Dan Tomlinson

The government is committed to ensuring that all young people, including those with education, health and care plans, can access a range of high quality qualifications and programmes which support them to develop the skills they need to thrive at work and throughout life. This is at the heart of the government’s missions to break down the barriers to opportunity and to boost economic growth.

The Curriculum and Assessment Review will ensure meaningful, rigorous and high value pathways for all, with access to qualifications and training that will provide the skills they need to seize opportunity. The review will look closely at the key challenges to attainment for young people and the barriers which hold children back from the opportunities and life chances they deserve, in particular children and young people who are socioeconomically disadvantaged or with special educational needs or disabilities.

The Government is committed to implementing Simpler Recycling, which will mean that people across England will be able to recycle the same materials, whether at home, work or school, putting an end to the confusion over what can and cannot be recycled in different parts of the country.

The Department understands that most litter picking activities are undertaken by community or volunteer groups, under which circumstances Regulatory Position Statement 212 is in place to ensure that they can dispose of waste at their local household waste recycling centre. Alternatively, the local authority may arrange the collection and disposal of gathered litter. Under both circumstances, this would not fall within the scope of the requirements for segregation. Officials are working to provide further guidance on this in due course.

Transport in London is devolved and decisions around bus services are for the Mayor of London and TfL.

The Government regularly engages with TfL to understand their funding needs and will continue to do so as part of the Spending Review process.

NHS England’s e-Learning for Healthcare has produced modular online learning resources in relation to Tourette’s syndrome and other tic disorders, within its neurodevelopmental disorder and healthy schools programme domains, which are freely accessible to all, including service providers.

The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and social care, including Tourette’s syndrome. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality. In all areas, the amount of NIHR funding depends on the volume and quality of scientific activity.

The NIHR has funded a number of research projects on Tourette’s syndrome. For example, it has funded the Online Remote Behavioural Treatment for Tics study to evaluate online behavioural interventions for children with tics and Tourette’s syndrome. Researchers at the NIHR Great Ormond Street Biomedical Research Centre are also supporting the TIC Genetics programme, which aims to identify the genetic factors that cause Tourette’s syndrome using a family-based approach.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has produced guidance on suspected neurological conditions, which includes recommendations on treatment for tics and involuntary movements in adults and children. The guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng127/

Patients are waiting too long to access the care they need, with over 6 million people waiting for treatment across 7.6 million pathways. Tackling this is a key part of our Health Mission. We will start by delivering an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week, as the first step in our commitment to ensuring patients are treated within 18 weeks.

This Government is determined to drive down vehicle crime and we are working closely with the automotive industry and police to ensure there is a robust and rapid response whenever people have their cars stolen.

We will also bring forward legislation in the upcoming Crime and Policing Bill to ban electronic devices used to steal vehicles, empowering the police and courts to target the criminals using, manufacturing and supplying those devices.