Lauren Edwards

The Civil Service provides its employees with a comprehensive range of health and wellbeing tools and policies to ensure that employees remain in work or return to work as quickly as possible following absence due to ill health.

The Cabinet Office is fully committed to supporting the mental health and wellbeing of its civil servants, and has introduced a range of initiatives aimed at promoting good mental health.

Managers within the Cabinet Office are provided with training to identify early signs of mental health issues and offer appropriate support. Cabinet Office employees also have access to a confidential employee assistance programme (EAP), which offers mental health support, including counselling services.

The Clean Power 2030 Action Plan outlines our approach to delivering a clean electricity system, including our approach to cross-border energy projects. It expects 12-14GW of electricity interconnection by 2030, up from the 9.8GW currently installed.

Under the UK-EU reset we are working with the EU to identify areas (such as electricity interconnection) where we can strengthen cooperation for mutual benefit.

GridLink’s completion is, like all interconnector projects, contingent on the project receiving approval in both connecting countries. The project has regulatory approval in GB, however the French approval process remains ongoing. The UK Government has no role in this.

The Office for Clean Energy Jobs (‘the Office’) has been established within DESNZ. The Office will focus on developing a skilled workforce in core energy and net zero sectors, crucial to meeting our mission to make the UK a clean energy superpower. Recognising the critical workforce challenges within the energy transition, the Office is dedicated to ensuring that clean energy jobs are not only abundant, but also of high quality, focussing on fair pay, favourable terms, and good working conditions.

The Office is actively engaging with key stakeholders, including trade unions and industry leaders, to keep job quality at the forefront of our efforts. Grangemouth will be among the first areas that the Office will work with, as part of the joint UK and Scottish Government investment plan. DESNZ will also come on board as a strategic partner to develop a skills passport to support workers to transition to the clean energy sector.

The Office for National Statistics routinely publishes official statistics on Gross Expenditure on Research & Development (GERD), including breakdowns of expenditure by sector. These statistics show the total value of R&D performed, for each of the past five years for which data is available (2018 – 2022), was:

Current prices (£m)

The department recognises there is a wide range of reasons for non-achievement of an apprenticeship, and that is why we hold training providers to account for quality delivery through the Apprenticeship Accountability Framework, which encompasses a wide range of quality indicators. In addition to Qualification Achievement Rates, these also include Ofsted inspection, retention rates, and employer and apprentice feedback.

Qualification Achievement Rates are one of a range of metrics the department holds on apprentice learner outcomes. We also publish a wide range of other information, including apprentice outcomes, earnings and satisfaction data.

As outlined in the department’s further education outcomes publication, 94% of apprentices who achieve their apprenticeships go into work or further training, with 93% remaining in sustained employment. This publication also shows that apprentices benefit from strong wage returns. Median earnings for an apprentice at level 3 were £19,550 one year after achievement, rising 36% to £26,540 five years on. Additionally, the department’s Apprenticeship Evaluation Learner Survey found that 86% of apprentices were satisfied with their apprenticeships and 88% felt their career prospects had improved since starting their apprenticeship.

The government is committed to ensuring both learners and employers have access to crucial digital and artificial intelligence (AI) skills that have the potential to increase productivity and create new high value jobs in the UK economy. To achieve this, the government is reforming the skills system.

The government has established Skills England to form a coherent national picture of skills gaps and to help shape the technical education system so that it is responsive to skills needs.

In addition, the government’s new Industrial Strategy will channel support to eight growth-driving sectors. Digital and Technologies has been identified as one of the eight growth-driving sectors and the department is considering how it supports this sector to develop the skills needed now and in the future.

The government is also reforming the apprenticeships levy into a growth and skills levy which will deliver greater flexibility for learners and employers. As a key first step toward greater flexibility, we are introducing new foundation apprenticeships for young people, as well as shorter duration apprenticeships in targeted sectors. The minimum duration of an apprenticeship will be reduced to eight months, down from the current minimum of 12 months from August 2025. Three trailblazers in the key priority sectors of green energy, healthcare and film/TV production will be among the first to pioneer, and benefit from, the flexibilities that the new shorter duration apprenticeships offer. These will support more people to gain high quality skills at work, fuelling innovation in businesses across the country.

Apprenticeships are a great way for individuals to begin, or progress in, a successful career in the digital sector. Employers have developed more than 30 digital apprenticeships, including Level 3 Digital Support Technician and Level 5 Data Engineer.

The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education’s Digital Skills and Characteristics Framework also supports the inclusion of appropriate digital content such as AI and data driven technologies in new and revised occupational standards at all levels, ensuring that occupational standards keep pace with technological advancements and market trends.

The government is developing a comprehensive strategy for post‐16 education and skills to break down barriers to opportunity and support employers to develop the skilled workforces they need to help drive economic growth.

Skills England has been established to form a coherent national picture of skills gaps and to help shape the technical education system so that it is responsive to skills needs. It will work closely with the Industrial Strategy Council and the Migration Advisory Committee to achieve this.

The government’s new Industrial Strategy will channel support to eight growth-driving sectors. Digital and Technologies has been identified as one of the eight growth-driving sectors and the department is considering how it supports this sector to develop the skills needed now and in the future.

Additionally, the government is reforming the apprenticeship levy into a new growth and skills levy that will deliver greater flexibility for learners and employers in England, aligned with the Industrial Strategy. As a first step, this will include shorter duration and foundation apprenticeships in targeted sectors, helping more people learn new high quality skills at work, fuelling innovation in businesses across the country and providing high quality entry pathways for young people.

Skills England was asked to engage with employers and other key partners regarding early priorities for the new growth and skills offer over the autumn. It has spoken to over 700 stakeholders, including representatives in the digital and technology sector, and has shared its findings with the department. Skills England will publish its findings from this engagement process in early 2025.

​The government has a central mission to break down barriers to opportunity and boost life chances for every child. This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. We are committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, as well as ensuring special schools cater to those with the most complex needs.

​All teachers are teachers of SEND, and high quality teaching is central to ensuring that pupils with SEND are given the best possible opportunity to achieve at school.

Consideration of SEND underpins the Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Core Content Framework (CCF) and Early Career Framework (ECF), which were both produced with the support of sector experts. They have been designed around how to support all pupils to succeed, including those pupils identified within the four areas of need set out in the SEND Code of Practice. ITT courses must be designed so that teacher trainees can demonstrate that they meet all of the Teachers' Standards at the appropriate level, including the requirement in Standard 5, that all teachers must have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils. Headteachers use their professional judgement to identify any further training, including specific specialisms, for individual staff that is relevant to them, the school, and its pupils.

All mainstream schools must have a special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO) who must be a qualified teacher, or the head teacher, working at the school. On 1 September 2024, the government introduced a new mandatory leadership level National Professional Qualification (NPQ) for SENCOs. The NPQ will play a key role in improving outcomes for children and young people with SEND by ensuring SENCOs consistently receive high quality, evidence-based training. This is crucial given the central role SENCOs play in supporting pupils with SEND.

As announced in the King’s Speech on 17 July 2024, the government will introduce a Buses Bill later this session. This will put the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders right across England, ensuring networks meet the needs of the communities who rely on them. The Bill will increase powers available to local leaders to choose the model that works best in their area, whether that be franchising, high-quality partnerships with private operators or local authority ownership. The Department is currently working to finalise the exact scope of the Buses Bill.

We acknowledge the urgent challenge of ensuring that rural areas, including West Dorset, have the resources to continue serving their patients. To address this, we will increase capacity in general practice (GP) and ensure rural areas have the necessary workforce to provide integrated, patient-centred services.

We are committed to training thousands more GPs across the country, including in rural areas. We have also committed to recruiting over 1,000 newly qualified GPs through an £82 million boost to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme, which will increase the number of appointments delivered in GPs. This will increase capacity, secure the future pipeline of GPs, and alleviate the pressure on those currently working in the system.

As set out in my previous response, it is a decision for EU authorities whether to extend further the Article 25 EMIR decision for UK CCPs. As the Bank of England has noted previously, there are financial stability risks which might arise from EU firms having to exit from UK CCPs at pace. HM Treasury, alongside the financial services regulators, will therefore continue to monitor the situation.

The EU took the decision in early 2022 to extend its equivalence decision for UK central counterparties, made under Article 25 of the European Market Infrastructure Regulation, until June 2025. Equivalence decisions are made on a unilateral basis by EU authorities and it is therefore a decision for EU authorities on whether this is extended. The UK Government is committed to maintain and strengthen our high standards for CCP regulation.

The Home Office does not publish data on the number of referrals made to the Prevent programme below regional levels because it could enable a threat picture to be built which could be used for terrorist purposes.

The number of referrals made to the Prevent programme in the South-East region, in which the areas the Hon Member has asked about are contained, is provided in the table below.

Number of individuals referred to the Prevent Programme within the South East region each year since the financial year ending 2020

Further information on the individuals referred to Prevent can be found in the published annual statistics on GOV.UK: Individuals referred to Prevent: to March 2024.

The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 provides the police, local authorities and other local agencies with a range of flexible tools and powers that they can use to respond quickly and effectively to anti-social behaviour, including acts of vandalism and criminal damage.

It is for local areas and individual police forces to decide how best to deploy these powers depending on the specific circumstances of each case, but the Government is determined to restore the neighbourhood policing that enables local forces to respond visibly and effectively to incidents of crime in our country’s high streets and town centres, including putting 13,000 more neighbourhood police and community support officers back on the beat in local communities to help lead that fight.