My hon. Friend leaves no stone unturned in advocating for his constituents to get better broadband, because we all know how important it is in rural areas. Superfast broadband coverage in Dorset is now up to 96%; that is progress, but the Government have more work to do, and Project Gigabit is a crucial part of delivering that.

While he is carrying out academic study and writing a book, the Archbishop will delegate some of his duties to the Archbishop of York and other bishops.

Study leave is available to all clergy and bishops, and the Archbishop’s two immediate predecessors also both took study leave.

Our trade policies will open global markets for UK farmers and lower their input costs. We have successfully rolled over EU FTAs but now want to give farmers enhanced access to countries with whom the EU could not or would not do a deal. We are giving farmers a stronger voice in trade policy, putting the Trade and Agriculture Commission on a statutory footing and we have just launched a major promotion campaign for the industry.

The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has a number of schemes which provide financial support to the rural economy. The three main land schemes, which offer an annual payment, are Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), Countryside Stewardship (CS) and the Environmental Stewardship Scheme (ES).

Famers submitting a valid claim under these schemes will normally receive a payment between 1 December and 30 June the following year.

For 2019 we released by 30 June:

o BPS 2019 – 84,225 (99.9%) payments worth £1.79bn

o CS 2019 – 10,899 (94.2%) worth £88.46m

o ES 2019 – 12,020 (97.7%) worth £182.22m

There are several reasons for why payments may be delayed beyond the 30 June such as ongoing discussions with claimants, the resolution of probate, or ongoing fraud investigations.

Payments for 2020 claims began in December and are ongoing. The RPA delivered its best ever December payment performance, paying around 98% of BPS claims by the end of the year, despite the challenges caused by the Coronavirus pandemic.

The UK is aware of reports that Hizballah continues to amass an arsenal of weapons within Lebanon, in direct contravention of relevant UN Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs). The UK Government regularly raises this at the UN Security Council, and we call on the Lebanese authorities to abide by provisions of the relevant UNSCRs. Hizballah's destabilising influence threatens regional stability and endangers Lebanon and its people.

The Church Commissioners are undertaking a natural capital assessment to provide a baseline for our carbon outputs and to understand our ecosystem services. This will provide a plan to lower carbon outputs and inform our natural capital strategy. Where possible, our tenancies have clauses relating to good husbandry and the non-removal of topsoil, and with longer-term tenancies, soil analyses are carried out at the beginning and the end of leases to ensure that soil health is maintained to a good standard.

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.

Border Force is confident that resources to meet anticipated overall operational requirements are in place with Border Force recruiting sufficient additional frontline staff and continuing to build staffing levels during 2020/2021 across all critical ports.

Resource and staffing requirements at every port, including Heathrow, are continually reviewed by Border Force working with airport operators including Heathrow Airport Ltd, and resources are deployed flexibly as and when they are required.

Nationally, Border Force recruited over 1,000 additional officers in preparation for the end of transition and continues to ensure maximum flexibility in their recruitment and deployment approach.

Wait times in airports can be caused by a number of factors, not just related to resourcing. This includes the volume of immigration case working, additional support and checks in relation to Covid-19, and specific security activity. Our teams seek to balance this range of tasking each day. Whilst mindful of passenger wait times and experience, our primary objective is to ensure the security of the border and that all mandated security activity is carried out to keep the country safe.