Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much was spent on (1) tax free childcare, (2) the universal 15 hours free childcare offer for three and four year olds, and (3) the extended childcare offer for three and four year olds, in the last year for which figures are available.
Answered by Baroness Barran
Tax-Free Childcare is for working parents of children aged 0-11, or 0-16 for disabled children, and has the same income criteria as 30 hours free childcare. In the 2021/22 financial year the government spent £411.3 million on Tax-Free Childcare.
The numbers of families and children who have used Tax-Free Childcare between 2020 and 2022 are as follows:
The universal 15 hours free early education entitlement is available to all three and four-year-olds regardless of parental circumstances. The government spent £2,212,241,262 on the universal entitlement in financial year 2021/22.
The numbers of children registered for the universal 15-hour entitlement between 2020 and 2022 are captured annually, as follows:
The extended 15 hours entitlement, also known as 30 hours free childcare, is available for eligible working parents of three and four year olds, on top of the universal 15 hours free early education entitlement. The government spent £837,497,401 on the extended 15 hour entitlement in the 2021/22 financial year.
The numbers of children registered for the 30 hours free childcare between 2020 and 2022 are as follows:
The department does not collect data on parents who apply for the entitlements, only children who have registered.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many parents claimed (1) tax free childcare payments, (2) the universal 15 hours free childcare offer for three and four year olds, and (3) the extended childcare offer for three and four year olds, for the last three years.
Answered by Baroness Barran
Tax-Free Childcare is for working parents of children aged 0-11, or 0-16 for disabled children, and has the same income criteria as 30 hours free childcare. In the 2021/22 financial year the government spent £411.3 million on Tax-Free Childcare.
The numbers of families and children who have used Tax-Free Childcare between 2020 and 2022 are as follows:
The universal 15 hours free early education entitlement is available to all three and four-year-olds regardless of parental circumstances. The government spent £2,212,241,262 on the universal entitlement in financial year 2021/22.
The numbers of children registered for the universal 15-hour entitlement between 2020 and 2022 are captured annually, as follows:
The extended 15 hours entitlement, also known as 30 hours free childcare, is available for eligible working parents of three and four year olds, on top of the universal 15 hours free early education entitlement. The government spent £837,497,401 on the extended 15 hour entitlement in the 2021/22 financial year.
The numbers of children registered for the 30 hours free childcare between 2020 and 2022 are as follows:
The department does not collect data on parents who apply for the entitlements, only children who have registered.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to (1) ensuring men's health is made a ministerial priority, and (2) making improvements to men's health a specific strand of work within the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities.
Answered by Lord Kamall
Improving the health of both men and women is a ministerial priority for the Department. Evidence suggests that men are disproportionately affected by certain conditions, such as ischemic heart disease, are more likely to smoke or engage in other health harming behaviours and are more likely to die by suicide. We have committed to reduce stroke and heart attacks and the forthcoming publication of the new Tobacco Control Plan will target groups where smoking rates are not decreasing, including men. We are also investing in measures to prevent suicide.
While there are no current plans to make men’s health a specific strand of work, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities aims to improve the health of the population regardless of socio-economic background or gender.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what periodic review of literature they conduct in respect of the latest scientific evidence on foetal viability.
Answered by Lord Kamall
Officials regularly review new evidence on foetal viability. There is currently no clear consensus from the medical profession that the age of viability has reduced below 24 weeks.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Kamall on 7 December 2021 (HL3991), whether the additional data collected will include a record of the NHS numbers of patients who have had a termination procedure to enable effective tracking of both short and long term complications.
Answered by Lord Kamall
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Kamall on 7 December 2021 (HL3991), whether the additional data collected will include data to monitor long term complications such as (1) fertility, including future miscarriage, and (2) future premature births.
Answered by Lord Kamall
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the expenditure on Marriage Allowance in (1) 2018–19, (2) 2019–20, and (3) 2020–21.
Answered by Baroness Penn
The most recent estimates for the expenditure and uptake of Marriage Allowance can be found in the Non-structural tax reliefs publication[1], last updated in December 2021. The estimated expenditure for Marriage Allowance is £490 million in 2018-19, £540 million in 2019-20, and £560 million in 2020-21. The number of claimants was estimated at 2,020,000 in 2019-20. Estimates of the number of claimants are the latest available and reflect only successful claimants up to that point in time and not the anticipated full take up when all backdated claims have been made in future tax years (up to 4 years later).
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/main-tax-expenditures-and-structural-reliefs
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what were the uptake figures for Marriage Allowance in the latest available year.
Answered by Baroness Penn
The most recent estimates for the expenditure and uptake of Marriage Allowance can be found in the Non-structural tax reliefs publication[1], last updated in December 2021. The estimated expenditure for Marriage Allowance is £490 million in 2018-19, £540 million in 2019-20, and £560 million in 2020-21. The number of claimants was estimated at 2,020,000 in 2019-20. Estimates of the number of claimants are the latest available and reflect only successful claimants up to that point in time and not the anticipated full take up when all backdated claims have been made in future tax years (up to 4 years later).
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/main-tax-expenditures-and-structural-reliefs
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the NHS England budget for relationship counselling in the latest available year.
Answered by Lord Kamall
This information is not held in the format requested as NHS England and NHS Improvement’s budgets are not allocated at the level of individual therapies. Individuals who are seen within Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services can expect to receive a course of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence-recommended psychological therapy from an appropriately trained individual and to have their clinical outcomes monitored and reported. All National Health Service talking and psychological therapy services are expected to have capacity to offer couple therapy.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the process by which local councils allocate SEN funding; and in particular, whether it matchs their provision of £6,000 per child, plus the additional cost for Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs).
Answered by Baroness Barran
The department has no plans to create a new dedicated budget for special educational needs (SEN), beyond the existing high needs block within the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). It is important that schools have the flexibility to decide on how best to support their pupils with SEN or disabilities (SEND), within all their available resources, and that they work closely with the relevant local authority in supporting those with more complex needs for whom additional resources are required.
Local authorities are required to provide mainstream schools, through the local schools funding formula, with sufficient funds to meet the additional cost of supporting pupils with SEN, up to £6,000 per pupil per annum. Local funding formulae vary in the way funding is allocated for this purpose, but all include factors which take account of the level of pupils’ disadvantage, for example, the number of pupils with low attainment in their previous phase of education.
Furthermore, local authorities give schools additional top-up funding from their high needs budget. This is used when the additional support required for a pupil cost more than £6,000 and can also support schools which are particularly inclusive or whose pupils have a greater range of SEN than the local funding formula might suggest. The high needs block of the DSG, which funds local authorities’ high needs budgets for children and young people with more complex needs, will total more than £9 billion in the 2022/23 financial year. This is a 13% increase over the 2021/22 financial year.
Local authorities’ funding processes differ, particularly those for allocating high needs funding to schools, but both the local school funding formula and the local high needs funding arrangements have to be discussed at the local schools forum.
Ultimately, local authorities are accountable for spending from the high needs allocation they receive from the department. Our guidance indicates that their responsibility for spending decisions should be discharged fairly, reasonably and after proper consultation.