An estimated one million people will be living with dementia by 2025, so research is crucial to understanding the condition and improving outcomes for those affected. The Government’s 2019 manifesto committed to doubling dementia research funding and finding a cure for dementia.

In memory of the late Dame Barbara Windsor, the Government launched a new mission in 2022 to put this into practice. Research funding for dementia will rise to a total of £160 million a year by 2024, with an additional £95 million being provided to increase clinical trials and research projects.

A new taskforce – made up of industry, the NHS, academia and families affected by dementia – will lead this work to allocate funding.  You can register your interest to take part through the Join Dementia Research website here: https://www.joindementiaresearch.nihr.ac.uk/

Finally, the Government has announced its intention to develop and publish a Major Conditions Strategy. The strategy will set out a strong and coherent policy agenda that sets out a shift to integrated, whole-person care. Interventions set out in the strategy will aim to alleviate pressure on the health system, as well as support the Government’s objective to increase healthy life expectancy and reduce ill-health related labour market inactivity. Dementia is one of the six major conditions included in the strategy.

On 17 May, the Government launched its call for evidence for the Major Conditions Strategy which ran until 27 June. The Government is analysing responses and will respond shortly.

DS

The Government fully appreciates the importance of our rivers. The volume of sewage and other pollution being discharged into our waters is completely unacceptable. The Government’s Plan for Water, published earlier this year, sets out more investment, stronger regulation and tougher enforcement to tackle every source of pollution.

As part of the plan, over £2.2 billion of investment has been accelerated. This will be directed into vital infrastructure to improve water quality and secure future supplies, with £1.7 billion of this to tackle storm overflows. Ministers have set stringent targets for water companies to reduce storm overflows, driving the largest infrastructure programme in water company history of £60 billion over 25 years. This is a credible plan which includes front-loading action in particularly important and sensitive sites, including bathing waters.

Regarding regulation, Ministers are driving up monitoring and transparency. Monitoring of storm overflows has increased substantially, from only 7 per cent in 2010 to 91 per cent now, and companies are on track to reach 100 per cent by the end of the year. It is precisely because of this monitoring that action can be taken to fix storm overflows and hold water companies to account. The Government is clear that water companies must not profit from environmental damage and Ofwat has been given increased powers under the Environment Act 2021 to hold them to account for poor performance. In March, Ofwat announced new powers that will enable it to take enforcement actions against water companies that do not link dividend payments to performance for both customers and the environment.

In July, Ministers introduced laws to remove the £250,000 cap on penalties that can be handed out by environmental regulators, as well as significantly broaden their scope to target a much wider range of offences. This will ensure that regulators have the right tools to drive compliance across a range of sectors, including water companies. Fines from water companies are being reinvested into the new Water Restoration Fund, which will deliver on-the-ground improvements to water quality and support local groups and community-led schemes which help to protect our waterways.

Further, the Environment Agency has launched the largest criminal investigation into unpermitted water company sewage discharges ever at over 2,200 treatment works. Environment Agency funding is closely monitored to ensure that it can carry out its duties and functions effectively. Its funding for inspections comes directly from the permits issued to companies; enforcement is funded by government, and in the current Spending Review period, the Environment Agency’s environment RDEL (Resource) grant for 2022/23 increased to £96 million from £56 million in 2020/21.

These measures and others are making progress and Ministers will continue to make further improvements where necessary. Our bathing waters continue to improve, with 93 per cent classified as good or excellent in 2022 compared to 76 per cent in 2010. There is now 80 per cent less phosphorus and 85 per cent less ammonia in our rivers compared to 1990 when water was privatised.

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This Bill has lapsed as it was introduced in a previous parliamentary session which has now ended. However, tackling climate change is a top priority for the Government and Ministers are committed to leaving the environment in a better state than they found it.

The UK already has a world-leading emissions reduction framework in place. The Climate Change Act 2008 made the UK the first country to introduce a legally binding, long-term emissions reduction target.

In October 2021, the Government published the Net Zero Strategy, building on the Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution. To oversee progress on achieving net zero, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) provides expert advice to the Government on climate change mitigation and adaptation. The UK’s 2050 net-zero target was considered, in line with advice from the CCC, to be the earliest feasible date for achieving net-zero carbon emissions.

Further, through the Environment Act 2021, the Government has set four legally binding targets for biodiversity in England, including halting the decline in species abundance by 2030, as well as reversing species decline, reducing the risk of species extinction, and restoring or creating more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitats by 2042. The Government set out its plan to deliver on these ambitious targets through the Environmental Improvement Plan, which includes short-term interim targets in addition to those long-term targets. This overall suite of targets will ensure that the policies, actions and commitments in the plan are collectively driving progress towards the goal of leaving the environment in a better place than we found it.

Finally, the UK played a leading role at the UN biodiversity summit, COP15, in December 2022. The agreement made includes a global commitment to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 and also protect 30 per cent of land and oceans by 2030. This builds on the actions agreed during the UK’s own COP and G7 presidencies, including securing the Leaders Pledge for Nature last year which commits world leaders to taking action to drive sustainable food production, end the illegal wildlife trade and tackle climate change. 

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The UK has long led the way on animal welfare and the Government has delivered an ambitious legislative programme since the publication of the Action Plan for Animal Welfare. Ministers are committed to building on our strong track record on animal welfare.  

In the King’s Speech, the Government announced the Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Bill, which will ban the export of cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and horses for slaughter and fattening from Great Britain, stopping unnecessary stress, exhaustion and injury caused by exporting live animals. This Bill will ensure that animals are slaughtered domestically in high welfare slaughterhouses in the UK, reinforcing the UK’s position as a world leader on animal welfare.

Regarding puppy smuggling, the UK has one of the most rigorous pet travel border checking regimes in the world and every dog travelling into Great Britain on approved routes has its microchip and paperwork checked to make sure they are all properly vaccinated and are old enough to travel. The Government has said that it will ban the imports of young, heavily pregnant or mutilated dogs and it would be supportive of legislating to ban this through a single-issue Bill when parliamentary time allows.

Further, mindful of the challenges the sectors are facing, Ministers do not consider the time is right to consult on cage reforms. However, the market is already driving the move away from using cages for laying hen production. In addition, the Government’s animal welfare priorities for its Animal Health and Welfare Pathway include supporting producers to transition away from confinement systems.

On food labelling for animal welfare, Ministers want to make it easier for consumers to purchase food that aligns with their values, by improving transparency and providing the industry with a level playing field to promote such products. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) intends to work with the industry to explore how to harness the market to improve food information for consumers and raise animal welfare standards.

In 2021, Defra carried out a call for evidence on the fur trade in Great Britain. Defra continues to build an evidence base on the fur sector, which will be used to inform any future action on the fur trade. This includes commissioning the Animal Welfare Committee to explore current responsible sourcing practices in the fur industry.

Finally, in May, the Prime Minister set out the Government’s six principles to ensure that British farming is at the heart of British trade. One of these principles included seeking to advance international co-operation on animal welfare and to promote high welfare standards. The UK will safeguard its ability to maintain high animal welfare, environmental and food standards in new trade agreements.

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The Government is fully committed to enabling older people to live with the dignity and respect they deserve. In April, the State Pension was increased by 10.1 per cent, in line with inflation. As a result, the full yearly amount of the basic State Pension will be over £3,050 higher, in cash terms, than in 2010. 

Regarding your specific concerns, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is required by law to undertake an annual review of benefits and the State Pension. The outcome of this review will be announced in the year following the publication of the relevant indices by the Office for National Statistics, with new rates coming into force in April 2024. Additionally, the Government is providing substantial support for pensioners through the welfare system. 

At the Autumn Statement 2022, the Government announced a substantial support package for the most vulnerable for 2023/24, including £300 Cost-of-Living Payments for pensioners; £150 for people on disability benefits; and £900 for people on means-tested benefits, including the 1.4 million pensioners currently in receipt of Pension Credit.

Alongside this, all households, including pensioner households, will benefit from the Government’s Energy Price Guarantee (EPG). This guarantee limits the amount consumers can be charged per unit of gas or electricity. The current price guarantee, set at £3,000, will support households until April 2024. Although energy prices are currently below the level at which EPG payments would be made, it will remain in force until the end of March 2024 to protect households from price spikes, putting in place a safety net for the most vulnerable.

Moreover, the Government is providing an additional £1 billion of funding to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund (HSF) this financial year, bringing total funding to £2.5 billion. Since its launch in October 2021, the HSF has issued early 26 million awards to those in need of support.

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One person without a roof over their head is one too many.

There is a firm commitment across government to delivering more social and genuinely affordable homes, underpinned by the £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme (2021-26) which will deliver tens of thousands of new homes. You may be interested to know that the Government has proposed amending national planning guidance to make clear that local planning authorities should place greater importance on social rent. In addition, the Government’s ‘Ending Rough Sleeping for Good’ strategy makes clear that increasing the affordability and security of housing is an important part of its work to prevent homelessness and rough sleeping. The Government’s commitment to doing so includes delivering a fairer private rented sector and supporting more stable tenancies. For example, the Renters (Reform) Bill will abolish Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, which can cause uncertainty and worry for households. 

The Government is committed to reducing the need for temporary accommodation by preventing homelessness before it occurs. Since 2018, over 640,000 households have been prevented from becoming homeless or supported into settled accommodation through the Homelessness Reduction Act.

It is important to raise standards in rented homes, which the Government’s plans to apply the Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector and strengthen local councils’ enforcement powers to help target criminal landlords is positive. When it comes to housing rights, the Government is making changes to the legal aid means test that will significantly expand legal aid eligibility. The Government is investing up to £10 million each year through the creation of a Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service. As of 1st August 2023, this is enabling people facing the loss of their home to receive early legal advice on housing, debt and welfare benefits issues as well as representation in court.

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The Government has recognised the public concern around the testing on animals of chemicals used as ingredients in cosmetics.  The Government has introduced measures that ensure no new licences will now be granted for animal testing of chemicals that are exclusively intended to be used as ingredients in cosmetics products. Further, the Government is also undertaking a review at pace on the effective administration of the ban over the longer term. This will give due regard of the needs of the science industry, the need to ensure worker and environmental safety, and the need to protect animals from unnecessary harm.

More broadly, the Government is actively committed to supporting and funding the development and dissemination of techniques that replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in research (the 3Rs). This is primarily through funding from the UK Research and Innovation for the National Centre for the 3Rs (NC3Rs) who have committed £31.6 million for research and innovation into replacements technologies in the past five years, and to ensure that the UK has a robust and regulatory system for licensing animal studies. The NC3Rs are on tract to meet their commitment to invest 75 per cent of their research and innovation budge on replacement technologies by the end of 2024.

DS

Mental health should be treated on a par with physical health. That is why the Government’s proposals to bring forward reforms to the MHA are the right thing to do. The Government is reviewing the outcome of the Joint Committee on the Draft Mental Health Bill’s pre-legislative scrutiny report on the draft Bill, and will respond in due course.

There is disappointment that a Bill was not included in the recent King’s Speech. However, the Government remains committed to bringing forward a Mental Health Bill when Parliamentary time permits.

In the meantime, the Government will continue to take forward non-legislative commitments to improve the care and treatment of people detained under the Act. This includes continuing to pilot models of Culturally Appropriate Advocacy, providing tailored support to hundreds of people from ethnic minorities to better understand their rights when they are detained under the MHA.

The commitment to achieve parity of esteem is also reflected in the historic levels of investment the Government is putting into NHS mental health services. The £2.3 billion of additional funding per year by March 2024 will expand and transform mental health services, enabling two million additional people to benefit from mental health support.

The Government has also recognised the need to improve the mental health estate. The NHS is on track with a commitment to eradicate dormitories in mental health inpatient care by next year, replacing them with single-patient rooms which improve dignity and outcomes for patients.

The Government is also prioritising investment to improve care for people undergoing a mental health crisis, with £150 million capital investment in 50 schemes including crisis cafes, crisis houses, and new and improved health-based places of safety which provide a safe space for people detained by the police. 

Earlier this summer the Government also published a suicide prevention strategy – with an ambitious commitment to see the suicide rate fall within 2.5 years.

DS

Around a million animal and plant species are threatened with extinction and the abundance, diversity and connectivity of species is declining faster than at any time in human history. Ministers take the welfare of all animals extremely seriously and are committed to strengthening and supporting long-term conservation of animals both internationally and at home.

In 2019, the Government held a consultation on the scale and impact of the import and export of hunting trophies. Over 44,000 responses to the call for evidence and consultation were received and 85 per cent of responses were in favour of further action. The Government’s response to the consultation set out plans to ban imports of hunting trophies from thousands of endangered and threatened species.

The Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill was introduced to Parliament in June 2022 as a Private Member’s Bill to ban the import of hunting trophies from around 6,000 species, including lions, elephants, rhinos, and polar bears. The Government was disappointed that despite the overwhelming support from MPs and the public, this Bill failed to progress through Committee stage in the House of Lords in the last parliamentary session. Accepting the amendments proposed by Peers would have undermined the Government’s important commitment in this area.

While your comments about this issue are noted, the Government remains committed to delivering on the manifesto pledge to ban the import of hunting trophies, and Ministers will continue to explore ways to bring this forward.

DS