Asked by: Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether any additional training requirements have been put in place for students in receipt of Disabled Students Allowance following changes made to the technology packages available to those students.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The department engaged with disability experts who support disabled students to gather their feedback and insights on the decision to remove non-specialist spelling and grammar software from Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) funding.
The department does not expect that students will be negatively impacted by the changes, because specific technology packages will no longer be funded where free-to-access versions, with the required functionality, are available to meet students’ disability-related support needs. Specialist spelling and grammar software will continue to be funded where a robust disability-related justification is provided. Assistive technology training and aftercare support for any non-specialist basic spelling and grammar software agreed in a student’s needs assessment report will continue to be funded through the DSA.
Asked by: Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government which (1) disability, and (2) student groups were consulted ahead of changes to the technology packages available to students in receipt of Disabled Students Allowance.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The department engaged with disability experts who support disabled students to gather their feedback and insights on the decision to remove non-specialist spelling and grammar software from Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) funding.
The department does not expect that students will be negatively impacted by the changes, because specific technology packages will no longer be funded where free-to-access versions, with the required functionality, are available to meet students’ disability-related support needs. Specialist spelling and grammar software will continue to be funded where a robust disability-related justification is provided. Assistive technology training and aftercare support for any non-specialist basic spelling and grammar software agreed in a student’s needs assessment report will continue to be funded through the DSA.
Asked by: Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that students are not negatively affected by changes to the Disabled Students Allowance selection of technical support packages and systems.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The department engaged with disability experts who support disabled students to gather their feedback and insights on the decision to remove non-specialist spelling and grammar software from Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) funding.
The department does not expect that students will be negatively impacted by the changes, because specific technology packages will no longer be funded where free-to-access versions, with the required functionality, are available to meet students’ disability-related support needs. Specialist spelling and grammar software will continue to be funded where a robust disability-related justification is provided. Assistive technology training and aftercare support for any non-specialist basic spelling and grammar software agreed in a student’s needs assessment report will continue to be funded through the DSA.
Asked by: Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, as part of the Paediatric Hearing Services Improvement Programme, how many reviews of patient records have been undertaken, and how many children have been identified as requiring reassessment.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Paediatric Hearing Services Improvement Programme is working to systematically introduce reviews, undertaken by subject matter experts, across the seven regions of the National Health Service in England. In the coming months, we will have further details of patient information reviewed, and the number of children requiring reassessment.
Asked by: Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect all paediatric audiology services in England to be accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service's Improving Quality in Physiological Services scheme, and what plans they have to increase accreditation of audiology services nationally.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
There is no NHS England national target set for when all services will be accredited, as the process for achieving accreditation for an individual service can take a number of years. NHS England recognises the United Kingdom Accreditation Service’s (UKAS) Improving Quality in Physiological Services (IQIPS) scheme as the only recognised accreditation standard for physiological science services. This includes audiology services and provides not only independent and impartial assurance of safe, high-quality services, but also the evidence needed for the Care Quality Commission’s regulatory purposes. In August 2023, NHS England recommended that all integrated care boards ensure that provider organisations work towards the UKAS IQIPS accreditation for paediatric audiology.
NHS England has worked with the UKAS to implement an updated process to support the early assessment of an individual site's readiness for achieving accreditation. NHS England is also working alongside the UKAS to support and enable more sites to successfully achieve accreditation. The 2024/25 National Health Service standard contract now includes the recommendation that all providers of paediatric audiology should work with their local commissioners to develop a Service Development Improvement Plan that will address the areas of quality concern, to allow all paediatric audiology services to move towards UKAS accreditation against the IQIPS standard.
Asked by: Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many paediatric audiology departments in England meet the 42-day waiting list target for an initial hearing assessment for babies and children.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
National Diagnostic Waiting Times data is published monthly by NHS England. The latest data for November 2023, combining both adult and paediatric services, shows that 37% of patients are waiting more than six weeks for audiology assessment.
Asked by: Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress has been made by NHS England’s National Paediatric Hearing Improvement Programme; and what findings it has found following its review of data for newborn babies in England.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Paediatric Hearing Services Improvement Programme is focussed on delivering several strategic interventions over a short, medium and long-term period. Some of the key areas of focus include: supporting the audiology workforce with training and education,; supporting services to achieve accreditation with the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS); and supporting paediatric audiology services regarding review of patient records, including ensuring that children identified as requiring reassessment are prioritised.
NHS England’s Newborn Hearing Screening Programme investigation indicated areas for improvement in:
- the quality of practice;
- workforce training and education;
- data, results and report management;
- quality assurance;
- the peer review process; and
- UKAS Improving Quality in Physiological Services accreditation.
Asked by: Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many paediatric audiology departments there are in England in total; and how many of those currently meet the UK Accreditation Services Improving Quality in Physiological Services Accreditation standards.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
There are 134 paediatric audiology services nationally and of those, approximately 20% are accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service for Improving Quality in Physiological Services. NHS England has a dedicated programme of work that will support the increase of accreditation for audiology services nationally.
Asked by: Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the British High Commission in New Delhi has the resources to give practical guidance concerning national and state law to people and organisations, particularly UK charities, who wish to donate to charitable causes in India and who are not registered with India’s Foreign Contribution Regulation Act; and what is the name of any such guidance.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK Government is aware that some Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) have faced difficulties in India due to the strict application of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). HMG officials have discussed FCRA-related issues with the Government of India and continue to monitor developments, especially the impact on the work of British NGOs in India. The British High Commission in New Delhi regularly engages NGOs and continues to support a wide range of local NGO partners in-country, including through direct programmes. The High Commission does not provide tailored guidance on FCRA-related issues.
Asked by: Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have published guidance for people and organisations wishing to donate to charities in India, with regard to India’s Foreign Contribution Regulation Act.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK Government is aware that some Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) have faced difficulties in India due to the strict application of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). HMG officials have discussed FCRA-related issues with the Government of India and continue to monitor developments, especially the impact on the work of British NGOs in India. The British High Commission in New Delhi regularly engages NGOs and continues to support a wide range of local NGO partners in-country, including through direct programmes. The High Commission does not provide tailored guidance on FCRA-related issues.