Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department plans to take to enable the government to break with outsourced government contracts in the case where the desired outcomes are not delivered.

Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The National Procurement Policy Statement will set out the Government’s policy priorities, and contracting authorities will have to have regard to it when carrying out procurements. The Policy Statement will consult on introducing a new public interest test to assess whether work should be outsourced or if it could be done more effectively and drive better value for money in-house.

We have begun to assess the areas of Government that could be done more effectively in house, and where there may be compelling reasons for Government to develop their own capabilities and capacity to deliver good value for money and better public services.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to review the effectiveness of meeting contractual requirements in outsourced services provided to government departments.

Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The National Procurement Policy Statement will set out the Government’s policy priorities, and contracting authorities will have to have regard to it when carrying out procurements. The Policy Statement will consult on introducing a new public interest test to assess whether work should be outsourced or if it could be done more effectively and drive better value for money in-house.

We have begun to assess the areas of Government that could be done more effectively in house, and where there may be compelling reasons for Government to develop their own capabilities and capacity to deliver good value for money and better public services.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will initiate a programme of insourcing of facilities and maintenance services in government departments.

Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The National Procurement Policy Statement will set out the Government’s policy priorities, and contracting authorities will have to have regard to it when carrying out procurements. The Policy Statement will consult on introducing a new public interest test to assess whether work should be outsourced or if it could be done more effectively and drive better value for money in-house.

We have begun to assess the areas of Government that could be done more effectively in house, and where there may be compelling reasons for Government to develop their own capabilities and capacity to deliver good value for money and better public services.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to tackle(a) insecure work and (b) level of pay for workers employed in outsourced services in government departments.

Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Employment Rights Bill will ensure the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation. This will include the introduction of the Two-Tier Code which will ensure fair and equitable employment conditions for public sector workers who have been transferred and private sector workers who work alongside them on public service contracts.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria will be used by regional improvement for standards and excellence teams to identify the schools it will be engaging with to deliver improvement in standards.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The department has introduced its new regional improvement for standards and excellence (RISE) teams to help drive high and rising standards. In advance of Ofsted school report cards being introduced later this year, schools will be eligible to receive bespoke RISE interventions if they have not had a change of structure since their last inspection, and:

• were previously due to receive structural intervention after 1 January
• are a ‘stuck’ school – defined as a school that was graded requires improvement, or equivalent based on sub-judgements, at their most recent Ofsted inspection, and were also graded below good at their previous inspection; or
• are in a category of concern.

The department is consulting on future eligibility criteria for targeted RISE intervention following the introduction of new Ofsted school report cards.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools she plans for each regional improvement for standards and excellence team to support in (a) the North East and (b) each region, per year.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The department expects regional improvement for standards and excellence (RISE) teams to have worked with around 600 schools by March 2026. RISE teams will focus their efforts on schools which are stuck and have not had a change of structure since their last inspection.

Based on the latest published Ofsted inspection data, at the end of December 2024, there were 664 “stuck schools” in England and 31 “stuck schools” in the North East.

Across the other regions there were:

• 90 in the East Midlands
• 71 in the East of England
• 18 in London
• 104 in the North West
• 72 in the South East
• 102 in the South West
• 97 in the West Midlands
• 79 in Yorkshire and Humber

Following last week’s announcement, the department is contacting all responsible bodies with schools that currently meet the eligibility criteria.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what additional funding will be made available for the schools supported by a regional improvement for standards and excellence team.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Support delivered by regional improvement for standards and excellence teams has been backed by an over £20 million investment. They will draw up, working with high quality organisations, bespoke improvement plans with eligible schools, with the department making up to £100,000 available initially to each school for specialist support. This compares to a £6,000 grant that was available previously for similar schools.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time is for (a) children and (b) adults to have an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder assessment in Middlesbrough & Thornaby East constituency.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

There is, at present, no single, established dataset that can be used to monitor waiting times for the assessment and diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) nationally or for individual organisations or geographies in England. Although the data requested is not held centrally, it may be held locally by individual National Health Service trusts or commissioners.

We are supporting a taskforce that NHS England has established to look at ADHD service provision and its impact on patient experience. The taskforce is bringing together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the NHS, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD, including timely access to services and support.

In conjunction with the taskforce, NHS England has carried out detailed work to develop a data improvement plan, understand the provider and commissioning landscape, and capture examples from integrated care boards who are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) children and (b) adults are waiting for an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder assessment in Middlesbrough & Thornaby East constituency.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

There is, at present, no single, established dataset that can be used to monitor waiting times for the assessment and diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) nationally or for individual organisations or geographies in England. Although the data requested is not held centrally, it may be held locally by individual National Health Service trusts or commissioners.

We are supporting a taskforce that NHS England has established to look at ADHD service provision and its impact on patient experience. The taskforce is bringing together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the NHS, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD, including timely access to services and support.

In conjunction with the taskforce, NHS England has carried out detailed work to develop a data improvement plan, understand the provider and commissioning landscape, and capture examples from integrated care boards who are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve attention deficit hyperactivity disorder assessment waiting list times.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

There is, at present, no single, established dataset that can be used to monitor waiting times for the assessment and diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) nationally or for individual organisations or geographies in England. Although the data requested is not held centrally, it may be held locally by individual National Health Service trusts or commissioners.

We are supporting a taskforce that NHS England has established to look at ADHD service provision and its impact on patient experience. The taskforce is bringing together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the NHS, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD, including timely access to services and support.

In conjunction with the taskforce, NHS England has carried out detailed work to develop a data improvement plan, understand the provider and commissioning landscape, and capture examples from integrated care boards who are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he expects NHS England to publish a national ADHD data improvement plan.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England is currently working on the national ADHD data improvement plan, and is engaging with system and stakeholder partners to quality assure this work with a view to publication once it has been through NHS England’s internal assurance and governance processes.

Lucy Baldock

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Found: _NC6 Richard Burgon Barry Gardiner Andy McDonald Rachael Maskell Clive Lewis Nadia Whittome Grahame

Found: _NC6 Richard Burgon Barry Gardiner Andy McDonald Rachael Maskell Clive Lewis Nadia Whittome Grahame

Found: _NC6 Richard Burgon Barry Gardiner Andy McDonald Rachael Maskell Clive Lewis Nadia Whittome Grahame