William Wragg

Parliament in conjunction with the Department of Health and Social Care, has set up a pilot programme for onsite rapid testing, in line with a number of workplaces across the country. The pilot went live on Monday 25 January. Rapid testing is one of a number of useful mitigations that can be used by the House. The most effective measures remain, in line with public health advice, social distancing and the reduction of numbers on site.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to PQs 82315 and 82316 on 9 September 2020, and PQ 156454 on 2 March 2021.

Covid-19 polling for the cross-government public information campaign has been conducted regularly since the start of the pandemic. This work allows the Cabinet Office to optimise campaign messaging and maximise effectiveness, ensuring vital public health information reaches as many people as possible. The insight gathered continues to inform the Government’s ongoing communications strategy and response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and so shall not be published at this time.

The Cabinet Office publishes details of all contracts over £10,000 on Contracts Finder and spend over £500, including on public information campaigns, on a rolling basis. This will include expenditure on this campaign and will be broken down by supplier.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to PQs 82315 and 82316 on 9 September 2020, and PQ 156454 on 2 March 2021.

Covid-19 polling for the cross-government public information campaign has been conducted regularly since the start of the pandemic. This work allows the Cabinet Office to optimise campaign messaging and maximise effectiveness, ensuring vital public health information reaches as many people as possible. The insight gathered continues to inform the Government’s ongoing communications strategy and response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and so shall not be published at this time.

The Cabinet Office publishes details of all contracts over £10,000 on Contracts Finder and spend over £500, including on public information campaigns, on a rolling basis. This will include expenditure on this campaign and will be broken down by supplier.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to PQs 82315 and 82316 on 9 September 2020, and PQ 156454 on 2 March 2021.

Covid-19 polling for the cross-government public information campaign has been conducted regularly since the start of the pandemic. This work allows the Cabinet Office to optimise campaign messaging and maximise effectiveness, ensuring vital public health information reaches as many people as possible. The insight gathered continues to inform the Government’s ongoing communications strategy and response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and so shall not be published at this time.

The Cabinet Office publishes details of all contracts over £10,000 on Contracts Finder and spend over £500, including on public information campaigns, on a rolling basis. This will include expenditure on this campaign and will be broken down by supplier.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to PQs 82315 and 82316 on 9 September 2020, and PQ 156454 on 2 March 2021.

Covid-19 polling for the cross-government public information campaign has been conducted regularly since the start of the pandemic. This work allows the Cabinet Office to optimise campaign messaging and maximise effectiveness, ensuring vital public health information reaches as many people as possible. The insight gathered continues to inform the Government’s ongoing communications strategy and response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and so shall not be published at this time.

The Cabinet Office publishes details of all contracts over £10,000 on Contracts Finder and spend over £500, including on public information campaigns, on a rolling basis. This will include expenditure on this campaign and will be broken down by supplier.

The Speaker pensions are paid from the Consolidated Fund account. These accounts do not list Speaker pensions independently. They are listed as part of the number of recipients of Pensions for Parliamentary Officers for political and civil services. (P31 of the 2019/20 Consolidated Fund accounts)

The number of pensions in payment quoted in the Consolidated Fund accounts, relate to pensions for former Prime Ministers, Speakers, Comptrollers and Auditors General, Parliamentary Commissioners, Information Commissioners, Northern Ireland Chief Electoral Officers and Chairs of the Electoral Commission.

We continue to keep the Safer Working guidance under constant review and will update the guidance in line with new scientific evidence as it arises. Public Health England (PHE) and the Health and Safety Executive have advised that there is currently no scientific evidence to support changing the Safer Working guidance in light of the new variants.

PHE guidance states that Covid-19 spreads from person to person through small droplets, aerosols and through direct contact. Surfaces and belongings can also be contaminated with Covid-19 when people with the infection cough or sneeze or touch them. The risk of spread is greatest when people are close to each other, especially in poorly ventilated indoor spaces and when people spend a lot of time together in the same room.

Given that client waiting areas are high traffic with frequent contact on common surface areas, we recommend not providing shared reading materials to reduce transmission risk via surface contact. Individuals can bring their own reading materials that they have purchased but we advise businesses to not provide sharing copies due to the frequent change of hands.

At the start of the pandemic, the Government acted swiftly to establish the Vaccine Taskforce to ensure that the UK population has access to clinically effective and safe vaccines. Activity includes:

• Securing early access to 407 million vaccines doses through agreements with seven separate vaccine developers.
• Funding the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to deliver a range of 'rapid response' research to better understand and tackle COVID-19, which included research into vaccines, treatments, and diagnostic tests.
• Investing over £300 million to secure and scale up the UK’s manufacturing capabilities to be able to respond to the pandemic.
• Launching a new NHS service in July 2020 to enable people across the UK to sign up to COVID-19 vaccine trials – over 390,000 have signed up to volunteer.

The UK was the first country in the world to start a vaccination programme using the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, shortly followed by the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine. Due to our swift and decisive action there has been a regular and steady supply of vaccine doses arriving into the UK since early December 2020. We are on track to offer a first dose of the vaccine to priority cohorts 1 to 4, as advised by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, by 15 February 2021.

I am fully committed to ensuring that the entire adult UK population has been offered a vaccine by Autumn 2021. We are working hard to meet the initial target of offering a first dose to all those in priority cohorts 1 to 4, as advised by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, by 15^th February.

We have already received a number of responses to the current consultation, and we hope that the public and industry stakeholders make full and constructive contributions to the consultation. The consultation is due to close on 22 December, having run for a total of six weeks. We have no plans to extend the consultation.

When we announced that we would be consulting on a total online HFSS advertising restriction we committed to this being a short consultation.

The Covid 19 pandemic has highlighted that for our nation to be a healthy, resilient country we need to help prevent obesity developing and support those who are already overweight or living with obesity to reduce their weight and improve their health. The Prime Minister is clear that this is a priority for him and he wants to push ahead with measures to tackle obesity, and get policies implemented as soon as possible.

Our 2019 consultation was open for 12 weeks as it dealt with a broader range of policy including: TV, online, other media, and products in scope. This consultation just focuses on online, therefore we think a short consultation is appropriate.

We are committed to getting the performing arts sector fully back up and running as soon as it is safe to do so. It is a priority of my department to work with the arts and cultural sectors to address the challenges of reopening. We have released guidance to support the performing arts sector resume activity in line with the roadmap announced by the Secretary of State last month.

Playing wind and brass instruments, especially in groups, are considered higher risk activities because of the potential for aerosol production and the absence presently of developed scientific analysis to assess this specific risk. The evidence is being developed rapidly. Whilst further evidence is being developed, we advise that non-professional groups should not play brass instruments at this stage and should only do activities in line with government guidance on social mixing.

In order to ensure appropriate support and guidance is given to the cultural sector, DCMS has established the Cultural Renewal Taskforce and the Entertainment and Events working group which include extensive membership from across the artistic and creative sectors.

The focus of these groups’ work is on ensuring that COVID-19 secure guidelines are developed in line with the phasing ambitions and public health directions, building on the existing guidance and providing intelligence and sector-specific expert input. These groups specifically include representatives for theatres and stage based entertainment, all of whom are being consulted extensively on how the sector can reopen and operate under social distancing.

Following the establishment of the Cultural Renewal Taskforce, on 23 June the Prime Minister announced that from 4 July theatres will be able to reopen for rehearsal, pre-production and broadcast, although not yet for live performance with an audience. Alongside the work that we are doing with representatives of the entertainment and events industry to develop supporting guidance, this represents the first steps in the roadmap to recovery for our nations’ theatres.

The Government remains committed to supporting the cultural sector through this pandemic and getting the curtain up at venues for live performances across the country as soon as it is safe to do so.

In order to ensure appropriate support and guidance is given to the cultural sector, DCMS has established the Cultural Renewal Taskforce and the Entertainment and Events working group which include extensive membership from across the artistic and creative sectors.

The focus of these groups’ work is on ensuring that COVID-19 secure guidelines are developed in line with the phasing ambitions and public health directions, building on the existing guidance and providing intelligence and sector-specific expert input. These groups specifically include representatives for theatres and stage based entertainment, all of whom are being consulted extensively on how the sector can reopen and operate under social distancing.

Following the establishment of the Cultural Renewal Taskforce, on 23 June the Prime Minister announced that from 4 July theatres will be able to reopen for rehearsal, pre-production and broadcast, although not yet for live performance with an audience. Alongside the work that we are doing with representatives of the entertainment and events industry to develop supporting guidance, this represents the first steps in the roadmap to recovery for our nations’ theatres.

The Government remains committed to supporting the cultural sector through this pandemic and getting the curtain up at venues for live performances across the country as soon as it is safe to do so.

In order to ensure appropriate support and guidance is given to the cultural sector, DCMS has established the Cultural Renewal Taskforce and the Entertainment and Events working group which include extensive membership from across the artistic and creative sectors.

The focus of these groups’ work is on ensuring that COVID-19 secure guidelines are developed in line with the phasing ambitions and public health directions, building on the existing guidance and providing intelligence and sector-specific expert input. These groups specifically include representatives for theatres and stage based entertainment, all of whom are being consulted extensively on how the sector can reopen and operate under social distancing.

Following the establishment of the Cultural Renewal Taskforce, on 23 June the Prime Minister announced that from 4 July theatres will be able to reopen for rehearsal, pre-production and broadcast, although not yet for live performance with an audience. Alongside the work that we are doing with representatives of the entertainment and events industry to develop supporting guidance, this represents the first steps in the roadmap to recovery for our nations’ theatres.

The Government remains committed to supporting the cultural sector through this pandemic and getting the curtain up at venues for live performances across the country as soon as it is safe to do so.

The Strategic Priorities Grant plays an important role in supporting providers and students to develop the skills and knowledge needed locally, regionally, and nationally to support the economy.

The government has asked the Office for Students (OfS) to reform the Strategic Priorities Grant for 2021-22. These reforms include the reallocation of high-cost subject funding towards the provision of high-cost subjects that support the NHS and wider healthcare policy, high-cost science, technology and engineering subjects, and subjects meeting specific labour market needs, as well as the removal of the London Weighting element of the grant.

One of our proposals is for a 50% reduction in the rate of high-cost subject funding, which is one element of the wider Strategic Priorities Grant, for some subjects in order to enable this reprioritisation.

Under current proposals, outlined in the OfS’ consultation on recurrent funding for 2021-22, the high-cost subject funding rate for arts and music courses will be set at £121.50 in 2021-22, down from £243 in 2020-21. This fall is equivalent to a reduction of around 1% in combined funding (on a per-student basis) from a £9,250 tuition fee and OfS grant funding. The OfS’ methodology for calculating funding allocations, which are done at subject price group-level rather than on an individual subject basis, means that the total amount of high-cost subject funding cannot be calculated for individual subjects such as music.

It is important to note that the Strategic Priorities Grant accounts for a relatively small proportion of the total income of higher education providers today. For the providers losing funding due to this reallocation, the income lost would account for approximately 0.05% of their estimated total income, based on the latest data available.

This important reprioritisation of taxpayers’ money does not mean this government is devaluing the arts or social sciences. High-quality provision in a range of subjects is critical for our workforce, and our public services, and is culturally enriching for our society.

That is why, as part of the same reform programme, we have asked the OfS to invest an additional £10 million in our world-leading specialist providers, many of which specialise in arts provision. We want to ensure that our specialist providers receive additional support, and that grant funding is used to effectively support students.

The OfS has now publicly consulted on these proposals, and responses from universities, students and others will be taken into account before any final decisions on allocations are made.

The Department is aware of the importance of giving schools as much notice as possible of future funding. We will confirm arrangements for the primary physical education and sport premium for the 2021/22 academic year as soon as possible.

This is a matter for Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have asked its Chief Regulator, Sally Collier, to write to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

In March this year, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor, announced that we are going to transform further education colleges across the country, investing £1.5 billion of new capital over the next five years, starting in 2021. On 29 June, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, announced that the Department for Education will bring forward £200 million of this capital funding this year to further education colleges in England. This will enable colleges to undertake immediate remedial work in this financial year to upgrade the condition of their estates and infrastructure. We will announce further details about how this funding will be allocated in due course.

The Safer Travel guidance recommends that where it is not possible to keep a 2 metre distance, such as in enclosed spaces, passengers should maintain a 1 metre distance where possible and take suitable precautions, such as wearing a face covering, not directly facing other passengers and regularly washing or sanitising their hands.

It is a Government priority to ensure that passengers can travel safely on public transport. On 15 June, it became law that passengers must wear a face covering when travelling on public transport services in England. Following a review of social distancing guidelines, from 4 July, where it is not always possible to stay two metres apart, passengers should try to?keep a social distance of ‘one metre plus’, taking actions which reduce the risk of transmission, such as wearing a face covering, not directly facing other passengers and regularly washing or sanitising your hands.

On 10 May, the Government set out its roadmap for how and when the UK will adjust its response to the Coronavirus outbreak, which included five tests which must be satisfied in order to progress forward to enable the country to recover as quickly and safely as possible. As and when sectors of the economy re-open, coach operators should see a return to operation as demands for home-to-school transport, leisure travel and other activities increase.

We are encouraging coach operators to make use of the wide range of support measures the Chancellor announced. These amount to £330 billion of loans and guarantees for businesses. We are continuing to engage with the coach sector to understand what the ongoing risks and issues are, and how these could be addressed in light of the coronavirus outbreak.

On 12 May, the Government published guidance for passengers and transport operators to help them keep themselves and their staff safe, including how social distancing rules should be interpreted to do this. This guidance will be kept up-to-date as restrictions on travel change.

We are encouraging coach operators to make use of the wide range of support measures the Chancellor announced. These amount to £330 billion of loans and guarantees for businesses. We are continuing to engage with the coach sector to understand what the ongoing risks and issues are, and how these could be addressed in light of the coronavirus outbreak.

On 12 May, the Government published guidance for passengers and transport operators to help them keep themselves and their staff safe, including how social distancing rules should be interpreted to do this. This guidance will be kept up-to-date as restrictions on travel change.

The Department has not received or commissioned any such independent validation and no further assessment has also been made of the potential merits for the deployment of air purification systems as the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Health and Safety Executive are responsible for determining future policy and regulatory action.

The Government has established a programme to improve CO² monitoring and ventilation across public and private sector buildings to help limit transmission in autumn and winter and improve long-term pandemic resilience.

The Department has not received or commissioned any such independent validation and no further assessment has also been made of the potential merits for the deployment of air purification systems as the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Health and Safety Executive are responsible for determining future policy and regulatory action.

The Government has established a programme to improve CO² monitoring and ventilation across public and private sector buildings to help limit transmission in autumn and winter and improve long-term pandemic resilience.

The Department has not received or commissioned any such independent validation and no further assessment has also been made of the potential merits for the deployment of air purification systems as the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Health and Safety Executive are responsible for determining future policy and regulatory action.

The Government has established a programme to improve CO² monitoring and ventilation across public and private sector buildings to help limit transmission in autumn and winter and improve long-term pandemic resilience.

Our priority is to ensure that patients continue to have access to the medicines and clinical trial supplies they need, including eye medicines such as atropine. We continue to work closely with the pharmaceutical industry, sponsors of clinical trials, the National Health Service, and others in the supply chain to deliver the shared goal of continuity of safe patient care under all circumstances.

The Department wrote to all suppliers of medicines and medical products, including sponsors of clinical trials, coming to the United Kingdom from or via the European Union on 17 November 2020. The letter sets out how we are continuing to work with suppliers and sponsors to deliver our multi-layered approach to mitigate any potential disruption to supply of medicines into the UK, including supplies for clinical trials, now that the UK has left the EU Single Market and Customs Union.

The letter is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/letter-to-medicines-and-medical-products-suppliers-17-november-2020

We have made no such assessment.

We are in close contact with the Government of Vietnam on the provision of Covid-19 vaccinations to British nationals. The Vietnamese Ministry of Health has indicated that foreign nationals resident in Vietnam will be included within their national vaccination programme, in line with their prioritisation strategy. Vietnam is currently prioritising vaccination of frontline medical staff, essential workers, and older or medically vulnerable groups. We will provide information on Vietnam's plans through the FCDO's Vietnam Travel Advice page.

The UK has negotiated a Trade and Cooperation Agreement with the EU. This agreement maintains zero tariffs and zero quotas on trade in goods between the UK and EU, where goods meet the relevant rules of origin. Rules of origin specify the minimum amount of UK/EU content that is required for the good to be considered ‘originating’ in either market. A very small number of products that contain significant inputs from outside the UK and EU may face tariffs.

Guidance to check product-specific and country-specific information on tariffs and regulations that currently apply to UK trade in goods can be found at https://www.gov.uk/get-rules-tariffs-trade-with-uk and at https://www.gov.uk/check-duties-customs-exporting.

Ahead of the end of the transition period, the Government has announced the VAT and excise duty treatment of goods purchased by individuals for personal use and carried in their luggage arriving from or going overseas (passengers). The following rules will apply from 1 January 2021:

- Passengers travelling from Great Britain to any destination outside the United Kingdom (UK) will be able to purchase duty-free excise goods once they have passed security controls at ports, airports, and international rail stations.

- Personal allowances will apply to passengers entering Great Britain from a destination outside of the UK, with alcohol allowances significantly increased.

- The VAT Retail Export Scheme (RES) in Great Britain will not be extended to EU residents and will be withdrawn for all passengers.

- The concessionary treatment on tax-free sales for non-excise goods will be removed across the UK.

The Government published a consultation which ran from 11 March to 20 May. During this time the Government held a number of virtual meetings with stakeholders to hear their views and received 73 responses to the consultation. The Government is also continuing to meet and discuss with stakeholders following the announcement of these policies.

The detailed rationale for these changes are included in the written ministerial statement and summary of responses to the recent consultation: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2020-09-11/hcws448 and https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/a-consultation-on-duty-free-and-tax-free-goods-carried-by-passengers. A technical note has also been issued to stakeholders to expand on this document and to respond to issues raised by stakeholders.

HMRC estimate that VAT RES refunds cost around £0.5 billion in VAT in 2019 for around 1.2 million non-EU visitors. In 2019 the ONS estimate there were substantially more EU visitors (24.8 million) than non-EU passengers (16.0 million) to the UK. This implies an extension to EU residents would significantly increase the cost by up to an estimated £0.9 billion. This would result in a large amount of deadweight loss by subsidising spending from EU visitors which already happens without a refund mechanism in place, potentially taking the total cost up to around £1.4 billion per annum.

The concessionary treatment on tax-free sales currently affects airports that fly to non-EU destinations. The extension of duty-free sales to EU bound passengers will be a significant boost to all airports in England, Scotland and Wales, including smaller regional airports which have not been able to offer duty-free to the EU before.

HMRC estimate that around £150 million of VAT is not charged as a result of tax-free airside sales. As with the VAT RES, extending the relief to the EU would significantly increase the cost of the scheme and result in a large amount of deadweight loss by subsidising spending from EU-bound passengers which already happens.

The final costings will be subject to scrutiny by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility and will be set out at the next forecast.

The Government also recognises the challenges the aviation sector is facing as it recovers from the impacts of Covid-19 and has supported the sector throughout the pandemic, and continues to do so, including schemes to raise capital, flexibilities with tax bills, and financial support for employees.

The Government has prioritised helping the greatest number of people as quickly as possible, and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) will enable millions of people to remain employed.

The Government set up the CJRS to operate at significant scale and with limited manual intervention. To be eligible for the CJRS, employees must have been on their employer’s PAYE payroll on or before 19 March 2020 and HMRC must have received an RTI submission notifying payment in respect of that employee on or before 19 March 2020. The eligibility requirements aim to ensure that as many people as possible are included in the scheme, while allowing HMRC to verify claims using data they hold, mitigating the risk of fraudulent use of the scheme.

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is open to any individual who was on an employer’s PAYE payroll on or before 19 March 2020 and for whom HMRC received an RTI submission notifying payment in respect of that employee on or before the 19 March 2020. Processing claims for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme where HMRC did not have RTI data by 19 March would significantly slow down the system while risking substantial levels of fraud. It would also require greater resource for HMRC when they are already under significant pressure to deliver the system designed.

Those not eligible for the scheme may have access to other support which the Government is providing, including a package of temporary welfare measures and up to three months’ mortgage payment holidays for those in difficulty with their mortgage payments.