NHS England advised local vaccination sites that Primary Care Networks should focus their efforts on inviting priority cohort six, which includes adults who had required hospital admission due to the severity of their asthma.

At Budget, the Chancellor announced the 8 Freeports from 8 regions of England, as selected by the Secretary of State for the Ministry for Housing, Communities & Local Government – this followed the fair, open and transparent assessment process outlined in the Bidding Prospectus.

Freeports will play a significant role in boosting trade, attracting inward investment and driving productive activity across the UK. This will level up communities across the country through increased employment opportunities. This is more important than ever as we begin to recover from the ongoing economic impacts of Covid-19.

Our focus has been on getting places to send us their bids and proposals, rather than second-guessing what they will do. The modelling we have done to support that process remains sensitive at this point and liable to change significantly now the locations have been announced.

At Budget, the Chancellor announced the 8 Freeports from 8 regions of England, as selected by the Secretary of State for the Ministry for Housing, Communities & Local Government – this followed the fair, open and transparent assessment process outlined in the Bidding Prospectus.

Freeports will play a significant role in boosting trade, attracting inward investment and driving productive activity across the UK. This will level up communities across the country through increased employment opportunities. This is more important than ever as we begin to recover from the ongoing economic impacts of Covid-19.

Our focus has been on getting places to send us their bids and proposals, rather than second-guessing what they will do. The modelling we have done to support that process remains sensitive at this point and liable to change significantly now the locations have been announced.

The Government keeps all policy under review. To extend the facility for councils to continue to meet remotely, or in hybrid form after 7 May 2021 would require primary legislation.

We have received representations from local authorities and sector representative organisations making the case for the continuation of remote meetings beyond 7 May 2021 and are carefully considering next steps in this area.

The Towns Fund is helping level up the country, driving economic regeneration, productivity and growth. At Budget 2021, the Chancellor announced 45 Town Deals. Regional totals can be found in the Budget document (attached) here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/966868/BUDGET_2021_-_web.pdf.

These are in addition to the first seven Town Deals announced in October 2020, further details of which can be found (attached) here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/first-town-deals-worth-almost-180-million-announced

The Towns Fund superseded the previously announced Stronger Towns Fund, ensuring even more places could be supported. No funding was committed through that Fund.

Further Town Deals will be announced in due course.

The noble Lord makes some good points. Local government is indeed a key partner in delivering net zero, and this Government are supporting it with a range of funding streams covering key decarbonisation areas such as transport and building. Local government bodies are, of course, key to leading transition in their areas, leading by example on their own estates, and supporting and enabling others to follow their campaigns.

Fly-tipping is a crime which blights local communities and the environment, and we are committed to tackling this unacceptable behaviour.

We have not made an assessment of the 2019/20 fly-tipping statistics for England published by Defra. A detailed breakdown of the incidents reported by local authorities is however available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fly-tipping-in-england

We continue to work with partners to tackle this crime. In recent years we have bolstered local authorities' powers to tackle fly-tipping, such as by introducing the power to issue fixed penalty notices and to stop and seize vehicles of suspected fly-tippers.

Our 2018 Resources and Waste Strategy set out our strategic approach to prevent, detect and deter waste crime. We committed to strengthen sentences for fly-tipping and to develop a fly-tipping toolkit to help local authorities and others work in partnership to tackle this crime. We also committed to increasing penalties for fly-tipping in our manifesto.

Budget 2020 allocated up to £2million to support innovative solutions to tackle fly-tipping. We are exploring funding opportunities and priorities at this stage, including considering the role of digital solutions.

We are also preparing a number of legislative reforms to tackle waste crime, which will help to tackle fly-tipping. We are taking forward the commitment in the Resources and Waste Strategy to develop proposals for the reform of the waste carrier, broker, and dealer regime. We are working with industry and the regulator and we intend to consult later this year. We also intend to consult on the introduction of mandatory electronic waste tracking. This will help to ensure that waste is dealt with appropriately and to reduce the incidence of waste crime and fly-tipping.

The Environment Bill also includes several measures to help tackle waste crime. The Bill will ensure agencies and authorities can work more effectively to combat waste crime through better access to evidence and improved powers of entry. These new powers will help ensure waste criminals, such as illegitimate waste operators reliant on fly-tipping for income, are held accountable for their actions.

The Government has been actively considering this as part of its Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) which will outline the investment blueprint for Northern Powerhouse Rail, HS2 Phase 2b and other transport investment in the North and Midlands. Work is ongoing to establish the exact costs.

The Department has worked closely with Northern leaders to develop a Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) network that benefits all regions of the North, including Lancashire and Cumbria. The Integrated Rail Plan (IRP), which will outline a recommended way forward on scoping, phasing and sequencing of NPR, has carefully considered the views of stakeholders across the North of England to produce an investment programme that truly reflects the key transport priorities of the North.

As of 27 January 2021, the NHS COVID-19 app has been downloaded 21,629,902 times. As COVID-19 app users are anonymous, we cannot determine who has or has not been contacted by Test and Trace as well as receiving an app notification to self-isolate following contact with a positive case.

The information is relating to those communicated with is not held in the format requested, as data is not collected on a daily basis.

If a local authority has used all of its discretionary funding, it is a matter for the authority to decide whether to accept further applications or to use other sources of funding to make these payments. While local authorities cannot apply directly for further discretionary funding, the Government has increased provision to local authorities to make discretionary payments to £20 million per month from March 2021.The amount paid for approved applications under the Test and Trace Support Payment scheme remains at £500 per case and as such local authorities cannot make a reduced payment.

Restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in some delays to the England Coast Path programme. It is still Defra’s intention, however, to have all stretches either open or with establishment works started by the end of 2021.

By the end of April, proposals for 99% of the path will have been published by Natural England. To date 1,483 miles (55%) of proposals for stretches of the England Coast Path have been approved by Secretary of State, 401 miles (15%) of which are already open to the public.

As further stretches are ready for opening, this will be published.

The Government has put in place the largest network of diagnostic testing facilities created in British history. NHS Test and Trace has capacity to respond to increases in demand and people can have confidence that if they have symptoms and need a test, they can get one, and get their result the next day. Over 72 million tests have been processed so far and we have the capacity to carry out almost 800,000 tests per day The Test and Trace Support Payment has been introduced in response to feedback from local authorities and directors of public health that some of their residents were struggling to self-isolate as directed due to financial constraints. It is to help ensure that people on low incomes self-isolate when they test positive or are identified as a contact, and to encourage more people to get tested. This will help to reduce the transmission of COVID-19. 86.4% (171,847) of people who tested positive and were transferred to the contact tracing system were reached and asked to provide information about their contacts and 96.6% of contacts where communication details were given were reached and told to self-isolate. This has remained constant for the past five weeks. It is a legal requirement to self-isolate if you have Covid symptoms, receive a positive test result, or are told to isolate by NHS Test and Trace.

The vast majority of people are complying – and know that we all have a role to play in getting this virus under control. And for those who don’t, the police can and will request data from NHS Test and Trace to confirm that an individual has a legal duty to self-isolate.

Natural England is working on a refresh of the Countryside Code alongside stakeholders, and a relaunch of advice to the public is planned for Easter. The launch at Easter will mark the beginning of a year-long piece of work with stakeholders and partners to promote the Code more widely and look at how we can best encourage positive behaviours. We want to make the code inclusive and welcoming, to make sure that people are aware that nature is available to all, and that they understand how they can respect and protect the countryside.

Train Operating Companies are preparing to meet demand as restrictions are gradually eased, as outlined by the Prime Minister on 22 February. In preparation for the return of schools on 8 March, they are working closely with local transport planning authorities and schools, to meet the demand for student travel. As demand for rail services returns, operators will plan to run the appropriate level of service for demand whilst maintaining reliability.

The Government’s ambition is to remove all diesel-only trains from the network by 2040 and replace them with low-carbon traction technologies, including electrification, hydrogen and battery trains.

The Network Rail-led Traction Decarbonisation Network Strategy (TDNS) provides advice about which decarbonising technologies could best suit each part of the network. TDNS will inform the Department’s forthcoming Transport Decarbonisation Plan and Government decisions about the scale and pace of rail decarbonisation between now and 2050.

The Government is committed to the restoration and sustainable management of England's peat. England's peatlands store around 580 million tonnes of carbon but are emitting around 9.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents per year. Restoration, through initiatives such as the Great North Bog, is a crucial tool in combating climate change and achieving the Government's aim to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

We have engaged with the development of the Great North Bog from an early stage. Restoration of these habitats can achieve multiple natural capital benefits, including havens for rare wildlife and flood protection. We have already invested a significant amount of our early Nature for Climate funding in peatland restoration projects in Great North Bog areas, including the Yorkshire Dales, Peak District and the North Pennines AONB.

Whilst the Government does not have the necessary powers to pay parish and town councils directly, the Secretary of State has written to principal authorities to urge them to discuss appropriate funding support for parish and town councils from within the support we have provided to them. The Government has allocated over £8 billion directly to principal authorities since the start of the pandemic and has committed to provide a further £3 billion for 2021/22.

Therefore, I would encourage parish and town councils to continue to liaise with the relevant principal authorities on how this money is allocated in their area.

Whilst the Government does not have the necessary powers to pay parish and town councils directly, the Secretary of State has written to principal authorities to urge them to discuss appropriate funding support for parish and town councils from within the support we have provided to them. The Government has allocated over £8 billion directly to principal authorities since the start of the pandemic and has committed to provide a further £3 billion for 2021/22.

Therefore, I would encourage parish and town councils to continue to liaise with the relevant principal authorities on how this money is allocated in their area.