This is a very serious issue and I know that my colleagues in the Equalities Office remain committed to tackling conversion therapy in the UK. I am absolutely clear that this practice has no place in civilised society. Being lesbian, gay or bisexual is not an illness to be treated or cured. 

I am encouraged that this view is shared by the head of the NHS, the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the UK Council for Psychotherapy, the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and the British Medical Association. Each of these bodies have concluded that such therapy is unethical and potentially harmful.

The Government Equalities’ Office commissioned a large-scale LGBT survey in 2017. Sadly, two per cent of respondents to the national LGBT survey said they had undergone conversion therapy in an attempt to ‘cure’ them of being LGBT. Unfortunately, in this survey, what conversion therapy entailed was not defined, nor were the respondents asked whether or not the conversion therapy referred to in their answer was offered in the UK.

I very much welcome the fact that the Government is delivering on its promise and will legislate to ban conversion therapy to protect LGBT people from this harmful practice.

The Government has now launched a six-week consultation, closing on Friday 10th December, on how Ministers plan to ban practices of so called ‘conversion therapy’. This consultation invites views on the Government’s proposals from members of the public, victims of conversion therapy, LGBT organisations, faith groups, psychiatric and counselling bodies, charities and other interested stakeholders to ensure we hear from all voices in shaping the ban on conversion therapy. I would therefore encourage you to take part at the following link – https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/banning-conversion-therapy.

The Government’s proposals include the creation of a new criminal offence and we will also ensure that conversion therapy is considered by judges as a potential aggravating factor upon sentencing for existing violent criminal offences. Ministers further propose a range of other supportive measures including the introduction of statutory Conversion Therapy Protection Orders to protect individuals facing imminent risk, such as forced travel abroad to receive conversion therapy.

I would like to reassure you that the results will be analysed and will inform the Government’s next steps in preparing legislation for spring 2022.

DS.

Cancer is a priority for the Government and survival rates are at a record high. Since 2010 rates of survival from cancer have increased year-on-year.  Around 7,000 people are alive today who would not have been had mortality rates stayed the same as then. I agree that we need to keep working on this, which is why I welcome the Government’s stated aim to see three quarters of all cancers detected at an early stage by 2028 (currently just over half are detected at an early stage). 

I know that the Government is absolutely committed to supporting the NHS recovery from COVID-19, recognising the need to extend the record funding already provided. Over the next three years, £36 billion will be invested in the health and care system to ensure it has the appropriate long term resources. The elective backlog will be tackled with the biggest catch-up programme in the NHS’s history and I am reassured that cancer patients will continue to be prioritised. I especially welcome the doubling of spending this year, to £2 billion, to start this important work. Additionally, more than £8 billion will be spent in the following three years from 2022-23 to 2024-25. 

Cancer patients will absolutely benefit from these commitments, which could deliver the equivalent of around nine million more checks, scans and procedures. It will also mean the NHS in England can aim to deliver around 30 per cent more elective activity by 2024-25 than it did before the pandemic. Additionally, I warmly welcome the commitment of £2.3 billion in the 2021 Spending Review to transform diagnostic services. This will support the opening of at least 100 community diagnostic centres across England benefitting millions of patients who will be able to access earlier diagnostic tests closer to home. 

DS.

I join the Government in their commitment to seeing safer roads for all road users. It is important to consider that many deaths and injuries on the roads are a consequence of tragic accidents. However, too many involve criminal behaviour and I agree that more needs to be done to ensure justice is served in cases where culpability of an offender is high.

Punishments must fit the crime. However, often families feel that this is not the case with killer drivers. I am encouraged the Government is taking action to put this right.

I welcome the fact that the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill will increase the maximum penalties for causing death by dangerous driving and death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs to life imprisonment. 

In addition, it is the case that there is a gap in the law relating to serious injury. I therefore welcome the fact that the Bill will also create a new offence of causing serious injury by careless driving.

DS.

Freedom of speech, the rule of law, and equal rights define us as a society, and I am determined to promote those values actively. But what is illegal offline is also illegal online, and I am absolutely clear that harassment and abuse in whatever form and whoever the target is totally unacceptable, and that this should be reported to the police.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) recognises the importance of the right of freedom of expression. The CPS seeks to balance the right to freedom of speech and expression with the duty of the state to act proportionately against those who wish to deepen and extend divisions in the social fabric of our nation. The public statements and the guidance are clear.

I have always believed that while the internet can be an open and vibrant mode of communication and conversation it can also be a source of great harm. The UK is fully committed to a free, open and secure internet and will ensure freedom of expression online is protected. I know from discussions with my colleagues in Parliament that there is a problem with abuse directed at individuals. This is unacceptable and goes beyond free speech and free debate. Indeed, online abuse can corrode the very values on which British democracy rests.

DS.

Over the last two years, the pandemic has caused a statistical anomaly in average earnings. Last year, the law changed for one year to increase State Pensions by 2.5 per cent, when average earnings had fallen and price inflation increased by half a percentage point. If this action had not been taken, State Pensions would have been frozen.

This year, the anomaly remains. As millions of people have left furlough and the labour market has changed significantly, reported average wage growth is due to be over 8 per cent. It would not be right to increase pensions by this figure – it is not what the triple lock was ever intended to deal with, would cost £4-5 billion, and would have to be funded by increasing taxes on working people.

On 7th September it was announced that there will be a move to a Double Lock for one year only. This means the state pension will rise next year by the higher of inflation or 2.5 per cent, now confirmed as a 3.1 per cent increase.

This approach will ensure pensioners’ spending power is preserved and that they are protected from higher costs of living. It will also ensure that as we are having to make difficult decisions elsewhere across public spending – including freezing public sector pay – pensioners are not unfairly benefitting from a statistical anomaly.

Colleagues at the Department for Work and Pensions have assured me that this measure is temporary for one year, and the Triple Lock will apply as usual from next year for the remainder of this Parliament, in line with the manifesto commitment.

The triple lock guarantee was put in place in 2011, which has led to the state pension increasing by an average of 3 per cent annually since. In total, the basic state pension has increased by 35 per cent or £2,050 since 2011. It is now worth £137.60 per week – relative to earnings, the highest it has been in 34 years. The full rate of the new state pension is £179.60 per week, up from £155.65 when it was introduced in 2016. 

These measures have meant there are 200,000 fewer pensioners in absolute poverty, compared to a decade ago.  On top of this, pensioners continue receive other support – free TV licences, free bus passes, winter fuel payments, and tax-free pension contributions worth over £50 billion.

I would also like to reassure you that I will continue to work with colleagues in Parliament to protect pensioners consistently.

DS.

The Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill, which is making its way through Parliament, enshrines the recognition that animals are sentient in domestic law. It also creates a proportionate accountability mechanism to help reassure that central government policymaking takes this into account.

I am encouraged that this Bill will create an Animal Sentience Committee with experts which will produce reports on how well policy decisions have paid all due regard to the welfare of animals. The relevant Minister must then respond to reports via statements to Parliament. From now on, Ministers will need to be ready to show that the needs of animals have been considered in relevant policy decisions.

There is clear evidence that animals with a backbone are sentient and I am pleased that this is reflected in the Government’s Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill. However, I am assured that the Bill also gives the Secretary of State a power to extend the recognition of sentience to particular invertebrates in future on the basis of evidence.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has commissioned an independent review of the available scientific evidence on sentience in decapod crustaceans, as well as sentience in the class cephalopoda. I understand that the review will report shortly and I look forward to reading its conclusions, which I know Ministers will respond to as part of their ongoing work to protect the welfare needs of animals.

DS.

I am aware of the concerns around the use of snares, which can cause suffering to both target and non-target animals. It is an issue my ministerial colleagues are looking at closely as part of the continued drive to maintain the highest animal welfare standards in the world. However, I am not aware of any current plans to ban the use of the snare trap.

When practised to a high standard, and in accordance with the law, snaring can offer an effective means to reduce the harmful impacts of foxes on livestock, game and wildlife. I know that snares are commonly used in the UK to catch certain animals prior to their killing and current legislation provides strong protection for threatened species and the welfare of trapped animals. Those committing an offence can face prosecution, an unlimited fine or even a custodial sentence.

Snares are controlled in England and Wales under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. This prohibits the use of self-locking snares and the setting of any type of snare in places where they are likely to catch certain non-target animals such as badgers. It also requires snares to be inspected on a daily basis. I also know that snares must not be set where there is evidence of regular use by non-target species

The Animal Welfare Act 2006 prohibits causing unnecessary suffering to animals under the control of man, including those animals caught in traps. Trapped animals should be released from a snare trap as soon as reasonably practicable after discovery to ensure they do not unnecessarily suffer. Not doing so could be a breach of the 2006 Act and could lead to prosecution.

The onus is on trap operators to act within the law and consider their responsibilities in ensuring that their activities do not harm protected species or cause any unnecessary suffering. Of course, if you believe an individual is inflicting unnecessary suffering on animals, the matter should be reported to the police.

DS.

Thanks to the efforts of all its staff, the NHS withstood the challenge of the pandemic, treating and caring for millions of people. 

Of course, the need to focus on the response to the pandemic meant resources were diverted to tackling it, resulting in the significant backlog in elective care we now face. In England, 5.7 million people are currently waiting for treatment.

That is why I am glad that the Government is investing an additional £12 billion per year over the next three years in health and social care. I welcome the Government’s commitment to tackling the elective backlog through the biggest catch up programme in the NHS’s history. £2 billion will be spent this year, double the previous commitment, with an additional £8 billion to be spent in the following three years. This welcome funding could deliver the equivalent of around 9 million more checks, scans and procedures and will mean NHS England can aim to deliver around 30 per cent more elective activity by 2024-25 than before the pandemic. This investment in elective surgery and diagnostic facilities will be vital in allowing those who suffer with arthritis to access the care they need.

DS.

The Autumn Budget 2021 confirmed that duty rates on beer, cider, wine and spirits will be frozen for another year, a move which will save consumers £3 billion over the next five years, and provide further support to the hospitality industry and its suppliers as they recover from the pandemic. Duty rates on draught beer and cider will be cut by 5 per cent, taking 3p off a pint and further supporting pubs.

I was glad to see the announcement in the Autumn Budget 2021 that, following a review, the alcohol duty regime is to undergo a major simplification. The old system was outdated system that set rates based on historical anomalies, and a new regime will be fairer to both consumers and producers, and promote product innovation in response to evolving consumer tastes.

This radical simplification of the duty system will reduce the number of main rates from 15 to 6, and tax products in proportion to their alcohol content.

All tax categories, such as beer and wine, will be moved to a standardised set of bands, with rates for products between 1.2-3.4 per cent alcohol by volume (ABV), 3.5-8.4 per cent ABV, 8.5-22 per cent ABV, and above 22 per cent ABV. Above 8.5 per cent ABV, all products across all categories will pay the same rate of duty if they have the same proportion of alcohol content. Registration and payment will also be simplified, and the practice where individual products have different administrative rules will end.

The new progressive manner in which alcohol is taxed will ensure higher strength products incur proportionately more duty, and these rates will be the same across all product categories. This change will address the problem of harmful high-strength products being sold too cheaply, and the new rates for low strength drinks below 3.5 per cent ABV will encourage manufacturers to develop new products at lower ABVs, giving consumers greater choice and greater options to drink responsibly.

I welcome the introduction of a new small producer relief which will build on the previous success of the Small Brewers Relief, which will benefit cidermakers and other producers of lower ABV drinks. This will allow small producers to diversify their product range to other products below 8.5 per cent ABV while still benefitting from reduced rates.

DS.

I completely agree with you that the unprecedented threat of the COVID-19 pandemic reminded us how vital our health and care system is to all of us. I want to assure you that the NHS will always be free at the point of use, and any proposed reforms will aim to continue to improve the quality of these services and patient outcomes.

As we recover from the pandemic, it is right and necessary that our health and care services are at the forefront. The pandemic underlined not only the dedication and skill of those in this sector, but also the necessity of a broader, more integrated health and care system. I welcome the intention to develop more joined up, integrated care between the NHS, Local Government and other partners including the voluntary and community sector, which will be vital in tackling the factors that affect the long-term sustainability of patient services. The Bill will make permanent some of the innovations we have seen as a result of the pandemic. I understand that these proposed reforms will also include proper accountability mechanisms, and give patients and the public the confidence that they are receiving the best care from their healthcare system. 

The measures set out in the Health and Care Bill deliver on the NHS’s own proposals for reform in its Long Term Plan. I believe these proposals have been developed in consultation with key stakeholders in this sector, and I am encouraged by the preliminary positive feedback received. In particular, the comments from the former Chief Executive of NHS England, who has said that this Bill “will support our health and care services to be more integrated and innovative so the NHS can thrive in the decades to come”, are reassuring.

DS.