Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they remain committed to the Fresh Start Agreement funding programme.
Answered by Lord Caine - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The UK Government remains committed to the Fresh Start Agreement and we will continue to invest and support educational integration in Northern Ireland as an essential aspect of reconciliation.
The Fresh Start agreement in 2015 made provision for funding for integrated and shared education over 10 years. As that funding was due to expire at the end of 2024-25, the decision to remove the ring-fence on £150m of Fresh Start Agreement funding was made by the UK Government on taking a coherent look across its existing funding in Northern Ireland. We came to a considered position in response to the challenging budgetary position faced by the Northern Ireland Executive.
This will enable the Executive to prioritise funding on public service transformation. Integrated education is a vital element of that.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the likely impact on numbers of carers and senior carers in healthcare in the UK as a result of changes to immigration rules preventing their dependents from moving to the UK.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Home Office has published estimates of the impact these changes might have on the number of people applying to work in the sector from outside the United Kingdom. A copy of these estimates is attached.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government why money allocated to Fresh Start Agreement funding has been repurposed to the general Northern Ireland budget.
Answered by Lord Caine - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The UK Government is providing the Executive with a significant £3.3 billion spending settlement to stabilise its finances and protect public services. Within this package, we are increasing the spending power of the Executive by repurposing over £700 million of existing and new UK Government funds.
The Fresh Start agreement in 2015 made provision for funding for integrated and shared education over 10 years. As that funding was due to expire at the end of 2024-25, the decision to remove the ring-fence on £150m of Fresh Start Agreement funding was made by the UK Government on taking a coherent look across its existing funding in Northern Ireland. We came to a considered position in response to the challenging budgetary position faced by the Northern Ireland Executive.
The Northern Ireland Executive will be able to decide how it uses the non-ring fenced funding element of reprioritised and new UK Government funding streams which contribute to the settlement package.
In line with commitments in the Belfast Agreement, the Government will continue to invest in and support educational integration in Northern Ireland as an essential aspect of reconciliation.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the warning from the Northern Ireland Fiscal Council that Stormont will face a financial "cliff-edge" in 2026 when money from the Government support package runs out.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK Government is providing the Northern Ireland Executive with a significant funding settlement of over £3.3 billion. This will support the Executive to stabilise public finances and public services in Northern Ireland.
In the longer term, the UK Government has committed to open discussions on a new fiscal framework for Northern Ireland and to introduce a new needs-based factor which will provide a 24% uplift on future Barnett consequentials for the Northern Ireland Executive from 2024-25.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure that the cognitive and behavioural needs of dementia sufferers are properly reflected when deciding Continuing Health Care funding.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In England, eligibility for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) is not determined by age, diagnosis or condition, or financial means. It is assessed on a case-by-case basis considering the totality of an individual’s needs, including ways in which these needs interact with one another.
When an individual is identified as potentially eligible for CHC, the National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS Funded Nursing Care sets out the process for determining whether they have a ‘primary health need’. This includes assessment by a multidisciplinary team using a tool that has been developed to identify an individual’s needs and aid consistent decision making. A copy of the framework is attached.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure consistency of approach when applying Continuing Health Care funding.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In England, the Department has provided detailed guidance on the process for determining eligibility for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) through the National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care, a copy of which is attached. The framework supports practitioners across health and social care to undertake assessments and deliver CHC.
Operational delivery of CHC is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) with oversight from NHS England. NHS England holds ICBs accountable and engages with them to ensure that they discharge their functions, including via timely and well-established assurance mechanisms.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the system and operation of Continuing Health Care funding.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In England, the Department is responsible for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) policy and legislation which includes the National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care, a copy of which is attached.
The Department has no plans at this time to review the system or operation of CHC in England but we continue to work with our partners, including NHS England which is responsible for oversight of CHC delivery, external organisations and people with lived experience, to monitor CHC implementation.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to bring forward additional legislation to remove the power of the Post Office to bring forward prosecutions.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Post Office scandal is the biggest miscarriage of justice in our history. That is why this Government announced on 10 January its intent to overturn wrongful convictions and ensure swifter access to compensation for hundreds of innocent post-masters and mistresses.
Whilst the vast majority of Horizon cases were prosecuted by the Post Office, some were pursued by other prosecutors, including the Crown Prosecution Service. The Post Office does not have a specific power to bring private prosecutions. It did so under the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985, the same right as other third party organisations, such as the RSPCA. The Post Office has not brought any such prosecutions since 2015.
Sir Wyn Williams’ Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry is examining in detail the failings that led to the Post Office scandal. It would not be appropriate for Government to pre-empt the findings and recommendations of the Inquiry, which are due later this year, by pursuing changes at this time.
We are, however, examining the wider question of private prosecutions and the Government is therefore committed to looking again at the Justice Select Committee’s recommendations in their 2020 report as part of this work.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to remove the power of the Post Office to bring private prosecutions.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Post Office scandal is the biggest miscarriage of justice in our history. That is why this Government announced on 10 January its intent to overturn wrongful convictions and ensure swifter access to compensation for hundreds of innocent post-masters and mistresses.
Whilst the vast majority of Horizon cases were prosecuted by the Post Office, some were pursued by other prosecutors, including the Crown Prosecution Service. The Post Office does not have a specific power to bring private prosecutions. It did so under the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985, the same right as other third party organisations, such as the RSPCA. The Post Office has not brought any such prosecutions since 2015.
Sir Wyn Williams’ Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry is examining in detail the failings that led to the Post Office scandal. It would not be appropriate for Government to pre-empt the findings and recommendations of the Inquiry, which are due later this year, by pursuing changes at this time.
We are, however, examining the wider question of private prosecutions and the Government is therefore committed to looking again at the Justice Select Committee’s recommendations in their 2020 report as part of this work.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to combat increasing levels of pupil truancy in schools.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Improving attendance remains a top priority for the department as regular school attendance is important for children’s educational progress, for their wellbeing, their safeguarding and for their wider development. Truancy is subset of absence; the largest cause of persistent absence is sickness.
In 2022, the department published stronger expectations of schools, trusts, governing bodies and local authorities in the ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance. This guidance is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1099677/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance.pdf.
The department now expects all schools to appoint a champion, and for local authorities and schools to agree individual plans for persistently absent children. In January 2024, the department launched 18 new attendance hubs, bringing the total to 32, which will see nearly 2,000 schools helped to tackle persistent absence across the country. These hubs will support schools responsible for the attendance of over a million pupils.
At the same time the department also announced an extra £15 million to expand one-to-one attendance mentoring over the next three years, to help 10,000 children struggling to attend school. To help identify children at risk of persistent absence and to enable early intervention, the department has established a timelier flow of pupil level attendance data through the daily attendance data collection. 88% of state funded schools are now signed up to this.
Across all phases, around 380,000 fewer pupils were persistently absent or not attending in 2022/23 than in 2021/22. Daily data for 2022/23 shows school absence of 9.3% in secondary schools, down from 10.0% absent or not attending school for covid related reasons in 2021/22. Further absence data from the school census is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england.