Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of high energy prices on businesses in the hospitality sector.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government recognises the impact rising energy prices is having on both domestic and non-domestic consumers, including the hospitality sector. The Energy Bill Relief Scheme provides a discount on the wholesale element of gas and electricity bills to ensure that all eligible businesses, who receive their energy from licensed suppliers, are protected and have support for high energy costs over the winter period.
Following a HMT-led review, the new Energy Bill Discount Scheme, will run from April until March 2024, and continue to provide a discount to eligible non- domestic customers, including the hospitality sector.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve the recruitment and retention of teachers.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The number of teachers remains high, with over 465,500 full time equivalent teachers working in state funded schools across the country. That is over 24,000 more than in 2010.
The Department’s reforms are aimed at increasing teacher recruitment and at ensuring teachers across England stay and thrive in the profession.
The Department announced a £181 million financial incentives package for those starting initial teacher training in the 2023/24 academic year. The Department is providing bursaries worth up to £27,000 and scholarships worth up to £29,000 to encourage trainees to apply to train in key secondary subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, and computing.
The Department provides a Levelling Up Premium worth up to £3,000 annually for mathematics, physics, chemistry, and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who work in disadvantaged schools nationally, including within Education Investment Areas. The eligibility criteria and list of eligible schools is on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/levelling-up-premium-payments-for-teachers.
The Department has recently raised starting salaries outside London by 8.9% to £28,000 and remains committed to the Government’s ambition of delivering £30,000 starting salaries to attract talented people to teaching.
To support retention in the first few years of teaching, the Department has rolled out the Early Career Framework nationally, providing the foundations for a successful career in teaching. This is backed by over £130 million a year in funding.
The Department has also launched a new and updated suite of National Professional Qualifications for teachers and head teachers at all levels, from those who want to develop expertise in high quality teaching practice to those leading multiple schools across trusts.
The Department has published a range of resources to help address staff workload and wellbeing. This includes the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter, which the Department is encouraging schools to sign up to as a shared commitment to promote staff wellbeing. The Department has also published the workload reduction toolkit, developed alongside school leadership staff to help reduce workload, and resources to support schools to implement effective flexible working practices.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people began an apprenticeship in 2022 in (a) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency, (b) Bexley Borough and (c) Greater London.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Apprenticeship starts for the requested geographical areas in the 2021/22 academic year, and 2022/23 from August to October, reported to date, are shown in the table below.
Further information on apprenticeship starts can be found in the apprenticeships and traineeships statistics publication, which can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships-and-traineeships.
| Apprenticeship Starts | |
Geographical area | 2021/22 | 2022/23 (August to October, reported to date) |
Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency | 590 | 190 |
Bexley Borough | 1,530 | 510 |
London | 37,790 | 12,540 |
England | 349,190 | 122,290 |
Notes:
(1) Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
(2) Data source is the Individualised Learner Record.
(3) Geography is based upon the home postcode of the learner.
(4) Starts are the count of apprenticeships started at any point during the stated academic period. Learners starting more than one Apprenticeship will appear more than once.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many SMEs in (a) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency and (b) Bexley Borough received Government financial support in 2022.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Businesses in Bexleyheath and Crayford will have benefitted from the Government’s reversal of the National Insurance rise, saving SMEs approximately £4,200 on average, the cut to fuel duty for 12 months and raising the Employment Allowance to £5,000.
The Energy Bill Relief and Energy Bill Discount Schemes will protect SMEs from high energy costs over the winter. The Autumn Statement announced £13.6 billion of support for businesses over the next five years, reducing the burden of business rates for SMEs.
The Government is providing financial support – 128 SMEs in Bexleyheath and Crayford have received Start Up loans to the value of £1,377,883 and 331 SMEs in Bexley Borough to the value of £3,423,737.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress she has made on tackling people-smuggling gangs.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Stopping small boat crossings is a priority for this government, unlike the benches opposite who have opposed every measure we’ve come forward with to tackle the gangs.
We share information about criminality relating to small boat crossings between international agencies in particular with the French known as the Joint Intelligence Cell.
Since the establishment in July 2020 of the Joint Intelligence Cell, 59 organised criminal groups involved in small boats crossings in France have been dismantled and nearly 400 arrests made in 2022.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the level of educational choice for parents of children with special educational needs and disabilities in Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Bexley, the local authority in which Bexleyheath and Crayford falls, has a statutory responsibility under the Children and Families Act 2014 for keeping their local offer of services and provision for children and young people with special education needs and disabilities (SEND) under review. This should be done in co-production with parents, young people and educational providers. It is for local authorities to ensure there are sufficient school places for all pupils, including those with SEND. Under the Act, parents or young people have the statutory right to request that a particular school, further education college, or other educational institution is named in their education, health and care plan.
In March 2022, the department announced High Needs Provision Capital Allocations amounting to a new investment of over £1.4 billion. This funding is to support local authorities to deliver new places for academic years 2023/24 and 2024/25, and to improve existing provision for children and young people with SEND or who require alternative provision. This funding forms part of the £2.6 billion we are investing between 2022 and 2025 and represents a significant, transformational investment in new high needs provision. It will support local authorities to deliver new places in mainstream and special schools, as well as other specialist settings. It will also be used to improve the suitability and accessibility of existing buildings.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help pensioners with the rising cost of living.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and that pensioners are more likely to suffer disproportionately from adverse health effects from living in a cold home and many low-income pensioner households do not claim the means tested benefits they are entitled to. That is why, in addition to the £37 billion of support we have provided for cost of living pressures in 2022/23, we are acting now to ensure support continues throughout 2023/24.
There are currently around 1.4 million pensioners claiming Pension Credit, through which they will be entitled to receive up to £650 in Cost of Living Payments in 2022/23. These payments are targeted at low income households in receipt of an eligible means-tested benefit.
Eight million pensioner households are receiving a £300 Pensioner Cost of Living Payment as a top-up to their Winter Fuel Payment, and pensioners in receipt of an eligible disability benefit should have received the £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment
All pensioners in England who pay Council Tax in bands A to D should have received a £150 rebate.
The Secretary of State announced on 17 November that State pensions and benefits will be up-rated from April 2023 by 10.1%, in line with the increase in the Consumer Prices Index in the year to September 2022.
To ensure stability and certainty for households, in the Autumn Statement the Government announced £26 billion in cost of living support for 2023/24. This includes Cost of Living Payments for the most vulnerable households, an additional £1 billion to help with the cost of household essentials next year and the amended Energy Price Guarantee, which will save the average UK household £500 in 2023-24.
For those who require extra support, the Government is providing an additional £1 billion of funding, including Barnett impact, to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund in England in the next financial year. This is on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing total funding to £2.5 billion. In England this will be delivered through an extension to the Household Support Fund backed by £842 million, running from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, which local authorities use to help households with the cost of essentials. It will be for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their additional Barnett funding.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce levels of childhood obesity.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
New Regulations on out of home calorie labelling for food sold in large businesses, including restaurants, cafes and takeaways, came into force in April 2022. Restrictions on the promotion by location of products high in fat, salt or sugar came into force on 1 October 2022. We are also working with the food industry to ensure it is easier for the public to make healthier choices and make further progress on reformulation.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many people have received the Warm Homes Discount in Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency as of 30 November 2022.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government does not hold data on the number of rebate recipients by constituency. Energy suppliers are responsible for providing rebates to eligible households and are only required to report on the number of rebates provided in England, Scotland and Wales.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Mayor of London’s 2023 ULEZ expansion.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Transport in London is devolved to the Mayor of London. There is no legal requirement for the Mayor to consult either central or local Government on the decision to expand the Ultra-Low Emission Zone. However, we have been clear that Government grant funding, via the longer-term funding settlement, cannot be used to cover the estimated £250 million cost of implementation. Therefore, the Mayor and TfL must cover this cost through alternative sources available to them. If Members are unhappy with the decisions that the Mayor has been making, they should make this known at the next London mayoral election in 2024.