Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to reduce the number of people waiting for enhanced DBS checks to be processed by Sussex Police Force.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and Sussex Police are operationally independent. The prompt completion of enhanced DBS checks is an important part of the safeguarding system, and I understand that several measures have already been introduced to reduce application turnaround times at Sussex Police.
These include the DBS funding additional staff to manage increases in volumes of checks referred to Sussex Police, whilst also funding overtime at the force to minimise the impact while new staff are recruited and trained. Further support is provided through the implementation of training groups and buddies to progress staff through training stages more effectively, the funding of a dedicated training/assessor, and assistance from other forces where appropriate.
The DBS is closely monitoring the performance of Sussex Police and will continue to implement support wherever possible to ensure delays are minimised.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to (a) support and (b) expand (i) mentoring and (ii) wellbeing schemes for young people in (A) schools and (B) local communities.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Helping children and young people to both achieve and thrive, including through work on mentoring and supporting wellbeing, is critical to breaking down barriers to opportunity – one of the five missions of this government.
The department is investing £17 million across two mentoring projects that will support the school attendance of at least 12,000 pupils in 15 areas. These programmes will be evaluated and the effective practice shared with schools and local authorities nationally. The first project is set to conclude this academic year, while the second, larger pilot will continue until 2028.
To support mental health and wellbeing, the government has also committed to providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school in England.
The department has also launched a targeted mental wellbeing support toolkit to further help schools select the most effective targeted support options. This covers a range of evidence-based interventions, including mentoring, which we recognise can be a useful component of a whole school approach to wellbeing.
The government is committed to deliver on its pledge to provide a free breakfast club in every state-funded school with primary aged children. We have made early progress towards this, including announcing that up to 750 early adopters will be delivering these new breakfast clubs by April 2025. Breakfast clubs offer much more than just food. They can serve as a welcoming space for children, providing valuable opportunities for them to play, learn, and socialise at the beginning of the school day.
Across government, we are also supporting a variety of other schemes with a focus on mentoring and wellbeing for young people in wider communities.
Young Futures Hubs will bring together services to help improve the way that children and young people can access opportunities and support in their local communities, in doing so, promoting their development, improving mental health, and preventing young people being drawn into crime. Expertise has been brought together from across government departments to deliver on this manifesto commitment, and the government will be engaging with national and local partners, local communities and children and young people to co-design and explore options for the design and delivery of the hubs.
There are currently around 65 locally funded early support hubs in England open to those aged 11 to 25. These are open to anyone who may not meet the threshold to receive NHS support. This means children and young people experiencing feelings of anxiety or stress will have a physical space to go to in their community when their problems first emerge without the need for a referral. Early support hubs also offer advice on wider issues which may affect a young person’s mental health, including careers advice, educational support or support with their financial circumstances. In 2024/25, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is also running a Shared Outcomes Fund project, backed by £8 million, to boost and evaluate the impact of 24 existing early support hubs.
In the wider healthcare system, DHSC will also recruit an additional 8,500 new mental health staff to treat children and adults.
Supporting mentoring in wider communities, Youth Futures Foundation receives funding through the Dormant Assets Scheme, which is led by industry and backed by the government, for their ‘Building Futures’ programme with the Football Beyond Borders as their year 1 partner, which will enable thousands of vulnerable young people to access crucial mentoring support.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when he plans to launch the consultation on technical issues for the renewable liquid heating fuel obligation under Section 159 of the Energy Act 2023; and what steps he is taking to support rural households using oil for heating to transition to (a) hydrotreated vegetable oil and (b) other lower-carbon alternatives.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As sustainable biomass is a limited resource, the Government expects to prioritise its use in sectors like aviation which have fewest options to decarbonise. Renewable liquid heating fuels (RLHF) are also much more expensive to use than other heating solutions.
Before taking decisions on whether to support the use of RLHFs, like hydrotreated vegetable oil, in heating, the Government would require stronger evidence on their affordability for consumers, and the availability of sustainable feedstocks.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to reduce waiting times for driving tests in (a) rural areas and (b) urban areas.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times.
Measures in place to reduce waiting times for customers at all driving test centres (DTC), include the recruitment of new driving examiners (DE), conducting tests outside regular hours, including at weekends and on public holidays, and buying back annual leave from DEs.
DVSA also continues to deploy DEs from areas with lower waiting times into those where waiting times are longer.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will ensure that all teachers are trained to support students with Special Educational Needs.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Lewes to the answer of 29 October 2024 to Question 10604.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how much the UK received through the Horizon Europe programme in each year from 2010 to 2024; and what estimate he has made of that figure after the implementation of Framework Programme 10.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Horizon Europe runs from 2021 to 2027. Data on UK receipts from the Framework Programmes between 2010 and 2020 is available via the EU’s Horizon Dashboard.
The UK associated to Horizon Europe in January 2024, and with a small number of exceptions, UK organisations have not received any funding from prior to association. UK participation between 2021 and 2023 was funded by the UK Guarantee, and the funding data is available on the UK Research and Innovation website. As 2024 data becomes available, this will be published via the Dashboard.
Framework Programme 10 is still being developed by the EU.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what information his Department holds on how much universities received in research and development funding from the EU in each year from 2010 to 2024.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
DSIT does not hold this information. That information is held by the European Commission and available on the Horizon Dashboard for the period between 2010 and 2020.
The UK associated to Horizon Europe in January 2024, and with a small number of exceptions, UK organisations have not received any funding prior to association. UK participation in Horizon Europe between 2021 and 2023 was funded by the UK Horizon Guarantee, and the funding data is available on the UK Research and Innovation website.
As 2024 data becomes available, this will be published via the European Commission’s dashboard.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of a new European Youth Mobility scheme.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The UK currently operates 13 bilateral Youth Mobility Scheme arrangements, which allow young people aged 18-30 (18-35 for some nationals), to live, work and study in the UK for up to two years, with some nationals eligible to apply for a third year. Each country is subject to an annual quota, based on a yearly review of outbound UK participants of the scheme.
The European Commission has not approached the UK to consider a new European Youth Mobility Scheme. We will look at proposals on a range of issues, but we will not return to free movement and our focus is on reducing net migration after it rose to record highs.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with HSBC on pension clawback policy; and if she will make representations to HSBC on reviewing that policy.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
No discussions on this subject have taken place with HSBC. The design of a pension offered as part of an employer’s reward package is a matter for that employer, provided that it meets the relevant legal requirements.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many EU-born staff were working in the NHS in each year since 2010.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not collect data on where staff working in the National Health Service were born. However, NHS England publishes quarterly data on the number of staff split by nationality in NHS trusts and other core organisations in England. The following table shows the number of staff working in the NHS in England with nationalities from the European Union, each September from 2010 until June 2024, the most recent data point available:
Date | Headcount of staff |
September 2010 | 30,032 |
September 2011 | 32,259 |
September 2012 | 34,418 |
September 2013 | 38,334 |
September 2014 | 45,066 |
September 2015 | 52,808 |
September 2016 | 59,796 |
September 2017 | 61,974 |
September 2018 | 63,484 |
September 2019 | 65,741 |
September 2020 | 68,919 |
September 2021 | 70,056 |
September 2022 | 71,174 |
September 2023 | 74,969 |
June 2024 | 77,289 |
All staff within NHS trusts and commissioning bodies provide a self-reported nationality which is recorded on the Electronic Staff Record system. This may reflect an individual’s cultural heritage rather than their country of birth, with some individuals choosing not to specify it.