Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the selection criteria is for membership to the Hospitality Sector Council.

Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Hospitality Sector Council’s Terms of Reference is publicly available, outlining that membership is by invitation only and is subject to final agreement by DBT Ministers in consultation with the joint chairs. Members are selected to provide a breadth of knowledge and experience across the hospitality sector and Government. All members are selected in a personal capacity and will be expected to speak for their areas of expertise rather than the specific interests of their organisation.

Membership is reviewed by DBT, and it may be amended to take account of changing priorities in the sector to ensure appropriate representation and expertise is maintained.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure a minimum level of provision for youth services across the country.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

Local authorities have a statutory duty to secure, so far as is reasonably practicable, sufficient provision of educational and recreational leisure-time activities for young people. In September 2023 DCMS published updated statutory guidance to support local authorities’ understanding of the existing duty and how to deliver it. Alongside this, DCMS funds a Peer Review programme for local authorities to learn from each other about the best approaches to youth service provision.

This government has also committed to co-producing a new National Youth Strategy, which is an opportunity to move away from one-size-fits all approaches from central government, bringing power back to young people and their communities and rebuilding a thriving and sustainable sector. We plan to publish the Strategy in the summer.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help increase the proportion of pupils meeting the expected standard in the year one phonics screening check in Knowsley constituency.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

High and rising school standards, with excellent foundations in reading, writing and mathematics, are at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity. Through the Plan for Change, we will give children the best start in life, and that means providing them with an excellent foundation in the core subjects.

Since the right hon. Ruth Kelly, as a previous Secretary of State for Education and Skills, accepted the recommendations of the Rose Report in 2006, England has made significant progress in the teaching of early reading, especially phonics.

The department has introduced a range of measures to support early reading and help increase the proportion of pupils meeting the expected standard in the year 1 phonics screening check.

In July 2024, we announced that funded support for the 11,100 schools registered for the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) programme would continue for academic year 2024/25. NELI is an evidence-based programme targeting reception-aged children needing extra support with their speech and language development and is proven to help them make four months of additional progress, seven months for those eligible for free school meals.

Further, the English hubs school-to-school support programme is dedicated to improving the teaching of reading, with a focus on phonics, early language development and reading for pleasure. So far, the department has invested over £90 million in the programme, with funding continuing and £23 million committed for academic year 2024/25 to support this work. Knowsley’s nearest English Hub is St John Vianney English Hub.

The government’s reading framework also provides guidance on improving the teaching of reading from reception to key stage 3, including guidance on how to help pupils who need more support to learn to read proficiently.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce rates of secondary school absenteeism in Knowsley constituency.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

This government is determined to tackle the generational challenge of school absence, which is a fundamental barrier to learning and life chances. Missing school regularly is harmful to a child’s attainment, safety and physical and mental health, which limits their opportunity to succeed. There is evidence that more students are attending school this year compared to last, thanks to the sector’s efforts, although around 1.6 million children remain persistently absent and miss 10% or more of lessons. In Knowsley, 27% of all pupils were persistently absent in the 2022/2023 academic year. At primary level, the rate of persistent absence is 21.6%, which is an improvement from 21.8% last year. At secondary level the rate of persistent absence is 36.3%, which represents an improvement from 40.9% last year.

The department has set out clear expectations of local authorities and schools in the ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance, which was made statutory on 19 August 2024. This guidance can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66bf300da44f1c4c23e5bd1b/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance_-_August_2024.pdf.

The guidance promotes a 'support first' approach and sets out clear expectations on how schools, trusts, local authorities and wider services should work together and with families to address attendance barriers and provide the right support, including where a pupil is not attending due to special educational needs.

It is now mandatory for every state school in England to share their daily attendance data with the department. Schools, local authorities and trusts can access this data through a secure, interactive dashboard which is maintained by the department, providing a seamless flow of data and allowing schools to target attendance interventions more effectively. Over 99% of state schools in England are sharing their daily data with the department.

The department recognises the importance of creating opportunities within the sector to share existing best practice on how to improve attendance. This is why we set up a network of 31 attendance hubs, which are supporting 13 schools in Knowsley. These hubs have offered support to 2000 primary, secondary and alternative provision schools in total, and shared their strategies and resources for improving attendance.

In addition to this work, the department also aims to improve the existing evidence on which interventions work to improve attendance. Over £17 million is being invested across two mentoring projects that will support at least 12,000 pupils in 15 areas. Knowsley is one of the areas where mentors have been providing support. These programmes will be evaluated and the effective practice shared with schools and local authorities nationally.

We are also strengthening our tools for faster and more effective school improvement by launching the new Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence (RISE) teams. Supported by over £20 million, these teams will offer both mandatory targeted intervention for schools identified by Ofsted as needing to improve and a universal service, acting as a catalyst for a self-improving system for all schools. The RISE teams are now beginning work with the first group of schools eligible for the targeted, bespoke service, with additional schools to begin in April.

School attendance is also supported by broader investments, such as funded breakfast clubs across all primary schools, to ensure children start their day ready to learn. The department is working across government on plans to provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school, new Young Futures hubs, including access to mental health support workers, and an additional 8,500 new mental health staff to treat children and adults. The department is also committed to introducing new annual Ofsted reviews focusing on safeguarding, attendance and off-rolling.

Schools can also allocate pupil premium funding, which has now increased to over £2.9 billion for the 2024/25 financial year, to support pupils with identified needs to attend school regularly.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce the rate of absenteeism in primary schools in Knowsley constituency.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

This government is determined to tackle the generational challenge of school absence, which is a fundamental barrier to learning and life chances. Missing school regularly is harmful to a child’s attainment, safety and physical and mental health, which limits their opportunity to succeed. There is evidence that more students are attending school this year compared to last, thanks to the sector’s efforts, although around 1.6 million children remain persistently absent and miss 10% or more of lessons. In Knowsley, 27% of all pupils were persistently absent in the 2022/2023 academic year. At primary level, the rate of persistent absence is 21.6%, which is an improvement from 21.8% last year. At secondary level the rate of persistent absence is 36.3%, which represents an improvement from 40.9% last year.

The department has set out clear expectations of local authorities and schools in the ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance, which was made statutory on 19 August 2024. This guidance can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66bf300da44f1c4c23e5bd1b/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance_-_August_2024.pdf.

The guidance promotes a 'support first' approach and sets out clear expectations on how schools, trusts, local authorities and wider services should work together and with families to address attendance barriers and provide the right support, including where a pupil is not attending due to special educational needs.

It is now mandatory for every state school in England to share their daily attendance data with the department. Schools, local authorities and trusts can access this data through a secure, interactive dashboard which is maintained by the department, providing a seamless flow of data and allowing schools to target attendance interventions more effectively. Over 99% of state schools in England are sharing their daily data with the department.

The department recognises the importance of creating opportunities within the sector to share existing best practice on how to improve attendance. This is why we set up a network of 31 attendance hubs, which are supporting 13 schools in Knowsley. These hubs have offered support to 2000 primary, secondary and alternative provision schools in total, and shared their strategies and resources for improving attendance.

In addition to this work, the department also aims to improve the existing evidence on which interventions work to improve attendance. Over £17 million is being invested across two mentoring projects that will support at least 12,000 pupils in 15 areas. Knowsley is one of the areas where mentors have been providing support. These programmes will be evaluated and the effective practice shared with schools and local authorities nationally.

We are also strengthening our tools for faster and more effective school improvement by launching the new Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence (RISE) teams. Supported by over £20 million, these teams will offer both mandatory targeted intervention for schools identified by Ofsted as needing to improve and a universal service, acting as a catalyst for a self-improving system for all schools. The RISE teams are now beginning work with the first group of schools eligible for the targeted, bespoke service, with additional schools to begin in April.

School attendance is also supported by broader investments, such as funded breakfast clubs across all primary schools, to ensure children start their day ready to learn. The department is working across government on plans to provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school, new Young Futures hubs, including access to mental health support workers, and an additional 8,500 new mental health staff to treat children and adults. The department is also committed to introducing new annual Ofsted reviews focusing on safeguarding, attendance and off-rolling.

Schools can also allocate pupil premium funding, which has now increased to over £2.9 billion for the 2024/25 financial year, to support pupils with identified needs to attend school regularly.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding his Department had allocated to the National Cancer Plan.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department has not made a specific funding allocation for preparing the National Cancer Plan. Further funding for cancer services will be considered as part of the upcoming spending review.

The National Cancer Plan will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and aftercare. It will seek to improve every aspect of cancer care to improve the experience and outcomes for people with cancer, including anyone with secondary and metastatic cancer. Our goal is to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer over the next ten years. On 4 February 2025, we launched a Call for Evidence, in which the views of people across the country will inform our plan to improve cancer care. Those who wish to share their views can do so on the new online platform. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/shaping-the-national-cancer-plan

Found: Bill Esterson (Chair); Ms Polly Billington; Torcuil Crichton; Wera Hobhouse; Josh MacAlister; Anneliese Midgley

Found: Bill Esterson (Chair); Ms Polly Billington; Torcuil Crichton; Wera Hobhouse; Josh MacAlister; Anneliese Midgley

Found: Minister for Employment Rights, Competition and Markets) (Ellesmere Port and Bromborough) (Lab) • Anneliese Midgley

Found: Daniel Francis Mary Glindon Anna Dixon Melanie Ward Marsha De Cordova Laurence Turner Anneliese Midgley

Found: Patricia Ferguson Daniel Francis Anna Dixon Melanie Ward Marsha De Cordova Laurence Turner Anneliese Midgley

Found: Patricia Ferguson Daniel Francis Anna Dixon Melanie Ward Marsha De Cordova Laurence Turner Anneliese Midgley

Found: Patricia Ferguson Daniel Francis Anna Dixon Melanie Ward Marsha De Cordova Laurence Turner Anneliese Midgley

Found: Patricia Ferguson Daniel Francis Anna Dixon Melanie Ward Marsha De Cordova Laurence Turner Anneliese Midgley

Found: Patricia Ferguson Daniel Francis Anna Dixon Melanie Ward Marsha De Cordova Laurence Turner Anneliese Midgley

Found: Scott Arthur Patricia Ferguson Anna Dixon Melanie Ward Marsha De Cordova Laurence Turner Anneliese Midgley

Found: Scott Arthur Patricia Ferguson Anna Dixon Melanie Ward Marsha De Cordova Laurence Turner Anneliese Midgley

Found: Helen Hayes Dr Scott Arthur Anna Dixon Melanie Ward Marsha De Cordova Laurence Turner Anneliese Midgley

Found: Helen Hayes Dr Scott Arthur Anna Dixon Melanie Ward Marsha De Cordova Laurence Turner Anneliese Midgley

Found: Helen Hayes Dr Scott Arthur Anna Dixon Melanie Ward Marsha De Cordova Laurence Turner Anneliese Midgley

Found: Billington Darren Paffey Helen Hayes Anna Dixon Melanie Ward Marsha De Cordova Laurence Turner Anneliese Midgley

Building on the evidence received in the previous Committee’s inquiry on Securing the domestic supply chain, the Committee will hold a one-off session on Industrial Strategy for Clean Power. The inquiry will explore the areas within the sector where UK manufacturers have the greatest potential to make an impact, as well as how developing a more localized supply chain could contribute to achieving the goal of a secure, decarbonized electricity sector by 2035.