Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions he has had with (a) the Local Government Association and (b) local authorities on the merits of the Household Support Fund.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The current Household Support Fund runs from April 2023 until the end of March 2024, and the Government continues to keep all its existing programmes under review in the usual way.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to control the prevalence of (a) floating pennywort, (b) Himalayan balsam, (c) signal crayfish, (d) Japanese knotweed and (e) American mink.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises the threats posed by invasive species and has a comprehensive Great Britain Non-native Species Strategy designed to co-ordinate action to tackle these threats.
Floating pennywort, Himalayan balsam and signal crayfish are listed as a ‘Species of Special Concern’ under the Invasive Alien Species (Enforcement and Permitting) Order 2019, which means that they cannot be brought into GB, kept, bred, transported, sold, used or exchanged, allowed to reproduce, grown or cultivated, or released into the environment. This legislation is aimed at preventing further introduction and spread of these species.
Japanese knotweed and American mink are listed on Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. This makes it an offence to allow American mink to escape into the wild, and to cause Japanese knotweed to grow in the wild.
Floating pennywort, Himalayan balsam and Japanese knotweed control.
In partnership with the Welsh Government and Natural England, Defra is funding specialist scientists at the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI), an inter-governmental, not-for-profit organisation, to conduct biological control (biocontrol) research into the use of naturally occurring, living organisms to tackle floating pennywort, Himalayan balsam and Japanese knotweed. Biocontrol could provide a more cost- and time-effective way of managing these invasive plants as compared to manual removal.
Before any release of biocontrol agents, experts at CABI conduct extensive research and safety testing to ensure that native species will not be targeted, and then obtain formal approval to release them. This research is in its early stages, and releases at trial sites are ongoing for a weevil from Argentina, Listronotus elongatus, that targets floating pennywort; a psyllid from Japan, Aphalari itadori (a sap-sucking insect), that targets Japanese Knotweed; and a rust fungus that targets Himalayan balsam. Information about the research can be found on the CABI website and additional information can be found on the Japanese Knotweed Alliance website.
Defra is also part of a national partnership formed between government and non-government organisations that developed the Great Britain Floating Pennywort Strategy to manage this invasive plant.
Additionally, the Government run awareness raising campaigns such as ‘Be Plant Wise’ and Invasive Species Week. These campaigns provide species information and online training materials on biosecurity for industry and the general public. The Government has also developed guidance on how to prevent the spread of invasive non-native plants, and how to treat and dispose of them, which can be found on GOV.UK:
How to stop invasive non-native plants from spreading - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Signal crayfish
To support on-going management of large and damaging populations of signal crayfish in a feasible, effective and economically viable way Defra has put in place management measures for this widely spread species with containment and exclusion zones for signal crayfish. This approach prevents spread through restricting and controlling the commercial use of the species and preventing the live movement of the species entirely. This is aimed at preventing its continued spread into uninfected waterbodies in England.
American mink
Natural England are funding 5 partner-led projects (2023-25) which will be controlling mink to benefit water vole populations through the Species Recovery Grant Scheme. The total value of these projects is £479k and include projects to build on the work carried out in East Anglia to develop a mink free area stretching from Lincolnshire to the Thames
In the last financial year for which there is data, 2022/23, the Environment Agency spent £136,800 on 8 projects that controlled mink. The Environment Agency’s partners (including local authorities, Natural England, water companies and eNGO’s) contributed an extra £126,900 to those projects.
Local Action Group funding
Local Action Groups, with support from government, play an invaluable role in actively reducing and eradicating invasive non-native species. Defra is currently funding twelve Local Action Groups (LAGs) across all regions in England to control invasive species through its Local Invasive Species Management Fund. The two-year fund totalling just over £300,000 is being used by LAGs mostly to remove invasive plants including floating pennywort, Himalayan balsam and Japanese knotweed. A small number of LAGs are conducting mink trapping and signal crayfish control. Most of these projects also involve training volunteers, awareness-raising and community engagement.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps her Department has taken to provide rehabilitation support to children who have lived in care who are in police custody or serving custodial sentences.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department recognises that children in care are more likely than their peers in the general population to have contact with the criminal justice system. That is why, in 2018, the department published a joint national protocol with the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), on reducing the unnecessary criminalisation of looked after children and care leavers. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-protocol-on-reducing-criminalisation-of-looked-after-children. Since its publication, the proportion of children in care aged 10 to 17 who are charged with an offence or receive a caution has reduced from 3% in 2019 to 2% in 2023.
Latest data for the year ending March 2023 also show that 3% of care leavers age 19 to 21 were in custody. This figure has remained the same for the last five years.
All care leavers are entitled to a Personal Adviser to support them in making the transition from care to independence. Personal Advisers are required to keep in touch with the young person, work with them to develop a mandatory pathway plan and to advocate on behalf of the young person. If a care leaver receives a custodial sentence, their Personal Adviser is still expected to keep in touch, through visiting the young person in prison, and to maintain the young person’s pathway plan.
Through the care leaver Ministerial Board, the department is working closely with MoJ to improve support and outcomes of care-experienced people in the criminal justice system. MoJ is currently updating its strategy for people with care experience, to ensure that their time in the criminal justice system is used to support them to lead crime-free lives. MoJ is aiming to publish this strategy in 2024.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many minors in care have been taken into custody in the last 12 months; and how many children who have lived in care are currently serving a custodial sentence.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department recognises that children in care are more likely than their peers in the general population to have contact with the criminal justice system. That is why, in 2018, the department published a joint national protocol with the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), on reducing the unnecessary criminalisation of looked after children and care leavers. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-protocol-on-reducing-criminalisation-of-looked-after-children. Since its publication, the proportion of children in care aged 10 to 17 who are charged with an offence or receive a caution has reduced from 3% in 2019 to 2% in 2023.
Latest data for the year ending March 2023 also show that 3% of care leavers age 19 to 21 were in custody. This figure has remained the same for the last five years.
All care leavers are entitled to a Personal Adviser to support them in making the transition from care to independence. Personal Advisers are required to keep in touch with the young person, work with them to develop a mandatory pathway plan and to advocate on behalf of the young person. If a care leaver receives a custodial sentence, their Personal Adviser is still expected to keep in touch, through visiting the young person in prison, and to maintain the young person’s pathway plan.
Through the care leaver Ministerial Board, the department is working closely with MoJ to improve support and outcomes of care-experienced people in the criminal justice system. MoJ is currently updating its strategy for people with care experience, to ensure that their time in the criminal justice system is used to support them to lead crime-free lives. MoJ is aiming to publish this strategy in 2024.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the current employment rate is for care leavers, 12 months after leaving local authority care.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The latest data for the year ending March 2023 shows that 38% of care leavers aged 19 to 21 are not in education, employment or training, compared to 13% of their peers in the general population.
Improving care leavers’ outcomes is a government priority and the department has established a care leaver Ministerial Board, co-chaired by the Secretaries of State from the Department for Education and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, and including Ministers from 12 other departments, to consider what more can be done collectively to improve care leavers’ outcomes.
The department’s broader ambitions for reform of children’s social care are set out in the response to the independent review carried out by Josh MacAlister, which is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/642460653d885d000fdade73/Children_s_social_care_stable_homes_consultation_February_2023.pdf.
In relation to supporting care leavers to engage and succeed in education, employment and training, the department has:
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps her Department has taken to support care leavers with their move into employment.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The latest data for the year ending March 2023 shows that 38% of care leavers aged 19 to 21 are not in education, employment or training, compared to 13% of their peers in the general population.
Improving care leavers’ outcomes is a government priority and the department has established a care leaver Ministerial Board, co-chaired by the Secretaries of State from the Department for Education and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, and including Ministers from 12 other departments, to consider what more can be done collectively to improve care leavers’ outcomes.
The department’s broader ambitions for reform of children’s social care are set out in the response to the independent review carried out by Josh MacAlister, which is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/642460653d885d000fdade73/Children_s_social_care_stable_homes_consultation_February_2023.pdf.
In relation to supporting care leavers to engage and succeed in education, employment and training, the department has:
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps her Department has taken to support care leavers with their move into training.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The latest data for the year ending March 2023 shows that 38% of care leavers aged 19 to 21 are not in education, employment or training, compared to 13% of their peers in the general population.
Improving care leavers’ outcomes is a government priority and the department has established a care leaver Ministerial Board, co-chaired by the Secretaries of State from the Department for Education and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, and including Ministers from 12 other departments, to consider what more can be done collectively to improve care leavers’ outcomes.
The department’s broader ambitions for reform of children’s social care are set out in the response to the independent review carried out by Josh MacAlister, which is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/642460653d885d000fdade73/Children_s_social_care_stable_homes_consultation_February_2023.pdf.
In relation to supporting care leavers to engage and succeed in education, employment and training, the department has:
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent steps she has taken to support the hairdressing, barbering, and beauty sector.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Chancellor announced in the 2023 Autumn Statement business rates support worth £4.3 billion over the next 5 years, including an extension of the 75 per cent relief for retail properties – a £2.4bn tax cut building on the previous £3.7 billion worth of business rates relief and nearly £8 billion of energy support in 2021 and 2022, along with £16bn business rates support throughout Covid-19. We’re also working with the British Beauty Council and others on improving the sector's talent pipeline.
Overall, the sector is growing. The number of businesses in the sector in 2023 are 17% above 2017 levels[1], while output increased 1.1% in 2022 compared with 2021.[2]
[1] ONS - UK business: activity, size and location, 2023. Statistics relate to SIC 9602.
[2] ONS - GDP output approach – low-level aggregates, December 2023.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the safety of Philips CPAP machines in the NHS.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines and Heathcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) issued a National Patient Safety Alert to hospital trusts in response to two Field Safety Notices issued by Philips Respironics, regarding the risk of patient harm from Philips Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machines in June 2021.
This was due to degradation of the sound abatement foam in the CPAP Dreamstation devices. This led to a subsequent repair and replacement programme for all affected devices and their accessories. The progress of this programme is being monitored by the MHRA.
The MHRA conducted a risk benefit analysis to determine whether these CPAP devices should continue to be used while awaiting repair or replacement. The conclusion of this analysis was that, except for patients with specific risk factors, the known risks of the sudden discontinuation of treatment were higher than the potential risks posed by the degradation issue. The Patient Safety Alert advises that patients should continue using the affected machines unless advised otherwise by their patient care provider.
We would encourage patients to report any evidence of foam degradation, for example black marks or residue in their devices, directly via MHRA’s yellow card scheme.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent steps his Department has taken to improve the effectiveness of UK aid programmes in (a) reducing poverty, (b) increasing literacy rates and (c) increasing life expectancies.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The International Development White Paper sets out the UK's agenda to re-energise progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, including the central aim of eliminating extreme poverty. To this end, the UK aims to spend at least 50 per cent of our bilateral ODA in the Least Developed Countries.
The FCDO has developed two new programmes that will measure and assess literacy rates, among other objectives. The Scaling Access and Learning in Education programme will help transform the effectiveness of education spending in low- and lower middle-income countries and improve learning outcomes, including on literacy. The Data for Foundational Learning Programme will help track children's learning outcomes globally; generate more learning data nationally; and ensure these data are used.
We are making good progress against the Global Health Framework, which outlines the UK's work on Global Health to support a positive impact on health and wellbeing and thus life expectancy. For example, we announced £5 million of additional funding to TB Alliance to support more effective drug resistant treatment with fewer side effects and £370 million to strengthen global health security at United Nations General Assembly September 2023.
Furthermore, the FCDO is committed to improving the effectiveness of all UK aid. FCDO's Programme Operating Framework maximises the impact of aid through consideration of economy, efficiency, effectiveness and equity. Programmes undergo an annual review of effectiveness, using a results framework. These are published to the Development Tracker website (https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk), which further supports aid effectiveness by providing information to inform other donors spending decisions.