Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of uncollected rubbish in Birmingham on (a) public health and (b) levels of Weil’s disease.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many children were convicted of (a) murder and (b) manslaughter by (i) age, (ii) biological sex, (iii) ethnicity, (iv) country of birth, (v) care experience, (vi) history of previous criminal offences, (vii) whether they lived with both parents, (viii) county lived in at time of offence and (ix) county in which the offence took place in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The number of children that were convicted of murder and manslaughter by age, biological sex and ethnicity can be found in the criminal justice statistics: Criminal Justice System statistics quarterly: June 2024 - GOV.UK.
The Ministry of Justice does not hold data on the number of children convicted of murder and manslaughter by country of birth, care experience, whether they lived with both parents, country lived at time of offence and county in which the offence took place in each of the last ten years. The information requested on children convicted of murder and manslaughter by history of previous criminal offences is held by the Department but could only be obtained at disproportionate cost
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
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 help improve public awareness of the (a) risk factors (b) transmission and (c) symptoms of leptospirosis.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Health Security Agency publishes standard guidance on the risk factors, transmission, and symptoms of leptospirosis, which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/leptospirosis#full-publication-update-history.
National Health Service guidance is also available, at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/leptospirosis/.
Finally, guidance for workers is available from the Health and Safety Executive, at the following link:
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of schools whose grant offered to cover the rise in employers National Insurance contributions is not enough meet the actual cost incurred.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The government has agreed that public sector employers will receive support in recognition of the increase in their National Insurance contributions (NICs) from April 2025. The department is providing schools and high needs settings with over £930 million in the 2025/26 financial year to support them with their increased NICs costs. This support is additional to the £2.3 billion increase to core school funding announced at the Autumn Budget 2024. This means that the core schools budget, which includes the core revenue funding for schools and high needs, will total over £64.8 billion in the 2025/26 financial year. The amount of public sector support is based on HM Treasury analysis of the proportion of employer NICs receipts paid by public sector organisations, and allocated between departments based on headcount and wage/salary data.
The NICs grant will allocate funding to schools according to their pupil numbers, and the numbers of pupils with additional needs, along with a lump sum component for every school regardless of pupil numbers. The department’s funding system is not designed so that every school receives funding that fully matches their precise spending as that, including the NICs costs, varies between institutions because of the decisions that each school takes on its staffing.
The department has distributed this funding in proportion to the needs of the different sectors and phases of education. The department will continue to monitor cost pressures, as it usually does.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of whether the additional funding provided to schools for the increased cost of employer National insurance contributions is adequate to meet those costs.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The government has agreed that public sector employers will receive support in recognition of the increase in their National Insurance contributions (NICs) from April 2025. The department is providing schools and high needs settings with over £930 million in the 2025/26 financial year to support them with their increased NICs costs. This support is additional to the £2.3 billion increase to core school funding announced at the Autumn Budget 2024. This means that the core schools budget, which includes the core revenue funding for schools and high needs, will total over £64.8 billion in the 2025/26 financial year. The amount of public sector support is based on HM Treasury analysis of the proportion of employer NICs receipts paid by public sector organisations, and allocated between departments based on headcount and wage/salary data.
The NICs grant will allocate funding to schools according to their pupil numbers, and the numbers of pupils with additional needs, along with a lump sum component for every school regardless of pupil numbers. The department’s funding system is not designed so that every school receives funding that fully matches their precise spending as that, including the NICs costs, varies between institutions because of the decisions that each school takes on its staffing.
The department has distributed this funding in proportion to the needs of the different sectors and phases of education. The department will continue to monitor cost pressures, as it usually does.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 31 March 2025 to Question 41472 on Childcare: Fees and Charges whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the £100k cut off for free childcare provision on (a) overall workforce productivity, (b) willingness of impacted employees to take on additional hours and responsibilities and (c) willingness of impacted NHS clinical staff to take on additional hours of work and responsibilities.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Sleaford and North Hykeham to the answer of 31 March 2025 to Question 41472.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of (a) severance payments and (b) redundancy packages for NHS England staff following the abolition of NHS England.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We recognise that there may be some short-term upfront costs as we undertake the integration of NHS England and the Department, but these costs and more will be recouped in future years because of a smaller and leaner centre. By the end of the process, we estimate that these changes will save hundreds of millions of pounds a year, which will be reinvested in frontline services.
As we work to return many of NHS England’s current functions to the Department, we will ensure that we continue to evaluate impacts of all kinds.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of restructuring administrative functions following NHS England’s abolition.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We recognise that there may be some short-term upfront costs as we undertake the integration of NHS England and the Department, but these costs and more will be recouped in future years because of a smaller and leaner centre. By the end of the process, we estimate that these changes will save hundreds of millions of pounds a year, which will be reinvested in frontline services.
As we work to return many of NHS England’s current functions to the Department, we will ensure that we continue to evaluate impacts of all kinds.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the abolition of NHS England on long term public sector borrowing relating to health administration.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ministers and senior Department officials will work with the new transformation team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir Jim Mackey, to lead this transformation. The transition team will work across NHS England and the Department, bringing together the expertise and experience of both organisations.
As we work to return many of NHS England’s current functions to the Department, we will ensure that we continue to evaluate impacts of all kinds, including the financial implications of the changes. By the end of the process, we estimate that these changes will save hundreds of millions of pounds a year, which will be reinvested in frontline services.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether an individual without a Gender Recognition Certificate can change the sex displayed on their passport to be different from their sex recorded at birth.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
HM Passport’s Office policy can be found at Gender recognition policy - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The policy was last updated under the previous government in April 2024, and has not been changed since.