The Department’s transport business case guidance forms the basis of our assessment of transport investment projects. It follows HM Treasury’s Green Book five case model which is the government’s best practice model for spending and investment decisions. The guidance is kept under review and is used alongside the well-established Transport Analysis Guidance (TAG). TAG is kept under constant review in line with good practice, the latest evidence, and method enhancements.

On Monday 21 October, the Government published a comprehensive package of analysis on the impact of the Employment Rights Bill. This is available at:http://www.gov.uk/guidance/employment-rights-bill-impact-assessments.

The majority of employees will benefit from new protections in the Bill and our assessment finds that workers in the low-paying sectors including retail, infrastructure sectors such as transport and storage, and some consumer goods manufacturing (e.g. food-items) will benefit the most from the Bill. Our assessment suggests that the Professional Services sector is unlikely to be disproportionately impacted by the Bill.

The Bill will also deliver wider benefits for the business environment by improving wellbeing, incentivising higher productivity, and creating a more level playing field for good employers. This could have a positive knock-on impact on productivity and growth.

On Monday 21 October, the Government published a comprehensive package of analysis on the impact of the Employment Rights Bill. This is available at:http://www.gov.uk/guidance/employment-rights-bill-impact-assessments.

The majority of employees will benefit from new protections in the Bill and our assessment finds that workers in the low-paying sectors including retail, infrastructure sectors such as transport and storage, and some consumer goods manufacturing (e.g. food-items) will benefit the most from the Bill. Our assessment suggests that the Professional Services sector is unlikely to be disproportionately impacted by the Bill.

The Bill will also deliver wider benefits for the business environment by improving wellbeing, incentivising higher productivity, and creating a more level playing field for good employers. This could have a positive knock-on impact on productivity and growth.

To address the specific barriers disabled EV drivers face when using public chargepoints, the Government co-sponsored the publication of the Publically Available Specification (PAS) 1899:2022 standard, which provides specifications on designing and installing accessible public EV chargepoints and considers chargepoints in the context of their wider built environment.  The Government continues to work with industry and other parties to ensure effective implementation of PAS1899 and to support the 24-month review of the PAS, which is being led by the British Standards Institution (BSI) and concludes early in 2025. The Government will continue to monitor progress to assess whether further intervention is needed on accessibility over time.

The 10-Year Health Plan will deliver three big shifts in the focus of healthcare, from hospital to community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention.

The Department will also refresh the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan to fit the transformed health service we will build over the next decade, so the National Health Service has the staff it needs to treat patients on time again. NHS England continues to lead on a range of initiatives to boost retention of existing staff and ensure the NHS remains an attractive career choice for new recruits.

The Government recognises that a cancer-specific approach is needed to meet the challenges in cancer care, and to improve outcomes for people living with cancer. Following publication of the 10-Year Health Plan, we will publish a new national cancer plan, which will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients. We will continue to ensure that we train the staff we need to ensure patients are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it, and the cancer plan will reflect this.

We are now in discussions about what form that plan should take, and what its relationship to the 10-Year Health Plan and the Government’s wider Health Mission should be, and will provide updates on this in due course.

Between 1 November 2021 and 1 December 2024, the total spent by the NHS Business Services Authority on behalf of the Department to defend against appeals within the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme was £104,005.05. As of December 2024, 49 appeals linked to COVID-19 vaccinations have been escalated to a tribunal.

The Government is committed to doing more to ensure that everyone from all backgrounds have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities. Sport and physical activity is central to achieving our health and opportunity manifesto missions, with the biggest gains coming from supporting those who are inactive to move more.

Sport England, the Government’s arm’s length body for grassroots sport, provides long term investment to the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), the National Governing Body for tennis in Britain. The LTA is receiving up to £10.2 million for five years, to invest in community tennis and padel initiatives that will benefit everyone, including disabled people, women and girls and older people.

This government is clear it wants to make sure all children with special educational needs and disabilities receive the support they need to achieve and thrive. That is why we have set out a clear ambition to improve inclusivity in mainstream schools, while ensuring that special schools cater for those with the most complex needs.

The window for trusts to apply to run these schools closed on 19 July. The department will provide an update in due course.

Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.

Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing NHS services. The amount of funding each charitable hospice receives varies both within and between ICB areas. This will vary depending on the demand in that ICB area, but will also be dependent on the totality and type of palliative and end of life care provision from both NHS and non-NHS services, including charitable hospices, within each ICB area.

From 2007/8 until 2023/24, children and young people’s hospices received funding via the Children’s Hospice Grant. While 2023/24 marked the final year of the Children’s Hospice Grant in its previous format, in 2024/25, NHS England provided £25 million of funding for children and young people’s hospices, maintaining the level of funding from 2023/24. For the first time, this funding was distributed to hospices by ICBs, on behalf of NHS England, rather than being centrally administered as before. Since 2022/23, individual allocations of this funding have been determined using a prevalence-based model, enabling allocations to reflect local population need.

The information requested is not held centrally.

All children of compulsory school age living in England, including foreign national children, are required by law to receive a suitable full-time education. As such, the department does not collect, or hold, information on the migration status of school pupils.

Guidance on school access rights for foreign national students is published on GOV.UK and can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/schools-admissions-applications-from-overseas-children.

The guidance sets out how local authorities and admissions authorities in England should process applications from families living outside of England and foreign national families.

The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review (CAR) is currently reviewing the existing national curriculum and statutory assessment system in England, to ensure they are fit for purpose and that the curriculum is rich and broad, inclusive and innovative. The review group will publish an interim report early in 2025, setting out their interim findings and confirming the key areas for further work. The final report, with recommendations, will be published in autumn 2025.

Topics relating to climate change and the environment are currently included within geography, science and citizenship in the current national curriculum, with an environmental science A level also available. At a primary level, pupils are given a foundation of climate science which can be built on in secondary school. Teachers also have the flexibility to plan their own lessons, which enables them to adapt and consider new developments, societal changes, or topical issues. As a result, the department is seeing excellent work in climate education at all levels in many schools and multi-academy trusts.

HM Revenue & Customs’ Spirits Drinks Verification Scheme (SDVS) conducts assurance of spirit producers wishing to apply for Geographic Indication status, ensuring their processes and products comply with established standards. As the SDVS is not limited to craft producers and engagement with the scheme is voluntary, no assessment of the impact on small scale craft producers has been undertaken.

However, the government recognises the importance of protecting and promoting the unique status of the UK’s traditional spirit drinks industry. That is why at Autumn Budget we announced an investment of up to £5m to improve the SDVS and ensure the fees HMRC charge producers for its verification service are as low as possible.

Health education has been compulsory in all state-funded schools in England since 2020, as part of statutory relationships, sex and health education (RSHE).

The RSHE curriculum, which is currently being reviewed, includes a wide range of health-related topics, including healthy eating, physical fitness, mental wellbeing and first aid, as well as the risks of smoking, drugs and alcohol.

Separately, the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review will consider how RSHE fits into the wider curriculum.

The number of settlement agreements issued by the department in the last five years are listed below:

2020 - 0

2021 - 0

2022 - 0

2023 - 0

2024 - fewer than 5

Due to the low number of settlement agreements issued by the department we cannot disclose the total value to ensure individuals are not identifiable.

The trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation is a truly horrific crime. This Government has set out an unprecedented mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade, and we will use all the levers available to us to deliver this.

We continue to work closely with law enforcement to ensure there is a relentless pursuit of prolific perpetrators, including through operational intensification initiatives.

We are also clear that online platforms are a significant enabler of sexual exploitation and must be responsible and accountable for content on their sites, including taking proactive steps to prevent their sites being used by criminals. The Online Safety Act 2023 sets out priority offences, including sexual exploitation and human trafficking offences, and companies will need to adopt measures and put in place systems and processes to identify, assess and address these offences based on a risk assessment, or face significant penalties.

Home Office Ministers regularly meet with ministerial colleagues from other departments, as well as stakeholders, including NGOs and law enforcement partners, to promote the better identification and prosecution of perpetrators who pose a risk to women and girls, and to enhance support for victims who are being sexually exploited.