The Secretary of State already has an annual Statutory duty to conduct a review of benefits and State pension rates, including Universal Credit, to determine whether they have retained their value in relation to the general level of prices and/or earnings. This is a well-established process that applies more widely than just Universal Credit and is therefore outside the scope of the review.

This Government uprated benefit rates for 2025/26 in line with inflation, with 5.7 million Universal Credit households forecast to gain by an average of £150 annually. We will also improve the adequacy of the Universal Credit standard allowance with the first sustained above inflation rise in the basic rate of Universal Credit since it was introduced, subject to parliamentary approval as part of our welfare reform.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

It is important for universities, their students and staff, that there is a sustainable higher education (HE) funding system that provides opportunities, supports students and maintains the world-leading status of our universities. The government is committed to a sustainable funding model, which supports high value provision, thereby powering opportunity and growth and meeting the skills needs of the country.

The government keeps the HE funding system under continuous review. The department will work with universities to support students and deliver for the economy. An announcement on student finance arrangements for the 2025/26 academic year will be made in due course.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

The apprenticeship levy is an important part of the department’s reforms to create a high-quality, employer-led apprenticeships system, and it supports employers of all sizes to invest in high-quality apprenticeship training.

There are no current plans to review the apprenticeship levy. My right hon. Friends, the Secretary of State for Education, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer meet regularly to discuss how apprenticeships and skills can contribute to economic growth.

The department continues to improve the apprenticeships system for employers and apprentices. We have made apprenticeships more accessible for all sectors through the development of flexi-job and accelerated apprenticeships, and we are working with providers to simplify the apprenticeship system through our ‘You said, we did’ programme.

The apprenticeships budget is used to fund training and assessment for new apprenticeship starts in levy and non-levy paying employers, and to cover the ongoing costs of apprentices already in training and any additional payments made to employers and providers. The annual apprenticeship budget is set by HM Treasury (HMT) and although closely linked, it is distinct from the total levy income collected. The apprenticeship levy is paid by all eligible UK employers and funding linked to its income is distributed proportionately between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The table below shows the department’s ring-fenced apprenticeships budget against the total apprenticeships spend in England for the last five years. This shows that in the 2021/22 financial year 99.6% of the apprenticeships budget in England was spent, with only £11 million unspent. As is usual practice, any underspends in overall departmental budgets by the end of the financial year are first returned to HMT as per the Consolidated Budgeting Guidance.

Department’s ring-fenced apprenticeships budget and total apprenticeships spend, financial years 2017/18-2021/22

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

Curriculum matters are not within the scope of the Academies regulation and commissioning review.

Religious education (RE) is a compulsory subject for all state-funded schools, including academies, and must be offered in all year groups. Academies without a religious designation are free to either follow the locally agreed syllabus for their area, or develop their own curriculum, so long as it meets the requirements of the locally agreed syllabus. Their syllabus must reflect that the religious traditions in the UK are, in the main, Christian whilst taking account of the teaching and practice of the other principal religions represented in the UK. Academies with a religious designation should teach RE in accordance with their funding agreements and the tenets of their faith.

The department commissioned an Independent Review of the system for testing construction products. The review looks to examine how to strengthen the current system for testing construction products to provide confidence that these materials are safe and perform as marketed. This is a complex area and good progress has been made. We expect to publish the review shortly, and will respond in due course.

The outcome of the SEND Review will be published as a green paper for full public consultation by the end of March.

In the Government’s Clean Air Strategy 2019, we committed to consulting on changes to standards in Part F (ventilation) of the Building Regulations, as part of our 2019 consultation on the Building Regulations’ energy efficiency standards. The statutory guidance for Part F (Approved Document F) describes how buildings in urban areas should be designed to reduce the intake of pollutants. In this review we are using the latest evidence on indoor air quality to inform ventilation standards.

The Future Homes Standard will be implemented through an uplift to the Building Regulations, subject to consultation. We will expand on the technical detail of these proposals during the 2019 consultation.

The Department has seen the number of private rented homes failing to meet the Decent Homes Standard fall 15 per cent since 2010 – a record low. We have also seen the number of social homes failing to meet the Decent Homes Standard decrease significantly.

Local authorities have powers under the Housing Act 2004 to review the Private Rented Sector stock and to tackle poor rented property conditions which may impact peoples’ health. They must take enforcement action where the most serious (category 1) hazards are present - this is usually assessed through the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS).

In October 2018 the Government launched a scoping review to consider whether the HHSRS should be updated and, if so, to what extent. This review has now reported, and I announced that there will be a comprehensive overhaul of the HHSRS to begin later this year.

In addition, the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act, which came into force on 20th March 2019, empowers tenants to take their landlords to court if they fail to address health and safety hazards.

We have also launched the Social Housing Green Paper which asks if we should consider what constitutes a decent home.

We will ensure the Bishop of Truro is well supported and has the resources needed throughout the duration of the review he chairs. Final figures for the cost of the review will be published in due course.

The statistic referenced is cited in a report "Response to Persecution: Findings of the Under Caesar's Sword Project on Global Christian Communities", led by the Notre Dame Centre for Ethics and Culture, the Religious Freedom Institute, and Georgetown University's Religious Freedom Research Project. In addition, a 2016 Pew Research Centre study found that Christians were the most widely targeted group in 144 countries, up from 128 in 2015.

The Government received over 50,000 representations from members of the public about the review of the regulations of air weapons. The great majority were from people concerned about the use of air weapons to harm animals such as cats, and were in favour of the increased regulation of air weapons. We are considering the responses and will publish our findings in due course.

We have been informed by NHS England that regular meetings are held with the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry where the Cancer Drugs Fund is discussed.

There are no plans to involve patient organisations during this review as the evaluation is purely focused on the operational aspects of the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF). The review will be conducted by the head of Commercial Operations at NHS England, supported by the national CDF team. The report, following the evaluation, will be published on NHS England’s website. This report will inform stakeholders and the wider public how the CDF has performed since the reforms to the Fund took effect in July 2016.

A review of the operation of the Cancer Drugs Fund is currently underway. A summary report from this review is anticipated during 2018-19.

The principal thing that we need to do with Lyme disease is to make progress on diagnosis, treatment and transmission through a definitive approach. When the results of the study that I mentioned are published, of course they will be available across all parts of the United Kingdom.