The Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including innovative advanced therapies and medicines for rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory conditions. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality. Information on individual projects funded by the NIHR can be found at the following link:

https://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/programmes/

Advanced cellular, molecular and gene therapies will play an increasingly important part in the future of healthcare in the United Kingdom. The Stem Cell Strategic Forum has included advanced therapies in its remit since 2019; it provides high quality clinical and scientific advice to the Department.

The national bereavement care pathway for pregnancy and baby loss was launched in 2017 and seeks to increase the quality of, and reduce the inequity in, the bereavement care provided by healthcare professionals after the loss of a baby or pregnancy at any gestation based on nine bereavement care standards which can be accessed at the following link:

https://nbcpathway.org.uk/sites/default/files/2019-05/Bereavement%20Care%20Standards.pdf

A key element of this is the requirement for a key worker who acts as a single point of contact for the bereaved family, who they can turn to for information on the child death review process, and who can signpost them to sources of support such as specialist psychological support.

In December 2018, NHS England published ‘When a child dies - a guide for parents and carers to support parents through the child death review process’ and help them understand the support that is available.

Information is not available in the format requested.

The £600 million funding which the Government has allocated for the remediation of buildings with unsafe ACM cladding is expected to be sufficient to meet demand. Government funding is not the only means of remediating high-rise residential buildings with unsafe ACM cladding. Building owners are expected to play a part in ensuring that their buildings are made safe.

In more than half of the cases where there is ACM cladding on private sector residential blocks, the original developer or current building owner has agreed to pay or there has been a warranty in place to cover the remediation costs, without passing these on to leaseholders. Whether provided by Government or other sources, availability of funding to protect leaseholders from these costs should not be a barrier for ACM remediation to take place.

The 2020/21 police funding settlement set out the biggest increase in funding for policing since 2010 with the Metropolitan Police receiving an increase of up to £193m.

Ministers have been clear that the Police will get the financial support they need to see them through the COVID-19 pandemic. The department took immediate steps to increase the availability of funding for forces to meet cashflow pressures caused by the coronavirus.

We continue to work closely with the policing sector to build evidence of the additional pressures they are incurring from COVID-19 in order to inform cross-Government discussions on their future funding needs.

British Transport Police is not a Home Office funded police force.

We understand how challenging this period has been for children who rely on ventilation and their families and we are doing everything we can to support patients, led by clinical advice.

On 17 July, the Prime Minister confirmed an additional £3 billion of funding to the National Health Service in England to prepare for winter.

COVID-19 has caused a significant increase in demand for clinical consumables and has disrupted international supply chains, making it more difficult to source products, including a small number of products for children’s ventilators.

The Department, working closely with NHS England and NHS Improvement, has put in place a range of measures to address these challenges, including making it easier for clinicians to report shortages and identifying opportunities to open up new supply options and using additional brands.

NHS England and NHS Improvement are also working closely with clinicians, trusts and suppliers to prepare for winter and ensure there are sufficient stocks of these consumables to meet the need of all patients who require home ventilation as well as for any future spike in COVID-19 cases going forward.

Access to Work is a demand-led scheme. The measures that DWP has put in place during the COVID-19 outbreak have allowed the scheme to continue to support both existing and new customers.

Yes, as a Treasury Minister, I will be considering the findings of that report, so I thank the hon. Lady for raising that matter.

This Government recognises how severely theatres, and the wider Arts sector, have been hit by the COVID-19 crisis.

In order to support the Arts sector through the pandemic, DCMS has worked closely with Arts Council England (ACE) to provide a tailored package of financial support. In March, ACE announced a £160m emergency response package to complement the financial measures already announced by the Government and to ensure immediate resilience of this vital sector.

This package includes £140 million of support for artistic organisations including theatres, and £20 million for individuals, including self-employed theatre practitioners, so they can better sustain themselves, and their work, in the coming months. More than 9000 individuals and organisations have been successful in applying for this emergency funding.

The Secretary of State, myself and officials continue to consult the arts sectors extensively to ensure we fully understand the impacts of Covid-19 and remain well placed to respond as the landscape develops. On the basis of that engagement, DCMS and ACE are continuing to work closely to consider the additional measures that are needed to ensure the long-term recovery and growth of the cultural sector, including theatres.

For 2020-21, NHS England and NHS Improvement have allocated £30 million to continue the delivery of NHS Long Term Plan commitments for people with a learning disability and autistic people. This funding includes the allocation of £22 million to support a further reduction in reliance on specialist inpatient care.

In the Budget 2020, announced on 11 March, the Government committed to providing funding over the three years from 2020-21 to support discharge of individuals with learning disabilities or autism into the community. Allocations to local government will be confirmed in due course.

The public health guidance is clear. People are encouraged to work from home where they can. If they cannot, they can still go to work, but need to follow the guidance, for example about social distancing and hand washing. Only those in the shielding group or who are isolating because they or someone in their household has symptoms, or are isolating because they have been contacted by the test and trace service, are advised not to go to work.

A range of support has been made available for people who cannot work. For example:

• Employees who are unable to work because they are shielding in line with public health guidance, or who need to stay home with someone who is shielding, can be furloughed under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). Those who are clinically vulnerable but not shielding are eligible for furlough on the same grounds as other employees. The decision to access the CJRS is at the employer’s discretion. The CJRS will close to new entrants from 30 June. From this point onwards, employers will only be able to furlough employees that they have furloughed for a full three-week period prior to 30 June.
• We have introduced new provisions making Statutory Sick Pay payable from day 1 – as opposed to day 4 – where an eligible individual is sick, self-isolating or shielding.
• People who are not eligible for Statutory Sick Pay may be able to claim Universal Credit or New Style Employment and Support Allowance, and this will include those people who are self-isolating in accordance with government guidelines.
• We have relaxed the seven waiting days for Employment and Support Allowance for new claimants who may have coronavirus, or isolating in accordance with the government guidelines, or caring for a child (or qualifying young person) who falls into either of those categories, or those extremely vulnerable individuals who have been advised to shield because they are at high risk of severe illness, so they will be entitled from day one of their claim.

The Department is doing all we can to deal with exceptional levels of demand. Our priority is ensuring people get their benefit payments and that we can continue to support those who need them most. The Department has mobilised robust business continuity plans to ensure we can do just that. We are already redeploying 10,000 staff from other parts of DWP and are also recruiting additional staff to assist with the processing of claims, including support from other government departments and the private sector.

We have also introduced new processes to ease pressure on waiting times for identity verification over the phone and other processes. People making new claims for Universal Credit no longer need to call the Department as part of the process. Once they have completed their online application we will call them if we need to check any of the information they have given us

The Universal Credit system is facing extraordinary pressures exerted by the unprecedented volume of new claims, but it is standing up to this challenge. The agility of the system means that capacity can be built rapidly and this has enabled it to cope in the face of demand which would have overwhelmed the complex legacy benefit regime.

Ministers and officials are in constant dialogue with partners in these sectors to build and maintain a complete and up to date understanding of the challenges. We are working urgently with colleagues across government to shape support available to mitigate risks in the coming weeks and months.

As I say, every local authority will see real-terms increases in their allocation, and by imminently I mean in the next couple of days.

There have already been more than 2.5 million people given status through the settlement scheme. The Home Office is always looking at ways to make sure everyone secures the status they are eligible for.

As well as providing funding for charities which have supported hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people, there are more than 1,500 Home Office staff working on the EU Settlement Scheme and 250 Settlement Resolution Centre staff providing assistance to applicants with any questions about the scheme or who need help applying.

Additional support is also available to those EU citizens in the UK who do not have the appropriate access, skills or confidence to apply. This includes over 300 assisted digital locations across the UK where people can be supported through their application.

It is one of several ways people can verify their identity, including by post. There are also over 80 locations where applicants can have their passport scanned and verified across the UK.

The current grant funding scheme continues until the end of March 2020, and the Home Office is currently exploring options

Government has committed £600 million to remediate high-rise residential buildings with unsafe ACM cladding. This Government intervention is wholly exceptional. It is based on the unparalleled fire risk ACM poses at this height.

Building safety is the responsibility of the building owner, and they must remedy any safety risks. Building owners should consider all routes to meet costs, protecting leaseholders where they can – for example through warranties and recovering costs from contractors for poor work.

However, we do not want the cost to be a barrier to remediation, so the Department is considering options to support leaseholders with Her Majesty’s Treasury. Building Owners should be transparent about any remediation plans with lenders and managing agents.

In May 2018, the Government made £400 million available to social sector landlords to fund the removal and replacement of unsafe ACM cladding on high-rise residential social housing buildings.

It became clear that too many private sector building owners were failing to take responsibility to ensure their buildings were made permanently safe, and at no cost to leaseholders. Therefore, the Government committed £200 million for the removal and replacement of unsafe ACM cladding on private sector residential high-rise buildings.

This funding will remove that barrier. Government intervention to provide funding for the removal of unsafe ACM cladding is wholly exceptional. It is based on the unparalleled fire risk ACM poses, the very real public safety concerns and the abject failure of many building owners to do the right thing by their residents.

This information is published in the Building Safety Programme Data Release, with latest data as at 31 December 2019 published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-safety-programme-monthly-data-release-december-2019 . The next update, referring to the situation at the end of January, will be included in the next Data Release, which will be published on 13 February.