Today we stand together to remember all those who have lost their lives serving our country. The 100th anniversary of the start of the first world war is a hugely poignant reminder of the sacrifice made by so many of our service personnel who have given their lives in defence of our freedoms and security over the past century. I am sure the whole House will join me in echoing those sentiments. Among the many who lost their lives were members of the Prison Service, courts staff and staff of many other parts of my Department and its predecessors. I wish to pay tribute to their courage and remember their sacrifice. The Ministry of Justice is proud of those members of staff who have served and continue to serve with our reserve forces.

This Government have abolished Labour’s unelected regional assemblies and devolved power down to local people. We have given more power to councils over planning, housing, licensing and public health. Some 70% of all local authorities’ income is now raised locally.

Under the Government’s voluntary partnership with industry the focus is on overall calorie reduction, of which sugar can form a part. This has resulted in real progress in reducing calories.

The Scientific Advisory Committee Report on Nutrition has recently published their draft recommendations on Carbohydrates. The final report, together with recommendations from Public Health England on sugar in the diet is due next spring. This will inform the Government’s future thinking on sugar.

As steward of the health and care system, the Department sets national priorities, secures and allocates resources, supports our national bodies and holds them to account. The Department carries out this function for the prevention of obesity and diabetes. “Healthy Lives, Healthy People: A Call to Action on obesity in England” is the strategy by which this is delivered and I chair the Obesity Review Group which reviews and holds the system to account.

The delivery of national public health functions in this regard is the responsibility of Public Health England (PHE) including campaigns such as Change4Life, the National Child Measurement Programme and NHS Health Checks. PHE supports local authorities and the health system through making available evidence and information on the important role of tackling poor diets, physical inactivity and excess weight in both the primary prevention of diabetes and as part of disease management.

In addition NHS England has a key role to play on the prevention on obesity and diabetes. “Action for Diabetes”, published in January, sets out NHS England’s broad vision and direction for supporting improvements in outcomes for people with and at risk of diabetes in the coming years, both as a direct commissioner and by providing support to the commissioning system. The report is available at:

www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/act-for-diabetes.pdf

“Living Well for Longer: National Support for Local Action to Reduce Premature Avoidable Mortality”, published in April, sets out the actions being taken across Government, PHE and NHS England to reduce premature avoidable mortality.

A copy of Living Well for Longer has already been placed in the Library and is also available at:

www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/307703/LW4L.pdf

We are working with industry to cut sugar and calories across a range of products, including fast food and fizzy drinks. We are also the first country in Europe to recommend simple voluntary front of pack labelling, which will help people to know how much sugar they are consuming. Businesses who have adopted front of pack labelling account for two-thirds of the packaged foods market.

Public Health England (PHE) is leading the way on helping people cut calories from sugar and other foods through the Change4Life campaign. PHE is also undertaking a review of the evidence on sugar in the diet and will make recommendations next spring.

The NATO summit in Wales reached important conclusions on NATO’s response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine, on the 2% of GDP guideline for defence spending, on the reform of NATO, on countering Islamist extremism, on the future of Afghanistan, and on supporting our military and their families, all of which were United Kingdom priorities.

The power to designate smoke control areas under Part 3 of the Clean Air Act 1993 lies with local authorities as the regulators. Under the Act local authorities are required to publish details of the areas created in the London Gazette and their local newspapers prior to creating the associated smoke control orders. Therefore, the definitive lists of designated areas are held by individual local authorities.

Defra issued an air pollution alert to the public on 18 July this year due to levels of ozone measured at Sibton (189µgm³) and St Osyth (185µgm³) in Eastern England. The alert was issued when hourly measurements exceeded the ozone public information threshold of 180 µg/m³ (micrograms per metre cubed) as defined in the Air Quality Directive 2008/50/EC.

The alert was issued on Defra’s UK_Air website at:

http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/latest/alerts, and air quality Twitter feed @defraUKAir, giving details of the locations and measurements, as well as relevant health advice. Members of the public can also receive air quality information such as alerts by signing up to email bulletins at http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/subscribe.

Defra works closely with Public Health England to ensure information and health advice is provided to the public when pollution levels are elevated.

The Clean Air Act includes fines for various offences to be enforced by local authorities through the magistrate courts. It does not provide for enforcement on local authorities. As the regulators, records of these should be held by local authorities. There is no requirement in the Act for local authorities to notify Defra of fines levied. Therefore, the department does not hold data for offences recorded as issued by local authorities for companies or private individuals.

We do not hold this information centrally, but there are clear opportunities for councils to make money from selling recycled materials. The industry is now worth about £11 billion, and this income could be used to keep council tax down or to support more regular rubbish and recycling collections.

Everyone will be protected against catastrophic costs by the insurance that the cap will provide from April 2016, in line with the Dilnot commission’s recommendations. We are currently putting the legislative framework for the cap in place, and will consult on draft regulations and guidance to implement the cap in autumn of this year.

Since October, universal credit has started running in Hammersmith, Rugby and Inverness and it is rolling out today in Harrogate and Bath. It is already out in a number of other centres up in the north-west. Based on caseload projections, some 6,000-plus people are likely to be paid universal credit in the pathfinder. That will be subject to confirmation in the official statistics. Many more claim jobseeker’s allowance using the key elements of universal credit, which are also being rolled out to a wider audience. Some 270,000 jobseekers are now using elements such as the claimant commitment, which is part of universal credit.

With your permission, Mr Speaker, before I answer this first question, it may be convenient to the House if I make a short comment on the progress made by the General Synod this week on the Church of England being able to consecrate women as bishops. On Tuesday, the General Synod completed the revision process for a new draft measure to enable women to become bishops. The Synod also agreed to shorten the consultation period with the diocese to consider this new measure, so the measure is now likely to come for final approval at the July meeting of the General Synod. If the measure is approved then, I would hope that the Ecclesiastical Committee would be able to give it early consideration and that both Houses would then separately consider it so that, if it is approved, the Synod might then be able to promulge the canon in November. That would mean that it would be possible for the first woman to be nominated as a bishop in the Church of England this year.

Turning to my hon. Friend’s question, the Church of England has changed legislation to make it much easier for church buildings to be used for a wide range of community and cultural uses. The Church of England encourages all parish churches to be open where possible for as long as possible.

HMT has not made a specific assessment of the impact of bitcoin, or other similar electronic currencies, on the international currency markets. However, the Treasury continues to assess a wide range of international economic and financial developments—as part of its normal work.