Daily Report Tuesday, 7 July 2020 CONTENTS · 7/7/2020 · Exhibitions: Government Assistance 9 Heating 10 ICT: Regulation 10 Wind Power: Scotland 10 CABINET OFFICE 11 Coronavirus:

Daily Report Tuesday, 7 July 2020

This report shows written answers and statements provided on 7 July 2020 and the

information is correct at the time of publication (06:42 P.M., 07 July 2020). For the latest

information on written questions and answers, ministerial corrections, and written statements,

please visit: http://www.parliament.uk/writtenanswers/

CONTENTS

ANSWERS 7

BUSINESS, ENERGY AND

INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY 7

Billing: Pensioners 7

Construction: Materials 7

Department for Business,

Energy and Industrial Strategy:

Carbon Emissions 7



Energy 8



Renewable Energy 8

Exhibitions: Government

Assistance 9

Heating 10

ICT: Regulation 10

Wind Power: Scotland 10

CABINET OFFICE 11

Coronavirus: Disease Control 11

Dominic Cummings 11

Emergencies: Planning 11

UK Trade with EU 12

DEFENCE 13

Aircraft Carriers: Spare Parts 13

AWACS: Procurement 13

Electronic Surveillance: Mobile

Phones 14

Fleet Solid Support Ships:

Procurement 14

Intelligence and Security

Committee 14

Merlin Helicopters 14

Ministry of Defence:

Coronavirus 15

Voyager Aircraft 15

DIGITAL, CULTURE, MEDIA AND

SPORT 15

Casinos: Coronavirus 15

Centre for Data Ethics and

Innovation 16

Charities: Coronavirus 16

Gambling: Children 17

Gambling: Internet 18

Leisure: Coronavirus 20

Local Broadcasting: Radio 20

Snooker: Coronavirus 21

Theatres: Correspondence 21

Young People: Finance 22

Youth Services: Coronavirus 22

http://www.parliament.uk/writtenanswers

http://www.parliament.uk/writtenanswers

EDUCATION 22

British National (Overseas):

Students 22

Education and Social

Services: Coronavirus 23

Education: Standards 24

Free School Meals: Voucher

Schemes 24

Headteachers: Ethnic Groups 25

Health Professions: Training 25

Higher Edcuation: Coronavirus 25

History: Curriculum 26

National Retraining Scheme 27

Pupils: Disadvantaged 28

Schools: Bullying and Racial

Harassment 28

Schools: Coronavirus 29

Schools: Finance 30

Students: Grants and Loans 30

Summer Schools: Coronavirus 31

ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND

RURAL AFFAIRS 31

Air Pollution: Shipley 31

Dangerous Dogs: Police

Custody 32

Food: Standards 32

Furs: Coronavirus 33

Motorways: Graffiti and Litter 33

Rivers: Boats 35

Waste Management:

Coronavirus 35

Wildlife: Trade 37

Wool: Coronavirus 37

FOREIGN AND

COMMONWEALTH OFFICE 37

Arms Trade: Human Rights 37

Aviation: Coronavirus 38

China: Uighurs 38

Electronic Surveillance: Mobile

Phones 38

Gender Based Violence 39

Gulf States: Overseas Aid 39

Hong Kong: Human Rights 39

Hong Kong: National Security 40

Hong Kong: Politics and

Government 40

Overseas Aid: Accountancy 41

Tristan da Cunha: Lobsters 41

USA: Journalism 42

HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE 42

Autism: Suicide 42

Cardiovascular System:

Diseases 42

Children: Obesity 43

Cholesterol: Screening 44

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome:

Coronavirus 44

Coronavirus: Dental Services 44

Coronavirus: Disease Control 45

Coronavirus: Kent 46

Coronavirus: Pollution 47

Coronavirus: Public Health 47

Coronavirus: Social Distancing 48

Death Certificates 48

Dental Services 48

Dental Services: Coronavirus 49

Dental Services: Protective

Clothing 50

Domestic Abuse: LGBT

People 52

Exercise Cygnus 52

Eyesight: Health Services 52

Gender Recognition: Mental

Health Services 53

General Practitioners: Training 53

Health 54

Health: Screening 54

Healthy Start Scheme: Internet 54

Hospitals: Coronavirus 55

Industrial Health and Safety:

Coronavirus 55

Liverpool Community Health

NHS Trust Independent

Review 55

Meat: Inspections 56

Mental Health Services:

Children and Young People 61

Mental Health Services:

Schools 61

Mental Health Services: Sutton

Coldfield 62

Midwives 62

Midwives: Coronavirus 62

National Institute for Health

and Care Excellence 63

NHS Trusts: Maternity

Services 63

Obesity: Children 63

Ophthalmic Services:

Coronavirus 64

Pharmacy 64

Pharmacy: Coronavirus 65

Pharmacy: Finance 65

Pharmacy: Rural Areas 65

Pharmacy: Screening 66

Postnatal Care: Mental Health

Services 67

Poultry Meat: Inspections 67

Prisoners: Health Services 70

Pupil Premium: Coronavirus 70

Russells Hall Hospital: Energy 70

Veterans: Coronavirus 71

HOME OFFICE 71

Asylum 71

Asylum: Finance 72

Asylum: Temporary

Accommodation 73

British National (Overseas):

Hong Kong 73

Driving Instruction:

Coronavirus 73

Immigrants: Biometrics 74

Immigrants: Finance 74

Immigrants: Quarantine 76

Immigration 77

Immigration: AU Pairs 77

Immigration: EEA Nationals 78

Immigration: Married People 78

Offences against Children 79

Undocumented Migrants:

English Channel 80

Visas: China 80

Visas: Migrant Workers 81

Visas: Overseas Visitors 81

Visas: Sponsorship 81

HOUSE OF COMMONS

COMMISSION 82

House of Commons:

Parliamentary Proceedings 82

HOUSING, COMMUNITIES AND

LOCAL GOVERNMENT 82

Flats: Insulation 82

Opencast Mining:

Northumberland 83

Planning Permission:

Coronavirus 83

Private Rented Housing:

Evictions 84

Religious Buildings:

Coronavirus 85

INTERNATIONAL

DEVELOPMENT 86

CDC: Fossil Fuels 86

Department for International

Development: East Kilbride 87

Department for International

Development: Public

Expenditure 87

Foreign, Commonwealth and

Development Office 88

Overseas Aid 88

Overseas Aid: Coronavirus 89

Overseas Aid: Poverty 89

Overseas Aid: Religious

Discrimination 90

INTERNATIONAL TRADE 90

Renewable Energy: Scotland 90

Riot Control Weapons: Chile 91

JUSTICE 92

Child Arrangement Orders:

Coronavirus 92

Employment Tribunals

Service: Ethnic Groups 92

Family Proceedings: Mediation 92

Ministry of Justice:

Coronavirus 93

Prison Accommodation 93

Prisoners' Release:

Coronavirus 94

Prisoners: Exploitation 95

Prisons: Construction 95

Prisons: Coronavirus 97

Probation 98

Treatment Of, and Outcomes

For, Black, Asian and Minority

Ethnic Individuals in the

Criminal Justice System

Independent Review 99

PRIME MINISTER 100

Dominic Cummings 100

SPEAKER'S COMMITTEE ON

THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION 100

Constituencies: Stockport and

Tameside 100

TRANSPORT 101

Aviation: Coronavirus 101

British Airways: Staff 102

Bus Services: Coronavirus 102

Bus Services: Northern Ireland 103

Bus Services: Rural Areas 103

Cycling and Motorcycles:

Delivery Services 103

Driving Instruction:

Coronavirus 104

Driving Licences 104

Driving Tests: Coronavirus 105

Economic Growth:

Coronavirus 105

High Speed 2 Railway Line:

Compensation 106

Motor Vehicles: Delivery

Services 106

Public Transport: Coronavirus 107

Railway Stations:

Wolverhampton 108

Road Traffic Offences:

Enforcement 108

Speed Limits: Cameras 108

TREASURY 109

[Subject Heading to be

Assigned] 109

Beer: Excise Duties 109

Capital Gains Tax 109

Child Benefit 110

Coronavirus Job Retention

Scheme and Self-employment

Income Support Scheme 110


Scheme: Aviation 111


Scheme: Local Government 111

Employment: Government

Assistance 111

EU External Trade 112

Loans: Lebanon 112

Off-payroll Working:

Coronavirus 113

Overseas Aid 113

Roadchef: Employee Benefit

Trusts 114

Self-employed: Coronavirus 114

Self-employment Income

Support Scheme 115

Sirius Minerals: Government

Assistance 115

Sirius Minerals: Shares 116

Small Businesses:

Coronavirus 116

Tax Avoidance 117

WOMEN AND EQUALITIES 118

Coronavirus: Ethnic Groups 118

WORK AND PENSIONS 118

Chemicals: Regulation 118

Children: Maintenance 119

Department for Work and

Pensions: Appeals 119

Department for Work and

Pensions: Written Questions 120

Employment: Industrial Health

and Safety 120

Employment: Social

Distancing 120

Fast Food: Coronavirus 121

Funerals: Coronavirus 121

Habitual Residence Test:

Coronavirus 122

Health and Safety Executive:

Finance 122

Health and Safety Executive:

Staff 123

Industrial Health and Safety:

Inspections 124

Jobcentres: Coronavirus 124

Jobcentres: Staff 125

Occupational Pensions:

Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath 125

Pension Credit 125

Social Security Benefits 126

Social Security Benefits:

Coronavirus 126

State Retirement Pensions 127

State Retirement Pensions:

Females 127

Universal Credit 127

Universal Credit: Coronavirus 129

WRITTEN STATEMENTS 131

BUSINESS, ENERGY AND

INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY 131

Performance Targets for the

Intellectual Property Office (an

operating name of the Patent

Office) for 2020-21 131

CABINET OFFICE 132

Negotiations on the UK's

future relationship with the EU:

update 132

DEFENCE 133

Armed Forces Pay Review

Body Appointments 133

Armed Forces Update 133

DIGITAL, CULTURE, MEDIA AND

SPORT 134

Support for arts, culture and

heritage sector 134

HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE 135

Coronavirus Update 135

HOME OFFICE 137

Government Response to the

Call for Evidence on Violence

and Abuse Toward Shop Staff 137

INTERNATIONAL TRADE 138

Trade Update 138

TRANSPORT 140

Travel Corridors 140

Notes:

Questions marked thus [R] indicate that a relevant interest has been declared.

Questions with identification numbers of 900000 or greater indicate that the question was originally tabled as an

oral question and has since been unstarred.

ANSWERS

BUSINESS, ENERGY AND INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY

Billing: Pensioners

Andrew Rosindell: [66822]

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what

discussions he has had with (a) utility companies and (b) banks on removing charges for

pensioners who are not comfortable with online billing and do not choose paperless

billing options.

Kwasi Kwarteng:

I regularly engage with utility providers to address a wide range of issues. Through

these conversations I always stress the importance of utility companies and banks

serving the needs of all their customers, in particular the elderly and vulnerable, and

look forward to raising this specific issue as part of my next engagement.

Construction: Materials

Peter Kyle: [68388]


assessment he has made of the capacity of the building supply trade to supply the needs

of shovel ready projects.

Nadhim Zahawi:

The construction sector will be a key part of our economic recovery following the

Covid-19 outbreak. The Government continues to work closely with the sector to

ensure that it is in a position to support the economic recovery, including the building

supply trade.

This includes the work of the Construction Leadership Council’s Coronavirus Task

Force, which has established a product availability working group comprised of

product manufacturers, builders’ merchants and suppliers, contractors of all sizes,

and housebuilders. The Task Force will monitor the supply and demand of products

and identify those in short supply.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Carbon Emissions

Sir Edward Davey: [65920]

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much

carbon his Department’s activities have produced in each of the last five years.

Kwasi Kwarteng:

The table below shows how much carbon the Department’s activities have produced

in each of the last four reporting years since the Department for Business, Energy

and Industrial Strategy was formed in 2016.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2020-06-30/66822



2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20

Emissions tCO 2 e 2,529.24* 3,231.08 2,607.31 2,465.37

*Emissions for 2016/17 are based on energy consumed at the Department’s

headquarters building (1 Victoria Street, London) and do not include emissions from

other activities.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Energy


To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much his

Department has spent on energy conservation measures in his departmental buildings, in

each of the last four years.

Kwasi Kwarteng:

The Department is committed to reducing our carbon emissions and energy

consumption wherever possible and in 2018 carried out an audit of its headquarters

building (1 Victoria Street, London) to identify energy conservation measures.

The spend on energy conservation measures in 2019/20 was £1,817,037.48 which

includes projects such as lighting upgrades to LEDs, installation of energy monitoring

software, and replacement of building services plant.

Figures are not available for previous years as expenditure was captured against

different headings.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Renewable Energy


To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much

energy from renewable sources has been produced from his departmental buildings in

each of the last five years.

Kwasi Kwarteng:

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy was formed in 2016

and so the following table shows the energy generated from solar PV by the

Department at its headquarters building (1 Victoria Street, London) for each of the

last four financial years and the current financial year to the end of June.

2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21

Electricity -

Solar PV

(kWh)

1,377 1,894 2,106 2,406 975*

*Data for 2020/21 is for April – June inclusive.




To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether all of

his departmental buildings are purchasing energy through a renewable energy tariff.

Kwasi Kwarteng:

The Department purchases electricity through a renewable energy tariff for its London

headquarters building (1 Victoria Street) and other London buildings containing

departmental staff (151 Buckingham Palace Road, 10-18 Victoria Street, and

Fleetbank House).

Exhibitions: Government Assistance

Dame Cheryl Gillan: [68270]

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether

exhibition businesses are eligible for covid-19-related grant funding from his Department.

Paul Scully:

The Government has announced a package of support for businesses to help with

their ongoing business costs in recognition of the disruption caused by Covid-19. This

package of support includes the Small Business Grant Fund (SBGF) and the Retail,

Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund (RHLGF).

Under the SBGF, all businesses in England in receipt of Small Business Rates Relief

or Rural Rates Relief as of 11 March 2020 will be eligible for a payment of £10,000.

Under the RHLGF, businesses in England that would have been in receipt of the

Expanded Retail Discount (which covers retail, hospitality and leisure) on 11 March

2020, with a rateable value of less than £51,000, will be eligible for cash grants of up

to £25,000 per property:

• Eligible businesses in these sectors with a property that has a rateable value of up

to and including £15,000 will receive a grant of £10,000.

• Eligible businesses in these sectors with a property that has a rateable value of

over £15,000 and less than £51,000 will receive a grant of £25,000.

On 1 May, the Government announced that up to £617 million has been made

available to local authorities in England to allow them to provide discretionary grants.

The Local Authority Discretionary Grants Fund is aimed at small businesses with

ongoing fixed property-related costs that are not liable for business rates or rates

reliefs.

Any enquiries on eligibility for, or provision of, these schemes should be directed to

the relevant local authority.

Guidance to support local authorities to administer the Fund was published on 13

May at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-

on-business-support-grant-funding.



https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-business-support-grant-funding



Heating

Alex Sobel: [66978]

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his

Department is taking to (a) support and (b) increase heat pump technology.

Kwasi Kwarteng:

The Government takes the role heat pumps can have in driving down carbon

emissions very seriously and BEIS are currently supporting heat pump deployment

via both the Domestic and Non-Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive. As per May

2020 the total number of Non-domestic RHI accredited applications was 2,057 and

57,817 in the Domestic RHI.

The Clean Heat Grant scheme announced at Budget 2020 will provide targeted

support from 2022 to help households and SMEs install heat pumps. The Green Heat

Network Scheme will also provide support for heat pump installations in heat

networks and the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund will support heat pumps

providing process heat. These policies have been designed as part of a broader

package of measures to support the decarbonisation of heat. The Government

intends to publish a Heat and Buildings Strategy later this year, which will set out the

wider actions we will take for reducing emissions from buildings.

ICT: Regulation

Jessica Morden: [68300]


assessment he has made of the potential merits of a Government-backed industry

watchdog for the website design and IT sectors.

Paul Scully:

The Government has not made an assessment of establishing an industry watchdog

for these sectors. Businesses contracting for website design and IT will be protected

by the Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008, and

consumers are protected under general consumer law.

Wind Power: Scotland

Angus Brendan MacNeil: [65967]


assessment he has made of the adequacy of the Scottish Crown Estate’s ScotWind

leasing requirements for Scottish supply chain content.

Kwasi Kwarteng:

Responsibility for offshore wind leasing is a devolved area.

The Government has not made any assessment of the Scottish Crown Estate’s

ScotWind leasing programme. However, Ministers and officials regularly engage with

the Scottish Government.




CABINET OFFICE

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Stephen Hammond: [68304]

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans he has to update the Government’s

covid-19 recovery strategy for the period after 4 July 2020.

Penny Mordaunt:

The Government set out our COVID-19 recovery strategy, ‘Our Plan to Rebuild’ in

May. The Government has been regularly publishing information on the recovery

effort and setting out its plans, updating guidance on GOV.UK as appropriate. The

Government is committed to keeping the public informed and will continue to publish

documents when it is appropriate to do so.

Jane Stevenson: [68430]

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans his Department has to recognise

the work of various professions in helping to combat covid-19; and if he will make a

statement.

Chloe Smith:

Further to the answer given by my Rt Hon Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of

Lancaster during his oral statement on 28 April 2020, the Government will ensure

recognition is both timely and appropriate and is reflective of the profound gratitude

the nation feels towards everyone on the frontline.

Dominic Cummings

Owen Thompson: [60829]

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 4 June 2020 to

Question 52215, in what respect the conduct of Special Adviser Mr Dominic Cummings

was in his official role during his trips to (a) Durham from March 27 2020 and (b) Barnard

Castle on April 12 2020.

Chloe Smith:

On 24 May, the Prime Minister explained that Dominic Cummings had given him a full

account of his actions and the reasons for his decisions.

The Prime Minister asked Mr Cummings to repeat his account to the public on 25

May.

This was in the context of allegations surrounding Mr Cummings’ conduct in his role

as special adviser to the Prime Minister.

Emergencies: Planning

Helen Hayes: [68389]

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the cost to the public purse has been of

Cabinet Office spending on civil contingencies preparedness in each year since 2010.





Helen Hayes: [68390]

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the (a) operational and (b) programme

budgets were of the Civil Contingency Secretariat in each year since 2010.

Penny Mordaunt:

The Civil Contingencies Secretariat (CCS) budget since 2010 is set out in the table

below. The Cabinet Office does not distinguish between operational and programme

budgets as resources are used flexibly to prepare for, respond to, and recover from

disruptive challenges. For the same reason additional costs on preparedness will

have been incurred which are not possible to disaggregate from wider Cabinet Office

expenditure.

YEAR TOTAL BUDGET (£M)

2010-2011 9.6

2011-2012 10.5

2012-2013 10.3

2013-2014 9.1

2014-2015 8.0

2015-2016 10.5

2016-2017 11.5

2017-2018 15.4

2018-2019 17.7

2019-2020 21.0

UK Trade with EU

Chi Onwurah: [66861]

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 29 June 2020 to

Question 64182 on UK Trade with EU, for what reason he did not answer the question of

whether his Department holds any economic modelling of the potential effect of (a) a

trade deal with the EU and (b) WTO rules trade with the EU on (i) the North East and (ii)

the UK.

Penny Mordaunt:

As the Government has previously stated, it is difficult for a single model or scenario

to capture the varying impacts that will be felt across different parts of the economy.

We want to stimulate and capture the widest possible range of analysis from

economists and academics to businesses and civil society groups. As such, the



Government intends to invite contributions in due course about the economic

implications of the future relationship.

DEFENCE

Aircraft Carriers: Spare Parts

Mr Kevan Jones: [65946]

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has made an

assessment of the adequate amount of spare parts to be procured to enable both aircraft

carriers to be at sea simultaneously.

Jeremy Quin:

I can confirm that the Department has made an assessment of the requirement for

spare parts to be procured to keep both aircraft carriers at sea, necessary

maintenance spares are defined in the Unit Maintenance Management System.

AWACS: Procurement


To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has made an

estimate of the cost of the absence of technical conversion, support or maintenance work

on the E-7 Wedgetail contract for future contracts.

Jeremy Quin:

The E-7 acquisition contract let with Boeing in March 2019 included costs associated

with the conversion of the base 737 Next Generation airliners into E-7 aircraft.

In common with other projects of this scale and complexity, an incremental approach

is being taken for future support and maintenance work, with contracts being let at

the appropriate point to ensure these services are in place when required, and not

before. These arrangements will be subject to commercial negotiation at the relevant

time, in order to seek best value for money for defence and the taxpayer.


To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what consideration his Department made of

the Prosperity Agenda throughout the procurement process for the E-7 Wedgetail.

Jeremy Quin:

In making major acquisitions the Department considers the capabilities required, the

value for money for the taxpayer and the benefit to UK Prosperity. In the case of E-7

Wedgetail skilled modification work will be undertaken in the UK by STS Aviation at

Birmingham Airport. The Ministry of Defence remains committed to maximising UK

industrial and supply chain participation in the E-7 Wedgetail programme, and we

expect further opportunities for British suppliers in future training, infrastructure and

support arrangements in due course.




Electronic Surveillance: Mobile Phones


To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the threat to

the UK's cyber-security of NSO Group's Pegasus software; and if he will make a

statement.

James Heappey:

The issue of cyber security is one the UK takes very seriously; the cyber threat is

continually changing in scope and complexity. For reasons of safeguarding national

security, we do not routinely disclose detailed information about the threats to UK

networks.

Fleet Solid Support Ships: Procurement


To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when his Department plans to restart the

tendering process for the Fleet Solid Support Ship contract.

Jeremy Quin:

I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave on 15 June 2020 to question

number 57998 to the hon. Member for Dunfermline and West Fife (Mr Douglas

Chapman).

Attachments:

1. 57995 - Fleet Solid Support Ships; Procurement [Hansard Extract 15 June 2020.docx]

Intelligence and Security Committee


To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 17 June 2020 to

Question 58612 on Islamic State: Military Intervention, whether that matter would fall

under the remit of the Intelligence and Security Committee; and if he will make a

statement.

James Heappey:

The remit of the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) of Parliament is set out

within the Justice and Security Act 2013, and the accompanying Memorandum of

Understanding (MOU) which is published and available at:

http://isc.independent.gov.uk/

Except for the circumstances specified in Paragraphs 11-17 of the MOU, operational

intelligence activity falls outside the scope of the ISC.

Merlin Helicopters


To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the retirement dates are for the Royal

Navy's Merlin helicopters.





Jeremy Quin:

The Royal Navy's Merlin Mark 2 and Mark 4/4A helicopters are currently planned to

go out of service in 2029 and 2030 respectively. The Ministry of Defence keeps the

out of service dates for all equipment under regular and routine review.

Ministry of Defence: Coronavirus

John McDonnell: [66806]

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to Procurement Policy Note

04/20: Recovery and Transition from COVID-19, published on 9 June 2020, what

assessment he has made of the potential merits of maintaining the provision of

contractual relief as a result of covid-19 in line with Procurement Policy Notice 02/20;

which (a) companies and (b) work areas will be affected by changes to that contractual

relief; and what the timeframe is for proposals to change that contractual relief.

Jeremy Quin:

In line with the Government's Procurement Policy Note (PPN) 04/20, the Ministry of

Defence (MOD) will be extending the provision for contractual relief outlined in PPN

02/20 until October 2020, where that is appropriate and necessary. This will apply to

all MOD procurement activity. On current plans and in line with the wider Government

policy, we expect to cease the provision of contractual relief by the end of October

2020.

Voyager Aircraft


To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish the graphic designs of the

refurbished RAF Voyager; and if he will place a copy of those designs in the Library.

Jeremy Quin:

Yes, I have arranged for the graphic designs for the RAF Voyager to be placed in the

Library of the House.

DIGITAL, CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

Casinos: Coronavirus

Mr Laurence Robertson: [67508]

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent

discussions he has had with Public Health England on the reasons for not allowing

casinos to reopen as covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased; and if he will make a

statement.



assessment he has made of the adequacy of the safety measures planned to be





introduced by casinos to protect customers during the covid-19 outbreak; and what the

timescale is for allowing casinos to be reopened.



assessment he has made of the financial effect of the lockdown restrictions due to the

covid-19 outbreak on casinos; and if he will make a statement.


To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will visit a casino

to observe the safety measures being put in place to counter the spread of covid-19.

Nigel Huddleston:

DCMS officials are in regular contact with Public Health England and the casino

sector to discuss the protections that are needed to allow casinos to reopen safely.

This includes arranging a visit for public health representatives to assess the

measures which are in place. I have spoken with representatives of the sector about

the impacts of closure, and the government is working to ensure casinos can open as

soon as the medical and scientific advice is that it is safe to do so.

Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation

Clive Lewis: [67708]

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether it is

Government policy to make the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation an independent,

statutory body.

Mr John Whittingdale:

The Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI) was set up in 2018 to provide the

government with independent, expert advice on the measures needed to enable safe,

ethical and innovative uses of AI and data-driven technologies. In light of the

emerging National Data Strategy, the Digital Strategy and evolution of the wider

institutional landscape, the Government is considering what the Centre’s future

functions should be, which will inform decisions on its future status.

Charities: Coronavirus

Nadia Whittome: [68458]

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what further support

the Government plans to provide to charities that face significant losses in donations due

to the covid-19 outbreak.


DCMS is continuing to work closely with the civil society sector to assess the needs

of the sector and how the government can best support it to continue its vital work.

The Government has committed a £750m targeted funding package to support the

Voluntary and Community Sector, which builds on the significant package of support

available across sectors, including the Job Retention Scheme. A further £150 million





from dormant bank and building society accounts has been unlocked to support

urgent work tackling youth unemployment, providing emergency loans for civil society

organisations and improving the availability of fair, affordable credit to people in

vulnerable circumstances.

Ensuring charities can begin fundraising activities will be a crucial part of the sector’s

recovery. On the 24th June, DCMS published a collection of guidance for DCMS

sectors relating to COVID-19. This includes practical guidance and resources from

the Fundraising Regulator and Chartered Institute of Fundraising supporting charities

to safeguard the public, staff and volunteers as they plan to return to fundraising

activities in a safe and responsible way. This can be viewed at

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/guidance-for-dcms-sectors-in-relation-to-

coronavirus-covid-19

Gambling: Children

Carolyn Harris: [65163]


assessment the Government has made of the effect of gambling advertising on children

and young people.


To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the

Government is taking to reduce the exposure of children to gambling advertising.


To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will take steps to

restrict gambling advertising in children’s computer games.


To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he

has had with (a) the Betting and Gaming Council and (b) sports clubs on reducing the

level of gambling advertising in sport in the last 12 months.

Nigel Huddleston:

All gambling advertising, wherever it appears, is subject to strict controls on content

and placement. Ads must never be targeted at children or vulnerable people and

operators face sanction if their advertising or sponsorship activities are not carried out

in a socially responsible way. These rules mean that an operator would face

sanctions from the Advertising Standards Authority or the Gambling Commission if

their advertising were to appear in computer games targeted at children. The realistic

reproduction of a team football shirt in a computer game based on football is not

considered advertising simply because there are logos on the shirt.

The Advertising Standards Authority’s latest figures on TV gambling advertising show

that children’s exposure has fallen from an average of 4.4 ads per week in 2013, to

2.5 per week in 2019. At the Gambling Commission’s urging, industry has committed

to make better use of advertising technology to target adverts away from children

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/guidance-for-dcms-sectors-in-relation-to-coronavirus-covid-19







online and on social media. From July 2020 the Gambling Industry Code for Socially

Responsible advertising will require operators to ensure advertising is targeted only

at those over 25 years old on social media and to age-gate operator YouTube

channels and content.

The Government assessed the evidence on advertising in its Review of Gaming

Machines and Social Responsibility Measures, the full response to which can be

found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-proposals-for-

changes-to-gaming-machines-and-social-responsibility-measures. Since then, in

March this year, the charity GambleAware has published the final report of a major

piece of research into the effect of gambling marketing and advertising on children,

young and vulnerable people. That study found that while there was some indication

that exposure to advertising was associated with an openness to gamble in the future

amongst children and young people aged 11-24 who did not currently gamble, there

were other factors that correlated more closely with current gambling behaviour

amongst those groups including peer and parental gambling. It did not suggest a

causal link between exposure to gambling advertising and problem gambling in later

life.

Ministers have regular meetings with stakeholders on a range of issues. Details of

Ministerial meetings are published quarterly on the government’s website at:

https://www.gov.uk/search/transparency-and-freedom-of-information-

releases?content_store_document_type=transparency&organisations%5B%5D=depa

rtment-for-digital-culture-media-sport.

Gambling: Internet


To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the

Advisory Board for Safer Gambling report, Progress Report on the National Strategy to

Reduce Gambling Harms, published on 26 June 2020, what steps he is taking to ensure

that the Gambling Commission makes progress on tackling gambling related suicide.


To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Gambling

Commission investigates the oversees activities of its remote gambling licensees where

there is suspected wrong doing.


To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether UK licensees

operate remote gambling in grey or black market jurisdictions where gambling is

prohibited.


To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, for what reasons the

(a) Gambling Commission and (b) Betting and Gaming Council trade body do not

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-proposals-for-changes-to-gaming-machines-and-social-responsibility-measures



https://www.gov.uk/search/transparency-and-freedom-of-information-releases?content_store_document_type=transparency&organisations%5B%5D=department-for-digital-culture-media-sport








maintain a public list of jurisdictions which permit remote gambling; and if he will take

steps to require that such a list is made available.


To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Gambling

Commission exercises quality controls over its list of entities which are entitled to receive

research, education, prevention and treatment funding.


To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he

has made of whether the Betting and Gaming Council trade body should permit members

to profit from online gambling in jurisdictions where gambling is not permitted.


To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his

Department has made of the effectiveness of Gamstop in enabling people to put in place

controls to restrict online gambling activity; and what steps his Department is taking to

improve self-exclusion.

Nigel Huddleston:

The Gambling Commission’s role is to license and regulate commercial gambling in

Great Britain, advising the Government on matters relating to gambling and ensuring

that operators abide by strict requirements intended to keep gambling fair and open

and crime free and to protect children and vulnerable people.

Operators providing gambling facilities to customers in Great Britain must be licensed

by the Commission and comply with the conditions of their operating licences. It

expects them to obey the laws of all other jurisdictions in which they operate, and

requires them to report any regulatory investigation or finding into their activities in

any other jurisdiction. They must inform the Commission if they have a substantial

customer base outside of Britain and state why they consider they are legally able to

offer facilities to those customers.

Requiring the Commission to complete, publish and maintain a jurisdiction by

jurisdiction legal analysis of a range of combinations of products and supply

arrangements would require a significant expenditure of resource in an area which

does not relate to its core responsibility to regulate gambling in Great Britain. The

Commission considers it is for operators to satisfy themselves that they are acting in

a lawful manner in other jurisdictions and if they are found not to be, it will re-assess

their suitability to hold a licence to offer gambling services in Britain.

The Commission’s list of research, prevention and treatment organisations is

intended to give clarity to operators on where they may direct funding to satisfy the

licence condition requirement of an annual financial contribution. It requires

organisations on the list to demonstrate suitable independent oversight, such as

regulation by the Charity Commission, and to make a commitment to collaborate with

other bodies in order to prioritise actions to reduce gambling harms.




In March 2020 the Commission amended its licence conditions and codes of practice

to make it mandatory for operators to be integrated to GAMSTOP, the multi-operator

self-exclusion scheme. The charity GambleAware has commissioned the first phase

of a study to assess the impact of multi-operator self-exclusion schemes, including

those for online gambling. This first phase is nearing publication and we will consider

its findings carefully.

The Advisory Board for Safer Gambling’s Progress Report on the National Strategy to

Reduce Gambling Harms made a number of recommendations on gambling-related

suicide, but these are within the remit of bodies other than the Commission. The

Government is considering the report carefully.

Leisure: Coronavirus

Kate Osborne: [68437]

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the

Answer of 23 June 2020 to Question 61607 on leisure: Coronvirus, whether a potential

date of reopening can be provided to business owners of (a) soft play centres, (b)

trampoline parks and (c) other leisure facilities for planning purposes.

Nigel Huddleston:

Sports and physical activity facilities play a crucial role in supporting adults and

children to be active and the Government is committed to reopening facilities as soon

as it is safe to do so. The government has announced that indoor fitness and dance

studios, and indoor gyms and sports venues/facilities would remain closed, but since

4 July other indoor facilities, including some indoor games, recreation and

entertainment venues have reopened.

The Secretary of State has established a task force to work with the sport and leisure

sector to help them become COVID-secure and re-open as soon as possible. As with

all aspects of the Government’s response to COVID-19, we will be guided by public

health considerations to ensure that as restrictions are eased people can return to

activity safely.

Local Broadcasting: Radio

Tom Hunt: [66208]

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will (a) refund

community radio stations' Ofcom transmitter and relay licence fees to support those

stations during the covid-19 outbreak and (b) take steps to ensure that those stations do

not incur those costs in future.


This is a matter for Ofcom, who are responsible for setting and collecting licence fees

from radio broadcast licence holders, including those payable by community radio

stations.

Ofcom have taken steps to engage with community radio stations that are struggling

to meet fees, and have made arrangements with a number of broadcast licence



holders that are having difficulties. Community stations should contact Ofcom if they

have fees that they are unable to pay as the result of the effects of the coronavirus

pandemic.

Snooker: Coronavirus

Robert Halfon: [67624]

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what his timescale is

for the reopening of snooker clubs as covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.

Nigel Huddleston:

Sports and physical activity facilities play a crucial role in supporting adults and

children to be active. Snooker clubs have been allowed to open since 4 July, as long

as they can follow the COVID-secure guidelines.

Theatres: Correspondence

Mr Steve Baker: [66036]

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he

has made of the implications for his policies of the proposals made by the Society of

London Theatre and UK Theatres in their open letter to the Prime Minister, dated 17 June

2020.


To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what support his

Department is providing for theatres in Wycombe.

Caroline Dinenage:

To support the sustainability of the arts sector, including theatres, DCMS has worked

closely with Arts Council England (ACE) to provide a tailored package of financial

support. In March, ACE announced a £160m emergency response package to

complement the financial measures already announced by the Government and to

ensure immediate resilience of this vital sector.

This includes £20 million of financial support for individuals, including self-employed

theatre practitioners, and £140 million of support for organisations, including theatres,

so they can better sustain themselves, and their work, in the coming months. To date

over 9000 individuals and organisations have been successful in applying for this

support.

DCMS has also established the Cultural Renewal Taskforce and the Entertainment

and Events working group to ensure appropriate supporting guidance is given to the

cultural sector. Theatres and stage-based entertainment organisations are

represented on these groups, including via membership of UK Theatre/Society of

London Theatre, which is on the Entertainment and Events working group.

Sector-specific expert input into the groups’ work, alongside DCMS’s wider extensive

consultation with the Arts sector, is helping to ensure we fully understand the impacts

of Covid-19 and remain well placed to respond as it develops.




Young People: Finance

Jonathan Gullis: [66997]


assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the delivery of the

Youth Fund.


DCMS officials are rapidly assessing how the impact of Covid-19 will affect the

delivery of the Youth Investment Fund in 2020-21 and beyond.

We hope to provide further information during the summer.

Youth Services: Coronavirus

Jonathan Gullis: [66998]

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his

Department has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the provision of youth

services for at risk young people.


My department is aware that Covid-19 has had an unprecedented impact on young

people, in particular those deemed at risk. DCMS has been working with departments

across Whitehall, including the Department of Education and the Home Office, to

ensure at risk young people are supported during and post Covid-19.

Youth centres are able to re-open from 4th July, to ensure at risk young people have

access to support, and opportunities to engage in safe activities. Youth workers are

already supporting vulnerable young people through detached youth work, and we

have supported the National Youth Agency to produce guidance for youth

organisations on operating safely during Covid19.

This government will further support youth services with the new £500m Youth

Investment Fund, designed to increase the capacity of youth services and the

opportunities available to young people.

EDUCATION

British National (Overseas): Students

Lisa Nandy: [68342]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to ensure that dependents

accepted under the proposed bespoke immigration route for British Nationals (Overseas)

passport holders from Hong Kong will be treated as home students for the purpose of

tuition fees.

Michelle Donelan:

To qualify for home fee status in England, a person must have settled status or a

recognised connection to the UK. This includes those who are covered by EU law,




have long residence in this country or who have been granted international protection

by the Home Office. There are also requirements associated with ordinary residence

in the UK.

Subject to meeting the normal eligibility requirements, British Nationals (Overseas)

status holders will be able to qualify for home fee status once they have acquired

settled status in the UK. The same applies to their dependants.

Education and Social Services: Coronavirus

Margaret Greenwood: [67669]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many disadvantaged families, children

and young people have taken receipt from the Government's scheme of (a) computer

devices and (b) 4G wireless routers to engage in remote education and social care

services in each region.

Margaret Greenwood: [67670]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many disadvantaged families, children

and young people have been identified as eligible for (a) computer devices and (b) 4G

wireless routers under the Government scheme to engage them in remote education and

social care services during the covid-19 outbreak.

Nick Gibb:

The Government is providing laptops and tablets to disadvantaged children who

would otherwise not have access and are preparing for examinations in year 10,

receiving support from a social worker or are a care leaver. Where care leavers,

children with a social worker at secondary school and children in year 10 do not have

internet connections, the Government is providing 4G wireless routers.

The Department of Education has ordered over 200,000 laptops and tablets and

50,000 4G wireless routers. Computer devices have been allocated to local

authorities and academy trusts based on the Department’s estimates of the number

of eligible children that do not have access to a device. Local authorities and

academy trusts are best placed to identify children and young people who need

devices and prioritise their needs.

The Department has published information about how many laptops, tablets and 4G

wireless routers have been delivered or dispatched to local authorities and academy

trusts in total, which can be viewed here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/laptops-tablets-and-4g-wireless-routers-

progress-data.

As of the end of June, over 202,000 laptops and tablets and over 47,000 4G wireless

routers have been delivered or dispatched to local authorities and academy trusts.



https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/laptops-tablets-and-4g-wireless-routers-progress-data



Education: Standards


To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the

educational attainment gap between pupils of different (a) ethnic and (b) socio-economic

backgrounds.

Vicky Ford:

The department publishes an analysis of pupil performance at the key stage 2 and

key stage 4 assessment points each year.

These analyses show that attainment at the end of key stage 2 varies between

different ethnic groups. Consistent with previous years, Chinese pupils were the

highest achieving group in 2019, with 80% of Chinese pupils reaching the expected

standard in all of reading, writing and maths, which is 15 percentage points above the

national average. The pattern of attainment across the ethnic major groups has

remained largely the same compared to the previous years. Chinese pupils were the

highest attaining ethnic group, while black pupils and white pupils were the lowest

attaining ethnic groups.

At the end of key stage 4, as in 2018, Chinese, mixed and Asian pupils had

Attainment 8 scores above the national average (46.7 in 2019). Average Attainment 8

scores for white pupils and black pupils both remained below the national average.

The latest key stage 2 analysis is available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-curriculum-assessments-key-

stage-2-2019-revised.

The latest key stage 4 analysis is available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/key-stage-4-performance-2019-revised.

Free School Meals: Voucher Schemes

Tulip Siddiq: [68393]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with Edenred

on providing technical support to families trying to access and use vouchers for the Covid

Summer Food Fund throughout the summer holidays.

Vicky Ford:

Provision for free school meals is ordinarily term time only. However, owing to the

COVID-19 outbreak the government understands that children and parents face an

entirely unprecedented situation over the summer. To reflect this, we will be providing

additional funding for a COVID Summer Food Fund which will enable families with

children who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals to receive food

vouchers covering the six-week holiday period. Our guidance on the COVID Summer

Food Fund is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/covid-summer-food-fund.

Through the COVID Summer Food Fund, schools can support eligible pupils with a

£90 voucher to cover the six-week holiday period. Schools must order the vouchers

at least one week before their school term ends, and they will be issued to families


https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-curriculum-assessments-key-stage-2-2019-revised



https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/key-stage-4-performance-2019-revised

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/key-stage-4-performance-2019-revised


within 7 days. This is in recognition that school offices will be closed in the summer

holidays. If a school receives a claim for an eligible child during the final week before

the school’s summer holidays, it will be possible for the school to place an

exceptional order for that child via our supplier Edenred.

Customer service support will continue to be available throughout the summer

holidays.

Headteachers: Ethnic Groups

Dr Matthew Offord: [59437]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) primary and (b) secondary

school head teachers in the state-funded sector identify as non-white.

Nick Gibb:

Information on the number of ethnic minority headteachers in state funded primary

and secondary schools in England as of November 2019 is available here:

https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/42308de0-

93ca-405d-854b-8a23c70b6c64.

Please note: Ethnic Minority includes all ethnic groups apart from White British.

Health Professions: Training

Lilian Greenwood: [68333]


potential merits of reimbursing tuition fees for the spring 2020 term for nursing, midwifery

and allied healthcare students.

Lilian Greenwood: [68334]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will take steps to ensure that (a)

nursing, (b) midwifery and (c) healthcare students are reimbursed their tuition fees for the

2019-20 academic year.

Michelle Donelan:

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 1 July 2020 to Question 63492.

Higher Edcuation: Coronavirus

Esther McVey: [59751]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the level

of evidence a student is required to provide to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator

for Higher Education in the event that that student is dissatisfied with the level of

education that their university has provided during the covid-19 outbreak.

Michelle Donelan:

The statutory independent student complaints scheme for higher education is run by

the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA). The scheme,

guidance for students and the level of evidence has not changed during the COVID-


https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/42308de0-93ca-405d-854b-8a23c70b6c64






19 outbreak. Students are still expected to raise formal complaints with their own

university in the first instance, and if those cannot be resolved, students can

approach the OIA. The OIA website outlines the process and the information required

to submit a complaint: https://www.oiahe.org.uk/students/how-to-complain-to-us/.

On 22 June, the OIA published specific guidance outlining its approach to handling

complaints that arose from the COVID-19 outbreak, including complaints on course

delivery. The OIA will take a number of issues into account when considering a

complaint and will consider what was promised against what was delivered. The OIA

will also take into account the relevant legislation and related guidance (such as that

published by the Competition and Markets Authority), and whether the higher

education provider has been fair and reasonable in developing its policies.

The guidance is available at: https://www.oiahe.org.uk/resources-and-

publications/latest-news-and-updates/oia-briefing-note-2-our-approach-to-complaints-

arising-from-the-effects-of-coronavirus-covid-19-june-202/.

There are some issues that the OIA is unable to consider. These issues include

matters relating to admissions and academic judgement. Guidance on the issues that

the OIA can consider is available at: https://www.oiahe.org.uk/students/can-you-

complain-to-us/.

History: Curriculum

Darren Henry: [66228]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department has taken to

include Black British history in the national curriculum for primary and secondary school

pupils.

Nick Gibb:

The Department is committed to an inclusive education system which recognises and

embraces diversity and supports all pupils and students to tackle racism and have the

knowledge and tools to do so.

The national curriculum is a framework setting out the content of what the

Department expects schools to cover in each subject. The curriculum does not set

out how curriculum subjects, or topics within the subjects, should be taught. The

Department believes teachers should be able to use their own knowledge and

expertise to determine how they teach their pupils, and to make choices about what

they teach.

As part of a broad and balanced curriculum, pupils should be taught about different

societies, and how different groups have contributed to the development of Britain,

and this can include the voices and experience of Black people. The flexibility within

the history curriculum means that Black British history can already be included in the

teaching of the curriculum. For example, at key stage 1, schools can teach about the

lives of key Black historical figures such as Mary Seacole or others; at key stage 2,

pupils can be taught about Black Romans, as part of teaching that era in history or

Black history within the requirement for a study of an aspect or theme in British

https://www.oiahe.org.uk/resources-and-publications/latest-news-and-updates/oia-briefing-note-2-our-approach-to-complaints-arising-from-the-effects-of-coronavirus-covid-19-june-202/




https://www.oiahe.org.uk/students/can-you-complain-to-us/




history that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066; and at key stage

3, we give an example for a more in-depth study on the topic of the impact through

time of the migration of people to, from and within the British Isles, and this key stage

can include the development and end of the British Empire and Britain’s transatlantic

slave trade, its effects and its eventual abolition. Additionally, local history is an

element across key stages. The teaching of Black history need not be limited to these

examples.

National Retraining Scheme


To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the test

phase of the National Retraining Programme, announced in October 2019.


To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much has been spent on the National

Retraining Scheme to date.


To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many adults has the National Retraining

Scheme helped to retrain to date in England.

Gillian Keegan:

The aim of the National Retraining Scheme is to help prepare adults for future

changes to the economy, including those brought about by automation, and help

them retrain into better jobs.

We have taken a user centred, test and learn approach to developing the National

Retraining Scheme, starting small and developing products iteratively. Through this

approach we have used a small proportion of the initial multi-year £100 million

investment which started in financial year 2019-20 to develop the scheme, including

exploring online training and in-work technical training alongside testing the first part

of the scheme, Get Help to Retrain.

To date, nearly 2000 users have accessed Get Help to Retrain. The digital service

helps users to understand their current skills, explore alternative occupations that

they could do and sign up to the training they need to access opportunities for a

broad range of good jobs.

Alongside developing Get Help to Retrain, we have undertaken extensive user

research and testing whilst developing the National Retraining Scheme. This

research and the pilots we have conducted will provide valuable evidence about how

we can support adults and employers and will help inform the design of future adult

skills provision.

We are continuing to explore the relationship between the National Retraining

Scheme, the recently announced £2.5 billion National Skills Fund and other recent

reforms to adult skills provision and funding. We will provide a further update in the

next Spending Review.




Pupils: Disadvantaged

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: [65963]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to ensure that children

who become eligible for free school meals over the summer holidays 2020 have access

to food.

Vicky Ford:

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 29 June 2020 to Question 60716.

Schools: Bullying and Racial Harassment



prevalence of racist harassment and bullying in schools.

Vicky Ford:

Racism in all its forms is abhorrent and has no place in our society. Schools play a

crucial role in helping young people understand the world around them and their

place within it. All schools are legally required to have a behaviour policy with

measures to prevent all forms of bullying and they have the freedom to develop their

own anti-bulling strategies and monitoring approaches to best suit their environment.

Our guidance on preventing and tackling bullying (

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preventing-and-tackling-bullying ) sets

out that schools should develop a consistent approach to monitoring bullying

incidents and evaluating the effectiveness of their approaches. It also directs schools

to organisations who can provide support with tackling bullying related to race,

religion and nationality.

The department asks teachers about the prevalence of different types of bullying in

its regular school snapshot surveys. The latest survey is from July 2019:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-snapshot-survey-summer-2019.

This survey suggests that, over the previous 12 months, 56% of school leaders and

teachers had ‘never’ or ‘rarely’ seen any of the types of bullying mentioned. 18%

reported seeing bullying linked to race and ethnicity ‘sometimes’ or more often.

On 7 June, we announced more than £750,000 for the Diana Award, the Anti-Bullying

Alliance and the Anne Frank Trust in order to help hundreds of schools and colleges

build relationships between pupils and to increase their resilience as well as to

continue to tackle bullying both in person and online (

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/extra-mental-health-support-for-pupils-and-

teachers ). The department has also made resources available through the website

Educate Against Hate ( https://educateagainsthate.com/ ). This website provides

teachers, school leaders and parents with the information, guidance and support that

they need to challenge radical views, including racist and discriminatory beliefs.



https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preventing-and-tackling-bullying

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preventing-and-tackling-bullying

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-snapshot-survey-summer-2019

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-snapshot-survey-summer-2019

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/extra-mental-health-support-for-pupils-and-teachers



https://educateagainsthate.com/

https://educateagainsthate.com/

Schools: Coronavirus

Rachael Maskell: [66117]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of

the average number of days that children currently eligible to attend school have attended

n (a) nursery, (b) reception, (c) year 1, (d) year 6, (e) year 10 and (f) year 12 in (i) York

and (ii) in England in the latest period for which figures are available.

Nick Gibb:

While the Department does collect attendance information, we are not able to

estimate the requested numbers based on information that is held.

The latest attendance figures for schools in England can be found at the following

link: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-

education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.

Andrew Gwynne: [68293]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his Answer to the hon.

Member for Denton and Reddish in the oral statement on Education settings: Autumn

opening on 2 July 2020 and his Department's document, Guidance for full opening -

schools, published on 2 July 2020, what funding will be made available to schools that

will be required to make significant adaptations to their site to enable the safe return of all

pupils in September.


To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much additional funding he plans to

allocate to provide additional teaching staff to schools from September 2020.


To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much additional funding he plans to

allocate to ensure that schools are able to make sufficient adaptations to ensure

compliance with Government guidance on covid-19 in relation to the re-opening of

schools in September 2020.

Nick Gibb:

The Government intends all pupils, in all year groups, to return to school full-time

from the beginning of the autumn term. On 2 July we published guidance to help

schools prepare for this. The guidance can be viewed at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-

coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.

As stated in our guidance, schools should use their existing resources when making

arrangements to welcome all children back for the autumn. There are no plans at

present to reimburse additional costs incurred as part of that process.

Schools have been able to claim additional funding for exceptional costs incurred due

to COVID-19, between March and July 2020, such as additional cleaning required

due to confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases and increased premises costs to

keep schools open for priority groups during the Easter and summer half term


https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak






holidays. Schools have also continued to receive their core funding allocations

throughout the COVID-19 outbreak. Following last year’s Spending Round, school

budgets are rising by £2.6 billion in 2020-21, £4.8 billion in 2021-22 and £7.1 billion in

2022-23, compared to 2019-20.

Schools: Finance

Catherine West: [66151]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Government's

announcement on additional funding for school building repairs, if he will prioritise the

upgrading of school changing rooms and sporting facilities (a) throughout England and

(b) in Highgate Wood School in Hornsey and Wood Green constituency when allocating

that funding.

Nick Gibb:

We are providing £560 million of additional condition funding for the school system

this year to support essential maintenance projects. This comes on top of over £1.4

billion capital funding already provided for school maintenance in the financial year

2020-21. We will set out details of how the additional capital funding will be allocated

shortly.

As part of the condition funding already allocated this year, Highgate Wood

Secondary School received £29,239 in Devolved Formula Capital funding to spend

on its own capital priorities. Haringey local authority has also been allocated a School

Condition Allocation of £2,959,147 to invest in condition priorities across its

maintained schools, including Highgate Wood Secondary School. The school should

discuss its needs with Haringey Council, so that they can be considered as part of

local investment decisions.

Students: Grants and Loans

Afzal Khan: [61583]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students have applied to Student

Finance England for (a) tuition fee loans and (b) maintenance grants for the 2020/21

academic year.

Michelle Donelan:

Student Finance England processes applications for student financial support for

English domiciled students studying in the UK and EU-domiciled students studying in

England. Eligible full-time and part-time undergraduate students can apply for up-

front tuition fee loans to meet the full costs of their tuition. Eligible students attending

full-time courses and part-time degree and equivalent level courses can also apply for

partially means-tested loans towards their living costs. Maintenance grants are only

available in 2020/21 for small numbers of continuing full-time students who started

their courses before 2016/17.

Applications for student support for full-time students opened in mid-February, and for

part-time students in mid-June. As of 18 June 2020, Student Loan Company had



processed 742,000 applications to Student Finance England for undergraduate tuition

fee loans, 716,000 for maintenance loans, and 800 for maintenance grants for the

2020/21 academic year.

Students can apply for student finance up to nine months after the commencement of

their course each academic year. This means that application numbers are likely to

continue to rise as we approach the start of the 2020/21 academic year and for a

period beyond that.

Summer Schools: Coronavirus

Christian Wakeford: [66243]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance the Government has provided

to local authorities on summer school provision during the covid-19 outbreak for children

of (a) key-workers, (b) low-income families and (c) all children.

Nick Gibb:

Holiday clubs and out-of-school clubs for children will be able to restart over the

summer, with safety measures in place. These clubs will be part of Step 3 of the

recovery strategy (from 4 July). We have provided guidance for the sector on how to

implement the protective measures necessary to minimise the risk to children,

teachers and parents who attend their schools by reducing the risk of infection and

transmission of COVID-19, as well as advice to 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.

Whilst we are not asking schools to open over the summer holidays and there is not

the expectation that schools should open for vulnerable children and children of

critical workers over this period, we are aware that some headteachers may be

considering using their catch-up premium to provide summer school activities for their

pupils. Where this is the case, they have the flexibility, discretion and autonomy to

decide how they want to do this. To support schools in planning how to use the catch-

up premium, the Education Endowment Foundation has produced a guide which

includes advice on summer schools and contains a link to a Teach First toolkit

specifically focused on summer schools.

On 22 June, we also announced the 17 local authority areas that our Holiday

Activities and Food programme will operate in this summer, providing thousands of

disadvantaged children with access to healthy meals and holiday activities .

ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Air Pollution: Shipley

Philip Davies: [65969]

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment

he has made of air quality levels across the Shipley constituency.



Rebecca Pow:

Local authorities take the lead on monitoring levels of air pollution within their

boundaries. City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council (CBMDC) was one of eight

local authorities directed in October 2018, as part of the supplement to the 2017 UK

Plan for Tackling Roadside Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) Concentrations, to develop a local

plan to tackle identified NO2 exceedances, following a Government-funded targeted

feasibility study conducted by the council. This study identified persistent long-term

exceedances of legal NO2 limit values in and around the city centre including the

Shipley area, and that without further action CBMDC would not be compliant with

legal NO2 limits until 2027.

Following approval of its plan early this year, CBMDC was subsequently directed and

funded to introduce a charging Clean Air Zone in late 2021 that will cover the city

centre, Canal Road corridor, Shipley and Saltaire, enabling CBMDC to achieve

compliance by 2022.

Dangerous Dogs: Police Custody


To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is

taking to ensure that dogs taken into police custody under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991

are processed and released in a timely manner.


To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his

Department is taking to ensure that dogs kept in police custody under the Dangerous

Dogs Act 1991 are (a) stored in safe conditions and (b) taken for regular exercise.

Victoria Prentis:

Every effort is made to ensure that cases involving dogs held under the Dangerous

Dogs Act 1991 are processed on time. The magistrates’ courts continue to increase

their number of hearings and the range of types of cases heard has also increased

with the reintroduction of first hearing guilty and anticipated not guilty plea cases

commencing. Trials, in small numbers, also continue to be listed. Dogs seized by

police in England under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 are held in confidence in

kennels licensed under The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals)

(England) Regulations 2018. Such kennels must meet statutory minimum animal

welfare conditions, including that dogs are kept safely and receive appropriate levels

of exercise. The 2018 Regulations are enforced by local authorities.

Food: Standards

Stuart Anderson: [66201]

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the

Government is taking to ensure that future trade deals deliver high standards of food

produce for people (a) in Wolverhampton South West constituency and (b) throughout the

UK.




Victoria Prentis:

Our manifesto made a clear commitment that in all of our trade negotiations, we will

not compromise on our high environmental, animal welfare and food safety

standards. The Government has already published a suite of documents which set

out the UK's approach to trade deals with the US, Japan and Australia and New

Zealand, which all reaffirm this commitment. The EU Withdrawal Act will transfer all

existing food safety provisions, including existing import requirements, onto the UK

statute book. The Government will stand firm in trade negotiations to ensure any

future trade deals live up to the values of farmers and consumers both in

Wolverhampton South West and throughout the UK.

The Government has in place a range of stakeholder and expert groups to feed into

our policy development on trade. These include the Strategic Trade Advisory Group,

the Agri-Food Expert Trade Advisory Group, which are subject to regular review, as

well as the various supply chain advisory groups such as the Arable Group, Livestock

Group and Food and Drink Panel.

We are on the side of UK farmers in trade negotiations, which is why in addition to

these groups we announced last week that we will establish a Trade and Agriculture

Commission. This will ensure that the UK’s trade policy fully considers our agricultural

industry and our commitment to maintain our high standards.

Furs: Coronavirus

Allan Dorans: [66198]


he has made of the potential link between the global fur trade and the spread of covid-19.

Victoria Prentis:

We are monitoring the situation carefully and are aware of the recent Covid-19 cases

in mink. However, there is currently no evidence suggesting there being a link

between the spread of Covid-19 and the global trade in fur. Farming for fur was

banned in England and Wales in 2000 and in Scotland and Northern Ireland in 2002,

and there are no mink farms in the UK. Therefore the risk to the UK population from

these outbreaks in mink is negligible.

Nevertheless, we are keeping a close eye on the findings that mink can effectively

maintain the virus which causes Covid-19.

Motorways: Graffiti and Litter


To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent

discussions he has had with (a) the Secretary of State for Transport and (b) Highways

England on litter and graffiti on the motorway network.




To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions

he has had with (a) the Secretary of State for Transport and (b) Highways England on

litter and graffiti on the strategic trunk road network.


To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions

he has had with (a) the Secretary of State for Transport and (b) Network Rail on litter and

graffiti on railway land and structures.



he has made of the effectiveness of the Government’s anti-litter strategy in relation to

Government-owned and Government Agency-owned land; and if he will make a

statement.

Rebecca Pow:

The Government’s Litter Strategy for England was developed by Defra, the

Department for Transport (DfT) and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local

Government, in consultation with other Government departments and guided by the

Litter Strategy Advisory Group, of which Highways England and Network Rail were

members. Defra and DfT officials have recently discussed the challenges of roadside

litter on the strategic road network but there have been no recent Ministerial

discussions.

DfT published the Road Investment Strategy 2 (RIS2) in March of this year, which

sets out the Government’s long-term ambition for the Strategic Road Network (SRN).

The RIS2 includes a litter performance indicator in which Highways England will be

required to report on the percentage of the SRN covered by Highways England’s

Asset Delivery contracts where litter is graded at B or above under the Litter Code of

Practice[1]. Highways England’s performance on this metric will be reported to the

Office for Road and Rail and Highways England will publish the data annually. This

will ensure that there is an increased level of transparency for road users.

We recognise that litter and graffiti are an ongoing problem on our road and rail

networks and Defra officials continue to work with Highways England and Network

Rail to support them to deliver on their commitments in the strategy, along with our

own. The second annual report on delivery of the Litter Strategy was published in

September last year and is available at:

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_da

ta/file/836953/litter-strategy-annual-report-2018-2019a.pdf.

The Secretary of State for Transport is clear that graffiti on the railways is a matter

that should be addressed as effectively as possible, and recognises the wider

impacts associated with anti-social behaviour such as graffiti and trespass.




https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/836953/litter-strategy-annual-report-2018-2019a.pdf



Addressing visible signs of crime and anti-social behaviour such as graffiti helps to

create an environment of respect for the law. This helps to prevent more serious

crimes on and around the railway network, thereby promoting passenger safety, such

as the closely linked issue of trespass which can have extremely serious

consequences for individuals’ safety and cause significant delays.

Network Rail currently spends around £3.5 million annually on tackling graffiti across

the network. This expenditure is planned for and is part of Network Rail’s current five-

year funding settlement which runs to 2024. In addition, each railway operator must

ensure that its rolling stock and stations are kept to a high standard of condition and

presentation.

Network Rail also works closely with the British Transport Police on hardening the rail

network to unlawful incursions. This work by the British Transport Police is carried out

with other interested parties, such as train operating companies and local authorities,

and highlights the series of interlinked issues behind graffiti.

DfT is leading ongoing work across industry to assess the effectiveness of current

anti-graffiti measures and develop long-term solutions to better produce a clean and

more efficient railway network.

[1] www.gov.uk/government/publications/code-of-practice-on-litter-and-refuse

Rivers: Boats

Gareth Thomas: [65901]

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the

Answer of 23 June 2020 to Question 59339, whether there is not a statute or other legal

restriction which inhibits the common law rights to navigate freely the inland rivers of

England and Wales.

Rebecca Pow:

It is not the Government’s role to offer advice on such legal matters, and only the

courts can determine whether a public right of navigation exists on a particular stretch

of river.

My answer of 23 June 2020, to which the Hon. Member refers, sets out the current

position with regards to navigation of inland rivers for recreational purposes where

there is no navigation authority.

Waste Management: Coronavirus

Adam Afriyie: [65992]

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is

taking to support (a) Lakeside EfW and high temperature incinerator and (b) other waste

industry organisations in providing services to local authorities and NHS trusts during the

covid-19 outbreak.

http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/code-of-practice-on-litter-and-refuse

http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/code-of-practice-on-litter-and-refuse



Victoria Prentis:

The Government is continuing to work closely with the waste industry, including

operators of incineration and EFW plants such as Lakeside, to understand the impact

of Covid-19 on the sector and to provide the necessary and appropriate support to

ensure the provision of services.

The Chancellor announced unprecedented support for businesses in general,

including a Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, deferral of VAT payments for firms

until the end of June and £330 billion of Government-backed and guaranteed loans

including a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme.

Early in the pandemic, Defra worked with the waste industry to develop an online

platform to facilitate the sharing of resources between local authorities and

commercial operators. The platform, WasteSupport, was launched on 16 April. In

addition, the Environment Agency has been taking a proportionate approach to

regulation and published a number of COVID-19 Regulatory Position Statements, to

address specific concerns around compliance with permit conditions, for instance on

exceeding waste storage limits at permitted sites. These can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/covid-19-regulatory-position-statements

Throughout the outbreak, we have worked closely with the NHS to monitor the

position in relation to clinical waste. We have clear, sensible contingency plans in

place and continue to keep the position under review.

Defra has worked with local government, other Government departments and the

waste industry to produce and publish guidance to help local authorities manage their

waste collection services and household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) during the

Covid-19 outbreak. The guidance on reopening HWRCs was developed in

conjunction with Public Health England and the Home Office and sets out how to

operate HWRCs in a way that protects human health while maintaining safe systems

of working. The HWRC guidance is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-to-local-

authorities-on-prioritising-waste-collections/managing-household-waste-and-

recycling-centres-hwrcs-in-england-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic

Since publication of our guidance nearly all local authorities are now able to offer a

HWRC service and local householders can make trips to these sites as

needed. Weekly surveys indicate that, due to the hard work of those in the sector,

nearly all English authorities are operating household waste collections as normal,

with only a small percentage reporting minor disruption.

The Minister for Regional Growth and I wrote to local authorities on 5 May to thank

those working to deliver waste services during the Covid-19 outbreak for the vital role

they are playing in protecting the environment, public amenity and people’s health.

We wrote a further letter on 28 June asking local authorities to ensure that as much

access as possible is provided to HWRC services where this can be done safely.



https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-to-local-authorities-on-prioritising-waste-collections/managing-household-waste-and-recycling-centres-hwrcs-in-england-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic




Wildlife: Trade

Tracey Crouch: [64146]

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to

the covid-19 pandemic, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of World

Animal Protection's proposal to ban the global trade in wild animals and wild animal

products that are involved in non-essential global commercial trade.

Victoria Prentis:

We are clear that poorly managed and illegal wildlife trade (IWT) poses threats to

animal health and welfare, diminishes our biodiversity, undermines governance, and

can result in serious public health issues. However, well managed, sustainable trade

can contribute to biodiversity conservation and livelihoods, and can help meet the

nutritional needs of local and rural communities in developing nations.

The UK Government is fully committed to tackling the environmental drivers of

pandemics, including by reversing global biodiversity loss, tackling both

unsustainable and illegal wildlife trade, and pressing for significantly higher standards

in live animal markets around the world. We are actively considering the many

complex issues around the global trade in wildlife, including its relationship to Covid-

19 and will support swift policy interventions where these are shown to be effective in

mitigating future risk of zoonotic diseases.

Wool: Coronavirus

Ben Lake: [66178]


his Department has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on sales of wool.

Victoria Prentis:

Defra does not regularly collect or monitor information on sales of wool. The British

Wool Marketing Board (BWMB) is a public, non-financial corporation, that collects,

grades, monitors, markets and sells British wool on behalf of its producers to the

international wool textile industry for use in flooring, furnishings and apparel.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE

Arms Trade: Human Rights

Owen Thompson: [66935]

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his

Department has made an assessment of the potential risks to human rights of sales of

ammunition to countries with no existing military conflicts.

James Cleverly:

[Holding answer 6 July 2020]: All export licence applications are assessed on a

case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing

Criteria. A careful assessment of potential end use and end user is central to the




decision making process. Risks around human rights violations or abuses are a key

part of our assessment. We do not approve export licences for equipment and

technology where we assess there is a clear risk that it might be used for internal

repression.

Aviation: Coronavirus

Mr Gregory Campbell: [68289]

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will ensure

that Portugal is included on the air bridge destinations list for UK tourists.

Nigel Adams:

A list of countries and territories from which passengers arriving in England will no

longer have to self-isolate for 14 days was published on 3 July. This follows the

Government's first review of public health measures at the border, which were

introduced in June 2020. The Government has always been clear that any decisions

on border measures will be proportionate and science-led.

We are continuing to engage with partners on all aspects of the global response to

the Coronavirus pandemic.

China: Uighurs

Munira Wilson: [66218]

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is

taking to support people held in camps in Xinjiang.

Nigel Adams:

We remain committed to promoting human rights in Xinjiang. On 30 June, the UK

read out a statement on behalf of 27 countries at the 44th session of the UN Human

Rights Council highlighting concerns about arbitrary detention, widespread

surveillance and restrictions in Xinjiang, urging China to allow the High Commissioner

for Human Rights meaningful access to the region.

Electronic Surveillance: Mobile Phones


To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment

he has made of the potential for NSO's Pegasus software being used to target foreign

journalists and campaigners; and if he will make a statement.

James Cleverly:

There have been allegations that this software has been used in a way that is not in

line with UK Human Rights Standards. We continue to champion human rights and

media freedom around the world. Given these allegations are subject to ongoing

investigations, it would not be appropriate for us to comment further.




Gender Based Violence

Anthony Mangnall: [62626]

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what plans the

Government has to raise the matter of gender-based violence at the Commonwealth

Heads of Government Meeting in Rwanda.

Nigel Adams:

Unfortunately, in light of Covid-19, the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting

(CHOGM) in Rwanda 2020 has been postponed. The Prime Minister's Special

Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of

Wimbledon looks forward to attending the next CHOGM when it takes place in Kigali.

Gender equality remains as important as ever in these times given the

disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on women and girls. We are working hard to

ensure that they are at the forefront of our response. The UK is proud to be a world

leader on efforts to prevent Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), and we are

committed to eliminating it in all its forms.

Gulf States: Overseas Aid

Preet Kaur Gill: [68406]

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the

Answer of 2 July 2020 to Question 65183 on Gulf States: Overseas Aid, which projects

have received funding from the Integrated Activity Fund; and how much funding has been

allocated to each project in each financial year since 2016-17.

James Cleverly:

The Integrated Activity Fund supports a range of programmes and projects across

the Gulf. These include, but are not limited to, activities focusing on aquaculture,

sport and culture, healthcare and institutional capacity building. The Integrated

Activity Fund was allocated £20 million each year from 2016/17 to 2019/20.

Hong Kong: Human Rights

Lisa Nandy: [68339]

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what plans he has

to call for the appointment of a UN Special Rapporteur on Hong Kong.

Nigel Adams:

As the Foreign Secretary said in Parliament on 1 July, the adoption by the Standing

Committee of the National People's Congress in Beijing of a wide-ranging national

security law for Hong Kong is a grave and deeply disturbing step. The enactment of

this legislation, imposed by Beijing on the people of Hong Kong, constitutes a clear

and serious breach of the Joint Declaration.

The UK has already raised Hong Kong in the UN Security Council and Human Rights

Council. We are focused on giving voice to the widespread international concerns on

Hong Kong, and to working closely with international partners to call on China to live




up to its obligations and responsibilities. Whilst formal mechanisms have proved

helpful in other contexts in focusing the international community's attention, we judge

that pursuing such an option at this time risks providing China an opportunity to

frustrate and obstruct progress, undermining our objectives. We do not, though, rule

out any diplomatic options and will keep the issue under review. We will also continue

to work actively within international institutions and through multilateral groupings to

urge China to uphold its international commitments, including the Joint Declaration.

Hong Kong: National Security

Lisa Nandy: [68340]

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions

he plans to have with (a) Non-Governmental Organisations, (b) news agencies and (c)

journalists operating in Hong Kong on the potential effect of the introduction of new

National Security legislation in Hong Kong on their work.

Nigel Adams:

As the Foreign Secretary said in the House on 1 July, we are deeply concerned by

China's imposition of national security legislation, which threatens Hong Kong's

freedoms. The Government has wide-ranging contact with civil society groups in

Hong Kong, including NGOs, news agencies, and journalists groups and individuals

in Hong Kong, including via our Consulate General. The Foreign Secretary meets

regularly with organisations and individuals focused on addressing human rights

challenges, including during the most recent meeting of the Foreign Secretary's

Advisory Group on Human Rights on 25 June. The Foreign Secretary will continue to

engage closely with these groups, including on Hong Kong.

Lisa Nandy: [68341]

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment

he has made of the viability of a continuing role for UK judges in the Hong Kong justice

system as a result of the introduction of new national security legislation in Hong Kong.

Nigel Adams:

Hong Kong's independent judiciary is a cornerstone of its economic success and way

of life. The new legislation provides that Hong Kong's Chief Executive, rather than the

Chief Justice, will appoint judges to hear national security cases, a move that clearly

risks undermining the independence of Hong Kong's judiciary, which is protected by

paragraph 3(3) of the Joint Declaration. We will monitor this closely, including its

implications for the role of UK judges in the Hong Kong justice system.

Hong Kong: Politics and Government

Ruth Jones: [64340]

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent

assessment he has made of the political situation in Hong Kong.




Nigel Adams:

We remain deeply concerned about the situation in Hong Kong. As the Foreign

Secretary said in Parliament on 1 July, the enactment by China of a national security

law for Hong Kong is a grave and deeply disturbing step. The law's imposition by

Beijing on the people of Hong Kong constitutes a clear and serious breach of the

Joint Declaration. On the same day, the Permanent Under Secretary of the Foreign

and Commonwealth Office summoned the Chinese Ambassador to make clear the

UK's deep concern at China's actions.

The Government will continue to bring together its international partners to stand up

for the people of Hong Kong, to call out the violation of their freedoms, and to hold

China to their international obligations. On 30 June at the UN Human Rights Council

in Geneva, the UK led a formal Joint Statement with the support of 27 international

partners, setting out our deep concern on Hong Kong and the situation in Xinjiang.

This statement, delivered through UK leadership, underlines the strength and breadth

of international concern.

Overseas Aid: Accountancy

Sarah Champion: [64203]

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the

Government plans for there to be an accounting officer for Foreign and Commonwealth

Affairs and a separate accounting officer for Official Development Assistance spend after

the merger of his Department and the Department for International Development.

James Duddridge:

[Holding answer 29 June 2020]: The full details of the merger, including the structure

of the new department, will be set out in due course.

Tristan da Cunha: Lobsters

Paul Bristow: [68442]

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions

he has had with the EU on ensuring that the lobster industry in Tristan da Cunha is not

affected by EU tariffs at the end of the transition period.

Wendy Morton:

In negotiations with the EU, the UK Government is acting on behalf of all the

territories for whose international relations it is responsible, to seek outcomes that

support their security and their economies. The Government fully understands the

interests of Tristan da Cunha, including in regard to its lobster industry.

We welcome the substantive input we have received from the Tristan da Cunha

Government throughout these negotiations.



USA: Journalism

Janet Daby: [68428]

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his

Department has received any reports of incidents involving British journalists in the US

since May 2020.

Wendy Morton:

We are aware of a small number of British journalists and camera crews being

affected by the US police response to the recent unrest. Our Embassy in Washington

has raised the issue with the US Administration. Journalists all around the world must

be free to do their job and to hold authorities to account without fear of arrest or

violence.

HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE

Autism: Suicide


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of

9 September 2019 to Question 285039, what steps his Department is taking to reduce

instances of suicide amongst people with autism.

Ms Nadine Dorries:

[Holding answer 2 July 2020]: The fourth progress report of the cross-Government

suicide prevention strategy recognises autistic people as a high-risk group, and the

NHS Long Term Plan reaffirms the National Health Service’s commitment to make

suicide prevention a priority over the next decade. This Plan will see investment in all

areas of the country by 2023/24 to support local suicide prevention plans and

establish suicide bereavement support services.

We are also revisiting the work to refresh the autism strategy, working closely with

the Department for Education and other Government departments. As part of this

work and as a key priority, we will consider what further action can be taken to

support autistic children and young people to maintain good mental health and to

prevent instances of suicide.

Cardiovascular System: Diseases

Lee Anderson: [64350]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what measurable outcomes the

NHS Health Check programme has delivered for cardiovascular disease patients.

Jo Churchill:

An evidence synthesis commissioned by Public Health England in 2017 shows that

higher levels of chronic kidney disease, hypertension, familial hypercholesterolaemia,

peripheral vascular disease and type 2 diabetes are detected among people having

an NHS Health Check compared to standard care. A small but significant subsequent




decrease in stroke was also reported among NHS Health Check attendees as well as

favourable changes in blood pressure, body mass index, and modelled

cardiovascular risk.

The report can be accessed at the following link:

http://www.healthcheck.nhs.uk/seecmsfile/?id=306%5d

PHE have been commissioned by the Department to deliver an evidence-based

review of the NHS Health Check programme, to inform action which will ensure it

remains fit for purpose for the next 10 years and beyond.

Children: Obesity

Rosie Cooper: [64117]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his

Department has made of the potential for a rise in childhood obesity as a result of

inactivity during the covid-19 lockdown; and what steps he will take to tackle that issue.

Jo Churchill:

While schools have been closed to some pupils the Government has taken steps to

support those who have had restricted opportunity to exercise while at home. As part

of its guidance on remote education provision the Government has published online

educational resources approved by subject experts for schools and parents to help

children to take part in PE and physical activity. In addition, Sport England have free

online content to help children and their families get active at home through their Join

the Movement campaign.

The Change4Life website also includes information on how to keep children active,

including links to online resources and providers, such as games and activities, as

well as advice for accessible activities for disabled children and is available at the

following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/change4life/activities

The Government is working to ensure that schools are fully supported as they

welcome more children back to school and schools are able to give pupils

opportunities to be physically active during the school day.

Many of the measures in the three chapters of the childhood obesity plan will have an

impact on tackling obesity. These include the soft drinks industry levy, sugar

reduction and wider calorie reformulation programme, restricting promotions and

calorie labelling in restaurants which will improve children’s eating habits and reduce

the amount of sugar they consume.

We remain committed to reviewing what more can be done and will continue to

monitor progress and emerging evidence.






Cholesterol: Screening


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to

ensure that patients can access cholesterol checks (a) during and (b) after the covid-19

outbreak.

Jo Churchill:

Cholesterol is tested as part of the NHS Health Check programme and will be

available to eligible people once service delivery resumes.

In addition to the NHS Health Check programme, those patients with medical

conditions that require monitoring of cholesterol will have this done in the usual way

through primary medical care services.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Coronavirus

Ben Lake: [61759]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made

of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on trends in the level of post-viral complications in

relation to people with ME.

Jo Churchill:

Public Health England has made no assessment on the effect of the COVID-19

outbreak on trends in the level of post-viral complications in relation to people with

myalgic encephalomyelitis.

Coronavirus: Dental Services

Preet Kaur Gill: [31605]


of the spread of covid-19 in dental practice settings.

Jo Churchill:

The Chief Dental Officer with NHS England and NHS Improvement has published

detailed guidance on minimising spread of COVID-19 to dentists or patients. The

series started on 20 March, including standard operating practice which was

published on 15 April.

This, along with the guidance from Public Health England on levels of personal

protective equipment (PPE) required for dental procedures that are aerosol

generating, has given dentists detailed advice on how dentistry can be safely

delivered during the peak pandemic period.

NHS dentists were instructed to suspend all routine dentistry to meet social

distancing guidelines and reduce the spread of Covid-19. All NHS dental practices

are required to provide telephone advice, prescriptions if needed and triage on to

urgent dental centres for patients with urgent treatment needs.

The series of guidance is available at the following link:




https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/primary-care/dental-practice/

NHS England and NHS Improvement announced on 28th May that NHS dentistry

outside urgent care centres could begin to restart from 8th June with the aim of

increasing levels of service as fast as is compatible with maximising safety.

A copy of the letter that was published can be found at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/wp-ontent/uploads/sites/52/2020/03/Urgent-

dental-care-letter-28-May.pdf

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Alex Norris: [54232]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, as more employees are

encouraged to return to work where it is safe to do so, what Government support and

guidance he plans to make available to family members of people at the highest risk from

covid-19 where those family members are employed in public facing roles.

Jo Churchill:

[Holding answer 8 June 2020]: People living with someone who has been identified

as being at highest clinical risk are advised to familiarise themselves with the

guidance on shielding and protecting people who are clinically extremely vulnerable

from COVID-19 at the following link:

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#living-with-other-people

They should also follow the national guidance on staying alert and safe (social

distancing) which is available at the following link:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/staying-alert-and-safe-social-

distancing/staying-alert-and-safe-social-distancing

People living with someone who is clinically extremely vulnerable and is shielding do

not need to start shielding themselves.

Afzal Khan: [59594]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish weekly

regional R rate figures for covid-19.

Jo Churchill:

The Government Office for Science currently publishes the latest estimates of R in

NHS England regions on a weekly basis and these are available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-r-number-in-the-uk


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 18

June to Question 56054 on Coronavirus: disease control, for what reasons he has not

made an assessment of the trends in the level of the potency of covid-19.



https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/wp-ontent/uploads/sites/52/2020/03/Urgent-dental-care-letter-28-May.pdf




http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/staying-alert-and-safe-social-distancing/staying-alert-and-safe-social-distancing







Jo Churchill:

Public Health England does not collect data on ‘potency’ as it is not a recognised

scientific term/method for evaluating COVID-19 infection.


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he has made an assessment

of the prevalence of patients experiencing covid-19 symptoms for longer than three

weeks.

Jo Churchill:

[Holding answer 29 June 2020]: Public Health England has made no assessment of

the prevalence of patients experiencing COVID-19 symptoms for longer than three

weeks.


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the

Government's recent announcement that people at high risk from coronavirus will no

longer be advised to shield from 1 August 2020, if he will make it his policy to issue

personalised information to those people on the levels of (a) their personal risk and (b)

the risks of different activities that they may undertake.

Jo Churchill:

The National Health Service has asked service providers, including general

practitioners (GPs), to undertake a series of actions to support people who have been

asked to shield. This includes ensuring every shielding individual has a named care

coordinator to help them with their healthcare and any changing or emerging health

needs. People should continue to talk to their GP if they have concerns about their

ongoing treatment.

National advice to clinically extremely vulnerable people who are shielding is set out

at the following link:



extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19

Coronavirus: Kent

Tom Tugendhat: [59824]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people are included

on the Shielded Patient List in (a) Tonbridge and Malling constituency, (b) Tonbridge and

Malling Borough and (c) Sevenoaks District.

Jo Churchill:

The information requested is not held at this local level.



http://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





Coronavirus: Pollution

Geraint Davies: [64044]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had

with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the implications for

Government policy of Queen Mary University's research on the biological link between air

pollution and coronavirus.



with Cabinet colleagues on the effects of air pollution on people contracting covid-19.


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an

assessment of the implications for his policies of the report of the all-party group on air

pollution entitled Air Quality Strategy to Reduce Coronavirus Infection published on 29

May 2020.

Jo Churchill:

[Holding answer 29 June 2020]: Poor air quality is the largest environmental risk to

public health in the United Kingdom and there is emerging evidence suggesting an

association between exposure to air pollution and COVID-19 mortality. However,

many of the papers are, as yet, not peer-reviewed and are of variable quality.

In April, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ independent Air

Quality Expert Group, with input from the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air

Pollutants, launched a call for evidence to help with assessing the impact of the

pandemic and air quality. This work will be published in due course.

The Department continues to have extensive discussions with the Department for

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and other departments on the relationship

between health and air quality.

Coronavirus: Public Health

Grahame Morris: [55947]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps have been taken by

(a) the Government, (b) Public Health England and (c) NHS England to test the

effectiveness of the covid-19 guidance and related public communications with (a) adults

aged 60 and over, (b) people designated as clinically vulnerable and (c) people

designated as clinically extremely vulnerable.

Jo Churchill:

[Holding answer 11 June 2020]: The Department, Public Health England and NHS

England and NHS Improvement have engaged widely with clinicians, patients and

patient organisations on policy and communications aimed at those people

designated as clinically extremely vulnerable. This includes organising a number of

focus groups to better understand how messages and communication channels on





shielding have landed with audiences including those who are 70 and over and

people who identify as clinically extremely vulnerable and clinically vulnerable. These

insights continue to inform our communications.

Coronavirus: Social Distancing

Jonathan Ashworth: [60756]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his

Department's Guidance on shielding and protecting people who are clinically extremely

vulnerable from covid-19, what plans he has to revise that guidance as the covid-19

social distancing measures are lifted.

Jo Churchill:

On 22 June 2020, the Department set out a series of steps to relax the shielding

guidance until shielding is paused on 31 July 2020. Full details are set out in the

advice to clinically extremely vulnerable people at the following link:




Death Certificates


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timeframe is for the

reintroduction of the certification of death processes as the covid-19 lockdown restrictions

are eased.

Ms Nadine Dorries:

[Holding answer 2 July 2020]: The Coronavirus Act 2020 was designed to support

public services in dealing with the effects of the pandemic as well as directly tackling

it. We will keep those elements of the Act that continue to be necessary – either

currently or where future risks still exist. The necessity of maintaining any temporary

provision will need to be judged by its effectiveness in meeting its policy objective.

The Government will set out the details of such assessments in the six month report

due in September (subject to the Parliamentary calendar). These assessments will of

course be guided by the scientific advice we receive.

Dental Services

Scott Mann: [52260]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has

to reopen dental treatment services as part of the Government’s easing of covid-19

lockdown restrictions.

Jo Churchill:

To meet the Government social distancing measures and to contain the spread of

COVID-19 all routine dentistry was suspended at the start of the pandemic.








NHS England and NHS Improvement announced on 28 May that National Health

Service dentistry outside urgent care centres will begin to gradually restart from 8

June where practices assess that they have the necessary personal protective

equipment and infection prevention and control. The aim is to increase levels of

service as fast as is compatible with maximising safety.


https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/wp-content/uploads/sites/52/2020/03/Urgent-


We still expect all NHS dental practices to provide urgent telephone advice and

triage. Dentists are giving urgent advice remotely and, if needed, prescriptions for

painkillers or antibiotics. All urgent face to face treatment that is clinically necessary

will still be available for patients who are triaged by their dentist or NHS 111 into one

of over 600 urgent dental care centres set up by NHS England and NHS

Improvement.

To support dentists and teams to reopen safely NHS England and NHS Improvement

and the Chief Dental Officer have published a standard operating procedure covering

the recovery transition.

This can be found at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/publication/dental-standard-operating-

procedure-transition-to-recovery/

Dental Services: Coronavirus

Julian Sturdy: [51920]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department plans to

set out a timetable for the resumption of routine dental services.

Jo Churchill:

To meet the Government social distancing measures and to contain the spread of

COVID-19 all routine dentistry was suspended at the start of the pandemic.

NHS England and NHS Improvement announced on 28 May that National Health

Service dentistry outside urgent care centres will begin to gradually restart from 8

June where practices assess that they have the necessary personal protective

equipment and infection prevention and control. The aim is to increase levels of

service as fast as is compatible with maximising safety.


https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/wp-content/uploads/sites/52/2020/03/Urgent-


We still expect all NHS dental practices to provide urgent telephone advice and

triage. Dentists are giving urgent advice remotely and, if needed, prescriptions for

painkillers or antibiotics. All urgent face to face treatment that is clinically necessary

will still be available for patients who are triaged by their dentist or NHS 111 into one

https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/wp-content/uploads/sites/52/2020/03/Urgent-dental-care-letter-28-May.pdf



https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/publication/dental-standard-operating-procedure-transition-to-recovery/







of over 600 urgent dental care centres set up by NHS England and NHS

Improvement.

To ensure the safety of all dental care professionals and patients NHS England and

NHS Improvement and the Chief Dental Officer have published the latest standard

operating procedure guidance.

This can be found at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/publication/dental-standard-operating-

procedure-transition-to-recovery/

Mr Stephen Morgan: [58773]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is

taking to assist dental practices in training staff to comply with covid-19 guidelines.

Jo Churchill:

[Holding answer 16 June 2020]: NHS England and NHS Improvement announced on

28 May that National Health Service dental services can gradually resume from 8

June. Over 600 urgent dental centres remain open to assist with the resumption of

routine dentistry, and provide care.

NHS England and NHS Improvement published a series of guidance throughout the

pandemic to support dental practices. The latest guidance can be found at the

following link:


The guidance includes:

- NHS England and NHS Improvement letter issued to all dental practices, regional

dental leads of the resumption of dental services;

- A detailed standard operating procedure was issued setting out guidance on how to

restart dentistry safely; and

- Public Health England published guidance to dental practices and other health care

professionals on infection control protocols and personal protective equipment.

Dental Services: Protective Clothing


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is

taking to assist dental practices to procure the personal protective equipment required to

safely reopen after 8 June 2020.



of the adequacy of the level of personal protective equipment used in dental practices for

the safety of (a) dentists and (b) patients.











of the effect of the cost of personal protective equipment on the ability of dental practices

to open during the covid-19 outbreak.

Jo Churchill:

[Holding answer 16 June 2020]: Most high street dentists purchase personal

protective equipment (PPE) via dental wholesalers which supply a range of

equipment needed by dentists including PPE. During the COVID-19 pandemic the

Government is working closely with industry, the National Health Service, social care

providers and the army to ensure that PPE is delivered to those who need it. Our

priority is ensuring the safety of patients and all health care workers, including

dentists. This includes supporting dental wholesalers to stock the equipment needed

by general dental practice to safely support practices to restart face to face dental

care.

Public Health England provides guidance on infection prevention and control (IPC) for

COVID-19 which covers both the PPE to be used by sector and the enhanced PPE

that is needed for particular procedures such as those that are aerosol generating.

The latest IPC guidance can be viewed at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/wuhan-novel-coronavirus-infection-

prevention-and-control

NHS England and NHS Improvement issued additionally detailed standard operating

procedure earlier this month setting out detailed guidance on how dentists can restart

face to face dentistry safely.

NHS England and NHS Improvement dental guidance is available at the following

link:


Dentists are responsible for ensuring that they follow safe clinical practice taking into

account available official guidance.

As independent contractors, dentists are currently required to fund PPE and other

expenses from their overall contract value. In the short term PPE costs should not be

a barrier to restarting NHS dentistry. NHS dentists have been, since practice based

face to face care was suspended at the end of March, nevertheless been receiving

their usual funding in full and this is continuing during the restart period. NHS

England and NHS Improvement are considering with representatives of the

profession the approach to overall remuneration for the remainder of 2020/21.


https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/wuhan-novel-coronavirus-infection-prevention-and-control





Domestic Abuse: LGBT People

Alex Cunningham: [64911]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is

taking to tackle the effect on the mental health of LGBTQ+ young people living in abusive

households during the covid-19 outbreak.

Ms Nadine Dorries:

Mental health services have remained open for business throughout, and NHS

England and NHS Improvement has asked mental health trusts to ensure they have

24 hours a day, seven days a week open access telephone lines in place for urgent

National Health Service mental health support, advice and triage.

We provided £5 million to Mind and the Mental Health Consortia to administer a

Coronavirus Mental Health Response Fund. It complements NHS services and

support for those struggling with their mental health, including vulnerable people such

as survivors of domestic abuse. We also announced a further £4.2 million to support

mental health charities as part of our United Kingdom-wide £750 million package of

support for the voluntary sector. This package also includes £76 million of funding to

support survivors of domestic abuse, sexual violence and modern slavery as well as

ensuring that vulnerable children and young people continue to get the help they

need.

Exercise Cygnus

Liz Twist: [62558]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish the

Exercise Cygnus report and its related documents.

Jo Churchill:

The publication of the Exercise Cygnus report is currently subject to ongoing legal

proceedings, so it would be inappropriate to comment at this point.

Eyesight: Health Services



taking to ensure individuals with (a) glaucoma and (b) other eye conditions are diagnosed

and treated quickly as the covid-19 lockdown is eased.

Jo Churchill:

[Holding answer 25 June 2020]: National Health Service guidance was issued in

April asking local systems to step up non-COVID-19 urgent services as soon as

possible. This included the need to provide urgent outpatient and diagnostic

appointments at pre-COVID-19 levels, including those urgently needed for eye-

related conditions. The NHS is now working to increasingly resume the routine

elective services that were paused in order help manage COVID-19.

The guidance can be found at the following link:




https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/wp-

content/uploads/sites/52/2020/04/second-phase-of-nhs-response-to-covid-19-letter-

to-chief-execs-29-april-2020.pdf

Gender Recognition: Mental Health Services

Mr Andrew Mitchell: [64080]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his

Department has taken to improve the provision of mental health support for young people

who identify as transgender.

Ms Nadine Dorries:

Our NHS Long Term Plan ambitions for service transformation and expansion include

that, by 2023/24, an additional 345,000 more children and young people should have

access to National Health Service funded mental health support. This includes for

young people who identify as transgender.

The mental health support teams in and around schools, which we introduced

through our children and young people’s mental health Green Paper, are part of this

service expansion and transformation. As set out in the Plan, mental health support

teams will receive information and training to help them support young people more

likely to face mental health issues – such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender

individuals.

General Practitioners: Training

Jim Shannon: [63344]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will introduce a bursary

scheme for people who train to be GP's and commit to a five year tenure in local

surgeries.

Jo Churchill:

We are considering a number of measures to increase the recruitment and retention

of general practitioners (GPs) to deliver ourcommitment of 6,000 more doctors in

general practice, but there are no current plans to introduce a bursary scheme for all

people who train as GPs to commit to a five-year tenure in general practice.

The Targeted Enhanced Recruitment Scheme (TERS) is an initiative that offers a

one-off, salary supplement of £20,000 to GP trainees committed to working in a

select number of training places in England that have been hard to recruit to for the

past three years.

Trainees receive the TERS payment once they have signed an agreement to

complete the three-year placement, with no relocation option. Should a trainee leave

training before completing the three-year placement, they are required to make a pro-

rata repayment of the supplement.

Further schemes that will support retention of early career GPs include the two-year

Primary Care Fellowship Programme and the New to Partnership Payment, which will

https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/wp-content/uploads/sites/52/2020/04/second-phase-of-nhs-response-to-covid-19-letter-to-chief-execs-29-april-2020.pdf






launch later in the year after a brief pause due to COVID-19. The New to Partnership

Payment will offer new partners a £3,000 business training allowance and one-off

payment of £20,000 to support their establishment as a new partner. NHS England

and NHS Improvement envisage this loan will convert to a permanent payment after

a minimum number of years of service. Further guidance will be published in due

course.

Health


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department plans to

publish an updated version of the 22 July 2019 Green Paper entitled, Advancing our

health: prevention in the 2020s following the outcome of his recent consultation.

Jo Churchill:

The Prevention Green Paper ‘Advancing our health: prevention in the 2020s’

consultation closed on 14 October 2019 and attracted over 1,600 responses. Due to

the COVID-19 pandemic the response has been delayed. We intend to publish the

Government response in due course.

Health: Screening


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department

has made on reviewing the NHS Health Check as outlined in the Prevention Green Paper

published in 2019.

Jo Churchill:

The NHS Health Check programme is playing an important role in tackling the burden

of preventable diseases. Building on 10 years’ experience of the programme, the

Government has commissioned Public Health England to undertake an evidence-

based review of the NHS Health Check programme, in light of advances in medical

and behavioural science; new digital technology, and opportunities for more

innovative implementation.

The Review is being led by University College London’s Professor John Deanfield,

advised by an expert panel and informed by UK and international evidence. It will

build on gains delivered so far and consider what action is needed to maximise

impact over the next 10 years and beyond. The Review is expected to report by

spring 2021.

Healthy Start Scheme: Internet

Caroline Lucas: [63299]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy for

the Healthy Start voucher scheme to be available online as well as via a paper

application form; and if he will make a statement.




Jo Churchill:

The Government has been working to review the operation of the Healthy Start

Scheme and is currently developing a digital approach, which will make it easier for

families to apply for, receive and use their Healthy Start benefits.

This involves developing and testing an online application form, to replace the paper

form, and a pre-paid card to replace paper vouchers. We are using the experiences

of families, healthcare professionals, local authorities, voluntary sector organisations

and existing best practice to improve the Healthy Start scheme.

Hospitals: Coronavirus


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS England plans to

use the Nightingale units to help hospitals restore (a) elective surgery and (b) other

services that have been impeded by the covid-19 outbreak.

Edward Argar:

The Nightingale hospitals were built primarily for ventilated COVID-19 patients or

COVID-19 step down patients and currently do not have operating theatres or other

standard facilities required for elective surgery. Regions and host trusts are now

considering future use and the Nightingales will be an important part of ensuring the

National Health Service has enough beds to cope over the next period.

Industrial Health and Safety: Coronavirus

Zarah Sultana: [61813]


taking with the Health & Safety Executive to ensure that (a) workplaces are safe as

people return to work and (b) employers are being supported in adhering to new safety

guidelines.

Jo Churchill:

[Holding answer 24 June 2020]: The Government strategy to tackle the COVID-19

pandemic spans many Departments and agencies, including the Health and Safety

Executive. The Government has provided a range of support and guidance for

employers on working safely, including specific guidance for industries and sectors,

which can be accessed at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

Liverpool Community Health NHS Trust Independent Review


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on what date he plans to lay

before Parliament the Liverpool Community Health independent investigation terms of

reference.






Ms Nadine Dorries:

[Holding answer 6 July 2020]: The Terms of Reference for the Liverpool Community

Health Independent Investigation have been agreed and will be published shortly.


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the (a) start date is and

(b) panel members are for the independent investigation into Liverpool Community

Health.

Ms Nadine Dorries:

[Holding answer 6 July 2020]: The Liverpool Community Health Investigation was

launched in June 2019 and work has begun. The Inquiry comprises three Stages.

Stage 1 covered the scale of the issues and Stage 2 was a clinical and structured

judgement review alongside Stage 1. Work on Stages 1 and 2 was completed in

August 2019.

Stage 3 will investigate individual serious patient safety incidents identified from the

previous two stages to establish the nature and scale of deaths and patient harm at

the Liverpool Community Health NHS Trust from 2010 to 2014.

The Investigation has identified a number of expert advisors to assist the Chairman

and details will be confirmed when the Terms of Reference covering Stage 3 are

published in Parliament.

Meat: Inspections

Daniel Zeichner: [62445]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many instances of (a)

pneumonia and (b) septic pneumonia were identified at official post-mortem inspection

and prevented from entering the food chain by officials working for and on behalf of the

Food Standards Agency performing meat inspections on red meat animals from 1

January 2014 to 31 March 2020.

Jo Churchill:

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) holds the following data. For the period 1 January

2014 – 31 March 2020 the following instances were identified at post-mortem and

prevented from entering the food chain:

CONDITION NUMBER OF INSTANCES

Pneumonia 5,121,649

Septic Pneumonia 150,099

In 2015/16 the FSA, through consultation, with the Association of Meat Inspectors,

meat hygiene inspectors, industry representatives, other Government departments,

devolved administrations, academic organisations, internal and external veterinarians



and others developed a more defined and actionable list of conditions surrounding

animal health, public health and animal welfare.



pericarditis, (b) septic pericarditis, (c) peritonitis and (d) septic peritonitis were identified at

official post-mortem inspection and prevented from entering the food chain by officials

working for and on behalf of the Food Standards Agency performing meat inspections on

red meat animals from 1 January 2014 to 31 March 2020.

Jo Churchill:





Pericarditis 1,262,174

*Septic pericarditis *Not Specifically Recorded

Peritonitis 1,091,733

Septic peritonitis 186,786






Note:

*With red meat, the condition septic pericarditis is not specifically recorded and is

recorded against the condition septicaemia.


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many instances of

abscesses in offal and carcasses were identified at official post-mortem inspection and

prevented from entering the food chain by officials working for and on behalf of the Food

Standards Agency performing meat inspections on red meat animals from 1 January

2014 to 31 March 2020.

Jo Churchill:







Abscesses in offal and carcasses 2,132,131







To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many instances of animals

with (a) oedema, (b) emaciation and (c) bruising and trauma were identified at official

post-mortem inspection and prevented from entering the food chain by officials working

for and on behalf of the Food Standards Agency performing meat inspections on red

meat animals from 1 January 2014 to 31 March 2020.

Jo Churchill:





*Oedema *470,701

*Emaciation

Bruising and trauma 454,600






Note :

*The conditions Oedema and Emaciation are not recorded separately and are

combined in the Food Standards Agency Collection and Communication of Inspection

Results IT system. The 470,701 number of instances represents the cumulative

number of emaciation and oedema cases identified at post-mortem inspection.


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many instances of animals

with (a) septicaemia, (b) tumours and (c) pyaemia were identified at official post-mortem



inspection and prevented from entering the food chain by officials working for and on

behalf of the Food Standards Agency performing meat inspections on red meat animals

from 1 January 2014 to 31 March 2020.

Jo Churchill:





Septicaemia 359,692

Tumours 13,201

Pyaemia 450,396








hydronephrosis, (b) lymphadenitis, (c) tuberculosis and (d) steatosis were identified at

official post-mortem inspection and prevented from entering the food chain by officials

working for and on behalf of the Food Standards Agency performing meat inspections on

red meat animals from 1 January 2014 to 31 March 2020.

Jo Churchill:





Hydronephrosis 1,266,255

*Lymphadenitis *Not Specifically Recorded

Tuberculosis 314,726

*Steatosis *Not Specifically Recorded







Note:

*With red meat, conditions identified at post-mortem inspection point that are not

specifically recorded by name are recorded into the FSA Collection and

Communication of Inspection Results IT system as ‘Other’.



nephritis and (b) septic nephritis were identified at official post-mortem inspection and

prevented from entering the food chain by officials working for and on behalf of the Food

Standards Agency performing meat inspections on red meat animals from 1 January

2014 to 31 March 2020.

Jo Churchill:





Nephritis 261,209

*Septic nephritis *Not Specifically Recorded






Note :

*With red meat, conditions identified at post-mortem inspection point that are not

specifically recorded by name are recorded into the FSA IT system as ‘Other’.



erysipelas in pigs, (b) actinobacillosis and (c) actinomycosis were identified at official

post-mortem inspection and prevented from entering the food chain by officials working

for and on behalf of the Food Standards Agency performing meat inspections on red

meat animals from 1 January 2014 to 31 March 2020.

Jo Churchill:







Erysipelas in pigs 22,731

Actinobacillosis 4,367

Actinomycosis 2,773






Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Paul Holmes: [66236]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of the child and

adolescent mental health services budget was allocated for service provision for (a)

children under the age of 10 (b) children under the age of 5 in each year since 2015-16;

and if he will make a statement.

Ms Nadine Dorries:

This information is not held at this level of granularity. National Health Service

commissioning organisations are responsible for deciding what funding is allocated to

specific services.

Mental Health Services: Schools



taking to improve access to mental health services in (a) primary and (b) secondary

schools.

Ms Nadine Dorries:

We remain committed to investing at least £2.3 billion of extra funding a year into

mental health services by 2023-24 through the NHS Long Term Plan. This will see an

additional 345,000 children and young people able to access support through

National Health Service-funded services or school- and college-based mental health

support teams.

Mental health support teams, which we are introducing in line with our children and

young people’s mental health Green Paper, are part of this service expansion and

transformation. We remain committed to delivering the other core proposals of the

Green Paper, which will pilot a four-week waiting time for specialist NHS services, so

that there is swifter access to specialist NHS services.



Mental Health Services: Sutton Coldfield


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has

made of the (a) availability and (b) average waiting times for therapeutic services for

mental health conditions in Sutton Coldfield.

Ms Nadine Dorries:

Birmingham and Solihull Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), which covers the

Sutton Coldfield area, reports that waiting times for Improving Access to

Psychological Therapies services remain above the national target for access. In

quarter four of 2019/20 (the most recent published figures), across the CCG’s area,

94% of people received support within six weeks, against a national standard of 75%.

Midwives

Sir David Amess: [63195]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) home birth

services and (b) midwifery units temporarily closed after 1 March 2020; and on what date

each of those units reopened.

Rosie Duffield: [63457]


services and (b) midwifery units in England have been temporarily closed since 1 March

2020; for what period of time those services were closed; and how many have now

reopened.

Ms Nadine Dorries:

[Holding answer 29 June 2020]: This information is not currently held in the format

requested.

Midwives: Coronavirus

Stella Creasy: [66055]


services and (b) midwifery units temporarily closed between 1 March 2020 to date due to

the covid-19 outbreak; for how long each such service was closed; and how many of

those services have since reopened.

Ms Nadine Dorries:

[Holding answer 2 July 2020]: This information is not currently held in the format

requested.





National Institute for Health and Care Excellence



taking to improve the methodology used by NICE to appraise combination therapies in

the ongoing NICE Methods Review.

Jo Churchill:

[Holding answer 22 June 2020]: The National Institute for Health and Care

Excellence (NICE) is an independent body and is responsible for the methods it uses

in developing its guidance. While NICE is currently undertaking a review of its

methods for health technology evaluation, the review is not considering combination

treatments as a specific topic.

Commercial and policy-related challenges for combination treatments are being

explored in other projects in line with the commitments in the Voluntary Scheme for

Branded Medicines Pricing and Access. As stated in the Scheme, the Department

and NHS England and NHS Improvement will support the Association of the British

Pharmaceutical Industry’s efforts to find solutions to these challenges.

NHS Trusts: Maternity Services

Sir David Amess: [63194]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS Trusts have

provided standard-of-care access to all four birthing options during the covid-19 outbreak.

Rosie Duffield: [63456]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS Trusts in

England have provided full standard-of-care access to all four birthing options as set out

by NICE in each week since 1 March 2020.

Ms Nadine Dorries:

[Holding answer 29 June 2020]: This information is not currently held in the format

requested.

Obesity: Children


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Childhood

Obesity Plan, when the calorie reduction programme will be implemented; and whether

that programme will be mandatory.

Jo Churchill:

[Holding answer 25 June 2020]: Public Health England has been working to finalise

the calorie reduction guidelines following extensive feedback from stakeholders. It is

anticipated that the calorie reduction guidelines will be published later this year as

part of the reduction and reformulation programme. The programme is voluntary as

modelled by the salt reduction programme.





Ophthalmic Services: Coronavirus



with the College of Optometrists on enabling opticians to safely resume their services as

the covid-19 lockdown is eased.


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when opticians will be able to

reopen for routine appointments as part of the easing of the covid-19 lockdown.

Jo Churchill:

[Holding answer 25 June 2020]: NHS England and NHS Improvement have been in

discussion with the College, over plans to restart NHS eye care services.

NHS England and NHS Improvement issued a letter and Standard Operating

Procedure to the profession on 17 June setting out that practices are able to resume

routine NHS eye care services, where practices have the relevant infection protection

control and personal protection equipment in place. The letter also refers to guidance

issued by the College of Optometrists, setting out ways in which practices could be

adapted in the current circumstances. NHS England and NHS Improvement’s

guidance can be found at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/primary-care/optical-setting/

Pharmacy



with relevant stakeholders on enabling pharmacists to use their professional judgement to

support patient access to appropriate treatment when a medicine is out of stock.

Jo Churchill:

The Department engages on an ongoing basis with representatives from the

community pharmacy sector.

The Department has well established processes to manage and mitigate the supply

problems that may arise due to manufacturing or distribution issues and this has

always been the case. It receives regular reports from the pharmaceutical industry

about issues which may potentially interrupt the supply of medicines that may affect

United Kingdom patients. Where shortages do occur, pharmacists are expected to

use their professional judgement in deciding the best course of action for their

patients.


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had

discussions with the pharmacy sector on enhancing the minor ailments scheme to utilise

the skills and knowledge of pharmacists and reduce the pressure on GPs and A&E

waiting times.







Jo Churchill:

The five-year deal on the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF),

published by the Department in July 2019 for England, sets out an expanded role for

community pharmacy across prevention, urgent care and medicine safety. It will

provide accessible and convenient healthcare, allowing people to quickly access a

much wider range of services and health advice, in the heart of their community,

reliving pressure on general practitioner (GP) practices and other parts of the health

service, including accident and emergency services.

Pharmacy: Coronavirus


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to use

community pharmacies to support future covid-19 treatment and vaccine programmes

and help reduce pressures on GPs and hospitals.

Jo Churchill:

Plans for the supply of any COVID-19 treatments and vaccination programme will be

finalised when further information is available on the medicines concerned. This

includes route of administration and risk profile. However, we recognise that

community pharmacy has proved a trusted delivery partner, offering convenience and

unrivalled access, supplying medicines and expanding the reach of the flu

vaccination programme into the communities they serve.

Pharmacy: Finance

Mr Richard Holden: [60886]


with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on a transitional funding package for community

pharmacists (a) before and (b) during the covid-19 outbreak.

Jo Churchill:

In July 2019, we published our landmark five-year deal, ‘Community Pharmacy

Contractual Framework’. This deal made £2.592 billion per year available to

community pharmacy from 2019-20 to 2023-24. It was agreed in line with the Cabinet

Office’s cross-Government collective agreement process.

The Department has had regular conversations with HM Treasury during the COVID-

19 period about funding for community pharmacies. In addition to the unprecedented

support package put in place for all businesses, further discussions are ongoing and

we have agreed additional funding for a medicines delivery service for shielded

patients and bank holiday openings.

Pharmacy: Rural Areas

Anthony Mangnall: [62635]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has

made of the trends in the level of (a) closures and (b) reduction in the opening hours of




rural pharmacies; and what assessment he has made of the effect on access to

pharmacy services of reductions in the level of public transport services.

Jo Churchill:

Whilst the Department does not track closures of rural pharmacies, we track the

closure of those pharmacies that are more than a mile from their next nearest

pharmacy. Since 2017, there have been 18, with no discernible trend in the closures.

No assessment has been made of reduced opening hours or the effect of any

reduction in public transport on access. NHS England and NHS Improvement closely

monitor closures to ensure that National Health Service pharmaceutical services

continue to be provided. Depending on the area, this maybe through other

pharmacies that patients can access in the area, dispensing doctors and/or distance

selling pharmacies.

The Government also paid for a medicines delivery service for people while shielding

and, during the peak of the pandemic, enabled pharmacies to close to the public for

two hours a day to help deal with the increased number of telephone calls, for advice

on health and medicines, from the public, who preferred not to visit the pharmacy in

person.

Pharmacy: Screening


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to

empower community pharmacists to conduct NHS Health Checks as outlined in the NHS

Long Term Plan.

Jo Churchill:

As part of their public health role, it is for local authorities to determine from whom

they commission NHS Health Checks, including from community pharmacies.

The Government has commissioned an evidence-based review of the NHS Health

Check programme from Public Health England with a view to maximising its benefits,

and this is expected to consider and make recommendations on issues such as

mode of delivery and clinical follow-up.

The NHS Long Term Plan recognised that “cardiovascular disease is the single

biggest area where the NHS can save lives over the next 10 years”, principally

through secondary prevention of heart attacks and strokes. NHS England is testing

the most promising approaches, including through local pharmacies, for detecting

hitherto undiagnosed high-risk conditions such as high blood pressure, raised

cholesterol, and atrial fibrillation.

The Healthy Living Pharmacy concept has provided an opportunity for community

pharmacy teams, who represent the communities they serve, to focus on consistently

delivering high quality health improvement interventions, including NHS Health

Checks.


Postnatal Care: Mental Health Services


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the age adjusted access

rate for perinatal mental health beds per 100,000 population is in each (a) Clinical

Commissioning Group and (b) local authority area for the latest period for which figures

are available..

Ms Nadine Dorries:

[Holding answer 30 June 2020]: Mother and baby unit admissions data is available

by the patient’s originating clinical commissioning group (CCG). The number of

admissions per CCG falls below the level that would be reported and the data are

thereby suppressed under the disclosure controls applied to the data.

The information is not held at local authority level.

Poultry Meat: Inspections



faecal contamination, (b) tumours, (c) egg impaction and (d) septiceamia and fever were

identified by post-mortem inspection of poultry and prevented from entering the food

chain from 1 January 2013 to 31 March 2020.

Jo Churchill:





1 Contamination 13,379,989

Tumours 1,446,971

2 Egg impaction *Not Specifically Recorded

3 Septiceamia and fever 17,346,319

Notes:

1 The FSA does not separately record faecal contamination during post-mortem

inspection. All types of contamination (faecal, grease, wool, hair etc) are recorded as

contamination.

2 With poultry, conditions identified at post-mortem inspection point that are not

specifically recorded by name are recorded into the FSA CCIR IT system as either

‘Other Factory’ (processing) or ‘Other farm’ (for example jaundice, Oregon, white

muscle).



3 Septiceamia and fever are recorded as abnormal colour and are within the total

figure of 17,346,319.



cellulitis, (b) dermatitis, (c) ascites and (d) salpingitis were identified by post-mortem

inspection of poultry and prevented from entering the food chain from 1 January 2013 to

31 March 2020.

Jo Churchill:





Cellulitis 13,567,060

Dermatitis 1,656,566

Ascites 20,720,105

Salpingitis 637,150



peritonitis, (b) hepatitis, (c) pericarditis and (d) aspergillosis were identified by post-

mortem inspection of poultry and prevented from entering the food chain from 1 January

2013 to 31 March 2020.

Jo Churchill:





Peritonitis 7,206,870

Hepatitis 11,508,455

Pericarditis 6,538,354

*Aspergillosis *Not Specifically Recorded

Note:

*With poultry, conditions identified at post-mortem inspection point that are not

specifically recorded by name are recorded into the FSA Collection and



Communication of Inspection Results IT system as either ‘Other Factory’ (processing)

or ‘Other farm’ (for example jaundice, Oregon, white muscle).


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many instances of (a) foot

infections and (b) arthritis and joint problems were identified by post-mortem inspection of

poultry and prevented from entering the food chain from 1 January 2013 to 31 March

2020.

Jo Churchill:

The Food Standards Agency holds the following data. For the period 1 January 2013

– 31 March 2020 the following instances were identified at post-mortem and



Foot infections 2,938,204

Arthritis and joint problem 2,456,789


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many instances of (a) air

sacculitis, (b) Marek's disease, (c) White muscle disease and (d) Oregon disease were

identified by post-mortem inspection of poultry and prevented from entering the food

chain from 1 January 2013 to 31 March 2020.

Jo Churchill:





Air sacculitis 1,580,147

*Marek's disease

*4,210,460 *White muscle disease

*Oregon disease

Note:

*With poultry, conditions identified at post-mortem inspection point that are not

specifically recorded by name are recorded into the FSA IT system as either ‘Other

Factory’ (processing) or ‘Other Farm’ (for example jaundice, Oregon, white muscle).



The total figure of 4,210,460 represents all ‘Other Farm’ conditions and includes the

conditions Marek’s disease, White muscle disease and Oregon.

Prisoners: Health Services

Ms Lyn Brown: [62354]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 18

June 2020 to Question 54055 on Prisoners: Health Services, if he will make those

assessments.

Ms Nadine Dorries:

No assessment is necessary as secondary care services are not provided by primary

care staff in prisons.

Primary care staff facilitate the use of remote/digital services to support consultations

carried out by secondary care staff where people in prisons have not travelled to out-

patient settings.

Pupil Premium: Coronavirus

Alexander Stafford: [61632]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has

had with the Secretary of State for Education on the potential merits of a catch-up pupil

premium for schools.

Jo Churchill:

The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care routinely meets with the Secretary

of State for Education to discuss a wide range of cross-cutting issues.

The Government have announced a £1 billion COVID-19 “catch-up” package to

directly tackle the impact of lost teaching time. On 19 June the Education Endowment

Foundation published a guide to help school leaders and staff decide how to use this

universal funding to best support their pupils. Further information is available at the

following link:

https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/public/files/Publications/Covid-

19_Resources/Covid-19_support_guide_for_schools.pdf

Russells Hall Hospital: Energy

Marco Longhi: [63519]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to

improve the energy rating of Russells Hall Hospital; and whether there are plans to install

(a) solar panels and (b) wind turbines at that hospital.

Edward Argar:

Russells Hall Hospital is owned and managed by Summit Healthcare (Dudley)

Limited as part of a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) established in 2001. Any decisions

to invest in energy efficiency schemes in relation to the building are made by Summit

Healthcare (Dudley) Limited. Summit Healthcare (Dudley) Limited would need to



https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/public/files/Publications/Covid-19_Resources/Covid-19_support_guide_for_schools.pdf




provide the investment and would benefit from any cost savings. The Trust does

encourage all staff to reduce their energy usage wherever possible and they work

with their PFI partners to ensure the use of the building is energy efficient.

Veterans: Coronavirus

Paul Girvan: [66181]


of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the health of veterans.

Ms Nadine Dorries:

In June, the Office of Veterans Affairs announced a study with King’s College London

to understand the effect of COVID-19 on former service personnel.

The study will look at whether COVID-19 has had any specific impact on the veteran

community in the United Kingdom. This will allow policy makers across Government

to understand potential issues affecting veterans and respond accordingly based on

expert advice and evidence.

The first results are expected to be published in autumn/winter 2020.

HOME OFFICE

Asylum

Sir John Hayes: [65931]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum applications

have been made in each of the last five years by people who entered the UK on a student

visa; what the top 10 countries of nationality are for those people; and what assessment

she has made of the implications for her policies of that information.



have been made in each of the last five years by people who entered the UK on a family-

related visa; what the top 10 countries of nationality are for those people; and what

assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of that information.



have been made in each of the last five years by people who entered the UK on a work

visa; what the top 10 countries of nationality are for those people; and what assessment

she has made of the implications her policies of that information.


To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people who entered

the UK as visitors claimed asylum in each of the last five years.








have been made by people who entered the UK as dependants of people coming to the

UK on other types of visas in each of the last five years.

Chris Philp:

The Home Office is unable to provide information on how many asylum applications

have been made in each of the last five years by people who entered the UK on a

student visa, on a family-related visa, a work visa, as visitors and those as

dependents of people coming to the UK on other types of visas or what the top 10

countries of nationality are of those people, as this information does not form part of

any routinely published data.

However, The Home Office do publish data on the number of asylum applications

lodged, by main applicants, broken down by nationality and can be found at

Asy_01_c of the published Immigration Statistics:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-year-ending-

march-2020/list-of-tables#asylum-and-resettlement

The Home Office also publishes data on the number of entry clearance visas, broken

down by visa type and can be found at:


march-2020/list-of-tables#entry-clearance-visas

The UK has a proud history of providing protection to those who need it, in

accordance with our international obligations under the Refugee Convention and

European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Every asylum claim is carefully

considered on its individual merits.

Asylum: Finance

Claire Hanna: [66240]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has

had with the Northern Ireland Executive on ensuring asylum seekers are adequately

supported.

Chris Philp:

Support for asylum seekers in the UK who would otherwise be destitute is a Home

Office responsibility. If an asylum seeker is in Northern Ireland and destitute, they can

apply to the Home Office via Migrant Help for the same provision as is available in

the rest of the UK. UKVI regularly engage with the NI Executive and other partners to

enable the identification, discussion and resolution of any support and

accommodation issues for asylum seekers in Belfast.



Asylum: Temporary Accommodation

Scott Benton: [66226]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applicants for asylum

have been (a) housed and (b) housed in temporary hotel or B&B accommodation in

Blackpool South constituency in each year since 2010.

Chris Philp:

The Home Office publishes quarterly figures on the number of asylum seekers

housed in dispersed accommodation, by local authority, in the Immigration Statistics

release, https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/asylum-and-

resettlement-datasets#asylum-support.

We would not disclose figures for the people we accommodate temporarily. We can

confirm that the use of hotels for contingency is permitted under the terms of the

Asylum Accommodation & Support Contracts.

British National (Overseas): Hong Kong

Lisa Nandy: [68343]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recourse to public funds

she plans to apply to people accepted under the proposed bespoke immigration route for

British Nationals (Overseas) passport holders from Hong Kong.

Kevin Foster:

As announced by the Foreign Secretary on 1st July, a new bespoke immigration

route will allow BN(O)s to apply to come to the UK without the current 6 month limit,

granting them 5 years limited leave to remain, with the ability to live and work in the

UK, after which they may apply for settled status and a year later citizenship. This is a

bespoke set of arrangements, developed for the unique circumstances we face and

in light of our historic commitment to the people of Hong Kong.

The new route will be implemented in the coming months, with further details to be

announced in due course on the simple, streamlined application process which will

have no quota on numbers.

Driving Instruction: Coronavirus

James Wild: [66220]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has

issued guidance to police forces on the suspension of driver awareness courses during

the covid-19 outbreak.

Kit Malthouse:

The management of driver awareness courses is an operational matter for individual

police forces and course providers. Due to the current coronavirus situation, all

classroom courses have been cancelled until Monday 3rd August 2020 and have

been replaced by Digital Classroom Courses.




Immigrants: Biometrics

Stella Creasy: [66855]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to Answer of 30 June

2020 to Question 63333 on Immigrants: Biometrics, under which statutory authority are

finger prints collected; within what radius of the juxtaposed controls are fingerprints

collected; and how many people have been finger printed since 15 May 2020.

Chris Philp:

There are various powers to fingerprint illegal migrants, but Border Force collect

prints under Section 141 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.

This legislation is extended to Coquelles within the Channel Tunnel (International

Arrangements) Order 1993 (SI 1993/1813).

The legislation is extended to Calais/Dunkerque within the Nationality, Immigration

and Asylum Act 2002 (Juxtaposed Controls) Order 2003.

LOCATION APPLICABLE ARTICLES

Coquelles (Eurotunnel) Articles 8, 9, 10 and 34 of the Sangatte

Protocol

Calais and Dunkerque sea ports Articles 3, 5 and 15(2) of the Le Touquet

Treaty

Fingerprinting is only undertaken within the specified UK control zones at juxtaposed

ports.

Border Force does not hold the data requested in an accessible format.

Immigrants: Finance

Kate Osamor: [66132]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people with no

recourse to public funds have applied for that condition to be lifted as a result of changes

to their financial situation since the start of the covid-19 outbreak; and how many of those

applications have been granted.

Chris Philp:

The information you have requested is not currently published by the department. We

have been in discussion with the UKSA over this issue and are investigating whether

the administrative data held by the department can provide any meaningful data in

future.


To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to

support people with no recourse to public funds who are unable to access support

through covid-19 financial support packages.




Chris Philp:

The Home Office is working closely with other government departments to support

people, including migrants with no recourse to public funds, through this pandemic

and are confident we have measures in place to support those who have no recourse

to public funds (NRPF) at this difficult time.

For those whose employment status precludes access to the Coronavirus Job

Retention Scheme and the Self-employed Income Support Scheme (neither of which

are classed as public funds), other assistance is still available. Statutory sick pay and

some other work-related benefits, such as contributory employment and support

allowance, are also available to individuals with NRPF who are eligible.

Migrants with leave under the Family and Human Rights routes can apply to have the

NRPF restriction lifted by making a ‘change of conditions’ application if there has

been a change in their financial circumstances. The Home Office has recently

digitised the application form to make sure it is accessible for those who need to

remain at home. Applications are being dealt with compassionately.

In addition, the Government has made in excess of £3.2 billion of funding to local

authorities in England, and additional funding under the Barnett formula to the

devolved administrations to enable them to respond to Covid-19 pressures across all

the services they deliver, including services helping the most vulnerable.


To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion

of immigrants on a five-year route to settlement have been moved onto a 10-year route

because they cannot meet the minimum income threshold as a result of their income

being affected by the covid-19 outbreak.

Kevin Foster:

The Home Office does not collate the information requested.

The Home Office has established a range of measures to support those affected by

the COVID-19 outbreak. We continue to monitor the situation closely and take these

exceptional circumstances into account.

To ensure spouses or partners applying for entry clearance, leave to remain or

indefinite leave are not unduly affected by circumstances beyond their control, for the

purpose of the minimum income requirement:

• a temporary loss of employment income between 1 March and 31 July 2020 due to

COVID-19 will be disregarded, provided the requirement was met for at least six

months up to March 2020;

• an applicant or sponsor furloughed under the Government’s Coronavirus Job

Retention Scheme will be deemed as earning 100% of their salary;

• a temporary loss of annual income due to COVID-19 between 1 March 2020 and

31 July 2020 will generally be disregarded for self-employment income, along with

the impact on employment income from the same period for future applications.


Income received via the Coronavirus Self-Employment Income Support Scheme

will also be taken into account;

• evidential flexibility may be applied where an applicant or sponsor experiences

difficulty accessing specified evidence due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Guidance for our customers is available on GOV.UK here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/chapter-8-appendix-fm-family-members

This also sets out the ways in which the minimum income requirement can be met

using other sources of income instead of, or along with, income from employment or

self-employment. For example, income from the couple’s investments, property rental

or pension may also be taken into account, together with their cash savings.

These are unprecedented times. We continue to monitor the situation closely and

may make further adjustments to requirements where necessary and appropriate to

ensure people are not unduly affected by circumstances beyond their control.


To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department will

take to ensure that the income of people of colour who are subject to immigration control

is not disproportionately affected during the covid-19 outbreak as a result of the no

recourse to public funds condition.

Chris Philp:

Colour is not a characteristic that is recorded separately by the Home Office and any

impact of the no recourse to public funds condition on a person of colour will be

because of immigration status. The Government has published advice and

information about the support available to migrants living here, including where they

are subject to NRPF

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-get-support-if-youre-a-migrant-

living-in-the-uk

Immigrants: Quarantine

Sarah Owen: [68436]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans the Government has

to support people without funds to self-isolate safely after entering or returning to the UK.

Kevin Foster:

We have been clear people should arrange their accommodation before they travel to

the UK and the vast majority of travellers have complied.

For the small minority who don’t, the Government will support them in finding

appropriate accommodation.

We are working to ensure non-exempt arrivals without the means to effectively self-

isolate are supported in making alternative arrangements, including accommodation,

for their period of self-isolation.



Immigration


To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people who originally

came to the UK on a study visa were granted (a) limited leave to remain and (b)

settlement after applying under the 10-year long-term residency rule in each of the last

five years.


To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion

of people granted settlement in 2019 originally entered the UK on a study visa.

Kevin Foster:

The Home Office publishes data on grants of settlement, by initial visa category, in

the annual ‘Migrant Journey’ (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/migrant-

journey-2019-report) release.

Data on grants of settlement in 2019 for those who originally entered the UK on a

study visa are published in table MJ_D02 of the Migrant Journey detailed datasets

(https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/migrant-journey-2019-report). The latest

data relate to the year 2019.

The Home Office also publishes data on grants of settlement and grants of limited

leave to remain (extensions) in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’

(https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release).

Data on grants of settlement under the long-term residency rules are published in

table se_03 of the settlement data tables (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-

data-sets/managed-migration-datasets). The latest data relate to the year 2018. It is

not possible to identify the original route of entry from these data.

Data on grants of limited leave to remain are published in the Extensions detailed

dataset (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/managed-migration-

datasets). It is not possible to identify the original route of entry, or whether

applications were made under the long-term residency rule, from these data.

Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the

workbooks.

Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the

‘Research and statistics calendar’ (https://www.gov.uk/search/research-and-

statistics?keywords=immigration&content_store_document_type=upcoming_statistics

&organisations%5B%5D=home-office&order=relevance).

Immigration: AU Pairs

Simon Jupp: [66242]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether plans she has to enable

au pairs to work in the UK under the points-based immigration system.




Kevin Foster:

The UK’s points-based immigration system will not offer a dedicated route for au

pairs, as has been the case since 2008. However, there are other immigration routes

which will exist for people who may wish to take up these roles, such as the Youth

Mobility Scheme (YMS).

We have indicated our desire to negotiate a YMS with the EU, or with individual

countries within it, ensuring young people can continue to enjoy the social, cultural

and educational benefits of living in the EU and the UK.

Immigration: EEA Nationals


To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to issue EEA

family permits after 31 December 2020.

Kevin Foster:

Subject to Parliament’s agreement to the Immigration and Social Security Co-

ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill, free movement will end on 31 December 2020. In

general, the Home Office will stop accepting applications for documents confirming

free movement rights under the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations

2016 after that date.

However, in line with our obligations under the Withdrawal Agreement and equivalent

agreements with the EEA EFTA states and Switzerland, the Home Office will

continue to issue EEA family permits after 31 December 2020 in order to enable EEA

and Swiss nationals who are exercising Treaty rights in the UK before the end of the

transition period to bring their family members to the UK during the grace period

between 1 January and 30 June 2021.

Immigration: Married People


To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many grants of leave to

remain in the UK were made based on the principles set out in the 2008 Metock judgment

by the Court of Justice of the European Union in each of the last five years.


To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the status will be of the

2008 Metock judgement by the Court of Justice of the European Union with respect to its

application in the UK after 31 December 2020.


To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the status of the Surinder

Singh judgement will be with respect to its application in the UK after 31 December 2020.





Kevin Foster:

We do not hold data on the number of grants of leave to remain based on the

principles of the Metock judgment.

At the end of the transition period, on 31 December 2020, free movement law will be

repealed by the Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill

and the UK will no longer be bound by the Metock and Surinder Singh judgments.

On 19 February, the Government published its policy statement on the UK’s global

points-based immigration system and this new system will apply to EEA citizens and

their family members coming to the UK from January 2021.

The Government has confirmed family members of British citizens lawfully resident in

the UK under the ‘Surinder Singh’ route by the end of the transition period are eligible

to apply for status under the EU Settlement Scheme. Family members resident in the

UK by the end of the transition period based on the principles of the Metock judgment

are also eligible to apply for status under the scheme.

In addition, British citizens who are living in the EU by 31 December 2020 may return

to the UK with their close family members under the current arrangements until 29

March 2022, where the family relationship existed before the UK left the EU.

Offences against Children

Nick Fletcher: [66241]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress her Department is

making on its paper on group-based child sexual exploitation.

Victoria Atkins:

The Home Secretary has expressed her determination to ensure failures of the past

are not repeated and to do all we can to bear down on offenders and support victims.

That is why on 19th May the Government announced its intention to publish a paper

on group-based child sexual exploitation by the end of the year, following consultation

with subject matter experts. We intend this paper to present the best available

evidence on the characteristics of this form of offending, bringing together insight

from existing research, independent reviews, and all of the evidence from the Home

Office's own work in this area.

The Home Office will set up an External Reference Group, comprising of broad

membership with a range of experience and expertise, to review the Pape before its

publication. We plan to engage with the External Reference Group over the summer.

It is vital we allow time for the External Reference Group to play a proper part in

scrutinising the findings and setting the direction for further work.

Subject to engagement with the External Reference Group, we intend to publish the

Paper on group-based child sexual exploitation in the autumn.


Undocumented Migrants: English Channel


To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is

taking to stop migrants crossing the English Channel illegally.

Chris Philp:

Facilitating these crossings is illegal and no one should be attempting them in the first

place. France, from where almost all embark, is a manifestly safe country with a fully

functioning asylum system. Any of these migrants needing protection should claim it

in France. Those seeking to cross must traverse some of the busiest shipping lanes

in the world. It is a reckless and dangerous crossing, putting the lives of the people

who attempt it – including children and babies – and those rescuing them, at serious

risk.

The Government is working flat out to put a complete stop to these crossings, and all

attempts to reach the UK clandestinely and action is being taken on a daily basis.

This includes working closely with our French partners.

The National Crime Agency, Immigration Enforcement, Border Force and the UK

Police are working closely with French authorities to crack down on the criminals who

facilitate the crossings. There is a UK-France Coordination and Information Centre

opened in Calais which opened in November 2018

This law enforcement response is delivering results. French law enforcement

prevented over 1000 people from crossing by small boats in April and May 2020.

In 2019, Immigration Enforcement made 418 arrests, leading to 203 convictions for a

total of 437 years.  Out of these, 259 arrests and 100 convictions were for people

smuggling.  Immigration Enforcement carried out 841 disruptions against organised

crime gangs and individuals engaged in organised immigration crime, 404 of which

were related to people smuggling.  So far in 2020, 21 people smugglers have been

convicted and put behind bars as a result of Immigration Enforcement investigations,

with more investigations underway.

The UK Government has also returned over 155 small boats arrivals back to Europe

since January 2019 using the legal channels available. We have a further 686 return

cases which we are currently urgently progressing.

There is more we need to do beyond this. We are working on developing tactics to

prevent crossings at sea, and on ways to rapidly return those who do get across. 

This may require new legislation and new agreements with the French Government.

These are currently under active discussion.

Visas: China

Henry Smith: [66017]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to

introduce a visa ban on officials from the Peoples Republic of China entering the UK in

response to the Chinese Government's policies in relation to human rights in Hong Kong.



Kevin Foster:

All those coming to the UK are assessed against the immigration rules and must

meet the suitability and eligibility requirements. All UK visa applications are

considered on their individual merits.

Visas: Migrant Workers


To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of

the proportion of migrants entering the UK under the Tier 2 (General) route in the planned

new points-based immigration system that will be new entrants rather than skilled

workers.

Chris Philp:

The Impact Assessment for the Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU

Withdrawal) Bill included an assessment of the potential number of skilled workers

that may be eligible under the new points-based immigration system. This included

two illustrative scenarios for a potential increase in non-EU nationals eligible under a

lower skill and salary threshold over the next five years. Estimates were provided for

all skilled workers and not split by new entrant and experienced workers.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-bill-2020-overarching-

documents

Visas: Overseas Visitors

Mr Virendra Sharma: [66844]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department

has made of the number of visitor visas that have expired and not been used during the

period in which they were valid in each of the last 12 months.

Kevin Foster:

The Home Office does not collate the information requested.

Data on the number of visitor visas issued and passenger arrivals to the UK is

published on GOV.UK:


march-2020/how-many-people-come-to-the-uk-each-year-including-visitors#data-

tables

Visas: Sponsorship


To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will review the proposal to

abolish the Resident Labour Market Test in response to the covid-19 outbreak and

resulting increase in unemployment.




Kevin Foster:

We set out our proposals for the UK’s Points-Based Immigration System in a Policy

Statement published on 19 February:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-uks-points-based-immigration-

system-policy-statement.

On the recommendation of the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) we

will abolish the Resident Labour Market Test. In its September 2018 report on the

impact of EEA migration in the UK, the MAC advised a robust approach to salary

thresholds and the Immigration Skills Charge are better ways to protect UK workers

against the dangers of employers using migrant workers to under-cut resident

workers.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

House of Commons: Parliamentary Proceedings

Kirsten Oswald: [66079]

To ask the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire, representing the House of

Commons Commission, what plans he has to publish equality impact assessments of the

move by the House of Commons from hybrid to physical proceedings on House staff by

ethnic origin.

Pete Wishart:

The House of Commons Commission has previously committed to publish any

mitigations identified as part of the equality impact assessment, alongside any other

steps taken in the Covid-19 risk assessment. Following the publication of Public

Health England advice, the House authorities are currently reviewing the mitigations

and will be providing an updated version of the risk assessment ahead of the House

rising for summer recess.

HOUSING, COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Flats: Insulation

Hilary Benn: [66813]

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what

support he is providing to leaseholders in buildings less than 18m high to enable the

removal of unsafe cladding.

Christopher Pincher:

Building safety is the responsibility of the building owner, and they must remedy any

safety risks uncovered. We have published advice from the Independent Expert

Advisory Panel on the measures building owners should take to ensure their

buildings are safe. This can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-safety-advice-for-building-



owners-including-fire-doors. Building owners should consider all routes to meet costs,

protecting leaseholders where they can – for example through warranties and

recovering costs from contractors for incorrect or poor work.

The Government has also allocated additional funding to the Leasehold Advisory

Service (LEASE) to provide independent, free, initial advice to leaseholders on

building safety issues to ensure they are aware of their rights and are supported to

understand the terms of their leases.

Opencast Mining: Northumberland

Sammy Wilson: [65996]

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he

plans to announce his decision on the Highthorn planning application.


The Secretary of State will issue his decision on a planning application for an open

cast coal mine at Highthorn, Northumberland, in due course.

Alan Brown: [66108]

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he

plans to announce his decision on the Highthorn planning application; and if he will make

a statement.


The Secretary of State will issue his decision on the planning application for an open

cast coal mine at Highthorn, Northumberland, in due course.

Planning Permission: Coronavirus

Sammy Wilson: [65997]

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will

list the public inquiry planning decisions he has made during the covid-19 lockdown.

Alan Brown: [66107]

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will

list the public inquiry planning decisions he has made during the covid-19 lockdown; and

if he will make a statement.


Since the evening of 23 March 2020, the following decisions have been made. They

are all publicly available on the gov.uk website.





DATE CASE

1/4/20 Station Rd, Long Melford (Babergh DC)

7/4/20 Barbrook Lane, Tiptree (Colchester BC)

9/4/20 Vauxhall Bus station (LB Lambeth)

9/4/20 Land nr Whittlesford, Hinxton (S Cambs DC)

22/4/20 160 Stanley Rd, Cheadle Hulme (Stockport

MBC)

24/4/20 Oxford Brookes Uni, Wheatley (S Oxon DC)

29/4/20 Burgess Business Park, (LB Southwark)

13/5/20 Moor Lane, Woodthorpe, (City of York)

14/5/20 Hawthorns, Farnham, Surrey (Waverley BC)

3/6/20 Love Lane, Woolwich (LB Greenwich)

3/6/20 VIP Trading Estate, SE7 (Greater London

Authority)

3/6/20 Wolborough Barton, Devon (Teignbridge DC)

15/6/20 Levitt’s Field, Cambs (Cambs County Council)

25/6/20 Newport Rd, Woburn Sands (Milton Keynes

Council)

25/6/20 Newcombe House, Notting Hill Gate (Greater

London Authority)

Private Rented Housing: Evictions


To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how

many section 21 eviction notices have been issued in each month of 2020, by local

authority.


The Government does not collect information on the number of section 21 notices

that landlords have served on their tenants indicating a desire to regain possession of

their property.


Where a landlord serves a valid notice on an Assured Shorthold Tenancy, the

landlord can only lawfully regain possession by making a claim for possession in the

county court unless the tenant chooses to vacate the property.

The Mortgage and Landlord Repossession Statistics record the number of claims for

possession brought by landlords in the county court in each quarter. In addition, the

latest statistics for the first quarter of 2020 indicate the number of claims for

possession issued on a weekly basis from the week commencing 3 February until the

end of the quarter. The quarterly data can be accessed to local authority level in the

published data files. The statistics are available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mortgage-and-landlord-possession-

statistics-january-to-march-2020

All housing possession proceedings are suspended until 23 August 2020. In addition,

the emergency measures in the Coronavirus Act 2020, which require landlords to

give tenants at least 3 months' notice of their intention to regain possession of their

property are in place until 30 September 2020.

Religious Buildings: Coronavirus

Stuart Anderson: [66200]

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what

financial support will be available for places of worship that have been adversely affected

by the covid-19 outbreak to (a) continue their pastoral support in communities, (b) recover

loss of income from rented spaces and (c) safely reopen.

Luke Hall:

Faith communities have a long history of service supporting many of the most

vulnerable members of our society. The rapid response during the current pandemic

has been no different and the government values the work being done to support

those in need.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government play a facilitative role

in ensuring government understands the needs of faith communities and the

challenges they may be currently facing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We

continue to work closely with a range of faith groups to understand how government

can support them in light of the pressures they face at this time.

Faith organisations can access a range of government-backed financial support

measures. Places of worship may be eligible for payment under the Local Authority

Discretionary Grants Fund. Local authorities are responsible for defining precise

eligibility for this fund and may choose to make payments to organisations based on

local economic need, subject to meeting the specific eligibility criteria.

The Government has also announced a range of funds available to charities,

including the Coronavirus Community Support Fund to support organisations

providing essential services for vulnerable people affected by the current crisis.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mortgage-and-landlord-possession-statistics-january-to-march-2020




Further information about the range of financial support available and how to apply

can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/financial-support-for-voluntary-

community-and-social-enterprise-vcse-organisations-to-respond-to-coronavirus-

covid-19.

The Government is also considering what else is needed to ensure that families and

friends of those deceased get the support they need - particularly during this very

difficult time. We are committed to ongoing engagement with the bereavement

support sector and will continue to work closely to assess how we can support

charities in doing their important work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As of 4 July, places of worship are open for communal worship with social distancing

in place.  We are pleased to be able to allow weddings and other life cycle events to

also now take place. We have published guidance detailing how this can be done

safely which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-

19-guidance-for-the-safe-use-of-places-of-worship-from-4-july/covid-19-guidance-for-

the-safe-use-of-places-of-worship-from-4-july.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

CDC: Fossil Fuels

Anna McMorrin: [67740]

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much the CDC Group

has invested in fossil fuel projects in each of the last three years.

James Duddridge:

Since 2017, CDC has made new direct commitments to fossil fuel projects totalling

$207.4 million ($84.8 million in 2017; $0 million in 2018; $122.6 million in 2019).

During the same period CDC has made over $1 billion of commitments into climate

related investments including renewable power, forestry and resource efficiency

projects.

Last week, CDC published an ambitious Climate Strategy, which sets out a

comprehensive approach to align all of CDC’s investing activities with the Paris

Agreement, based on the core principles of reaching net zero by 2050, enabling a

just transition and strengthening adaptation and resilience.

CDC is committed to Paris Alignment including net zero emissions by 2050 and will

not make new investments in any business – either directly or through an

intermediary fund – that is deemed to be misaligned with the Paris Agreement. CDC

is targeting 30% of total investments to be committed to climate finance in 2021.

More information here: https://www.cdcgroup.com/en/news-insight/news/cdc-group-

unveils-commitment-to-become-aligned-to-the-paris-agreement/.

https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fguidance%2Ffinancial-support-for-voluntary-community-and-social-enterprise-vcse-organisations-to-respond-to-coronavirus-covid-19&data=02%7C01%7CParliamentary%40communities.gov.uk%7C7a4fa36270f74f30eac808d8224d701c%7Cbf3468109c7d43dea87224a2ef3995a8%7C0%7C0%7C637297063266730435&sdata=g%2BeNnmU%2B7AKyd5f6AjMXGOcV4Iit%2FrUFhkSHsdwN2jQ%3D&reserved=0




https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fpublications%2Fcovid-19-guidance-for-the-safe-use-of-places-of-worship-from-4-july%2Fcovid-19-guidance-for-the-safe-use-of-places-of-worship-from-4-july&data=02%7C01%7CParliamentary%40communities.gov.uk%7C7a4fa36270f74f30eac808d8224d701c%7Cbf3468109c7d43dea87224a2ef3995a8%7C0%7C0%7C637297063266740389&sdata=vxoUxNhUEOQGML9ZXsfm4OGTHSzN09M7TR3LC1%2BButs%3D&reserved=0





https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdcgroup.com%2Fen%2Fnews-insight%2Fnews%2Fcdc-group-unveils-commitment-to-become-aligned-to-the-paris-agreement%2F&data=02%7C01%7CNI-Langlais%40dfid.gov.uk%7Ccbe1cdda3eee45c08f2c08d81f60f444%7Ccdf709af1a184c74bd936d14a64d73b3%7C0%7C0%7C637293848563079403&sdata=V3lPCV5EqzrnMBNSNfQQPT75I9pIIZa8E%2Fr6hm67on0%3D&reserved=0



Department for International Development: East Kilbride


To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of

22 June 2020 to Question 59888, what assessment the Government has made of the

effect on staffing numbers in East Kilbride of the planned merger between her

Department and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan:

DFID’s existing office in East Kilbride will become part of the new Department’s

estate. Some roles in East Kilbride may change due to business needs and any

changes will be handled in compliance with relevant civil service policy and guidance.

It is too early to be able to say precisely what effect those changes will be. We can

confirm that there will be no compulsory redundancies for DFID employees as a

result of the decision to create the new Department and any changes will be handled

in accordance with relevant civil service policy and guidance.

Department for International Development: Public Expenditure

Wendy Chamberlain: [67776]

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what budget (a) reprofiling,

(b) repurposing and (c) additional allocations for 2020-21 have already taken place in

relation to each regional programme in each country office.

Wendy Morton:

DFID’s Annual Report and Accounts is due to be published on 14 July and will set out

baseline programme budgets for 2020/21 spend by DFID spending unit.

DFID is working with the FCO and other ODA spending departments to assess how

to manage the 0.7% commitment this year, in light of the risk of a fall in Gross

National Income. No decision has been taken, but we are considering the full range

of our work.

Fleur Anderson: [67796]

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the planned level of

promissory note issuance was, by institution, in (a) calendar year 2020 and (b) financial

year 2020-21 at the Main Estimates stage.

Wendy Morton:

DFID uses promissory notes with organisations such as international development

banks. A promissory note allows that organisation to commit to an activity in full, in

advance of funding being transferred.

DFID’s made no adjustment at Main Estimates 2020-21 to the Net Cash Requirement

as a result of Promissory Notes.




Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office


To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of

29 June 2020 to Question 64205 on Department for International Development: Foreign

and Commonwealth Office, what estimate she has made of the effect on the number of

staff currently employed by each Department of the merger of those Departments.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan:

Merging the Departments will mean changes for how teams are structured. Some

roles and responsibilities will change, and we will be working this through over the

next few months. It is too early to be able to estimate the impact on staff numbers.

We can confirm that there will be no compulsory redundancies for DFID employees

as a result of the decision to create the new Department and any changes will be

handled in accordance with relevant civil service policy and guidance.

Overseas Aid


To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the most recent

funding allocations are for the (a) central contingency and (b) portfolio components of the

2020-21 Crisis Reserve.

Wendy Morton:

DFID do not hold a central contingency budget and have not requested any funding

from the central exchequer reserve held by HM Treasury.

The UK ODA Crisis Reserve is an annual allocation of £500 million. This consists of a

£200 million un-allocated reserve and a £300 million re-deployable reserve. This

enables flexible, quick and effective cross government responses to crises as they

happen as set out in the UK Aid Strategy published in 2015. We do not report on

expenditure drawn down from the ODA Crisis Reserve.

Fleur Anderson: [67795]

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department has

allocated funding from the 2020-21 (a) central contingency budget and (b) Official

Development Assistance crisis reserve budget.

Wendy Morton:

DFID do not hold a central contingency budget and have not requested any funding

from the central exchequer reserve held by HM Treasury.

The UK ODA Crisis Reserve is an annual allocation of £500 million. This consists of a

£200 million un-allocated reserve and a £300 million re-deployable reserve. This

enables flexible, quick and effective cross government responses to crises as they

happen as set out in the UK Aid Strategy published in 2015. We do not report on

expenditure drawn down from the ODA Crisis Reserve.




Overseas Aid: Coronavirus


To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the (a) current position

and (b) provisional outcome is of her Department’s gold, silver and bronze grading of

projects in response to the covid-19 pandemic.

Wendy Morton:

All government departments are considering how their plans need to change in light

of the risk of a recession linked to the impact of COVID-19. DFID is working with the

FCO and other ODA spending departments to assess how to manage the 0.7%

commitment this year. No decision has been taken, but we are considering the full

range of our work.

Overseas Aid: Poverty

Theresa Villiers: [68292]

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to

ensure that her Department's spending on poverty relief includes (a) Christians and (b)

other religious minorities who are persecuted for their faith.

Nigel Adams:

The UK Government works to ensure that all aid reaches the most vulnerable

including those from Christian and other religious minorities who are persecuted for

their faith.

The UK is committed to delivering its humanitarian aid according to internationally

recognised humanitarian principles. These principles ensure that humanitarian

assistance is delivered to those who are most vulnerable and most in need of this

assistance. This includes vulnerable religious minorities.

DFID’s use of country context analysis has increased the extent to which religious

dynamics and religious groups are factored into all of our country programmes. DFID

undertakes interdisciplinary analysis of a country’s politics, society, state and

economy to identify the most significant problems that hinder development and the

main entry points and opportunities to create change. There is a strong emphasis on

how politics, security, and demographics interact with economic growth and human

development. This includes the role of religion and the persecution of religious

minorities.

Vulnerable religious minority groups will experience crises such as COVID-19

outbreaks differently. Crises are likely to reinforce their marginalised position in

society, their experience of discrimination, violence and stigma, and further limit their

access to essential support and services. For this reason, guidance was circulated

across DFID highlighting that inclusion must be central to our response and the

specific contexts and needs of vulnerable religious communities and other vulnerable

groups should be taken into account when developing practical programmes of

assistance.



On 8 June, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State responsible for

Human Rights, hosted a roundtable to hear from faith leaders and faith-based

development organisations about the specific challenges minority faith communities

are facing during this COVID-19 pandemic.

Overseas Aid: Religious Discrimination

Theresa Villiers: [68291]

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to

ensure that (a) Christians and (b) other religious minorities are not discriminated against

during the distribution of UK aid.

Nigel Adams:

The UK Government works to ensure that Christian and other religious minorities are

not discriminated against during the distribution of UK aid.

The UK is committed to delivering its aid according to internationally recognised

humanitarian principles. These principles ensure that humanitarian assistance is

delivered to those who are most vulnerable and most in need of this assistance. This

includes vulnerable religious minorities.

Vulnerable religious minority groups will experience crises such as COVID-19

outbreaks differently. Crises are likely to reinforce their marginalised position in

society, their experience of discrimination, violence and stigma, and further limit their

access to essential support and services. For this reason, guidance was circulated

across DFID highlighting that inclusion must be central to our response and the

specific contexts and needs of vulnerable religious communities and other vulnerable

groups should be taken into account when developing practical programmes of

assistance.

On 8 June, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State responsible for

Human Rights, hosted a roundtable to hear from faith leaders and faith-based

development organisations about the specific challenges minority faith communities

are facing during this COVID-19 pandemic.

INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Renewable Energy: Scotland

Alan Brown: [66911]

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 29 June

2020 to Question 63402 on Renewable Energy: Exports, how much funding his

Department has provided to support renewable energy exports from Scotland.

Graham Stuart:

The Department for International Trade has supported exports from the renewable

energy sector across the UK since its inception, including in the UK’s strengths in



offshore wind, smart energy systems, low-carbon advisory services and energy from

waste.

DIT’s remit spans across the entirety of the UK and the department does not directly

fund additional trade promotion activity by the Devolved Administrations. The

Department works closely with the Scottish enterprise agencies, who are funded by

the Scottish Government, to support their energy export ambitions.

Alan Brown: [66912]

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 29 June

2020 to Question 63402, how many renewable energy export projects from Scotland her

Department has supported; and if she will make a statement.

Graham Stuart:

The Department for International Trade supports businesses from across the UK to

grow internationally. DIT has a dedicated renewable energy team that supports

renewable energy businesses to export from all four nations but does not record data

or projects on a devolved country basis. In 2018, across the UK, renewable energy

exports reached £5.3 billion.

Riot Control Weapons: Chile

Alex Sobel: [66979]

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps she has taken to prevent

the export of UK-manufactured crowd-control (a) equipment and (b) arms being used for

internal repression in Chile.

Mr Ranil Jayawardena:

I have been sorry to see the unrest on the streets of Santiago. Arms and certain

crowd control equipment require an export licence. I can assure that Hon. Gentleman

that all export licence applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the

Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria (the ‘Consolidated

Criteria’).

In reaching a decision, the Department for International Trade (DIT) receives advice

from a number of Departments including the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). Together, we draw on all available

information, including reports from Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) and our

diplomatic missions. The Consolidated Criteria provides a thorough risk assessment

framework and requires us to think hard about the impact of exporting any items.

Assessments under Criterion 2 in particular, include the respect of rights and

freedoms in the country of final destination. A licence will not be issued if to do so

would be inconsistent with the Consolidated Criteria, including where there is a clear

risk that the proposed export might be used for internal repression.

We continue to global monitor developments closely and are able to review licences

– and suspend or revoke as necessary – when circumstances require, in line with the

Consolidated Criteria.



JUSTICE

Child Arrangement Orders: Coronavirus


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department has taken to help

ensure that HM Courts and Tribunal Service respond to applications for courts to to

enforce child Arrangement orders within a reasonable time frame during the covid-19

outbreak.

Alex Cunningham:

HM Courts and Tribunals Service is working closely with the Judiciary and family

justice agencies to ensure that urgent cases are prioritised. The greater use of audio

and video technology for family hearings, where appropriate, has ensured that

enforcement applications can continue to be heard.

How enforcement applications are dealt with is a judicial decision and the senior

judiciary has issued the following guidance:

https://www.judiciary.uk/announcements/coronavirus-crisis-guidance-on-compliance-

with-family-court-child-arrangement-orders/

Employment Tribunals Service: Ethnic Groups

Imran Hussain: [66878]

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of employment

tribunal claims were successful in each of the last five years; and what proportion of

those claimants came from each ethnic group.

Chris Philp:

HM Courts & Tribunals Service does not hold the data being requested.

The official statistics can provide information on the percentage of cases successful

at hearing but they are not separated by ethnic group.

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics

Family Proceedings: Mediation

Thangam Debbonaire: [66899]

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the

implications for his policies of the recommendations of the Family Mediation Council of 6

May 2020 on the diversion of potential litigants away from the Court system to Family

Alternative Dispute Resolution options.

Alex Chalk:

It can be a difficult time for families and parents, with Covid-19 placing relationships

under additional pressures. Mediation can play an important role in helping families

resolve conflict in the best interests of their children without the need to come to

court. We are committed to championing mediation as an alternative to court for


https://www.judiciary.uk/announcements/coronavirus-crisis-guidance-on-compliance-with-family-court-child-arrangement-orders/





suitable families and are grateful for the FMC for their proposals. We welcome the

chance to work closely with the sector, to improve outcomes for families, and manage

demand in court through the promotion of alternative dispute resolution.

Ministry of Justice: Coronavirus

John McDonnell: [66807]

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to Procurement Policy Note

04/20: Recovery and Transition from COVID-19, published on 9 June 2020, what

assessment he has made of the potential merits of maintaining the provision of

contractual relief as a result of covid-19 in line with Procurement Policy Notice 02/20;

which (a) companies and (b) work areas will be affected by changes to that contractual

relief; and what the timeframe is for proposals to change that contractual relief.

Chris Philp:

The Ministry of Justice has reviewed Procurement Policy Note 04/20 and

maintenance of the provisions within that will continue to be provided as appropriate

and on a case by case basis. We will continue to monitor the suppliers currently in

receipt of the relief under the measures and we are working with them on individual

transition plans to move out of the relief period by the end of October as set out in the

Policy Note. The Department is working closely with suppliers that are not currently in

receipt of any relief measures to provide support and avoid them getting into any

financial difficulty. The Department considers the identity and category of those

suppliers in receipt of the relief measure to be commercially sensitive information.

Prison Accommodation


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the 27 January 2020 report of

the Comptroller and Auditor General entitled Improving the Prison Estate, what estimate

he has made of the number of prison places that will be lost in the next five years as a

result of estate disrepair.

Lucy Frazer:

As stated in the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report, the Ministry estimates that

currently approximately 500 places are lost permanently each year due to

deterioration in the material fabric of the estate. This is based on the average losses

of places that the prison estate has experienced over the last few years, on the

assumption that funding levels do not increase significantly beyond those seen over

the period.

This estimate of capacity loss is kept under review to reflect developments in the

prison estate, including levels of investment and maintenance.

We have secured an additional £156 million for financial year 2020/21, which will be

targeted at addressing some of the most urgent maintenance issues across the

prison estate.



In addition, one thousand temporary cells are in the process of being installed across

the estate. This will allow the Prison Service to increase capacity and help to speed

up maintenance by enabling us to close places, in order to carry out refurbishment

work more quickly

Prisoners' Release: Coronavirus


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the

adequacy of the the provision of (a) mental health support and (b) other forms of personal

advice and support for prison leavers on release during the covid-19 outbreak.


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effect of

extended periods under a restricted regime prior to release on the (a) mental health, (b)

physical health, (c) relationship with families and others, and (d) prospects for

employment of prison leavers.

Lucy Frazer:

The Government takes the mental health and wellbeing of prisoners very seriously.

We recognise that anxieties regarding Covid-19 and the regime restrictions required

for infection control may exacerbate mental health needs and increase the risk of

self-harm among prisoners, we are continuing to work to mitigate this as far as

possible.

In response to Covid-19, visits have unfortunately been suspended and people in

prison are spending more time in their cells. They are, however, being given access

to services including telephone contact with loved ones, access to health services

and where possible time in the open air. The Samaritans phone service is being kept

available at this time, and we are working with the Samaritans to ensure that the

Listener peer support scheme continues to function effectively. We are continuing to

provide care and support to people at risk of self-harm or suicide through ACCT

(Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork) case management. For those with

severe mental health issues, we are doing everything we can to ensure that the

process for referral, assessment and transfer to mental health hospitals continues in

as normal a way as possible.

As of week commencing 23rd March, all Community Rehabilitation Companies

(CRCs) have been operating under the obligations within their Exceptional Delivery

Models (EDM). As a result CRCs have adapted to an alternative way of working,

albeit on a temporary basis, in order to adhere to the social distancing measures

announced by the Prime Minister. All CRCs have a responsibility to ensure the health

and wellbeing of their service users during the pandemic. The EDMs are subject to

robust assurance and compliance activities, which are carried out by the Authority on

a regular basis to ensure that CRCs continue to operate to their contracted

obligations and continue to deliver front line probation services to protect the public.



We have invested an additional £22m per annum over the remaining life of the CRC

contracts to deliver an enhanced Through the Gate resettlement service to people

leaving prison to prepare them for release. The enhanced service includes the

requirement that CRCs complete specific, tailored, tasks to help prisoners to secure

and maintain settled accommodation, gain employment and manage debt and their

financial affairs. During the Covid period most of this support is being provided

remotely after CRCs invested in greater use of mobile technology to maintain levels

of contact with offenders in the community in a safe and efficient manner. After a

prison sentence, service users are supervised and supported by Probation Officers in

the Community.


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on new

community cases of covid-19 resulting from infected prison leavers.

Lucy Frazer:

The Ministry of Justice does not hold the information requested.

Prisoners: Exploitation


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prisoners in

(a) adult male, (b) adult female and (c) youth custodial facilities have a (i) history of

exploitation through modern slavery, (ii) history of child criminal exploitation, and (iii)

National Referral Mechanism referral.

Lucy Frazer:

The information requested is not collated or held by the Ministry of Justice.

There is an assessment process for offenders upon arrival into custody where this

information may be divulged voluntarily. Numerous support services are available

through local prison mechanisms.

A Mental Support Health Programme is currently in the process of rollout via the

Prison Radio network, and National Referral Mechanism training will be offered to all

prison and probation staff, along with an accessible e-learning package.

Data regarding the National Referral Mechanism can be found via the link below,

however these statistics are the responsibility of the Home Office:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-referral-mechanism-statistics

Prisons: Construction


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Written Statement of 29

June 2020, what category of prison each of the four planned prisons will be.








June 2020, what the timescale is for the tender process for construction of each of the

four planned prisons.



June 2020, what representations he has received from construction firms on contracts for

the construction of each of the four planned prisons.



June 2020, what training facilities are planned to be built at each of the four planned

prisons.



June 2020, what estimate he has made of the effect on overcrowding in the prison estate

of each of the four planned prisons over each of the first five years following opening.



June 2020, what plans he has for the integration of in-cell technology in each of the four

planned prisons.



June 2020, if his Department plans to (a) decommission and (b) reduce the capacity of

any existing prisons.


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Written Statement of the

29 June 2020, whether all of the prison places at each of the four planned prisons will be

for adult male prisoners.

Lucy Frazer:

Four new prisons are to be built across England over the next six years. Together,

these four prisons will create around 65% of the 10,000 additional places announced

by the Prime Minister in 2019 and will build on the designs we are already

progressing with at the new prisons at Wellingborough and Glen Parva as well as on

the work we have done to ensure faster, better value and more efficient construction.

In response to 65975 and 65982, we currently plan for these prisons to be Category

C adult male resettlement prisons.

In response to 65976, the tendering process for the prisons has not yet been finalised

so the timescale for that process is not yet available. No decisions have been made

as to who will construct or operate these four new prisons. In response to 65977, we








are engaging with suppliers on the Crown Commercial Services Construction

Framework.

In response to 65979, all the accommodation in these new prisons is planned to be

uncrowded. The Prime Minister’s investment and pledge to create 10,000 additional

prison places will have a positive impact on lowering the proportion of crowding within

the prison estate. However, the extent to which the proportion of prisoners held in

crowded accommodation will reduce will be dependent on levels of demand in the

system.

In regards to 65981, no prison closures are planned as part of this announcement.

The Prime Minister has made clear his focus on tackling crime and prison population

projections indicate these additional prison places are required.

We are putting evidence at the heart of the design process. Understanding the needs

of the prisoners who will be housed in the new prisons and what we know works to

help address their offending behaviour means we are designing prisons and regimes

that support governors to deliver the right outcomes for offenders and so make the

public safer. In response to 65978, these prisons will incorporate a range of

workshops which will enable prisoners to choose between various industries and

support them in developing practical skills for work outside prison. central services

hubs will bring together education, healthcare, reception, library and multi-faith

spaces. Some of which could be utilised by staff and prisoners to hold larger

meetings, activities, charities and community events. These services will be scaled to

the number of prisoners in each prison and their needs.

Access to modern, robust technology is a vital part of current prison design and

operations and will remain so for these four new prisons. In relation to 65980, we are

also acutely aware of the importance of in-cell technology in the modern prison

estate. We will include robust modern digital infrastructure in the new prisons.

Decisions about what technology will be deployed in cells and elsewhere will be

taken in due course.

Prisons: Coronavirus


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners have been diverted to

another custodial facility during (a) transfers and (b) new entrances as a result of limited

capacity in the reverse cohorting unit of the initially intended facility in each week since

the cohorting strategy was introduced.

Lucy Frazer:

The Government acted quickly to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in prisons by

implementing restricted regimes to comply with national social distancing guidance

and limiting inter-prison transfers. Prisons have also implemented a

‘compartmentalisation’ strategy to isolate the sick, shield the vulnerable and

quarantine new arrivals. Latest public health advice suggests these measures have

limited the spread of the virus and minimised the number of deaths.


The decision as to where prisoners are transferred following a court appearance is

managed by HMPPS. When local prisons have insufficient capacity in their reverse

cohorting units to accept all prisoners from their assigned court(s) for that day,

prisoners are diverted to another local prison where space is available in their reverse

cohorting unit.In all cases, the receiving prison will always be suitable to manage the

requirements of a newly remanded or convicted prisoner.

The table below shows the number of prisoners since 01 st April who, rather than

being taken to the local prison assigned to the court where their hearing was held,

were diverted to another local prison where space was available in their reverse

cohorting unit.

APRIL MAY JUNE TOTAL

Total number of prisoners

who, following a court

appearance were diverted to

another prison where space

was available in their Reverse

Cohorting Unit

1377 715 452 2544

Since 31 March, all inter-prison transfers have required approval by the HMPPS

command structure before any transfer has taken place. Decisions to approve

transfer take into account the available capacity in reverse cohorting units to ensure

any prisoner transferred, can be held separately from the remainder of the general

population in their new prison for 14 days. As such, there have been no prisoners

diverted to another prison as a result of limited capacity in the reverse cohorting unit

of the initially intended prison.

Probation


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Update to the Draft Target

Operating Model for Probation Services in England and Wales, what the timescale is for

the Effective Interventions Panel to conclude its assessments of Rehabilitation Activity

Requirements.



Operating Model for Probation Services in England and Wales, published in June 2029, if

he will publish a list of the Rehabilitation Activity Requirements that will be considered by

the Effective Interventions Panel.



Operating Model for Probation Services in England and Wales, published in June 2020,




whether the assessments of Rehabilitation Activity Requirements by the Effective

Interventions Panel will be published.



Operating Model for Probation Services in England and Wales, published in June 2020,

what criteria the Effective Interventions Panel plans to use to assess Rehabilitation

Activity Requirements.

Lucy Frazer:

As set out in the Target Operating Model for the Future of Probation Services in

England and Wales, the National Probation Service will deliver Structured

Interventions for lower risk individuals who are not suitable for Accredited

Programmes.

The Effective Interventions Panel will be convened in the autumn of 2020 to assess

and approve current Rehabilitation Activity Requirements (RARs) to be delivered as

Structured Interventions in the future delivery model.

The Panel will use the set of effective interventions principles created by the

Correctional Services Accreditation and Advisory Panel (CSAAP) for the assessment

of Accredited Programmes, to ensure Structured Interventions are based on evidence

of what works in reducing reoffending.

The suite of Structured Interventions which meet the criteria will be included in a

Directory of Services for the Judiciary and other partners and stakeholders.

Paul Holmes: [66237]

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of

the potential merits of adopting a trauma-informed approach within the probation service.

Lucy Frazer:

HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) understands that experiences of

violence, abuse and trauma are common in the lives of offenders and that this can

impact on reoffending and rehabilitation. Recognising there is a greater prevalence of

trauma amongst women, staff working with female offenders across Prison and

Probation services have adopted trauma-informed approaches following the rollout of

briefing materials and toolkits, and consideration will be given to wider rollout

following the evaluation of such approaches.

Treatment Of, and Outcomes For, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Individuals in

the Criminal Justice System Independent Review


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to Tackling Racial Disparity in

the Criminal Justice System: 2020 Update, published in February 2020, what recent

assessment he has made of the degree of implementation of Lammy Review

recommendations (a) 28 and (b) 29 in private prisons in England and Wales.




Alex Chalk:

The Government is committed to advancing each recommendation of the Review in

some way. Where a recommendation cannot be implemented in full or exactly as set

out, alternative approaches have been sought to achieve the same aim. The

Government’s response has also identified actions going beyond the Review’s

recommendations. Progress on recommendations and additional actions, and

decisions on other areas of disparity where the principle of “explain or change” needs

to apply, are overseen by a CJS Race and Ethnicity Board. The Board was created in

response to the Review.

The Government provided a detailed public update on progress against each of the

35 recommendations of the Lammy Review, and the other related activities, in

February 2020 in the “Tackling racial disparity in the Criminal Justice System” update:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tackling-racial-disparity-in-the-criminal-

justice-system-2020.

Private prison providers are conscious of the importance of a representative work

force. Local demographics are individual to each establishment depending on their

location. Providers continue to consider BAME opportunities in recruitment drives and

onsite race and diversity committees are consulted in relation to BAME issues. As

with all report recommendations, the controller teams on site, who manage

performance at each privately managed prison, continue to monitor the progress of

provider action in this area.

PRIME MINISTER

Dominic Cummings


To ask the Prime Minister, how much correspondence he received on his Special Adviser

Mr Dominic Cummings in each month of 2020.

Boris Johnson:

This information is not centrally held, and would incur disproportionate cost to collate.

My office receives over 3,000 letters and emails every week covering a broad

spectrum of issues.

SPEAKER'S COMMITTEE ON THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION

Constituencies: Stockport and Tameside


To ask the hon. Member for City of Chester, representing the Speaker's Committee on

the Electoral Commission, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of

asking the Local Government Boundary Commission for England to consider delaying the

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tackling-racial-disparity-in-the-criminal-justice-system-2020





periodic Ward Boundary Reviews in (i) Tameside and (ii) Stockport for 12 months to allow

those councils to focus on covid-19 prevention and community support activity.

Christian Matheson:

Since the imposition of lockdown restrictions the Local Government Boundary

Commission for England has had extensive dialogue with those councils included in

its electoral review programme. This includes Tameside and Stockport.

The Commission initially paused input from councils for three months where councils

felt it would help them deal with their response to COVID-19. It is in continuing

dialogue with councils to reach mutually acceptable timetables for carrying out

electoral reviews. Those timetables are tailored to the individual council. A number

have already been agreed. Some are proceeding broadly according to their original

timetable, others have more significant extensions. Once agreed those timetables are

subject to ongoing review to take account of future changes in circumstances faced

by individual councils.

TRANSPORT

Aviation: Coronavirus


To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he will take to prevent job loses in

the aviation sector.

Kelly Tolhurst:

The aviation sector is able to draw upon the unprecedented package of measures

announced by the Chancellor. These measures include: HMRC’s Time to Pay

flexibilities with tax bills, including VAT deferrals; HMT and the Bank of England’s

Covid Corporate Financing Facility; the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan

Scheme for large and small businesses; and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme,

which provides financial support for employees. Employers in the aviation sector can

apply for a grant that covers 80% of furloughed employees’ usual monthly wage

costs, up to £2500 a month, plus the associated Employer National Insurance

contributions and pension contributions.

If airlines or airports find themselves in trouble as a result of coronavirus, even

following the Government’s cross-economy wage and financial interventions, the

Transport Secretary and Chancellor have confirmed that we are prepared to enter

discussions with individual companies seeking bespoke support as a last resort,

having exhausted all other options. Any intervention would need to represent value

for money for taxpayers.

Afzal Khan: [66191]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential

implications for his policies of the proposals put forward by the New Economics



Foundation report entitled Crisis support to aviation and the right to retrain, published on

10 June 2020.

Kelly Tolhurst:

The aviation sector is important to the UK economy and the government recognises

the challenging times facing the sector as a result of COVID-19. The Department for

Transport has kept an open dialogue with the aviation sector through engagement at

both ministerial and official levels.

The Department’s Expert Steering Group was established to bring together all

interested parties to co-produce solutions to the issues facing the sector. The Group

is best placed to identify and support what practical steps are required to restart the

industry, as well as to consider what longer term steps are required to ensure the

sector’s full recovery.

British Airways: Staff


To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he will take to support employees

of British Airways in response to the proposed restructuring of the business; and if he will

make a statement.

Kelly Tolhurst:

The recent announcements about redundancies by British Airways will no doubt be

very distressing for employees and their families. Both the Secretary of State and I

have spoken directly to IAG’s Chief Executive, Willie Walsh, to discuss the

organisation’s plans for engagement with staff and union representatives. I have

offered to support these engagement efforts, where appropriate to do so, and have

also encouraged the company to go beyond its minimum legal obligations in

supporting its employees.

I will continue to encourage BA and unions to engage constructively with each other,

striving to provide employees with as much certainty as possible during this

challenging time.

Bus Services: Coronavirus

Mr William Wragg: [68370]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the

potential merits of allowing coaches and buses to operate without social distancing but

with the compulsory wearing of facemasks by passengers and other similar measures.

Rachel Maclean:

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.

Bus Services: Northern Ireland


To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with his

Northern Irish counterpart on introduction of Urby buses with wifi and tables; and what

assessment has he made of the potential merits of those buses in attracting younger

people to use public transport.

Rachel Maclean:

The Secretary of State spoke with Nichola Mallon MLA on February 27 and both

parties agreed to work constructively together on many of the cross-cutting issues in

transport.

The Department will continue to engage with counterparts from the devolved

administrations, including Northern Ireland, around the uptake of zero-emission

vehicles, which includes buses. Previous engagement has included a programme of

Roundtables and bilateral working.

The Government is continuously assessing ways to improve public transport across

the UK.

Bus Services: Rural Areas


To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the

potential merits of allocating additional ringfenced funding to support rural bus routes.

Rachel Maclean:

The Government recognises the importance that public transport has for the

sustainability and independence of communities, which is why we are providing a £20

million Rural Mobility Fund to support demand responsive services in rural and

suburban areas and a further £30 million of funding to improve current services and

restore lost services affected by COVID-19.

This is on top of the annual £43 million Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) directly

paid to local authorities so that they can subsidise socially necessary bus services

and the Rural Services Delivery Grant which in 2019/2020 provided £81 million.

Cycling and Motorcycles: Delivery Services

Mark Pritchard: [65973]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will hold discussions with

representatives from (a) Deliveroo, (b) UberEats and (c) other online food ordering and

delivery companies to ensure that (i) bicycles and (ii) mopeds used to deliver food meet

minimum road safety requirements.




Rachel Maclean:

Employers have a duty to manage the risks of their work activities and employees

have a responsibility to drive safely. Anyone using a bicycle or moped on the highway

has a responsibility to ensure that their vehicle meets specific standards that comply

with the law in the interests of their own safety and that of other road users.

Driving Instruction: Coronavirus


To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to

ensure that driving instructors follow DVSA and Government guidelines in safely

restarting driving lessons.

Rachel Maclean:

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) priority throughout the COVID-

19 pandemic has been the safety of its staff and the wider public. That remains its

priority as it restarts its services.

Driving instructors are responsible for ensuring their services remain safe. Guidance

on how they can carry out risk assessments can be found on the Health and Safety

Executive’s website. The DVSA will release an updated version of its standard

operating procedure for driving examiners, which driving instructors might wish to

refer to when developing their own health and safety procedures. The DVSA will be

sending this directly to driving instructors and it will be hosted on the National

Associations Strategic Partnership website.

The DVSA would encourage all driving instructors to keep up to date with the driving

instructors’ National Associations Strategic Partnership (NASP) website for further

advice and information: http://www.n-a-s-p.co.uk/

Driving Licences

Sarah Olney: [66166]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve the time

taken by the DVLA to (a) renew driving licences and (b) respond to queries.

Rachel Maclean:

The quickest and easiest way to renew a driving licence is to do so online. All the

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s (DVLA) online services are available and

working as normal. Postal applications have to be dealt with in person and will

therefore take longer to process as the DVLA has a reduced number of staff on-site

to comply with social distancing requirements and ensure staff safety.

All photocard driving licences expiring between 1 February and 31 August have been

extended by seven months. Drivers do not need to take any action to benefit from this

change and the DVLA will write to them when their licence is due for renewal.

The DVLA’s contact centre is open for all customers Monday to Friday 8am to 1pm

and 2pm to 7pm, and Saturday 8am to 2pm.



Driving Tests: Coronavirus

Jonathan Reynolds: [68347]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with

driving examiners unions' on whether their members plan to return to work on 22 July

2020 as the covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.

Rachel Maclean:

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s priority throughout the coronavirus

outbreak has been to protect the public and save lives. That remains its priority as it

restarts its services.

The DVSA has been in constant dialogue with the Trade Unions throughout the

Covid-19 pandemic and continues to engage and consult on its start up plans. All of

the DVSA’s revised Standard Operating Procedures and Risk Assessments have

been shared with and cleared by the Trade Unions.

The DVSA has consulted with Public Health England and the Health and Safety

Executive and has released an updated version of its standard operating procedure

and risk assessments to driving examiners, which contains social distancing

measures and safety precautions, to ensure the safe restart of driving tests. The

DVSA is currently engaging with Scottish and Welsh Governments to ensure it

engages with Health advisors before services are resumed in both.

Sarah Olney: [68404]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will extend the expiry period for driving

theory tests during the covid-19 outbreak.

Rachel Maclean:

The two-year validity period of the theory test certificate is set in legislation. This is so

the candidate’s theoretical knowledge and ability to identify developing hazards

remains current. To extend the validity period would require legislative change.

Economic Growth: Coronavirus

Joanna Cherry: [66088]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with the

Chancellor of the Exchequer on Government plans to support economic recovery as a

result of the covid-19 outbreak.

Kelly Tolhurst:

The Secretary of State and my ministerial colleagues have frequent conversations

with the Chancellor and Treasury ministers on the vital role of transport in re-igniting

the economy, and levelling up across the UK. We've already made important

announcements, including £2bn of funding to encourage people to walk and cycle,

and announced £100m of funding to improve local roads. I will continue to work

closely with the Chancellor, including on Project Speed, to make sure we are building

and delivering transport that will help drive the UK's recovery from Covid-19.




High Speed 2 Railway Line: Compensation

Theo Clarke: [68450]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve the

processes used by High Speed Two Ltd in relation to (a) land and (b) property claims.

Andrew Stephenson:

One of the Government’s key objectives for the HS2 programme is to deliver a step-

change in HS2 Ltd’s performance and to drive improvements in transparency and

accountability. Central to that ambition is to place people - the communities,

individuals and businesses who are being impacted by the new railway - at the heart

of everything the Government does.

It is inevitable that a project the size and scale of HS2 will be disruptive to people who

face losing their homes, relocating their businesses or having their community

disrupted during construction and the future operation of the railway.

The Government has already introduced a range of property compensation schemes

that seek to strike a sensible balance between supporting those affected and

protecting the public purse. Nevertheless, the Government is determined to ensure

those people and businesses are supported, fairly compensated, and treated with

compassion, dignity and respect.

I therefore commissioned a review in May of the HS2 land and property acquisition

programme. This review is examining HS2 Ltd’s land and property acquisition

processes and, where the evidence demonstrates it, associated wider-government

policies. It is looking at what can be done to streamline claims and payments to

remove unnecessary delay and frustration for people who are giving up land for the

scheme.

Work on the review has involved close joint-working between the Department and

HS2 Ltd, and engagement with numerous stakeholders, including all line of route

MPs. The Government expects the review to conclude shortly. A copy of the final

report and proposals for change will be placed in the Libraries of the Houses of

Parliament.

Motor Vehicles: Delivery Services

Mark Pritchard: [65974]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will hold discussions with

representatives from major hot food delivery companies on reducing the use of petrol and

diesel vehicles for customer deliveries.

Rachel Maclean:

My Ministerial colleagues and I regularly meet stakeholders to discuss our ambitions

for greener road transport.

The Government is investing around £2.5bn with grants available for ultra-low

emission vehicles, as well as funding to support charge point infrastructure at

homes, workplaces, on residential streets and across the wider roads network. This



includes motorcycles and mopeds, which are often used for hot food deliveries, and

which are eligible for the plug-in motorcycle grant (PIMG). The grant, which was

introduced in 2017, is worth up to £1,500 to reduce the upfront cost and support the

early market for these vehicles. Since its launch, over 1,900 motorbikes and mopeds

have been supported by the grant scheme. The Electric Vehicle Homecharge

Scheme (EVHS) was extended on 1 April 2020 to include eligible PIMG electric

motorcycles. The scheme provides a rebate of £350 towards the cost of installing an

electric vehicle chargepoint.

The Government specifically wants to target the decarbonisation of last mile

deliveries in our urban areas. Since February 2018 the Department has supported

the uptake of e-cargo bikes through a £2 million grant programme to help achieve

this.

Public Transport: Coronavirus


To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to protect public

transport workers from covid-19.

Rachel Maclean:

The Department is working closely with the wider transport sector, including

operators and trade unions, on the implementation of the Safer Transport guidance

that aims to help organisations, agencies and others (such as self-employed

transport providers) understand how to provide safe workplaces and services. The

guidance sets out how employers can advise staff and passengers on maintaining

good hand hygiene and on ways to keep their distance from other people as much as

possible, including, for example, through using screens or staggering departures and

arrival times. It also outlines that staff should wear a face covering when they are

unable to maintain social distancing in passenger facing roles, while recognising that

there will be exceptional circumstances when a staff member cannot wear a face

covering, or when their task makes it sensible (based on a risk assessment) for them

not to wear a face covering.

The Secretary of State for Transport is also committed to ensuring that every

transport worker who requires testing has access. The Department is engaging

closely with stakeholders and DHSC to ensure that a robust testing process is in

place for transport workers, whilst recognising that priority needs to be given to

patient care, front-line healthcare staff and social care workers. Everyone in England,

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland with COVID-19 symptoms can get tested.

Antigen testing, or testing for current infection, is currently available through home

delivery kits, regional test sites, satellite sites and mobile testing centres throughout

the country.


Railway Stations: Wolverhampton

Jane Stevenson: [68431]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans the Government has to make

funding available for the development of new railway stations in Wolverhampton.

Chris Heaton-Harris:

We announced the £500m Restoring Your Railway Fund in January 2020 to enable

opportunities to reinstate railway services and add new railway stations to the railway

network. The Restoring Your Railway Programme is about connecting people and

communities. The Ideas Fund is for those schemes that are in an early stage of

development and need to explore the options for solving a transport problem.

An idea that can improve a service and provide a solution to a transport problem that

involves levelling up the economy is exactly the kind of proposal the Ideas Fund is

interested in. For proposals that have moved past the early idea stage, there is also

the New Station Fund and Advanced Proposals. For information about how to apply,

please refer to this website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/re-opening-

beeching-era-lines-and-stations/re-opening-beeching-era-lines-and-stations

Additionally, I am pleased to see that Phase 1 of the new Wolverhampton station has

recently been completed, with a contribution of £13.5m from the Local Growth Fund

to the overall Wolverhampton Interchange project, including for the tram extension to

the station.

Road Traffic Offences: Enforcement

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: [68410]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the planned timescale is for bringing

into effect Part 6 of the Traffic Management Act 2004 enabling local authorities outside

London to enforce school streets schemes.

Rachel Maclean:

The commencement of Part 6 of the Traffic Management Act 2004 is a longstanding

and complex issue which we are looking at carefully, including the role that moving

traffic enforcement powers could play in helping councils to deliver their transport

recovery plans. No decisions have yet been taken.

Speed Limits: Cameras

Scott Mann: [66127]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many local authorities have a

competitive tendering process for the procurement of speed cameras; and his

Department encourages local authorities to undertake a competitive tendering process for

the procurement of those cameras.

Rachel Maclean:

The procurement for goods and services for items such as speed cameras is entirely

a matter for each local highway authority.


https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/re-opening-beeching-era-lines-and-stations/re-opening-beeching-era-lines-and-stations





TREASURY

[Subject Heading to be Assigned]

Alex Cunningham: [904383]

What fiscal steps he is taking to tackle poverty.

Steve Barclay:

We are committed to tackling poverty through a long-term, sustainable approach that

focuses on employment, whilst ensuring everyone is supported by the welfare system

in their time of need. Today we are rightly focused on how we can support families

through Covid-19. We have announced a £6.5bn package of temporary welfare

measures, including a £20 increase to the Universal Credit standard allowance, and

an increase in Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30th percentile of market rents.

Beer: Excise Duties


To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of Beer Duty receipts were paid

by small breweries that produce no more than 60,000 hectolitres of beer per year, in each

of the last three years.


To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of small breweries received the

maximum 50 per cent small breweries relief from their beer duty rate in each of the last

three years.


To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of small breweries in receipt of

small breweries relief received at least a 25 per cent reduction in their beer duty rate, in

the latest period for which figures are available.

Kemi Badenoch:

HMRC publishes quarterly statistics of beer duty receipts, as well as quantities of

production. Information on the proportion of annual receipts that are paid by small

brewers producing no more than 60,000 hectolitres of beer per year is not readily

available.

HMRC publishes annual statistics on small brewers reliefs, this includes the number

of people claiming the relief and the cost of the relief. Information on proportion of

claimants receiving the maximum 50 per cent and at least 25 per cent reduction in

their beer duty rate is not readily available.

Capital Gains Tax

Peter Aldous: [66852]

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to undertake a Capital Gains

Tax rebasement for assets acquired after 31 March 1982.






Jesse Norman:

The Government does not have plans to rebase assets for the purposes of

calculating CGT. Revaluation would be costly and burdensome for both individuals

and the government, as a professional valuation of the assets in question would be

necessary.

Child Benefit


To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he next plans to review the (a) operation

and (b) adjusted net income limits of the High Income Child Benefit Charge.

Jesse Norman:

The Government introduced the High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) from

January 2013 to ensure that support is targeted at those who most need it. HICBC

applies to anyone with an individual income over £50,000, who claims Child Benefit

or whose partner claims it.

HM Revenue and Customs use a number of channels to reach those who may be

liable to pay HICBC to explain what they need to do to pay the charge, and when it is

due.

The Government has no current plans to review HICBC thresholds but, as with all

elements of tax policy, keeps these under review.

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Self-employment Income Support Scheme

Maria Eagle: [68286]

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to extend the

timeframe for the (a) Job Retention Scheme and (b) Self-Employment Support Scheme

for industries that are unable to resume economic activities as the covid-19 lockdown

restrictions are eased.

Kate Osborne: [68438]

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the

potential merits of extending the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme for businesses that

have not been given a date for reopening.

Jesse Norman:

After eight months of the CJRS, the scheme will close at the end of October. The

SEISS will remain open for applications for the second and final grant until 19

October.

It is the case that some sectors will be affected by coronavirus for longer than others,

and the Government will seek to support those sectors appropriately.

The Government will continue to engage with businesses and representative groups

with the aim of ensuring that support provided is right for those sectors and for the

economy as a whole.




Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme: Aviation


To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will (a) extend and (b) review the

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to ensure people working in the aviation industry are

effectively supported.

Jesse Norman:

The Government recognises the challenging times facing the aviation sector as a

result of COVID-19. Firms experiencing difficulties as a result of COVID-19 can draw

upon the unprecedented package of measures announced by the Chancellor,

including schemes to raise capital, flexibilities with tax bills, and financial support for

employees.

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) is a temporary scheme in place for 8

months starting from 1 March and ending at the end of October.

As of midnight 28 June 2020, the CJRS has helped 1.1 million employers across the

UK furlough 9.3 million jobs, protecting people’s livelihoods.

As the Chancellor set out in his letter to the aviation sector, should individual firms

still find themselves in difficulty after exhausting all other options, the Government is

prepared to enter negotiations with them as a last resort. Any intervention would need

to represent value for money for taxpayers.

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme: Local Government

Sir Robert Syms: [66809]

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many local authority staff are furloughed in

each local authority; and what the cost to the public purse is of furloughed staff in each

local authority.

Jesse Norman:

Applications for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) opened on Monday

20th April. By midnight 28 June 2020, 1.1m employers had submitted claims to

HMRC representing 9.3m employees furloughed and £25.5bn.

On 11 June HMRC released analysis of employer take up, which can be found on

GOV.UK. HMRC do not require employers to provide addresses of their employees

as part of their CJRS claim and so is unable to provide an accurate picture of

employee take up by location.

Employment: Government Assistance


To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what financial support he plans to make

available to people shielding and unable to work from home who were not furloughed

under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme by 10 June 2020 cut-off date and who

reside in an area under a local lockdown.





To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Prime

Minister of 10 June 2020, Official Report column 281, what steps he is taking to support

people who are newly shielding after the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme cut-off date

and unable to work from home.

Jesse Norman:

On 22 June, the Prime Minister announced that the Government will relax the current

public health guidance for those identified as Clinically Extremely Vulnerable (CEV) to

shield at home. This means from 1 August they will be able to return to work if they

are unable to work from home, provided their workplace is COVID-safe.

It is important that this group continue to take careful precautions, and employers

should do all they can to enable them to work from home where this is possible,

including moving them to other roles if required. Where this is not possible, those who

have been shielding should be provided with the safest on-site roles that enable them

to maintain social distancing from others.

If employers cannot provide a safe working environment, the CEV will continue to

have access to an unprecedented package of financial support. This is not limited to

the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, but also includes changes to Statutory Sick

Pay to make it payable from Day 1, the introduction of the Self-Employment Income

Support Scheme, and an increase in the generosity of welfare payments worth a

further £8bn.

This support is also available for those who live in areas affected by local lockdowns.

EU External Trade

Martyn Day: [66125]

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with (a) UK

and (b) EU trade negotiators on reinstating a full duty and tax free system for UK to EU

travel after the end of the transition period.

Jesse Norman:

At Spring Statement 2020, the Government published a consultation on the potential

approach to duty-free and tax-free goods arising from the UK’s new relationship with

the EU. The consultation closed on 20 May 2020. The Government will publish a

response and announce final policy decisions in due course.

Loans: Lebanon

John Howell: [68305]

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he has taken to advocate that any

International Monetary Fund loan package to Lebanon includes conditions on political

restructuring to restrict Hezbollah’s state capture abilities and prevent its control of

government spending.




John Glen:

For all IMF programmes, the UK uses its seat at the IMF’s Board to engage in the

process of programme design and stipulation of conditions on lending. We utilise the

expertise of our embassy network to ensure that programme conditions reflect the

domestic political situation while remaining consistent with the IMF’s mandate.

IMF programmes in general are subject to strict policies of oversight and monitoring,

underpinned by well-established mechanisms.

Under its Articles of Agreement, the IMF must establish adequate safeguards for the

use of its resources. IMF lending requires safeguards covering key areas of

governance and control to help mitigate the risks of misuse of Fund resources and

misreporting of data. These safeguards may include limits on how much can be

borrowed, conditions on the loans, measures to deal with misreporting or arrears, and

safeguard assessments of central banks. The UK also uses its seat at the Board to

help shape these policies and ensure that they are applied across all the IMF’s

lending arrangements.

Off-payroll Working: Coronavirus

Mr Richard Holden: [66238]

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has plans to change the (a)

introductory date for and (b) rules on IR-35 off-payroll working as a result of the covid-19

outbreak.

Jesse Norman:

On 17 March 2020, the Government announced that the reform to the off-payroll

working rules that would have applied for people contracting their services to large or

medium sized organisations outside the public sector will be delayed for one year

from 6 April 2020 until 6 April 2021.

The Government has legislated this measure in Finance Bill 2020 and will implement

it in April 2021 in order to address the unfairness of non-compliance with the existing

off-payroll working rules.

Overseas Aid

Sarah Champion: [67661]

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 29 June 2020 to

Question 64925 on Overseas Aid, what evidence will be used to inform future decisions

on department's ODA spending allocation; and what steps the Government is taking to

ensure that all future ODA spending (a) maintain high standards of programme delivery

consistent with his Department's best practice and (b) is subject to parliamentary scrutiny.

Steve Barclay:

We take into account a full range of information with departments when making

adjustments to spending plans and budgets. Departmental Accounting Officers are

responsible for assessing and assuring the impact and value for money of their ODA

programmes on an ongoing basis in line with Managing Public Money. ODA spending



will be presented to Parliament to vote upon through the normal Supply Estimates

process and will be audited by the NAO when departments produce their annual

report and accounts, as per normal process.

Roadchef: Employee Benefit Trusts

Neil Gray: [904399]

If he will bring forward legislative proposals to include the Roadchef Employee Benefits

Trust in the schedule of tax free employee benefit schemes administered by HMRC.

Jesse Norman:

The administration of the tax system is a matter for HM Revenue and Customs, who

have indicated that they are in dialogue with the taxpayer. It would not be appropriate

for Treasury ministers to become involved in the administration of the tax system in

specific cases.

The Government keeps all tax legislation under regular review and any changes are

considered in line with Government priorities.

Self-employed: Coronavirus

Afzal Khan: [66193]

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the adequacy

of the Government's system of support for PAYE freelance workers during the covid-19

outbreak.

Jesse Norman:

The Government has announced unprecedented support for workers and businesses

to protect against the current economic emergency, which PAYE freelancers are able

to access. The support provided has included:

• The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme which, for the first 5 months, enables all

UK employers to apply for a grant that covers 80% of furloughed employees’ usual

monthly wage costs, up to £2,500 a month, plus the associated Employer National

Insurance contributions and pension contributions. Employers can claim for

employees on any type of employment contract, including freelancers, providing

they were employed on 19 March 2020 and on PAYE payroll on or before 19

March 2020. This means a Real Time Information (RTI) submission notifying

payment in respect of that employee to HMRC must have been made on or before

19 March 2020.

• The availability of a three-month mortgage holiday, first announced in March as

part of an unprecedented package of support for individuals, businesses and the

economy. 1.9 million mortgage payment holidays have been granted, equivalent to

1 in every 6 UK mortgages.

• A £20 per week increase to the Universal Credit (UC) standard allowance and

Working Tax Credit basic element. This means that for a single UC claimant (25 or

over), the standard allowance will increase from £317.82 to £409.89 per month.



• An increase in the Local Housing Allowance rates for Universal Credit and Housing

Benefit claimants so that it covers the lowest third of local rents.

• A relaxation of UC minimum income floor for all self-employed claimants.

• A rebate scheme reimbursing employers with less than 250 employees for up to 2

weeks of Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) per employee. SSP has also been extended to

those ill, self-isolating or shielding due to COVID-19.

Self-employment Income Support Scheme


To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many successful applications have been

made to the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme by people subject to the no

recourse to public funds restriction.

Jesse Norman:

Applications for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) opened on

13 May. By 28 June 2020, HMRC had received 2.6m claims representing a total of

£7.7bn.

HMRC have published tables showing the number of individuals claiming the SEISS

by 31 May 2020 which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/self-

employment-income-support-scheme-statistics-june-2020.

HMRC do not hold data on whether SEISS applicants are subject to the no recourse

to public funds restriction.

The revised guidance published alongside the legal Direction makes it clear that

grants under the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) are not counted

as “access to public funds”.

Sirius Minerals: Government Assistance


To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 12 February 2020 to

Question 12439 on Sirius Minerals: Shares, and to the meeting on 21 March 2018

between Right hon. Robert Jenrick, then Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, and

businessman Idan Ofer, whether there has been a review of the handling of Sirius

Minerals' application for financial support by his Department; and if he will make a

statement.

Jesse Norman:

The Treasury has no plans to review the handling of Sirius Minerals' application.


https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/self-employment-income-support-scheme-statistics-june-2020




Sirius Minerals: Shares


To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 12 February 2020 to

Question 12439 on Sirius Minerals: Shares, whether his Department has had discussions

with the Financial Conduct Authority on Sirius Minerals.

Jesse Norman:

The Treasury regularly holds discussions with the FCA on a range of issues. The

Treasury does not routinely comment on specific companies.

Small Businesses: Coronavirus

Caroline Lucas: [66016]

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 4 June 2020 to

Question 51833, how many eligible businesses have not received discretionary grant

funding from their local authorities as a result of a funding shortfall; and if he will make it

his policy to release further funds from Government in line with local demand.

Kemi Badenoch:

The Government announced the Discretionary Grant Fund on 1st May and has

allocated up to an additional £617 million to Local Authorities for this scheme. It has

taken some time for Local Authorities to Launch their discretionary schemes. This is

because unlike the Small Business Grant Fund, and the Retail, Hospitality and

Leisure Grant Fund, the eligibility criteria for the DGF are not tied to the business

rates system, so Local Authorities have had to design new applications processes

and set up new systems for their discretionary schemes. As of 22nd June, the vast

majority have launched their discretionary schemes, and many have started to make

payments.

Local Authorities have significant discretion when awarding discretionary grants. The

only mandatory criteria for the DGF is that the recipient must have been trading as of

11 th March and must not have received any other cash grants funded out by central

Government (with the exception of the SEISS). The Government has also

encouraged Local Authorities to use their discretionary schemes to prioritise those

groups of businesses which missed out of the SBGF and the RHLGF due to the way

they interact with the business rates system. These groups of businesses are:

• Small Businesses in shared offices or other flexible workspaces, for example

industrial parks, science parks, incubators etc, which do not have their own

business rates assessment;

• Regular market traders who do not have their own business rates assessment;

• B&Bs which pay council Tax instead of business rates; and

• Charity properties in receipt of charitable businesses rates relief which would

otherwise have been eligible for Small Business Rates Relief or Rural Rates Relief



However, Local Authorities may choose to focus on the priority group(s) most

relevant to their local area and may choose to pay grants to businesses outside of

these groups, according to local economic need.

The Government continues to keep the economic situation under review and consider

what support businesses and other organisations needs.

Tax Avoidance

Joy Morrissey: [67769]

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to work with his

international counterparts to investigate companies and agents who were promoting loan

charge schemes.

Jesse Norman:

The UK has one of the world’s largest networks of tax treaties and exchange

agreements which HMRC regularly utilise to exchange information with other

countries’ tax authorities. This includes asking, where appropriate, for information that

will assist investigations into tax avoidance schemes including those caught by the

loan charge and the companies and agents who promote these schemes.

The UK via HMRC is also a leading member of the Joint International Taskforce on

Shared Intelligence and Collaboration (JITSIC), a network of 42 national tax

administrations. The core purpose of JITSIC is to facilitate the sharing of information

and collaboration between tax authorities in order to identify and close down abusive

tax arrangements.

Joy Morrissey: [67770]

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential

merits of introducing a means tested loan charge repayment scheme.

Jesse Norman:

The Government estimates that 50,000 individuals were affected by the Loan Charge

and that following the implementation of the Loan Charge Review’s

recommendations, about 11,000 will be taken out of its scope altogether, and more

than 30,000 will benefit from the changes. One significant change is to allow

taxpayers to split their loan balance evenly across three tax years.

People will not to have to pay their Loan Charge debts in one go. Where a taxpayer

cannot pay in full on time, HMRC will seek to agree payment by instalments with

them. The payment plan agreed will be based on what the taxpayer can afford and

there is no upper limit over how long HMRC can potentially spread payments.

HMRC will not require payment of more than 50% of disposable income, aside from

where taxpayers have very high disposable incomes. Where a taxpayer has no

disposable assets and earns less than £50,000, they are automatically entitled to a

minimum of a five-year payment plan, and where they earn less than £30,000, a

minimum of seven years. HMRC have also committed that they will not force a



taxpayer to sell their main home or release their existing pension to fund a disguised

remuneration or Loan Charge tax bill.

HMRC have established a dedicated team to handle enquiries from Loan Charge

taxpayers. Any taxpayer unable to pay in full and needing a payment plan should

contact the Loan Charge helpline on 03000 599110.

WOMEN AND EQUALITIES

Coronavirus: Ethnic Groups

Marsha De Cordova: [63500]

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what gaps in the PHE report Beyond the

data: Understanding the impact of COVID-19 on BAME groups he has identified; and

what the timeframe is for removing those data gaps.

Kemi Badenoch:

The Public Health England (PHE) report, “COVID-19: review of disparities in risks

and outcomes”, published on 2 June 2020, looks at the COVID-19 mortality rates of

different ethnic groups. This rapid review necessarily had some gaps, and as Minister

for Equalities, I am now leading further work to build on this by, for example, driving

forward work examining the impact of factors such as sub-categories of occupation

and co-morbidities; analysing the key drivers of disparities in COVID-19 outcomes,

the relationships between different risk factors, and what can be done to close the

gap. This work is supported by the Race Disparity Unit in the Cabinet Office.

‘Beyond the Data: understanding the impact of COVID-19 on BAME groups’, is a

separate piece of work that was carried out by the PHE; PHE engaged with a

significant number of individuals and organisations within the BAME community to

hear their views about the impact of COVID-19 and this informed ‘Beyond the Data’

which was published on 16 June 2020.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Chemicals: Regulation

Stephen Timms: [68273]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has

made of the preparedness of the Chemical Regulation Division of the Health and Safety

Executive in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal; and if she will make a

statement.

Mims Davies:

The Department for Work and Pensions makes regular assessments on the

readiness of projects under its EU Transition Programme. Regardless of the

circumstances, the Health and Safety Executive will be ready with an independent



regulatory regime for the approval and use of chemicals for the end of the transition

period on 31 December 2020.

Children: Maintenance


To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what reports he has received on

the Child Maintenance Service not contacting parents who miss child maintenance

payments during the covid-19 outbreak; and what assessment she has made of the effect

on the financial security of the recipients of any such missed payments.

Mims Davies:

[Holding answer 18 May 2020]: Paying parents are still expected to pay child

maintenance throughout this period. Our priority is to maintain the flow of

maintenance that is currently being paid, by ensuring that we transfer the payments

as quickly as possible to receiving parents.

We know the vast majority of parents take their responsibilities extremely seriously

and will do whatever is needed to ensure their children are supported.

Where payments have been missed we have asked parents to report the changes via

the self-service portal.

In order to ensure that receiving parents do not lose out in the long run, we will

update cases with notified changes as soon as possible. Where payments have been

missed the Service will take action to re-establish compliance and collect any unpaid

amounts that may have accrued. There is insufficient data to estimate the precise

economic impact of missed payments on different groups.

The Government has been clear in its commitment to support those, including both

paying and receiving parents, whose income drops as a result of the public health

emergency and we have made a number changes to the welfare system to ensure

people are receiving the support they need. Taken together, these measures

represent an injection of over £6.5 billion into the welfare system and, along with the

other job and business support programmes announced by the Chancellor, represent

one of the most comprehensive packages of support introduced by an advanced

economy in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Department for Work and Pensions: Appeals

Daisy Cooper: [67784]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many direction notices have

been served on her Department (a) where her Department has not submitted a response

to an appeal within the statutory timescale and (b) after her Department has received a

reminder of its obligation to submit such a response since 2015; and if she will publish

that information by type of appeal.

Justin Tomlinson:

The information requested is not held.



Department for Work and Pensions: Written Questions

Andy McDonald: [58711]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she plans to answer (a)

Questions 49012 and 49013 tables on 19 May 2020 tabled by the hon Member for

Middlesbrough and (b) Question 52074 tabled on 1 June 2020 by the hon Member for

Bradford East.

Mims Davies:

[Holding answer 16 June 2020]: I apologise for the delay and refer the hon. Member

to my responses to questions49012/49013answered on 1st July and

question52074answered on 7th July.

Employment: Industrial Health and Safety


To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans she has in place to

support the extremely clinically vulnerable to covid-19 who have not been furloughed and

are asked to return to work after 1 August 2020 in the event that they believe that their

workplace is not covid-19-secure.

Justin Tomlinson:

Guidance for the Clinically Extremely Vulnerable can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-



Guidance for employers can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19

Guidance for employees (including links to advice services if a person is worried

about going back to work) can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus/worker-support

Employment: Social Distancing


To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of

the potential effect of enforcing social distancing in workplaces on (a) limiting the spread

of covid-19 and (b) ensuring workplace safety.

Mims Davies:

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) uses a range of strategies, including

regulatory activities, policy and research; which contribute to and maintain Great

Britain’s world class safety record. This blend of approaches has been used in

dealing with Covid-19 risks (including social distancing) in the workplace through, for

example; inspections, investigations of workplace concerns, provision of advice (with

over 3 million Covid-19 webpage views), influencing duty holders through third parties



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









such as the Construction Leadership Council and trade bodies and supply chain

work. In addition, HSE has utilised its research work and proactive communications.

A measure of the success that HSE’s contribution has made can be seen in the very

high levels of compliance with Covid-19 guidance that HSE is seeing in the

workplace. HSE has continually reviewed its approach, during the Covid-19 outbreak,

to ensure it can respond quickly and efficiently as needed.

Fast Food: Coronavirus

Charlotte Nichols: [66234]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many fast food outlets have

been reported to the Health and Safety Executive for breaches of coronavirus health and

safety adjustments in (a) March, (b) April, (c) May and (d) June 2020.

Charlotte Nichols: [66235]


the effectiveness of coronavirus health and safety adjustments in fast food outlets; and if

she will make a statement.

Mims Davies:

Health and safety in fast food outlets is enforced by Local Authorities (LAs), who act

as independent enforcers of health and safety. LAs in England are currently reporting

their general coronavirus enforcement activity to the Department for Business,

Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). BEIS does not hold data on the number of fast

food outlets that have been reported. Across businesses in general, those in control

are overwhelmingly seeking to comply with legislation and very few have required

formal enforcement action to be taken.

During this period, across Great Britain, LA officers have been out in their local

communities dealing with safety and health issues along with other coronavirus

related activities linked to their wider public health duties. The clear guidance

available on the governments webpages ( https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-

safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19 ) and the Health and Safety Executive’s website (

https://www.hse.gov.uk/coronavirus/index.htm ) is there so business can understand

what they need to do to meet their legal duties and set the standards that Officers will

enforce against and advise upon.

Funerals: Coronavirus

Mr Barry Sheerman: [62293]


the potential merits of introducing a crisis funeral loan to (a) support grieving families and

(b) provide confidence to funeral homes that their costs will be met in the context of the

covid-19 pandemic.






https://www.hse.gov.uk/coronavirus/index.htm

https://www.hse.gov.uk/coronavirus/index.htm


Mims Davies:

The DWP Funeral Expenses Payments (FEP) scheme provides an important

contribution towards the cost of a funeral arranged by someone who is in receipt of

certain income based benefits including Universal Credit.

The scheme meets the necessary costs of a burial or cremation in full and in April

2020 the additional element that can help with the costs of a coffin or the services of

a funeral director, was increased from £700 to £1000.

Habitual Residence Test: Coronavirus


To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans her Department has to

review the Habitual Residence Test to improve access to (a) universal credit and (b)

other welfare benefits for EEA migrants and their families during the covid-19 outbreak.

Justin Tomlinson:

The Government has taken steps to provide reassurance to and protect the rights of

EEA citizens’ resident in the UK by the end of the transition period on 31 December

2020, so that they will be able to continue their lives in the UK much as before. In

order to give effect to this, on 30 March 2019, the Home Office fully launched the EU

Settlement Scheme (EUSS).

By being granted status under the EUSS, EEA citizens living in the UK are able to

continue to work, study and access benefits and services in the UK on the same

basis as they did before we left the EU.

EU citizens with settled status who demonstrate habitual residence in the UK will

pass the Habitual Residence Test (HRT) and be eligible to access tax-payer funded

benefits. EEA citizens with pre-settled status are eligible to claim DWP income-

related benefits such as Universal Credit if they are exercising a qualifying EU Treaty

Right. This includes those with a worker or self-employed status and EEA workers

with retained worker status who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own.

Government measures to support workers and their families through Covid-19 are

also available for EEA citizens with pre-settled status under the EUSS who meet the

eligibility criteria. These include the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the Self-

employed Income Support Scheme and Statutory Sick Pay.

Health and Safety Executive: Finance


To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much of the £14 million

additional funding for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has been (a) allocated by

HSE and (b) allocated by HSE for additional inspection capacity.

Mims Davies:

The government has made available up to an extra £14.2 million for the Health and

Safety Executive (HSE) to support the provision of advice and regulatory activities.



HSE has, to date, applied for and received £4m of this to establish an inbound

COVID-19 enquiry service and to undertake proactive compliance spot checks in

relation to business compliance with COVID-19 requirements.

Health and Safety Executive: Staff


To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many full-time equivalent

Band 3 Regulatory inspectors are employed by the Health and Safety Executive in each

region and nation of the UK.

Mims Davies:

The table below shows the number of full-time equivalent Band 3 regulatory

inspectors employed by the Health and Safety Executive by region as at 30th June

2020:

CIVIL SERVICE REGION 30/06/2020

East Midlands 14

East of England 44

London 30

North East 29

North West 64

Scotland 48

South East 30

South West 24

Wales 31

West Midlands 26

Yorkshire and Humber 50

Total 390


To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many personal protective

equipment specialists were made redundant in the science division of the Health and

Safety Executive in 2019; and if she will make statement.

Mims Davies:

Health and Safety Executive did not make any redundancies to personal protective

equipment specialists within their Science Division in 2019.



Industrial Health and Safety: Inspections

Imran Hussain: [52074]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many full-time equivalent

inspectors have been employed in each region of the country by (a) the Health and

Safety Executive and (b) Local Authorities in each year since 2009.

Mims Davies:

[Holding answer 4 June 2020]: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial

Strategy (BEIS) also recently announced an additional £14m funding that has been

made available to HSE until March 2021. Changes in intervention approaches have

enabled the HSE to remain effective as a regulator despite fewer inspectors however

HSE is developing a rolling programme of activity and will draw down funds

throughout the year to bring in additional inspectors, call centre staff and equipment.

Attachments:

1. 52074 Table [52074 Attachment.docx]

Jobcentres: Coronavirus

Liz Saville Roberts: [56090]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has

made of the capacity of Job Centre Plus to continue to provide services with (a)

increased demand and (b) pressures on staff as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

Mims Davies:

[Holding answer 11 June 2020]: Between the 16 th March and the end of April, we

received over 1.8 million claims for Universal Credit. Overall, that is six times the

volume that we would typically experience, and in one week we had a tenfold

increase. DWP is standing up to this challenge and payment timeliness for Universal

Credit remains high.

We have re-deployed around 10,000 staff to critical frontline services and made

important changes to processes.

The Department is continually impacting and assessing the service being offered to

customers and we continue to keep staff numbers under review as part of our

response to the impact of COVID-19 on the labour market.

Throughout this period, we have collected insight from DWP colleagues on their

experiences. We have also refreshed and developed a wide range of wellbeing

resources to support our people and will continue to do so.

The Department is continually assessing the service being offered to customers and

we continue to keep staff numbers under review as part of our response to the impact

of COVID-19 on the labour market. We have already committed to increasing the

number of Work Coaches and Case Managers and recruitment is already underway.



Jobcentres: Staff

Jonathan Reynolds: [68348]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if her Department will publish

updated guidance to work coaches on the reintroduction of conditionality on 1 July 2020.

Mims Davies:

To support our re-implementation of Claimant Commitments in July, we are issuing

guidance to Work Coaches and Case Managers. We are managing this in a phased

approach to deliver a tailored and effective service for our customers, recognising the

individual and prevailing circumstances including COVID restrictions. We have not

needed to issue new guidance on benefit sanctions. We trust and empower our job

centre managers and Work Coaches to work with their customers appropriately.

We regularly update the guidance and up-to-date information about the employment

and benefits support available, including Universal Credit, Statutory Sick Pay, New

style Jobseeker's Allowance, and Employment and Support Allowance, can be found

here:

www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/employment-and-benefits-support/.

Occupational Pensions: Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath

Neale Hanvey: [65024]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many workers in Kirkcaldy and

Cowdenbeath constituency (a) are receiving auto-enrolment pension contributions

through Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and (b) have stopped contributing towards a

pension since the beginning of the covid-19 outbreak.

Guy Opperman:

Complete data is not available on the employees for whom employers have claimed

automatic enrolment minimum pension contributions under the Coronavirus Job

Retention Scheme. This is because the necessary information is collected at

employee level only on claims where 100 or more staff are furloughed.

An estimate of the number of employees resident in the Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath

constituency that are no longer making employee pension contributions, via their

employers payroll, is not currently available and to provide one would incur

disproportionate cost.

In the Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath constituency, since 2012, approximately 7,000

eligible jobholders have been automatically enrolled and 2,310 employers have met

their duties.

Pension Credit

Jo Stevens: [66089]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who were

advised by the Government to shield in March 2020 were in receipt of pension credit.


http://www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/employment-and-benefits-support/

http://www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/employment-and-benefits-support/



Guy Opperman:

The Department does not hold this information.

Social Security Benefits

Neil Coyle: [68353]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate she has

made of the number of people waiting for an (a) online and (b) telephone benefit

assessment as at 2 July 2020.

Justin Tomlinson:

I am interpreting your question to relate to all benefits where an assessment is made

to determine entitlement to benefit. The information requested is not collated centrally

and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Social Security Benefits: Coronavirus

Neil Coyle: [68351]


the potential merits of retaining online and telephone assessments for benefit claimants

as the covid-19 restrictions are eased.

Neil Coyle: [68352]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what role (a) claimants, (b) work

coaches and (c) assessment providers have in determining whether benefit assessments

are conducted (i) online, (ii) by telephone and (iii) face to face.

Justin Tomlinson:

Assessments for health and disability benefits are not conducted online.

Paper based reviews have always been a feature of Personal Independence

Payment assessments and Work Capability Assessments, and wherever possible

Assessment Providers will conduct a paper-based review, if there is sufficient

evidence available to make a recommendation. Telephone-based assessments for

suitable cases across health and disability benefits were introduced from 17 March

due to Covid-19. Whether an assessment is conducted on the paper-based evidence

alone or via a telephone consultation is a decision made by assessment providers

based on the available evidence and ability to assess to health condition via these

channels.

Face-to-face assessments remain suspended but will be kept under review.

We remain fully committed to making continuous improvements to the support we

provide to people with health conditions and disabilities, and are evaluating the

changes temporarily introduced to inform the approach taken to conducting

assessments in the future.




State Retirement Pensions

Jack Dromey: [66003]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what criteria her Department uses

to determine the circumstances in which interest is added to back payments of a state

pension.

Guy Opperman:

[Holding answer 2 July 2020]: The DWP has a discretionary special payment

scheme and the current criteria has been in place since 2012. If a benefit payment

has been delayed DWP can consider a payment to recognise any erosion in the

value of the money. Special payments for ‘interest’ are calculated using HMRC’s

repayment interest rate.


To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether entitlement to a Category

D pension requires a person to make a claim.

Guy Opperman:

[Holding answer 2 July 2020]: A claim for a Category D State Pension is required

(under section 1 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992), unless the individual

is resident in Great Britain at age 80 and is already getting another category of State

Pension (Section 1 and Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1987,

Regulation 3(1)(b)).

State Retirement Pensions: Females


To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether a married woman is

entitled to draw an immediate category BL pension when her husband reaches state

pension age in cases where her husband has deferred taking his own pension.

Guy Opperman:

[Holding answer 2 July 2020]: Under The Pensions Act 2007 and The Social Security

(State Pension and National Insurance Credits) Regulations 2009/2206, since 6 April

2010 where a husband has deferred claiming his State Pension, his spouse has been

able to claim their State Pension Category BL top up from his State Pension age.

Universal Credit

Tommy Sheppard: [59235]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many new applications for

universal credit have been received since 23 March 2020; how many of those claims

resulted in an existing legacy benefit claim ending, and what steps her Department is

taking to ensure that no recipient of legacy benefits is financially disadvantaged as a

result of making a new application for universal credit.





Will Quince:

[Holding answer 17 June 2020]: It has always been the case that, where claimants’

circumstances change significantly, their entitlement will be recalculated based on a

new set of rules under a new benefit.

Throughout the coronavirus outbreak, DWP’s communications team has reacted

quickly and across multiple platforms and mediums to help as many people as

possible navigate the range of new and existing financial support available from the

Government. This includes launching a new microsite within the “Understanding

Universal Credit” website to help people understand the eligibility criteria of different

support schemes and benefits and the interaction between the different support

offers. Since this new content was launched in early March, it has received over 1.8

million page views.

The Department continually makes improvements to the UC service in response to

feedback and user research. Therefore, on 3 June we introduced a check-through

box to remind claimants to check their eligibility before making a claim and to remind

them that legacy benefits will cease when the UC claim is submitted and that they will

not be able to return to them in the future, even if the claimant is not entitled to UC.

DWP cannot advise individual claimants whether they would be better off moving to

UC or remaining on legacy benefits. For this reason, prospective claimants are

signposted to independent benefits calculators on GOV.UK.

From 22 July 2020, a two-week run on of Income Support, Employment and Support

Allowance (IR) and Jobseeker’s Allowance (IB) will be available for all claimants

whose claim to UC ends entitlement to these benefits to provide additional support for

claimants moving to UC. This is in addition to the Transition to UC Housing Payment,

a two-week extension of Housing Benefit, that is already in place.

Data surrounding Universal Credit caseload growth at national, regional and

constituency level is published at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk

Guidance for users is available at:

https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html

The latest Management Information on declarations to Universal Credit was

published on 16 June 2020. It can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-declarations-claims-and-

advances-management-information

Debbie Abrahams: [59471]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of

claimants in receipt of universal credit died between (a) March to May 2020, and (b)

March to May 2019.

Will Quince:

[Holding answer 25 June 2020]: Universal Credit can be claimed by a range of

working age people, some of whom have health conditions or disabilities, which may

https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/

https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/



https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-declarations-claims-and-advances-management-information




be degenerative or life limiting. The decision to claim Universal Credit can be

prompted by a range of a factors, including when someone is terminally ill, so

mortality figures should not be viewed in isolation.

Between 1st March 2019 and 31st May 2019, 1,600, or less than 0.1 per cent,

applications were made to Universal Credit where the claimant died. Over the same

period the volume of people on Universal Credit stood at 2.3 million.

Between 1st March 2020 and 31st May 2020, 2,700, or less than 0.1 percent,

applications were made to Universal Credit where the claimant died. Over the same

period the volume of people on Universal Credit stood at 4.9 million.

Jessica Morden: [65968]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people (a) over 25 years

old, (b) under 25 years old and (c) who were lone parents under 25 years old have

submitted claims for universal credit since 23 March 2020.

Will Quince:

The number of declarations (claims) made between 23 March 2020 and 14 May 2020

is 2,392,336. The breakdowns requested are not readily available and to do so would

incur disproportionate cost.

Gill Furniss: [68398]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many new applications for

universal credit were made (a) online and (b) by telephone in June 2020.

Will Quince:

The number of claims made between 01 June 2020 and 23 June 2020 are as follows:

(a) online 254,840

(b) telephone 4,280

Notes:

1. Figures provided to 23 June 2020 in line with published Universal Credit

Management Information

2. Figures are GB and rounded to nearest 10

3. Based on claims declared between 01 June 2020 and 23 June 2020

Universal Credit: Coronavirus


To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure

that universal credit claimants are not penalised as a result of delays in being placed on

furlough under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and having backdated payments

treated as current income.




Will Quince:

Universal Credit replaces a highly complex system of multiple benefits with a single

monthly payment. It introduces a simple taper system to ensure that claimants are

better off in work and keeping more of what they earn compared to the legacy benefit

system.

The amount of Universal Credit paid to claimants reflects, as closely as possible, the

actual circumstances of a household during each monthly assessment period.

Monthly assessment periods align to the way the majority of employees are paid and

also allows Universal Credit to be adjusted each month. This means that if a

claimant’s income falls, they will not have to wait several months for a rise in their

Universal Credit.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been identified that some employers are

reporting earnings incorrectly as a result of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

We are working closely with HM Revenue and Customs on this issue who have re-

enforced guidance and are contacting employers on the cases we identify.

WRITTEN STATEMENTS

BUSINESS, ENERGY AND INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY

Performance Targets for the Intellectual Property Office (an operating name of the

Patent Office) for 2020-21

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Science, Research and

Innovation) (Amanda Solloway): [HCWS342]

Our Industrial Strategy sets out the Government’s vision for making the UK the most

innovative country in the world. The UK starts from a position of strength and is already

ranked in the top five of the Global Innovation Index and top 10 by the World Bank as the

best place to start and grow a business. But the global landscape is changing and we

must continue to invest in research and development. The Industrial Strategy has set an

ambition to raise total research and development to 2.4 per cent of GDP by 2027, helping

businesses access the right funds and equip them to face the opportunities and

challenges presented by new technologies and new ways of doing business.

Intellectual Property (IP) plays a crucial role in innovation and touches everything that

makes modern life more enjoyable, easier, safer and prosperous. It provides inventors,

creators and entrepreneurs with the confidence to invest knowing that they will reap the

benefits of their investments. UK investment in IP rights reached almost £64 billion in

2016 and studies have shown that industries that rely on IP have accounted for over a

quarter of UK employment and almost half of GDP. Our IP system matters. It creates jobs

and economic growth and is helping to propel Britain to the forefront of innovation.

The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) Corporate Plan 2020-21 explains how through its

stewardship of the IP system, it will help the UK to be the most innovative and creative

country in the world. It will do this through delivering excellent IP services, creating a

world leading IP environment and attracting and retaining the best people by making the

IPO a brilliant place to work.

The UK already has one of the best IP regimes in the world, consistently ranked as one

of the top regimes in indices such as those from the US Chamber of Commerce

International IP Index, and during 2020-21, the IPO will continue to contribute to building

a business environment that makes the UK the best place in the world to start and run a

business.

As an Executive Agency and Trading Fund of the Department for Business, Energy and

Industrial Strategy, the IPO have set targets which are agreed by Ministers and laid

before Parliament. I am glad that today I can inform the House that for 2020-21 the IPO’s

targets are:

• Deliver excellent customer service with our average overall customer satisfaction at

least 85%.

• Deliver our services efficiently through continuously improving our systems,

processes and ways of working to make things better for our customers and our

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2020-07-07/HCWS342/

people, reduce costs and improve the value for money we provide. Our target is to

achieve efficiencies worth at least 3.5% of our core operating costs.

• We will have created equivalent UK rights from existing EU trade marks and

designs to the UK register on 31 December 2020.

• We want to ensure that the UK’s IP framework incentivises the development and

adoption of AI technologies, supporting the government’s ambition of putting the

UK at the forefront of the AI and data revolution. We will do this by developing our

understanding of how AI impacts the IP framework through launching a call for

views and publishing our response so as to provide the clarity our customers need

to confidently invest in AI.

It is important to note that our plan and our targets were developed prior to the outbreak

of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic. At present our targets are unchanged but we

will review this as the impact of the virus becomes clearer. We have the ability to adapt

our finance and resource models according to emerging trends and we will do so. We will

also work with BEIS and our other partner organisations to review our priorities regularly,

ensuring we support wider government responses to the economic impact of the virus

and seek to focus our efforts and resources where they will have the most significant

impact driving the UK innovation and creative economy.

CABINET OFFICE

Negotiations on the UK's future relationship with the EU: update

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office (Michael

Gove): [HCWS346]

The Government has made a commitment to update Parliament on the progress of our

future relationship negotiations with the EU. This statement provides an update on the

intensified talks process as agreed at the High Level Meeting between the Prime Minister

and the three Presidents on the EU side on 15 June. The timetable for this process was

published on 12 June as an addendum to the Terms of Reference on the UK-EU Future

Relationship Negotiations.

Intensified talks took place in Brussels between 29 June and 2 July in a restricted format

and led by the UK Chief Negotiator David Frost. The talks covered: trade in goods; trade

in services and investment and other issues; fisheries; horizontal arrangements and

governance; level playing field for open and fair competition; criminal law and judicial

cooperation; mobility, social security, thematic cooperation; energy and transport; and

participation in Union programmes.

These talks were comprehensive and useful. However, they have underlined the

significant differences that still remain between us on a number of important issues.

Further discussions will take place later this week in London. The UK remains committed

to working hard to find an early understanding on the principles underlying an agreement

out of the intensified talks process during July, as agreed at the High Level Meeting on 15

June.


DEFENCE

Armed Forces Pay Review Body Appointments

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and Minister for Defence People and

Veterans (Johnny Mercer): [HCWS341]

I am pleased to announce that the Secretary of State for Defence has appointed Miss

Jenni Douglas Todd, Mr Julian Miller CB and Rear Admiral William Entwisle OBE MVO as

members of the Armed Forces’ Pay Review Body. Their appointment commenced on 20

May 2020 and will run until 30 April 2023. These appointments have been conducted in

accordance with the Governance Code for Public Appointments.

Armed Forces Update

Secretary of State for Defence (Mr Ben Wallace): [HCWS343]

I am pleased to announce today the launch of a wrap around childcare pilot scheme for

UK Armed Forces families. This announcement represents another significant step

towards the Government meeting its manifesto commitment to provide free wrap around

childcare for Forces families.

It is the latest in a series of measures which my Department has introduced with the aim

of easing the unique burdens on Service families. Our Armed Forces have a 24 hours a

day, 7 days a week commitment to their duties and meeting this manifesto pledge will not

only provide them with the support they deserve, but also help to build the diverse

workforce we need for a modernised UK Defence.

I am determined to make the Armed Forces a more modern, inclusive and family friendly

employer, in order to improve the working environment for retention of all personnel but

also to encourage more talented women to pursue long, and fulfilling careers in uniform.

This follows the introduction of Flexible Service last year, which allows – for the first time

in the Armed Forces – personnel to flex their working arrangements to accommodate

changes in personal circumstances.

By introducing these measures we plan to make life easier for Service Personnel and

their families, who are required to be mobile and can be deployed at short notice. Wrap

around childcare will help them to secure appropriate support when it is required, by

covering early starts and late finishes for eligible working parents of children aged 4-11.

The first pilot sites of RAF High Wycombe and RAF Halton will see funding for before and

after school care during term time from the start of the 2020 academic year. Further pilot

sites at Catterick Garrison and the Plymouth Naval area will follow in January 2021.

Service personnel assigned to each of the pilot sites will be eligible to access the funding,

regardless of the geographical location of their children within the UK. The few families

located in Scotland but assigned to the first pilot sites will, therefore, begin in August.

The launch of this pilot comes amidst the wider return to education, following the

disruption of the Coronavirus pandemic. Service personnel from all of our Armed Forces



have provided critical support to their colleagues in health and social care, often deployed

away from home at short notice.

Their professionalism, versatility, and commitment make them the best Armed Forces in

the world, and we are committed to honouring their service by providing them the best

support possible.

DIGITAL, CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

Support for arts, culture and heritage sector

Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Oliver Dowden):

[HCWS345]

I wish to set out to the House details of the £1.57 billion rescue package that the

government has provided to support the arts, creative and heritage sectors to respond to

the economic shock caused by coronavirus.

The coronavirus pandemic has affected the whole economy, but presents particular

challenges for organisations that depend on engaging with audiences and visitors in

person. It has forced thousands of cultural institutions to close their doors and, whilst

some galleries and museums reopened on the 4th July, even those that have reopened

face significant financial constraints on operating in a socially distanced way.

Through the establishment of the Cultural Renewal Taskforce, and the Entertainment and

Events Working Group, I have been working closely with the cultural sector and medical

experts to address these challenges and to try and help organisations to reopen as soon

as it is safe to do so.

However, this pandemic will continue to disrupt business models in the cultural sectors

and social distancing will mean that crowded venues are not possible for some time. This

means that much of the UK cultural sector, including well-established organisations that

had robust business models prior to the coronavirus pandemic, are not able to restore

their incomes, and face significant financial risks which if not mitigated could lead to

widespread insolvencies and loss of much of the UK’s invaluable culture and heritage.

Government has therefore taken action to provide the necessary support that will help

organisations to survive this period and reopen when it is safe and economically viable to

do so.

This funding represents the biggest ever one-off investment in UK culture, and builds on

the financial assistance many cultural and heritage institutions have already received

from the Government's pan-economy measures including loans, business rate holidays

and participation in the coronavirus job retention scheme. More than 350,000 people in

the recreation and leisure sector have been furloughed since the pandemic began.

The rescue package will support thousands of organisations across a range of sectors

including the performing arts and theatres, heritage, museums, galleries, live music and

independent cinema. It will cover both the largest and most famous institutions, and the



lesser-known but equally-cherished cultural and heritage organisations in regions across

the country - those which have been the anchors of their local communities for years.

This funding package includes:

• £1.15 billion support for cultural organisations in England delivered through a mix

of grants and repayable finance.

• £100 million of targeted support for the national cultural institutions in England and

the English Heritage Trust.

• £120 million capital investment to restart construction on cultural infrastructure and

for heritage construction projects in England which were paused due to the

coronavirus pandemic.

• This new funding will also mean an extra £188 million for the devolved

administrations - with the following allocations via the Barnett formula: Northern

Ireland (£33 million); Scotland (£97 million); and Wales (£59 million).

Decisions on awards will be made by DCMS Arms Length Bodies, in particular the Arts

Council England, British Film Institute, Historic England, and the National Lottery Heritage

Fund, working alongside expert independent figures from the sector.

The funding will predominantly be grant funding, with repayable finance available for the

largest organisations. This repayable finance will be issued on generous terms tailored

for cultural institutions to ensure that it is affordable.

In order to receive support, organisations will need to demonstrate that they are at risk in

this financial year and have done all they can to support themselves. We will be

prioritising institutions of national and international significance and those that are crucial

to safeguarding access to culture and driving economic growth across the whole country.

Further details on the scope of the fund, the criteria that will determine which

organisations are eligible for each element of the fund, and the timing for allocating

funding, will be set out in detailed guidance. DCMS is working intensively with its Arms

Length Bodies, and will publish this guidance for applications shortly.

HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE

Coronavirus Update

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Matt Hancock): [HCWS340]

On 26 March 2020, the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England)

Regulations 2020 came into force, imposing restrictions on people’s movements and

gatherings, and requiring the closure of certain retail and public premises, to protect

public health in light of the coronavirus pandemic. We have kept these Regulations under

continual review and have amended these regulations four times.

On 23 June 2020, the Prime Minister announced in parliament the changes being made

following the fourth review of the Coronavirus Regulations. Due to the substantial

changes being made at this point, I am revoking the existing Regulations and replacing


them with The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (No. 2) (England)

Regulations 2020. This approach will mean that the Regulations are clearer and easier

for the general public to understand.

These new regulations mean that from 4 July, a wide range of sectors have been

permitted to re-open, with guidance that COVID-19 Secure measures are implemented in

their re-opening. This includes the hospitality, leisure, tourism, and recreation sectors.

Group prayer and collective worship, overnight stays in self-contained accommodation,

including hotels, second homes, and B&Bs are also allowed. Although most businesses

are now able to open, a number remain which are still considered too high risk to reopen

due to the likely prolonged exposure and close contact between individuals; these

businesses are listed in the Regulations as having to remain closed.

These new regulations have also removed the restriction on overnight stays. The

previous gathering limits have been removed from legislation and replaced with a 30

person limit on gatherings in private dwellings, ships or boats, and public outdoor spaces.

This new gathering limit will ensure that police have the powers to prevent the type of

gatherings taking place which are not likely to be able to follow social distancing

measures, such as house parties, boat parties or raves. These gathering limits are

subject to exceptions. These Regulations have removed most of the restrictions placed

on individuals by the previous set of Regulations, however the Government has provided

clear guidance outlining what steps people should be taking to protect themselves or

others. This outlines that gatherings should be limited to two households indoors, or two

households or six people outdoors (whichever is greater). It is very important that

everyone continues to follow the guidance – and continues to socially distance from those

they do not live with (or have not formed a support bubble with).

As national restrictions are rightly relaxed to reflect the lower infection rates, we must

ensure that we have the ability to act swiftly and effectively where risky behaviour occurs.

These Regulations therefore introduce new powers for the Secretary of State to either

restrict access to or close public outdoor places (for example beauty spots) by a Direction

if this is judged necessary to protect public health.

As I announced to the House on 29 June, the changes coming into effect on the 4 July

will not apply in Leicester. This follows a rise in cases and is based on clinical advice. In

addition, non-essential retail based in Leicester has had to close. The new Regulations

make this a legal requirement. In addition, they will prohibit overnight stays by Leicester

residents inside and outside of Leicester, and by residents from elsewhere within

Leicester. They will continue to prohibit gatherings of more than six people outdoors and

mixing between households, apart from where this is allowed by the support bubble

policy. The new regulations will continue to only allow places of worship to open for

specific reasons, including private prayer. We are continuing to monitor the situation and

we will review the whether this position can be changed by 18 July.

Publicly available Government guidance on Gov.uk is being updated to ensure it fully

corresponds with the new Regulations.

HOME OFFICE

Government Response to the Call for Evidence on Violence and Abuse Toward

Shop Staff

The Minister of State for Crime, Policing and the Fire Service (Kit Malthouse):

[HCWS344]

Today the Government has published its formal response to the Call for Evidence on

Violence and Abuse Toward Shop Staff. The Government recognises that the violence

and abuse shop workers face can have a significant impact, not only physically but

mentally and emotionally.

The Government launched a Call for Evidence in April 2019 on Violence and Abuse

Towards Shop Staff to understand the scale of the issue, the measures which may help

prevent these crimes and the extent to which existing legislation is being used to tackle

them; and to identify examples of best practice. I want to emphasise that violence and

abuse of shop staff is unacceptable and must not be tolerated, and we will work towards

tackling these crimes. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the retail sector

who have during the coronavirus pandemic worked tirelessly to keep the nation fed while

implementing social distancing measures to keep the public safe.

In light of the responses to the Call for Evidence, the Government recognises that there

are issues which need to be dealt with in an evidence-based manner with the support and

involvement of the sector. Therefore, I have begun work with the National Retail Crime

Steering Group, which we co-chair with the British Retail Consortium, to jointly develop

and deliver a programme of work to drive down abuse and violence, with three key aims:

• Deepen our understanding and address the drivers of violence and assault against

shop worker;

• Send a clear message that such crimes are not tolerated and should be recorded

whenever and wherever they take place;

• Provide effective support to those shop workers who are the victims of violence

and abuse.

In delivering these priorities we will work with partners, including the Welsh Government,

to ensure that plans are tailored and effective. The Call for Evidence generated a high

level of interest and the Government would like to thank all those who took part and for

the work they have contributed. The evidence and comments received has been vital in

helping develop a better understanding of the issue. I wish to be clear that this is only the

beginning of the process, rather than the conclusion as further work is needed to deliver

an evidence – based response to these crimes.

The ‘Government Response to the Call for Evidence on Violence and Abuse Toward

Shop Staff’ will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses



INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Trade Update

Secretary of State for International Trade (Elizabeth Truss): [HCWS339]

I want to update the House on the steps that have been taken to comply with the

judgment of the Court of Appeal of 20 June 2019 regarding licences for military exports to

Saudi Arabia for possible use in the conflict in Yemen.

The legal proceedings concerned the decisions of the then Secretary of State for

Business, Innovation and Skills of 9 December 2015:

• Not to suspend extant export licences for the sale or transfer of arms and military

equipment to Saudi Arabia for possible use in the conflict in Yemen; and

• To continue to grant further such licences.

The legal proceedings concerned Criterion 2c of the Consolidated EU and National Arms

Export Licensing Criteria – which requires the Government to assess Saudi Arabia’s

attitude towards relevant principles of international law and provides that the Government

will not grant a licence if there is a clear risk that the items might be used in the

commission of a serious violation of international humanitarian law (IHL).

The Divisional Court found in favour of the Government in its judgment of July 2017,

noting that we applied a rigorous and robust, multi-layered process of analysis to making

our licensing decisions. Our approach has focused on a predictive evaluation of risk as to

the attitude and future conduct of the Saudi-led coalition, recognising the inherent

difficulties of seeking to reach findings on IHL for specific incidents where we do not have

access to complete information. Even so, this analysis has always incorporated a detailed

and careful review of past allegations of incidents of concern. This included analysis, to

the extent possible, of whether there were patterns of concern, in particular arising from

trends in the number of allegations of civilian casualties and of damage to key civilian

infrastructure. The Court of Appeal broadly endorsed this decision-making process.

The principal issue in the Court of Appeal was whether this analysis needed to go further.

In the Court’s judgment, the question of whether there was an historic pattern of breaches

of IHL was a question which required to be faced. Even if it could not be answered with

reasonable confidence for every incident, at least the attempt had to be made. It was

because we had not reached findings on whether specific incidents constituted breaches

of IHL as part of our assessment of clear risk, under Criterion 2c, that the Court of Appeal

concluded that our decision-making process was irrational and therefore unlawful.

To address the Court of Appeal’s judgment, we have developed a revised methodology in

respect of all allegations which it is assessed are likely to have occurred and to have

been caused by fixed wing aircraft, reflecting the factual circumstances that the court

proceedings concerned. Each of those allegations has been subject to detailed analysis

by reference to the relevant principles of IHL and in the light of all the information and

intelligence available. An evaluation has then been made, in respect of each incident,

whether it is possible that it constitutes a breach of IHL or whether it is unlikely that it


represents a breach. For a number of incidents, as envisaged by the Court of Appeal,

there is insufficient information to make this evaluation. Where an incident is assessed as

being a “possible” breach, it is regarded – for the purposes of the Criterion 2c analysis –

as if it were a breach of IHL. By setting the threshold as “possible” the IHL analysis has

captured the widest range of relevant potential IHL breaches, to provide a base from

which to assess the prospective risk for Criterion 2c.

The IHL analysis has now been applied to all credible incidents of concern of which we

are aware. Some of these incidents have been assessed as “possible” violations of IHL.

These have therefore been factored into the overall Criterion 2c Analysis on the basis

that they are violations of IHL.

We have sought to determine whether these “violations” are indicative of:

(i) any patterns of non-compliance;

(ii) a lack of commitment on the part of Saudi Arabia to comply with IHL; and/or

(iii) a lack of capacity or systemic weaknesses which might give rise to a clear risk of IHL

breaches.

We have similarly looked for patterns and trends across the incidents which have been

assessed as being unlikely to be breaches of IHL and those for which there is insufficient

information to make an assessment.

This analysis has not revealed any such patterns, trends or systemic weaknesses. It is

noted, in particular, that the incidents which have been assessed to be possible violations

of IHL occurred at different times, in different circumstances and for different reasons.

The conclusion is that these are isolated incidents.

I want to emphasise that the IHL analysis is just one part of the Criterion 2c assessment.

In re-taking these decisions, I have taken into account the full range of information

available to the Government. In the light of all that information and analysis, I have

concluded that, notwithstanding the isolated incidents which have been factored into the

analysis as historic violations of IHL, Saudi Arabia has a genuine intent and the capacity

to comply with IHL.

On that basis, I have assessed that there is not a clear risk that the export of arms and

military equipment to Saudi Arabia might be used in the commission of a serious violation

of IHL.

Having now re-taken the decisions that were the subject of judicial review on the correct

legal basis, as required by the Order of the Court of Appeal of 20 June, it follows that the

undertaking that my predecessor gave to the Court – that we would not grant any new

licences for the export of arms or military equipment to Saudi Arabia for possible use in

Yemen – falls away. The broader commitment that was given to Parliament, relating to

licences for Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners, also no longer applies.

The Government will now begin the process of clearing the backlog of licence

applications for Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners that has built up since 20 June last

year. Each application will, of course, be carefully assessed against the Consolidated EU

and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria and a licence would not be granted if to do

so would be a breach of the Criteria. It may take some months to clear this backlog.

Finally, as indicated in the statement made to the House on 20 June 2019, we sought

permission to appeal to the Supreme Court against the Court of Appeal’s judgment.

Permission was granted by the Court of Appeal on 9 July 2019. In light of the revised

methodology which I have just described, I will now be taking steps to withdraw this

appeal.

TRANSPORT

Travel Corridors

Secretary of State for Transport (Grant Shapps): [HCWS338]

It is vitally important that we manage the risk of a second wave of coronavirus and keep

the number of cases of COVID-19 in the UK as low as possible. Health protection

Regulations concerning international travel came into force in all parts of the UK on 8

June. These require people who arrive in the UK from outside the Common Travel Area

to self-isolate for 14 days and to complete a passenger locator form. The Regulations

have helped to reduce the risk of importing cases into the UK.

For arrivals from some countries and territories into England, where the risk of importing

COVID-19 is sufficiently low, the Government considers that it can now end the self-

isolation requirement. Therefore, passengers will not be required to self-isolate when they

are returning from travel abroad or arriving as visitors to England from a number of

exempt countries and territories. Contact information will still need to be provided on

arrival except by people on a small list of exemptions.

The process to date

We have been guided by the science and worked closely with health and policy experts

from across government to ensure the steps we are taking will minimise the risk of

importing COVID-19 cases, while helping to open our travel and tourism sector.

The Joint Biosecurity Centre, in close consultation with Public Health England and the

Chief Medical Officer, has developed an approach to assessing the public health risk

associated with inbound travel from specific countries and territories. The categorisation

has been informed by an estimate of the proportion of the population that is currently

infectious in each country, virus incidence rates, trends in incidence and deaths,

transmission status and international epidemic intelligence as well as information on a

country’s testing capacity and an assessment of the quality of the data available. Data

has been used from official sources in each country and modelling by the London School

of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, as well as from Public Health England and the

National Travel Health Network and Centre. Other data sources may be used in the

future.

This categorisation has informed the Government’s decisions about relaxation of border

measures and has allowed us to establish travel corridors through which passengers


arriving in England from certain countries and territories will be exempted from the

requirement to self-isolate. Those who have visited or transited through any non-exempt

country or territory within the 14 days preceding their arrival will be required to self-isolate

for the remainder of the 14-day period since they last left such a country or territory. The

decision on these exemptions forms part of the first review of the health protection

Regulations concerning international travel which apply in England. FCO travel advice

should always be consulted before booking any travel.

The Government is continuing to discuss this approach with the Devolved Administrations

who will set out their own approach in time. Passengers travelling from overseas to

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland from outside the Common Travel Area should

ensure they follow the laws and guidance which apply there.

Countries and territories exemption list

From 10 July, unless they have visited or transited through any non-exempt country or

territory in the preceding 14 days, passengers arriving from the following countries and

territories will not be required to self-isolate on arrival in England:

Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Australia, Austria, The Bahamas, Barbados,

Belgium, Bonaire St Eustatius and Saba, Croatia, Curaçao, Cyprus, Czech Republic,

Denmark, Dominica, Faroe Islands, Fiji, Finland, France, French Polynesia, Germany,

Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Jamaica,

Japan, Réunion, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Malta, Mauritius,

Monaco, New Caledonia, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Seychelles,

St Barthélemy, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, St Pierre and Miquelon, San Marino, Serbia,

South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, Vatican City State,

Vietnam.

Ireland is already exempt as part of the Common Travel Area, as are the Channel Islands

and the Isle of Man. In addition, we will be exempting the 14 British Overseas Territories.

We will keep the conditions in these countries and territories under review. If they worsen

we will not hesitate to reintroduce self-isolation requirements.

In addition, the UK Government will be making a small number of sector-specific

exemptions to the border health measures as a result of the first review. From 7 July,

certain transport workers who do not come into contact with passengers in the course of

their journey to England will no longer be required to complete the passenger locator

form. This will help pilots, seafarers, and Eurostar and Eurotunnel drivers who make

regular crossings without coming into contact with passengers. There will also be

additional exemptions for certain groups, including elite sportspersons and essential

support staff returning to England or participating in certain elite sports events, and

individuals coming to England to work on British film and television productions.

Next steps

My Rt Hon Friend, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and First

Secretary of State has announced exemptions to the global advisory against all but

essential travel. Travellers should review this advice before making travel plans, and

purchase travel insurance.

The Government will keep the requirements and exemptions set out in the Regulations

under review. The next review of the Regulations will be by 27 July 2020. For further

information, please visit https://www.gov.uk/uk-border-control.

I hope this announcement provides good news to the many of us who want to enjoy a

holiday abroad this year, visit family and friends overseas or travel to do business and will

help protect jobs in the international transport and tourism sectors. The Government

continues to work closely with international partners around the world to discuss

arrangements for travellers arriving from the UK and will continue this engagement ahead

of the changes coming into force.

Documents

Daily Report Tuesday, 7 July 2020 CONTENTS · 7/7/2020 · Exhibitions: Government Assistance 9 Heating 10 ICT: Regulation 10 Wind Power: Scotland 10 CABINET OFFICE 11 Coronavirus: