Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to incentivise small businesses in the (a) computing and (b) AI sector to generate their own renewable energy.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is committed to ensuring the growth of AI and data centres in the UK is done in a way that supports our clean power mission and longer-term decarbonisation goals. The department has funded the AI for Decarbonisation Programme which supports the development of innovative AI approaches to address critical challenges in decarbonisation. The department is also running a Business Energy Advice Service pilot in the West Midlands. This provides free energy assessments and match-funded grants to small businesses to support them to decarbonise and reduce their energy demand. The scheme has been extended to 31 March 2026.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many former service personnel have waited over four months for their medical records to be released by the Defence Medical Service to their civilian GP.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
When an individual leaves the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) recognises the importance of facilitating the transfer of healthcare information to their civilian healthcare provider(s).
On leaving Defence Medical Services (DMS) care, Service personnel are provided with a medical care summary, known as an FMed133, and advised to register with an NHS GP and provide them a copy of their FMED 133.
If a patient’s full DMS health record is required, this is provided on request from their NHS GP. Given this and that some records are never requested, no accurate estimate can be made of the average time from discharge to the receipt of the medical records by the NHS GP.
To improve the transfer of healthcare information, DMS is working towards the greater interoperability with NHS systems and the electronic transfer of medical records from DMS to NHS GPs and expects to implement changes over the next 1-2 years.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to reduce the time taken for the Defence Medical Service to release veterans’ medical records to their GP.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
When an individual leaves the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) recognises the importance of facilitating the transfer of healthcare information to their civilian healthcare provider(s).
On leaving Defence Medical Services (DMS) care, Service personnel are provided with a medical care summary, known as an FMed133, and advised to register with an NHS GP and provide them a copy of their FMED 133.
If a patient’s full DMS health record is required, this is provided on request from their NHS GP. Given this and that some records are never requested, no accurate estimate can be made of the average time from discharge to the receipt of the medical records by the NHS GP.
To improve the transfer of healthcare information, DMS is working towards the greater interoperability with NHS systems and the electronic transfer of medical records from DMS to NHS GPs and expects to implement changes over the next 1-2 years.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average time taken is for the Defence Medical Service to release a veteran’s medical record post discharge from the Armed Services.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
When an individual leaves the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) recognises the importance of facilitating the transfer of healthcare information to their civilian healthcare provider(s).
On leaving Defence Medical Services (DMS) care, Service personnel are provided with a medical care summary, known as an FMed133, and advised to register with an NHS GP and provide them a copy of their FMED 133.
If a patient’s full DMS health record is required, this is provided on request from their NHS GP. Given this and that some records are never requested, no accurate estimate can be made of the average time from discharge to the receipt of the medical records by the NHS GP.
To improve the transfer of healthcare information, DMS is working towards the greater interoperability with NHS systems and the electronic transfer of medical records from DMS to NHS GPs and expects to implement changes over the next 1-2 years.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the provisions of the updated initial teacher training and early career framework which relate to pupils with SEND have been (a) co-produced, (b) designed, (c) developed, (d) evaluated and (e) delivered with (i) autistic people and (ii) people with a learning disability.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
During 2023, the department reviewed the initial teacher training core content framework (CCF) and the early career framework (ECF) to ensure they remained based on the most up-to-date evidence. This review paid particular attention to the needs of trainees and early career teachers (ECTs) when supporting pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
As part of the review process, the department analysed evaluation data and feedback, which included discussions with lead providers, senior school leaders, induction tutors, and mentors and ECTs. The department also worked closely and met regularly with groups of influential educational stakeholders. These were representative groups who acted in an advisory capacity and included SEND educational specialists.
As a result of this review, the updated initial teacher training and early career framework (ITTECF), which will underpin training for trainee and ECTs from September 2025, contains significantly more content related to adaptive teaching and supporting pupils with SEND and the department has enhanced the requirement on lead providers of ECT training to develop SEND training materials.
As the updated ITTECF will not be implemented until September 2025, the department has not yet evaluated its impact, however we recognise that continuous improvement is essential in order to transform the training and support for all new teachers, and to review the experiences and needs of ECT as well as trainees. This is why we are committing to a full review of the programme in 2027 to ensure it continues to provide the best possible support for ECTs. We know that it is crucial that ECTs feel supported teaching pupils with SEND and will review our approach to SEND and the support we provide ECTs in teaching pupils with SEND. We will work with stakeholders to ensure that we continue to provide the best possible support for pupils with SEND.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2025 to Question 22902 on Flood Control: Finance, when he plans to announce the flood and coastal erosion risk management projects that will receive funding through regional flood and coastal committees in the 2025-26 financial year.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are investing £2.65 billion in 2024/25 and 2025/26 to improve flood resilience, by building, maintaining and repairing flood defences. We published a full list of over 700 schemes that will receive funding in 2025/26 on Monday 31st March.
This includes an additional £140 million to fill funding gaps for 29 flood schemes, to allow them to proceed to construction. As part of this, schemes in Alverstoke and Hill Head to Portsmouth have been allocated £3,588,150 and £778,185 respectively. Further information is available on GOV.UK, at the link below. Programme of flood and coastal erosion risk management (FCERM) schemes - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of mandating the sharing of students' data between Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
All schools maintained by a local authority in England are required to send a Common Transfer File (CTF) to the new school when a pupil ceases to be registered at their school and becomes a registered pupil at another school. Academies, including free schools, are also strongly encouraged to send CTFs when a pupil leaves to attend another school.
Information specified by the department for inclusion in a CTF includes a record of the pupil’s attainment and achievements, which would include details of key stage 4 results where available. Details of a pupil’s prior attainment is included in the CTF to ensure schools are able to meet the individual needs of each pupil with greater accuracy and maintain the momentum of their learning.
Although there is no legal requirement for a school to transfer information to a further education (FE) college, schools are encouraged to do so on request from the FE college, where a secure method of transfer is available.
In addition, the department runs the Learning Records Service (LRS). The LRS allows providers to collect and manage unique learner numbers on behalf of learners aged 14 and above. This provides a consistent identifier for young people to learning providers including schools, academies, FE providers, higher education providers and offender learning providers (prisons), which allows those providers to access a learner’s personal learning record to support education and career information, advice and guidance.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reason the National Procurement Policy Statement exempts the Ministry of Defence defence and security contracts from the priority on delivering social value.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Defence and security contracts under the previous procurement regime were exempt from social value requirements under Procurement Policy Note (PPN) 06/20. This meant contracts let by Central Government Departments, their Executive Agencies and Non-Departmental Public Bodies in scope of the Public Contracts Regulations (2015) only, excluding those covered by the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 (DSPCR).
From 24 February 2025, Procurement Policy Note 002: Taking account of social value in the award of contracts which sets out how to take account of social value in the award of central government contracts, will not be mandated for the Ministry of Defence (MOD) in relation to defence and security contracts as defined by section 7 of the Procurement Act 2023 and exempt procurements.
However, MOD delivery teams will have the flexibility to include Social Value criteria in defence and security or exempt contracts if relevant to the subject matter of the contract, proportionate, fair and non-discriminatory. This will be considered by individual MOD Delivery Teams on a case-by-case basis. All other MOD contracts that are in scope of the Procurement Act 2023 and not classified as a defence and security contract will be required to comply with the National procurement Policy Statement and PPN 002.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of education recruitment agencies on the number of teachers finding jobs via her Department's teaching vacancies service; and if she will make an estimate of the potential cost to the public purse of these agencies to schools.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Schools spend an estimated £75 million a year on recruitment advertising. Teaching Vacancies is a leading job listing service and 98% of secondary schools and 75% of primary schools have signed up to post their vacancies, for free. The department estimates that primary and secondary schools using Teaching Vacancies have saved, in total, between £47.3 and £60.8 million (from September 2018 to August 2024). More information about this calculation can be found on the Teaching Vacancies website: https://teaching-vacancies.service.gov.uk/pages/savings-methodology.
In addition to listing teaching and leaderships roles, the service expanded last year to include all school roles meaning schools will be able to save even more money by using the service.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
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 reduce waiting times for Care Quality Commission initial inspections for (a) GP practices, (b) dental practices and (c) care homes.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has introduced additional oversight measures to ensure significant improvements are made to the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) operational performance.
CQC is aware of the issues providers have experienced with delays in processing registration applications and the reduction in the number of assessments it undertakes.
CQC is progressing four immediate actions and five foundational improvements, which includes clearing the backlog of registration applications and making improvements to its assessment approach to enable it to complete more, and better quality, assessments. These actions will ensure CQC is more efficient, and lead to a reduction in the time providers wait before they receive a first inspection and rating.