Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Ministerial Statement by Baroness Barran, published on 19 October (HLWS1062), that 32 Advanced Qualifications with high levels of student enrolment are to be defunded from August 2025, how many of these qualifications (1) already have T Level equivalents operating across the whole of England, and (2) will have a relevant T Level Foundation year in place by 2025.
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.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the estimated number of qualifications that will have to be approved by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Qualification for commencement of teaching in the academic year 2025/26, as a result of the defunding of alternative routes to advance qualification; and what is the current waiting time for the approval of such qualifications.
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.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what advice is given to students who did not complete their T Level qualification in the academic year 2022/23 in order to support them into alternative academic qualifications or apprenticeships.
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.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the annual loss to the Exchequer of revenue from domestic sales of cigarettes, cigars and tobacco from the 2028 financial year onwards, as a result of the proposed gradual phasing out of their legal sale.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
As announced by the Prime Minister on 4 October 2023, the Government is creating the first smokefree generation, by bringing forward legislation so that children turning 14 this year or younger will never be legally sold tobacco products. This will prevent future generations from ever taking up smoking, as there is no safe age to smoke. The ‘Stopping the start: our new plan to create a smokefree generation’ command paper sets out the proposed actions the Government will take to tackle smoking and youth vaping[1]. The Government launched the ‘Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping’ consultation on 12 October on the smokefree generation policy detailed in the command paper[2].
Once final policy decisions are confirmed, the impact of those decisions on the public finances will be assessed and reflected in the Office for Budget Responsibility's forecast.
A smokefree generation will save the NHS billions over the long-term and put cash back in the pockets of millions of families across this country.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the likely change in smuggling of tobacco products as a result of the proposed gradual phasing out of their legal sale.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
The Government does not expect to see a significant change in smuggling of tobacco products. However, HMRC and Border Force will continue to monitor the situation and take appropriate action, and respond to any additional risks.
Work is already underway to update the current HMRC and Border Force Illicit Tobacco Strategy ‘Leaf to Light’. A new Strategy will be published in the coming months, and this will set out the Government’s approach to addressing the current and future challenges in tackling illicit tobacco, including smuggling.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the reasons for the variation between 2019 and 2023 in the time taken for new Clinical Trial Authorisation applications to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to be assessed.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
A combination of factors has resulted in extended timeframes in Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) assessment of clinical trial applications and amendments, in particular the loss of experienced staff and the need to recruit and train new staff. The MHRA understands the vital importance to patients and the public as well as researchers and developers of efficient clinical trials approvals, and over the summer it has taken urgent action to address delays to clinical trial approval.
Applicants will have seen increased rates of assessment in all key areas, as the MHRA focused considerable resources within the agency to deliver accelerated improvements to timescales for clinical trial assessments. The MHRA has made significant progress and most delayed applications have now been processed.
From 31 July to 1 September 2023, the MHRA assessed 1,185 applications for initial clinical trials and amendments. This demonstrates the significant effort that the MHRA has made to address backlogs and move back to assessment in statutory timescales. From 1 September 2023 all newly received fully compliant applications are being assessed within statutory timeframes.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many senior civil servants working at the Department for Education have a teaching qualification.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The information is not readily available or held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 30 June (HL8582), what is the regional breakdown of recipients of the Companion of Honour.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
We do not collate the geographical data for Companions of Honour (CH) recipients in each list nor do we track the current geographic locations for all 63 living CH recipients.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many honours above OBE level were awarded to people who were (1) living in, or (2) working or providing service to, the South Yorkshire area at the time of their nomination for an honour in the Birthday Honours 2023 list.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Statistical information held in relation to the regional breakdown of recipients at all levels on The King’s Birthday Honours List 2023 can be found below. Percentages are rounded to 1 decimal point. Data for CBE and higher levels has been aggregated and is also included below. Data reflects the correspondence address provided by recipients.
Data is collected using county data and aggregated into regional figures. Information on the number of nominations by mayoral region, including for both South Yorkshire and Sheffield is not captured, as we are unable to break down the data in that way. Transparency data for the list by county is available on gov.uk.
This data relates only to the main Prime Minister’s List and does not include data from the Defence List or the Overseas and International List, which are not administered by the Cabinet Office.
Honours are awarded on merit basis. A key aim of the honours system is to ensure that it is more representative of the country as a whole and we will continue to encourage more nominations from every corner of the UK in future honours lists.
Regional breakdown - King’s Birthday Honours List 2023
Region | BEM | BEM% | MBE | MBE% | OBE | OBE% | CBE & Higher | CBE & higher% | Total | Population % |
East | 30 | 2.7% | 28 | 2.5% | 17 | 1.5% | 13 | 1.1% | 88 | 9.3% |
Yorkshire & Humberside | 26 | 2.3% | 25 | 2.2% | 17 | 1.5% | 4 | 0.3% | 72 | 8.2% |
London | 40 | 3.5% | 101 | 9% | 58 | 5.2% | 46 | 4.1% | 245 | 13.4% |
North East | 9 | 0.8% | 14 | 1.2% | 1 | 0.08% | 3 | 0.2% | 27 | 4.0% |
North West | 29 | 2.6% | 43 | 4% | 17 | 1.5% | 3 | 0.2% | 92 | 11.0% |
Northern Ireland | 31 | 2.8% | 30 | 2.7% | 7 | 0.6% | 4 | 0.3% | 72 | 2.8% |
Scotland | 26 | 2.3% | 39 | 3.5% | 17 | 1.5% | 12 | 1% | 94 | 8.2% |
South East | 50 | 4.5% | 68 | 6% | 51 | 4.5% | 17 | 1.5% | 186 | 13.7% |
South West | 24 | 2.1% | 40 | 3.6% | 10 | 0.9% | 13 | 1.1% | 87 | 8.4% |
Wales | 9 | 0.8% | 20 | 1.8% | 11 | 1% | 3 | 0.2% | 43 | 4.7% |
West Midlands | 24 | 2.1% | 27 | 2.4% | 11 | 1% | 9 | 0.8% | 71 | 8.9% |
East Midlands | 15 | 1.3% | 15 | 1.3% | 10 | 0.9% | 3 | 0.2% | 43 | 7.2% |
Living abroad | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0.08% | - | - | 1 | - |
Total | 332 |
| 471 |
| 236 |
| 132 |
| 1,121 |
|
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many honours above OBE level were awarded to people who were (1) living in, or (2) working or providing service to, the Sheffield City Region at the time of their nomination for an honour in the Birthday Honours 2023 list.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Statistical information held in relation to the regional breakdown of recipients at all levels on The King’s Birthday Honours List 2023 can be found below. Percentages are rounded to 1 decimal point. Data for CBE and higher levels has been aggregated and is also included below. Data reflects the correspondence address provided by recipients.
Data is collected using county data and aggregated into regional figures. Information on the number of nominations by mayoral region, including for both South Yorkshire and Sheffield is not captured, as we are unable to break down the data in that way. Transparency data for the list by county is available on gov.uk.
This data relates only to the main Prime Minister’s List and does not include data from the Defence List or the Overseas and International List, which are not administered by the Cabinet Office.
Honours are awarded on merit basis. A key aim of the honours system is to ensure that it is more representative of the country as a whole and we will continue to encourage more nominations from every corner of the UK in future honours lists.
Regional breakdown - King’s Birthday Honours List 2023
Region | BEM | BEM% | MBE | MBE% | OBE | OBE% | CBE & Higher | CBE & higher% | Total | Population % |
East | 30 | 2.7% | 28 | 2.5% | 17 | 1.5% | 13 | 1.1% | 88 | 9.3% |
Yorkshire & Humberside | 26 | 2.3% | 25 | 2.2% | 17 | 1.5% | 4 | 0.3% | 72 | 8.2% |
London | 40 | 3.5% | 101 | 9% | 58 | 5.2% | 46 | 4.1% | 245 | 13.4% |
North East | 9 | 0.8% | 14 | 1.2% | 1 | 0.08% | 3 | 0.2% | 27 | 4.0% |
North West | 29 | 2.6% | 43 | 4% | 17 | 1.5% | 3 | 0.2% | 92 | 11.0% |
Northern Ireland | 31 | 2.8% | 30 | 2.7% | 7 | 0.6% | 4 | 0.3% | 72 | 2.8% |
Scotland | 26 | 2.3% | 39 | 3.5% | 17 | 1.5% | 12 | 1% | 94 | 8.2% |
South East | 50 | 4.5% | 68 | 6% | 51 | 4.5% | 17 | 1.5% | 186 | 13.7% |
South West | 24 | 2.1% | 40 | 3.6% | 10 | 0.9% | 13 | 1.1% | 87 | 8.4% |
Wales | 9 | 0.8% | 20 | 1.8% | 11 | 1% | 3 | 0.2% | 43 | 4.7% |
West Midlands | 24 | 2.1% | 27 | 2.4% | 11 | 1% | 9 | 0.8% | 71 | 8.9% |
East Midlands | 15 | 1.3% | 15 | 1.3% | 10 | 0.9% | 3 | 0.2% | 43 | 7.2% |
Living abroad | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0.08% | - | - | 1 | - |
Total | 332 |
| 471 |
| 236 |
| 132 |
| 1,121 |
|