The NCS Trust are the contracting authority for the NCS programme and have operational accountability for the NCS delivery chain. As such, procurement issues are a contractual matter between the NCS Trust and The Challenge, with DCMS being regularly informed. The procurement process for the re-commissioning of NCS contracts, carried out by the NCS Trust in 2019, was approved by both DCMS and HMT.

In regards to the issues raised by The Challenge, NCS Trust is an arms-length body of DCMS and, in line with standard complaint procedures, DCMS is investigating the matters raised and will address any findings as appropriate.

All NCS delivery regions have been successfully contracted for, to make sure there is minimal loss in NCS participation levels from 2020 onwards.

The Wilson Doctrine is unchanged from the position set out in my predecessor's Written Statement of 4 November 2015 (HCWS291).

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport were formally made aware of the contractual dispute between NCS and The Challenge on 15th July when a letter of complaint was sent from Bill Ronald (CEO of The Challenge) to the DCMS Secretary of State.

In line with standard complaint procedures, we are investigating the complaints raised by The Challenge against the NCS Trust and will address any findings as appropriate. The investigation is ongoing.

DCMS will let both parties know the result of the investigation when it has concluded.

In response to the governance issues raised in reports by the Public Accounts Committee and the National Audit Office, DCMS, together with the NCS Trust, have made the following progress:

• The NCS Trust transitioned from a Community Interest Company to a Royal Charter body (RCB), in accordance with the NCS Act, on 01 December 2018. This made the NCS Trust an Arm’s Length Body (ALB) of DCMS. The ALB relationship means that the NCS Trust have a higher level of accountability to Parliament and the taxpayer, and ensures that Government have the power to appropriately scrutinise the NCS Trust as they see fit.

• As a Government ALB, the NCS Trust is now subject to the following Government scrutiny: the National Audit Office (NAO) audits the NCS annual report and accounts; NAO submit all accounts to the Committee of Public Accounts (PAC); The NCS Act requires the NCS Trust to lay Ministerially-approved annual business plans, annual reports and accounts in Parliament; The NCS Royal Charter states that a representative of the Government must sit on the NCS Trust’s Remuneration and Audit and Risk committees; The NCS Trust is subject to all Cabinet Office Spend Controls

• As a Government ALB, the NCS Trust must abide by all principles laid out in HMT’s Managing Public Money document.

• As the Sponsor Department, DCMS exercises its governance scrutiny over the NCS Trust through: bi-annual Sponsor meetings between the DCMS Permanent Secretary, as Principal Accounting Officer, and the NCS Trust CEO and Board Chair; a high level of Senior Civil Servant involvement in the NCS Trust’s activities, including regular meetings between NCS Trust and DCMS Senior Sponsor and Sponsor Director; and through specialist-level meetings with officials from across DCMS.

DCMS assesses the NCS Trust’s effectiveness in delivering the NCS programme against the three core objectives of: social cohesion, social mobility and social engagement - through consecutive, independent evaluations. Since 2013, these have demonstrated the positive impacts that National Citizen Service delivers to both its participants and their communities.

DCMS assesses the NCS Trust’s effectiveness in meeting its Key Performance Indicator (KPI) targets on an ongoing basis and reviews these formally at the bi-annual Sponsor meetings between the DCMS Permanent Secretary and NCS Trust CEO and Board Chair. Performance against KPIs is published in the NCS Trust’s Annual Report, which is laid before Parliament.

In the last twelve months DCMS has received one formal complaint against the NCS Trust and one formal complaint regarding the terms of the new contracts issued by the NCS Trust.

The Government is fully committed to tightening up legislation so that foreign money cannot find its way into political campaigning and to tackle foreign lobbying. As such, Ministers and officials have been directed to consider the issue for consultation, which will be published in due course.

The public have a right to know who is funding campaigning and legislation in the context of Brexit.

We are taking steps to support businesses in all scenarios and are working on securing a deal to ensure minimised disruption to supply chains. Our temporary tariff regime, in the event of no-deal, will support supply chains and sensitive sectors in the UK economy.

We are taking steps to support businesses in all scenarios and are working on securing a deal to ensure minimised disruption to supply chains. Our temporary tariff regime, in the event of no-deal, will support supply chains and sensitive sectors in the UK economy.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

When the UK leaves the EU, the UK will no longer be part of the EU regulatory framework for veterinary medicines. The UK Government, through the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD), will take on those functions which are currently carried out for the UK by the EU. In order to prepare for the regulation and registration of veterinary medicines in a no deal Brexit parliament has approved no deal statutory instruments, which will enable the continued regulation of veterinary medicines.

When the UK leaves the EU, the UK will no longer be part of the EU regulatory framework for veterinary medicines. The UK Government, through the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD), will take on those functions which are currently carried out for the UK by the EU. In order to prepare for the regulation and registration of veterinary medicines in a no deal Brexit parliament has approved no deal statutory instruments, which will enable the continued regulation of veterinary medicines.

Following the no-deal technical notice published on 23^rd August 2018, the Government laid the draft State Aid (EU Exit) Regulations on 21 January 2019. The draft Regulations make amendments to the retained EU law on State Aid, where appropriate to correct deficiencies, in accordance with the powers in the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. These draft Regulations transfer the State Aid regulatory functions of the European Commission to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

The draft Regulations were approved in the House of Lords on 14 March and debated by the Delegated Legislation Committee in the House of Commons on 10 April. No date has yet been set for the final approval motion.

The CMA has already recruited and trained the staff that it considers necessary to start operating the regime at the point this is required.

The Government’s plan for workplace rights in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal has been implemented.

We laid no deal Employment Rights SIs earlier this year. These SIs were passed on 4^th March 2019 and will come into effect on exit day in the event of no-deal. These SIs ensure that we are upholding the commitment not to roll back workers’ rights as we leave the EU.

The Government has prepared guidance for businesses and individuals to help prepare for a no-deal exit from the EU. This includes guidance on employment rights. All guidance for a no deal scenario is published on the internet: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/how-to-prepare-if-the-uk-leaves-the-eu-with-no-deal

The UK Government remains focussed on ensuring a smooth and orderly withdrawal from the EU with a deal as soon as possible. However, as a responsible government, we continue to prepare for all scenarios.

The Law Enforcement and Security (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 were made in April 2019 and make the necessary legislative changes to prevent the diversion of drugs precursor chemicals to the illicit market and to allow for the legitimate trade in these substances to continue in the event of a no deal.

A Technical Notice was published on GOV.UK in September 2018 advising companies of the change in requirements in the event of a no deal and we have contacted the relevant trade bodies to disseminate the message to their members.
The Government continue to engage with industry trading in these substances to ensure they are aware of the new rules and processes that would apply if the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

All parts of the plan for exporting objects of cultural interest in the event of a no deal Brexit are in place:

• A statutory instrument (SI 2018 no. 1186) will revoke the relevant EU regulations in relation to the export of cultural objects on exit day, if there’s no deal. Only export licences under UK legislation will be needed.

• The existing statutory guidance will be amended. A draft amended version is available now on the Arts Council website for information.

• The Export Licensing Unit at the Arts Council will announce a date after which they cannot guarantee to process and issue EU export licences before exit day.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer that I gave on 24 July 2019 under UIN 279465.

We welcome the steps taken by the EU and some individual member states to help mitigate cliff-edge risks to financial services. This includes:

• The EU’s temporary equivalence and recognition for UK central counterparties (CCPs) and central securities depositories (CSDs). This follows similar action from HMT to legislate for a process to facilitate continued access for EU and global CCPs and CSDs to the UK market.
• The European Securities and Markets Authority and the FCA have agreed MoUs that include provisions to allow cross-border delegation of portfolio management between the UK and the EEA. This provides the asset management industry with certainty that portfolio delegation services between themselves and clients in the EEA can continue in any exit scenario.
• Recommendations from the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority which call on relevant Member State regulators to put in place measures which aim to minimise detriment to insurance policyholders. It is a matter for national regulators whether they choose to comply with this guidance.

Within the technical notice, published on 13 September 2018 and referred to in the question, the Government committed to making provisions in domestic legislation for the continuation of Ofcom licences, so that broadcasters can continue to broadcast in the UK without having to reapply for their licence under any new framework following EU Exit. The notice also stated that Government would ensure that existing domestic legislation relating to audiovisual media services would continue to be operable.

The Broadcasting (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, passed on 12 February, enacted the relevant legislative changes.

In addition to this, the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport continues to work closely with broadcasters and Ofcom to understand the impact of a ‘no deal’ scenario on the sector and ensure a smooth and orderly exit.