Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to create a dedicated budget line for SEN funding.
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.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that local ambulance services can accurately track the impact of complications arising from home use of medical abortion pills; and what plans they have, if any, to use an Advanced Medical Priority Dispatch System code for such cases.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The Department is undertaking a project to review the system of recording abortion complications data. We anticipate this work will be completed shortly. The review will cover all data on complications arising from abortion including home use of early medical abortion pills.
To improve the accuracy of the data collected, the Department is working closely with a range of statutory bodies, professional organisations and abortion providers to identify additional sources of information to complement complications data collected via HSA4 abortion notification forms. This would also improve the flow of data on abortion complications between different organisations, such as independent and NHS abortion providers and local ambulance services.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that ambulance call-outs have risen following home use of medical abortion pills; and what steps they are taking in response.
Answered by Lord Kamall
We are considering all evidence submitted to the Government’s public consultation on whether to make permanent the temporary measure allowing for home use of both pills for early medical abortion, including evidence from ambulance services. The consultation asked questions on whether other NHS services had been affected by the temporary measure. We will publish our response in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the UK's cash network is not exploited by transnational organised crime groups.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford
The UK is internationally recognised as having some of the strongest controls worldwide for tackling money laundering (including through the use of cash) and bringing to justice those who seek to use or hide the proceeds of crime. These include Global Human Rights sanctions, Unexplained Wealth Orders, as well as our Economic Crime and Asset Recovery Action Plans.
The Home Office continues to work with our partners across Government and Law Enforcement to bring together the policy and operational response to Cash Based Money Laundering under one umbrella, with the overall objective to make the UK a harder place for criminals to launder cash in and through the UK and deter the use of criminal cash.
Economic crime knows no borders, and the actions that we take domestically need to be complemented at an international level. As noted in the Integrated Review and the new Atlantic Charter, we are working closely with the US to fight corruption and illicit finance. The UK-UAE Partnership to Tackle Illicit Financial Flows, recently announced by the Home Secretary, is another concrete example of joint international efforts to tackle the threat from dirty money and the serious and organised crime that it enables.
We have capitalised on the UK's G7 Presidency to strengthen the global response to corruption and illicit finance to reduce the space to hide dirty money.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to audit the proportion of the UK's cash network that uses technology either (1) developed, or (2) manufactured, in states which may be hostile to the UK's interests.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Ensuring the operational resilience of the financial services sector and the protection of consumers is a key priority for the Government.
Responsibility for the UK financial services sector’s networks and online services is primarily for the firms themselves. However, Government, in partnership with the financial regulators, is committed to driving improvements in resilience and reducing vulnerabilities within the finance sector, including those posed by advances in digital technology.
In March 2021, the financial regulators published their new operational resilience policy which will increase the finance sector’s resilience to threats posed by technological failure and disruption. It will ensure firms are better equipped to prevent, adapt, respond to, recover and learn from operational disruption.
Increasing the sector’s resilience to advancements in technology remains a key priority for the Government and financial regulators, including through close cooperation with other sectoral regulators and financial regulators internationally. The financial regulators will publish a Discussion Paper focusing on risks stemming from critical third parties in 2022.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the threat posed by cyber attacks on the UK's cash network.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
HM Treasury works closely with the other Financial Authorities (the Bank of England, Prudential Regulation Authority, and the Financial Conduct Authority), Intelligence Agencies and Law Enforcement to understand the range of threats posed to finance sector organisations and to ensure that the system is robust to a wide range of operational risks, including cyber.
The Financial Authorities also work together to assess, test and improve the operational resilience, including the cyber resilience, of the finance sector.
The UK's Financial Authorities have well-established mechanisms for responding to operational disruption were it to occur, including providing the support of the National Cyber Security Centre where necessary.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what further steps they intend to take to improve the average education outcomes for boys to match those of girls in order to narrow the gender learning gap.
Answered by Baroness Barran
The department does not design education policy that exclusively targets certain groups of pupils with characteristics that are protected by the Equality Act 2010, including policy based on gender. We are committed to providing high quality education and training for everyone, whatever their background or personal characteristics.
Since 2010, the government has pursued a reform agenda to drive up academic standards for all and level up for the most disadvantaged pupils. When it comes to raising standards, evidence shows that teachers are the most important in-school factor affecting pupils’ education. In June 2021, the department announced an investment of over £250 million in our National Professional Qualifications and Early Career Framework programmes, which are based on the best available evidence and have been developed in partnership with the Education Endowment Foundation. In addition, in October 2021, we announced a levelling up premium worth up to £3,000 tax-free for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in years 1 to 5 of their careers. This will support recruitment and retention of specialist teachers in these subjects, and in the schools and areas that need them most. Through this, the department is committed to helping tackle the learning gap for all pupils.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ban the flying of the Hamas flag in the UK following its widespread use in demonstrations in 2021.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford
The military wing of Hamas remains a proscribed organisation under the Terrorism Act 2000 enabling firm action against those who openly support it, including in displaying logos and flags.
We are committed to ensuring the police have robust powers to respond to activities that spread hate and maintain order. We are strengthening powers to manage disruptive protest through the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that the government of Iran has (1) destroyed evidence of human rights violations, including mass graves of political prisoners from 1988, and (2) intimidated survivors and families of victims of human rights violations.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK has designated Iran as a Human Rights Priority Country, and we continue to take action with the international community to press Iran to improve its poor human rights record. This includes using all opportunities during the upcoming United Nations General Assembly session. We also urge Iran to allow the Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Iran access to the country, so that he can conduct research and investigations into human rights concerns reported there, including the events of 1988, and the reports of intimidation and destroyed evidence.
We have always been clear that Iran must uphold its international legal obligations, including conducting thorough and independent investigations into suspected human rights violations, both past and present. We call on President Raisi to set Iran on a different course, which includes committing to improving human rights in Iran.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with other governments about establishing a United Nations led commission of inquiry into human rights violations in Iran, including the deaths of political prisoners in 1988.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK has designated Iran as a Human Rights Priority Country, and we continue to take action with the international community to press Iran to improve its poor human rights record. This includes using all opportunities during the upcoming United Nations General Assembly session. We also urge Iran to allow the Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Iran access to the country, so that he can conduct research and investigations into human rights concerns reported there, including the events of 1988, and the reports of intimidation and destroyed evidence.
We have always been clear that Iran must uphold its international legal obligations, including conducting thorough and independent investigations into suspected human rights violations, both past and present. We call on President Raisi to set Iran on a different course, which includes committing to improving human rights in Iran.