Yvonne Fovargue

The government is deeply concerned about the scale and growth of online fraud.

We have consulted widely on our world-leading online harms proposals. Further details about the new regulatory framework will be included in the full government response to the Online Harms White Paper consultation, which will be published this year.

The shielding programme was put in place to protect clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) people – those who have been advised by the NHS not to leave their homes, because they are at a high risk of developing complications from coronavirus (COVID-19) infection. Overall 2.2 million individuals have been identified as needing to shield. Of this group, approximately 350,000 have registered a need for essential supplies making the individual eligible for a priority slot for a supermarket delivery or food boxes, which they may cancel at any time.

In total over 2 million food boxes have been successfully delivered to CEV individuals since March. We are continuing to work with supermarkets to increase delivery capacity.

We do not hold centrally information on deliveries of food parcels by local authorities, total number of individuals benefiting from supermarket deliveries, or other support received by CEV individuals.

The Department is preparing regulations that will enable trials of rental e-scooters to begin. Trials will gather evidence of the safety of e-scooters and the impacts they have on the road. This will inform any future legislation for e-scooters and other micromobility vehicles. The Department recently consulted on proposed rules for e-scooter use that will be contained in the regulations and is working with local authorities to allow trials to begin soon.

E-scooter trials will include only rental scooters. This allows trials to take place in a controlled manner while we assess their safety and other impacts. There are a wide range of e-scooters available, built to differing standards. Limiting trials to rental scooters ensures that only approved scooters are used, and that they can meet legal requirements. It will also improve the quality of the evidence we gather, that will inform whether e-scooters should be fully legalised.

As COVID-19 is a new disease, it is not yet clear what the physical, neurological, psychological and rehabilitation impacts will be for those with conditions such as asthma and severe asthma.

People with severe asthma are not currently being asked to shield. The decision to continue self-administration of home biologics will be made between the person with severe asthma and their specialist centre on how best to manage their condition.

Specialist respiratory services for severe asthma, along with urgent and emergency treatment for other serious complaints, have continued throughout the COVID-19 outbreak. In most cases people with severe asthma have been able to receive their medication at home instead of having to attend hospital.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence COVID-19 rapid guideline on severe asthma promoted the use of home delivery for biologic treatments to maintain access and reduce the risks to patients of COVID-19 exposure. The NHS England severe asthma ‘Accelerated Access Collaborative’ will continue to focus on the area of home administration.

No estimate has been made and information on the number of severe asthma patients are receiving biologic therapies is not available in the format requested.

Clinicians are responsible for making prescribing decisions for their patients, taking into account the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s technology appraisals and guidance on management of asthma and the local commissioning decisions. Prescribing of biologics for severe asthma is co-ordinated through severe asthma centre multi-disciplinary teams to ensure current treatments are optimised and all appropriate treatments are considered with use of biologics as part of the treatment review for each patient.

No estimate has been made and information on the number of severe asthma patients are receiving biologic therapies is not available in the format requested.

Clinicians are responsible for making prescribing decisions for their patients, taking into account the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s technology appraisals and guidance on management of asthma and the local commissioning decisions. Prescribing of biologics for severe asthma is co-ordinated through severe asthma centre multi-disciplinary teams to ensure current treatments are optimised and all appropriate treatments are considered with use of biologics as part of the treatment review for each patient.

We know that people are spending more time online during this period and this can put them at greater risk of experiencing online harm. We have been working closely with technology companies, civil society and academia to understand and respond to the risks presented during this period.

The department is committed to tackling all forms of crime, including those that exploit technology and the internet. We are considering all routes to ensure law enforcement have the tools they need to go after these criminals and to protect the vulnerable.

HMG published new guidance on April 23rd to help all users to stay safe online during the coronavirus outbreak. It includes detailed advice on protecting personal data, cyber security and disinformation. It also provides additional guidance for parents on online safety issues affecting children such as child sexual abuse, exposure to age-inappropriate content and cyberbullying.

This Government is committed to delivering legislation to tackle online harms. This will introduce a statutory duty of care on companies to take steps to protect their users from harm, including child sexual exploitation and abuse. We are currently working swiftly to prepare a full Government response, which we will publish later this year. This will include more detailed proposals on online harms regulation and will be released alongside interim voluntary codes of practice on tackling online terrorist and child sexual exploitation and abuse content and activity. We will follow the full Government response by introducing Online Harms legislation.

We know that people are spending more time online during this period and this can put them at greater risk of experiencing online harm. We have been working closely with technology companies, civil society and academia to understand and respond to the risks presented during this period.

The department is committed to tackling all forms of crime, including those that exploit technology and the internet. We are considering all routes to ensure law enforcement have the tools they need to go after these criminals and to protect the vulnerable.

HMG published new guidance on April 23rd to help all users to stay safe online during the coronavirus outbreak. It includes detailed advice on protecting personal data, cyber security and disinformation. It also provides additional guidance for parents on online safety issues affecting children such as child sexual abuse, exposure to age-inappropriate content and cyberbullying.

This Government is committed to delivering legislation to tackle online harms. This will introduce a statutory duty of care on companies to take steps to protect their users from harm, including child sexual exploitation and abuse. We are currently working swiftly to prepare a full Government response, which we will publish later this year. This will include more detailed proposals on online harms regulation and will be released alongside interim voluntary codes of practice on tackling online terrorist and child sexual exploitation and abuse content and activity. We will follow the full Government response by introducing Online Harms legislation in this session.

The cumulative total of council tax owed as at 31 March 2020 was £3.6 billion. This was an increase of £345 million on the previous year. In 2019-20, councils collected 96.8 per cent of the council tax due that year.

The £500 million Hardship Fund has been made available to councils in England to provide support to economically vulnerable people and households, including through reductions in council tax to recipients of working age local council tax support. The management of those allocations is a matter for local councils.

The £500 million Hardship Fund has been made available to councils in England to provide support to economically vulnerable people and households, including through reductions in council tax to recipients of working age local council tax support. The management of those allocations is a matter for local councils.

Local authorities are responsible for the collection of council tax. Anyone who is concerned about falling behind with their council tax payments should contact their council as soon as possible to discuss the support available. Guidance issued by my Department makes clear that councils should be willing to take account of individuals’ circumstances, and agree affordable and sustainable payment plans to ensure debts are paid off in a reasonable time. Councils will also be able to advise on eligibility for a reduced bill, for example through their local council tax support schemes and any additional help from the £500 million council tax hardship fund. This is part of the Government's response to COVID-19 and enables councils to provide further reductions in bills for economically vulnerable households.

The Department’s guidance on council tax collection makes clear that local authorities should take all reasonable steps to exhaust the options available to them prior to beginning enforcement action. This includes taking the individual circumstances of each billpayer into account, and agreeing an approach for dealing with vulnerable residents. Authorities should also signpost the availability of free to use debt advisers, and work with advisers to ensure that an affordable and sustainable payment plan is agreed, preventing the need for enforcement action. If enforcement action is considered appropriate after those checks, the guidance is clear that authorities should explore options such as deductions from benefits or an attachment of earnings order, prior to engaging enforcement agents.

The Ministry of Justice is reviewing the implementation of reforms, contained in the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 and introduced in 2014, which govern how enforcement agents take control of goods. This includes considering complaints handling and regulation in the sector.

We have been focusing on our response to the Covid-19 pandemic, but we will provide a response to the review as soon as we are able.