Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 14 April (HL6368), what estimate they have made of the number of university students who self-identify as neurodivergent.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
There is no set category for ‘neurodivergence’, so included in this figure are higher education (HE) student enrolments flagged as ‘Learning difference such as dyslexia, dyspraxia or AD(H)D’ and ‘Social/communication conditions such as a speech and language impairment or an autistic spectrum condition’.
Across all levels and modes of study and all domiciles, 245,810 HE student enrolments self-assessed in this way for the 2023/24 academic year across all UK HE providers.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment, if any, they have made of the use of artificial intelligence to cheat during university examinations in England.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The government has not made an assessment of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to cheat during university examinations in England. The Office for Students (OfS) is the independent regulator for universities.
Universities are independent and autonomous bodies responsible for designing their own policies regarding the use of AI and for taking steps to prevent academic misconduct.
As the independent regulator for higher education (HE) in England, the OfS places conditions of registration on HE providers that are designed to protect students. Condition B4 covers fair and effective assessments, as well as tackling academic misconduct.
Where it detects that a provider is at risk of breaching its conditions of registration, the OfS has the power to investigate and impose sanctions where appropriate.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role of the Office for Students in protecting the interests of university students self-identifying as neurodivergent.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The Office for Students (OfS) is the independent regulator of higher education (HE) in England and aims to ensure that every student, whatever their background, has a fulfilling experience of HE that enriches their life and career.
The OfS is committed to supporting an inclusive experience of HE for disabled students and uses a range of regulatory tools in order to identify issues and support continuous improvement.
The OfS uses access and participation plans to support and challenge the HE sector to improve equality of opportunity. These are agreements that set out how universities and colleges will improve equality of opportunity for disadvantaged groups, including learners with learning difficulties or disabilities, to access, succeed in and progress from HE.
In the summer, we will set out our plan for HE reform and the part we expect HE providers to play in improving access and outcomes for all disadvantaged students.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 26 March (HL5733), whether it is their policy that civil servants may self-identify as having a neurodivergent condition.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
All of the demographic questions asked on HR systems are dependent on self-identification. There may be situations where additional information is required about a condition for example to support the provision of reasonable adjustments.
This will depend on the condition, but also the nature of requested adjustments.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the religious freedoms in Egypt of (1) Copts, and (2) Roman Catholics.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Egyptian Government has stated a firm commitment to protect the rights of Coptic Christians and Roman Catholics and their freedom of worship, and protections for freedom of religion are enshrined in the Egyptian constitution. There have been positive steps in recent years, including President Sisi's public commitments to uphold minority rights and freedom of religion or belief. The UK champions freedom of religion or belief for all and will continue to make clear to the Egyptian authorities the importance we attach to these issues. No one should live in fear because of what they do or do not believe in.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of homes at risk of surface flooding, broken down by (1) those built, (2) those under construction, and (3) those with planning permission awaiting construction.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has committed £2.65 billion over the next two years to maintain, repair and build flood defences to protect communities across the country.
The Environment Agency’s National Assessment of Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk was published in December 2024. The report estimates that 4.6 million properties are in areas at risk of surface water flooding. This report enables 8.4 million people in more than 3.1 million residential properties to access more detailed information on their local surface water flood risk.
The number of properties at risk relate to properties that are already built, not properties that are under construction or those awaiting construction. The Environment Agency does publish a list of initial objections made, on the basis of flood risk, to planning applications. This is available here: Environment Agency objections to planning applications based on flood risk and water quality - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of homes at risk of coastal flooding, broken down by (1) those built, (2) those under construction, and (3) those with planning permission awaiting construction.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency’s (EA) new national assessment of flood and coastal erosion risk in England report estimates that 2.4 million properties are in areas at risk of flooding from rivers and the sea. The EA also estimates that 4.6 million properties are in areas at risk of surface water flooding.
The number of properties at risk relate to properties that are already built, not properties that are under construction or those awaiting construction. The EA does, however, have a list of planning applications where the EA made an initial objection based on flood risk. This can be found at the gov.uk page ‘Environment Agency objections to planning applications based on flood risk and water quality’.
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is clear that inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding should be avoided by directing development away from areas at highest risk, including areas at risk of coastal flooding.
Where development is necessary, and where there are no suitable sites available in areas with a lower risk of flooding, local planning authorities and developers should ensure development is appropriately flood resilient and resistant, safe for its users for the development’s lifetime, will not increase flood risk overall and will provide wider sustainability benefits.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how neurodiversity is recognised within the employment practices of the Civil Service.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Civil Service supports neurodivergent employees in all aspects of employment practices in accordance with the Equality Act 2010.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether neurodivergence can be treated medically.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Neurodivergent conditions are often life-long and cannot be cured. It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessments and support, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. NICE guidelines on autism cover the different ways that health and care professionals can provide support for autistic people and aim to improve access and engagement with interventions and services.
On 5 April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance to help ICBs and the National Health Service to deliver improved outcomes for children, young people and adults referred to an autism assessment service. The guidance also sets out what support should be available before an assessment and what support should follow a recent diagnosis of autism based on the available evidence.
With respect to ADHD, the NICE guidelines for ADHD diagnosis and management explain the key considerations for clinicians when deciding whether to offer treatment, including in respect of medicine or therapy. NHS England has established an ADHD taskforce which is working to bring together those with lived experience with experts from the NHS, education, charity, and justice sectors. The taskforce is working to get a better understanding of the challenges affecting those with ADHD, including timely and equitable access to services and support, with the final report expected to make recommendations in the summer.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reoffending rates of those serving short community sentences of six months or less.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
In 2022/23, the proven reoffending rate for adults serving immediate custodial sentences of six months or less was 59.6%. For further details, please see here: proven-reoffending-jan23-mar23-annual.ods. We do not have a published breakdown for community sentences by sentence length. To produce this data would incur disproportionate costs.
However, studies found that short custodial sentences of 12 months or less were associated with higher reoffending rates (approximately 4 percentage points higher) than court orders of any length (which includes both community orders and suspended sentence orders) had been given.
The Government has delivered on a manifesto commitment to bring sentencing up to date and ensure the framework is consistent by launching an Independent Review of Sentencing chaired by former Lord Chancellor, David Gauke.