daily report wednesday, 30 october 2019 contents€¦ · first transpennine express: finance 75...

Daily Report Wednesday, 30 October 2019

This report shows written answers and statements provided on 30 October 2019 and the

information is correct at the time of publication (06:40 P.M., 30 October 2019). For the latest

information on written questions and answers, ministerial corrections, and written statements,

please visit: http://www.parliament.uk/writtenanswers/

CONTENTS

ANSWERS 5

ATTORNEY GENERAL 5

Attorney General: Jainism and

Zoroastrianism 5

BUSINESS, ENERGY AND

INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY 5

Business: Digital Technology 5

Disclosure of Information 6

Loneliness 6

New Businesses: Government

Assistance 7

Post Offices: Tenbury Wells 8

Retail Trade 8

Retail Trade: Employment 9

Social Enterprises 9

Thomas Cook: Insolvency 10

CABINET OFFICE 11

Brexit: Publicity 11

DIGITAL, CULTURE, MEDIA AND

SPORT 12

National Citizen Service Trust 12

Youth Investment Fund 12

EDUCATION 12

Children in Care 12

Holiday Activities and Food

Research Fund 13

Schools: Asbestos 13

Schools: Buildings 14

Voluntary Schools: Capital

Investment 15

ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND

RURAL AFFAIRS 15

Agriculture: Northern Ireland 15

Air Pollution 16

Beverage Containers:

Recycling 18

Department for Environment,

Food and Rural Affairs:

Jainism and Zoroastrianism 19

Department for Environment,

Food and Rural Affairs: Living

Wage 19

Dogs 20

Environment Protection:

Finance 21

European Agricultural Fund for

Rural Development 27

Horse Racing: Animal Welfare 28

FOREIGN AND

COMMONWEALTH OFFICE 28

British Indian Ocean Territory:

Sovereignty 28

British Nationals Abroad:

Homicide 30

http://www.parliament.uk/writtenanswers

http://www.parliament.uk/writtenanswers

Foreign and Commonwealth

Office: Private Education 30

India: Pakistan 33

USA: Diplomatic Service 34

HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE 34

Air Pollution 34

Blood Cancer: Medical

Treatments 34

Care Homes 35

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome 35

Dental Services: Finance 35

Derriford Hospital Plymouth:

Repairs and Maintenance 36

General Practitioners:

Postnatal Care 37

General Practitioners:

Standards 38

General Practitioners: Tyne

and Wear 39

Genito-urinary Medicine 40

Health Professions:

Hampshire 41

Health Services: Tyne and

Wear 42

Health Visitors 42

HIV Infection: Drugs 43

Hospitals: Construction 43

Immigrants: Health Services 44

Incontinence: Medical

Treatments 45

Intensive Care: Private Sector 45

Lighting: Health Hazards 46

Mental Health Services:

Children 46

NHS and Social Services:

Agency Workers 46

NHS: Disclosure of Information 47

Orkambi 47

Palliative Care: Expenditure 48

Palliative Care: Finance 48

Secure Accommodation:

Autism 49

Sepsis: Health Education 51

Social Prescribing: Training 52

Syringes 52

HOME OFFICE 52

British Nationality:

Assessments 52

British Nationality: Children 53

Hampshire Constabulary: ICT 53

Home Office: Pay 54

Immigrants: Glasgow Central 54

Immigration: EU Nationals 54

Immigration: Families 56

Immigration: Windrush

Generation 56

Police Interrogation: Standards 57

Police: Safety 57

HOUSING, COMMUNITIES AND

LOCAL GOVERNMENT 58

Buildings: Insulation 58

Buildings: Safety 58

Housing: Construction 59

Housing: Insulation 59

Local Plans: Oxfordshire 60

Loneliness 60

Ministry of Housing,

Communities and Local

Government: Brexit 61

Muslims: Discrimination 62

INTERNATIONAL

DEVELOPMENT 62

Developing Countries:

Tuberculosis 62

Yemen: International

Assistance 63

JUSTICE 63

Courts 63

Courts: Finance 64

Criminal Proceedings:

Translation Services 64

Judiciary 65

Ministry of Justice: Contracts 65

Ministry of Justice: Serco 66

Ministry of Justice: Sodexo 67

Pleural Plaques:

Compensation 69

Prison Officers 69

Prison Officers: Labour

Turnover 70

Prison Officers: Long Service

Awards 70

Prison Sentences 70

Prisoners: Free School Meals 71

Prisoners: Qualifications 71

Prisons 71

Prisons: Restraint Equipment 72

NORTHERN IRELAND 73

[Subject Heading to be

Assigned] 73

Abortion: Northern Ireland 73

Local Growth Deals and City

Region Deals: Northern

Ireland 74

PRIME MINISTER 74

Members: Surveillance 74

TRANSPORT 75

Abellio Greater Anglia:

Finance 75

Driving Instruction: Electric

Vehicles 75

First TransPennine Express:

Finance 75

Forests 75

Motorways: Accidents 76

Northern: Finance 76

South Western Railway:

Finance 77

UK Trade with EU: Freight 77

TREASURY 77

Financial Services

Ombudsman 77

Funerals: Pre-payment 78

Infrastructure 78

Mineworkers' Pension Scheme 78

Offshore Funds 79

Research Fund for Coal and

Steel 79

UK Trade with EU: Northern

Ireland 80

WALES 80

Foreign Students: Wales 80

WORK AND PENSIONS 80

Universal Credit 80

Universal Credit:

Disqualification 81

Universal Credit: Fraud 81

MINISTERIAL CORRECTIONS 82

HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE 82

NHS and Social Services:

Agency Workers 82

JUSTICE 82

Prisons: Repairs and

Maintenance 82

WRITTEN STATEMENTS 84

BUSINESS, ENERGY AND

INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY 84

People with Significant Control

Post-Implementation Review 84

EDUCATION 85

Education Update 85

INTERNATIONAL TRADE 91

Departmental Update 91

JUSTICE 93

Prisoner Escort and Custody

Services 93

PRIME MINISTER 93

The Grenfell Tower Inquiry:

Publication of its Phase 1

Report 93

Notes:

Questions marked thus [R] indicate that a relevant interest has been declared.

Questions with identification numbers of 900000 or greater indicate that the question was originally tabled as an

oral question and has since been unstarred.

ANSWERS

ATTORNEY GENERAL

Attorney General: Jainism and Zoroastrianism

Gareth Thomas: [3523]

To ask the Attorney General, when representatives of the (a) Jain and (b) Zoroastrian

community were invited to national events organised by his Department in each of the

last two years.

Michael Ellis:

The Jain and Zoroastrian communities of this country have made, and continue to

make a positive contribution to life in the United Kingdom. The Government values

this contribution enormously.

The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has not organised any national events in the

last two years where it has invited representatives of the Jain or Zoroastrian

communities. The AGO is a small and specialised Ministerial Department that does

not commonly organise national events. The AGO will endeavour to invite

representatives of the Jain and Zoroastrian communities to relevant events.

BUSINESS, ENERGY AND INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY

Business: Digital Technology

David Simpson: [3631]

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps

her Department is taking to help businesses expand through the use of digital platforms.

Kelly Tolhurst:

We want the UK to be the best place in the world to start and grow a business.

Government is taking action to support businesses to take advantages of the

opportunities to expand through digital platforms in several ways:

As businesses and consumers increasingly use digital platforms, it is important that

competition works well in these markets. That is why the Government commissioned

Professor Jason Furman to identify how to unlock competition in digital markets. The

Government is considering his proposals and will respond in due course.

Government’s Exporting is GREAT campaign supports UK businesses with free

expert e-commerce export support. DIT’s E-Exporting Programme’s Selling Online

Overseas Tool, that sits on great.gov.uk, is a free to use online service that helps UK

companies identify and sell on global marketplaces.

We are acting to support SMEs to adopt basic digital technology, including using e-

commerce software. For example, we recently announced the third wave of funding

through our Business Basics Programme to test innovative ways of encouraging

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2019-10-22/3523


SMEs to adopt basic technologies. This round of funding will include up to £1m

focusing the adoption of payment technology, including ecommerce technologies.

The Digital Skills Partnership (DSP), announced in the UK Digital Strategy 2017,

aims to improve digital skills across the skills spectrum and the Digital Enterprise

Delivery Group, led by Lloyds Banking Group, is working to increase the digital

capabilities of SMEs. The group is now working with partners on a programme aimed

at increasing efficiency and productivity through greater tech adoption among SMEs.

Disclosure of Information

Martyn Day: [2852]

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent

assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of protections for whistleblowers;

and if she will make a statement.

Kelly Tolhurst:

The Government recognises how valuable it is that whistleblowers are prepared to

shine a light on wrongdoing, and believes that they should be able to do so without

fear of recriminations.

Government has committed to review the UK whistleblowing framework and will carry

this out once sufficient time has passed for there to be the necessary evidence

available to assess the impact of recent reforms.

Loneliness

Vicky Foxcroft: [3777]

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference

to the Government's loneliness strategy, how many employers have committed to the

Campaign to End Loneliness pledge on supporting the social wellbeing of employees.

Kelly Tolhurst:

The Campaign to End Loneliness and BEIS are engaged with a range of

organisations through the Employers Leadership Group and others including the

Federation of Small Businesses, Contact the Elderly and TalkTalk, to draw together

examples of good practice in tackling loneliness. We are working with these

organisations to share good practice and develop advice and guidance which may

help others do more to support the social wellbeing of employees. Thirty employers

have so far signed the Campaign to End Loneliness Pledge.


To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference

to page 39 of the Government's loneliness strategy, what recent discussions she has had

with businesses on how businesses can provide community space outside business

hours.




Kelly Tolhurst:

BEIS continues to work with the Campaign to End Loneliness through the Employer

Leadership Group to identify best practice by employers in tackling loneliness – both

in their own workforce and in the wider community. The group strengthens

cooperation and coordination between Government, business and other groups with

an interest in tackling loneliness. It last met on 23rd July, and will meet again on 7th

November. The intention is to publish examples of good practice by the end of the

year. We expect this to include examples of employers providing community space.

New Businesses: Government Assistance

Bill Esterson: [5002]


she has taken to support (a) women and (b) people from ethnic minorities that want to set

up businesses.

Kelly Tolhurst:

[Holding answer 29 October 2019]: The UK is one of the best places in the world to

start and grow a business. Government is committed to supporting all entrepreneurs,

whatever their background, to have the opportunity to make their business ideas a

reality.

We provide support to all entrepreneurs to set up businesses through our online

services on GOV.UK, the Business Support Helpline, and the network of 38 local

Growth Hubs across England. In 2018, 47% of the Business Support Helpline’s

callers were women.

We have been working closely with HM Treasury and industry to implement the

eight initiatives from the Alison Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship, to tackle

the barriers faced by women when starting and scaling a business. We have set an

ambition to increase the number of female entrepreneurs by half by 2030 –

equivalent to an additional 600,000 female entrepreneurs.

The British Business Bank’s Start-Up Loans Programme provides funding and

intensive support to new entrepreneurs, and has delivered over 67,000 loans,

worth over £534m since it began in 2012 (as at end-September 2019). 40% of Start

Up Loans have gone to women – worth over £198m. 20% of Start Up Loans have

gone to BAME entrepreneurs – worth over £100m.

BEIS has also launched an independent review into Young Entrepreneurship, led by

the Prince’s Trust, that seeks to better understand young entrepreneurs, including

young female and ethnic minority entrepreneurs, the specific barriers and

opportunities they face – such as access to finance, and networks - and what more

can be done to support them to start and grow a business.


Post Offices: Tenbury Wells

Harriett Baldwin: [2882]

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if she will

make representations to Post Office Limited to ensure that Tenbury Wells Post Office is

open for the peak Christmas period; and if she will make a statement.

Kelly Tolhurst:

The Government recognises the critical role that post offices play in communities and

for small businesses across the UK. This is why the Government committed to

safeguard the post office network and protect existing rural services. The overall

number of post offices across the UK remains at its most stable in decades with over

11,500 branches thanks to significant Government investment of over £2 billion since

2010.

While the Government sets the strategic direction for the Post Office, it allows the

company the commercial freedom to deliver this strategy as an independent

business. The opening of the Tenbury Well Post Office is an operational matter for

Post Office Limited. I have therefore asked Nick Read, the Group Chief Executive of

Post Office Limited, to write to the hon Member on this matter. A copy of his reply will

be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Retail Trade

Mr Jim Cunningham: [4920]


her Department is taking to support discussions between local governments and the retail

industry to help ensure a joint approach to draw consumers to the high street.

Kelly Tolhurst:

[Holding answer 29 October 2019]: The Government is committed to helping

communities adapt to market processes and we are taking action to help the high

street evolve. In July 2019, my rt. hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced a £3.6

billion Towns Fund to re-energise local economies so that everyone can share in a

new era of prosperity. This included £1 billion for the Future High Streets Fund, which

will support local areas in England to renew and reshape town centres and high

streets in a way that improves experience, drives growth and ensures future

sustainability.

We are also supporting local leadership with a High Streets Task Force, giving high

streets and town centres expert advice to adapt and thrive. This will provide hands-on

support to local areas to develop data-driven innovative strategies and connect local

areas to relevant experts. The Task Force will also provide training and help to

improve coordination between different groups working to improve their high streets

which includes retailers.

The Government has also established the industry led Retail Sector Council to bring

Government and industry together to boost the sector's productivity and economic



health. The Council has established its six priority workstreams which includes the

Industrial Strategy with a focus on place. The Council has identified high streets as

an important area to be considered on an ongoing basis.

Retail Trade: Employment


To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he

is taking to prevent job losses in the retail industry.

Kelly Tolhurst:

[Holding answer 29 October 2019]: Retail remains a high employment sector –

approximately 3 million jobs in the UK. More people are involved in retailing than in

any other single industry in the country.

There were 84,000 vacancies in the retail sector as of August 2019.

In 2018, Government established the industry led Retail Sector Council to bring

Government and industry together to boost the sector’s productivity and economic

health. The Council has agreed its six priority work areas with four already underway.

These are: Costs to Business, Skills and Lifelong Learning, Industrial Strategy and

Employment workstreams.

As part of wider Government efforts to support adult training, we are also investing

£100m to develop The National Retraining Scheme, which will help prepare adults for

future changes to the economy, including those brought about by automation, and

help them retrain into better jobs. This funding has allowed us to start delivering the

first part of the service, Get Help to Retrain, whilst developing and evaluating as we

build-up the scheme.

We have introduced Get Help to Retrain to 6 areas of England and we will be rolling it

out across England in 2020. The digital service helps adults understand their existing

skills and explore alternative occupations, and training opportunities to develop new

skills.

Social Enterprises



she has taken to promote (a) social enterprise and (b) other alternative forms of business.



she has taken to promote community interest companies as a form of business.



she has taken to encourage people setting up businesses to embed (a) social and (b)

environmental purpose into their business structures.





Kelly Tolhurst:

[Holding answer 29 October 2019]: The Government welcomes the contribution

which social enterprises make to local growth and prosperity in our communities up

and down the country. The UK’s company law framework allows for a variety of

business forms, in part to suit those adopting social or environmental purposes.

We welcome the growth of purposeful businesses and have taken steps to

encourage and enable this trend. The Government encouraged the business-led

development of ‘Purposely’, a tool to help social entrepreneurs embed purpose into

their businesses using the flexibility provided in the Companies Act; it also

established the Inclusive Economy Partnership to harness the power of business as a

force for good in our society; and it has supported the new Impact Investing Institute

to grow social investment.

Community Interest Companies (CICs) are a huge success story. They are delivering

benefits to more and more of our communities right across the UK. CICs have grown

exponentially since 2005. There are now over 17,000 now on the public register.

They are promoted by the Regulator of Community Interest Companies, which is an

independent statutory office holder appointed by my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of

State.

The UK’s corporate governance framework has been updated to promote purpose in

businesses. The UK’s Corporate Governance Code was revised, with effect from 1

January 2019, to promote the importance of having a clear corporate purpose. The

Governance Principles for Large Private Companies developed last year by Sir

James Wates do the same. Company reporting requirements, also introduced this

year, now require companies to report how they have regard to wider societal

interests within the meaning of Section 172 of the Companies Act.

Thomas Cook: Insolvency

Ms Lisa Forbes: [2913]

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to

the Answer of 17 October 2019 to Question 374, how much funding from the public purse

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority received from the package of

support following the collapse of Thomas Cook; and what funding the Government is

providing to support (a) former employees with re-employment and (b) businesses to take

on redundant employees of that company.

Kelly Tolhurst:

The National Taskforce for Thomas Cook will look to ensure existing mechanisms to

offer support and associated governance are working effectively.

Additionally, the Rapid Response Service is helping people find a new job as soon as

possible by offering tailored support, which includes:

• Help with job searches, including CV writing and interview skills.

• Help to identify transferable skills and skills gaps, linked to the local labour market.


• Training to update skills, learn new ones and gain industry recognised certification

that will improve employability.

• Help to overcome barriers to attending training, securing a job or self-employment,

such as childcare costs, tools, work clothes and travel costs.


To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what

assessment she has made of the potential merits of establishing a business growth zone

for Peterborough following the collapse of Thomas Cook.

Kelly Tolhurst:

Government is supporting businesses in Peterborough by continuing to invest in the

Signpost 2 Grow Growth Hub run by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough

Combined Authority.

The Growth Hub is available to help support business growth through signposting

and referring to existing business support provision and to identify gaps in provision

and source suitable alternatives whether free, subsidised or commercially available.

Signpost 2 Grow is a part of the network of 38 Growth Hubs that are local

public/private sector partnerships led by the Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs).

They join up national and local business support, so it is easy for businesses to find

the help they need.

CABINET OFFICE

Brexit: Publicity

Mr Steve Reed: [5447]

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how

much has been spent on the Get ready for Brexit communications campaign as of 25

October 2019.

Ruth Jones: [5478]

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how

much money from the public purse has been spent on (a) posters, (b) billboards, (c)

electronic communication and (d) paper communication advertising the UK leaving the

EU on 31 October 2019.

Chloe Smith:

I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to grouped PQs 290437, 290765 and

290970 on the 30th September 2019.




DIGITAL, CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

National Citizen Service Trust

Chuka Umunna: [R] [3656]

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she

has made of the validity of the decision by the National Citizen Service Trust to withdraw

NCS contracts from The Challenge; and what steps her Department and the Cabinet

Office plan to take to help (a) resolve those issues that The Challenge reportedly raised

with her Department on the National Citizen Service Trust before the withdrawal of its

contracts and (b) maintain NCS (i) jobs and (ii) places.

Nicky Morgan:

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.

Youth Investment Fund


To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the £500

million youth investment fund includes money allocated from her Department's budget.

Matt Warman:

The £500 million Youth Investment Fund announced by the Chancellor on 30th

September, will be additional funding to the DCMS baseline budget from April 2020.

EDUCATION

Children in Care

Helen Hayes: [5468]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many of the looked-after children who

were cared for in a friends and family foster placement were placed there under a section

20 of the Children Act 1989 voluntary agreement in (a) 31 March 2018, (b) 31 March

2017 and (c) March 2016.




Michelle Donelan:

The number of looked-after children in foster placements with a relative or friend who

were placed there under a section 20 of the Children Act 1989 voluntary agreement

in (a) 31 March 2018, (b) 31 March 2017 and (c) March 2016 is shown in the

following table:

CHILDREN LOOKED AFTER IN FOSTER PLACEMENTS WITH RELATIVE OR FRIEND AT 31 MARCH 1

(Years ending 31 March 2016 to 2018)

2016 2017 2018

2,110 1,830 1,560

Holiday Activities and Food Research Fund

Frank Field: [5405]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will extend the Holiday Activities and

Food programme to cover school holidays in 2020.

Nick Gibb:

The Holiday Activities and Food Programme will run again in 2020. The Department

for Education has published an invitation to bid which closes on 13 December 2019.

Further information is available here:

https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/2cd0c5d3-e34f-4040-b0c9-

17188231346b.

Schools: Asbestos

Alex Cunningham: [3700]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2019

to Question 1024, on Schools: Asbestos, if his Department will publish the names of the

schools that were found not to be managing asbestos in line with regulatory

requirements.

Alex Cunningham: [3701]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department has taken to

ensure that all schools participate in the Asbestos Management Assurance Process.

Nick Gibb:

The Asbestos Management Assurance Process (AMAP) was a voluntary data

collection which had an excellent response rate of over 88%. All state-funded schools

and academies in England, and their respective responsible bodies, were expected to




participate and the Department is contacting the schools that did not respond to the

AMAP to ask them to do so.

The AMAP remains open for schools to update their information and the Department

does not intend to publish information provided by individual schools and responsible

bodies. This data was not collected on the basis that school responses would be

published. Doing so would be likely to increase the burdens on school leadership

teams and discourage future participation in data collections, undermining the

Department’s ability to collect information to support schools in the effective

management of asbestos.

The Department published a detailed report on the findings from the AMAP in July

2019. Where the AMAP identified a concern, the Department is continuing to work

with schools and duty holders directly, and with the Health and Safety Executive

(HSE) as a regulator, to offer support. Where appropriate, this might include targeted

inspections by the HSE to ensure they are taking remedial action to address issues in

their asbestos management.

The Department is also sharing guidance written specifically for schools on asbestos

management to support schools and responsible bodies to meet their duties under

the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.

Schools: Buildings


To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to page 11 of the

Government's Loneliness strategy, whether he has issued guidance to schools on using

their grounds as public community spaces.

Nick Gibb:

The Department is developing guidance for schools which will include advice on how

schools can use their premises for community use. This guidance will set out different

types of income generation activities including letting out premises, working with local

businesses, selling goods and services, and applying for grants. The Department

intends to publish this on GOV.UK in due course.

The Department’s aim is to level the playing field between schools in their ability to

generate income and help them build strong community links at the same time.


To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to page 39 of the

Government's strategy for tackling loneliness, what records his Department holds on the

number of schools that allow their premises to be used outside school hours.

Nick Gibb:

The information requested is not held centrally as the Department does not currently

hold data on the number of schools that allow their premises to be used outside

school hours. The Department will collect data on the income generated by schools



letting their premises for the year 2019-20. This data should be available towards the

end of next year.

The Department encourages schools to make the best use of their facilities,

particularly where this creates more opportunities for young people to access a broad

range of activities.

Schools sit at the heart of their community and there are some excellent examples of

this happening. For example, the Deanery CE Academy in Swindon, opened in

September 2019, where community access has been designed in the layout of this

school.

Voluntary Schools: Capital Investment

Mike Kane: [3646]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many applications were made under the

first round of the new voluntary-aided schools capital scheme which closed in February

2019.

Nick Gibb:

The Department received 14 bids in the first round of the voluntary-aided schools

capital scheme; one bid (Runnymede St Edward's Catholic Primary School) was

deemed ineligible and one bid (Archbishop Romero School) subsequently withdrew.

A full list of applicant information can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/voluntary-aided-schools-capital-scheme-

applicant-information/voluntary-aided-schools-applicant-information.

Mike Kane: [3647]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans to announce a second round

of the new voluntary-aided schools capital scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Gibb:

The Department is currently developing the second round of the voluntary-aided

capital scheme and expect to launch it shortly.

ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Agriculture: Northern Ireland


To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what financial

support the Government will provide to farmers in Northern Ireland in the event that the

UK leaves the EU without a deal.

George Eustice:

As a responsible Government, we have been working with our DAERA colleagues to

minimise any disruption to farmers in the event of a no deal.


https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/voluntary-aided-schools-capital-scheme-applicant-information/voluntary-aided-schools-applicant-information





We have made it clear that we will support vulnerable sectors through Government

intervention in a no deal, should this be necessary. We will be monitoring the sectors

which may be exposed to short-term difficulties as a result of Exit closely to identify

early signs of market disturbance, allowing us to intervene swiftly if necessary.

Air Pollution

Sue Hayman: [2747]

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to

the Answer of 8 October to Question 293612, what air quality programmes and

deliverables are included under which headings; and if she will publish the (a) resource

departmental expenditure limit, (b) capital departmental expenditure limit and (c) annually

managed expenditure funding allocated to air quality programmes and deliverables for

2019-20.

Sue Hayman: [2749]


the Answer 8 October to Question 293610, what specific programmes and deliverables to

tackle waste and promote recycling are included under which headings; and if she will

publish the (a) Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit, (b) Capital Departmental

Expenditure Limit and (c) Annually Managed Expenditure funding allocated to each of

those programmes for 2019-20.

Sue Hayman: [2750]


the Answer of 8 October to Question 293609, what (a) programmes and (b) deliverables

were included in the Food, sustainable and competitive farming programme under the

heading Food and Farming; and if she will publish the (i) Resource Departmental

Expenditure Limit, (ii) Capital Departmental Expenditure Limit and (iii) Annually Managed

Expenditure funding allocated to each of those programmes for 2019-20.

George Eustice:

Please see the table below that sets out 2019-20 planned funding and key

deliverables for specific programmes. Negative figures show overall planned savings

(this is where a small adjustment is needed to ensure the budget as a whole

balances at the beginning of the financial year, these savings (negative balances) will

be off-set against a positive budget later in the year when savings/priorities are

identified) or income.




2019-20

PROGRAMME AND KEY

DELIVERABLES SPEND TYPE

SUB-

PROGRAMME

RESOURCE

(£'000)

CAPITAL

(£'000)

Natural environment and

atmosphere improvement

programmes Deliverables: Deliver

commitments in the Nitrogen

Dioxide Air Quality Plan, the wider

Clean Air Strategy and the National

Air Pollution Control Programme to

improve how information on air

quality is provided, including better

access to air quality forecasts and

health advice. Monitor air quality

through the UK’s air quality network

and reduce emissions from

permitted sites through the

Industrial Emissions and Medium

Combustion Plant Directives.

Departmental

Expenditure

Limit

Air Quality &

Industrial

Emissions

86,389 -222

Waste Deliverables: Show

leadership on tackling plastic

pollution, with the aim to clean up

the country and achieve a

substantial reduction in litter. Take

forward measures to reform

Extended Producer Responsibility

for packaging, and ensure

consistent and frequent collections

for household rubbish and

recycling. Implement new

regulations to tackle waste crime,

stop illegal waste activities and

reduce illegal waste sites and

marine plastic pollution through

domestic, regional and global

action.

Departmental

Expenditure

Limit

Waste and

recycling 28,602 10,369

Departmental Future 67,462 0

Food, sustainable and

competitive farming Deliverables:

Making the UK a great place to

start, thrive and grow as a farming

or food and drink business, and

help our businesses to deliver high

quality products to more consumer

markets across the globe.

Continued delivery of the Rural

Development Programme for

England, seeking to improve

environmental quality, support farm

productivity improvements and

drive rural economic growth. This

programme of work is underpinned

by science and evidence which

delivers tactical, strategic and

applied R&D, statistical and

economic analysis and behavioural

insights.

Expenditure

Limit

farming and

land use

Food chain

programme 17,030 4,490

Beverage Containers: Recycling

Sandy Martin: [3806]

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she

has made of the potential annual (a) costs and (b) savings accruing to local authority

finances of a deposit return scheme.

Rebecca Pow:

The introduction of a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) is expected to increase recycling

and reduce littering of the drinks containers in-scope. The greenhouse gas emissions

reduction associated with this is 2.9 metric tonnes of CO2e over the ten-year

appraisal period. The Net Present Value of a DRS for drinks containers is estimated

in the initial impact assessment to be more than £2 billion over the appraisal period

for the ‘all-in’ option, and £250 million for the ‘on-the-go’ option. We will continue to

refine our analysis of the costs and benefits as we receive more evidence and

develop further policy options.

Sandy Martin: [3810]

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment

she had made of the implications for her policies of the Impact Assessment entitled,

Introducing a Deposit Return Scheme on beverage containers, published on 15 February

2019.



Rebecca Pow:

We published an impact assessment that detailed the costs and savings to local

authority finances, including possible reduction in litter cleaning costs and loss of

material revenues. However, under the reformed packaging producer responsibility

system, packaging producers will be responsible for the costs of dealing with the

packaging waste they produce, so the identified kerbside costs and benefits are

expected to fall to packaging producers, rather than placing a burden on local

authorities.

The Government has also committed to funding any additional net costs that the new

policies will bring to local authorities.

We will continue to refine our analysis of the costs and benefits as we receive more

evidence and as we develop further policy options.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Jainism and Zoroastrianism

Gareth Thomas: [3525]

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when

representatives of the (a) Jain and (b) Zoroastrian community were invited to national

events organised by his Department in each of the last two years.

George Eustice:

Ministers have attended a number of key events coordinated by Jain and Zoroastrian

organisations, and officials have invited representatives from both communities to

participate in roundtable discussions where relevant issues are discussed.

The Jain and Zoroastrian communities of this country have made and continue to

make a positive contribution to life in the UK. The Government values this

contribution enormously.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Living Wage

Matthew Pennycook: [R] [4416]

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff in

her Department are paid less than the London Living Wage; and what requirements her

Department places on contractors to pay the London Living Wage to London-based staff.

George Eustice:

This Government is committed to paying people a decent living wage, which is being

addressed through the statutory National Living Wage (NLW). In April 2019, the NLW

increased to £8.21 per hour, handing a full-time worker a further £690 annual pay

rise. By 2024 the NLW will rise to £10.50 per hour, reaching 66% of median UK

earnings. The scope will be expanded to everyone aged 21 and over and is expected

to benefit over 4 million low paid workers.

There are 85 staff in core-Defra, based in the National pay region, paid less than the

London Living Wage (LLW) rate of £10.55 per hour, as set out by the Living Wage

Foundation (LWF).



There are less than 5 staff based in the London pay region paid less than the LLW.

There will be no staff based in the London pay region paid less than the LLW once

the 2019 Defra pay award (effective from 1 July 2019) has been implemented. This is

expected to be in November pay.

The Government will always award contracts on the basis of the best value for money

for the taxpayer.

The service providers contracted to carry out third party cleaning contracts for Defra

managed buildings, including those of our executive agencies, are provided through

an outsourced Total Facilities Management contract with Interserve FM. The contract

requires Interserve FM to pay all employees the living wage as defined by the LWF.

The Facilities Management supplier holds information on the rate of remuneration of

its staff. Members of the LWF pay the voluntary real living wage, which is higher than

the statutory rate and includes a higher rate for London based staff.

The LWF rates (published online) can be found on the link below:

https://www.livingwage.org.uk/

Dogs

Angela Smith: [5416]

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she make an

assessment of the potential merits of (a) updating and (b) consolidating the regulations

on dog control.

Zac Goldsmith:

The Government considers that the powers and measures contained within

dangerous dog legislation allow enforcers such as police and local authorities to take

the necessary action in order to prevent and tackle incidents of dangerous dogs.

Local initiatives such as Local Environmental Awareness on Dogs (LEAD) can also

be adopted in areas where police, local authorities and other interested parties can

come together to promote responsible dog ownership.

In addition, early intervention measures such as Community Protection Notices can

be issued by local authority officers or police to anyone causing low level anti-social

behaviour involving a dog.

The Government last reviewed the law on dangerous dogs in 2014 and made a

number of changes. The changes included extending the scope of the offence of

allowing a dog to be dangerously out of control from public places to all places;

increasing the maximum penalties for allowing a dog to be dangerously out of control;

when a dog causes injury or death and when a dog attacks an assistance dog.

The Government realises the importance of quality research to help inform its policy,

and in November 2018 Defra commissioned further research in collaboration with

Middlesex University to look at responsible ownership across all breeds of dog. The

research will consider different approaches and the effectiveness of current dog

control measures. The research will also seek to identify and examine the factors and




situations that may cause dog attacks and how to promote responsible dog

ownership.

Environment Protection: Finance

Sue Hayman: [2752]


the Answer of 8 October 2019 to Questions 292921 and 292922, what specific

programmes, projects and deliverables are covered by (a) Arms Length Bodies

Partnership And Public Appointments, (b) Natural Environment Policy Director & Support,

(c) Air Quality & Industrial Emissions, (d) Nature Improvement Programme, (e)

Environment Quality Portfolio Office, (f) EU Environment, (g) Environment Quality

Commercial, (h) Climate, Noise, Data & Information, (i) Water, Flood, Chemical,

Biological, Radiological And Nuclear Emergencies, (j) Wildlife, International, Climate And

Forestry Programme and (k) Wildlife International, Climate And Forestry; and if she will

publish the (i) Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit, (ii) Capital Departmental

Expenditure Limit and (iii) Annually Managed Expenditure funding allocated to each of

those programmes, projects and deliverables for 2019-20 with the gross and net

spending and the source of any planned income.

George Eustice:

Please see the table below that sets out 2019-20 planned funding and key

deliverables for specific programmes. Negative figures show overall planned savings

(this is where a small adjustment is needed to ensure the budget as a whole

balances at the beginning of the financial year, these savings (negative balances) will

be off-set against a positive budget later in the year when savings/priorities are

identified) or income.

PROGRAMME AND

KEY DELIVERABLES SPEND TYPE SUB-PROGRAMME

SPEND

CATEGORY

RESOURCE

(£'000)

CAPITAL

(£'000)

Arms Length

Bodies Partnership

And Public

Appointments

Deliverables: This

covers 3 of Defra’s

arms length bodies

as follows: SFIA is a

non-departmental

public body that

supports the sea

food industry.

CEFAS is an

executive agency of

Defra. It leads in

Annually

Managed

Expenditure

Limit

Sea Fish Industry

Authority (SFIA)

Expenditure 10,776 0

Income -10,715 0

Departmental

Expenditure

Limit

Centre for

Environment,

fisheries and

aquaculture

science (CEFAS)

Expenditure 44,776 2,372

Income -30,400 0

Marine

Management

Organisation

(MMO)


Income -7,265 0


marine science and

technology,

providing innovative

solutions for the

aquatic

environment,

biodiversity and food

security. MMO is a

non-departmental

public body that

licences, regulates

and plans marine

activities in the seas

around the UK so

that they are carried

out in a sustainable

way.

Natural

Environment

Policy Director &

Support

Deliverables: This

budget covers the

running costs of the

Natural Environment

Directorates

Portfolio Office,

managing and

assisting the

delivery of all the

Natural Environment

directorates

objectives and

projects. It also

includes budget to

cover the costs of a

closed pension

scheme and funding

that goes to Joint

Nature Conservation

Committee (JNCC).

Annually

Managed

Expenditure

Limit

Natural

Environment

Policy Directors

Office

Expenditure -465 0

Departmental

Expenditure

Limit

Natural

Environment

Policy Directors

Office

Expenditure 3,351 0

Income -1,869 0

Air Quality &

Industrial

Departmental

Expenditure

Air Quality &

Industrial Expenditure 9,276 -222

Emissions

Deliverables: Deliver

commitments in the

Nitrogen Dioxide Air

Quality Plan, the

wider Clean Air

Strategy and the

National Air

Pollution Control

Programme to

improve how

information on air

quality is provided,

including better

access to air quality

forecasts and health

advice. Monitor air

quality through the

UK’s air quality

network and reduce

emissions from

permitted sites

through the

Industrial Emissions

and Medium

Combustion Plant

Directives.

Limit Emissions

Air Quality Expenditure 77,113 0

Nature

Improvement

Programme

Deliverables:

Supports the

Environment 25

year plan which sets

out how we will

improve the

environment over a

generation – by

creating richer

habitats for wildlife,

improving air and

water quality, and

curbing the scourge

Departmental

Expenditure

Limit

Environment

analysis unit Expenditure 3,141 1,653

Environment 25

year plan Expenditure 1,394 0

of plastic in the

world’s oceans.

Environment

Quality (EQ)

Portfolio Office

Deliverables: A

central resource of

programme

management, day to

day finance

management and

administrative

expertise to the

directorate. The

team will typically

manage all EQ-wide

commissions,

particularly, those

from the Defra

Corporate centre,

including reporting

and business

planning. Alongside

this it will provide

assistance with

recruitment

processes, including

leading and

managing EQ-wide

exercises. The team

can also provide

guidance and best

practice on carrying

out programme and

project activities

Departmental

Expenditure

Limit

EQ Portfolio

Office Expenditure 840 0

EU Environment

Deliverables:

Effective

management of

chemicals and

pesticides to

safeguard people

and the environment

Departmental

Expenditure

Limit

EU Environment Expenditure 5,980 509

Environment

Quality

Commercial

Deliverables: The

Waste PFI project,

Local Partnerships

Grants and

contracts.

Departmental

Expenditure

Limit

Flood & Water

Commercial

Policy


Income -2,030 0

Climate, Noise,

Data & Information

Deliverables: This is

now included under

the climate change

element of Wildlife,

International,

Climate and

Forestry

Programme. The

deliverables are

explained in this

section below.

Departmental

Expenditure

Limit

Climate Change Expenditure -846 0

Water, Flood,

Chemical,

Biological,

Radiological and

Nuclear

Emergencies

Deliverables: This

covers, the UK’s

preparedness to

emergencies

pertaining to

Chemical,

Biological,

Radiological and

Nuclear; Flood and

Water emergencies;

Better flood

forecasting

Departmental

Expenditure

Limit

Water and

Chemical,

Biological,

Radiological and

Nuclear and

Emergencies

Expenditure 3,122 0

Frontline Line

Service -

Government

Decontamination

Service

Expenditure 1,366 0

Wildlife,

International,

Climate and

Annually

Managed

Expenditure

Wildlife Expenditure -500

Forestry

Programme

Deliverables:

Encourage thriving

plants and wildlife

Work internationally

to halt biodiversity

loss, including

driving global action

on the Illegal Wildlife

Trade, as a Party to

the Convention on

Biological Diversity

and the Dasgupta

Review of the

Economics of

Biodiversity. Fully

implement the Ivory

Act, bringing into

force the UK ban on

ivory sales. Develop

a Nature Recovery

Network including

creation or

restoration of

500,000 hectares of

wildlife rich habitat

as part of the new

Nature Strategy.

Protect, improve

and expand

England’s

woodlands,

including planting 11

million trees this

Parliament and

keeping the public

forest estate in trust

for the nation. Use

resources from

nature more

sustainably and

efficiently Publish

the English Tree

Limit

Departmental

Expenditure

Limit

Climate &

Forestry Expenditure 2,626 3,368

Frontline Line

Service – Official

development

assistance

Expenditure 42,770 35,370

International

Biodiversity and

Environment

Expenditure 844 0

International

Strategy Expenditure 3,374 0

Wildlife Expenditure 5,528 0

Wildlife

International

Climate and

Forestry Directors

Office

Expenditure -1,752 0

Strategy to set out

how we intend to

use a natural capital

approach to rural

and urban forestry

to maximise the

biodiversity, water,

climate, noise and

other benefits trees

can provide.

Mitigate and adapt

to climate change

Deliver statutory

climate adaptation

obligations under

UK Climate Change

Act and drive

delivery of the

National Adaptation

Plan to strengthen

resilience to climate

change.

European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development

Gillian Keegan: [3805]

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to

approve the final national call for applications to the European Agricultural Fund for Rural

Development; and whether she has made an assessment of the trends in the time it

takes for applications to be assessed and approved by her Department and the Rural

Payments Agency.

George Eustice:

My department is aiming to open a new round of national-level Rural Development

Programme for England (RDPE) Growth Programme calls for business development,

food processing and tourism infrastructure projects in early November. This will

enable all stages of the project application and assessment process to be completed

in time for funding to be awarded, in line with the Government’s guarantee to honour

all funding commitments signed by the end December 2020.


Horse Racing: Animal Welfare

Caroline Lucas: [3670]

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent

comparative assessment she has made of the number of racehorse fatalities (a) in the

first nine months of 2019 and (b) in the same period in 2018; what assessment she has

made of the effectiveness of the British Horseracing Authority in reducing annual levels of

racehorse fatalities; and with reference to the Answer of 16 April 2019 to Question

242198 on Horse Racing: Animal Welfare, what recent discussions officials in her

Department have had with the British Horseracing Authority.

Zac Goldsmith:

The official annual statistics on fatality rates are published on the British Horseracing

Authority (BHA) website, in an approach endorsed by the Environment, Food and

Rural Affairs Select Committee. We would expect the fatality rates for 2019 to be

published by BHA in the New Year. Officials regularly meet with a wide range of

stakeholders, including the BHA.

Caroline Lucas: [3671]

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it

her policy to set up new independent welfare body to protect race horses from abuse.

Zac Goldsmith:

The Horse Welfare Board (HWB) was formed in March 2019 and is currently

developing a comprehensive equine welfare strategy, covering the whole life of the

racehorse, which will be published in the coming months. The Government will stay in

regular contact with the industry and the new HWB. We will continue to press them

for improvements in racehorse welfare and a reduction in the number of fatalities.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE

British Indian Ocean Territory: Sovereignty

Daniel Kawczynski: [3686]

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment

his Department has made of the legal implications of the UN resolution on the future of

the Chagos Islands.


To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is

taking to meet the six-month deadline set by the UN resolution on the future of the

Chagos Islands.

Christopher Pincher:

The UN General Assembly (GA) resolution relates to an Advisory Opinion issued by

the International Court of Justice (ICJ) concerning the British Indian Ocean Territory

(BIOT). Neither the ICJ Advisory Opinion nor the UN GA resolution are legally





binding. Mauritius has never held sovereignty over BIOT and we do not recognise its

claim. We have, however, made a long-standing commitment to cede sovereignty of

the territory to Mauritius when it is no longer required for defence purposes. The

British Government remains concerned that the referral to the ICJ contravened the

principle that the Court should not consider bilateral disputes without the consent of

both States concerned. It is notable in this context that in the UN GA, nearly 80

member states did not vote in favour of the resolution. The Government has

considered the content of the Opinion carefully, however we do not share the Court’s

approach. Any action in the UN GA that seeks to cut across a bilateral dispute by

specifying how or when a non-binding Advisory Opinion might be implemented

should be of concern to all Member States.


To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he plans to

hold discussions with his Mauritian counterpart on proposals for co-management of the

British Indian Ocean Territory.


We have no doubt about our sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory,

which has been under continuous British sovereignty since 1814. The United

Kingdom remains committed to implementing the UN Convention on the Law of the

Sea Arbitral Award of 2015. In line with the Award we will continue to approach

discussions with Mauritius with an open mind about the best way to meet our

obligations under the Award and to ensure proper conservation management of this

unique marine environment.


To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the

Government’s policy is on claims the Maldives have made on the seabed around the

British Indian Ocean Territory.


We have no doubt about our sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory,

which has been under continuous British sovereignty since 1814. As communicated

to the UN Secretary-General at the time the Government considers that the

submission of the Republic of the Maldives to the Commission on the Limits of the

Continental Shelf of 28 July 2010 does not take into full account the 200 nautical mile

Fisheries and Environment Zones of the British Indian Ocean Territory, both of which

themselves respect boundaries agreed with the Maldives at a technical level. The

United Kingdom is fully committed to formalising these boundaries with the Maldives

at the earliest opportunity.



British Nationals Abroad: Homicide


To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is

taking to ensure that families whose loved ones are murdered abroad have access to

interpreter and translation services.

Andrew Stephenson:

In cases where an interpreter or translator is needed families are provided with a list

of translators that are compiled by our British embassies, high commissions and

consulates abroad. Although we are unable to recommend translators our aim is to

provide British nationals with relevant information to make informed decisions. This

list is also published on the GOV.UK website.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) provides funding to the Victim Support

National Homicide Service who can also help families with translation of key

documents where a murder or manslaughter occurred.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Private Education

Stephanie Peacock: [1130]

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much his

Department spent from the Continuity of Education Allowance on placements at (a) Eton,

(b) Charterhouse, (c) Harrow, (d) Rugby, (e) Shrewsbury, (f) Westminster, (g)

Winchester, (h) St Paul's and (i) Merchant Taylors schools in the last financial year for

which data is available.


[Holding answer 21 October 2019]: Members of the diplomatic service are expected

to be widely deployable throughout their career. Whilst many parents prefer to take

their children with them abroad, in some of the 168 countries and territories where the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has UK-based staff, we do not permit staff

to take their children either for health or security reasons. However, frequent moves

by staff and families between the United Kingdom and overseas, and between Posts

overseas, can be disruptive to the education of the children. Therefore, the FCO

provides Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA). This enables staff who meet

certain eligibility criteria to choose to provide an uninterrupted education for their

children at a British boarding school in the United Kingdom while they continue to

take up postings overseas at regular intervals during their career. CEA is a long-

standing FCO policy dating back in its current form to 1996 that provides clearly

defined and limited financial support to staff to help maintain the continuity of their

children's education.The FCO refunds standard term fees up to a ceiling which is

reviewed annually. Where staff opt to send their children to more expensive schools,

the difference in cost is met by the individual member of staff.

The figures below represent the data for financial year 2018/19. For context, we have

set out the FCO's total spend on education for children of staff posted overseas in PQ

752.



SCHOOL CEA COSTS

Eton

£295,440.00

Charterhouse

£97,428.00

Harrow

Rugby

£119, 233.00

Shrewsbury

Westminster

£78,651.00

Winchester

£163,345.00

St Pauls

Merchant Taylors


To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the cost to the

public purse was of continuity of education allowances for placements at (a) Fettes (b)

Gordonstoun (c) Marlborough (d) King's Canterbury (e) Cheltenham (f) Tonbridge (g)

Stowe (h) Benenden (i) Ampleforth and (j) Clifton private schools and colleges in 2018-

19; how many there were at each school and college in that year; and what the (i) civil

service grade and (ii) diplomatic service title was of each claimant.






to take their children either for health or security reasons, and frequent moves by staff

and families between the UK and overseas, and between Posts overseas, can be

disruptive to the education of the children. Therefore, the FCO provides Continuity of

Education Allowance (CEA). This enables staff who meet certain eligibility criteria to

choose to provide an uninterrupted education for their children at a British boarding

school in the United Kingdom while they continue to take up postings overseas at

regular intervals during their career. CEA is a long-standing FCO policy dating back

in its current form to 1996 that provides clearly defined and limited financial support to

staff to help maintain the continuity of their children's education. The FCO refunds

standard term fees up to a ceiling which is reviewed annually. Where staff opt to send

their children to more expensive schools, the difference in cost is met by the

individual member of staff.


The figures below represent the data for financial year 2018/19. We are unable to

provide the diplomatic service title for each claimant in order to protect their identity.

For context, we have set out the FCO's total spend on education for children of staff

posted overseas in PQ 752

NUMBER

OF

OFFICERS

PER

GRADE

School Number

of

children

A2 B3 C4 C5 D6 D7 SMS Total

costs

Ampleforth 4

1*

2 129,081

Fettes 3

1

1

1 97,949

Gordonstoun 5

3

1* 152,656

Marlborough 2

1 1 64,952

Kings

Canterbury

4

1*

2 123,642

Cheltenham 2

1

1 56,241

Tonbridge 2

1* 64,952

Stowe 6

1 1 1 1 1 1 195,101

Benendon 3

1

1 1 97,428

Clifton 0

0.00

TOTAL 31 0 4 5 2 4 3 13 982,002

*officer has 2 children at the school


To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many

diplomatic staff claimed Continuity of Education Allowance in 2018-19 for UK-based

private school fees; how many of the claimants were at each pay grade; and what

contribution his Department asked claimants to make towards those fees.







to take their children either for health or security reasons, and frequent moves by staff

and families between the UK and overseas, and between Posts overseas, can be

disruptive to the education of the children. Therefore, the FCO provides Continuity of

Education Allowance (CEA). This enables staff who meet certain eligibility criteria to

choose to provide an uninterrupted education for their children at a British boarding

school in the UK while they continue to take up postings overseas at regular intervals

during their career. CEA is a long-standing FCO policy dating back in its current form

to 1996 that provides clearly defined and limited financial support to staff to help

maintain the continuity of their children's education.

The FCO refunds standard term fees up to a ceiling which is reviewed annually.

Where staff opt to send their children to more expensive schools, the difference in

cost is met by the individual member of staff.

The figures below represent the data for financial year 2018/19. For context, we have

set out the FCO's total spend on education for children of staff posted overseas in PQ

752.

GRADE

OF

OFFICERS

A2 B3 C4 C5 D6 D7 SMS1 SMS2 SMS3 Total

Number

of

Officers

claiming

CEA by

Grade

5 26 46 46 60 42 62 36 15 338

India: Pakistan

John Spellar: [3538]

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he will

raise the deteriorating military and security situation on the India Pakistan border at the

next meeting of the UN Security Council.

Mrs Heather Wheeler:

The longstanding position of the UK is that it is for India and Pakistan to find a lasting

political resolution on Kashmir bilaterally, taking into account the wishes of the

Kashmiri people. We encourage India and Pakistan to engage in dialogue and find

lasting, diplomatic solutions to maintain regional stability, but it is not for the UK to

prescribe a solution or act as a mediator.


USA: Diplomatic Service

Keith Vaz: [6199]

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he will

announce the name of the successor to Sir Kim Darroch as British Ambassador to the

USA.


A new appointment will be made in due course. The United Kingdom has a strong

relationship with the US which is based on many decades of close cooperation and

partnership, and that will remain the case.

HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE

Air Pollution

Peter Aldous: [3696]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is

taking to ensure that local authorities have access to adequate data on air pollution and

its associated health risks in order to make informed policy decisions.

Jo Churchill:

In the Government’s Clean Air Strategy, the Department for Environment, Food and

Rural Affairs committed to making local and national monitoring data accessible from

a single location to help local authorities make informed policy decisions. These data

can be viewed at the following link:

https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs also provides calculation

tools to support local authorities in their monitoring and modelling efforts at the

following link:

https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/networks/find-

sites?site_name=&pollutant=9999&group_id=9999&country_id=9999&region_id=999

9&location_type=9999&search=Search+Network&view=advanced&action=results

Blood Cancer: Medical Treatments

Henry Smith: [900212]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans the Government has

to ensure that GPs follow NICE guidance on blood cancer.

Jo Churchill:

[Holding answer 29 October 2019]: The National Institute for Health and Care

Excellence’s (NICE) clinical guidelines help healthcare professionals deliver the best

possible care based on the best available evidence. The guidelines are not





https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/networks/find-sites?site_name=&pollutant=9999&group_id=9999&country_id=9999&region_id=9999&location_type=9999&search=Search+Network&view=advanced&action=results





mandatory, although healthcare professionals are expected to take them fully into

account

NICE’s updated referral guidelines for suspected cancer published in June 2015

could save about 5,000 lives a year, with general practitioners urged to think of

cancer sooner and to lower the referral threshold for tests.

Care Homes

Sir Graham Brady: [4274]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of

the number of residential places in therapeutic communities available in each (a) clinical

commissioning group and (b) local authority area; and what the average waiting time is

for those places in each area.

Ms Nadine Dorries:

The information requested is not collected centrally.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Faisal Rashid: [3828]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to (a)

update GP guidance and (b) increase GP awareness of the symptoms of chronic fatigue

syndrome.

Caroline Dinenage:

General practice is where most patients with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic

encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) are likely to be managed, and the condition is identified

as a key area of clinical knowledge in the Royal College of General Practitioners

(RCGP) Applied Knowledge Test (AKT) content guide. The AKT is a summative

assessment of the knowledge base that underpins general practice in the United

Kingdom within the context of the National Health Service and is a key part of GPs’

qualifying exams.

In 2007, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published the

clinical guideline, ‘Chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (or

encephalopathy): Diagnosis and management of CFS/ME in adults and children. This

sets out best practice in the diagnosis, treatment, care and support of people with the

condition

Dental Services: Finance

Julian Sturdy: [3637]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what share of new funding

under the NHS Long Term Plan is being assigned to increasing the capacity of NHS

dental services.





To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of new funding

under the NHS Long Term Plan he plans to allocate to NHS dental services in the Vale of

York.

Jo Churchill:

The NHS Long Term Plan published on 7 January 2019, set out a 10-year strategy

for the National Health Service. It sets out how the NHS will spend the £33.9 billion

cash terms annual increase going into the NHS budget by 2023/24.

It is for NHS England and NHS Improvement to make decisions about how to

prioritise the how they meet the Long Term Plans commitments on dentistry from

within the total settlement.

Over the NHS Long Term Plan period, to 2023/24, NHS England and NHS

Improvement’s commissioning allocations for dental services are planned to increase

to cover population growth, increasing demand for services and inflationary cost

pressures.

NHS England and NHS Improvement are working closely with the Department to

introduce a new NHS dental contract that will focus on achieving good oral health and

increasing access to NHS dentistry, with a particular focus on improving the oral

health of children, which are all key deliverables of the Long Term Plan.

Derriford Hospital Plymouth: Repairs and Maintenance

Luke Pollard: [4399]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding has been

allocated from the public purse to the rebuilding of Derriford Hospital, Plymouth.

Edward Argar:

As announced on 30 September £100 million of seed funding has been made

available to support 21 major projects covering 34 hospitals, to commence their

development of schemes to be delivered in a second phase of major hospital rebuilds

(HIP2), one of which is the Derriford Hospital scheme.

This £100 million of seed funding will be provided as capital and will mainly be for

enabling project teams, specialist advisers and site surveys.

The funding will be drawn by providers in line with need up to 1% of the estimated

capital value of each HIP2 scheme. Funding will be allocated following visits to the

scheme by NHS England and NHS Improvement to discuss their proposals and how

they can be helped to develop. Then Trusts will be required to provide a breakdown

of what seed funding will be spent on and how that will accelerate the project

development.

The budget has been received for 2020-21 and 2021-22 financial years, but funding

could be available in the current financial year if there is an immediate and strong

case.



Seed funding will not constitute approval of the scheme as a whole as that will be

subject to further development and subject to the usual business case approvals

process, including demonstrating affordability and value for money.

General Practitioners: Postnatal Care

Fiona Bruce: [5429]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made

of the medical effectiveness of post-natal physical and mental health checks for new

mothers, carried out by GPs.

Ms Nadine Dorries:

Post-natal care can be delivered by a number of different providers, including

midwives, health visitors and general practitioners (GPs). Commissioners and

providers should ensure that women are offered a review of their physical, emotional

and social wellbeing by a healthcare professional at the end of the postnatal period

(between 6-8 weeks).

NHS England and NHS Improvement expects commissioners and providers of

maternity care to pay due regard to the National Institute for Health and Care

Excellence (NICE) guidelines. NICE guidance on ‘Postnatal care up to 8 weeks after

birth’ states that at each postnatal contact, women should be asked about their

emotional wellbeing, what family and social support they have and their usual coping

strategies for dealing with day-to-day matters. At the end of the postnatal period, the

coordinating healthcare professional should ensure that the woman’s physical,

emotional and social wellbeing is reviewed. NHS England and NHS Improvement

have been reviewing the available evidence to establish a clearer picture of current

practice in this area. NHS England has been working with the National Childbirth

Trust on developing the evidence base, and we are following this important work

closely.

Fiona Bruce: [5430]


of the potential merits of including maternal post-natal mental health checks in the next

GP contract.

Jo Churchill:

The potential for a six-week post-natal maternal health check for all mothers is the

subject of further work by NHS England and NHS Improvement.

Decisions on changes to the general practitioner (GP) contract for 2020/21 will be

made following negotiations between NHS England and the British Medical

Association (BMA). NHS England will soon start formal negotiations with the General

Practitioner Committee of the BMA on the 2020/21 GP contract.

Support from health visitors and other professionals at the universal 6-8 week review

is an important time for assessing the health and wellbeing of new parents,

particularly in looking for signs of postnatal depression.



General Practitioners: Standards

Mr Stephen Hepburn: [3575]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time

was for a patient to see a GP in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) Tyne

and Wear, (d) the North East and (e) England in each year since 2010.

Jo Churchill:

Data on appointments in general practice have only been available since November

2017. The most recent data on the time between booking an appointment with a

general practice and having the appointment (in days) for South Tyneside Clinical

Commissioning Group (CCG), NHS England North East and Yorkshire (Cumbria and

North East) Regional Local Office, and England are presented in the table below as

the average over the 12 months from September 2018 to August 2019. NHS Digital is

unable to provide data for all the geographical areas requested as the data is

collected at CCG level, but has provided data for three included in the table.

The data is taken from the NHS Digital publication ‘Appointments in General

Practice’. This is a new experimental data collection which is still being refined and

improved.

It should be noted that the ‘time from booking to appointment’ refers only to the time

elapsed between the successful booking of an appointment and the appointment

actually taking place. The data does not take into consideration that many patients

will be appropriately booking ahead as part of the continuity of care they receive for

long-term conditions.

SOUTH TYNESIDE CCG

NHS ENGLAND NORTH

EAST AND YORKSHIRE

(CUMBRIA AND NORTH

EAST) REGIONAL LOCAL

OFFICE ENGLAND

Distribution of average time elapsed between booking an appointment

and the appointment taking place, September 2018 to August 2019.

(Numbers may not add to 100% due to rounding.)

Same Day 38% 40% 42%

1 Day 9% 7% 7%

2 to 7 Days 25% 21% 20%

8 to 14 Days 13% 14% 14%

15 to 21 Days 6% 7% 8%

22 to 28 Days 4% 5% 5%

More than 28 Days 3% 5% 5%


SOUTH TYNESIDE CCG

NHS ENGLAND NORTH

EAST AND YORKSHIRE

(CUMBRIA AND NORTH

EAST) REGIONAL LOCAL

OFFICE ENGLAND

Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

Notes

1. There are several factors that drive the time from a booking to an appointment. This

includes appointment availability at the practice, patient availability, the urgency of

the appointment and general practitioner (GP) advice.

2. The data does not differentiate between emergency and routine appointments in

general practice.

3. The data does not include any information about the patients or clinical information

4. The data in the response includes appointments with all healthcare professional

types, including GPs and other practice staff.

5. Not all practices in England are included in the appointments in general practice

publication, meaning the total number of appointments is not known.

6. Same day and next day bookings are of particular interest so are presented here

separately. Further bookings are presented grouped by weeks.

7. The number of appointments that have already happened is provided as recorded

in participating practices in England. The data presented only contains information

which was captured on the GP practice systems. This limits the activity reported on

and does not represent all work happening within a primary care setting.

General Practitioners: Tyne and Wear


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many practising GPs there

were in (a) Jarrow constituency and (b) South Tyneside in each year since 2010.

Jo Churchill:

The number of headcount general practitioners (excluding locums), working in

general practice for each year since September 2015 is available in the following

table. General practitioner (GP) locums are excluded as improvements have been

made to GP locum recording methodology and figures are not comparable prior to

December 2017. Current data is not comparable to 2010. As such, September 2015-

18 data has been provided. Figures are not available for Jarrow constituency.


SOUTH TYNESIDE CLINICAL COMMISSIONING

GROUP HEADCOUNT GPS (EXCLUDING LOCUMS)

September 2015 106

September 2016 104

September 2017 99

September 2018 99

Notes:

1. Data as at 30 September 2015-2018.

2. Figures shown do not include GPs working in prisons, army bases, educational

establishments, specialist care centres including drug rehabilitation centres and

walk-in centres.

3. Figures contain estimates for practices that did not provide fully valid General

Medical Practice staff records.

4. Headcount totals are unlikely to equal the sum of the components. Further

information on the headcount methodology is available in the General Practice

Workforce publication.

5. The figures for GPs excluding Locums as this data is not comparable across the

time series.

6. Data must be compared from the same time point in the year, therefore September

2018 data is provided to allow comparison the earliest available data. Data covering

30 September 2019 will be published on 28 November 2019 and is available at the

following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/general-and-

personal-medical-services

1. Data collected and published prior to September 2015 is not comparable due to a

change in data collection methodology.

2. “-” denotes zero, “0” denotes greater than 0, less than 0.5, “..” denotes not

applicable.

3. Source – NHS Digital

Genito-urinary Medicine

Robert Halfon: [3778]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will (a) introduce a national

sexual health strategy to tackle increases in the levels of sexually transmitted infections

(STIs) and (b) allocate funding to testing for all STIs in sexual health clinics in England.

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/general-and-personal-medical-services




Jo Churchill:

We have made excellent progress in some aspects of sexual and reproductive

health, for example reducing new HIV infections and teenage pregnancy, but we are

concerned about the worrying increases in some sexually transmitted infections. To

address this, we announced on 24 October a new sexual health strategy to ensure

that people know how to protect themselves, and can access the services they need

for good sexual and reproductive health.

The Government provides funding to local authorities for public health services,

including sexual health services, through the ringfenced public health grant. It is for

local authorities to determine how the public health grant is allocated in their local

areas to meet their needs. Sexual health service providers should ensure

commissioned services are in line with current national guidance, standards of

training and care and quality indicators.

Health Professions: Hampshire

Mr Damian Hinds: [3720]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answers

of 9 September 2019 to Question 286692 and 4 October 2019 to Question 290772 on

Health Professions: Hampshire, what estimate he has made of the number of FTE (a)

general practitioners, (b) other doctors and (c) nurses employed by the NHS in (i)

Hampshire and the Isle of Wight STP area, (ii) Fareham and Gosport CCG, (iii) North

East Hampshire and Farnham CCG, (iv) North Hampshire CCG, (v) Portsmouth CCG, (vi)

South Eastern Hampshire CCG, (vii) Southampton City CCG and (viii) West Hampshire

CCG in (A) 2010 and (B) the most recent year for which figures are available.


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, To ask the Secretary of State

for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answers of 9 September 2019 to

Question 286692 and 4 October 2019 to Question 290772 on Health Professions:

Hampshire, what estimate he has made of the number of FTE (a) doctors (b) nurses and

(c) other staff employed by the NHS in (i) Hampshire and the Isle of Wight STP area, (ii)

Frimley Park Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, (iii) Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation

Trust, (iv) Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust, (v) Solent NHS Trust, (vi) South Central

Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, (vii) Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust

and (viii) University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust in (A) 2010 and (B) the

most recent year for which figures are available.

Edward Argar:

NHS Digital publishes Hospital and Community Health Services workforce statistics

for England. These include staff working in hospital trusts and clinical commissioning

groups, but not staff working in primary care, local authorities or other providers.

The data requested is attached.

Attachments:

1. PQ3720 and 721 table [PQ3720 and 3721 formatted.xlsx]



Health Services: Tyne and Wear


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is

taking to ensure the adequacy of funding for NHS services in (a) Jarrow constituency and

(b) South Tyneside.


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding has been

allocated from the public purse for NHS services in South Tyneside in each year since

2010.

Edward Argar:

Clinical commissioning group (CCG) allocations for South Tyneside CCG, which

covers Jarrow, are shown in the attached table. The CCG is expected to receive

more than the England average per head per year in every year from 2019/20 to

2023/24. It has also received above the England average per head per year from

2013/14 to 2017/18.

In 2019/20, South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust was allocated £2

million Public Dividend Capital for GDE Fast Follower scheme. In addition, North East

Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, which covers South Tyneside and

Jarrow, secured £835,000

The Trust’s predecessor, City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, also

secured a £887,000 Public Dividend Capital award as part of a national programme

for Energy Efficient LED Lighting.

The Department are also aware of a likely award of Public Dividend Capital relating to

Urgent and Emergency Care Services provision which is in the process of being

allocated and there are a number of ongoing capital funding programmes that the

Trust may be considering applications for.

Attachments:

1. pq3576 3578 tables [PQ3576 PQ3578 - CCG allocations table.xlsx]

Health Visitors

Jo Platt: [3796]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has

made of the number of health visitors in England in each year since 2010.

Jo Churchill:

The data is not available in the format requested.

Jo Platt: [3797]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has

made of the effect of trends in the level of health visitors in England on children's health.





Jo Churchill:

Health visiting is an essential part of broader early years family support. The number

of health visitors employed by National Health Service organisations reported through

Electronic Staff Records shows reduction, but this is not a complete picture of the

workforce as this goes not include social enterprises, private sector organisations or

local authorities. It is the responsibility of local authorities to determine how the

programme is provided to their communities based upon local needs.

Data on mandated health visitor reviews shows national coverage remains above

those achieved in 2015. However, there is variation at a local level. Data is available

at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/health-visitor-service-delivery-metrics-2018-

to-2019

Progress against health and wellbeing outcomes for the zero to five years population,

and inequalities in these outcomes, is published in Early Years Profiles at the

following link:

https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/child-health-

profiles/data#page/1/gid/1938133223/pat/6/par/E12000001/ati/102/are/E06000005

HIV Infection: Drugs

Mr Ben Bradshaw: [3529]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding his Department

plans to allocate to the routine commissioning of PrEP.

Mr Ben Bradshaw: [3530]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had

with local government, NHS England and Public Health England on identifying funding for

(a) the routine commissioning of and (b) a national programme for PrEP.

Jo Churchill:

The Department is continuing to work closely with NHS England and NHS

Improvement, Public Health England and local government to ensure there is a

seamless transition to routine commissioning of pre-exposure prophylaxis upon

culmination of the trial. We will set out how the programme will be funded and how

commissioners will be supported very shortly.

Hospitals: Construction

Karin Smyth: [3742]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 8

October 2019 to Question 293621 on Hospitals: Construction, if he will publish the

business cases.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/health-visitor-service-delivery-metrics-2018-to-2019



https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/child-health-profiles/data#page/1/gid/1938133223/pat/6/par/E12000001/ati/102/are/E06000005






Karin Smyth: [3743]


October 2019 to Question 293621 on Hospitals: Construction, whether the business

cases will be supported by sustainability and transformation partnerships.

Karin Smyth: [3745]


October 2019 to Question 293621 on Hospitals: Construction, if he will publish the scores

achieved by applicant schemes against the criteria referred to in paragraph five of the

answer.

Edward Argar:

National Health Service organisations undertaking investment schemes are required

to produce business cases to support their decisions. Business cases are prepared

by the NHS. The Department does not routinely publish business cases and the

decision to publish the outline or full business cases this would be for the lead NHS

organisation.

Business cases will be supported by a range of stakeholders including sustainability

and transformation partnerships and NHS regional teams. We have announced

changes to the process for approving business cases, including looking at offering

more assistance for providers in developing their business cases, potentially

releasing some funding earlier, and streamlining the approvals process for submitted

cases.

The schemes on the shortlist of 21 projects, covering 34 hospitals were not assigned

a “score”. The criteria used to arrive at the 21 projects identified to receive seed

funding to kick start their schemes considered various aspects. The estates and

facilities running costs were a factor and backlog, in particular Critical Infrastructure

Risk (a subset of the highest risk elements of backlog with a potential for significant

impact e.g. fire safety). Other areas considered were unused and functionally

unsuitable space and incidents having an impact on clinical services. Furthermore,

the list was checked to ensure regions were fairly represented. All this took place with

engagement through NHS regional teams taking their view on overall investment

need and local prioritisation.

Immigrants: Health Services

Thangam Debbonaire: [5454]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion

of people paying the immigration healthcare surcharge required healthcare in the 2018-

19 financial year; and what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of that

healthcare.

Edward Argar:

This information is not collected by the Department.




In July 2018, the Government published an impact assessment. The impact

assessment is available at the following link:

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukia/2018/126/pdfs/ukia_20180126_en.pdf

On the immigration health surcharge which included an estimation that the average

cost of a surcharge payer to the National Health Service was approximately £480.

Incontinence: Medical Treatments

Rosie Cooper: [5414]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether it is his Department's

policy that continence challenges should be (a) considered and (b) treated by NHS

England to be a long-term condition.

Caroline Dinenage:

Continence challenges are already being considered as part of the National Bowel

and Bladder Health Project to support the delivery of the ambitions of the Excellence

in Continence Care Programme within the National Health Service. This is led by

NHS England and NHS Improvement and is aimed at improving the experience of

care for patients and their carers.

This programme will work towards a model of care which takes into account the

expertise and resources of the people with long-term conditions and their

communities, which the National Bowel and Bladder project aims to support via the

clinical pathway workstreams. This will help to provide a holistic approach to patient

care and lives, and help individuals achieve the best outcomes possible.

Intensive Care: Private Sector

Dr Rupa Huq: [3798]


of the implications of his Department’s policy of outsourcing healthcare for patients in

need of intense 24 hour care.

Edward Argar:

This Government is fully committed to the National Health Service as a public service

free at the point of need, whether care is provided by NHS organisations or by the

private, voluntary or social enterprise sectors.

No assessment has been made by the Department of the implications of outsourcing

healthcare for patients, which in this instance we have taken to mean intense 24-hour

NHS-Continuing Healthcare care. It is the responsibility of commissioners of NHS

healthcare services to ensure that the NHS provides the highest quality of services

possible, on a financially and operationally sustainable footing. For that reason, the

Department neither bans nor promotes the use of the private, voluntary or social

enterprise sectors – the key is whether outcomes for patients improve.





Lighting: Health Hazards

Tracey Crouch: [3627]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his

Department has made of the correlation between LED lighting in offices and (a) migraines

and (b) other health conditions.

Jo Churchill:

Public Health England (PHE) considers the impact of optical radiation on health, both

from artificial and natural sources. There is currently insufficient evidence to develop

specific advice on the link between the symptoms of migraines and other health

conditions to Light Emitting Diode lighting in offices. PHE will continue to monitor the

scientific literature in this area.

Mental Health Services: Children

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: [4405]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of

3 October 2019 to Question 294220 on Children: Mental Health, if he will make it his

policy to collect data on the number of children provided with (a) therapy and (b)

psychiatric medication for eco-anxiety.

Ms Nadine Dorries:

We have no plans to do so.

NHS and Social Services: Agency Workers



the cost to the (a) NHS and (b) social care system of (i) fees, (ii) markups and (ii)

commissions to supply agencies for (A) clinical and (B) other staff.

Edward Argar:

In 2018/19, National Health Service trusts spent £2.40 billion on agency staff,

including clinical and non-clinical staff. Between March 2018 and March 2019, £938

million was spent on agency medical staff, £950 million on agency nursing staff and

£513 million on other staff.1

NHS Improvement’s agency rules include a cap which sets a ceiling for agency fees.

Full details of the NHS Improvement price caps are attached.

The Department does not hold data that shows the breakdown of fees, markups and

commissions.

The Department does not hold this data for social care. The Skills for Care

programme estimates that in 2018/19 agency social care staff represented 7% of the

1.52 million people strong adult social care workforce. 2




Notes:

[1]

https://improvement.nhs.uk/documents/5404/Performance_of_the_NHS_provider_se

ctor_for_the_quarter_4_1819.pdf

2https://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/adult-social-care-workforce-data/Workforce-

intelligence/documents/State-of-the-adult-social-care-sector/State-of-Report-2019.pdf

NHS: Disclosure of Information

Karin Smyth: [3746]


October 2019 to Question 293626 on NHS: Disclosure of Information whether the FOI

(Civil Procurement) Policy and Guidance Version 2.0 applies to commissioners of NHS

services.

Edward Argar:

The document ‘FOI (Civil Procurement) Policy and Guidance Version 2.0’ was

published by the Office of Government in November 2008. The document provides

policy and guidance on how requests for civil procurement-related information under

the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) should be handled. Whilst primarily aimed at

central Government Departments, it has application across the wider public sector

wherever civil procurement is practised.

The guidance states that this document represents the Government’s view of the

application of the FOI to public procurement information but that the guidance is only

intended as a starting point and public authorities remain responsible for making their

own judgements in individual cases.

Orkambi


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress his

Department has made on negotiations between NHS England and Vertex

pharmaceuticals on making Orkambi available on the NHS for people diagnosed with

cystic fibrosis.

Jo Churchill:

On 24 October, NHS England and NHS Improvement announced that a deal had

been agreed with the company Vertex to make Orkambi and its other licensed cystic

fibrosis drugs available to National Health Service patients in England.

This deal, while commercially confidential, constitutes good value for the NHS, is

backed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and will benefit

around 5,000 patients with cystic fibrosis. NHS England and NHS Improvement have

announced that there is no cap on patient numbers and all patients who might benefit

can now get these treatments on the NHS. Clinicians will be able to begin prescribing

these drugs within 30 days of this announcement.

https://improvement.nhs.uk/documents/5404/Performance_of_the_NHS_provider_sector_for_the_quarter_4_1819.pdf



https://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/adult-social-care-workforce-data/Workforce-intelligence/documents/State-of-the-adult-social-care-sector/State-of-Report-2019.pdf





Palliative Care: Expenditure


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding was

allocated to palliative care in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North

East and (d) the UK in each year since 2010.


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many hospices have

closed in the (a) North East and (b) UK in each year since 2010.


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many operational hospices

there were in (a) the North East, and (b) the UK in each year since 2010.

Caroline Dinenage:

Data on the total funding allocated to hospice services in England is not routinely

collected centrally, as the vast majority of funding decisions are a matter for local

commissioners. Funding in the constituent countries of the United Kingdom is a

matter for the devolved administration of those countries.

Palliative Care: Finance


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding his Department

plans to allocate to end of life care in each of the next five years.


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his policy is on the funding

of hospices; and what levels of funding his Department plans to allocate to palliative care

in each financial year until 2025.


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his policy is on allocating

funding to hospices in (a) the North East and (b) the UK; and what level of funding his

Department plans to allocate to palliative care in each financial year until 2025.

Caroline Dinenage:

As with the vast majority of National Health Service services, the commissioning of

palliative and end of life care is a local matter, over which individual clinical

commissioning groups (CCGs) have responsibility. CCGs are best placed to

understand the needs of local populations and allocate funding for services to meet

those needs from the overall resource allocations they receive.

Much of the palliative care patients receive will be provided either in outpatient or

community settings, by nurses, community teams or general practitioners (GPs) as

part of general NHS services provision, rather than as an identified palliative care

service. In such services, data are either not available or do not identify palliative







treatment. In addition, social and voluntary sector organisations can provide

additional support to patients and the end of life. Therefore, figures for the total cost

or allocation of funding for palliative and end of life care services are not available.

The vast majority of hospices were established from charitable and philanthropic

donations and are therefore primarily charity-funded and independently run.

However, they receive some statutory funding from CCGs and the Government for

providing local NHS services. The majority of decisions regarding the statutory

funding hospices receive, are a local matter.

Published in January 2019, the NHS Long Term Plan has a commitment to match

CCGs up to £7 million from NHS England for Children and Young People’s Palliative

and End of Life Care (CYP PEOLC), on condition of £7 million match funding from

CCGs by 2023/24. This will create a total planned additional spending of at least

£14million a year for CYP PEOLC services across all providers.

In addition, on 20 August the Government announced that £25 million in funding for

hospices and palliative care services. This will help alleviate pressures on hospices

and boost our local palliative care services; providing for new services – such as out-

of-hours support, respite care and specialist community teams. Importantly, the

funding is for adults and children and young people’s hospices and palliative

services; this is non-recurrent funding and the £25 million announcement relates to

2019/20 only and; the money is to be spent locally, improving care for patients as

soon as possible.

NHS England and NHS Improvement have been working to get this money into local

areas as a priority and have uplifted CCG resource allocations to reflect the new

funding this month. The expectation is that CCGs work collaboratively to assign the

money to hospices and palliative services as a sustainability and transformation

partnership (STP) across their STP footprint.

On 1 July 2019, the Government announced plans to increase Children’s Hospice

grant from £12 million in 2019/20 to £25 million by 2023/24. The grant is provided to

children’s hospices to compensate for lower levels of local statutory funding they

receive, compared to adult hospices. The planned grant allocations by financial year

are as follows: 2020/21 £15 million; 2021/22 £17 million; 2022/23 £21 million;

2023/24 £25 million. Plans for financial year 2024/25 yet to be developed as the Long

Term Plan only covers the period to 2023/24.

Secure Accommodation: Autism

Ann Clwyd: [3584]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many young people with

autism placed in secure accommodation in England in 2018-2019 were held in seclusion.

Ann Clwyd: [3585]


autism placed in secure accommodation in England in 2015 were held in seclusion.



Caroline Dinenage:

The data is not held centrally in the format requested.

The NHS Long Term Plan commits to achieving at least a 50% reduction in the

number of people with a learning disability or autism who are inpatients in mental

health hospitals by 2023/24. The NHS Planning Guidance requires a 35% reduction

as soon as possible in 2019/20.

In May 2019, the Care Quality Commission published their thematic review interim

report regarding the use of restrictive interventions in settings that provide inpatient

and residential care for people with, or who might have, mental health problems,

learning disabilities and/or autism. We accepted all the recommendations and will

undertake independent reviews of the care of everyone with a learning disability or

autism detained in long-term segregation.

The Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Act 2018 applies in relation to the use of

force (restraint) in mental health units which provide National Health Service-funded

treatment.

The aim of the Act is to bring more rigour and accountability around the recording,

reporting and training of staff in the use of force in mental health units, with a view to

reducing the use of restrictive practices.

The Act applies to all patients, children, young people and adults, who are being

assessed or receiving treatment in a mental health unit.

Ann Clwyd: [3586]


autism were placed in secure accommodation in 2018-19.

Ann Clwyd: [3587]


the number of young people with autism placed in secure beds in hospitals since October

2015.

Caroline Dinenage:

The Assuring Transformation (AT) dataset provides data on the numbers of people

with a learning disability and/or autism receiving inpatient care commissioned by the

National Health Service in England. The AT dataset does not cover other secure

settings such as young offender institutions or secure children’s homes.

According to the AT dataset, the number of inpatients under the age of 18 with autism

in a secure hospital ward between 1 April 2018 and 31 March 2019 was 70.

The following table shows the number of inpatients under the age of 18 with autism in

a secure hospital ward by year, from 1 October 2015 to 30 September 2019,

according to the AT dataset.



DATE NUMBER OF INPATIENTS*

1 October 2015 – 30 September 2016 60




Note:

The Assuring Transformation collection covers England, but includes patients whose

care is commissioned in England and provided elsewhere in the UK. These figures

represent the number of patients who are receiving inpatient care at the end of each

month. Figures have not been revised with more recent information, but show the

position at the end of each month as extracted from the system at that time.

Values have been rounded to the nearest five to minimise disclosure risks associated

with small numbers.

Some patients have not been formally diagnosed with either a learning disability or

autism but remain in the collection as they are understood to fall under one of these

categories and as such were returned by data submitters.

The above table includes patients who are under 18 at the start of the reporting year

but may have turned 18 during the year.

Inpatients may appear across more than one year.

Sepsis: Health Education


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whats steps he is taking to

improve public awareness and understanding of sepsis.

Ms Nadine Dorries:

The Government continues to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of sepsis,

through initiatives like Public Health England (PHE)’s national Start4life Information

Service for Parents email programme, which targets parents of children under five-

years-old; leaflets, posters and a content-rich social media toolkit for partners to use

on their own channels are available for them to raise awareness at a community

level. PHE has also worked in partnership with Mumsnet, a leading digital platform for

parents, to raise awareness through editorial and social media promotion.


Social Prescribing: Training


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to page 27 of the

Government's Loneliness strategy, what progress his Department has made on piloting a

new accredited learning programme for social prescribing link workers.

Jo Churchill:

NHS England has supported the development of a Level 3 Certificate in Social

Prescribing, which is currently being piloted with a group of link workers across the

North of England. An online learning programme has also been created working with

Health Education England and partners. The first module is now live and can be

found at the following link:

www.e-lfh.org.uk/programmes/social-prescribing/

Syringes


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to

introduce needle and syringe exchanges for drugs users.

Jo Churchill:

Needle exchange and syringe services have played a vital role in harm reduction

since the 1980s, reducing the number of drug-related deaths and blood-borne virus

infections, particularly hepatitis C and HIV. They are commissioned by local

authorities and are supported in this by Public Health England. The United Kingdom’s

drug treatment clinical guidelines published in 2017 includes guidance on needle and

syringe programmes and is available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachm

ent_data/file/673978/clinical_guidelines_2017.pdf

HOME OFFICE

British Nationality: Assessments

Alex Chalk: [346]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is

taking to ensure that the Life in the UK citizenship test questions are intelligible and

accessible to applicants of all backgrounds and age groups.

Seema Kennedy:

The Life in the UK test is based on the Life in the UK handbook, “Life in the UK: a

guide for new residents”. The test is administered by PSI on behalf of the Home

Office. The questions were set with the assistance of linguistic experts and

professional question writers.


http://www.e-lfh.org.uk/programmes/social-prescribing/

http://www.e-lfh.org.uk/programmes/social-prescribing/


https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/673978/clinical_guidelines_2017.pdf




The tests have a number of accessibility features which are available to all

candidates. These include the ability to adjust settings and use audio. Additional

tailored access arrangements can be provided by test centres.

British Nationality: Children

Rushanara Ali: [3833]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what use is made of the £1,012

fee when an application to register a child as British is rejected.

Seema Kennedy:

Refunds are not provided when applications are refused. It is made clear that the fee

paid is for the consideration of an application and is payable regardless of the

decision made.

Fee income is retained by the Home Office and funds the direct and indirect costs

associated with the provision of chargeable visa and immigration services, and also

contributes towards the cost of the wider immigration system, as permitted under

Section 68(9) of the 2014 Immigration Act.

Hampshire Constabulary: ICT

Stephen Morgan: [4392]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an

assessment of the effect of Hampshire police service's new contact management

platform on the effectiveness of Hampshire police officers; and if she will make a

statement.

Kit Malthouse:

Contact management is an operational matter for policing. Decisions about the

allocation of police resources and deployment of officers are for Chief Constables

and democratically accountable Police and Crime Commissioners. They are

responsible for ensuring the needs of the local community are met.


To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much and what proportion

of the budget of Hampshire police has been allocated to the implementation of its contact

management platform in (a) each year since its inception and (b) 2019 to date.


To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions her

Department has had with the Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner on Hampshire

police service's contact management platform; and if she will make a statement.

Kit Malthouse:

Contact management is an operational matter for policing. Decisions about the

allocation of police resources and deployment of officers are for Chief Constables





and democratically accountable Police and Crime Commissioners. They are

responsible for ensuring the needs of the local community are met.

Home Office: Pay

Chris Stephens: [1735]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the pay system in her

Department has been changed to take account of the Employment Appeal Tribunal ruling

on Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council v Mr G Willetts and Others on holiday pay and

voluntary overtime; and whether affected workers in her Department have been given

back pay as a result of that ruling.

Victoria Atkins:

The Home Office currently has a form of Holiday Pay allowance built into the pay

system. The Home Office is aware of the Employment Appeal Tribunal referred to in

the Question, and the implications for our approach to pay. The Department has

signalled to the Trades Unions in Summer 2019 that it intends to open negotiations

on this subject later in 2019. Decisions on back pay will be taken as part of the

negotiations process.

Immigrants: Glasgow Central

Alison Thewliss: [1910]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people in Glasgow

Central are designated as having no recourse to public funds.

Victoria Atkins:

The no recourse to public funds (NRPF) condition is applied to the leave to enter and

remain of most migrants in the UK as a legitimate means of maintaining and

protecting our economic resources.

Information about NRPF is held on individual case files and to provide this

information would require a manual search and would exceed the disproportionate

cost threshold. Wider population data, such as that requested in relation to Glasgow

Central, is not held by the Home Office.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Kate Green: [3629]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much of the £9 million

funding for voluntary organisations to support vulnerable EU nationals applying to the EU

Settlement Scheme has been allocated; and how much funding has been allocated to

each voluntary organisation.

Kate Green: [3630]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will extend beyond March

2020 the period of funding for voluntary organisations to support vulnerable EU nationals

in applying for the EU Settlement Scheme.





Kate Green: [3632]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what equality impact

assessment has been made of the extent to which each protected characteristic under

the Equality Act 2009 has been allocated funding through voluntary organisations to

support vulnerable EU nationals applying to the EU Settlement Scheme.

Kate Green: [3633]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans are in place to

ensure that funding for voluntary organisations to support vulnerable EU nationals in

applying to the EU Settlement Scheme is allocated adequately to geographical areas

where individuals with certain protected characteristics are concentrated.

Brandon Lewis:

Details of the grant funding and payment allocations remain commercial in

confidence therefore the funding amount allocated, and the amounts to each

voluntary organisation cannot be disclosed.

All grant funded organisations are required to submit quarterly returns, reporting on

outcomes to the Home Office. The Home Office is currently evaluating the quarter

two return. Consideration of the need and effectiveness of any further funding will be

done thereafter.

A policy equality statement has been completed for the EU Settlement Scheme

ensuring the scheme is accessible to all and does not discriminate based on any

protected characteristic. The grant fund was open to any voluntary and community

sector organisations.

The fund concentrates on delivering a service based on supporting vulnerabilities

such as, but not limited to, homelessness, disability, age, victims of domestic violence

and trafficking. The organisations that were successful in their bid for funding

demonstrated their ability to provide practical support and outreach to the most

vulnerable EEA citizens and family members of EEA citizens.

Funding was awarded based on expected numbers of vulnerable people that could

be supported by the organisation, the geographical reach of the organisation and

their ability to mobilise within the required timeframes.

Hywel Williams: [511]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate she has

made of the number of elderly and vulnerable applicants to the EU Settlement Scheme;

and what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of support provided to those

applicants.

Brandon Lewis:

The number of applications to the EU Settled Status scheme are regularly monitored

and reviewed against forecasts.

There is a range of direct and indirect support available for vulnerable EU citizens.

This ranges from the telephone helpline available where citizens and their carers and




helpers can discuss any aspect of the application with a trained caseworker at any

point during the process.

For those who need assistance with IT, the Home Office has put in place an Assisted

Digital solution which provides support over the phone, at one of around 300 local

centres across the UK or at home with a trained tutor.

We have also provided up to £9 million of grant funding in this financial year to 57

voluntary and community sector organisations across the UK. These organisations

are being funded and supported by the Home Office to deliver practical assistance to

vulnerable or at-risk EU citizens in applying to the scheme. More than 40 of the

organisations included the provision of support for older people in their bid for

funding. Further information can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/eu-settlement-scheme-community-

support-for-vulnerable-citizens/list-of-organisations

We have also provided a paper application form for those whose specific individual

needs require it.

The Home Office is working with a range of other government departments and

stakeholders to identify how we can best support vulnerable adults with significant

care and support needs, including those in care homes.

Immigration: Families

Alex Norris: [358]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to extend

Family Immigration Rules for Dependent Relatives to include British Citizens intending to

return to the UK with their dependent relative.

Seema Kennedy:

The family Immigration Rules set out the requirements to be met to allow any adult

dependant relative of a British citizen to come to the UK. The applicant must be

outside the UK and in most cases, the sponsor will be in the UK.

The adult dependant relative rules, together with the policy on exceptional

circumstances, ensure that leave can be granted for those who demonstrate that, as

a result of age, illness or disability, there is a level of long-term personal care required

that can only be provided in the UK by their British relative who is here, or who is

intending to return here with their dependant relative.

Immigration: Windrush Generation

Afzal Khan: [697]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions her

Department has had with the office of Wendy Williams on a timetable for taking delivery

of the final report of the Windrush lessons learned review.



Seema Kennedy:

The Windrush Lessons Learned Review is an independent review, and all

engagement must respect this independence. As expected for this type of review, the

Department and the review team have engaged routinely and will continue to use this

engagement to confirm the timetable for delivery of the final report.

Police Interrogation: Standards

Nic Dakin: [998]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to make it a

requirement for police forces to adhere to a structured interview protocol.

Kit Malthouse:

The use of specific techniques, within lawful bounds, remains an operational matter

for chief constables. We will continue to support the police to ensure they can

effectively investigate crime and protect the public.

Police: Safety


To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking in

addition to her urgent review of the safety of police officers to protect officers on the front

line.

Kit Malthouse:

We are committed to ensuring that the police have the support and protection they

need, and we welcome the NPCC-led Officer Safety Review. The Government has

outlined its commitment via the Queens Speech to bring forward a Police Protection

Bill to give police the support and protection the police need to do their jobs

effectively and safely.

We have set out a vision for a new Police Covenant, recognising the bravery and

commitment of officers who work night and day to keep us safe. We plan to focus on

physical protection for officers, their health and wellbeing and support for their

families.

The Government has also recently announced a £10 million ring fenced fund to

support chief constables to buy more Tasers to ensure frontline officers are better

protected. £10 million in ring fenced funding could mean over 10,000 more police

officers in England and Wales will be able to carry the devices to help protect

themselves and the public from harm.



HOUSING, COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Buildings: Insulation


To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with

reference to his Department's data release entitled Building Safety Programme: Monthly

Data Release for August 2019 published on 12 September 2019, how many of the 1,494

non-ACM cladding samples held at the Building Research Establishment contain

combustible materials.

Esther McVey:

[Holding answer 28 October 2019]: The screening programme set up after the

Grenfell fire tragedy was focussed on identifying and the types of aluminium

composite materials received. 1,421 samples of other materials were also submitted

but these were not suitable for the screening tests. A detailed explanation of the

screening tests is set out in this note published in June 2017.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/explanatory-note-on-safety-checks-and-

testing.

The non-Aluminuim Composite Materials (ACM) samples were catalogued but it is

not possible given their size and condition to reliably identify and classify each

sample. These samples would not provide reliable or representative indication of the

materials currently present on the existing building stock, this is because only those

buildings with ACM cladding systems were asked to submit samples.

I refer also to my answer of 24 January to question UIN 210599.

Sarah Jones: [4433]

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will

publish the feedback from (a) the expert panel on building safety and (b) other

organisations that his Department consulted on whether Advice Note 14 on external wall

systems that do not incorporate aluminium composite material should be revised.

Esther McVey:

[Holding answer 28 October 2019]: Advice Note 14 was published for Building

Owners to take appropriate action to ensure their buildings are safe. The Department

has received representations from industry seeking clarification on Advice Note 14.

These representations are being considered in conjunction with the Independent

Expert Advisory Panel.

Buildings: Safety

John Healey: [4271]

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether

he plans to present his legislative proposals on safety standards to Parliament in the form

of a draft Bill.




John Healey: [4272]

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he

plans to bring forward his legislative proposals on building safety standards.

Esther McVey:

[Holding answer 28 October 2019]: This government is committed to bringing

forward legislation that delivers meaningful and lasting change at the earliest

opportunity.

Our consultation, Building a Safer Future: proposals for reform of the building safety

regulatory system, closed on 31 July 2019, and we will be providing a response by

the end of this year. A decision on whether the Bill will be published in draft will be

taken in due course.

We are not waiting for legislation to begin reforming the system – we are acting now

to fix existing problems, trial new approaches and encourage industry to lead the

necessary culture change. In his statement to the House on 5 September (Official

Report, column 372), my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State updated the House,

reporting on our progress in a range of areas.

Housing: Construction

John Healey: [5403]

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what

estimate he has made of the number of homes that will be built in each of the next five

years.

Esther McVey:

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government does not publish

estimates of the number of homes that will be built in future years. As part of its latest

Economic and Fiscal Outlook published in March 2019, the Office for Budget

Responsibility produced forecasts of private enterprise housing completions and net

additions to the housing stock for each quarter until the end of the forecast period in

2023-24.

The government is committed to build the homes that the country needs and is

aiming to deliver 300,000 homes a year on average by the mid-2020s. Over 1.3

million new homes have been delivered since 2010, including over 430,000

affordable homes. In the latest year, over 222,000 additional homes were delivered –

the highest level in all but one of the last 31 years.

Housing: Insulation



estimate he has made of the number of homes in England that have been valued at £0 as

a result of surveyors being unable to confirm that (a) cladding and (b) insulation in those

homes was not flammable.




Esther McVey:

[Holding answer 24 October 2019]: Ministers are aware of these issues and the

department is working at pace to find solutions. Officials are supporting the Royal

Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and wider industry to improve, for example,

the process through which building owners share relevant information with lenders to

provide reassurance.

Sarah Jones: [4437]

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether

his Department has received representations on mortgage lenders and building insurers

requiring additional information due to Government Advice Note 14 on external wall

systems that do not incorporate Aluminium Composite Material.

Esther McVey:

[Holding answer 28 October 2019]: The Department has received correspondence

from individuals looking to sell, buy or remortgage properties in some high-rise

residential blocks highlighting that lenders are requesting additional information about

the external wall system of the building. Building owners should share relevant

information and professional reports with lenders to assist in their lending decisions.

Local Plans: Oxfordshire

Layla Moran: [5473]


discussions he has had with Oxfordshire County Council officers on that council

potentially taking over responsibility for South Oxfordshire District Council's local plan.

Esther McVey:

The Secretary of State has not conducted any discussions with Oxfordshire County

Council about taking over responsibility for South Oxfordshire District Council’s local

plan.

Loneliness



reference to page 43 of the Government's loneliness strategy, what progress his

Department has made on funding research into the impact of community-led housing and

cohousing on loneliness.

Esther McVey:

The Department has recently tendered for a research contract to explore the

effectiveness with which community-led housing (and cohousing in particular)

addresses loneliness. Specifically, the impact of housing interventions on loneliness;

understand the impact of community-led housing and co-housing on reducing

loneliness across all ages; and to explore best practice in housing schemes that

promote social cohesion.




Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Brexit

Mary Glindon: [5027]


equality impact assessment his Department has undertaken on the selection of staff for

normal hours day time working in the Departmental Operations Centre on the UK leaving

the EU without a deal.

Jake Berry:

Working in our DOC under a normal hours day time arrangement is no different to

other such arrangements for roles elsewhere in the Department and does not require

a specific or separate equality impact assessment. All staff deployed in our DOC will

be assigned to roles commensurate with their grade and will be provided with

appropriate training and support. Our existing policies and proactive diversity and

inclusion agenda ensures all staff are treated fairly including those with protected

characteristics.

Layla Moran: [5474]

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how

many and what proportion of civil servants in his Department have been internally

reassigned to preparations for the UK leaving the EU from oversight of local plans (a) in

the last month, (b) in the last six months, (c) in the last 12 months and (d) since the 2016

EU referendum.

Jake Berry:

We do not have a record of the number of staff who have been internally reassigned

to preparations for the UK leaving the EU against a definition of ‘oversight of local

plans’ or for the specific time periods specified. We can confirm that throughout the

time periods specified the highest number of staff redeployed from other duties was

in week commencing 21 October 2019 when a total of 219 Ministry of Housing,

Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) staff were working within our

Departmental Operations Centre (DOC), approximately 9.5 per cent of all MHCLG

staff. We did not separately record the number of staff working in the DOC prior to the

government’s decision to increase no deal preparations in December 2018 and at

that time the number of people working in the DOC was approximately 40,

approximately 2 per cent of all MHCLG staff.



estimate he has made of the number of staff his Department will need to work on a (a)

two and (b) three shift pattern to staff the Departmental Operations Centre in the event

that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Jake Berry:

The current estimates are that a two shift working arrangement in our Departmental

Operations Centre would require 389 people and a three shift working arrangement

would require 621 people in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.




Muslims: Discrimination

Yasmin Qureshi: [4975]


reference to the Integrated Communities Action Plan published in February 2019,

whether his Department has facilitated meetings between the Anti-Muslim Hatred

Working Group and the Independent Press Standards Organisation to help them to

develop guidance for editors and journalists to tackle unnecessary negative portrayals of

Muslims in the media.

Jake Berry:

Members of the Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group continue to engage with the

Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) on the development of guidance

for editors and journalists on the reporting of Muslims in the media. Members are

currently working with IPSO to develop and refine the guidance. This work is an

important contribution towards commitments set out in the Integrated Communities

Action Plan and Government’s Hate Crime Action Plan refresh.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Developing Countries: Tuberculosis

Nic Dakin: [4996]

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment his

department has made of (a) the implications for his policies of the WHO report entitled

Global Tuberculosis Report 2019 and (b) the potential effect of a new TB vaccine on

achieving the (i) SDG target of ending the TB epidemic by 2030 and (ii) WHO End TB

Strategy of reducing TB deaths by 95% and cutting new cases of TB by 90% between

2015 and 2035.

Dr Andrew Murrison:

The Global Tuberculosis Report 2019 provides important evidence on the challenge

in tackling tuberculosis as an issue of global public health importance. We remain

committed to the global effort and the World Health Organisation End Tuberculosis

Strategy. We are proud to be at the forefront of work to prevent, detect and treat

tuberculosis, including funding research to develop new treatments to tackle drug

resistant tuberculosis. Our commitment to provide £1.4 billion to the latest

replenishment of the Global Fund will help provide tuberculosis treatment and care

for over 2 million people.

A new tuberculosis vaccine could potentially have a significant effect on reducing

tuberculosis deaths, and there is cautious optimism about the results for one potential

vaccine, although there is still a very high degree of uncertainty for this high-risk

research. DFID carefully considers robust data on specific vaccines before taking a

view on its role in tackling a disease, including its relative impact alongside other

established interventions.



Yemen: International Assistance

Keith Vaz: [4267]

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate his

Department has made of the extent of the fulfilment of pledges of humanitarian aid by

British allies towards the Yemen Humanitarian Response plan.

Dr Andrew Murrison:

The UN’s 2019 Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan is 69.5% funded so far this

year.

We thank all donors who have provided funding, including Saudi Arabia, the United

Arab Emirates and Kuwait, who provided approximately $800 million between them in

September.

We continue to encourage all donors to rapidly release their remaining pledges and

consider providing further funding.

JUSTICE

Courts


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of (a) court rooms and (b)

courts were sitting on each day from January 1 2019 to 20 October 2019 in all criminal

courts.

Chris Philp:

The information requested about what proportion of (a) court rooms and (b) courts

were sitting on each day from January 1 2019 to 20 October 2019 in all criminal

courts could only be provided at disproportionate cost.


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many sitting court days there have been in

each year since 2010.

Chris Philp:

The official statistics for judge sitting days (tables 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3 of the Civil Justice

Statistics Quarterly, January to March 2019) were withdrawn on 5 September 2019,

due to data discrepancies that were discovered after publication on 6 June 2019 and

deemed potentially misleading to users. These discrepancies remain under

investigation and, in line with the Code of Practice on Statistics, the Chief Statistician

and Head of Profession decided to withdraw these tables until the investigations were

complete. The revised figures will be published in due course, and will provide the

total sitting days in Family, Civil and Crown courts.




Courts: Finance

Faisal Rashid: [5100]

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will increase funding for (a) magistrates

courts and (b) county courts to prevent court closures.

Chris Philp:

HM Courts & Tribunals Service assesses the court and tribunal estate against its

estates principles - ensuring access to justice, delivering value for money and

enabling efficiency in longer-term.

The decision to close any court is not taken lightly – it only happens following full

public consultation and only when effective access to justice can be maintained.

Courts that have closed were either underused, dilapidated or too close to one

another with every penny of those closed since 2016 reinvested in the justice system.

We have always been clear that our Reform Programme will result in the need for

fewer court and tribunal buildings and that this will only happen when there is sound

evidence that people are using them less.

There are currently no active proposals to close further crown or magistrates’ courts

beyond those already announced.

Criminal Proceedings: Translation Services


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases have been adjourned due to a

lack of translation or interpreting services in each week since the start of 2019 in all

criminal courts.

Chris Philp:

The Ministry does not hold weekly statistical figures for the information requested.

However, central information does exist on the number of trials listed in the criminal

courts which were adjourned as a result of interpreters being unavailable in quarterly

figures. This data is published in Criminal Court Statistics, “Trial effectiveness at the

criminal courts tool”.

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-court-statistics

Latest published statistics are available to June 2019. Data covering the period July-

September 2019 is provisionally due for publication December 2019.

Our most recent statistics show the total number of language service requests are at

their highest level since the new contract was introduced in 2016 and the vast

majority of these were fulfilled.





Judiciary


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many days (a) recorders and (b) judges

have sat in each of the last 12 months.

Chris Philp:

The official statistics for judge sitting days (tables 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3 of the Civil Justice

Statistics Quarterly, January to March 2019) were withdrawn on 5 September 2019,

due to data discrepancies that were discovered after publication on 6 June 2019 and

deemed potentially misleading to users. These discrepancies remain under

investigation and, in line with the Code of Practice on Statistics, the Chief Statistician

and Head of Profession decided to withdraw these tables until the investigations were

complete. The revised figures will be published in due course, and will provide the

total sitting days in Family, Civil and Crown courts.

Ministry of Justice: Contracts

Richard Burgon: [5068]

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data his Department holds on the

performance of companies with which his Department holds contracts against key

performance indicators.

Chris Philp:

The MoJ regards well-managed contracts as fundamental to the proper functioning of

the justice system, and a vital part of court and prison reform plans. The MoJ’s

contract management teams closely monitor providers to ensure they fulfil their

contractual commitments to maintain service delivery and value for money.

The Department conducts monthly assessments of the performance of its high

priority contracts using a high-level scorecard. The scorecard assesses the

performance of these contracts along 8 key themes:

• Contractual Compliance;

• Contract Management Processes;

• Finance;

• Operations;

• Risk;

• Disputes;

• Supplier views; and

• Customer views.



Ministry of Justice: Serco


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what (a) fines and (b) other financial penalties

have been paid to his Department by (i) Serco and (ii) Serco subsidiaries for failures to

meet contractual obligations in each year since 2010.

Chris Philp:

This PQ has been interpreted to mean the level of financial remedies that the Ministry

of Justice has been in receipt of from Serco, or Serco subsidiaries, in relation to

failure to meet contractual performance obligations since 2010.

The Ministry of Justice has been in receipt of the following financial remedies from

Serco in relation to failure to meet contractual performance obligations since 2010:

We manage all of our contracts with Serco robustly and deal with any performance

issues in accordance with the mechanisms of the contracts. Overall our Serco

Contracts perform well and the performance management mechanisms in our

contracts are effective in addressing any performance concerns.

For privately managed prisons the total value of financial remedies imposed for each

financial year has been provided and is included in the below table:

FINANCIAL YEAR VALUE OF FINANCIAL REMEDY

2010/2011 £35,982

2011/2012 £44,636

2012/2013 £42,337

2013/2014 £190,521

2014/2015 £293,203

2015/2016 £357,040

2016/2017 £568,471

2017/2018 £162,717

2018/2019 £91,703

2019/2020 (Q1 reported only £0


For the Prison Escort and Custody Service (PECS) the total value of financial

remedies imposed for each financial year has been provided and is included in the

below table:


2010/2011 £157,000

2011/2012 £315,000

2012/2013 £207,000

2013/2014 £478,000

2014/2015 £578,000

2015/2016 £625,000

2016/2017 £525,000

2017/2018 £445,000

2018/2019 £210,000

2019/2020 (Year to date) £9,000

For the Hassockfield STC the total value of financial remedies imposed for each



2010/2011 £0

2011/2012 £0

2012/2013 £990

2013/2014 £2,250

Ministry of Justice: Sodexo


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what (a) fines and (b) other financial penalties

have been paid to his Department by (i) Sodexo and (ii) Sodexo subsidiaries for failures

to meet contractual obligations in each year since 2010.

Chris Philp:

This PQ has been interpreted to mean the level of financial remedies that the Ministry

of Justice has been in receipt of from Sodexo, or Sodexo subsidiaries, in relation to

failure to meet contractual performance obligations since 2010.


We manage all of our privately managed prison contracts with Sodexo, or Sodexo

subsidiaries, robustly and deal with any performance issues in accordance with the

mechanisms of the contracts. Privately managed prison providers achieve the

majority of their contractual targets; however, we will not hesitate to take action where

standards fall short.

For privately managed prisons the total value of financial remedies imposed for each



2010/2011 £48,000

2011/2012 £0

2012/2013 £103,091

2013/2014 £86,153

2014/2015 £70,381

2015/2016 £273,056

2016/2017 £458,516

2017/2018 £451,335

2018/2019 £667,971

2019/2020 (Q1 only) £15,027

For CRCs the total value of financial remedies imposed for each financial year has

been provided and is included in the below table:


2015/2016 £329,250.84

2016/2017 £1,029,755.43

2017/2018 £116,310.20

2018/2019 £113,390.62

For facilities management contracts the total value of financial remedies imposed for

each financial year has been provided and is included in the below table:

CALENDAR YEAR VALUE OF FINANCIAL REMEDY

2018 £107,000

CALENDAR YEAR VALUE OF FINANCIAL REMEDY

2019 (Year to date) £31,500

Pleural Plaques: Compensation


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to re-establish the right to

compensation for people in England and Wales who developed pleural plaques as a

result of exposure to asbestos.

Wendy Morton:

The Government has no plans to reopen the pleural plaques compensation scheme,

which operated between 2 August 2010 and 1 August 2011.

The scheme operated as an extra-statutory one, making £5000 payments on an ex-

gratia basis to applicants who fulfilled the scheme’s criteria, namely that they were

individuals who had begun, but not resolved, a legal claim for compensation for

pleural plaques at the time of the House of Lords ruling in October 2007 in the case

of Rothwell v Chemical & Insulating Co Ltd [2007] UKHL 39. That ruling had held that

the occurrence of pleural plaques is not a compensatable disease.

Eligibility for the scheme was limited to that category of people as they would have

had an understandable expectation of receiving compensation when they began their

claim, an expectation which would not have been shared by those diagnosed later.

Prison Officers


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy

of the number of prison officers.

Lucy Frazer:

Our hard-working officers play a crucial role in keeping prisons safe and transforming

offenders’ lives, and ultimately make sure the public is protected.

We recognise the need to recruit and retain staff to keep our prisons secure. We

have invested significantly in increase staff numbers, recruiting an additional 4,366

(full time equivalent) prison officers between October 2016 and June 2019,

surpassing our original target of 2,500. We will continue to recruit officers to ensure

prisons are safe and decent.

We’re giving staff the tools they need to do the job safely – rolling out PAVA

incapacitant spray, and investing £100m to bolster security, in addition to £70 million

announced previously, to fund tough airport-style security that will clamp down on the

illicit items which fuel violence and hinder rehabilitation.



Prison Officers: Labour Turnover


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the

effect of employment conditions for prison officers on retention of prison officers.

Lucy Frazer:

We want prison officers to stay and progress their careers. We have improved

induction processes to ease transition into the job, provide care and support for our

staff and offer additional training. These measures are part of the work we are doing

directly with Governors to address local issues and ensure experienced staff and new

recruits remain in the service.

Prison Officers: Long Service Awards

Mrs Madeleine Moon: [3693]

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the

potential merits of changing the eligibility criteria for prison officer long service medals to

enable officers employed in privately managed prisons to receive them; and if he will

make a statement.

Lucy Frazer:

The Prison Service’s (operational duties) Long Service and Good Conduct Medal is

awarded to operational staff in UK Prison Services on completion of 20 years

continuous service. The medals are awarded by HM The Queen and aligns

operational public sector prison staff with other comparable other front line public

services such as the police, fire and ambulance services, and the Armed Forces.

HMPPS has previously approached the Cabinet Office in relation to making this

medal available to staff in private sector prisons. The Cabinet Office confirmed that

there are a series of protocols concerning the issue of medals of this type, one of

which is that they can only be awarded to staff working in public sector prisons (civil

servants) and not those prisons run by private sector companies.

Prison Sentences

Gloria De Piero: [5419]

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of the population of (a) Ashfield,

(b) Nottinghamshire and (c) England has received a (i) custodial prison sentence and (ii)

suspended prison sentence at some point in their lives.

Lucy Frazer:

This information is not readily available and would require individual court files to be

checked for the required information which would incur disproportionate costs.




Prisoners: Free School Meals


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of the prison population is

estimated to have been eligible for free school meals while they were in education.

Lucy Frazer:

The information requested is not currently collated by HM Prison and Probation

Service.

Upon arrival in custody, offenders are presented with numerous introductory

questions to assist with their reception. However, this does not include historical

information regarding their elibility for free school meals.

Prisoners: Qualifications


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of the prison population left

school without any formal qualifications.

Lucy Frazer:

The information requested is not held by the Department.

The Department for Education publishes data on English & maths assessments

undertaken when someone is received into prison. This can be found via the

following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fe-data-library-education-and-

training

Previous MoJ studies have shown as many as 47% of those entering prison reporting

as having no formal qualifications. As stated in our Education and Employment

Strategy, published in May 2018, we recognise the importance of providing

opportunities for learning for all. Such opportunities are irrespective of previous

educational attainment, and are an important part of helping to change lives and

reduce the risks of reoffending.

Prisons

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: [3793]

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce costs across

the prison estate.

Lucy Frazer:

It remains the case that we are investing in our prisons to deliver value for the

taxpayer but, more importantly, rehabilitate offenders to reduce their likelihood of

reoffending – which costs society around £18 billion each year.

As part of the Government’s wider law and order agenda we have committed to:



https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fe-data-library-education-and-training




• Creating an additional 10,000 modern, efficient prison places, to crack down on

crime behind bars. This investment means prison places will become cheaper per

place, per year.

• Investing £100 million to bolster security in jails, introducing tough airport-style

security scanners, mobile phone detection and prevention technology, and anti-

corruption and intelligence operations. This investment will help to reduce drugs

and violence across the estate, leading to an overall reduction in costs for other

public sector agencies associated with prisons, such as the police and the NHS.

• Spending an additional £156 million on maintenance of the prison estate, to update

critical infrastructure such as fire systems and boilers, refurbish cells and showers

and improve conditions for those living and working in prisons requiring the most

urgent attention.

Although we are significantly investing in prisons, we are continuing with efforts to

drive efficiencies across the estate to ensure as much money as possible goes back

into keeping our prisons safe, decent and secure. This includes empowering

Governors to make local decisions on how to spend their budget in a way that

creates the most value for money and efficiency, and through better use of

technology including video conferencing; facial recognition technology; and kiosks.

In addition, we want to support Governors in reaching out into communities to ensure

that we join up across our system and work with others to address the needs of

offenders to stop them coming into or returning to custody.

Prisons: Restraint Equipment

Imran Hussain: [5448]

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officers in each prison are

deployed with rigid handcuffs.

Lucy Frazer:

We are rolling out rigid-bar handcuffs to prison officers as part of our continued focus

on improving safety and reducing violence.

Before a prison can deploy rigid bar handcuffs, all uniformed staff must be trained in

their use. At the moment, only HMP Stoke Heath has completed its training, and 153

staff have been issued with rigid-bar handcuffs. At HMP Brinsford 43 staff have

completed their training, with a further 13 to be trained by the end of this week. Other

prisons are also at various stages of delivering their training.

In addition to these deployments, rigid-bar handcuffs are also carried by staff of the

National Tactical Response Group and by Regional Search and Dog teams, as part

of the operational response to incidents.


NORTHERN IRELAND

[Subject Heading to be Assigned]

Bob Blackman: [900152]

What progress has been made on restoring devolved government in Northern Ireland.

Julian Smith:

I was disappointed that the parties were unable to reach an accommodation before

the 21 October deadline. Getting Stormont back up and running remains my absolute

priority, and I will do everything in my power to make it happen before the 13 January

deadline. At that point, the choices facing us will be very limited indeed.

Greg Hands: [900154]

What recent discussions he has had with the Irish Government on ensuring that there is

no hard border on the island of Ireland.

Julian Smith:

I have regular discussions with the Irish Government concerning the UK's exit from

the EU.

The Government is fully committed to ensuring there will be no hard border between

Northern Ireland and Ireland. The Prime Minister has negotiated a new deal which

ensures that will be the case.

Chris Green: [900156]

What recent assessment he has made of the economic importance of the tech sector to

Northern Ireland.

Julian Smith:

Northern Ireland continues to benefit from the decision taken by this Government to

build a stronger economy across the whole of the United Kingdom. Of particular

importance, is the Tech Sector, which provides highly skilled and rewarding jobs, as

well as boosting innovation.

The UK Government has announced economic investments of over £600m through

City and Growth Deals and other initiatives that cover all 11 councils in Northern

Ireland. This provides an excellent opportunity for each to enrich their Tech Sector

capabilities, including digital and R&D innovations; and clearly demonstrates the

Government’s continued support for the development of skills provision and growth in

this innovative sector.

Abortion: Northern Ireland

Stella Creasy: [5439]

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, when the consultation on section 9 of

the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019 will be launched; and what the

terms of the consultation will be.





Julian Smith:

The Government believes that a period of consultation on the issues of abortion law

in Northern Ireland is the right thing to do, given the range of sensitive policy issues

that need to be carefully worked through. We will be looking to shortly launch a

consultation on the proposed new legal framework to be in place by 31 March 2020.

The consultation will focus on how we can deliver the proposed new legislative

framework for Northern Ireland, consistent with the recommendations in the United

Nations Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women

Report, Inquiry concerning the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

under article 8 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All

Forms of Discrimination against Women, to deliver on the statutory duty in section 9

of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019.

Local Growth Deals and City Region Deals: Northern Ireland

Mr Gregory Campbell: [5412]

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what his timescale is for making city

and growth deals payments for Northern Ireland in the event of (a) restoration of

devolution and (b) devolution not being restored in the next 12 months.

Julian Smith:

The release of financial contributions towards City and Growth deals can only be

made with the sign-off of Full Business Cases. The timescale to achieve this is

primarily dependent on the pace and resourcing of the relevant Councils and Deal

partners. For devolved projects, a restored Executive will have to consider the

question of match-funding and agreement of individual projects.

PRIME MINISTER

Members: Surveillance

Chuka Umunna: [5440]

To ask the Prime Minister, with reference to the then Prime Minister’s Written Statement

of 4 November 2015 on the Wilson doctrine, what his policy is on the Wilson doctrine.

Boris Johnson:

The Wilson Doctrine is unchanged from the position set out in my predecessor's

Written Statement of 4 November 2015 (HCWS291).



TRANSPORT

Abellio Greater Anglia: Finance

Andy McDonald: [3770]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the financial performance

data received by his Department from Greater Anglia on 27 September 2019, whether

Abellio Mitsui is fully compliant with the requirements of its franchise agreement.

Chris Heaton-Harris:

The Department can confirm that Greater Anglia was fully compliant with the relevant

financial requirements of its Franchise Agreement based on the financial

performance data received on 27 September 2019.

Driving Instruction: Electric Vehicles

Douglas Chapman: [3717]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department provides incentives

for driving instructors to use electric vehicles.

George Freeman:

The Department provides incentives through grant funding schemes to assist with the

cost of purchasing new electric vehicles. These incentives are available for all

motorists, including driving instructors. Grant funding schemes are also available to

help pay for installing chargepoints in motorists’ homes, residential streets and

workplaces. All electric vehicle motorists benefit from a favourable tax regime that

rewards the cleanest vehicles.

First TransPennine Express: Finance


To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 22 October to

Question 239 on First TransPennine Express: Finance and with reference to the financial

performance data received by his Department on 27 September 2019, whether First is

fully compliant with the requirements of its operating franchise agreement.


The Department can confirm that First TransPennine Express was fully compliant

with the relevant financial requirements of its Franchise Agreement based on the

financial performance data received on 27 September 2019.

Forests


To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many woodland clearances have been

(a) proposed and (b) undertaken by Highways England since 2015; and what estimate he

has made of the total number of woodland clearances proposed by HS2 Ltd.





Paul Maynard:

Highways England do not hold data on woodland clearances centrally. Data on

woodland clearance is, however, recorded within the relevant Environmental

Statement or environmental assessment report developed for each project. Given the

various stages at which Highways England’s projects are developed and delivered it

is not possible to provide an accurate figure at this time of how many woodland sites

have been affected.

HS2’s anticipated impacts on woodlands are set out in the Environmental Statements

for each Phase of the project. The route between London and Crewe (Phases One

and 2a) will affect approximately 3.8 square kilometres of woodland (consisting

0.39km2 ancient woodland, 3.4km2 non-ancient). Along the Phase One route alone,

HS2 Ltd will be creating 9 square kilometres of new native woodland. In addition

HS2’s Woodland Fund will create further woodland and enhance the quality of

existing woodlands.

The working draft Environmental Statement for Crewe to Manchester and West

Midlands to Leeds (Phase 2b) assumes approximately 0.5 square kilometres of

woodlands (consisting 0.17km2 ancient, 0.34km2 non-ancient) will be affected.

Further woodland planting similar to Phase One and 2a will be implemented to

mitigate and compensate.

Motorways: Accidents


To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the of

accidents on smart motorways.

George Freeman:

The top three contributory factors identified by police officers attending the scene of

collisions on smart motorways, which represent around three quarters of those

identified are:

• Driver/Rider Error (i.e. failed to look properly, loss of control)

• Injudicious Action (i.e. close following, travelling too fast for the conditions);

• Impairment/Distraction (i.e. fatigue, mobile phones and impaired by alcohol).

Northern: Finance



Question 238 on Northern: Finance and with reference to the financial performance data

received by his Department on 27 September 2019, whether Arriva is fully compliant with

the requirements of its operating franchise agreement.




The Department can confirm that Northern was fully compliant with the relevant

financial requirements of its Franchise Agreement based on the financial


South Western Railway: Finance


To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Pursuant to the Answer of 22 October to

Question 231 on South Western Railway: Finance and with reference to the financial

performance data received by his Department on 27 September 2019, whether First

Group and MTR Company are fully compliant with the requirements of its operating

franchise agreement.


The Department can confirm that South Western Railway was fully compliant with the

relevant financial requirements of its Franchise Agreement based on the financial


UK Trade with EU: Freight



Question 230 on UK Trade with EU: Freight, what estimate he has made of the cost of

terminating government-secured freight capacity contracts if they are not required from

31 October 2019.


In the event that the capacity is no longer required, DfT would be liable to pay a

maximum of £11.5m in early termination fees though the final figure is expected to be

lower.

TREASURY

Financial Services Ombudsman

Thangam Debbonaire: [5460]

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure

that the Financial Services Ombudsman has adequate resources to (a) conduct thorough

investigations and (b) deliver timely decisions on cases.

John Glen:

Under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, the Financial Conduct Authority

(FCA) is required to take such steps as are necessary to ensure that the Financial

Ombudsman Service (FOS) is capable of exercising its functions, including approving

the FOS’s annual budget. Furthermore, the FOS is subject to statutory audit by the

National Audit Office and must publish reports of determinations.




The FOS and the FCA are operationally independent of Government.

Funerals: Pre-payment

Mr Gregory Campbell: [5413]

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the timeframe is for publishing the outcome

of his Department's consultation on a policy proposal for the regulation of pre-paid funeral

plans.

John Glen:

HM Treasury launched a call for evidence on the regulation of pre-paid funeral plans

in June 2018. The call for evidence confirmed that consumer detriment is present in

the pre-paid funeral plan sector and that there is broad demand for the sector to

come under compulsory regulation.

Consequently, the government intends to bring the pre-paid funeral plan market

within the remit of the Financial Conduct Authority and has consulted on the

proposed legislative framework to implement this proposal. The consultation closed

on 25 August and the government is currently reviewing the responses. A response

to the consultation will be published in due course.

Infrastructure

Kelvin Hopkins: [3519]

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment the Government has made of

the implications for its policies of the recommendations made by the Institution of Civil

Engineers in its paper entitled Reducing the gap between cost estimates and outturns for

major projects and programmes.

Jesse Norman:

The Government considers all reports from relevant stakeholders, and considerable

work is taking place across government to improve the delivery of infrastructure

projects.

Mineworkers' Pension Scheme

Nick Smith: [5421]

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, by what date his Department plans to implement

proposals of the Mineworkers' Pensions Scheme on the long-term protection of pension

bonuses for members of that Scheme.

Rishi Sunak:

A decision on the changes has been taken and we will communicate this to interested

parties shortly.




Offshore Funds

Tulip Siddiq: [5470]

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many bank accounts are held offshore by

(a) central Government, (b) local government and (c) Government controlled companies.


To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what work his Department (a) has undertaken in

the last two years and (b) plans to undertake to strengthen the (i) rules on and (ii)

transparency of the use of offshore banking by government.


To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what (a) work and (b) reviews his Department

has requested from the (i) Ministry of Defence, (ii) Department of Health and Social Care,

(iii) Department for International Development and (iv) Foreign Office on the adequacy of

controls on senior staff using offshore bank accounts.

John Glen:

HM Treasury continues to monitor the value of funds held outside the Exchequer

through regular disclosures made by government departments. These returns include

funds held in offshore bank accounts.

Managing Public Money sets out that it is the responsibility of the organisation’s

accounting officer, working with internal and external auditors, to ensure that the

appropriate financial controls are in place and that the use of all banking services

complies with relevant laws and regulations.

Information on the specific number of offshore bank accounts held by central

Government, local government and Government-controlled companies is currently

not available and could only be provided at a disproportionate cost.

Research Fund for Coal and Steel

Jessica Morden: [3655]

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received on the

use of the £225 million UK share of the Research Fund for Coal and Steel after the UK

leaves the EU.

Rishi Sunak:

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has not received any recent representations on the

use of the UK’s share of the assets of the Research Fund for Coal and Steel. Future

expenditure will be decided at the Spending Review.

If the UK leaves the EU with a withdrawal agreement, we will continue to participate

in the Research Fund for Coal and Steel, during the implementation period.

In a no-deal scenario, UK entities that receive RFCS funding from the European

Commission or submit a successful bid before EU exit will be covered by the

government’s EU programmes guarantee, for the lifetime of the projects. This will





support UK participants to continue to take part in RFCS projects, subject to the UK

entity being eligible to continue to participate in the project.

UK Trade with EU: Northern Ireland


To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with businesses in

Northern Ireland on the requirement to fill out declaration forms to trade with the rest of

the UK under the Government's agreement with the EU.

Jesse Norman:

The Government has engaged and will engage closely with affected businesses and

business representative organisations over the new deal, including those in Northern

Ireland, to ensure that delivery of any new administrative requirements works for

everyone.

WALES

Foreign Students: Wales

Mrs Madeleine Moon: [3682]

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent assessment he has made of the (a)

current level of funding available for study abroad programmes and (b) level of funding for

study abroad programmes available post 2020 for students in Wales; and if he will make

a statement.

Alun Cairns:

As education is devolved, the UK Government does not hold figures on the current

levels of funding for study abroad programmes in Wales.

The UK Government values international exchange and collaboration in education

and training as part of our vision for a global Britain. That is why we support a number

of outward mobility and exchange programmes which broaden access to international

opportunities – schemes such as Fulbright scholarships and Generation UK China.

We can expect our world-leading HE providers to continue their strong track record of

partnering with overseas institutions post-2020.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Universal Credit

Mike Amesbury: [3790]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of

the adequacy of the six-month limit on the easement of work-related requirements for

universal credit for bereavement of a partner or child.




Will Quince:

When a Universal Credit (UC) claimant suffers a bereavement there are easements

to work-related requirement which can be applied. These will be discussed and

agreed, on an individual basis, with the claimant’s Work Coach or Case Manager. In

some circumstances payment of UC, that would otherwise reduce or stop following a

bereavement, can continue for a short time. This is called a ‘Bereavement run-on’,

and may be applied when a partner or dependent child dies.

The ‘Bereavement run-on’ results in UC continuing to be paid as if there had been no

change of circumstances for the assessment period in which the death occurs and

the following two assessment periods.

Universal Credit: Disqualification

Neil Gray: [3707]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Government

response to the Work and Pensions Committee’s Nineteenth Report of Session 2017–19,

Benefit sanctions. HC1949, when her Department plans to publish its evaluation on

whether the sanctions regime within universal credit is effective at supporting claimants to

search for work; and what the reason is for the time taken to publish that evaluation.

Mims Davies:

The Department will look to publish its evaluation by the end of 2019.

Universal Credit: Fraud

Mike Amesbury: [6511]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the

debt incurred by individuals as a result of being scammed into claiming an advance for

universal credit.

Guy Opperman:

On the 18th September 2019 we brought in changes to the application process for

Universal Credit advances to protect innocent people from these scams.

In order to determine whether an individual is liable to repay an advance, we look at

the strength of evidence provided. Our investigations play an important part in

establishing whether a claimant has had any involvement. In some cases, we will be

able to establish that a claimant was entirely innocent and did not benefit from the

payment, in which case we would not seek to recover the money from them.

As each case is different and is judged solely on its merits, and as our investigations

are still ongoing, it is not possible to accurately estimate the amount individuals could

be asked to repay.



MINISTERIAL CORRECTIONS

HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE

NHS and Social Services: Agency Workers



the cost to the (a) NHS and (b) social care system of (i) fees, (ii) markups and (ii)

commissions to supply agencies for (A) clinical and (B) other staff.

An error has been identified in the written answer given on 30 October 2019. The

correct answer should have been:

Edward Argar:

In 2018/19, National Health Service trusts spent £2.40 billion on agency staff,

including clinical and non-clinical staff. Between March 2018 and March 2019, £938

million was spent on agency medical staff, £950 million on agency nursing staff and

£513 million on other staff.1

NHS Improvement’s agency rules include a cap which sets a ceiling for agency fees.

Full details of the NHS Improvement price caps are attached.

The Department does not hold data that shows the breakdown of fees, markups and

commissions.

The Department does not hold this data for social care. The Skills for Care

programme estimates that in 2018/19 agency social care staff represented 7% of the

1.52 million people strong adult social care workforce. 2

Notes:

[1]

https://improvement.nhs.uk/documents/5404/Performance_of_the_NHS_provider_se

ctor_for_the_quarter_4_1819.pdf

2https://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/adult-social-care-workforce-data/Workforce-

intelligence/documents/State-of-the-adult-social-care-sector/State-of-Report-2019.pdf

Attachments:

1. Price_card_2019-20_v2.0.xlsx

JUSTICE

Prisons: Repairs and Maintenance


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) key performance indicators are for

Amey under the prison maintenance contracts and (b) average annual performance of

Amey has been against those indicators.









An error has been identified in the written answer given on 24 October 2019. The

correct answer should have been:

Lucy Frazer:

Please see the accompanying document, which details the KPI regime for the

facilities management contract HMPPS holds with Amey, as well as the recorded

performance against these KPI’s averaged across the last 12 months for which this

data is available (June 2017- May 2018). Contractor performance is robustly

monitored and we will not hesitate to take action where standards fall short.

Attachments:

1. Amey KPI's and 12 monthly average performance.xlsx

WRITTEN STATEMENTS

BUSINESS, ENERGY AND INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY

People with Significant Control Post-Implementation Review

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Small Business, Consumers and

Corporate Responsibility) (Kelly Tolhurst): [HCWS50]

The Government will today publish the report on the statutory post-implementation review

of the People with Significant Control (PSC) regulations. We are required to complete a

PIR by virtue of various regulations:

• Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015;

• The Register of People with Significant Control Regulations 2016;

• The Limited Liability Partnerships (Register of People with Significant Control)

Regulations 2016;

• The European Public Limited-Liability Company (Register of People with Significant

Control) Regulations 2016;

• The Scottish Partnerships (Register of People with Significant Control) Regulations

2017.

The People with Significant Control (PSC) register was established in 2016 to enhance

the transparency of ultimate (beneficial) ownership of UK companies. The goals of the

register are to promote good corporate behaviour and to deter illicit activity. UK

companies and partnerships in scope of the regulations are required to keep a register of

their beneficial owners and to report this information to Companies House.

This is the first review of the PSC regulations since the register was established. My

Department assessed the operation of the register, the stakeholder engagement with it

and the burdens the requirements place on business.

The review report concludes that the PSC register is meeting its objectives and that the

costs to business have been proportionate and in line with the original estimates. The

register is widely used, has a positive economic effect and contributes to the fight against

criminal use of companies.

The report notes the importance of ensuring the reliability of the PSC Register

information. This is being considered and will be addressed as part of the wider review of

the corporate transparency and register reform.

The PSC Regulations will, therefore, remain in their current form and we will continue to

monitor the operation of the register. The next statutory Post-Implementation Review of

the PSC Regulations will be carried out within the next 5 years.

A copy of the post-implementation review report will be laid before Parliament.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2019-10-30/HCWS50/

EDUCATION

Education Update

The Secretary of State for Education (Gavin Williamson): [HCWS52]

I would like to update the House on some of the Department for Education’s key

achievements since 2010.

We are helping families with the cost of childcare. The parents of over 1.4 million

children are taking advantage of funded early education in 2019. This Government is

committed to making childcare more affordable and more accessible, saving eligible

families up to £5,000 per child every year.

• We offer free childcare for 3 and 4 year olds. The Government offers a free

universal 15 hours per week of childcare, with a free additional 15 hours for 3 and 4

year olds whose parents are in work (a total of 30 hours of free childcare per week

for eligible working parents).

• The vast majority of eligible children benefit from these entitlements. An estimated

328,200 children aged 3 and 4 were benefitting from 30 hours free childcare in the

spring term of 2019. Take up of the 15 hours offer is very high - 92% of 3 year olds

and 95% of 4 year olds are benefiting from free hours.

• An estimated 600,000 children have benefitted from a 30 hours place throughout

the first two years of national delivery.

• We offer free childcare for disadvantaged 2 year olds. The Government offers 15

hours of free childcare per week for the most disadvantaged families.

• The vast majority of eligible children benefit from this entitlement. In the spring term

of 2019, 148,800 2 year olds from disadvantaged families benefited from 15 hours

a week of funded free childcare.

• Over 850,000 children have benefitted from the 2-year olds entitlement since it

began.

• Free childcare is popular with parents of 2-4 year olds. There is 95% satisfaction

among parents using the 2-year-old entitlement, 91% among parents using

universal hours for 3-4 year-olds, and 95% among parents using the 30 hours

entitlement on how the funded hours can be used. Three quarters of parents

reported having more money to spend since they started using the 30 hours, and

80% said the quality of their family life had improved.

• We plan to spend around £3.5 billion on our early education entitlements this year

alone, and £3.6 billion planned for next year. We want to support early years

providers in delivering high quality care and education, which is why the Chancellor

recently announced funding to increase hourly rates for the Government’s free

hours offers for 2020-21.


• We are raising the quality and professionalism of the early years workforce by

investing £20 million in high quality professional development for early years

practitioners.

We are giving schools the biggest funding boost in a decade over the next three

years: a total of £14 billion more - a cash increase of £2.6 billion next year, £4.8 billion

and £7.1 billion in 2021-22 and 2022-23 respectively, compared to 2019-20.

• We are levelling up funding across the country, so that every secondary school will

receive a minimum of £5,000 per pupil in 2020-21, and every primary school will

receive a minimum of £3,750 per pupil in 2020-21, rising to £4,000 by 2021-22.

• This is in addition to the £1.5 billion per year we will continue to provide to fund

additional pension costs for teachers over the next three years. Taken together,

this means that by 2022-23 we will be providing an additional £150 million a week

to our schools.

• We introduced the National Funding Formula to distribute school funding fairly

across the country, ensuring funding is based on schools’ and pupils’ needs and

characteristics, not accidents of geography or history.

• We are investing additional funding for 16 to 19 year olds, with increased funding of

£400 million in 2020-21 – the biggest injection of new money into 16-19 education

in a single year since 2010. In addition, we will be allocating at least £100 million in

2020-21 to cover pension costs in the further education sector.

Our education reforms mean more children are getting a world class education at

good or outstanding schools. 85% of all children are now in good or outstanding

schools, up from 66% in 2010. As of March 2019 there were 1.9 million more children in

good or outstanding schools than in 2010, thanks in part to our reforms.

• Failing schools are turned around as sponsored academies. Over 7 out of 10

inspected sponsored academies are now good or outstanding – only 1 in 10 were

judged good or outstanding before they converted. There are over 2,300

sponsored academies.

• Where schools are judged inadequate by Ofsted, we act quickly. For a maintained

school, this means becoming an academy to benefit from the support of a strong

sponsor. For an academy, we will transfer them to a stronger academy trust if

necessary.

• We are increasing support for schools that need additional help. We will be offering

around 2,400 schools rated ‘Requires Improvement’ by Ofsted optional support in a

package worth up to £16.5 million overall.

• We are making it easier for underperforming schools to access school

improvement support. Through the Teaching School Hubs test and learn phase

around 2,000 schools will benefit from reforms to strengthen and improve school

leadership. A competitive grant procurement is underway for Teaching School Hub

‘test-and-learn’ phase, which is the first part of our plans to strengthen the current

structure of system leadership.

• Introducing a clearer and simpler school accountability system. This offers much

greater clarity about when we will and will not intervene in a school, by removing

the floor and coasting standards, and acknowledges that Ofsted, as an

independent body, is best placed to identify inadequate educational performance

which requires intervention.

• We are tackling teacher workload. Our wide-ranging programme of work includes

publication of the workload reduction toolkit which supports school leaders,

teachers and other staff to address workload issues in their school. We have

published the Making Data Work report, and are acting on the recommendations to

tackle excessive data burdens in schools.

• In 2018, we announced an additional £7.7 million to support teachers to access

high quality curriculum resources and reduce their workload.

• The findings from the Teacher Workload Survey 2019, published on 11 October,

suggest there has been a reduction between 2016 and 2019 in reported working

hours for teachers, middle leaders and senior leaders of 5 hours a week. Whilst

this is encouraging, we will continue to take action to address workload and

improve work-life balance.

• We are working hard to recruit and retain brilliant teachers. In January 2019 we

launched the Early Career Framework. This will underpin a fully-funded, two-year

package of structured training and support for all early career teachers, linked to

the best available research evidence. We recruited 34,595 teachers to start their

training in 2018, over 2,600 more than in 2017-18.

• We are making sure teaching is an attractive graduate profession. It is vital we

ensure that the pay offer for teachers is positioned at the top of the graduate labour

market, and that is why we are setting out plans to significantly raise starting pay to

£30,000 by September 2022.

We are opening high performing new free schools to improve choice for parents

and outcomes for children. Through the free schools programme, this Government has

funded thousands of good new school places and opened schools across the country.

• As of 1 October 2019 there are 507 open free schools, 48 University Technical

Colleges and 24 studio schools. These will provide over 320,000 places when at

capacity.

• We have approved a further 227 applications from groups that we are now working

with to establish new free schools.

• In 2019, 7 of the top 15 provisional Progress 8 scores were achieved by free

schools, including 3 of the top 5 – Eden Boys’ School Birmingham, Eden Girls’

School Coventry and Michaela Community School in Brent.

• Free schools are disproportionately located in more deprived areas, and 18 per

cent of all open free schools are dedicated to special needs or alternative

provision.

• We have opened two specialist Maths Free Schools, offering A Levels in Maths,

Further Maths and Physics, for young people aged 16-19 who wish to study

mathematical subjects at university. These two schools are achieving excellent

results: in 2019 King’s Maths School reported that 100% of their students achieved

grades of A or A* at A Level Maths; Exeter Maths School reported that 93% of

students achieved an A or A* in their Maths A Level. There are a further five such

schools planned to open with funding secured for a total of eleven, enabling at

least one Maths Free School to open in every region.

We are ensuring that all children are able to succeed, no matter their background.

The attainment gap has narrowed between disadvantage pupils and others, as measured

by the disadvantage gap index, by 13 percent at age 11 and 9 percent at age 16 since

2011.

• We are supporting the most disadvantaged pupils, including those eligible for free

school meals, with additional funding. The Government has spent more than £15

billion since 2011 – and another £2.4 billion this year - through the pupil premium to

tackle educational inequality.

• We have increased funding for pupils with Special Educational Needs. We will be

investing an additional £780 million in high needs funding in 2020-21 – a 12%

increase on the amount available this year. This will bring the total spent on those

with the most complex needs to over £7 billion.

We are getting reading off to a strong start so children have the literacy they need

to succeed. In 2019, 82% of pupils met the expected standard in the phonics screening

check, compared to just 58% when the check was introduced (in 2012).

More pupils are studying the core academic subjects at school. The proportion of all

pupils at the end of key stage 4 entering the English Baccalaureate (studying GCSEs in

English language and literature, maths, the sciences, geography or history and a

language) has risen from 22% in 2010 to 40% in 2019 in state funded schools.

• Since the EBacc performance measure was first introduced in 2010, the proportion

of pupils entering the EBacc has increased from 22% in 2010 to 40% in 2019 in

state funded schools.

• Mathematics has been the most popular A Level since 2014, making up 11.4% of

all A Level entries in 2019.

This Government has created one million more school places. We are on track to

create 1 million new school places this decade - the largest increase for two generations.

This follows a fall of 100,000 school places between 2004 and 2010.

We are creating T Levels – a new gold standard technical qualification so that

young people gain the skills they need for employment. T Levels will be high-quality

technical alternatives to A Levels, combining classroom theory, practical learning and a

meaningful industry placement.

• We are on track for the first three T Levels for Digital, Education and Construction

to be taught from September 2020, with a further seven taught from 2021, and all

25 by 2023.

• We have extensive support in place for their implementation, including £60 million

to build capacity for industry placements, £8 million to prepare teachers and

leaders and a £38m capital fund.

• Each T Level will require students to undertake a 45-day work placement.

• Overall additional funding for T Levels will rise to an extra £500 million a year once

the programme is fully rolled out.

Record rates of 18 year olds are going to university. In 2018, one-third of all 18 year

olds entered full-time higher education – the highest on record. The proportion of 18 year

olds from disadvantaged backgrounds entering full-time higher education is up from

13.6% in 2009 to 20.2% in 2018. This is the highest on record.

• We have removed the cap on student numbers, allowing more people with the

talent and potential the opportunity to be successful at university.

• Through the Higher Education and Research Act we introduced a duty to promote

equality of opportunity in access and participation in higher education and we

expect to see further progress, particularly among the most selective institutions.

• All higher education providers must now publish application offer, acceptance,

dropout and attainment rates of students by ethnicity, gender and socio-economic

background. This will help hold the sector to account for their record on access and

retention of students from lower socio-economic and other backgrounds.

• Higher Education providers have committed to spend £860 million in 2019/20 on

measures to improve access and student success – up significantly from £404

million in 2009. The Office for Students is monitoring how effectively higher

education providers spend this money.

Improving higher technical education by establishing new Institutes of Technology

– making it easier to upskill and gain highly skilled employment.

• An Institute of Technology is a legally binding collaboration between further

education colleges, higher education institutions and employers.

• They are being created to specialise in delivering higher technical training at Levels

4 and 5 (above A Level but below degree level), primarily in STEM subjects aligned

to local economic priorities.

• IoTs will deliver a mix of apprenticeship and classroom-based provision for

industries such as digital, advanced manufacturing and engineering – industries

where there are skills gaps and growing demand - in order to provide employers

with the skilled workforce they need.

We are investing up to £290 million capital funding to build an IoT network across the

country. The first 12 IoTs are now starting to go live, following a comprehensive

competition, and we have recently announced plans to open up to 8 more to enable there

to be an IoT in every region of the country.

More people are benefitting from new high-quality apprenticeships. Our reforms

have fundamentally changed what apprenticeships involve and the long-term

opportunities they provide.

• Over 1.8 million people have started an apprenticeship since May 2015.

• Over 60% of starts are now on high-quality, industry-designed standards, with over

500 available.

• In 2019-20 funding for apprenticeships is over £2.5 billion, double what was spent

in 2010-11.

Fewer young people are not in education, employment or training. The number of

16-24 year olds not in education, employment or training in the UK is down by 281,000

since 2010.

• We have raised the participation age so that young people are now required to

continue in education or training until at least their 18 th birthday. Young people

can choose to participate through full-time education, a job or volunteering

combined with combined with part-time study, or by undertaking an apprenticeship.

This gives all young people the opportunity to develop skills and qualifications that

will open doors to future employment, help them make the most of their potential,

and earn more over their lifetime.

We are improving support for the most vulnerable children.

• Adoption waiting times have come down. The average time between a child

entering care and being placed with a family has reduced by 7 months since 2012-

13.

• We are supporting families through the Adoption Support Fund. This has provided

over £130 million to local authorities and regional adoption agencies for therapeutic

support to over 5,000 families.

• We are supporting foster families to provide on-going support to young people

leaving care. We are investing a further £10 million to expand Staying Put, to

create stable homes for care leavers as they become adults. The programme will

help more care leavers to continue living with their foster families until they reach

21. We are providing a further £6 million in 2021/22 to roll out Staying Close across

the country, helping young people leaving residential care to continue to get on-

going support from their previous carers they know and trust.

• We are helping Care Leavers achieve their ambitions. We launched the Care

Leaver Covenant and are spending £5 million on 3 Social Impact Bonds to help

care leavers into education, employment or training. We are also investing £3

million to extend the Pupil Premium Plus to all 16-18 year old care leavers,

supporting their transition into further education.

• We are improving support for children in care. Our Innovation Programme has

invested £200 million in 98 projects to enable local authorities to test new

approaches to supporting children in the social care system.

• We are strengthening families. Building on and scaling the learning and evidence

from the Innovation Programme by enabling up to 60 local authorities to adopt and

adapt whole system and targeted projects which have successfully supported more

children to stay at home thriving in stable family environments.

• The Government has committed £920 million to the second phase of the Troubled

Families programme, which aims to achieve significant and sustained improvement

for up to 400,000 families in challenging circumstances.

• We are improving the quality and prestige of the social care workforce. More than

2,200 high achieving graduates have been trained through fast-track programmes

Frontline and Step up to Social Work. The Assessed and Supported Year in

Employment has supported more than 15,000 newly qualified social workers since

2012.

INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Departmental Update

Secretary of State for International Trade (Elizabeth Truss): [HCWS51]

I would like to update the House on the work of the Department for International Trade.

1. Supported UK exports worth over £2trn since June 2016. Since the department

was established, UK exports have grown from £537bn to £654bn – an increase

of 22%.

1. Sustained the UK’s place as Europe’s top destination for Foreign Direct Investment

since 2003. DIT has supported 3,118 individual investments in the UK, helping to

create 120,000 new jobs between April 2017 to March 2019 and attracting more

projects, new jobs and investment capital than any other European country.

1. Helped to realise the UK’s potential as the top destination for tech innovation and

talent by attracting international investment. This has resulted in the

announcement of billions of pounds of investment in the UK from leading

technology companies, including £1bn from software company VMware, £1.9bn

from software company Salesforce, and £150m from IT service management

company Markley Group.

1. Dismantled barriers and opened up markets to British businesses across the world.

This included:Securing an agreement with China to lift its longstanding ban on

exports of beef from the UK, a landmark move for British producers that was

estimated by industry experts at the time of the deal to be worth £250m in the first

five years alone;Lifting a ban on British beef and lamb exports to Japan, allowing

exports which at the time were estimated by industry experts to be worth £130m

over five years;Lifting the ban on British pork exports to Taiwan in August 2018.


This has contributed to £2.1m of UK pork being exported to Taiwan in the first half

of 2019 alone.Securing changes to public procurement rules on early childhood

vaccinations in Bulgaria, supporting the UK to win a procurement worth £35 m.

1. Kicked off detailed technical preparations to ensure that the UK is ready to have

our own independent trade policy for the first time in 46 years. This means that

now:We are ready to take our independent seat at the WTO.We have a Trade

Remedies Investigations Directorate to ensure UK businesses are safeguarded

from unfair trade practices.We have established working groups and high-level

trade dialogues with key trade partners including the United States, Australia,

China, the Gulf Cooperation Council, India, Japan and New Zealand. We also

continue to use other instruments such as Joint Trade Reviews with countries

including China, India and Brazil.

1. Delivered a series of consultations on new trade agreements with the United

States, Australia and New Zealand, as well as potential accession to the

Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. These

attracted over 600,000 responses from businesses and civil society groups across

the UK.

1. Launched a new Export Strategy further to raise exports to 35% as a proportion of

UK GDP. This will build on the increase of exports from 27% of GDP to 30% of

GDP since the department was created. Created the Export Champion network,

made up of over 1,000 export champions and advocates, to provide peer-to-peer

support to businesses across the UK.

1. Shielded UK trade from 85% of the additional duties that would have been

imposed, by securing 18 continuity trade agreements with countries that accounted

for £109 billion of trade in 2018, together with our Temporary Tariff Regime. This

will ensure continuity for U.K. businesses however we leave the EU. [1]

1. Attracted more than 94,000 bids for international export opportunities from UK

businesses via the GREAT.gov.uk platform. We launched a new Export

Opportunities platform to match UK businesses with international opportunities.

Over 285,000 export opportunities have already been published by international

businesses and governments, and GREAT.gov.uk is used by more than 36,000

registered businesses as well as around 140,000 unique visitors each month.

1. Providedover £7.9bn worth of backing for exports through UK Export Finance,

supporting over 63,000 jobs since April 2017. In June 2019, UK Export Finance

also announced an extensive new finance package to support the UK’s 5.7m

small and medium-sized enterprises to export into emerging markets.

[1] See gov.uk for more details: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/uk-trade-agreements-with-

non-eu-countries-in-a-no-deal-brexit

https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2FGREAT.gov.uk&data=02%7C01%7CBonnie.Sleeman%40trade.gov.uk%7C9dafef2881094233470c08d753e13df3%7C8fa217ec33aa46fbad96dfe68006bb86%7C0%7C0%7C637070099202652147&sdata=3WJZ9IpsNroQ2cfBy1rM1%2FBwCne8on1bQT7%2B0X%2FAfwA%3D&reserved=0

https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2FGREAT.gov.uk&data=02%7C01%7CBonnie.Sleeman%40trade.gov.uk%7C9dafef2881094233470c08d753e13df3%7C8fa217ec33aa46fbad96dfe68006bb86%7C0%7C0%7C637070099202652147&sdata=3WJZ9IpsNroQ2cfBy1rM1%2FBwCne8on1bQT7%2B0X%2FAfwA%3D&reserved=0

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/uk-trade-agreements-with-non-eu-countries-in-a-no-deal-brexit



JUSTICE

Prisoner Escort and Custody Services

The Minister of State for Justice (Lucy Frazer): [HCWS48]

I am pleased to announce the Government has awarded two new contracts for the

Prisoner Escort and Custody Services (PECS) Generation 4 Lot North and Lot South, to

GEOAmey Ltd and Serco Ltd respectively.

This follows a competitive procedure with negotiation conducted in accordance with

public sector procurement directive 2014/24/EU. GEOAmey Ltd and Serco Ltd have

offered the best overall bids in terms of quality of service and cost, relative to the other

bids received.

The new contracts will build upon the current service, and deliver significant

improvements and efficiencies to meet the future needs of Her Majesty’s Prison and

Probation Service (HMPPS), Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS), the

Youth Custody Service (YCS) and the Police. Both suppliers will deliver more frequent

collections from police stations and courts, with quicker collection times from courts (and

return to prisons). The new service also includes a new fleet of escort vans with improved

safety and security features.

The new contracts will commence on 29 August 2020 for a period of 10 years, and

performance of both will be monitored through monthly Contract Management Review

meetings to ensure performance is maintained throughout the life time of the contracts

and suppliers are held to account.

PRIME MINISTER

The Grenfell Tower Inquiry: Publication of its Phase 1 Report

Prime Minister (Boris Johnson): [HCWS49]

This morning, Sir Martin Moore-Bick has published the phase 1 report of the independent

Grenfell Tower Inquiry. A copy of the report has been laid before each House of

Parliament. This is a difficult day for all those who lost their loved ones, homes and

possessions in that unimaginable tragedy, and found their lives devastated. Our first

thoughts should be with them.

The report is a very substantial document, which includes a detailed description of the

events of the night of 14 June 2017, as well as the Chair’s findings about the nature of

the building, the origins of the fire, it’s subsequent development, the response of the

London Fire Brigade and the steps taken by the other emergency services. It also

contains a number of recommendations that my Government will consider with the utmost

urgency. The bereaved, survivors and local residents have waited a long time for the

Inquiry’s report, and it is right that the report should be debated in parliament on the day

of its publication. But given the substantial nature of the report, and the limited time that

parliamentarians have had to read the text, I am committed to holding a further debate at



the earliest opportunity once Members have had an opportunity to properly scrutinise its

contents. I hope that the bereaved and survivors can draw at least some solace from the

rigorous, detailed nature of Sir Martin’s report.

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