In the CfD AR7 offshore wind auction, we secured more OFW capacity than any offshore wind CfD round to date, with 8.4GW of new capacity. That supports our energy security by powering the equivalent of over 12 million homes, while protecting the country from volatile fossil fuel prices.

This Government is committed to championing the rights of, and helping, disabled people and those with long-term health conditions.

Last week we announced the expansion of our groundbreaking programme WorkWell across England, up to 250,000 more people with health conditions will receive support to stay in or return to work. This builds on our Pathways to Work Guarantee and our Connect to Work supported employment programme.

The Government are absolutely determined to lower the cost of living for families across Wales and the whole UK. That is why we are benefiting 69,000 children in Wales by scrapping the two-child limit. It is why we are slashing household energy bills by an average of £150 a year, and why we are again increasing the national minimum and living wage, building on the previous increase, which boosted the incomes of up to 160,000 workers in Wales.

Mr Speaker, the House does indeed join in your sentiments towards all those who are suffering as a result of the attack at Bondi Beach. I know the whole House will also join me in offering condolences to the family and comrades of Lance Corporal George Hooley, who died in a tragic accident last week in Ukraine. He served our nation in distant and dangerous lands, and he did so with honour, courage and distinction. He was a natural, gifted leader who lost his life in the cause of freedom and peace.

Our historic defence investment comes with a fundamentally new approach. The defence dividend is already boosting British industry, British jobs and British communities. We have launched a £770 million defence industrial strategy to drive innovation, create British jobs and boost British skills. Today, we are announcing the defence technical excellence colleges competition, which has gone live, backed by £50 million. It will help us build the skills needed to tackle the threat posed by Russia and other adversaries.

We are starting to see train reliability stabilise, following a decade of decline. We are working with the rail industry on a performance restoration framework, with five clear areas of focus to recover performance to acceptable levels. These include timetable resilience, staffing, and keeping trains safely moving during disruptive events. Rail usage is up month on month: some 451 million journeys were made on Britain’s railways last quarter, which is a 7% increase on the same period last year.

The UK life sciences sector is one of our greatest national assets in not only saving lives, but driving jobs, growth and innovation. The sector has been projected to grow by £41 billion across the UK by 2030, employing an extra 100,000 people. Our life sciences sector plan will help us seize this potential and secure our ambition to be Europe’s leading life sciences economy by 2030 and the third most important globally by 2035.

I understand this is a worrying time for Tata’s staff and suppliers and I am in contact with Tata regarding their extended maintenance periods at Trostre, Port Talbot Hot Rolled Products and Llanwern Pickle-line sites. Tata staff affected will be paid at a proportional rate over this period.

The Welsh steel industry is a high priority for this government. To address global challenges, we have strengthened UK steel safeguards, reduced energy prices, improved public procurement rules, and secured preferential US market access. We are also developing our own steel trade proposals and engaging with the EU at all levels to seek to protect vital UK-EU trade flows.

I obviously recognise the challenges facing those without inflation protection, particularly after the cost of living pressures of recent years, and I think that recognition is shared by Members on both sides of the House. I met a cross-party group of MPs earlier this year to discuss exactly this issue. Reforms in the Pension Schemes Bill give trustees more flexibility to share surpluses in their DB pension schemes with employers, and to negotiate for members to benefit from any such sharing of surpluses. That could include discretionary increases to address the issue raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Llanelli (Dame Nia Griffith).

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) assessed its systems against the Cabinet Office criteria for obsolescence from June 2023. This assessment process identified 11 systems as having a red-rating. In accordance with risk management best practice the MOD develops remediation plans to address the red-rated systems. As at the time of publication of the progress update in February 2024, seven systems have fully funded plans, two have partially funded plans, and the remaining two were being addressed. As of today, I can now confirm that the remaining two have identified plans for remediation.

The Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO), in the Cabinet Office, has established a programme to support departments managing legacy IT. CDDO has agreed a framework to identify 'red-rated' systems, indicating high levels of risk surrounding certain assets within the IT estate. Departments have committed to have remediation plans in place for these systems by next year (2025). It is not appropriate to release sensitive information held about specific red-rated systems or more detailed plans for remediation within the FCDO's IT estate, as this information could indicate which systems may be at risk, and may highlight potential security vulnerabilities. FCDO are actively managing their legacy estate via their existing change plans through system upgrades and migration to public cloud.

The Scotland Office reported no cases of fraud or amounts lost due to fraud or error in any of the last three financial years. This is disclosed as part of the Annual Report and Accounts available on GOV.UK.

The Government is determined to uncover fraud in the public sector and is proud of its record. As part of this, the Government established the Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA).

In 22/23, the PSFA set a target of delivering £180m of savings to the taxpayer. In fact, the PSFA far surpassed this within the first 12 months by preventing and recovering £311 million. As it enters its second year, the PSFA has a target of achieving £185 million of savings for the taxpayer.

The Government has also announced an additional £34 million to deploy cutting-edge tools and Artificial Intelligence tools to help combat fraud across the public sector, saving £100 million for the public purse. This is in addition to existing partnerships between PSFA and the tech sector.

The Northern Ireland Office reported no cases of fraud or amounts lost due to fraud or error in any of the last three financial years. This is disclosed as part of the Annual Report and Accounts available on GOV.UK.

The Government is determined to uncover fraud in the public sector and is proud of its record. As part of this, the Government established the Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA).

In 22/23, the PSFA set a target of delivering £180m of savings to the taxpayer. In fact, the PSFA far surpassed this within the first 12 months by preventing and recovering £311 million. As it enters its second year, the PSFA has a target of achieving £185 million of savings for the taxpayer.

The Government has also announced an additional £34 million to deploy cutting-edge tools and Artificial Intelligence tools to help combat fraud across the public sector, saving £100 million for the public purse. This is in addition to existing partnerships between PSFA and the tech sector.

The Northern Ireland Office has also recently launched a counter Fraud, Bribery and Corruption Policy and Response Plan.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) recognises that the nature of the fraud threat it faces is constantly evolving and that our response must be equally as agile. The MoJ has been developing its Counter Fraud Centre of Expertise (CoEx) since 2019 and this team has a central governance and oversight role across the Department, including its Executive Agencies, Arm’s Length Bodies and core Functions.

The MoJ maintains a collaborative working relationship with the Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA) regarding Counter Fraud Functional Standards and performance, and contributes to PSFA thematic working groups, for example internal fraud risks.

The MoJ conducts regular internal reviews against Functional Standards across the Department and collaborates with teams to improve performance and raise awareness in terms of fraud risk assessment, fraud controls and fraud reporting.

The MoJ took part in the 2022 National Fraud Initiative that looked to identify duplicated payroll data held across other public and private sector bodies to prevent and detect fraud.

The MoJ provides management information and updates to the Department Audit and Risk Committee.

The MoJ has always had a current Counter Fraud Strategy, Policy and Response Plan in place, all of which are readily accessible on the respective Intranet sites.

The Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO), in the Cabinet Office, has established a programme to support Departments managing legacy IT. CDDO has agreed a framework to identify ‘red-rated’ systems, indicating high levels of risk surrounding certain assets within the IT estate. Departments have committed to have remediation plans in place for these systems by next year (2025).

It is not appropriate to release sensitive information held about specific red-rated systems or more detailed plans for remediation within the Ministry of Defence’s IT estate, as this information could indicate which systems are at risk, and may highlight potential security vulnerabilities.

The Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO), in the Cabinet Office, has established a programme to support departments managing legacy IT. CDDO has agreed a framework to identify 'red-rated' systems, indicating high levels of risk surrounding certain assets within the IT estate. Departments have committed to have remediation plans in place for these systems by next year (2025). It is not appropriate to release sensitive information held about specific red-rated systems or more detailed plans for remediation within the FCDO's IT estate, as this information could indicate which systems may be at risk, and may highlight potential security vulnerabilities. FCDO are actively managing their legacy estate via their existing change plans through system upgrades and migration to public cloud.

In our White Paper on AI regulation we set out our ambitious pro-regulation, pro-innovation framework, outlining five cross-sectoral principles to be applied by existing regulators. In February we published our response, setting out how we are supporting regulators to deliver the framework and strengthen our global AI leadership. That includes new funding and guidance for our regulators, and we have established a central risk function to support.

I refer the Hon Member to my response to UIN 17533 tabled on Wednesday 13 March 2024.