I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that deeply troubling set of circumstances. We will not only ensure an immediate response through the funding that we are providing, but ensure that we bring to our cross-Government strategy the perspectives and experiences of those who are affected.

Copyright and the protection of artists’ moral and economic rights is an absolutely essential part of ensuring that they are properly remunerated for their creativity. We will do everything in our power to make sure that the copyright regime remains, is strong, and is strongly enforced.

This government has committed to remove barriers to opportunity and raise school standards to ensure the school system is enabling every child to thrive, no matter their background.

The government is clear strong accountability is non-negotiable. That is why the government has committed to bring Multi-Academy Trusts into the inspection system, to make the system fairer and more transparent, and enable intervention when schools and trusts are not performing to the required standards.

Accountability to Parliament and to the public is one of the core values of this government. That is why within the Cabinet Office we have taken significant steps to ensure that ministers and civil servants act with integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level. For example, each of 244 major government projects in the Government Major Projects Programme now has a publicly named senior responsible officer accountable for project delivery. Departments and agencies are required to publish in their Annual Reports and Accounts public performance updates against their priority outcomes, ensuring that public scrutiny of departmental delivery is embedded across Whitehall.The accountability of arm’s length bodies has been sharpened up by the public bodies reviews programme and by updating the arm’s length body sponsorship code of good practice.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) performs the functions of my Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, under United Kingdom legislation, relating to the regulation of medicines, medical devices, and blood products for transfusion. The MHRA also performs the functions of my Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care in relation to the standardisation and control of biological medicines including vaccines, blood products, and other substances which cannot be characterised chemically, and which require special testing measures to ensure their safety and efficacy.

My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has ministerial responsibility for, and oversight of, the MHRA’s delivery and performance. The MHRA seeks ministerial agreement for policy and legislative framework changes. Ministers are not involved in individual decisions made by the MHRA. The MHRA is held to account through regular established mechanisms including quarterly and annual accountability reviews. A framework agreement between the Department and the MHRA also sets out the governance structure within which both parties operate, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dh-and-mhra-framework-agreement/framework-agreement-between-dhsc-and-the-medicines-and-healthcare-products-regulatory-agency

The MHRA also publishes performance figures each month, as well as its annual report and accounts, and the minutes of the latest Annual Accountability Review with the MHRA is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/annual-accountability-review-mhra/annual-accountability-review-minutes-2022-to-2023-3-july-2023

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for determining the level of locally available, National Health Service funded palliative and end of life care, including hospice care. ICBs are responsible for ensuring that the services they commission meet the needs of their local population.

The majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by NHS staff and services. However, we also recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, play in providing support to people at end of life, and their families. Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing NHS services. The amount of funding hospices receive is dependent on many factors, including what other statutory services are available within the ICB footprint. Charitable hospices provide a range of services which go beyond that which statutory services are legally required to provide. Consequently, the funding arrangements reflect this.

In July 2022, NHS England published statutory guidance and service specifications for commissioners on palliative and end of life care, setting out the considerations for ICBs to meet their legal duties, and making clear reference to the importance of access to services.

The Department and NHS England, alongside key partners, will continue to proactively engage with our stakeholders, including the voluntary sector and independent hospices, on an ongoing basis, in order to understand the issues they face, including that of future funding pressures. The Department is in ongoing discussions with NHS England, including its National Clinical Director, about the oversight and accountability of National Health Service palliative and end of life care commissioning.

From April 2024, NHS England will include palliative and end of life care in the list of topics for its regular performance discussions between national and regional leads. These national meetings will provide an additional mechanism for supporting ICBs in continuing to improve palliative and end of life care for their local population.

NHS England has commissioned the development of a palliative and end of life care dashboard, which brings together relevant local data in one place. The dashboard helps commissioners understand the palliative and end of life care needs of those in their local population, enabling ICBs to put plans in place to address and track the improvement of health inequalities. Additionally, the National Institute for Health and Care Research has established a new Policy Research Unit to build an evidence base on palliative and end of life care, with a specific focus on inequalities.

Systems and processes are already in place to ensure the accountability of National Health Service Directors. NHS England has strengthened these through the introduction of the Fit and Proper Person (FPP) Framework. This introduces a set of standard competencies for board Directors, a means of retaining information regarding individual Directors, and a new board member reference template. The framework is effective from 30 September 2023, and should be implemented by all boards by 31 March 2024.

NHS England has reminded all NHS organisations of their obligations not to appoint any individual as a board Director unless they satisfy all FPP requirements, including that they have not been responsible for, been privy to, contributed to, or facilitated any serious misconduct or mismanagement. The Department and NHS England are considering whether further mechanisms are needed to hold senior NHS managers accountable, including the possibility of a disbarring system.

The Government and NHS England have been working closely together on plans to improve productivity following the publication of the Long Term Workforce Plan last summer, including on the announcement last week of £3.4bn additional investment allowing the NHS to commit to a significant increase in productivity growth.

This investment will continue to remain subject to close work between Government and NHS, recognising its importance for ensuring the NHS’s sustainability and ability to deliver better outcomes for patients.

To support delivery of the productivity programme, Spring Budget also highlighted that an external expert advisory panel will be convened to ensure that technological and digital transformation plans have the support and challenge to deliver on its goals, with NHS England also starting reporting against new productivity metrics regularly from the second half of 2024-25. Further detail will be set out in due course

The department sets clear standards and expectations for the governance of multi-academy trusts (MATs) through requirements set by the Academy Trust Handbook, in model articles of association, funding agreements and through the guidance provided by the Governance Handbook. These documents are reviewed regularly to ensure they are up to date.

The department requires a high level of accountability and transparency from academy trusts. Academy trusts’ status as companies, charities and public sector bodies means that they are subject to rigorous accountability systems. Trustees must comply with the trust’s charitable objects, with company and charity law, and with their contractual obligations under the trust’s funding agreement with the Secretary of State. The academy trust board has collective accountability and responsibility for the governance of the MAT and in assuring itself that there is compliance with regulatory, contractual, and statutory requirements; this includes providing effective challenge and support to school leaders.

The department also published detailed trust quality descriptions as part of the ‘Commissioning high-quality trusts’ guidance in July 2023. These define what trusts are expected to deliver across five key pillars, of which governance and leadership is one. The guidance is the basis for commissioning decisions, including approving the growth of trusts.

The description of governance and leadership includes the expectation that the trust’s accounting officer, board and leadership team create a culture of ethical leadership, including the seven principles of public life; trust leadership should involve parents, schools, communities and, where appropriate, dioceses and other religious authorities so that decision making is supported by meaningful engagement.

The evidence annex sets out the information the department uses to assess trusts under each pillar. In the case of governance and leadership, qualitative evidence is used within a risk-based approach. Where it is determined that a detailed assessment of the trust’s governance and leadership is appropriate, the department will make a judgement based on the evidence held and/or that provided by the trust, in line with the published guidance.

Academy trusts have the freedom to establish their own procedures for staff. Trusts should have the freedom to make these decisions, as they are best placed to understand their local needs, but in doing so, they must take account of relevant legislation and guidance. Advice for boards about establishing these procedures is provided in the department’s guidance on managing staff employment in schools, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/staffing-and-employment-advice-for-schools.

Academy trusts must have a policy that details their procedures for addressing staff grievances. Governing boards should be mindful of their obligations under employment law and take into account the ACAS Code of Practice in their approach, which is accessible at: https://www.acas.org.uk/acas-code-of-practice-on-disciplinary-and-grievance-procedures. While this policy may be delegated to individual academies, the trust board remains accountable for all policies across its schools and they should ensure that members of their schools’ workforce are fully aware of the process by which they can seek redress as a result of any disagreement relating to their work at the school.

Following the Group Litigation Order court case, the Government has taken steps to strengthen the governance of the Post Office. This has included expanding the Department’s Post Office Policy team that works closely with UK Government Investments (UKGI) in advising Ministers on holding the Post Office to account.

The Government has also strengthened and formalised the respective responsibilities of the Post Office, Government and UKGI through a Framework Document published in 2020. ​The Government also maintains strong oversight of the progress made on resolving issues related to Horizon and will continue to hold the Post Office to account for learning relevant lessons and making tangible changes to the organisation.

The recent issue surrounding senior bonuses at Post Office highlighted a number of corporate governance issues which were the subject of the review undertaken by Simmons and Simmons and published in August 2023. ​The review made a number of important findings and recommendations, which Post Office accepted in full. The implementation of these recommendations is a priority and Government is monitoring Post Office’s progress closely.

Systems and processes are already in place to ensure the accountability of National Health Service directors. NHS England has recently strengthened these through the introduction of the Fit and Proper Person Framework. This will introduce a set of standard competencies for board directors, a means of retaining information regarding individual directors and a new board member reference template. The Framework is effective from 30 September 2023 and should be implemented by all boards by 31 March 2024.

NHS England has reminded all NHS organisations of their obligations not to appoint any individual as a board director unless they satisfy all Fit and Proper Person requirements, including that they have not been responsible for, been privy to, contributed to or facilitated any serious misconduct or mismanagement.

The Department and NHS England are considering whether further mechanisms are needed to hold senior NHS managers accountable, including the possibility of a disbarring system.

Achieving the bold national missions we have set out in the Levelling Up White Paper will rely on a ‘system change’ of how government works. These missions will be cross-government, cross-society efforts. The UK Government will introduce a statutory obligation to report annually on progress towards meeting the Levelling Up missions, with each Whitehall department accountable for its contributions towards the collective effort.

We have set up a new Cabinet Sub-Committee with a specific focus on Levelling Up, chaired by the Secretary of State for Levelling Up and bringing together cabinet colleagues to collaborate, share information and resources, and take collective decisions on policies which will drive real change in towns and cities across the UK. Government’s resources, energy, and focus throughout the 2020s will be re-oriented around achieving these missions - and thus squarely focussed on helping the people and parts of the country most struggling.

Whilst the missions are UK-wide ambitions, in the many instances where they are driven by devolved policy levers, the UK government wishes to work hand in hand with the devolved governments to achieve them.

We have been encouraging all businesses to set science-based emission reduction targets by joining the Race to Zero. This has been one of the requirements for businesses to participate in UK-managed spaces of COP26. Race to Zero members commit to report publicly both progress against interim and long-term targets, as well as the actions being taken, at least annually.

The government has also recently announced three distinct new policies that can help public procurers fully embed net zero into their work. One of these requires suppliers who are bidding on central government contracts (over £5 million p/a in value) to commit to achieving net zero by 2050 and to publish a Carbon Reduction Plan. We are sending a clear signal to the market: data on carbon impact - and immediate ambition to reduce it - will be increasingly important in how we choose to do business.

The NHS Test and Trace Senior Responsible Owner for the Leamington Spa laboratory is Head of Laboratories, Dame Anna Dominiczak, who reports to the Director of Testing Operations Mark Hewlett. Consideration is being given to the longer term structural placement of this laboratory in the context of the future of Test and Trace, National Institute for Health Protection and NHS England.

We have paused development work on the second laboratory in Scotland until we have further detailed projections on long-term testing demand.

Military bases in the UK that are made available to the US Visiting Forces remain Crown Estate, and oversight and accountability for the bases rests with the Ministry of Defence. The US Visiting Forces are however responsible for administering their own activities and in doing so are accountable to US military authorities.