When proposing major changes to ticket office opening hours, including closures, operators are required to take into account the adequacy of the proposed alternatives in relation to the needs of all passengers; and to include this in the notice of the proposal sent to other operators and passenger groups. We would also expect operators to consider other equality related needs and make this clear in the notice sent to other operators and passenger groups.

Together with the industry, we want to improve and modernise the passenger experience by moving staff out from ticket offices to provide more help and advice in customer focused roles. No currently staffed station will be unstaffed as a result of industry changes, and train operators will ensure staff are well located to meet passenger needs in future.

I praise the work of our community pharmacies, which are fantastic at delivering primary care on the frontline. As I have said previously, the Government are exploring ways in which we can support them to do even more, because improving access to pharmacies is something that people would welcome, and it would help people to get the care they need faster and more efficiently. We will continue to look at all the proposals we have received.

The Government recognises the importance of appropriate access to banking. However, decisions on opening and closing branches are a commercial issue for banks and building societies.

The largest banks and building societies have been signed up to the Access to Banking Standard since 2017, which commits them to ensure that customers are well informed about branch closures, the bank’s reasons for closure and options for continued access to banking services.

Guidance from the Financial Conduct Authority also sets out its expectation of firms when they are deciding to reduce their physical branches or the number of free-to-use ATMs. Firms are expected to carefully consider the impact of planned branch closures on their customers’ everyday banking and cash access needs and consider possible alternative access arrangements. This ensures that the implementation of closure decisions is undertaken in a way that treats customers fairly.

Alternative options for access can be via telephone banking, through digital means such as mobile or online banking, and the Post Office. The Post Office Banking Framework allows 99% of personal banking and 95% of business banking customers to deposit cheques, check their balance and withdraw and deposit cash at 11,500 Post Office branches in the UK.

The Government recognises the continued importance of access to banking. However, decisions on opening and closing branches are a commercial issue for banks and building societies.

In May 2017, the largest banks and building societies signed up to the Access to Banking Standard which commits them to ensure customers are well informed about branch closures, the bank’s reasons for closure and options for continued access to banking services.

Guidance from the Financial Conduct Authority also sets out its expectation of firms when they are deciding to reduce their physical branches or the number of free-to-use ATMs. Firms are expected to carefully consider the impact of planned branch closures on their customers’ everyday banking and cash access needs and consider possible alternative access arrangements. This ensures the implementation of closure decisions is undertaken in a way that treats customers fairly.

Alternative options for access can be via telephone banking, through digital means such as mobile or online banking and the Post Office. The Post Office Banking Framework allows 95% of business and 99% of personal banking customers to deposit cheques, check their balance and withdraw and deposit cash at 11,500 Post Office branches in the UK.

Furthermore, LINK (the scheme that runs the UK's largest ATM network) has commitments to protect the broad geographic spread of free-to-use ATMs and is held to account against these commitments by the Payment Systems Regulator. The financial services industry is also working with retailers to introduce cashback without a purchase to thousands of local shops following changes to the law by the Government through the Financial Services Act 2021.

The Government also remains committed to legislating to protect access to cash and ensuring that the UK's cash infrastructure is sustainable for the long term. The Government’s Access to Cash Consultation closed on 23 September 2021. This set out proposals for new laws to make sure people only need to travel a reasonable distance to pay in or take out cash. The Government’s proposals support the continued use of cash in people’s daily lives and help to enable local businesses to continue accepting cash by ensuring they can access deposit facilities.

The closure of Birmingham probate registry office in August 2019 coincided with the opening of a Courts and Tribunals Service Centre (CTSC) in Birmingham. The result is a current net increase of 51 full time equivalent staff employed in probate offices and there has been no direct effect from the closure on waiting times.

Schools in England receive £2,345 Pupil Premium Plus funding for each child recorded on their census as having left the care of an English or Welsh local authority on a special guardianship order, which is the same rate as attracted by looked-after children. Since 2018, special guardians have been able to benefit from the expert advice of local authority virtual school heads, and schools are required to appoint a designated teacher to provide support in school. Providers have discretion, working with other partners where appropriate, to continue to offer education provision to children and young people who they deem to be vulnerable. This may include children who have left care because they are the subject of an adoption, special guardianship or child arrangements order.

Local authorities also have a duty to provide for special guardianship support services, including financial support where necessary. Provision of support is discretionary and is based on an assessment of the guardian’s support needs. Where the child was looked after immediately prior to the making of the special guardianship order, funding from the Adoption Support Fund is available to pay for therapeutic services where they need help to recover from their previous experiences and bond with their new family.

We are also providing financial support to schools to meet additional costs arising from COVID-19. In addition, local authorities across England will receive a further £1.6 billion to help them to deal with the immediate impacts of COVID-19. This takes the total funding to support councils to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak to over £3.2 billion. Local authorities are best placed to decide how to meet the major COVID-19 service pressures in their local area, including special educational needs and disabilities and children’s social care.

We are working closely with colleagues across government to ensure that all appropriate arrangements, and support, are in place for all DfE sectors – from the early years and childcare, schools and children’s social care, and for vulnerable groups including children with special educational needs.

We understand that parents will be worried about continued provision for their children with special educational needs now that schools have closed. Local authorities, schools and colleges, together with parents, should assess the risks to children and young people with Education, Health and Care plans (EHC plans) to judge whether they can be safely cared for at home or whether it is safer for them to remain at school or college. Local authorities and education settings have discretion to do a similar risk assessment for any individual children and young people who do not have an EHC plan but who have complex needs that could mean it is safer for them to be at school or college than at home.

The government has published questions and answers about the provisions being made for vulnerable children and young people, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-vulnerable-children-and-young-people.

We have also published guidance to support management of children and young people in residential educational settings, including boarding schools, residential special schools and specialist colleges and children’s homes: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-isolation-for-residential-educational-settings.

Further useful guidance on social distancing can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-implementing-social-distancing-in-education-and-childcare-settings/coronavirus-covid-19-implementing-social-distancing-in-education-and-childcare-settings.

We encourage people to keep up to date by regularly checking the GOV.UK webpages, which is where we will publish reliable updates and guidance.

As set out in the government response to recommendation 13 of the Education Select Committee report on tackling disadvantage in the early years, published on 4 April 2019, we are clear that children’s centres have an important role to play in achieving my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education’s social mobility ambition, but it is right for local authorities to decide how to use them as part of the wider system of local services. The government response can be accessed here: https://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/Education/Correspondence/Government-response-to-committee-9th-report-tackling-disadvantage-in-the-early-years-CP-68.pdf, the select committee report can be accessed here: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmeduc/1006/1006.pdf.

The government’s role is to engage with the sector, find out what works and support local areas to make the right decisions for their communities, which is why we have commissioned the Early Intervention Foundation (EIF) to examine research and practice evidence with the aim of developing tools to help local authorities make informed choices about their children’s centre provision. The EIF project is part of the Department for Education’s £8.5 million local government programme, which will inform the next steps, including considering any future consultation, on children’s centres. Funding for the local government programme runs until March 2020, with evidence and learning emerging by its conclusion.

Between January 2010 and September 2018 the CPS has closed 66 offices. During the same period the CPS has opened 13 new offices.

The CPS Estates Strategy has to be, and is, in line with the Government’s strategy, namely to achieve best value from buildings on the civil estate. In accordance with the Government’s strategy, departments are required to vacate current office space when there is a lease break or expiry, and relocate staff to alternative buildings on the civil estate.

In September 2018 the CPS completed work to relocate its London offices to an existing shared government building in Westminster. Since 2010 the CPS has reduced cost of its estate by approximately 30% resulting in annual running cost savings of £20m.

General practitioners (GPs) are independent contractors and hold responsibility for managing the business. It is for the partners of GP practices to make judgements on the financial sustainability of their practices.

If a partnership becomes financially less viable, it is for the partnership to decide whether the financial risks are worth continuing to take. The practice may make the decision to merge with another practice or federate, in order to create back office efficiencies and provide primary care at scale. Alternatively, the partnership may at this point choose to hand back its contract. NHS England would not close the practice.

The General Medical Services (GMS) Regulations 2015 govern how NHS England commissions primary care. These regulations restrict from whom NHS England can commission. For example, they prohibit NHS England from commissioning from a practice that has declared bankruptcy. They also require NHS England to terminate a contract with an individual practitioner or remove a partner in a partnership agreement if that individual is declared bankrupt.

The estimated costs of a closure form only one element of a decision, which will take into consideration both the risks involved and dependencies required to deliver each of the options, and the best and most sustainable strategy for delivering good or outstanding school places for every child in the local area.

Releasing details of estimated closure costs could make factors that are equally influential in the arguments for and against closure seem less significant and give a misleading picture as to how the decision was made. The primary objective of the department in making such decisions is to secure value for money for the taxpayer whilst ensuring the best possible educational outcomes for the pupils and parents.

Releasing details of estimated closure costs would not provide a complete picture of the situation. In some cases, those details may also be commercially sensitive. The primary objective of the Department in making such decisions is to ensure the best possible educational outcomes for the pupils and parents whilst also securing value for money for the taxpayer.

Although data on general practitioner (GP) practices is collected by NHS Business Services Authority and published for use in the National Health Service by NHS Digital, data on practice closures cannot distinguish between practices which have closed and those which have merged or been taken over. In addition, changes to definitions of GP practices for data purposes mean that it is not possible to produce meaningful figures relating to closures over a period of years.

The issues around this data collection do not affect NHS services in any way. NHS England works with the Care Quality Commission and clinical commissioning groups to assess local primary care provision in an area and to ensure that appropriate services are available.

Although data on general practitioner (GP) practices is collected by NHS Business Services Authority and published for use in the National Health Service by NHS Digital, data on practice closures cannot distinguish between practices which have closed and those which have merged or been taken over. In addition, changes to definitions of GP practices for data purposes mean that it is not possible to produce meaningful figures relating to closures over a period of years.

The issues around this data collection do not affect NHS services in any way. NHS England works with the Care Quality Commission and clinical commissioning groups to assess local primary care provision in an area and to ensure that appropriate services are available.

NHS England is responsible for the provision of primary medical services in England. As such, it is for NHS England to ensure that patients in all areas have access to general practitioner (GP) services. The General Practice Forward View, published in April 2016, includes a national £508 million five-year Sustainability and Transformation package to support struggling practices, further develop the workforce, tackle workload and stimulate care redesign.

NHS England’s West Midlands regional team prioritised 45 practices for support under the Vulnerable Practices Programme of which 25 were identified in Birmingham South Central and Birmingham Cross City Clinical Commissioning Groups. The criteria for selection may include practices at risk of closure, but will also include practices not necessarily at risk of closure, but identified as vulnerable.

Comprehensive data on practice closures is not held centrally. Practices may close for a variety of reasons, including mergers with neighbouring practices or the retirement of GPs from single-handed practices.

NHS England is responsible for the provision of primary medical services in England. As such, it is for NHS England to ensure that patients in all areas have access to general practitioner (GP) services. The General Practice Forward View, published in April 2016, includes a national £508 million five-year Sustainability and Transformation package to support struggling practices, further develop the workforce, tackle workload and stimulate care redesign.

NHS England’s West Midlands regional team prioritised 45 practices for support under the Vulnerable Practices Programme of which 25 were identified in Birmingham South Central and Birmingham Cross City Clinical Commissioning Groups. The criteria for selection may include practices at risk of closure, but will also include practices not necessarily at risk of closure, but identified as vulnerable.

Comprehensive data on practice closures is not held centrally. Practices may close for a variety of reasons, including mergers with neighbouring practices or the retirement of GPs from single-handed practices.

NHS England is responsible for the provision of primary medical services in England. As such, it is for NHS England to ensure that patients in all areas have access to general practitioner (GP) services. The General Practice Forward View, published in April 2016, includes a national £508 million five-year Sustainability and Transformation package to support struggling practices, further develop the workforce, tackle workload and stimulate care redesign.

NHS England’s West Midlands regional team prioritised 45 practices for support under the Vulnerable Practices Programme of which 25 were identified in Birmingham South Central and Birmingham Cross City Clinical Commissioning Groups. The criteria for selection may include practices at risk of closure, but will also include practices not necessarily at risk of closure, but identified as vulnerable.

Comprehensive data on practice closures is not held centrally. Practices may close for a variety of reasons, including mergers with neighbouring practices or the retirement of GPs from single-handed practices.

The Department does not record or hold this information centrally.

Consultation on a proposal to close an academy is not statutory and is dependent upon the individual circumstances of each case.

In cases where a consultation is undertaken, the process is administered locally, either by the local authority or the academy trust, to allow those directly affected by the proposals to provide their comments.

There is no defined statutory requirement for a notice period to patients when a general practitioner surgery is to close.

NHS England’s guidance for commissioners, the Primary Medical Care Policy Book, suggests that between nine and 15 months prior to contract end, commissioners should undertake a needs and impact assessment and develop an engagement plan, and between two and 10 months before contract end, the commissioners should commence negotiation for the continuation of or procurement of an alternative Primary Medical Service provider, or the appropriate exit plan (including communication to patients).

Only at contract end would the patient list be dispersed, at which point patients would be notified and informed of their right to choose an alternative provider. Details of other local providers could be provided as part of this communication.

There is no defined statutory requirement for a notice period to patients when a general practitioner surgery is to close.

NHS England’s guidance for commissioners, the Primary Medical Care Policy Book, suggests that between nine and 15 months prior to contract end, commissioners should undertake a needs and impact assessment and develop an engagement plan, and between two and 10 months before contract end, the commissioners should commence negotiation for the continuation of or procurement of an alternative Primary Medical Service provider, or the appropriate exit plan (including communication to patients).

Only at contract end would the patient list be dispersed, at which point patients would be notified and informed of their right to choose an alternative provider. Details of other local providers could be provided as part of this communication.

A final decision has not yet been made on the future of the Baverstock Academy. The ‘listening period’, which commenced on 10 January and ended on 7 February, was to invite the community and stakeholders of Baverstock Academy to make representations to the Secretary of State. The Department does not provide information, financial or otherwise, to the public as part of this process.

As part of the transparency of academy trusts, they are required to publish their financial accounts annually on their website. This information was therefore readily available to the community and stakeholders to inform their representations to the Secretary of State.

The Secretary of State will review the submissions from the community before reaching a final decision. Consideration will be given to all representations to ensure that whatever decision is reached will be in the best interests of the students and local community of Baverstock Academy.