A new Governor was selected before Lieutenant General Edward Davis' contract expired and we are completing the process for confirming that appointment. It is not unusual for there to be a gap between Governors. The current Deputy Governor has been sworn in as Governor and will hold that position until the new Governor is ready to assume the functions of their office.

We are completing the internal processes for confirming the appointment of the new Governor. An announcement will be made once that process is complete.

The history curriculum gives teachers and schools the freedom and flexibility to use specific examples from history to teach pupils about the history of Britain and the wider world.

There are opportunities within the themes and eras of the history curriculum for teachers and schools to teach about the history of the Commonwealth at Key Stages 1-3. Schools can teach about the Commonwealth at Key Stage 1, when teaching about events beyond or within living memory that are significant nationally or globally, and at Key Stage 2, within a study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066. There are also opportunities at Key Stage 3, within the ‘ideas, political power, industry and empire: Britain, 1745-1901’ and ‘challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world 1901 to the present day’ themes. ‘Indian independence and end of Empire’ is one of the example topics in this latter theme. The Commonwealth also falls within the scope of the subject content set out for GCSE history.

The government shared a Commonwealth Education Pack for teachers in 2018, in support of the UK’s hosting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting that year. The pack is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/department-for-education-launches-commonwealth-education-pack, and has been attached.

The Prime Minister had a discussion with Prime Minister Jugnauth, which included the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), when he attended the UK-Africa Investment Summit in London in January. We remain open to dialogue with Mauritius on matters of shared interest, including BIOT and its Marine Protected Area (MPA).

We have no doubt about our sovereignty over the territory of BIOT, which has been under continuous British sovereignty since 1814. We have made a long-standing commitment to cede sovereignty of the territory to Mauritius when it is no longer required for defence purposes. We stand by that commitment.

In November 2016, the UK Government announced that resettlement of Chagossians could not be supported on the grounds of feasibility, defence and security interests, and cost to the British taxpayer. There remains no right of abode in BIOT. While resettlement is unrealistic the UK Government is providing a significant package of assistance to Chagossians to help boost their life chances and provide increased opportunities to participate in a rolling programme of heritage visits to the Territory

Over the past two years, the UK - as Chair-in-Office - has worked closely with our Commonwealth partners to drive collective delivery of the commitments agreed at the 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. The work is supported by over £500 million of projects to support the Commonwealth in achieving these goals, which are already delivering benefits for member states. For example, over 3,000 women-owned businesses have now received training from the Commonwealth SheTrades project, supporting inclusive economic growth and prosperity. 31 Member States have committed to take action on marine plastic pollution as part of the Commonwealth Clean Ocean Alliance. Also, the Pacific Nationally Determined Contribution Hub was officially opened by the Prime Minister of Fiji last week, helping Pacific Island Countries tackle climate change. The Government will publish a detailed update on the UK's period as Chair-in-Office in the coming months.

Following publication of the interim People Plan on 3 June 2019, a full NHS People Plan is in development. This will set out the workforce implications for all staff groups, including physiotherapists, in delivering the NHS Long Term Plan priorities.

NHS Digital publishes data biannually on staff in some independent sector healthcare organisations in England, mainly data from large organisations. The latest available data as at March 2019, shows that there are 2,270 full time equivalent (FTE) physiotherapists in 56 independent sector organisations which provided data. The data presented for the independent healthcare provider workforce does not represent the entire workforce employed across the whole of this sector and does not only show the staff providing National Health Service-commissioned services. These statistics relate to the workforce directly employed in a range of independent healthcare provider organisations in England and may include staff on maternity leave and career breaks.

Independent healthcare provider workforce: qualified staff working within the care setting 'physiotherapy' as at 31 March 2019, experimental statistics.

Physiotherapy services are commissioned locally by clinical commissioning groups. This includes agreeing and monitoring the waiting time to access services rather than this being set nationally.

A count of first outpatient attendances and the average (mean and median) waiting time in days, where the treatment specialty is physiotherapy, is shown in the following table. Data is for the 2018-19 financial year.

Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (NHS Digital)

NHS Digital publishes Hospital and Community Health Services workforce statistics for England. These include staff working in hospital trusts and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), but not staff working in primary care, local authorities or other providers.

As at September 2019, the latest available data, there were 19,977 full time equivalent physiotherapists employed in National Health Service trusts and CCGs.

Physiotherapy services are commissioned locally by clinical commissioning groups. This includes agreeing and monitoring the waiting time to access services rather than this being set nationally.

A count of first outpatient attendances and the average (mean and median) waiting time in days, where the treatment specialty is physiotherapy, is shown in the following table. Data is for the 2018-19 financial year.

Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (NHS Digital)

​The UK remains deeply concerned about the situation in Libya. We are working closely with our international partners, including the other member states of the EU, to support UN-led efforts to secure an end to the fighting and a return to a UN-led political process. Our close work with the international community, including our EU partners, to achieve these ends was demonstrated by a UN Security Council press statement of 5 July, a P3+3 (UK, US, France, Italy, Egypt and UAE) statement of 16 July, and EU statements of 12 April and 5 July.

We have been closely engaged on the case of Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh. Officials raised his case with Egyptian authorities on 4 July in London and on 7 July in Cairo. We will continue to urge the Egyptian authorities to ensure all detainees are treated in accordance with relevant international human right standards and to highlight the importance of access to medical care.

The Government launched a consultation on 15 July 2019, Health is everyone’s business: proposals to reduce ill health-related job loss, which includes proposals for actions to improve occupational health access for workers. One aspect of this proposal is for Government action to contribute to the development of a sustainable occupational health workforce.

A copy of the consultation is attached.

In the Cancer Workforce Plan for England which was published in December 2017, Health Education England (HEE) set out the need to target additional training support.

As part of the development of the NHS People Plan, HEE will now work with NHS England and NHS Improvement to understand the longer-term workforce implications for further development of cancer services. This will include ensuring sustainable growth beyond 2021 in key professions (including radiography) through continued investment in training places, with a greater focus on attracting and retaining students and improving the numbers of qualified professionals who go on to work in the National Health Service. The number of radiographers required will be addressed in the final NHS People Plan and is dependent on the service model used by each NHS trust.

NHS Digital publishes Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) workforce statistics. These include staff working in hospital trusts and clinical commissioning groups, but not staff working in primary care or in general practitioner surgeries, local authorities or other providers.

As at February 2019, latest available data, there were over 14,000 full time equivalent diagnostic radiographers and over 2,000 therapeutic radiographers employed by the NHS trusts and CCGs, 2,990 and 726 more, respectively, since 2010.

In the Cancer Workforce Plan for England which was published in December 2017, Health Education England (HEE) set out the need to target additional training support.

As part of the development of the NHS People Plan, HEE will now work with NHS England and NHS Improvement to understand the longer-term workforce implications for further development of cancer services. This will include ensuring sustainable growth beyond 2021 in key professions (including radiography) through continued investment in training places, with a greater focus on attracting and retaining students and improving the numbers of qualified professionals who go on to work in the National Health Service. The number of radiographers required will be addressed in the final NHS People Plan and is dependent on the service model used by each NHS trust.

NHS Digital publishes Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) workforce statistics. These include staff working in hospital trusts and clinical commissioning groups, but not staff working in primary care or in general practitioner surgeries, local authorities or other providers.

As at February 2019, latest available data, there were over 14,000 full time equivalent diagnostic radiographers and over 2,000 therapeutic radiographers employed by the NHS trusts and CCGs, 2,990 and 726 more, respectively, since 2010.

​The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs wrote to the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC) on 15 May 2019 enclosing an update on progress against commitments made at the 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. I refer the Noble Lord to this report, which the FAC has now published on their website.

The Cabinet Office issues guidance to all Government departments on the handling of correspondence from Members of Parliament, Members of the House of Lords, MEPs and Members of Devolved Administrations. The most recent edition was issued in March 2016 and is publicly available on Gov.uk.

All departments should set targets for replying to correspondence from MPs and Peers. These targets (which may be different to the targets set for other types of correspondence) will be published in the annual correspondence report coordinated by the Cabinet Office. Individual departments' targets for routine correspondence from MPs should be a maximum of 20 working days, and the Cabinet Office encourages departments to consider setting themselves more challenging targets. When calculating the target date for reply, the clock should start the day after the correspondence was received.

The Home Office does not hold the information requested from centrally collated statistical databases as we do not hold data on sponsors. This information could only be obtained by a manual case by case review to collate the data which would be disproportionately expensive.

Family members of any member of the UK Armed Forces, regardless of the nationality of the service person, can apply for settlement in the UK under the Immigration Rules contained in Appendix Armed Forces.

The eligibility criteria for family members of members of the Forces are set out in full online in Appendix Armed Forces:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-armed-forces

This makes clear that to be eligible for settlement in the UK requires the following criteria to be met. Partners of members of the Forces must have completed a period of 60 months limited leave under Appendix Armed Forces – sometimes called the “probationary period”. Partners and over-18 children must demonstrate sufficient knowledge of the English language and knowledge about life in the UK. Their sponsor in the Forces must meet the appropriate minimum income thresholds to sponsor a partner or children, and the applicant must not fall for refusal on suitability grounds.

The table below shows the number of Commonwealth citizens serving in our Armed Forces as at 1 October 2018:

The 4,500 Commonwealth citizens in the Regular forces represent 3.3% of the Regular trained strength. The 210 Commonwealth citizens in the FR20 Reserves represent 0.65% of the FR20 Reserve trained strength.

Notes:

• Figures for the Royal Navy/Royal Marines and Royal Air Force are for the Trained Regular Population and Trained FR20 population. Army figures are for Trade Trained Regular population, and Trained FR20 population.

• Nationality is as reported on the Joint Personnel Administration system upon intake.

• Figures are rounded to the nearest 10, though numbers ending in a “5” have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent the systematic bias caused by always rounding numbers upwards.