The Government recognises the important role of support organisations such as Pub is The Hub in helping local communities create and maintain vital community assets. Pub is The Hub has received funding from the department previously and their work demonstrates the wider role which pubs can play in running local services, nurturing community relationships, and helping communities to thrive socially and economically.

The Government welcomes the Investment Association’s commitment to review and update its Principles of Remuneration later this year, and its stated objectives to simplify the Principles and ensure that they help support a competitive UK listing environment alongside promoting the right outcomes for shareholders.

Share awards can provide an important recruitment incentive and help align employee interests with those of the company. UK company law permits the allotment of shares for employee share schemes without applying the pre-emption provisions that otherwise require newly issued shares to be offered to existing shareholders first to avoid equity dilution. The Financial Conduct Authority’s Listing Rules require shareholder approval of employee share schemes while allowing companies in unusual circumstances to allot shares to retain or recruit a director without such prior approval.

HM Revenue and Customs issued the consultation in question and is currently working on the summary of responses, which will be published in due course.

The UK ETS Authority is committed to protect our industry, including those in Wales, from carbon leakage as our economy decarbonises which is why we give free allocations to businesses at risk of carbon leakage under the UK ETS.

We have guaranteed free allocations at current levels until 2026 and are now consulting on changes to better target free allocations at sectors most at risk of carbon leakage from 2026 whilst maintaining their decarbonisation incentive.

A Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism will also be introduced by 2027 and will work cohesively with the UK ETS to mitigate the risk of carbon leakage.

The Government welcomed and noted the Commission’s report, which made recommendations on a UK carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) and the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS). In December 2023, the Government announced that it would implement a CBAM by 2027 and consult further on this in 2024.

In December 2023, the UK ETS Authority launched consultations on the approach to both free allocation and market policy, seeking views on how the Authority can best target support to industrial sectors at risk of carbon leakage and on market stability mechanisms, including the design of the cost containment mechanism.

Through the Spending Review and the new Economic Crime Levy we are providing additional funding to tackle Economic Crime of £400 million up to the end of 2024/25.

The headcount cap announced by the Chancellor applies to the overall size of the Civil Service, excluding the devolved administrations. Policing, including Regional Organised Crime Units (ROCUs) who are a major recipient of additional Economic Crime investment, are out of scope.

As part of the process, the Government will identify risks, and ensure this is implemented in a way which preserves frontline service delivery, business critical activity and key Government priorities.

This is not a recruitment freeze, but rather about stopping unchecked growth overall and moving towards a leaner and more efficient Civil Service workforce.

Preparations are being made to launch the process to appoint a new Chairman of S4C and the role will be advertised in due course. This will be a fair and open process, run in accordance with the Governance Code on Public Appointments.

An interim appointment will be announced in due course, following consultation with the S4C board and the Welsh Government. He or she will fulfil the role from 1 April, when Mr Williams steps down, until a new permanent Chairman is appointed. This is consistent with the S4C Board’s standing orders.

The North sea is a mature basin and production will naturally decline in the coming years. The Government are committed to supporting our oil and gas industry and the energy transition, which is why we have the North sea transition deal and have introduced the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill. We want to protect investment, the 200,000 jobs supported by the sector and the tens of billions of pounds coming in in taxes, as well as to use the existing industry to deliver the wider energy transition.

We have appointed more judges and panel members to the SEND jurisdiction.

We have also increased sittings in SEND from just over 12,000 sitting days in 2019/20 to over 18,500 last year.

As a result, we have increased the volume of appeals we have disposed of from just over 8,000 in 2021/22 to nearly 11,000 in 2022/13.

I refer the Honourable Member to the answer given in response to PQ4875.

My department will continue to monitor developments in the use of both financial and non-financial applications of blockchain technology and will work with other government departments and industry to ensure we maximise its potential to spur UK growth and innovation.

This Government is committed to maximising the benefits and minimising the risks of new technologies. The Government has committed to increasing public expenditure on R&D to £20 billion per annum by 2024/2025. This cash increase will support the growth of innovator hubs and continue to fund a range of R&D programmes which will help boost the potential of new technologies including blockchain.

My department will continue to monitor the development of distributed ledger technology to ensure we maximise its potential to spur UK growth and innovation.

The Government is committed to creating a regulatory environment in which firms can innovate, while maintaining financial stability and clear regulatory standards so that people can use new blockchain technologies both reliably and safely.

Cryptoasset markets, for example, continue to develop with increasing pace and complexity, which brings risk as well as opportunity. Risk-taking is a part of the innovation cycle, however ongoing turbulence in the cryptoasset markets has highlighted some of the implications for markets and investors. We think this reinforces the case for clear, effective, timely regulation. The Government is therefore proposing to bring a broad suite of new cryptoasset activities into the regulatory perimeter for financial services for the first time. This includes exchange activities, custody and lending.

HM Treasury launched a consultation on the Future Financial Services Regulatory Regime for Cryptoassets in February and published its response to stakeholder feedback and final proposals on 30 October. The consultation delivers on the Government’s commitment to bring forward proposals for regulating activities relating to the trading and investment of cryptoassets, such as Bitcoin.

The Government has already taken action to address risks to consumers and market integrity in cryptoasset markets. Cryptoassets were brought into scope of UK anti-money laundering legislation in 2020, and following the government’s legislation, the financial regulator has commenced enforcement for cryptoassets financial promotions, requiring them to be fair, clear and not misleading.

More broadly, my department will continue to monitor developments in the use of blockchain technology and will work with other government departments to identify where this could require the introduction of further regulation.

The Government recognises the hardship businesses face when they experience problems with banking and takes this issue very seriously.

That is why the Chancellor asked the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to help us collect evidence to understand where account closures or refusals are happening and why.

The FCA’s interim report (“UK Payment Accounts: Access and Closures”) was published on 19 September 2023, and it is continuing to work with firms to explore this issue.

HM Land Registry’s (HMLR’s) Digital Street research and development programme carried out a successful research piece and prototype into Blockchain technologies in 2020 and a summary of the research work can be found here.

It has not proved possible to respond to my Rt hon. Friend in the time available before Prorogation.

It has not proved possible to respond to my Rt hon. Friend in the time available before Prorogation.