Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of the Target Operating Model on Divisional Sex Offender Units.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of hybrid working models in the Civil Service; and what steps they are taking to adapt policies to balance the benefits of both remote and in-office work.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Work is ongoing to update policies and practices to ensure we maximise the benefits of both remote and face to face working, including investing in our estate to ensure we provide a positive workplace experience with the right technology and facilities and enhancing our line managers capabilities to manage effectively in a hybrid working environment.
The Civil Service has had a hybrid working model for some years now, and it is applying this flexibly to help balance business and personal requirements. Hybrid working is part of the Civil Service approach to flexible working as set out in the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy: 2022-2025, which recognises the importance of flexibility in the ways of working and location as key to increasing innovation, performance and engagement as well as attracting diverse talent and representing the UK as a whole.
Carrying out tasks in the right place allows us to maximise efficiency and helps us to identify parts of the estate that are not optimally configured or can be released at the earliest opportunity, with appropriate lease breaks.
Hybrid working is important in making a success of the government’s Places for Growth Programme, including the creation of the non-London headquarters announced by ministers over the last year. The Treasury, for example, is positioning the new economic campus in Darlington as a full second headquarters with senior policy roles currently performed in Whitehall. Without hybrid meetings combining colleagues online and others ‘in the room’ this model cannot work.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to analyse and attribute the level and causes of excess deaths in the UK since 2020, both those caused directly by COVID-19 and those from other sources.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Excess deaths are the difference between the number of registered deaths and the number expected based on previous trends. Weekly estimates of excess deaths are published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Its latest data shows that for the years 2020 to 2022, there were an estimated 151,506 estimated excess deaths in England.
It is likely that deaths from COVID-19 were a large driver of excess deaths in the peak pandemic periods. Deaths were above the expected level for most of the second half of 2021, and from March 2022 until the summer of 2023; however, deaths have been below the expected level for most weeks since then.
The drivers of excess deaths are not fully understood, and the excess is likely to be the net effect of many complex and potentially related factors. The attribution of excess deaths to these factors is complex and beyond the scope of the ONS methodology. The UK Health Security Agency has estimated the excess deaths due to acute factors, such as heatwaves, cold snaps, COVID-19 and influenza.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of excess deaths that have arisen as a consequence of restrictions and lockdowns arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Excess deaths are the difference between the number of registered deaths and the number expected based on previous trends. Weekly estimates of excess deaths are published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Its latest data shows that for the years 2020 to 2022, there were an estimated 151,506 estimated excess deaths in England.
It is likely that deaths from COVID-19 were a large driver of excess deaths in the peak pandemic periods. Deaths were above the expected level for most of the second half of 2021, and from March 2022 until the summer of 2023; however, deaths have been below the expected level for most weeks since then.
The drivers of excess deaths are not fully understood, and the excess is likely to be the net effect of many complex and potentially related factors. The attribution of excess deaths to these factors is complex and beyond the scope of the ONS methodology. The UK Health Security Agency has estimated the excess deaths due to acute factors, such as heatwaves, cold snaps, COVID-19 and influenza.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many staff have left the Construction Industry Training Board in each year since 2015.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Newcastle (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to data released by the Office for National Statistics Alcohol-specific deaths in the UK: registered in 2022, published on 22 April, which showed that the North-East had the highest rate of alcohol-specific deaths of any English region in 2022, what steps they are taking to reduce alcohol-related harm in that region.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Through the 2021 Drugs Strategy we are making the largest ever single increase in drug and alcohol treatment and recovery funding, with £780 million of additional investment. Of this, £532 million is being invested to rebuild local authority commissioned substance misuse treatment services in England, including alcohol treatment services. The Supplemental Substance Misuse Treatment and Recovery (SSMTR) Grant is the mechanism by which local authorities receive Drug Strategy funding. This is additional to the amounts invested through the Public Health Grant. The following table shows the SSMTR Grant and the Inpatient Detox (IPD) Grant allocations for the North East, in 2022/23, 2023/24, and 2024/25, as well as the total for those three years:
| 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 | Total |
SSMTR | £7,051,992 | £13,677,970 | £24,787,253 | £45,517,215 |
IPD | £727,295 | £727,295 | £727,295 | £2,181,885 |
The Department is also providing £1,157,212 in funding to three local authorities in the North East, specifically Middlesborough, Newcastle, and Durham, to improve access to drug and alcohol treatment services for people who sleep rough, or who are at risk of sleeping rough. Under the NHS Long Term Plan, between 2019/20 and 2024/25, NHS England has made over £30 million available to local healthcare systems to facilitate the delivery of specialist Alcohol Care Teams in hospitals in the areas with the highest rates of alcohol harm and socioeconomic deprivation.
The Office for Health Improvements and Disparities is developing comprehensive United Kingdom guidelines for the clinical management of harmful drinking and alcohol dependence. The overarching aim of the guideline is to develop a clear consensus on good practice, and improve the quality of treatment and support.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Newcastle (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the publication of data by the Office for National Statistics Alcohol-specific deaths in the UK: registered in 2022 on 22 April, which revealed that 2022 was the highest year on record for deaths from alcohol-specific causes registered in the UK, what plans they have to publish an alcohol-specific strategy.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Through the 2021 Drugs Strategy we are making the largest ever single increase in drug and alcohol treatment and recovery funding, with £780 million of additional investment. Of this, £532 million is being invested to rebuild local authority commissioned substance misuse treatment services in England, including alcohol treatment services. The Supplemental Substance Misuse Treatment and Recovery (SSMTR) Grant is the mechanism by which local authorities receive Drug Strategy funding. This is additional to the amounts invested through the Public Health Grant. The following table shows the SSMTR Grant and the Inpatient Detox (IPD) Grant allocations for the North East, in 2022/23, 2023/24, and 2024/25, as well as the total for those three years:
| 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 | Total |
SSMTR | £7,051,992 | £13,677,970 | £24,787,253 | £45,517,215 |
IPD | £727,295 | £727,295 | £727,295 | £2,181,885 |
The Department is also providing £1,157,212 in funding to three local authorities in the North East, specifically Middlesborough, Newcastle, and Durham, to improve access to drug and alcohol treatment services for people who sleep rough, or who are at risk of sleeping rough. Under the NHS Long Term Plan, between 2019/20 and 2024/25, NHS England has made over £30 million available to local healthcare systems to facilitate the delivery of specialist Alcohol Care Teams in hospitals in the areas with the highest rates of alcohol harm and socioeconomic deprivation.
The Office for Health Improvements and Disparities is developing comprehensive United Kingdom guidelines for the clinical management of harmful drinking and alcohol dependence. The overarching aim of the guideline is to develop a clear consensus on good practice, and improve the quality of treatment and support.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Minister without Portfolio's article of 12 May 2024 in The Sunday Telegraph, when the Royal Botanic Gardens is expected to terminate its contract with Red Snapper Ltd., procurement reference BIP829617988; and whether a notice period will be required under the provisions of that contract.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is an operationally independent arm’s length body (ALB). Civil Service EDI expenditure guidance does not extend to organisations outside the Civil Service or ALBs not employing Civil Servants.
The contract with Red Snapper Ltd is due to expire on 21 February 2025.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government why they intend to consult on their longstanding commitment regarding single-sex hospital accommodation in their NHS Constitution 10-year review.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is not consulting on the longstanding policy of single-sex hospital accommodation, as part of the NHS Constitution consultation. We are consulting on an update to the existing pledge on sleeping accommodation in hospitals, to reflect the legal position on the provision of same-sex services on which transgender patients can be offered separate accommodation, as a proportionate means to a legitimate aim. We are consulting on this in recognition of the concerns that patients may have about sharing hospital accommodation with patients of the opposite sex.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the economy of the fall in applications by international students to study in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.