Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what recent analysis has been undertaken of additional costs or savings arising from the decision to outsource Gov Facilities Services Limited, and what steps have been taken to revisit this decision since July 2024.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government has initiated a programme of work to secure new, competitively tendered contracts for the provision of maintenance services for prisons. As the procurement process is currently live, information regarding costs and savings is commercially and market sensitive and therefore not able to be disclosed at the current time. In November 2024, I approved plans to proceed with re-procuring the delivery of facilities management services through the private sector, with a focus on ensuring that future contracts incentivise suppliers’ performance and maintain a focus on delivery outcomes. This approach is kept under constant review to ensure we get the best value for taxpayers’ money.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in the light of their announcement of a 15 per cent reduction in Civil Service running costs over the next four years, what plans they have to monitor a similar cost reduction in government activities carried out under outsourcing arrangements.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
As the Chancellor announced in the Spring Statement, Government departments will aim to reduce their administrative budgets by 15% by the end of the decade. Savings on back‑office functions are expected to total £2.2 billion in 2029-30 whilst ensuring that front line services are prioritised. Individual departments are responsible for delivering these reductions in administrative budgets, which can include savings relating to outsourced providers.
More generally, as part of ongoing contract and commercial management of the suppliers providing services into Government buildings, costs are consistently reviewed and where changes to services or efficiencies identified, these are implemented.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what analysis has been undertaken of the variation in the cost of providing first appointments for those presenting with long Covid symptoms at different hospital trusts across England; and what are the highest and lowest per-patient costs for such initial consultations.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There is an outpatient activity speciality for post-COVID-19 syndrome services, also known as long COVID services, with a treatment function code (TFC) of 348. The average costs for a first-time appointment for those presenting with long COVID symptoms for the 2023/24 financial year were as follows:
- for face to face attendance to a consultant-led appointment, the cost was £595;
- for face to face attendance to a non-consultant led appointment, the cost was £205;
- for non-face to face attendance to a consultant-led appointment, the cost was £595; and
- for non-face to face attendance to a non-consultant led appointment, the cost was £205.
The attached table shows a breakdown of highest, lowest, and average costs of face to face and non-face to face, as well as consultant led and non-consultant led, appointments for those presenting with long COVID symptoms.
Many patients may have been referred to other specialities and then subsequently been identified as suffering from long COVID and may, therefore, be being treated under a different speciality. This could include respiratory medicine, with a TFC of 341, cardiology, with a TFC of 320, and neurology, with a TFC of 400. Outpatients will only include the speciality the patient was seen in, and not what the patient was seen for, unless they were referred to a specific long COVID clinic. The average cost is available on the national cost collection publication on the NHS.UK website, in an online only format.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government which elements of the £600 million investment in construction skills they announced on 23 March have previously been announced or committed to, and which are new and in addition to previous commitments.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has announced an additional £625 million of funding to support construction skills training, with the detail set out in the Spring Statement 2025. This additional support had not previously been announced or committed. This is expected to deliver up to 60,000 additional skilled construction workers this Parliament.
The measures will support the expansion of existing skills programmes, including Skills Bootcamps and apprenticeships, as well as help deliver new initiatives such as establishing ten Technical Excellence Colleges specialised in construction in every region in England.
Additional detail on these measures is available from page 29 of the Spring Statement 2025 document, which is attached and can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67e3ecff55239fa04d411fc3/E03274109_HMT_Spring_Statement_Mar_25_Text_PRINT_.pdf.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of prisoners who have been mis-sentenced to imprisonment for public protection after the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 came into force to abolish the sentence.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 abolished the Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentence and it could not be imposed for anyone convicted on or after 03 December 2012.
No individuals were convicted after 03 December 2012 and subsequently given an IPP sentence.
Nine people were given an IPP sentence in 2013 but all were convicted before the sentence was abolished.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to involve Service families and their children in the official celebrations announced for the 80th anniversary of VE Day.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government has announced an ambitious programme for the entire nation to commemorate the 80th anniversaries of VE and VJ Day. Communities across the country will come together to mark the commemorations - by participating in the official government programme and by organising their own events and activities. Everyone across the UK is invited to participate in events and activities designed to honour the contributions and experiences of the Second World War generation.
Service families and their children will be included in the official celebrations and at the centre of nationwide, locally led commemorations. Furthermore, the Imperial War Museums’ Letters to Loved Ones initiative encourages children to share wartime letters, fostering intergenerational connections and learning.
DCMS has launched an interactive website - ve-vjday80.gov.uk - which offers key information and resources, including ways to get involved in the commemorations. The site features downloadable digital materials and an interactive map of events.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Armed Forces Covenant Legal Duty as it applies to schools; and whether they plan to update the school admissions code (1) to give priority to children of Service families, and (2) to provide for siblings, where appropriate, to attend the same school.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The government has policies in place to support schools and local authorities to fulfil their duty to give due regard to the Armed Forces Covenant. This includes in specific areas of education provision, including school admissions.
The school admissions code already contains a number of measures to support service children in relation to school admissions.
These measures include requiring admission authorities to allocate school places in advance of a service family moving into the area, where a place is available, provided the application is accompanied by an official letter that declares a re-location date. Children of UK service personnel can also be admitted as exceptions to the infant class size limit if they move outside the normal admission round.
Furthermore, admission authorities are able to give priority in their oversubscription criteria to children in receipt of the Service Pupil Premium, and publicly funded boarding schools must give service children who qualify for Ministry of Defence financial assistance with the cost of boarding fees priority after looked after and previously looked after children.
Admission authorities are already able to give priority to siblings in their admissions criteria where they feel that is appropriate to their local circumstances, although they are not required to do so.
Through the Children’s Wellbeing and School Bill, this government is taking further steps to ensure a more robust safety net for children who struggle to secure a school place via the usual in-year admissions processes, by giving local authorities the levers they need to secure places for children more quickly and efficiently, when the usual in-year admissions processes fall short.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to provide military families with priority for school admissions when parents are transferred from one place to another.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The government has policies in place to support schools and local authorities to fulfil their duty to give due regard to the Armed Forces Covenant. This includes in specific areas of education provision, including school admissions.
The school admissions code already contains a number of measures to support service children in relation to school admissions.
These measures include requiring admission authorities to allocate school places in advance of a service family moving into the area, where a place is available, provided the application is accompanied by an official letter that declares a re-location date. Children of UK service personnel can also be admitted as exceptions to the infant class size limit if they move outside the normal admission round.
Furthermore, admission authorities are able to give priority in their oversubscription criteria to children in receipt of the Service Pupil Premium, and publicly funded boarding schools must give service children who qualify for Ministry of Defence financial assistance with the cost of boarding fees priority after looked after and previously looked after children.
Admission authorities are already able to give priority to siblings in their admissions criteria where they feel that is appropriate to their local circumstances, although they are not required to do so.
Through the Children’s Wellbeing and School Bill, this government is taking further steps to ensure a more robust safety net for children who struggle to secure a school place via the usual in-year admissions processes, by giving local authorities the levers they need to secure places for children more quickly and efficiently, when the usual in-year admissions processes fall short.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have calculated how many full and part-time staff will be required to continue the current work of Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education following the transfer of responsibilities to the Department under the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The department has calculated that the number of staff transferring from Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) into Skills England will ensure core IfATE functions continue. These roles will make up a portion of the total workforce of Skills England. There will be additional staff from the department supporting on Skills England’s broader remit of work.
This continuity in resource levels will support qualification and apprenticeships development, including working with employers, to ensure a smooth transition and continuity of service. A full list of IfATE staff can be found here: https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/c4b0d784-19a0-4027-84fd-4721cb83281f/organogram-of-staff-roles-and-salaries-for-ifate-september-2024.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have held with news broadcasters such as talkSPORT regarding the exclusionary impact on those unable to use a smartphone of requiring people to use smartphones to log in to access their services.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government does not regulate the use of smartphone log ins to access radio services. The department has raised your question with talkSPORT, who have contacted you in response.