Asked by: Lord Hampton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to introduce legislation to prevent the sale of retrofitted LED vehicle headlight bulbs.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
There are no current plans to introduce legislation to prevent the sale of retrofitted LED vehicle headlight bulbs. The Government considers that the current provisions in both the Road Traffic Act 1988 (as amended) and the Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989 (as amended) effectively regulate the sale of unapproved LED retrofit light sources.
Nevertheless, the Government recognises increased public concern around headlamp glare and has commissioned independent research. This is measuring light levels experienced by drivers during real driving on UK roads and considers factors like vehicle characteristics, weather conditions and ambient lighting. Careful consideration will be given to that work when it reports later this year to determine what future actions may be appropriate to ensure the safety of all road users.
Asked by: Lord Hampton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to include the introduction or trial of alcohol interlocks in the road safety strategy; and whether they plan to mandate the use of alcohol interlocks for anyone convicted of drink driving.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
In 2021, the Government commissioned PACTS (Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety) to publish a report on alcohol interlocks: Locking Out The Drink Driver: Using alcohol interlocks to reduce drink driving in the UK.
The government keeps motoring offences under review, including those for drink driving.
The Department is developing its Road Safety Strategy and will set out more details in due course.
Asked by: Lord Hampton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, as part of their commitment to be a "child-centred Government", to encourage schools to support students to send submissions to the United Nations Human Rights Council's open-ended intergovernmental working group on the development of the optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the rights to early childhood education, free pre-primary education and free secondary education.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The UK government is committed to safeguarding and advancing children’s rights. We firmly uphold the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which we ratified in 1991. It is important for all children, regardless of race, religion or abilities, to have equal civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. We are dedicated to providing the best possible opportunities for all children.
Teaching about the UNCRC can be taught through the national curriculum for citizenship, which is compulsory at key stages 3 and 4. Citizenship enables pupils to understand their statutory rights, civic duties and responsibilities, as well as developing their understanding of human rights, local, regional and international governance and the UK’s relations with the rest of Europe, the Commonwealth, the United Nations and the wider world. Schools are free to tailor their curriculum to the needs of their pupils and this could include supporting students to send submissions to the UN Human Rights Council working group.
Asked by: Lord Hampton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to support the development of an optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the rights to early childhood education, free pre-primary education and free secondary education.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The UK is committed to investing in children and ensuring equal access to education. In the UK we already provide free pre-primary (reception years), primary and secondary education and have been leading globally on ensuring education for all. The UK considers that States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child should already be providing free education under the existing provisions of the Convention.
Asked by: Lord Hampton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to require train companies to refund passengers by the same payment method with which the ticket was originally purchased.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Under the National Rail Conditions of Travel which set out the contract which applies when a passenger buys a ticket to travel on the National Rail Network, train companies are required to offer to refund passengers by the same payment method with which the ticket was originally purchased.
Asked by: Lord Hampton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to add young carers to the daily attendance reporting to help improve their attendance.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The department wants to ensure that young carers have the best life chances by supporting them in their education. They were first added to the School Census in the 2022/23 academic year. This change has raised both awareness and the profile of young carers in schools. It has, for the first time, provided hard data on both the numbers of young carers in schools and their education.
The department expects the quality of the data returns to continue to improve as the collection becomes established. 72% of schools did not record any young carers in 2024.
The department produces guidance, which is periodically reviewed with the sector, to ensure that our data asks are clear and that schools understand how to record all elements of the School Census, including identification of young carers. Further, the School Census has embedded validation rules to maintain the quality of the data which mean that for all pupils, schools must respond to say whether or not the child has been identified as a young carer. We will continue to work closely with the sector, including organisations that work directly with schools in the support of young carers, to encourage better identification, recording and support for young carers in schools.
The department’s expectations of local authorities and schools, as set out in the ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance, were made statutory on 19 August 2024. The guidance can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-improve-school-attendance. The ‘support first’ ethos of the attendance guidance is that pupils and families, including young carers, should receive holistic, whole-family support to help them overcome the barriers to attendance they are facing. This includes holding regular meetings with the parents of pupils who the school, and/or local authority, consider to be vulnerable to discuss attendance and engagement at school. Schools are expected to recognise that absence is a symptom and that improving a pupil’s attendance is part of supporting the pupil’s overall welfare.
The daily attendance data collection has been established to ensure consistent recording and monitoring of pupil attendance, support the identification of absence patterns, and help schools and local authorities provide appropriate interventions. We will continue to monitor the quality of school census data on young carers for consideration for future inclusion in the daily collection.
Asked by: Lord Hampton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve the recording of young carers in the school census.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The department wants to ensure that young carers have the best life chances by supporting them in their education. They were first added to the School Census in the 2022/23 academic year. This change has raised both awareness and the profile of young carers in schools. It has, for the first time, provided hard data on both the numbers of young carers in schools and their education.
The department expects the quality of the data returns to continue to improve as the collection becomes established. 72% of schools did not record any young carers in 2024.
The department produces guidance, which is periodically reviewed with the sector, to ensure that our data asks are clear and that schools understand how to record all elements of the School Census, including identification of young carers. Further, the School Census has embedded validation rules to maintain the quality of the data which mean that for all pupils, schools must respond to say whether or not the child has been identified as a young carer. We will continue to work closely with the sector, including organisations that work directly with schools in the support of young carers, to encourage better identification, recording and support for young carers in schools.
The department’s expectations of local authorities and schools, as set out in the ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance, were made statutory on 19 August 2024. The guidance can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-improve-school-attendance. The ‘support first’ ethos of the attendance guidance is that pupils and families, including young carers, should receive holistic, whole-family support to help them overcome the barriers to attendance they are facing. This includes holding regular meetings with the parents of pupils who the school, and/or local authority, consider to be vulnerable to discuss attendance and engagement at school. Schools are expected to recognise that absence is a symptom and that improving a pupil’s attendance is part of supporting the pupil’s overall welfare.
The daily attendance data collection has been established to ensure consistent recording and monitoring of pupil attendance, support the identification of absence patterns, and help schools and local authorities provide appropriate interventions. We will continue to monitor the quality of school census data on young carers for consideration for future inclusion in the daily collection.
Asked by: Lord Hampton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to continue the holiday activities and food programme into the 2025–26 financial year; and what plans they have for this funding.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
I refer the noble Lord to the answer of 6 January 2025 to Question 20959.
Asked by: Lord Hampton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of teacher training in preparing teachers to deliver physical education to girls in (1) primary, and (2) secondary, schools.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The department recognises there are number of issues that affect girls’ experience of, and engagement with PE lessons, including body image and negative stereotypes. It is for Initial Teacher Training (ITT) providers to design a curriculum for primary teacher training and specialist secondary PE teaching, in line with the ITT core content framework and early career framework, that is relevant to subject or phase they will be teaching and provides the opportunity for all pupils to experience success.
Decisions relating to teachers’ professional development rest with schools, headteachers and teachers themselves, as they are in the best position to judge the development and training that teachers in their schools need to support their pupils. The PE and sport premium can be used by primary schools to make additional and sustainable improvements to their offer including continuing professional development and training where needed as well as support for equal access for boys and girls.
Asked by: Lord Hampton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to broaden the range of physical activities available to girls inside and outside schools.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The government is committed to creating the healthiest ever generation of children. Breaking down the barriers to accessing sport and physical activity will be critical to achieving the government’s ambitions.
The department knows from the Active Lives Children and Young People survey results, covering the 2023/24 academic year, that only 45% of girls meet the Chief Medical Officers’ 60 minutes of activity a day recommendation, compared with 51% of boys. The figures for both remaining largely stable over the last two years.
The School Games Mark, funded by the government and managed by the Youth Sport Trust (YST), has introduced mandatory equality criteria for PE, school sport and physical activity participation for the 2024/25 academic year. Schools aiming to achieve or maintain the award’s status and recognition must now meet these criteria. The department is collaborating with the YST to identify and share best practice from the School Games Mark, with all schools on enhancing girls' equal access to PE, school sport, and physical activity.
The PE and sport premium for the 2024/25 academic year helps all eligible primary schools to make additional and sustainable improvements to their offer, and the guidance states that funding can be used to provide or improve equal access for boys and girls.
The department works in tandem with a wide range of sporting bodies to further support equal access to sport and physical activities.
The department has also launched an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, which will seek to deliver a broader curriculum so that children and young people do not miss out on subjects such as music, art, PE and drama, as well as vocational subjects.