Helen Whately

I refer the Honourable Member to PQ 9328 of 22 October 2024.

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) have not funded any specific projects on pay per-mile road charging.

Local authorities are responsible for providing enough school places for children in their area. The department engages with local authorities on a regular basis to review their plans for creating additional primary and pre-16 secondary school places, and to consider alternatives where necessary. When local authorities are experiencing difficulties, the department offers support and advice.

The department provides capital funding through the Basic Need grant to support local authorities to provide school places, based on their own pupil forecasts and school capacity data. Nearly £1.5 billion of allocations have been confirmed to support local authorities to create school places needed over the current and next two academic years, up to and including the academic year starting in September 2026.

Developer contributions are also an important way of helping to meet demand for new school places when housing developments are increasing pupil numbers. It is for the Local Planning Authority (LPA) to secure developer contributions through section 106 agreements or through the Community Infrastructure Levy, and to decide on the local infrastructure needs that this contribution should support. The department would encourage LPAs to secure significant contributions for new school places and to work closely with colleagues planning school places in their area, including county councils when the local authority responsible for education is not the LPA.

Good local bus services are an essential part of prosperous and sustainable communities and provide access to schools and other services. This government has set out an action plan to deliver better bus services and drive opportunity across the country-served regions. The government will introduce the Buses Bill to put the power over local bus services in the hands of local leaders to ensure networks can meet the needs of the communities who rely on them.

High and rising school standards, with excellent foundations in reading, writing and mathematics, are at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every child the best start in life. The government knows that increases in mathematics and English skills also benefit family life, children’s development and education, civic participation, and have a positive impact on relationships between employees and employers.

The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, covering ages 5 to 18. This is chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE, an expert in education policy, including curriculum and social inequality. 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 who are socioeconomically disadvantaged, or with special educational needs or disabilities.

To support basic literacy from the early years, we are investing over £20 million in the Nuffield Early Language Intervention programme. This programme targets reception aged children needing extra support with their speech and language development and is proven to help them make four months of additional progress, and seven months of additional progress for those eligible for free school meals.

Additionally, programmes such as the English Hubs and Maths Hubs aim to improve the teaching of literacy and mathematics, as the department knows that the quality of teaching is the biggest educational factor in determining children’s outcomes. All eligible year 4 pupils in England are required to take the multiplication table check which is an on-screen assessment testing pupils' ability to fluently recall their knowledge of multiplication tables up to 12 x 12. 29% of eligible children scored full marks in 2023 and the average attainment score was 20.2 marks out of 25.

The department’s ‘essential skills’ legal entitlements funded through the adult skills fund provide the opportunity for fully funded study for eligible adults who do not have essential literacy and numeracy skills, up to and including Level 2.

The government is committed to helping children and young people, including young carers, thrive and wants the best for every child and family. This department, the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England work closely together, along with other government departments and key stakeholders, to ensure support is provided for young carers across all aspects of their wellbeing, education and development and are currently giving careful consideration to the recently published report by the Carer’s Trust: ‘Caring and classes: the education gap for young carers’. This report can be accessed here: https://carers.org/downloads/young-carers-in-education-reportfinal.pdf.

Young carers as a specific group within the education system were added to the school census in the 2022/23 academic year. Ofsted has committed to developing and consulting upon a revised schools’ inspection framework for September 2025. This will support the new school report card, which will also be in place from that time. A consultation on the framework and report card is scheduled to launch early in the new year.

The department and Ofsted are engaging closely to take this forward and will consider how schools are to be assessed in the future in terms of their contribution to inclusion, bearing in mind the government’s mission to ensure that all children, including young carers, can achieve and thrive at school.

The Children’s Social Care National Framework, issued in December 2023, is statutory guidance for local authorities. It provides clarity on the outcomes that leaders and practitioners should achieve when supporting children, young people, and families, including young carers. Safeguarding partners, and other relevant agencies including education, should read and engage with the National Framework as they have an important role in supporting positive outcomes and improving access to opportunities.

The department is clear that everyone working within children’s social care should use the National Framework to understand how they can improve the outcomes and breakdown barriers for opportunity for children, young people, and families. Specific expectations have been included in the framework for practice for senior leaders, practice supervisors and practitioners to draw on the range of expertise from virtual school heads, designated safeguarding leads or designated teachers when providing help to children, young people and families, including young carers.

The government is committed to helping children and young people, including young carers, thrive and wants the best for every child and family. This department, the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England work closely together, along with other government departments and key stakeholders, to ensure support is provided for young carers across all aspects of their wellbeing, education and development and are currently giving careful consideration to the recently published report by the Carer’s Trust: ‘Caring and classes: the education gap for young carers’. This report can be accessed here: https://carers.org/downloads/young-carers-in-education-reportfinal.pdf.

Young carers as a specific group within the education system were added to the school census in the 2022/23 academic year. Ofsted has committed to developing and consulting upon a revised schools’ inspection framework for September 2025. This will support the new school report card, which will also be in place from that time. A consultation on the framework and report card is scheduled to launch early in the new year.

The department and Ofsted are engaging closely to take this forward and will consider how schools are to be assessed in the future in terms of their contribution to inclusion, bearing in mind the government’s mission to ensure that all children, including young carers, can achieve and thrive at school.

The Children’s Social Care National Framework, issued in December 2023, is statutory guidance for local authorities. It provides clarity on the outcomes that leaders and practitioners should achieve when supporting children, young people, and families, including young carers. Safeguarding partners, and other relevant agencies including education, should read and engage with the National Framework as they have an important role in supporting positive outcomes and improving access to opportunities.

The department is clear that everyone working within children’s social care should use the National Framework to understand how they can improve the outcomes and breakdown barriers for opportunity for children, young people, and families. Specific expectations have been included in the framework for practice for senior leaders, practice supervisors and practitioners to draw on the range of expertise from virtual school heads, designated safeguarding leads or designated teachers when providing help to children, young people and families, including young carers.

In line with research from the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies, the government does not anticipate the ending of the VAT exemption that private schools enjoy to prompt notable movement into the state sector, and any movement is expected to take place over several years. This research can be found here: https://ifs.org.uk/publications/tax-private-school-fees-and-state-school-spending.

The department collects pupil forecasts and school capacity data from local authorities annually through the school capacity survey and this data shows that in May 2023, 11.7% of primary capacity and 11.5% of secondary capacity was unfilled nationally, meaning school places are available in many parts of the country. The department will monitor demand and capacity using its normal processes and continue to work with local authorities to meet any pressures.

The Government agrees with the need to have robust measures in place to manage the risks associated with facilities that use large numbers of lithium-ion batteries.

Defra is considering further options, including environmental permitting, for managing the environmental and public health risks from fires at BESS sites.

The Government will deliver a resilient and healthy food system, with a new deal that ensures fairness in the supply chain across all sectors, including the fresh produce supply chain. Farmers should always receive a fair price for their products and the Government is committed to tackling contractual unfairness wherever it exists.

Defra will continue the work closely with stakeholders from the fresh produce sector on the best way to achieve this.

As part of our reforms to the railway, the Government will develop a long-term strategy for rolling stock promoting a longer-term, whole-system approach. This strategy will seek to provide a strong and steady pipeline of orders, supporting British manufacturing and ending the volatility in demand that we have seen over recent years. It will also consider the best financing structures for future orders in partnership with private capital.

Officials are working to develop this strategy alongside the creation of Great British Railways.

The Secretary of State has had direct discussions with her Welsh counterpart since July 2024.

The Secretary of State has had direct discussions with her Scottish counterpart since July 2024.

This Government committed in its manifesto to tackle the high costs of motor insurance. To deliver on this commitment, the UK Government formed a cross-government Taskforce on motor insurance, co-chaired by the Department for Transport and His Majesty’s Treasury, which met for the first time on 16th October.

This Taskforce has a strategic remit to set the direction for UK Government policy, identifying short- and long-term actions for departments that may contribute to stabilising or reducing premiums, while maintaining appropriate levels of cover. The Taskforce is comprised of ministers from relevant government departments and by the Financial Conduct Authority and Competition and Markets Authority. The Taskforce is supported by a separate Stakeholder Panel of industry experts representing the insurance, motor, and consumer sector.

The Taskforce will evaluate the impact of increased insurance costs on consumers and the insurance industry, including how this impacts different demographics, geographies, and communities.

The Secretary of State visited GoAhead in July, and plans to meet representatives again in the near future.

No estimate has been made by the department as the requested information is not available. We are unable to quantify the value of all passported benefits.

The total government expenditure in nominal terms for Pension Credit awards was £4.9 billion in 2022/23.

This figure does not include other operational and administrative costs, such as the government’s campaign to increase take-up of Pension Credit, as well as supporting customers and sending letters.

Source: outturn-and-forecast-tables-spring-budget-2024.xlsx

It is estimated that around 12,400 households in Faversham and Mid Kent Constituency (2024 boundaries) and around 218,500 households in Kent (comprised of the following constituencies, 2024 boundaries: Ashford, Canterbury, Chatham and Aylesford, Dartford, Dover and Deal, East Thanet, Faversham and Mid Kent, Folkestone and Hythe, Gillingham and Rainham, Gravesham, Herne Bay and Sandwich, Maidstone and Malling, Rochester and Strood, Sevenoaks, Sittingbourne and Sheppey, Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells, Weald of Kent) will be affected by the decision to amend the eligibility criteria for the Winter Fuel Payment. This is based on February 2024 Pension Credit statistics which are available via DWP Stat-Xplore and the Winter Fuel Payment statistics for winter 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

This estimation is calculated by subtracting the number of people claiming Pension Credit in each respective constituency from the number of Winter Fuel Payment recipients in the same constituency. It is possible to use the Pension Credit statistics, to give a minimum estimate of the number who may be eligible for Winter Fuel Payments. Therefore, the above estimation is essentially the number of Winter Fuel Payment recipients who are not claiming Pension Credit pre-policy change, as an estimate of those who will no longer receive the Winter Fuel Payment.

Please note that the above estimation would not take into account any potential increase in Pension Credit take-up that we might see as a result of the Government’s Pension Credit Awareness Campaign. We do not have data on those additional Pension Credit claims by Parliamentary constituencies.

The published Pension Credit figures refer to households, so the number of individuals in respect of whom Pension Credit is paid will be higher (i.e. taking account of households where a claimant has a partner and / or dependents).

In addition, while Pension Credit claimants constitute the majority of those that will be eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment, pensioners who claim other qualifying means-tested benefits will also be eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment. It is not, however, possible to include those on other qualifying means-tested benefits in these figures.

The Government is committed to delivering a National Health Service that is fit for the future, and this means we require world class NHS infrastructure across the entire NHS estate. Beyond hospitals, we know we need the right infrastructure in the right place to deliver on our commitment of creating a Neighbourhood Health Service and ensuring that patients receive the care they deserve.

We recognise the challenges facing local areas of rapid housing and population growth, including the challenges such growth can place on health care infrastructure. Whilst the Government has big ambitions to further boost house building, we recognise it must be sensitive to local need.

The Department of Health and Social Care is working closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government to determine how the local authority and developer contributions from new housing developments can support the vision for health services and infrastructure locally.

The relevant integrated care board is responsible for deciding how the NHS budget for its area is spent, and allocates funding according to local priorities. Any further support for NHS organisations will be set out at the Autumn Spending Review.

We are committed to supporting a professional, well-supported social care workforce. On 6 September 2024, the Department launched the Adult Social Care Learning and Development Support Scheme, which allows eligible employers to claim for funding for certain training courses and qualifications on behalf of eligible care staff. Over 150 courses and qualifications are eligible for funding from this scheme, including the new Level 2 Adult Social Care Certificate qualification. We will continue to work with the adult social care sector and representative organisations to monitor the impact of the funding under the Adult Social Care Learning and Development Support Scheme.

Furthermore, we are working with care workers and employers to develop the next part of the Care Workforce Pathway, the new national career structure for adult social care, which we will publish in due course.

The Government has committed to supporting the National Health Service to improve performance and achieve the standards set out in the NHS Constitution, including ambulance response times.

As a first step, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care appointed Professor Lord Darzi to lead an independent investigation of the NHS’ performance. The investigation’s findings were published on 12 September 2024 and will feed into the Government’s work on a 10-Year Health Plan to radically reform the NHS and build a health service that is fit for the future.

Ahead of this winter, NHS England has set out the priorities for the NHS to maintain and improve patient safety and experience, including actions to support patient flow and ensure ambulances are released in a timely way. NHS England’s winter letter is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/winter-and-h2-priorities/