at responsible ownership across all breeds of dog. The report will provide the basis for the consideration of reform in this area and the Government is already working with the police, local authorities, and stakeholders to consider the recommendations further.

We know that air pollution is the greatest environmental hazard to health, and we have taken significant action to clean up our air. Emissions of nitrogen oxides are now at their lowest levels since records began. But there is more to do. The landmark Environment Act includes a clear duty to set new targets for air quality.

The Environment Act ensures local authorities have strengthened powers to tackle air pollution and more. This builds on our Clean Air Strategy.

Most parts of the country are now experiencing the impacts of ash tree decline, although the speed and severity of the disease is variable at a local level. The Government does not collect data on the number of ash trees that have been felled, including those affected by ash dieback, but of the 2700 applications approved to date in 2021, the Forestry Commission has recorded 1564 felling licence applications containing ash (as a tree species planned for felling). This is very similar to the felling licence application figures for 2020.

The felling licences approved in 2020, and which contain ash as a tree species, cover just under 20,000 hectares of land, including land outside woodland, and contain an estimated 950,000 m3 of timber, and this is approved for felling within the next five to ten years, depending on the length of the felling licence.

Where appropriate, approved felling licences carry legally enforceable restocking conditions to ensure any trees felled are replaced using suitable means and to ensure tree and woodland cover is maintained for future generations.

The Soil and Groundwater Technical Association is a not-for-profit membership organisation focused on the issue of contaminated land. It is formed of UK organisations representative of this focus. There are currently no plans to assess the independence of the Soil and Groundwater Technical Association.

No assessment has been made of the independence of the Soil and Groundwater Technical Association.

The Category 4 Screening Levels Phase 2 Project Steering Group last met on Wednesday 27 January 2021.

The members of that group come from local authorities, Government departments and arm’s length bodies, not-for-profit membership organisations and trade organisations. This includes Defra, the Environment Agency and the Welsh Government.

A full list of the attendees for the last meeting has been made available to the hon. Member.

Defra has consulted with the following environmental consultants in the last year on pollution standards and controls:

Ricardo

Enviro Technologies

Air Monitors

The Environment Bill will bring forwards legislative proposals for tackling pollution.

It will drive significant environmental improvement and tackle pollution by setting and achieving legally-binding, long-term targets in key areas including air quality, water, and resource efficiency and waste.

Some of the leading measures in the Bill to support the delivery of targets include:

• Air Quality: The Bill introduces a duty on the government to set at least two air quality targets by October 2022:

o To reduce the annual average level of fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) in ambient air

o A further target to improve air quality

• Water: The Bill makes drainage and sewerage management planning, through which companies develop the capacity of their networks, a statutory duty.
• Resource Efficiency and Waste Reduction – The Bill will enable Government to make waste producers cover the cost of collecting and recycling packaging waste, introduce deposit returns schemes, and introduce charges for single-use plastic items.

The Government is committed to leaving the environment in a better state than we found it and has been clear that we will realise the benefits of leaving the EU, including implementing new ways of delivering better levels of environmental protection. The Government continuously looks for opportunities to improve the effectiveness of environmental protections and has already brought forward a number of measures to drive forward standards and to help assess the adequacy of environmental legislation in future.

For example, the Environment Bill sets a new legal foundation for Government action to improve the environment and is part of the wider Government response to the clear and scientific case for a step-change in environmental protection and recovery. As part of the provisions in the Bill, the Government must have an Environmental Improvement Plan which sets out the steps it intends to take to improve the environment and review it at least every five years. The 25 Year Environment Plan will be adopted as the first statutory Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) in the Environment Bill.

The Bill also establishes a new, independent statutory body - the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) - which will have a statutory duty to monitor and report on the Government's progress in improving the natural environment in accordance with the EIP. The OEP’s annual report may provide recommendations on how to improve progress towards meeting targets or environmental improvement, to which Government must respond.

In many cases, we will be going further than the EU. For example, the approach taken in the Environment Bill towards environmental principles goes further than the EU by ensuring that Ministers across Government are obliged to consider the principles in all policy development where it impacts the environment. Through the Bill’s targets framework, we are seeking to develop a comprehensive suite of targets across the entire natural environment which is novel and not something developed at an EU level. The OEP’s enforcement powers are different from those of the European Commission, as the OEP will be able to liaise directly with the public body in question to investigate and resolve alleged serious breaches of environmental law in a more targeted and timely manner.

The Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) has recently commenced the seventh Quinquennial Review of schedules 5 and 8 (protected species) to the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. The JNCC will, late next year, make evidence-based recommendations to the Secretary of State as to which species warrant additional legal protections to secure their future conservation. It is not possible, at this time, to confirm which species, including hedgehogs, may be included in these proposals.

The UK has a strong track record in marine conservation and places great importance on ensuring that appropriate protection and management is in place for all shark species.

The UK Government is strongly opposed to shark finning, the practice of removing the fins of a shark and discarding the body at sea. The UK has already banned the act of shark finning and has enforced a Fins Naturally Attached policy in order to combat illegal finning of sharks in UK and EU waters. This means that shark fins from sharks fished in UK and EU waters can only be retained and utilised provided they are still attached to the shark when landed at port by fishing vessels.

Following the end of the Transition Period we will explore options consistent with World Trade Organization rules to address the importation of shark fins from other areas, to support efforts to end illegal shark finning practices globally.

The UK remains committed to preventing and treating malnutrition as part of our pledge to end the preventable deaths of mothers, newborns and children. Continued investment to protect the nutrition of the poorest people in the world is even more important as countries face worsening levels of malnutrition in the face of COVID-19. We will continue to support programmes to address malnutrition beyond 2020 and will work with the Government of Japan to ensure the 2021 Tokyo Nutrition for Growth Summit is a success.

Our aid spending is linked to the growth of our economy.

We are working closely with the Treasury to understand the likely forecasts and to ensure that we can meet our 0.7% commitment.

The UK is committed to advancing and defending comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights and, as a leading global donor, we will continue to be a progressive voice on this issue to give women in developing countries the reproductive health choices they want and need.

We are working across Departments to ensure that we continue to drive UK aid spending and commit our Official Development Assistance to the world’s most vulnerable and poorest people.

The Government recognises the vital role remittances play in supporting the incomes of millions of people around the world and the challenge posed by COVID-19 to these flows. Recent projections by the World Bank’s suggest that remittances to sub-Saharan Africa will fall by around 23% - or USD 11 billion – in 2020. In Somalia, remittances represented more than one quarter of GDP in 2019, and on average made up a third of total income for households that received them.

We are deeply concerned about the combined impacts of COVID-19 with ongoing conflict and climate-induced natural disasters in Somalia and other African countries, where millions of people already face food insecurity caused by humanitarian disasters and conflict. This situation will be compounded by a reduction in remittances.

We are working closely with our international partners to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on remittance flows. On Friday 22 May, the UK and Swiss Governments, with the support of the World Bank and other partners, launched a global Call to Action on remittances. This called on policymakers, regulators and remittance service providers to take action to keep remittances flowing during the crisis.

The Government recognises the vital role remittances play in supporting the incomes of millions of people around the world – including in Africa, where remittances can represent a significant proportion of GDP. In Somalia remittances represented more than one quarter of its GDP in 2019, and on average made up a third of total income for households that received them.

We are deeply concerned about the impact of COVID-19 in Somalia and other African countries, where millions of people already face food insecurity caused by humanitarian disasters and conflict. This situation will be compounded by a reduction in remittances. Recent projections by the World Bank’s indicate that remittances to sub-Saharan Africa will fall by around 23% – USD 11 billion – in 2020.

We are therefore working closely with our international partners to monitor and mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on remittance flows. The UK-Somalia Safer Corridor Initiative brought together stakeholders including banks, remittance service providers, regulators and community representatives to tackle barriers in the UK-Somalia remittance corridor. The Government continues to engage regularly with these stakeholders to address the impact of COVID-19 on remittance flows.

The Government understands that UK banks play an important role in maintaining the flow of remittances from the UK to Africa. The Government and the UK’s regulatory authorities have regular engagement with the banking sector in the UK on a wide range of issues, including on the provision of banking services to remittance service providers. The decision to offer banking services is ultimately a commercial decision for banks, which are required by legislation to make these decisions in a proportionate and non-discriminatory way.

On Friday 22 May, the UK and Swiss Governments, with the support of the World Bank and other partners, launched a global Call to Action on remittances. This called on policymakers, regulators and remittance service providers to take action to keep remittances flowing during the crisis

The Government has already taken steps to support remittance service providers in the UK, including by enabling them to remain open through lockdown by including them on the list of essential businesses.

The Government recognises the vital role remittances play in supporting the incomes of millions of people around the world – including in Africa, where remittances can represent a significant proportion of GDP. In Somalia remittances represented more than one quarter of its GDP in 2019, and on average made up a third of total income for households that received them.

We are deeply concerned about the impact of COVID-19 in Somalia and other African countries, where millions of people already face food insecurity caused by humanitarian disasters and conflict. This situation will be compounded by a reduction in remittances. Recent projections by the World Bank’s indicate that remittances to sub-Saharan Africa will fall by around 23% – USD 11 billion – in 2020.

We are therefore working closely with our international partners to monitor and mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on remittance flows. The UK-Somalia Safer Corridor Initiative brought together stakeholders including banks, remittance service providers, regulators and community representatives to tackle barriers in the UK-Somalia remittance corridor. The Government continues to engage regularly with these stakeholders to address the impact of COVID-19 on remittance flows.

The Government understands that UK banks play an important role in maintaining the flow of remittances from the UK to Africa. The Government and the UK’s regulatory authorities have regular engagement with the banking sector in the UK on a wide range of issues, including on the provision of banking services to remittance service providers. The decision to offer banking services is ultimately a commercial decision for banks, which are required by legislation to make these decisions in a proportionate and non-discriminatory way.

On Friday 22 May, the UK and Swiss Governments, with the support of the World Bank and other partners, launched a global Call to Action on remittances. This called on policymakers, regulators and remittance service providers to take action to keep remittances flowing during the crisis

The Government has already taken steps to support remittance service providers in the UK, including by enabling them to remain open through lockdown by including them on the list of essential businesses.

The Government recognises the vital role remittances play in supporting the incomes of millions of people around the world – including in Africa, where remittances can represent a significant proportion of GDP. In Somalia remittances represented more than one quarter of its GDP in 2019, and on average made up a third of total income for households that received them.

We are deeply concerned about the impact of COVID-19 in Somalia and other African countries, where millions of people already face food insecurity caused by humanitarian disasters and conflict. This situation will be compounded by a reduction in remittances. Recent projections by the World Bank’s indicate that remittances to sub-Saharan Africa will fall by around 23% – USD 11 billion – in 2020.

We are therefore working closely with our international partners to monitor and mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on remittance flows. The UK-Somalia Safer Corridor Initiative brought together stakeholders including banks, remittance service providers, regulators and community representatives to tackle barriers in the UK-Somalia remittance corridor. The Government continues to engage regularly with these stakeholders to address the impact of COVID-19 on remittance flows.

The Government understands that UK banks play an important role in maintaining the flow of remittances from the UK to Africa. The Government and the UK’s regulatory authorities have regular engagement with the banking sector in the UK on a wide range of issues, including on the provision of banking services to remittance service providers. The decision to offer banking services is ultimately a commercial decision for banks, which are required by legislation to make these decisions in a proportionate and non-discriminatory way.

On Friday 22 May, the UK and Swiss Governments, with the support of the World Bank and other partners, launched a global Call to Action on remittances. This called on policymakers, regulators and remittance service providers to take action to keep remittances flowing during the crisis

The Government has already taken steps to support remittance service providers in the UK, including by enabling them to remain open through lockdown by including them on the list of essential businesses.

The Secretary of State recently announced that the UK would step up efforts to end preventable deaths of mothers, newborns and children by 2030. Core to the UK's Preventable Deaths agenda, is how we can support low income countries to scale up quality health services. This includes the development of national maternal health policies, support for the delivery of services and work to strengthen health systems, the provision of skilled care at birth, emergency obstetric care, and improving access and quality of medicines. We invest at both the country level and through global programmes. An example is our recent £600m commitment to scale up access to a range of existing and new sexual and reproductive health supplies, which has the potential to expand access to misoprostol.

We recognise that not all deaths are preventable. We support countries in their development of national policies and service provision for those with ongoing illnesses, with focus on quality of care and access to medicines.

The UK is a leading player in global health and is committed to stepping up efforts to end preventable deaths of mothers, newborn babies and children in the developing world by 2030.

UK aid provides support to strengthen health systems in the world’s poorest countries, including provision of sexual reproductive health services and rights. Where possible an integrated package of sexual and reproductive health services are delivered, including the introduction of certain cervical cancer screening, prevention and treatments in some contexts.

We are the largest donor to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which supports HPV vaccination programmes in developing countries. Through Gavi support, 30 developing countries have taken their first steps toward HPV roll out, with the aim of vaccinating 40 million girls by 2020. The UK will also host the Gavi Replenishment Conference on 3-4 June 2020.

The UK supports the recently published WHO ‘Global strategy towards eliminating cervical cancer as a public health problem’, and the associated goals for the period 2020 to 2030.

The Secretary of State recently announced that the UK would step up efforts to end preventable deaths of mothers, newborns and children by 2030. Universal health coverage, including access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), is central to these efforts.

Our health and SRHR programmes aim to understand and overcome the barriers for excluded groups, to ensure that the poorest and most vulnerable within society, including those with disabilities, are able to access services. All our SRHR programmes target adolescent girls. We also work to address the needs of ethnic groups in particular countries.

At the UN General Assembly in 2019, the Secretary of State for International Development announce funding of £600 million over 2020-2025 that will provide millions more women and girls with access to family planning.

The Women’s Integrated Sexual Health reproductive health programme uses innovative ways to identify and reach the poorest and most marginalised adolescent girls and women with essential services across 27 countries. Our support to the Robert Carr Fund, Amplify Change and the Safe Abortion Action Fund all support grassroots organisations to campaign for and promote access to the most marginalised populations’ sexual and reproductive health services and rights.

The Secretary of State recently announced that the UK would step up efforts to end preventable deaths of mothers, newborns and children by 2030. Universal health coverage, including access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), is central to these efforts.

Our health and SRHR programmes aim to understand and overcome the barriers for excluded groups, to ensure that the poorest and most vulnerable within society, including those with disabilities, are able to access services. All our SRHR programmes target adolescent girls. We also work to address the needs of ethnic groups in particular countries.

At the UN General Assembly in 2019, the Secretary of State for International Development announce funding of £600 million over 2020-2025 that will provide millions more women and girls with access to family planning.

The Women’s Integrated Sexual Health reproductive health programme uses innovative ways to identify and reach the poorest and most marginalised adolescent girls and women with essential services across 27 countries. Our support to the Robert Carr Fund, Amplify Change and the Safe Abortion Action Fund all support grassroots organisations to campaign for and promote access to the most marginalised populations’ sexual and reproductive health services and rights.

The Secretary of State recently announced that the UK would step up efforts to end preventable deaths of mothers, newborns and children by 2030. Universal health coverage, including access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), is central to these efforts.

Our health and SRHR programmes aim to understand and overcome the barriers for excluded groups, to ensure that the poorest and most vulnerable within society, including those with disabilities, are able to access services. All our SRHR programmes target adolescent girls. We also work to address the needs of ethnic groups in particular countries.

At the UN General Assembly in 2019, the Secretary of State for International Development announce funding of £600 million over 2020-2025 that will provide millions more women and girls with access to family planning.

The Women’s Integrated Sexual Health reproductive health programme uses innovative ways to identify and reach the poorest and most marginalised adolescent girls and women with essential services across 27 countries. Our support to the Robert Carr Fund, Amplify Change and the Safe Abortion Action Fund all support grassroots organisations to campaign for and promote access to the most marginalised populations’ sexual and reproductive health services and rights.

The Secretary of State recently announced that the UK would step up efforts to end preventable deaths of mothers, newborns and children by 2030. Core to the UK's Preventable Deaths agenda, is how we can support low income countries to scale up quality health services. This includes the development of national maternal health policies, support for the delivery of services and work to strengthen health systems, the provision of skilled care at birth, emergency obstetric care, and improving access and quality of medicines. We invest at both the country level and through global programmes. An example is our recent £600m commitment to scale up access to a range of existing and new sexual and reproductive health supplies, which has the potential to expand access to misoprostol.

We recognise that not all deaths are preventable. We support countries in their development of national policies and service provision for those with ongoing illnesses, with focus on quality of care and access to medicines.

Pre-departure testing is already a requirement for anyone travelling to the UK. Once international travel resumes, passengers will need to check the requirements of their destination country as they may require proof of a negative Covid-19 test to travel abroad.

It would not be appropriate to comment on individual engagements or their frequency. The Department for Transport has historically maintained regular engagement with British Airways/International Airlines Group as an important industry stakeholder. In recognition of the challenging times that the aviation sector continues to face due to Covid-19, we have kept an open dialogue with UK airlines, including British Airways/International Airlines Group, through regular structured and bilateral engagements at both Ministerial and official levels.

The £1.6bn provided to TfL to maintain services included conditions which were agreed to by TfL. These conditions included temporarily suspending free bus travel for under-18s as part of wider travel demand management measures. Any child eligible for free home to school travel under the Education Act 1996 will still be given free travel to and from school. It is for local education authorities to liaise with local transport providers on how they can fulfil their obligations for eligible children. The cost of providing travel for eligible children on TfL services will not fall on London boroughs.

The requested information is not available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Access to Work official statistics are published annually and include how many approvals have been made. However, the publication does not include waiting times as the data on this is not of sufficient quality to meet the standard requirement for an official statistics publication.

No such assessment has been made. We will be bringing forward legislation for the 23/24 Cost of Living Payments in due course.

I can confirm that I have been appointed as Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work. This role has always been, and remains, an important ministerial post.

A summary of my responsibilities can be found here: GOV.UK. My responsibilities put disability policy and disabled people at the heart of what this Government wants to achieve. I will continue to work closely with the Secretary of State to ensure this work remains a central pillar in the department’s mission, to improve outcomes for disabled people.

The Department is working closely with the banking sector to reinstate State Pension payments for Yemeni workers that worked in Britain and who have had their pensions stopped due to the banking issues in Yemen. Reinstatement of State Pension payment will be dependant on individual personal circumstances.

There are two separate social security arrangements in place between the UK and Canada, made in 1995 and 1998. The UK Government is not intending to change the social security relationship with Canada.

Occupational sick pay schemes are a contractual matter between employer and employee. Many employers pay more and for longer than the statutory minimum through occupational or contractual sick pay arrangements and we continue to encourage employers to do so.

There is information on type of sick pay paid normally from surveys of employers and employees. The most recent of these are a survey of employers conducted in 2018 (last published in 2021) and a survey of employees conducted in 2014 (published in 2015). Links to both of these surveys can be found below.

Sickness absence and health in the workplace: understanding employer behaviour and practice - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Health and wellbeing at work: a survey of employees, 2014 (publishing.service.gov.uk)

Occupational sick pay schemes are a contractual matter between employer and employee. Many employers pay more and for longer than the statutory minimum through occupational or contractual sick pay arrangements and we continue to encourage employers to do so.

There is information on type of sick pay paid normally from surveys of employers and employees. The most recent of these are a survey of employers conducted in 2018 (last published in 2021) and a survey of employees conducted in 2014 (published in 2015). Links to both of these surveys can be found below.

Sickness absence and health in the workplace: understanding employer behaviour and practice - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Health and wellbeing at work: a survey of employees, 2014 (publishing.service.gov.uk)

According to the latest data, 2,260,000 people were eligible for Pension Credit in Great Britain for the financial year ending 2020. The published data tables can be accessed here: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year 2019 to 2020 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The number of people eligible for Pension Credit is only available at the Great Britain level.

In August 2021, 2,827 people were in receipt of Pension Credit in Ealing Southall and 1,420,085 in Great Britain.

Ministers in the Department for Work and Pensions engage regularly with their Ministerial counterparts in other Departments, taking a collective approach to the policies and interventions that can make a difference.

This Government is wholly committed to supporting low-income families, including through spending over £110 billion on welfare support for people of working age in 2021/22 and by increasing the National Living Wage by 6.6% to £9.50 from April 2022.

With the success of the vaccine rollout and record job vacancies, our focus now is on continuing to support people into and to progress in work.  Our multi-billion-pound Plan for Jobs, which has recently been expanded by £500 million, will help people across the UK to find work and to boost their wages and prospects.

In addition, Universal Credit recipients in work are now benefitting from a reduction in the Universal Credit taper rate from 63% to 55%, while eligible in-work claimants can also benefit from changes to the Work Allowance. These measures represent, for the lowest paid in society, an effective tax cut of around £2.2b in 2022-23 and are now benefitting almost two million of the lowest paid workers by £1,000 a year on average.

We are helping people with energy bills through the Warm Home Discount, Cold Weather Payments and Winter Fuel Payments. We recognise that some people require extra support over the winter, which is why vulnerable households across the country can access a new £500 million support fund to help them with essentials. The Household Support Fund provides £421 million to help vulnerable people in England with the cost of food, utilities and wider essentials. The Barnett Formula applies in the usual way, with the devolved administrations receiving almost £80 million.

To support low income families further we have increased the value of Healthy Start Food Vouchers from £3.10 to £4.25, helping eligible low income households buy basic foods like milk, fruit and vitamins, and we are also investing over £200m a year from 2022 to continue our Holiday Activities and Food programme which is already providing enriching activities and healthy meals to children in all English Local Authorities.

A range of DWP initiatives are supporting disabled people to stay in work. These include Access to Work, Disability Confident and support in partnership with the health system, including Employment Advice in NHS Improving Access to Psychological Therapy services. We have made it easier to access programmes which help disabled people to enter work, such as the Work and Health Programme and the Intensive Personalised Employment Support programme.

DWP has also put in place measures to ensure that its own staff, including those who require reasonable adjustments, have been able to safely work from home during the Covid-19 outbreak, or from COVID-safe departmental locations where necessary or if that is their preference. These measures include arranging for specialist furniture and equipment to be delivered to individuals’ homes; allowing individuals to purchase such items and then reimbursing them; and ensuring that DWP workplaces are COVID safe for those who use them.

In 2017 the Government set a goal to see 1 million more disabled people in employment over the next 10 years. In the first three years of the goal (between Jan-Mar 2017 and Jan-Mar 2020) the number of disabled people in employment increased by 800,000. The rate of disabled people in employment also increased, by 4.4 percentage points to 53.4%, in the same period.

The Disability Confident scheme is a learning journey that aims to provide employers with the knowledge, skills, and resources that they need to attract, recruit, retain and develop disabled people in the workplace. No employer is too small or new to start the journey and even the most experienced employer will still find new techniques and best practice that can help them. As of 28th February 2021 over 19,900 employers had signed up to the scheme. Disability Confident is only part of a wider range of services that will support disabled employees into work and stay in work.

Jobcentre Work Coaches are trusted and empowered to engage with claimants by the best and most appropriate channel, giving careful consideration to a claimant’s personal circumstances and needs, such as any health conditions, and the local situation to determine whether or not this should be by phone, digital or face-to-face.

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Department made a number of changes to health and disability benefits to safeguard the health of claimants and staff and to prioritise new claims and continuity of awards. The changes included the suspension of all face-to-face assessments and the introduction of telephone-based assessments where suitable, in addition to paper-based assessments (paper-based assessments were in place for some claims prior to the Covid-19 pandemic).

In these unprecedented times we are committed to protecting people from pension scams and fraud. DWP is working with other Government Departments, the Pension Regulator, Financial Conduct Authority and other industry bodies to raise awareness and to monitor for evidence of an increase in pension related fraudster activity. We will continue to use evidence available, to identify what specific and proportionate measures may be necessary.

Government has introduced measures to tackle pension scams following the December 2016 Pension Scams: Consultation link. These include making it harder to open fraudulent schemes from 2018, and legislating to introduce a ban on cold calling in relation to pensions in January 2019.

DWP is also bringing forward legislation, through the Pension Schemes Bill which is currently passing through Parliament. These measures will give trustees’ assurance they will not be required to make statutory transfer, unless specified conditions are met.

The PPF, in collaboration with regulators and pensions bodies, recently published a guide,’COVID-19 and your pension: where to get help’, which answers common pension concerns and helps individuals find the right support. This includes guidance for individuals who are concerned about pension scams.

https://www.ppf.co.uk/covid-19-pensions

The Government is committed to protecting people from pension scams and fraud.

The quarterly data on pension scams and fraud does not exist.

Pensioners who suspect they have been a victim of a pension scam or fraud can report to Action Fraud, the national reporting centre for fraud and cyber-crime. The DWP works with Action Fraud and other members of the police led organisation Project Bloom, which is cross-government and works with industry to monitor and respond to pension frauds, update prevention and respond to these changes.

The following table shows recorded hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions (conditions solely caused by alcohol) and alcohol-related conditions (conditions partially caused by alcohol):

Source: OHID, Local Alcohol Profiles for England.

We have a strong programme underway to address alcohol-related harm, including investing £27 million of funding to establish alcohol care teams in the 25% of hospitals in England with the greatest need. This is expected to prevent a further 50,000 hospital admissions over five years.

We are also working to reduce excess alcohol consumption and associated harm among people who regularly drink above the United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines (over 14 units per week) by facilitating substitution of standard strength alcohol with no and low-alcohol alternatives. On 28 September 2023, we launched a consultation on updating our labelling guidance for no and low-alcohol alternatives, to improve clarity of consumer information, and to support innovation in the sector. This will provide greater choice for consumers to help them moderate excess alcohol consumption. More information is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/updating-labelling-guidance-for-no-and-low-alcohol-alternatives/updating-labelling-guidance-for-no-and-low-alcohol-alternatives-consultation

The following table shows hospital admission data due to diabetes mellitus and obesity and other hyperalimentation episodes:

Source: Hospital Admitted Patient Care Activity, NHS Digital

The NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme supports those identified at high risk of type 2 diabetes to reduce their risk. Latest figures in February 2023 shows a 20% reduction in risk for those who are referred to the programme compared to those who are not.

The weight loss drug Semaglutide (Wegovy) was launched in the United Kingdom on 4 September 2023 and will be made available on the National Health Service in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommendations to ensure cost effective use. A two-year pilot backed by up to £40 million is being developed to explore ways to make these drugs accessible to patients living with obesity outside of hospital settings.

The data requested is not held centrally. Under the Equality Act 2010, health and social care organisations must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged, including disabled people with assistance dogs. The Act places a duty on service providers to make reasonable adjustments to improve access to premises, buildings and services. This could include allowing the use of assistance dogs so that disabled people have the same access to National Health Service estates.

Under the Equality Act 2010, health and social care organisations must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged, including disabled people with assistance dogs.

National Health Service organisations and publicly funded social care providers must comply with the Accessible Information Standard (AIS) to meet the communication needs of patients and carers with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss, including blind and visually impaired people. NHS England has completed a review of the AIS to help ensure that everyone’s communication needs are met in health and care provision. The review considered the effectiveness of the current AIS, how the standard is implemented and enforced in practice, and identified recommendations for improvement. The revised standard will be published in due course.

Following publication, NHS England will continue work to support implementation with awareness raising, communication and engagement and updated e-learning modules on the AIS to ensure NHS staff are better aware of the standard and their roles and responsibilities in implementing it. Assistance dogs are not covered within the scope of the AIS.

We have heard from a wide range of stakeholders, and their views are informing the development of the Major Conditions Strategy (MCS). This will include the responses we have received following the call for evidence.

We are engaging across the conditions in the MCS rather than individually; therefore, specific conversations prioritising earlier detection of heart failure have not taken place.

From April 2022, Primary Care Networks have been required to support earlier identification of heart failure and better management of cholesterol to prevent heart failure.

The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) is an integral part of the Department. The consideration of inequalities is embedded across OHID and the Department’s work. Our approach will continue to focus on supporting people to live healthier lives, helping the NHS and social care to provide the best treatment and care for patients and tackling health disparities through national and system interventions such as the NHS England Core20PLUS5 programme.

We have published our initial report ‘Major Conditions Strategy: Case for change and our strategic framework’ which identifies the importance of tackling inequalities to improve health outcomes, and is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/major-conditions-strategy-case-for-change-and-our-strategic-framework/major-conditions-strategy-case-for-change-and-our-strategic-framework--2

Core20PLUS5 is a national NHS England approach to inform action to reduce healthcare inequalities at both national and system level. The approach focuses on improving cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory, maternity, and mental health outcomes in the poorest 20 percent of the population, along with ethnic minorities and inclusion health groups. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/about/equality/equality-hub/national-healthcare-inequalities-improvement-programme/core20plus5/

The approach has now been adapted to apply to children and young people, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/about/equality/equality-hub/national-healthcare-inequalities-improvement-programme/core20plus5/core20plus5-cyp/

NHS England has recently published a framework for National Health Service action on digital inclusion to help NHS staff enable and encourage greater access to and improved experiences of healthcare, and increased adoption of digital approaches where that is appropriate. The framework can be accessed at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/inclusive-digital-healthcare-a-framework-for-nhs-action-on-digital-inclusion/

Inclusion health groups are also known to experience poor health literacy and digital exclusion. On 9 October NHS England also published its inclusion health framework to support the NHS to meet the needs of people in these groups. The framework can be accessed at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/a-national-framework-for-nhs-action-on-inclusion-health/

There have been no specific discussions with NHS England. Preventing cardiovascular diseases (CVD), including heart failure, is a priority for this government, which is why they are a key part of our upcoming Major Conditions Strategy. The NHS Health Check aims to prevent heart disease, stroke, diabetes and kidney disease, and some cases of dementia among adults aged between 40 and 74 years old. The period between April and June this year saw the highest number of NHS Health Checks offered since the programme began in 2013, meaning more people than ever can reduce their CVD risk through the programme.

In June 2018, the Prime Minister asked for a clinically-led review of National Health Service access standards to ensure they measure what matters most, both in optimising clinical outcomes and to patients. The review was led by Professor Steve Powis, with support from a Clinical Oversight Group, consisting of clinicians and patient group representatives. As part of the process the Department and NHS England also undertook extensive engagement with stakeholders; NHS England received responses from 46 organisations, including hospitals, Cancer Alliances and charities across the country. NHS England also consulted on these changes and responses overall supported the core proposals in the interim report, including the simplification and modernisation of standards.

On 17 August 2023, NHS England announced changes to cancer waiting times standards, rationalising them from 10 standards to three; more specifically, there will be a Faster Diagnosis Standard of a maximum 28-day wait for communication of a definitive cancer/not cancer diagnosis for patients referred urgently or those identified by NHS cancer screening. There will be a maximum 62-day wait to first treatment from urgent general practitioner referral, NHS cancer screening or consultant upgrade. There will be a maximum 31-day wait from decision to treat to any cancer treatment starting for all cancer patients. The Department supports these changes and will amend the relevant statutory regulations in due course, as shared in the Written Ministerial Statement of my Rt. Hon Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, HCWS1001, published on 4 September 2023.

In June 2018, the Prime Minister asked for a clinically-led review of National Health Service access standards to ensure they measure what matters most, both in optimising clinical outcomes and to patients. The review was led by Professor Steve Powis, with support from a Clinical Oversight Group, consisting of clinicians and patient group representatives. As part of the process the Department and NHS England also undertook extensive engagement with stakeholders; NHS England received responses from 46 organisations, including hospitals, Cancer Alliances and charities across the country. NHS England also consulted on these changes and responses overall supported the core proposals in the interim report, including the simplification and modernisation of standards.

On 17 August 2023, NHS England announced changes to cancer waiting times standards, rationalising them from 10 standards to three; more specifically, there will be a Faster Diagnosis Standard of a maximum 28-day wait for communication of a definitive cancer/not cancer diagnosis for patients referred urgently or those identified by NHS cancer screening. There will be a maximum 62-day wait to first treatment from urgent general practitioner referral, NHS cancer screening or consultant upgrade. There will be a maximum 31-day wait from decision to treat to any cancer treatment starting for all cancer patients. The Department supports these changes and will amend the relevant statutory regulations in due course, as shared in the Written Ministerial Statement of my Rt. Hon Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, HCWS1001, published on 4 September 2023.

There are no current plans to commission community pharmacy to support diagnosis and treatment of coeliac disease. Diagnosis and the prescription of treatment is within the clinical scope of practice of general practitioners and specialist doctors. Community pharmacies are already commissioned to provide support to patients on making best use of medicines prescribed, as well as to provide advice on self-care and signpost people to other healthcare providers if the pharmacy cannot provide the necessary support or advice.

Individual employers are responsible for ensuring their staff are trained and competent to carry out their role.

The curriculum for general practitioners (GPs) in training, set by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), includes a chapter on gastroenterology that addresses the treatment of coeliac disease.

Additionally, the RCGP has made online resources available on coeliac disease and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidelines for the disease are tested in the Applied Knowledge Test assessment for GP training. NHS England’s training programmes offer educational sessions on the RCGP’s curriculum for common gastroenterological conditions, which include coeliac disease assessment, investigation, and management.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines, including guidelines for coeliac disease, represent best practice and are expected to be taken into full account by healthcare practitioners, but do not override their responsibility to make decisions appropriate to the circumstances of the individual, in consultation with them and their families or carers where appropriate. The Department has regular discussions with NHS England on the most appropriate form for incentive schemes within primary care. The profession, patients and the broader system will be consulted this year on incentives in primary care to inform future reform.

The Multisectoral Accountability Framework for Tuberculosis is a World Health Organization (WHO) initiative which includes regular global assessments. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Department are working with WHO’s Global Lead for Multisectoral Engagement and the Director of the Global Tuberculosis Programme on the United Kingdom implementation of the framework. There is currently no plan to publish a separate UK assessment at this time.

The Department is already taking steps to reduce cancer treatment waiting times across England. Reducing the time between an urgent general practitioner referral and the commencement of treatment for cancer for patients is a priority for this Government. The Department is working jointly with NHS England on implementing the ‘Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlogs in elective care’. The Government plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to help drive up and protect elective activity, including cancer diagnosis and treatment activity.

In the 2023/24 Operational Planning Guidance, NHS England announced that it is providing over £390 million in cancer service development funding to Cancer Alliances in each of the next two years to support delivery of the strategy and the operational priorities for cancer which includes increasing and prioritising diagnostic and treatment capacity for cancer.

Additionally, the Government recently published the ‘Major conditions strategy: case for change and our strategic framework’ on 14 August, which sets out our approach to making the choices over the next five years that will deliver the most value in facing the health challenges of today and of the decades ahead, including cancer.

Training programmes for healthcare professionals must meet the standards set by the regulatory body for their profession. Whilst not all curricula may necessarily highlight a specific condition, they all nevertheless emphasise the skills and approaches a Health Care Practitioner must develop to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients.

The standard of training for health care professionals is the responsibility of the independent statutory health care regulatory bodies, which set the outcome standards expected at undergraduate level and approve courses, and higher education institutions which write and teach the curricula content that enables their students to meet the regulators’ outcome standards.

Individual employers are responsible for ensuring their staff are trained and competent to carry out their role, including ensuring staff are aware of care pathways and referral routes for those living with moderate to severe atopic eczema.

No one is excluded from the Government’s cost of living support as a consequence of a health condition or disability such as eczema. Those with needs arising from such a condition may be entitled to the full range of support depending on their circumstances, including access to an extra costs disability benefit such as the Personal Independence Payment.

In addition, for 2023/24, households on eligible means-tested benefits will get up to £900 in Cost-of-Living Payments. This will be split into three payments of around £300 each across the year.

We recognise that people’s mental and physical health are intrinsically linked, and people with long term physical health conditions, such as eczema, may also need emotional and psychological support. We are investing at least £2.3 billion of extra funding a year in expanding and transforming mental health services in England by March 2024. This will enable an extra two million people to be treated by mental health services within the National Health Service by March 2024.

Mental Health is one of the group of conditions included in the Department’s Major Conditions Strategy. The strategy will aim to identify actions in the areas of prevention, treatment, and long-term management of care to improve outcomes for individuals across the six major condition groups.

We have continued to expand NHS talking therapies services for all adults with common mental health problems. These services are accessible to all adults in England. People can be referred by a range of practitioners or refer themselves.

No one is excluded from the Government’s cost of living support as a consequence of a health condition or disability such as eczema. Those with needs arising from such a condition may be entitled to the full range of support depending on their circumstances, including access to an extra costs disability benefit such as the Personal Independence Payment.

In addition, for 2023/24, households on eligible means-tested benefits will get up to £900 in Cost-of-Living Payments. This will be split into three payments of around £300 each across the year.

We recognise that people’s mental and physical health are intrinsically linked, and people with long term physical health conditions, such as eczema, may also need emotional and psychological support. We are investing at least £2.3 billion of extra funding a year in expanding and transforming mental health services in England by March 2024. This will enable an extra two million people to be treated by mental health services within the National Health Service by March 2024.

Mental Health is one of the group of conditions included in the Department’s Major Conditions Strategy. The strategy will aim to identify actions in the areas of prevention, treatment, and long-term management of care to improve outcomes for individuals across the six major condition groups.

We have continued to expand NHS talking therapies services for all adults with common mental health problems. These services are accessible to all adults in England. People can be referred by a range of practitioners or refer themselves.

As set out in the recently published NHS Long-Term Workforce Plan, we aim to increase training places for healthcare scientists, including biomedical scientists, by 13% to more than 850 places by 2028/29, putting us on the path to increase training places by more than 30% to over 1,000 places by 2031/32.

Apprenticeship routes for healthcare scientists are also being made available, with 20% of training places delivered via an apprenticeship route by 2028/29, supporting an ambition to have 40% of healthcare scientists starting their training via an apprenticeship by 2031/32.

The Government is backing the plan with over £2.4 billion over the next five years.

The information is not collected in the format requested.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) publishes a range of guidance on atopic dermatitis, also known as eczema, and other skin conditions for commissioners and healthcare professionals, with recommendations for diagnosis and referral. The guideline for atopic dermatitis in children aged under 12 years is being updated with draft recommendations published in June 2023. NHS England has made a referral to NICE to develop new guidance on atopic dermatitis in adults.

Whilst NICE guidelines are not mandatory, the Government would expect patients presenting with atopic dermatitis symptoms to be managed according to clinical need and in line with all current guidance.

Whilst we have made no specific assessment of Demos’ report, or the economic impact of atopic dermatitis on people living with the condition, or on the National Health Service and the wider economy, we recognise the impact that skin conditions can have on all aspects of life and the importance of ensuring that those affected receive the treatment and support that they need.

To support people with skin conditions, such as atopic dermatitis, the Getting it Right First Time (GIRFT) national report for dermatology makes specific recommendations to ensure early access to diagnosis and treatment across England.

GIRFT is a national programme designed to improve the treatment and care of patients through in-depth review of services, benchmarking and presenting a data-driven evidence base to support change.

A limited range of products, including emollient bath oils, wash creams and moisturising creams and lotions can be prescribed in line with advice from the Advisory Committee on Borderline Substances. It is for the general practitioner and other responsible clinicians to work with their patient and decide on the course of treatment, with the provision of the most clinically appropriate care for the individual always being the primary consideration. Clinicians are accountable for their prescribing decisions, both professionally and to their service commissioners.

The recently announced £650 million life sciences package will support the delivery of plans for accelerating the development, adoption and spread of innovation to bring new products to patients faster, in line with the Life Sciences Vision (LSV). Through the LSV, we are also advancing plans for a new regulatory pathway, which will facilitate the development and uptake of beneficial innovative technologies, and are progressing work to improve the capability to generate Real World Evidence, which will support the National Health Service in selecting products that provide positive patient outcomes.

The Government's new Medical Technology Strategy, published in February 2023, builds on the LSV to set out how the health and social care system can reliably access safe, effective and innovative medical technologies that support the continued delivery of high-quality care, outstanding patient safety and excellent patient outcomes in a way that makes the best use of taxpayer money.

Through the Medical Technology Strategy, we are working closely with NHS Supply Chain and NHS England to implement a consistent methodology for value-based procurement to be adopted at a national and local level and ultimately to provide positive patient outcomes.

The Government's new Medical Technology Strategy, published in February 2023, commits to ensuring the right medtech products are available at the right price and in the right place. To ensure the best value for public money, the strategy recognises that the value of medtech products should not be considered in isolation, but across the whole patient pathway, and that the lowest price does not always mean the best value. The Department’s Medtech Directorate is working closely with NHS Supply Chain and NHS England to build on the work already undertaken on the application and adoption of Value Based Procurement (VBP) to develop a consistent methodology to be adopted at both a national and local level.

The UK Health Security Agency publishes annual vaccine coverage data to track the performance of all teenage and adult national immunisation programmes including protection against human papillomavirus (HPV). Vaccine coverage data shows national as well as regional levels and is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/human-papillomavirus-hpv-vaccine-coverage-estimates-in-england-2021-to-2022

Across England, the HPV vaccine is predominately delivered in schools, helping to combat health inequalities by reaching children from disadvantaged backgrounds, vulnerable families, and others who may not be registered with a general practitioner (GP) practice but who are still in education. Regional teams also host catch up clinics in schools. Alternative sites are available for anyone not in mainstream education, or for those who have missed their offer.

It is vitally important that everyone takes up the vaccinations to which they are entitled; for themselves, their families, and wider society. Anyone unsure about their eligibility or vaccination status should contact their GP for advice.

To allow for ease of access, the human papillomavirus (HPV) programme is primarily delivered in England through schools, with alternative provision for those not in mainstream education and catch-up programmes offered through general practitioner (GP) practices for both girls and boys who are eligible but missed their initial offer. Regional NHS teams also host catch up clinics in schools and in local venues in areas with low uptake.

NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency deliver annual communication campaigns to promote the HPV vaccine via general practitioners and universities, emphasising the benefits of the HPV vaccine for both boys and girls.

It is vitally important that everyone takes up the vaccinations to which they are entitled; for themselves, their families, and wider society. Anyone unsure about their eligibility or vaccination status should contact their GP for advice.

The Department is committed to driving uptake of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine to achieve the World Health Organization’s (WHO) target of 90% coverage. The HPV programme is primarily delivered in schools to support ease of access with alternative sites available for those not in mainstream education. For anyone who missed their offer, catch-up opportunities are offered in schools and general practitioner practices for both girls and boys who are eligible until their 25th birthday.

To support uptake, NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency deliver annual communication campaigns to promote the HPV vaccine via general practices and universities, emphasising the benefits of the HPV vaccine for both boys and girls.

The NHS Cervical Screening Programme aligns with the WHO’s target of 70% of women being screened using a high-performance test, by age 35 years old and again at age 45 years old. Published data shows that coverage for March 2022 was 69.9%.

Between March 2020 and May 2023 cardiovascular disease was a significant contributor to excess deaths. That is why we are going further to empower and support people to manage their heart health risks through the development of a digital NHS Health Check, and have appointed Professor Deanfield to lead work to develop an ambitious approach to personalised prevention. We will also consider the implications of the British Heart Foundation’s report findings through the development of the Government’s forthcoming Major Conditions Strategy.

Evidence on excess mortality attributable to non-COVID-19 related causes implies that it is likely due to a combination of factors. This may include disruption to routine care during the first two years of the pandemic, lifestyle factors and disruption to emergency care and urgent elective procedures.

The Government is taking action to reduce pressure on NHS cardiovascular care services by supporting local authorities to recover NHS Health Checks, England’s national cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention programme; investing nearly £17 million for the development and roll-out of an innovative new digital NHS Health Check that will enable more people to have a check and free up NHS staff time; rolling out free blood pressure checks to people over the age of 40 in community pharmacies to detect thousands more people living with hypertension earlier. CVD will form a part of the Government’s Major Conditions Strategy which will focus on conditions that contribute most to morbidity and mortality across the population in England. The Strategy will set out a strong and coherent policy agenda that underpin a shift to integrated, whole-person care, building on measures that we have already taken forward through the NHS Long Term Plan. Interventions set out in the Strategy will aim to alleviate pressure on the health system, as well as support the government’s objective to increase healthy life expectancy and reduce ill-health related labour market inactivity.

No specific assessment has been made.

General rheumatology services, which support people with a range of conditions, including hEDS and HSD, are locally commissioned by integrated care boards which are best placed to make decisions according to local need.

Rheumatologists have knowledge and familiarity with hypermobility and related conditions. Other clinicians, such as general practitioners and expert physiotherapists, are being empowered to identify and diagnose the condition through the use of validated approved clinical guidelines and toolkits. This should help to reduce delays in diagnosis.

General rheumatology services, which support people with a range of conditions, including hEDS and HSD, are locally commissioned by integrated care boards which are best placed to make decisions according to local need.

Rheumatologists have knowledge and familiarity with hypermobility and related conditions. Other clinicians, such as general practitioners and expert physiotherapists, are being empowered to identify and diagnose the condition through the use of validated approved clinical guidelines and toolkits. This should help to reduce delays in diagnosis.

The information requested has been verified by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) but has not been previously published. The following table shows the number of medical devices registered with the MHRA including United Kingdom approved body certified and self-declared under Medical Devices Regulations (MDR) 2002.

The in-vitro diagnostic medical devices referenced were declared under part IV of the UK Medical Devices Regulations (MDRs) 2002, the general medical devices referenced were declared under part II of the UK MDRs 2002 and the active implantable medical devices were declared under part III of the UK MDRs 2002.

Ministers and officials in the Department of Health and Social Care meet regularly with Ministers and officials from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to discuss plans to address health inequalities by driving progress on the levelling up mission to increase Healthy Life Expectancy (HLE) by five years by 2035 and narrow the gap in HLE by 2030.

We do not hold data on the number of heart failure diagnoses made by Community Diagnostic Centres.

Since January 2021 designated UK Approved Bodies have been able to issue UK Conformity Assessed certificates for medical devices and in vitro diagnostics (IVDs) that require certification by a conformity assessment body prior to the device being placed on the Great Britain market. Low risk medical devices and IVDs do not require Approved Body certification. Approved Bodies issue certificates attesting that the manufacturers Quality Management System complies with regulatory requirements as well as issuing certificates that confirm the devices themselves comply with the requirements. Certificates issued by an Approved Body generally cover more than one device, so the number of certificates does not equate to the number of devices that have been certified. The following table shows the number of certificates issued from January 2021 to 13 April 2023, the most current data set.

Since January 2021 designated UK Approved Bodies have been able to issue UK Conformity Assessed certificates for medical devices and in vitro diagnostics (IVDs) that require certification by a conformity assessment body prior to the device being placed on the Great Britain market. Low risk medical devices and IVDs do not require Approved Body certification. Approved Bodies issue certificates attesting that the manufacturers Quality Management System complies with regulatory requirements as well as issuing certificates that confirm the devices themselves comply with the requirements. Certificates issued by an Approved Body generally cover more than one device, so the number of certificates does not equate to the number of devices that have been certified. The following table shows the number of certificates issued from January 2021 to 13 April 2023, the most current data set.

The information requested is not held centrally. Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs), are required to deliver full echocardiography scanning functionality and are funded to install the same level of echocardiography equipment as is used in acute hospitals.

Since the first Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) opened in July 2021, 29 CDCs have offered echocardiogram (ECG) tests, delivering a total of 23,741 ECGs between them. This may include temporary sites, which provided additional capacity after the pandemic that have since been replaced or closed. We do not, therefore, hold data on the proportion of CDCs, which offer echocardiogram tests.

As ECGs are part of the core test for all standard or large CDCs, the number of CDCs offering ECGs will grow over the next year as operational CDCs bring the full range of core tests on stream.

We have no current plans to make a specific assessment.

The National Health Service is committed to extending the bowel screening programme and have set a timeline for this extension, which is detailed in the table below.

The Government takes a ‘One-Health’ approach to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as set out in the ‘UK 5-year action plan for antimicrobial resistance 2019 to 2024’. Officials from the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Veterinary Medicines Directorate meet regularly to consider appropriate actions to address AMR across the human and animal health sectors. This has included discussion on the preventative use of antibiotics in healthy farm animals and a consultation on proposed changes to Veterinary Medicines Regulations.

General rheumatology services are all locally commissioned by integrated care boards who are best placed to make decisions according to local need.

There are currently 87 elective surgical hubs that are operational across England, these surgical hubs will help separate elective care facilities from urgent and emergency care.

57 new surgical hubs have been proposed, of which 37 have received an NHS England approved business case, announced in February 2023.

Details of any new operational surgical hubs will be announced as soon as practicable.

Patients across England can receive help travelling to National Health Service facilities within and beyond their local area, including for orthopaedic surgery. The NHS Non-Emergency Patient Transport Service provides between 11 to 12 million journeys each year in England for people whose medical needs require such support. The NHS also has an existing Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme, which can support travel costs for individuals on a low income who are referred for NHS treatment. The NHS is currently developing proposals to simplify and streamline access to the scheme, alongside wider measures to improve patient transport.

Growing and supporting the workforce is a priority for this Government. To that end, we have commissioned NHS England to develop a Long Term Workforce Plan. This will include projections for the numbers of doctors, nurses and other key professionals required over the next five, 10 and 15 years.

The plan will cover all of the National Health Service workforce, including those working on orthopaedic services.

Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) are responsible for commissioning musculoskeletal services for their local populations. The NHS England report ‘An improvement framework to reduce community musculoskeletal waits while delivering best outcomes and experience’ supports ICSs, which are responsible for delivering support, to improve access to commissioned musculoskeletal therapies services. It includes defining principles and recommended actions across primary, community and secondary care and further resources which should support and enable local leadership to adapt and adopt the recommended actions.

The NHS England Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Elimination Programme is working towards eliminating HCV as a major public health issue in England, ahead of the 2030 World Health Organization target. Significant progress has been made and NHS England has publicly committed to the elimination of HCV in England by 2025, in the financial year 2025/26. NHS England has envisaged that current funding arrangements will continue in some form to allow future HCV elimination work to continue. Currently, commissioning arrangement for HCV elimination occur at a national level. After the point of elimination, which is expected to be at or close to 2025, work to ensure elimination is maintained will be devolved to local commissioning structures.

Individuals who have been in prison or other secure and detained settings are at a higher risk of Hepatitis C (HCV) infections. That is why the NHS England HCV elimination programme has significant focus on testing and treatment in prisons and probation centres, including the successful blood-borne virus opt-out reception testing in prisons.

The 2030 World Health Organization HCV elimination goal goes beyond meeting specific elimination metrics but asks countries to meet sustained levels of HCV reduction. To do this beyond 2030, the Department for Health and Social Care, in partnership with NHS England, the Ministry of Justice, His Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service, the UK Health Security Agency and other stakeholders, are continuing to explore programmes that target groups most at risk of HCV infections.

No assessment has been made.

We recognise the current challenges in social care. This is why we are making available up to £7.5 billion over two years to support adult social care and discharge, a more than real terms increase. We expect Local Authorities to use this funding to go beyond meeting inflationary and demographic pressures facing adult social care and deliver tangible improvements to services. These improvements should address waiting lists, low fee rates, and workforce pressures.

This Department has not assessed the merits of providing extra financial support for working age disabled people.

We have made available up to £7.5 billion in additional funding over two years to support adult social care and discharge. This represents a more than real terms increase; and we expect local authorities to deliver tangible improvements to adult social care services, such as those for working age adults, as a result.

Local authorities are best placed to assess local resource and need, and they distribute their funding based on the local population demographics and relevant regional issues.

Plans are now underway for a national roll-out of the Accreditation scheme to other surgical hub sites across England. While it is not mandatory for National Health Service trusts to seek accreditation, the long-term goal is for every elective hub to be accredited.

It is important that workplaces enable disabled people and people with health conditions to stay in and succeed at work. The Government works with employers nationally to achieve this.

A range of support is available and includes:

- increasing access to occupational health, including the testing of financial incentives for small and medium-sized enterprises and the self-employed;

- the Disability Confident scheme, encouraging employers to think differently about disability and health, and to take positive action to address the issues employees face in the workplace;

- the Information and Advice Service, providing better integrated and tailored guidance on supporting and managing health and disability in the workplace;

- the Mental Health and Productivity Pilot, providing insight into how to use mental health and wellbeing interventions in the workplace; and

- Non-statutory guidance providing advice on accessibility, communication, occupational health support, inclusivity, and sickness support.

Government is taking steps to help employers support their employees with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions. In October 2022 we published the Musculoskeletal (MSK) Health Toolkit for employers and further education institutions which encourages employers to support adolescents and young adults with MSK conditions.

The Musculoskeletal Health Toolkit for Employers was developed in partnership with Business in the Community and provides practical information for employers of all sizes to address MSK conditions in the workplace for the working age population.

We also have a new online service, which is currently in live national testing, the Support with Employee Health and Disability service. This offers tailored guidance to help employers better support disabled people and those with health conditions in the workplace.

Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning the majority of services for people within the geographical boundaries of their integrated care system and should use guidance from a range of sources as clinically appropriate. To support the health of people with arthritis while they are waiting for elective treatment, NHS England has worked with Versus Arthritis on their Joint Replacement Support Package, a six-point package aimed at local health systems to be provided to patients.

There are no current plans to introduce mandated premarket testing on vape devices as part of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency notification process. Producers wishing to supply vapes on the United Kingdom market must comply with the product standards and safety requirements set out in the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016.

The latest assessment on the safety and quality of vapes can be found in the Nicotine vaping in England: 2022 evidence update report, published in September 2022. The report is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nicotine-vaping-in-england-2022-evidence-update

The report found that in the short and medium term, vaping poses a small fraction of the risks of smoking, but that vaping is not risk-free, particularly for people who have never smoked. Vapes are regulated by the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 (TRPR) requiring notification to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. The TRPR sets product standards on the quality of vapes by limiting the maximum nicotine strength, setting refill bottle and tank size limits, setting requirements on labelling, and also by setting restrictions on advertising which includes mainstream media, TV and radio.

The Department has regular engagement with suppliers to monitor continuity of supply to patients. A number of global factors such as shipping, material sourcing and local lockdowns have impacted the supply of mobility aids over the past year, especially where these are sourced from the Far East. However, these pressures are alleviating and there is evidence of continuing improvement in the supply position.

A large proportion of mobility aids are recovered and reconditioned in the United Kingdom by providers which mitigates the impact of disruptions in the supply of new products. Additionally, the diversity of suppliers to the market means that alternatives are often available where individual suppliers may experience disruption to supply.

No specific assessment has been made. The Department, NHS England and NHS Supply Chain work closely with suppliers to ensure supply chain resilience and the continued availability of affordable clinical consumables and devices.

Recent amendments to the EU Medical Device Regulation, in respect of the timescales for transitional arrangements, combined with the United Kingdom Government’s commitment to extend the standstill period and to introduce transitional arrangements for compliance with the new UK Medical Devices Regulations, substantially reduce regulatory pressures on suppliers.

The Government recognises challenges faced by suppliers relating to financial pressures and regulatory changes. The Department and NHS Supply Chain (NHSSC) have robust measures in place to monitor supply chains, working closely with suppliers within the bounds of contractual agreements to secure value for money for taxpayers and maintain access to devices and clinical consumables.

Similarly, the Government remains committed to providing sufficient time for industry to transition to any new regulatory requirements, following its response to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s future medical device regulations consultation in June 2022. The latter outlined changes supporting innovation in the United Kingdom’s life sciences and access to medical devices.

The Strategy will cover prevention to treatment for all six conditions and we are working with stakeholders to identify actions that will have the most impact.

Mental ill health will be a significant element of the new Strategy. By bringing mental ill health and other conditions strategies together, we will be able to focus on where there are similarities in approach and ensure care is better centered around the patient.

92 Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) are operational in England. The following provided endoscopy treatments in 2022/23:

- Barking Community Hospital CDC

- Basildon Community Diagnostics CDC

- Bishop Auckland CDC

- Cannock Chase CDC

- CDC Poole at Dorset Health Village

- Clacton CDC

- Clatterbridge Diagnostics CDC

- Coventry City Community

- Darlington Memorial CDC

- East Norfolk CDC

- East Surrey CDC

- Humber Coast and Vale CDC

- Kidderminster Treatment Centre CDC

- Kings Mill CDC

- Lymington New Forest Hospital CDC

- Manchester and Trafford CDC

- Mile End Hospital CDC

- Norfolk and Waveney CDC

- Northern Care Alliance CDC – multi-site

- Northern Care Alliance – Salford

- Penrith CDC

- Portsmouth CDC

- Preston Fatima CDC

- Preston Healthport CDC

- Queen Mary’s Hospital Roehampton CDC

- Queen Mary’s Hospital Roehampton CDC (Kingston)

- Rossendale CDC (Burnley General Hospital)

- Slough CDC

- South Warwickshire CDC

- St Helen’s CDC

- St Mary’s Community Hospital CDC

- Stoke on Trent CDC

- University Hospital of North Durham CDC

- Warwickshire North CDC

- West Berkshire Community Hospital CDC

- West Norfolk CDC

The following approved CDCs including expansions to existing CDCs are planning to provide endoscopy treatments:

- Andover CDC

- Bradford District and Craven CDC

- Cannock Chase CDC

- CDC Poole @ Dorset Health Village Club

- Clacton CDC

- East Surrey CDC

- Hinckley CDC

- Island CDC

- Kidderminster CDC

- Lymington New Forest Hospital CDC

- Manchester and Trafford CDC

- Mansfield CDC

- Northern Care Alliance CDC – Oldham

- Queen Mary’s Roehampton CDC

- Rossendale CDC

- St Helens CDC

- Westmorland CDC

Local commissioners are responsible for the commissioning of care within Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) and surgical hubs. Data on the activities of CDCs and surgical hubs will be published in due course.

We received over 5,000 submissions to our mental health and wellbeing call for evidence, and we appreciate the engagement work many stakeholders carried out with children, young people and adults with lived experience, and more broadly, to inform their responses to the call for evidence. We have analysed these responses, and we will consider them as part of the process for developing the Major Conditions Strategy.

Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) in West Berkshire Community Hospital and Hinckley will provide endoscopy services. We are working with NHS England and local systems to increase the number of CDCs, including those providing endoscopy services, and to increase the number being opened in 2023.

Two of the 19 community diagnostic centres will provide endoscopy services.

The Taskforce will meet regularly to inform our understanding of challenges in the system and potential solutions to ensure that all available capacity is used to reduce waiting times for patients. This will be supported by research and analysis to develop recommendations and an implementation plan in early 2023.

The Elective Recovery Taskforce aims to reduce waiting lists and ensure patients can access elective services as soon as possible. The Taskforce will consider the deployment of technical interventions, such as virtual appointments, to reduce waiting times for elective care. While the Taskforce does not have a clinical remit, it may hear evidence of specific technological interventions.

The information requested is not held centrally. The General Dental Council is the independent regulator of dentists and dental care professionals in the United Kingdom and is responsible for investigating concerns about treatment or the conduct of its registrants.

The ‘Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care’ sets out how the National Health Service will return the number of people waiting more than 62 days to start treatment following an urgent referral due to suspected cancer to pre-pandemic levels by March 2023. We have established 91 community diagnostic centres (CDCs) to provide earlier diagnostic tests closer to home, including for cancer diagnoses.

In 2019/20, 11 radiotherapy networks were established in England to increase access to specialist skills and improve patient outcomes.

Since 2016, over £160 million has been invested in radiotherapy equipment, which has replaced or upgraded approximately 100 radiotherapy treatment machines.

Between 2016 and 2021, there was an increase of over 4,300 full-time equivalent staff across cancer related professions. Health Education England is investing an additional £50 million in 2022/23 to further expand the cancer and diagnostics workforce.

There are currently no plans to commission a policy statement on mitral valve replacement.

A new pre-diagnosis breathlessness pathway has been developed to support the improved recognition and timely diagnosis of heart failure and heart valve disease. We have introduced community diagnostic centres, which will support Primary Care Networks (PCNs) to increase the volume of diagnostic activity and reduce patient waiting times. The National Health Service launched 92 community diagnostic centres, which have provided more than 1.25 million diagnostic tests and will support PCNs to improve the detection of conditions such as heart failure and heart valve disease

The processes for NHS England specialised services and the development of new commissioning policies are published online. NHS England makes decisions on which new specialised treatments should be routinely commissioned. The decisions are taken by NHS England’s Board based on advice from the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group, which consists of doctors, health experts and patient representatives. The October 2022 prioritisation decisions are available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/spec-services/october-2022-prioritisation-decisions/

NHS England has concluded that there is currently insufficient evidence about the clinical and cost effectiveness of left ventricular assist devices as a permanent solution to heart failure. NHS England has commissioned the National Institute for Health and care Research to undertake a study to consider the evidence of this treatment and expects to consider the position later this year following the outcome.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and NHS England published ‘Tuberculosis (TB): action plan for England’ on 1 July 2021, which aims to improve the prevention, detection and control of TB. The action plan’s advisory and implementation group is co-chaired by the UKHSA and NHS England and includes relevant TB experts and stakeholders to provide strategic oversight and governance.

There is a review of the implementation, delivery and outcomes of the action plan with stakeholders and partners to improve the impact of its priorities and actions. The review will include an update of functions and responsibilities relevant to TB, to align with the reforms of the public health system in England in 2021 and 2022.

The processes for NHS England Specialised Services and the development of new commissioning policies are published online. The October 2022 prioritisation decisions available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/spec-services/october-2022-prioritisation-decisions/

NHS England makes decisions on which new specialised treatments should be routinely commissioned. The decisions are taken by the NHS England Board based on advice from the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group, which includes doctors, health experts and patient representatives.

NHS England has concluded that there is currently insufficient evidence about the clinical and cost effectiveness of left ventricular assist devices as a permanent solution to heart failure. NHS England has commissioned the National Institute for Health and care Research to undertake a study to consider the evidence of this treatment and expects to consider the position later this year following the outcome.

People with heart failure will be supported by multi-disciplinary teams as part of Primary Care Networks and greater access to echocardiography within community diagnostic centres (CDCs). This aims to improve the investigation of those with breathlessness and the early detection of heart failure and heart valve disease. The National Health Service has launched over 80 CDCs to provide over two million diagnostic tests such as magnetic resonance imaging scans, echocardiography, echocardiograms, spirometry and phlebotomy.

There are currently no plans to publish a commissioning policy or policy statement on Tricuspid valve repair.

NHS England are currently determining which specialised services could benefit from being delegated to integrated care boards (ICBs). By April 2023, we expect that some ICBs will have responsibility for delegated commissioning for some specialised services, subject to system and service readiness. NHS England will retain overall accountability for specialised services which are delegated to ICBs to ensure that all standards are maintained.

The decision to move some services under direct management of ICBs will be taken where it is advantageous for these services to be overseen locally. This will allow ICBs to work with service providers to deliver care to meets the needs of the community.

NHS England has selected providers to implement the policy, with National Health Service providers identified in each region in England. Regional commissioners and cardiac networks are currently mobilising services in these newly identified providers.

NHS England has received a preliminary policy proposition for Transcatheter Edge to Edge Repair of the mitral valve (Percutaneous Mitral Valve Leaflet Repair) for Secondary Mitral Regurgitation in Adults. Following a clinical panel consideration, a clinical evidence review has been commissioned. This will inform the basis for a public consultation should it be required.

The National Institute for Health Care and Excellence (NICE) is developing interventional procedure guidance (IPG) on the insertion of neo-chordae into the beating heart for mitral regurgitation for valve repair, rather than replacement. The provisional schedule is as follows:

- First Committee meeting: 9 February 2023

- Interventional procedure consultation: 17 March 2023 to 18 April 2023

- Second Committee meeting: 8 June 2023

- Expected publication: 23 August 2023

NICE is monitoring transcatheter trans-septal mitral valve in-ring implantation and is awaiting publication of further literature or evidence.

The Government is committed to providing the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) with the resources to foster the United Kingdom’s regulatory ambitions on innovative medicines and medical devices. Funding for the MHRA is determined in advance through collaborative Spending Review processes. Funding from the Spending Review has been provided for its transformation programme to facilitate the MHRA’s aim of becoming a global exemplar in public health and patient safety. The MHRA is currently consulting on increases to its statutory fees to ensure all costs involved in delivery are recovered.

On 21 April 2022, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) was made a full member of the International Medical Device Regulators Forum. The MHRA is currently an official observer of the Medical Device Single Audit Programme. In January 2021, the MHRA joined the Access Consortium and has appointed experts to the majority of working groups.