In Dorset, larger vaccination centres extended their opening hours to 8am to 8pm, including at Vespasian House in Dorchester and walk-in appointments have been available.

The government understands that digital connectivity is more important than ever in light of Covid-19 and the need to work from home. Superfast broadband (speeds greater than 30 Mbps) is now available to 97% of UK homes and businesses, up from 50% in 2010 as a result of the government’s £2 billion Superfast Broadband Programme. This means the vast majority of premises already have access to speeds far in excess of those required for home-working.

In order to ensure all remaining premises are able to access the connectivity they need, the government has launched the broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO) in order to give every premises the legal right to request a decent, affordable broadband connection, providing download speeds of at least 10Mbps and upload speeds of 1Mbps. Ofcom has stated that a 10Mbps connection will allow multiple users to simultaneously use the internet, including web browsing, video streaming, video calling and gaming, and should be sufficient for home working requirements. According to Ofcom’s latest figures, just 0.4% premises in the UK are still without access to a decent broadband connection when taking into account both fixed and fixed wireless access.

The government is also committed to delivering nationwide gigabit connectivity as soon as possible to make sure UK citizens have access to the connectivity they will require in future. Since the initial lockdown began in March 2020, UK Gigabit coverage has risen from 18% to 65% today. By 2025, the Government’s goal is for at least 85% premises to have access to gigabit-capable networks and we are investing £5 billion to ensure hard-to-reach areas are not left behind in the digital revolution.

DCMS continues to work alongside Ofcom to encourage Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to go further to support low-income families. Following our discussions with the telecoms sector, affordable social tariffs are now available from BT, Virgin Media, Hyperoptic, Community Fibre and KCOM for £15 per month to those on Universal Credit as well as other means-tested benefits. These ISPs operate in 99% of the UK. We continue to encourage all operators to introduce affordable tariffs.

In terms of mobile coverage, 99% of premises in the UK have indoor 4G coverage from at least one mobile network operator (MNO), with 81% of premises covered by all four operators.

To ensure all corners of the country are connected, the government’s £1 billion deal with the MNOs to deliver the Shared Rural Network, will see operators collectively increase mobile phone coverage throughout the UK to 95% of the UK landmass by the end of the programme, underpinned by legally binding coverage commitments. The programme will also provide guaranteed extra coverage to 280,000 premises, with further indirect improvements over time, including better indoor coverage in around 1.2m business premises and homes.

The Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement monitor the booster vaccine programme to ensure its effectiveness, including the Primary Care Networks (PCNs) delivering vaccinations in Dorset. There is a high demand for booster doses, with all 18 PCNs in Dorset delivering the service across 31 vaccinations sites. Additional provisions are also in place for those who are housebound, elderly, or in care, to ensure they can receive their booster dose.

We have delivered more than 15.3 million booster doses in the UK, and we know there is a strong demand for boosters in Dorset. The NHS has worked hard to deliver boosters and third doses at all 18 primary care networks in Dorset, providing them across a number of sites. Additional provisions are also in place for those who are housebound, elderly, or in care, to ensure that they get their booster.

The National Health Service is already contacting those who are eligible to receive a COVID-19 booster vaccine, including those in Dorset. Appointments are available via the National Booking System or alternatively through local community pharmacies. General practitioner practices in Dorset are also inviting patients for vaccination when they become eligible for a booster vaccination six months after their second dose.

The Seafood Response Fund did not have restrictions based on minimum vessel size but did utilise a minimum sales threshold of £10,000 recorded on sales notes supplied by registered buyers and sellers of fish between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2019. The scheme was targeted in this way to ensure that Defra only supported businesses that participated in the seafood sector on a fulltime basis. Wider government support was available for businesses impacted by COVID-19, and the £10,000 threshold ensured the fisheries scheme represented value for money and was targeted at commercial fishing businesses that were reliant on seafood as their main source of income.

The Government remains committed to supporting the seafood sector, including small fishing vessels, and at the last Spending Review we announced £32.7 million in funding to support the sector. In England some of this funding is being used to deliver the Fisheries and Seafood Scheme, which will provide grant funding for projects that help seafood businesses of all sizes adapt to new export conditions, recover from the impacts of COVID-19 and achieve other sector priorities. Businesses outside England should contact their own fishing administrations to see what other support may be available.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) consists of independent experts who advise the Government on which vaccines the United Kingdom should use and provide advice on prioritisation at a population level.  For the first phase, the JCVI has advised that the vaccine be given to care home residents and staff, as well as frontline health and social care workers, then to the rest of the population in order of age and clinical risk factors

Those who are the main carer of an elderly or disabled person, whose welfare may be at risk if the carer falls ill, should also be offered vaccination in priority group six.

The latest Performance Data on Heathrow Queue times can be found on the link below:

Heathrow Queue Performance

This Government recognises and values the vital contribution made by carers each and every day in supporting some of the most vulnerable in society including pensioners and those with disabilities. The support that carers provide has been even more vital during the Covid-19 pandemic when other support services may have been reduced or even closed and the caring role became even harder due to the need to self-isolate or shield the person they care for.

Unpaid carers may be able to apply for Carer’s Allowance if they meet the qualifying conditions, such as providing 35 hours of care a week. To ensure that carers already in receipt of Carer’s Allowance do not inadvertently stop receiving it because of changes to patterns of care, we have allowed emotional support to count towards the 35 hours of care being provided by the carer as well as relaxing the rules around breaks in care. We have extended these provisions until 12 May 2021 in recognition that carers need extra flexibility in the way they provide care during the current emergency.

Between 2020/21 and 2025/26 real terms expenditure on Carer’s Allowance is forecast to increase by nearly a third (around £1 billion). By 2025/26, the Government is forecast to spend just over £4bn a year on Carer’s Allowance.

As of May 2020, there were 1008 carers in the West Dorset constituency that were receiving Carer’s Allowance and in 2019/20 we spent approximately £3.6 million on Carer’s Allowance there. A further 673 carers had a claim to an underlying entitlement to Carer’s Allowance.

Carers have access to the full range of social security benefits according to their circumstances. Income replacement benefits help people and households on lower incomes, and can include a carer premium, currently £37.50 a week. An equivalent additional amount applies in Pension Credit. Universal Credit also includes a carer element at the rate of £162.92 per monthly assessment period. These amounts recognise the additional contribution and responsibilities associated with caring and mean that lower-income carers can receive more money than others who receive these benefits. Between the existing carer-specific support, and the temporary Covid-19 uplift, 270,000 carer households receiving Universal Credit have benefitted from up to an extra £2,990 this financial year.

During the pandemic, the Government has also, for example:

• provided funding to Carers UK to extend their support phoneline;
• provided funding to Carers Trust to make onward grants to provide support to unpaid carers experiencing loneliness during the pandemic;
• produced a leaflet to help carers identify themselves on discharge from hospital;
• published guidance specifically for carers and young carers, which includes further information about sources of support including looking after their own health and wellbeing;
• under the current lockdown restrictions carers can arrange for another family member or friend to provide respite care so that they can take a break where this is reasonably necessary. Certain households can also form a support bubble with another household. This includes one person of any age living with one or more disabled persons of any age who require continuous care. This also includes a similar household but with other non-disabled persons also living in the household as long as there is no more than one non-disabled adult in the household. Further, one or more adults living with a child under 5 with a disability requiring constant care can also form a support bubble.

Businesses in tier 2 that are required to close can access payments of up to £1,500 per 14 days of closure. We are giving additional financial support of £1.1 billion to local authorities to support other businesses severely affected by restrictions even though open.

The new dairy response fund opened for applications on 18 June 2020. Full details of the application process can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/dairy-response-fund-2020. The funding will provide eligible dairy farmers in England with up to £10,000. Payments will commence from 6 July 2020. The scheme will help those dairy farmers most in need of support to sustain their businesses by maintaining production capacity without impacts on animal welfare.

Our thoughts are indeed with our colleague who was murdered, Jo Cox, and also with the hon. Member for East Dunbartonshire (Amy Callaghan); we wish her a safe return to this House.

We have introduced an unprecedented package of support for businesses across the country to get through this incredibly challenging period. More than £10 billion in grants—grants—has been paid to over 830,000 businesses of all sizes, including £100 million to over 8,000 businesses in Dorset. I want to thank the local leadership there for delivering that. This has explicitly been targeted at those in receipt of rural rate relief, as well as small business rate relief.