More than 82% of UK premises can now access gigabit-capable broadband, up from just 6% in January 2019. The National Infrastructure Commission recently reported that we are on track to meet our target of 85% gigabit coverage by 2025. Through Project Gigabit, we have already signed 31 contracts, with another this week, to bring fast, reliable connectivity to hard-to-reach communities across the UK. We have also created an attractive pro-competition environment to build networks in this country. Investment in fixed networks increased by 40% in real terms from 2019 to 2022, with more than 100 providers rolling out gigabit broadband across the UK.

This Government created a standalone department to focus on energy security. We are driving tyrants like Putin out of our energy markets. We are leading one of the world’s largest renewables programmes and driving forward the largest expansion of nuclear in 70 years, making our future energy in Britain.

The Government wants an ambitious outcome at the High-Level Meeting in September – one that works for everyone, including low and middle-income countries, where the burden of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is felt most heavily. I made this point at the UK-Africa Health Summit on 18 March, and the Foreign Secretary raised AMR at the G20 Foreign Ministers meeting on 21 February.

Raising awareness and improving early diagnosis of cancer, including blood related cancers such as acute myeloid leukaemia, remains a priority for the Government. NHS England is taking steps to raise awareness of all cancers, and in January 2024, relaunched the Help Us Help You cancer awareness campaign, designed to increase earlier diagnosis of cancer by reducing barriers to seeking help, as well as increasing body awareness, and knowledge of key red flag symptoms. This campaign addresses barriers to people coming forward with suspected signs of all cancers.

This relaunch follows NHS England’s initial launch of the Help Us Help You campaign in April 2020, a major public information campaign to persuade the public to seek urgent care and treatment when they need it. The Help Us Help You strategy is designed to address the underlying barriers to cancer diagnosis, including multifaceted fears, a lack of body awareness, and a lack of knowledge of cancer symptoms, to encourage people to present earlier.

Under the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, backed by more than £2.4 billion over the next five years, the National Health Service will focus on expanding the number of clinicians, including nurses, who train to take up enhanced and advanced roles, and work as part of multidisciplinary teams with the right skills to meet the changing needs of patients. The ambition is to train at least 3,000 advanced practitioners in 2024 and 2025 across all specialties, and to increase the number in training to 5,000 a year by 2029. The Long Term Workforce Plan also sets out actions and reforms needed to improve workforce supply and retention.

Under the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, backed by more than £2.4 billion over the next five years, the National Health Service will focus on expanding the number of clinicians, including nurses, who train to take up enhanced and advanced roles, and work as part of multidisciplinary teams with the right skills to meet the changing needs of patients. The ambition is to train at least 3,000 advanced practitioners in 2024 and 2025 across all specialties, and to increase the number in training to 5,000 a year by 2029. The Long Term Workforce Plan also sets out actions and reforms needed to improve workforce supply and retention.

The House of Lords has a key role in scrutinising the executive and as a revising chamber. The Government has made no assessment of the merits of reducing the number of sitting peers and notes that unlike the Commons, peers are not full-time salaried legislators. It is important to focus on the number of peers who attend, and not just the number eligible to sit. Existing mechanisms allow sitting peers to retire or resign.

The government has sent a clear message to schools that bullying, including cyberbullying, for whatever reason, is unacceptable.

The department has provided over £3 million of funding, between 10 August 2021 and 31 March 2024, to five anti-bullying organisations to support schools to tackle bullying, this includes projects targeting bullying of particular groups.

In addition to this, on 19 December 2023 the department published the draft guidance for schools and colleges in relation to gender questioning children, along with a consultation, which was clear that bullying must never be tolerated. The consultation closed on 12 March 2024 and the responses will support the department to finalise the guidance for schools and colleges for final publication later this year.

At Spring Budget 2024, the Chancellor announced that alcohol duty will be frozen until 1 February 2025 to support alcohol producers, pubs, and consumers with cost of living pressures. This extends the six month freeze the Government announced at Autumn Statement 2023 to give businesses time to adapt to the new duty system introduced on 1 August 2023.

As with all taxes, the Government keeps the alcohol duty system under review during its yearly Budget process.

To improve awareness of postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS) amongst healthcare professionals, and specifically general practices (GPs), the Royal College of General Practitioners provides training on PoTS as part of its Syncope toolkit, which is available at the following link:

https://elearning.rcgp.org.uk/mod/book/view.php?id=12386&chapterid=247

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has also produced a clinical knowledge summary, last revised in November 2023, which outlines the method healthcare professionals should follow for diagnosing PoTS. This summary is available at the following link:

https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/blackouts-syncope/diagnosis/assessment/

GPs are asked to investigate symptoms to ensure that it is not misdiagnosed. Following referral, patients are treated within National Health Service cardiology and neurology services. Where more specialist advice is required, a referral will be made to an appropriate clinician.

Services for PoTS are locally commissioned and, as such, it is the responsibility of the local commissioning teams within integrated care boards to ensure that their locally commissioned services meet the needs of their local population.

The Department invests over £1 billion per year in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR funds research in response to proposals received from scientists rather than allocating funding to specific disease areas. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including PoTS, although it is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.

To improve awareness of postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS) amongst healthcare professionals, and specifically general practices (GPs), the Royal College of General Practitioners provides training on PoTS as part of its Syncope toolkit, which is available at the following link:

https://elearning.rcgp.org.uk/mod/book/view.php?id=12386&chapterid=247

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has also produced a clinical knowledge summary, last revised in November 2023, which outlines the method healthcare professionals should follow for diagnosing PoTS. This summary is available at the following link:

https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/blackouts-syncope/diagnosis/assessment/

GPs are asked to investigate symptoms to ensure that it is not misdiagnosed. Following referral, patients are treated within National Health Service cardiology and neurology services. Where more specialist advice is required, a referral will be made to an appropriate clinician.

Services for PoTS are locally commissioned and, as such, it is the responsibility of the local commissioning teams within integrated care boards to ensure that their locally commissioned services meet the needs of their local population.

The Department invests over £1 billion per year in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR funds research in response to proposals received from scientists rather than allocating funding to specific disease areas. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including PoTS, although it is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.

In 2023, the UK committed up to £43 million to support the response to the earthquakes in Northwest Syria and Turkey, including £28 million for Syria. The UK also committed up to £150 million to support Syrians at the Brussels Pledging Conference in June 2023. In financial year 2022/23 UK aid in north west Syria supported the provision of over 203,000 health consultations and nutrition support to over 27,000 women and children.

Since 2012, the UK has spent over £3.8 billion to provide lifesaving and life-sustaining assistance to those in need, both inside Syria and to refugee hosting countries.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published a clinical guideline on the assessment and management of motor neurone disease (MND), to support its diagnosis. The guideline recommends coordinated care for people with MND, using a clinic based, MND specialist, multi-disciplinary team approach. The core multi-disciplinary team should consist of healthcare and other professionals with expertise in MND, and should include specialist nurses.

The Government has committed to delivering at least £50 million to support MND research over five years, from 2022 onwards, as part of a package of £375 million for research into neurodegenerative diseases. In June 2023, the Government announced that more than £35 million of the £50 million pledged to cutting-edge MND research has now been allocated, just two years into a five-year funding commitment. Work continues at pace to support MND researchers in submitting high-quality bids for open funding calls. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-continues-delivering-on-50-million-funding-pledge-for-motor-neurone-disease-research

NHS England commissions specialised services to support people living with MND, as set out in the published service specification for specialised neurology services. The support provided includes the provision of multi-disciplinary care from specialist clinicians, including neurologists, specialist nurses, speech and language therapists, dietetics and nutrition support, and physiotherapy, depending on individual clinical need. The service specification for specialised neurology services is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/d04-neurosci-spec-neuro.pdf

In addition, NHS England commissions a specialised communication aid service known as Augmentative and Alternative Communication, as set out in the published service specification. This service supports and prioritises individuals with rapidly degenerative conditions, including MND. The service specification for Augmentative and Alternative Communication, is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2016/03/aac-serv-spec-jan-2016.pdf

NHS England is committed to delivering high quality care and support for every person with dementia at every age, and central to this is the provision of personalised care. Provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs). NHS England would expect ICBs to commission services based on local population needs.

The Dementia Well Pathway includes diagnosing well, living well, supporting well, and dying well, and highlights that services need to be integrated, commissioned, monitored, and aligned with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) standards for each component of the pathway. It makes it clear that individual needs, wishes and preferences should be taken into account in planning and providing care.

In January 2023 the Government announced that it will publish a Major Conditions Strategy early 2024. By bringing dementia and other conditions strategies together, we will be able to focus on where there are similarities in approach and ensure care is better centred around the patient.

From July 2022, under the Health and Care Act 2022, Care Quality Commission registered health and care providers are required to ensure that staff receive training on learning disability and autism appropriate to their role. This will help to ensure that staff have the right knowledge and skills to provide safe and compassionate care for people with a learning disability.

We are taking steps to help care homes improve the support they provide through the Care Workforce Pathway that sets clear expectations about training at different stages of a career. This includes learning disability and dementia as specific areas of practice. We are also introducing a new Level 2 Adult Social Care Certificate available to the sector with content that has been underpinned by the Dementia Training Standards and the Core Capabilities Framework on learning disability.

The Government reaffirmed its commitment to all the UK’s 5.5 million small businesses with the creation of a new Small Business Council. The Council builds on the Department’s existing support for SMEs and will provide a bespoke forum for small businesses to have their voices represented within Government.

The Help to Grow website is a one-stop shop for small businesses to clearly identify what funding they can access, webinars as well as the basics of setting up a business.

Businesses can still access government-backed financial support from the Start Up Loans Company, which provides loans and support to new entrepreneurs.

Because of the Prime Minister’s decision, Network North will see £19.8 billion of extra transport investment in the north of England, including a brand new £2.5 billion fund to transform local transport in 14 rural counties, smaller cities and towns in every part of the north outside the big city regions. This is in addition to what has already been committed through the integrated rail plan and the £11 billion TransPennine route upgrade.

We continue to ensure that freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) is central to our human rights and wider work. Our International Development White Paper published in November includes a commitment to prioritise FoRB in our bilateral and multilateral work.

We work with UN, G7, and other multilateral fora to promote FoRB. In June this year, the UN Security Council adopted, unanimously, a UK-United Arab Emirates (UAE) co-penned resolution on Tolerance and International Peace and Security, which contained language on FoRB. Bilaterally, Ministers and officials regularly raise specific cases of concern, and do not shy away from challenging those we believe are not meeting their obligations, whether publicly or in private.

This year, the Prime Minister's Special Envoy for FoRB, Fiona Bruce MP served a second consecutive year as Chair of the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance, a network of 42 countries committed to the promotion and protection of FoRB.