As part of Project Gigabit, in July 2023 we launched a procurement to invite suppliers to bid for a contract to bring gigabit-capable broadband to premises in Cheshire that are unlikely to be reached by broadband suppliers' commercial rollout plans. We aim to award a contract to the successful supplier by the end of March 2024.

The department welcomes Coram’s ‘Charter for Children’, and is grateful for Coram’s work supporting children, young people and families. The government is committed to prioritising the needs of children, ensuring that their best interests are at the centre of policy and decision making. Responsibility for the recommendations covers several government departments. The department will consider the Charter’s recommendations as part of the up-coming Spending Review.

The department is continuing to develop the indicators chosen to measure the outcomes and enablers identified in the National Framework.

The Children’s Social Care National Framework and Dashboard consultation response included a long list of indicators that are continuing to be tested, to measure feasibility and reliability for use, including placement measures.

The response is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1185764/Children_s_social_care_national_framework_and_dashboard_consultation_response.pdf.

The department anticipates publishing an update on the target scope for the first version of the dashboard in the near future.

The Children’s Social Care National Framework (National Framework), along with proposed Children’s Social Care Dashboard (Dashboard) indicators, were published for consultation at the same time as the government’s strategy for children’s social care, ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’, in February 2023. The National Framework describes the outcomes that children’s social care should achieve when supporting children, young people and families. The Dashboard will serve as a learning tool for local and central government. It will have a national set of indicators, to help understand progress towards the children’s social care outcomes, and to support learning and improvement at a local, regional, and national level.

The consultation took place over 14 weeks and gathered a range of views from the online consultation and over 30 engagement events that involved around 500 people from local authorities, education, health, and police, as well as members of the public. The government response to the consultation was published in September 2023 and committed to iterating the National Framework, giving more prominence to the important role of practice supervisors, as well as adding a new chapter on how multi-agency working enables good outcomes.

The National Framework will be issued as statutory guidance by the end of the year. Local authorities will have a one-year implementation period, and government has committed to provide advice to local authorities on embedding the National Framework. A phased roll-out of the Dashboard will begin in 2024 so that the department can test, evaluate and iterate the Dashboard.

Defence was pivotal in the success of the wider Government effort to evacuate British passport holders and other eligible persons from Sudan. A range of UK military assets and capabilities were deployed in our response, resulting in the evacuation of more than 2,400 people—the longest and largest evacuation of any western nation from Sudan.

The Department for Business and Trade is keen to support entrepreneurs from all communities, as evidenced by a disproportionately high proportion of start-up loans accessed by ethnic minority-led businesses. The Government have supported actions aimed at improving opportunities for ethnic minority entrepreneurs, as set out in the “Inclusive Britain” report, and we will be reporting back to Parliament shortly.

Since 2013, Cheshire East and Cheshire West & Chester have received an annual payment of £347,865 and £314,318 respectively through the Bus Service Operators Grant.

Cheshire East have been paid £2.2 million since March 2020 to support services through the pandemic, of which they were paid £1,284,863 via Covid-19 Bus Service Support Grant, £534,874 via Bus Recovery Grant and £382,682 from the Local Transport Fund.

Cheshire West and Chester have been paid almost £1.5 million since March 2020 to support services through the pandemic, of which they were paid £721,690 via Covid-19 Bus Service Support Grant, £433,300 via Bus Recovery Grant and £339,672 from the Local Transport Fund.

First, I would like to pay tribute to my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Eddisbury (Edward Timpson) for his work as Solicitor General. From that work, he will know the significant amount of funding in the criminal justice system to help improve waiting times for victims. Both the Attorney General and I have seen that at first hand in our visits to regional Crown Prosecution Service areas.

We are committed to reforming family law to reduce conflict and protect children and victims of domestic abuse. We are reducing demand in the private family courts. In 2021, we invested £3.3 million in the mediation voucher scheme, and over 8,000 vouchers have been issued to separating couples. In February, we launched pilots to test the less adversarial way of hearing private family law cases, and we aim to reduce the retraumatisation of domestic abuse survivors.

The Law Officers frequently meet the CPS and colleagues in the Ministry of Justice and elsewhere to progress the recovery of the criminal justice system. It is welcome that the Government have significantly increased the budget for the CPS with an additional £85 million at the 2019 spending review and a 12% uplift over the period of this spending review, to help to recruit and retain prosecutors and modernise digital infrastructure. Court capacity plainly plays a part, too; I commend my hon. Friend for his work to increase the judicial retirement age, which will make an important difference.

The UK’s farming, food and drink products are a source of pride, whether it be Scotch whisky, Welsh lamb, or other iconic products from across the country. Our new trade deals are unlocking new markets and opportunities for this important industry. Our ‘Open Doors’ campaign offers a wide range of support such as exporting masterclasses, a flagship mentoring programme and matching buyers with sellers to ensure more British produce is sold overseas.