Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the (a) suitability of and (b) need for a review of Provider Access Legislation for students with SEND to assist them with acquiring employment.
Answered by David Johnston
Since January 2023, schools have been required to comply with strengthened provider access legislation, offering at least six opportunities for pupils to meet providers of technical education or apprenticeships. These encounters offer insights into the courses and qualifications that different providers offer, supporting pupils to make more informed decisions about their next step.
All pupils should have the same opportunities for meaningful provider encounters. The overwhelming majority of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including those with high levels of needs, can access fulfilling jobs and careers with the right preparation and support. Schools should involve parents/carers, the Special Educational Needs Coordinator and other relevant staff to identify any barriers and support needed, and tailor each provider encounter appropriately.
Where future pathways are limited for learners due to the nature of their specific learning needs and/or physical ability, for example where they are highly likely to proceed into adult social care, it is recognised that it may be necessary for additional flexibility in how these encounters are delivered.
The Careers and Enterprise Company (CEC) supports schools, colleges and specialist institutions to meet the requirements of the provider access legislation. The CEC has produced tailored resources for provider access legislation in SEND settings, sharing good practice in developing and delivering tailored encounters within SEND provision. The resources can be found at the following link: https://resources.careersandenterprise.co.uk/resources/provider-access-legislation-pal-send-settings.
Data published by the CEC provides encouraging early evidence that specialist settings are offering more meaningful encounters for their pupils. For example, in the 2022/23 academic year, 69% of schools reported that most young people had been provided with meaningful encounters with Independent Training Providers (up 9% percentage points in 2021/22). This was higher in special schools and alternative provision (90%), an increase of 22% percentage points from the previous year.
2023/24 is the first full academic year that the strengthened legislation has been in place. The department will continue to monitor and review the support in place, the level of compliance, and the impact on young people.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to allocate new (a) funding and (b) resources to support children with special educational needs and disabilities in schools.
Answered by David Johnston
High needs funding for children and young people with complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is over £10.5 billion in 2024/25, which is an increase of over 60% from the 2019/20 allocations. Of this, Sefton Council is due to receive a high needs funding allocation of £47.8 million in 2024/25, which is a cumulative increase of 32% per head over the three years from 2021/22. This funding will help local authorities and schools, both mainstream and special schools, with the increasing costs of supporting children and young people with SEND.
In addition, on 22 May the department published 2024/25 allocations of the Teachers’ Pay Additional Grant, which helps schools with the costs of the 2023 teachers’ pay award, and the 2024 Teachers’ Pension Employer Contribution Grant, which helps schools with the increased employer contribution rate from April 2024. This funding totals £1.9 billion in 2024/25 and is to support schools with the costs of their teachers, and therefore contributes to the resources that are available for schools’ pupils with SEND.
In March 2024, the department also published just under £850 million of High Needs Provision Capital Allocations (HNPCA) for 2023/24 and 2024/25. This funding is allocated to local authorities to support them deliver new places and improve existing provision for children and young people with SEND or who require alternative provision (AP).
This funding forms part of the department’s transformational investment of £2.6 billion in new high needs provision between 2022 and 2025 which, when combined with the department’s ongoing delivery of new special and AP free schools, is creating over 60,000 new specialist places across the country.
In total, Sefton Council has been allocated just over £9.7 million through HNPCA between 2022 and 2025.
This funding can be used to deliver new places in mainstream and special schools, as well as other specialist settings, and to improve the suitability and accessibility of existing buildings.
In addition to local authority allocations, 201 special free schools are either open or planned to open in future years. Once at capacity, these schools will provide over 21,000 places for pupils with special educational needs. Over 10,000 of these places have already been delivered.
This includes 56 special free schools being delivered as part of the £2.6 billion of high needs capital funding received in the 2021 Spending Review, plus additional funding announced at the 2024 Spring Budget.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle (a) antisocial behaviour and (b) other (i) dangerous and (ii) illicit acts caused by illegal drug cultivation.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
Drugs devastate lives, ruin families and damage communities. The Government's ten-year Drugs Strategy demonstrates our commitment to cut off the supply of drugs, reduce their recreational use and make the UK a significantly harder place for organised crime groups to operate in. Through our end-to-end plan to tackle drug supply, we are tackling the supply of drugs at every level from production overseas to cultivation in the UK. Our approach recognises that the organised criminals behind drug cultivation are often involved in a range of wider offences including firearms, money laundering, slavery and human trafficking.
Working with the National Crime Agency, the Regional Organised Crime Unit network and a range of agency partners, police in England and Wales coordinated Operation Mille - the most significant operation of its kind aimed at disrupting organised crime groups by dismantling large-scale cannabis farms – a key source of illicit income for organised crime gangs. Throughout June of 2023, police executed over 1,000 search warrants, arresting hundreds of individuals and seized 20 firearms, over £635,000 in cash and over 180,000 cannabis plants worth around £130 million. Of those arrested, more than 450 were later charged with a range of offences. The Home Office provided police with £1.5m funding in 2023/24 to support Operation Mille.
Last year the Government launched the Anti-social Behaviour Action Plan ensuring the police, local authorities and other relevant agencies have the tools and powers they need to tackle anti-social behaviour. Under the Plan, which is backed by £160m of funding, we are taking a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of anti-social behaviour, including by toughening up the police response to drugs, expanding testing on arrest and banning nitrous oxide.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps the Government is taking to support independent jewellers in Southport constituency.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
Independent jewellers in Southport and across the country have benefited from the extension of Retail, Hospitality and Leisure relief for 2024-25, a tax cut worth nearly £2.4 billion and a freeze to the small business multiplier for a fourth consecutive year, protecting over a million ratepayers from bill increases.
Government provided an unprecedented package of support for businesses with energy costs through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme and the Energy Bill Discount Scheme. Together these schemes have provided around £7.5 billion to businesses for energy costs.
The industry led Retail Sector Council is developing a strategic approach for retail and continues to invite views on the opportunities and challenges for business set out in the recently published discussion paper Retail: The Great Enabler.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to increase (a) the number of UK nuclear-powered submarines and (b) their capabilities.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
The Department remains committed to its submarine build programmes. Details can be found within the recently published Defence Nuclear Enterprise Command Paper: Delivering the UK’s Nuclear Deterrent as a National Endeavour (CP1058).
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce the use of animal testing in scientific research.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
On Monday 19th February, I announced that the government will be publishing a plan to accelerate the development, validation, and uptake of technologies and methods to reduce reliance on the use of animals in science. This summer, this will be led by a cross-government group that will consult stakeholders in industry, academia, and charities.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to help support the establishment of new business ventures (a) in the North West and (b) Southport constituency.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help support coastal habitats.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Coastal habitats play a crucial role in absorbing carbon dioxide, providing flood defence, supporting fisheries, enhancing water quality, and contributing to biodiversity and well-being.
The Environmental Improvement Plan sets out our focus on enhancing nature in marine and coastal environments, including the steps we are taking to restore and protect marine habitats and marine wildlife.
These include delivering the UK Marine Strategy, which sets our ambition for Good Environmental Status (GES) across our seas. To help achieve GES we have created a series of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) to protect and restore our marine biodiversity. We are focused on strengthening the protection of this extensive network of 178 sites covering 40% of English waters, which represents the range of species and habitats found in our seas.
To complement the MPA network, the first three Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) in English waters came into force on 5 July 2023. HPMAs will provide the highest levels of protection in our seas, allowing nature to fully recover to a more natural state and helping the wider ecosystem, including coastal habitats, to thrive.
We actively invest in coastal habitat restoration, allocating significant funding to protect and enhance these vital ecosystems. For example, last year Defra announced a £640,000 funding commitment which is supporting vital restoration and creation of blue carbon habitats in the UK. The Environment Agency’s Restoring Meadow, Marsh and Reef (ReMeMaRe) initiative aims to reverse centuries of coastal habitat decline by restoring seagrass meadows, saltmarsh and native oyster reefs to bring benefits to people and nature.
In February we awarded £25 million funding to 40 schemes around England for improving flood resilience through a new natural flood management programme.
The Government’s £80 million Green Recovery Challenge Fund has supported a range of nature recovery projects across England, some which have included saltmarsh and seagrass restoration. Defra is also funding coastal and marine restoration projects under its flagship £37 million Marine Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment R&D programme.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of procuring (CTOL) F-35A aircraft.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the right hon. Member for Wentworth and Dearne (John Healey) on 16 June 2023 to Question 188192.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether she is taking steps to help support (a) local action groups and (b) Southport Access For Everyone in Southport constituency to advocate for local authorities to increase access to public infrastructure for people with (i) limited mobility and (ii) disabilities.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.