Asked by: Dan Tomlinson (Labour - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to promote the inclusion of disabled students in schools; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of including in the national curriculum teaching about the life experiences of disabled people.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
This government is committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools to break down barriers to education, alongside ensuring that special schools can support children with the most complex needs.
The department will strengthen accountability on mainstream settings to be inclusive, including through Ofsted, support the mainstream workforce to increase their special educational needs and disabilities expertise, and encourage schools to set up resourced provision or special educational needs units to increase capacity in mainstream schools. This is being supported by an additional £740 million for high needs capital in 2025/26. Local authorities can use their high needs capital funding to deliver new places in mainstream and special schools, as well as other specialist settings. It can also be used to improve the suitability and accessibility of existing buildings. High needs funding will also increase by almost £1 billion in 2025/26, compared to 2024/25.
The department has created an Expert Advisory Group for Inclusion, led by Tom Rees, to advise myself and my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education on how to drive inclusive education practice.
Within a broad framework, set out in subject-specific programmes of study, schools currently have flexibility to organise the content and delivery of the curriculum to meet the needs of their pupils.
The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, covering ages 5 to 18, chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE. The Review will ensure that the curriculum appropriately balances ambition, excellence, relevance, flexibility and inclusivity for all our children and young people.
Asked by: Dan Tomlinson (Labour - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that (a) boys and (b) young men receive education in school on preventing violence against women and girls in schools.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The government has pledged to halve violence against women and girls in the next decade. Education has a crucial role to play in tackling harmful behaviour, helping children and young people to develop empathy, boundaries and respect for difference.
Through compulsory relationships education, all pupils, including boys and young men, learn how to form positive and respectful relationships and develop an understanding the concepts and laws around sexual harassment and sexual violence.
The department is currently reviewing the relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) curriculum, including engaging with key stakeholders to look at how this can fully complement our wider actions to tackle violence against women and girls.
Separately, the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review will consider how RSHE fits into the wider curriculum.
Asked by: Dan Tomlinson (Labour - Chipping Barnet)
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 support Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (a) to reduce waiting times, (b) limit the rejection of referrals and (c) improve trust in services by both (i) parents and (ii) children.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is unacceptable that too many children and young people are not receiving the mental health care they need, and we know that waits for mental health services are too long. We are determined to change that, which is why we will recruit 8,500 additional mental health workers across child and adult mental health services, to reduce delays and provide faster treatment.
Better prevention is key to reducing the demand for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, which is why we will also provide access to a specialist mental health professional in every school, so that mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression, can be identified early on and prevented from developing into more serious conditions in later life. We will also roll out Young Futures hubs in every community.
We expect that these measures will help to limit the rejection of referrals to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, and improve trust in services for both parents and children.
Asked by: Dan Tomlinson (Labour - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to help prevent the closure of Post Office branches in (a) Chipping Barnet constituency and (b) the UK.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Post Office interim Chair, Nigel Railton, recently-announced a transformation plan, which aims to put the Post Office on a more stable financial footing for the future, including by reducing costs, and to increase Postmaster remuneration. The detail of Nigel Railton's transformation plan is being examined by my department, and the plan is subject to Government funding and the outcome of the upcoming spending review. The Post Office will continue to deliver on the 11,500 minimum branch requirement and geographical access criteria set by Government.
No decisions regarding Directly Managed Branches, including those in Chipping Barnet, have been taken. The Post Office has been clear however that it’s their ambition to operate the network on a fully franchised basis in time as this is a more sustainable model.
Asked by: Dan Tomlinson (Labour - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure continued funding for GAVI.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is one of the largest donors to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, committing £1.65 billion from 2021-2025. This funding supports their mission to immunise 300 million children and save up to 8 million lives from vaccine-preventable diseases over this period. The UK is working with international partners to ensure sustainable resources for the upcoming global health replenishments. These are being considered together to ensure we are best placed to deliver for the global health challenges ahead. Funding decisions will be taken following the conclusion of the Spending Review in 2025.
Asked by: Dan Tomlinson (Labour - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure all children with epilepsy receive an individual healthcare plan.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Statutory guidance on ‘Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions’ recommends the use of individual healthcare plans as good practice. This guidance can be accessed here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5ce6a72e40f0b620a103bd53/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions.pdf. Individual healthcare plans can help schools support pupils with medical conditions, providing clarity about what needs to be done, when and by whom. The school, healthcare professionals and parents should agree, based on evidence, when a healthcare plan would be appropriate.
The department will keep the statutory guidance under review as we take forward the commitment to delivering an inclusive mainstream system.
Asked by: Dan Tomlinson (Labour - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her policies on higher education reform will include employment rights protections for (a) permanent and (b) non-permanent lecturers.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government wants to work in partnership with the higher education (HE) sector to deliver the change that the country needs. The department has outlined its five strategic priorities for the sector and will set out its plan for HE reform by summer 2025, to ensure the system delivers against these priorities.
HE providers are independent from government, and as such government does not have a role in workforce matters, including in staff contracts or pay and provision at specific providers.
However, the department does recognise the financial environment of the HE sector is increasingly challenging, for both HE providers and for staff. We are aware that some providers are making difficult decisions around staffing in order to safeguard their financial sustainability.
The department will continue to work on building strong relationships with sector bodies and unions to better understand the issues facing the sector and its workforce. Departmental officials are working closely with the sector to find practical ways forward to address the challenges faced, and with officials at the Department for Business and Trade on the provisions of the Employment Rights Bill.
This government is committed to creating a secure future for our world-leading universities so they can deliver for workers, students, taxpayers and the economy.
On employment rights protections more generally, the government’s plan to Make Work Pay sets out an ambitious agenda to ensure employment rights are fit for a modern economy, empower working people and contribute to economic growth. Once implemented, it will represent the biggest upgrade of workers’ rights in a generation.
Asked by: Dan Tomlinson (Labour - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing £100 million to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative for the 2025-26 financial year.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is a longstanding supporter of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), having contributed £1.4 billion since 1995. Flexible UK funding enables the GPEI to be responsive. UK funding was used to facilitate the two rounds of poliovirus vaccination campaigns recently completed in Gaza. The UK is working with international partners to ensure sustainable resources for upcoming global health replenishments. These are being considered together to ensure we are best placed to deliver for the global health challenges ahead. Funding decisions will be taken following the conclusion of the Spending Review in 2025.
Asked by: Dan Tomlinson (Labour - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of recent changes to funding for nurse training on (a) the recruitment of mature graduates and (b) other nurse recruitment; and what plans he has for future levels of medical school and nursing course places, in the context of recent trends in levels of NHS staffing.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No such assessment has been made. Tuition fees and student maintenance loans for nursing training are set by the Department for Education. Through the Department of Health and Social Care, eligible students also continue to receive support whilst they are studying, through the Learning Support Fund, which includes a non-repayable grant of £5,000 a year. The Government keeps the funding arrangements for all healthcare students under close review.
We have launched a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the National Health Service. A central and core part of this plan will be our workforce, and how we ensure we train and provide the staff the NHS needs, including doctors and nurses, to care for patients across our communities.
Asked by: Dan Tomlinson (Labour - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has commissioned research into the factors causing increased GP consultation rates.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not formally commissioned research into this topic. General practice consultation rates have increased in recent years, as a result of significant growth in the clinical workforce. This increase also represents a recovery from the abnormally low level of consultations during the COVID-19 pandemic.