Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to extend the Nuffield Early Language Intervention programme.
Answered by David Johnston
The department is investing over £17 million on the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI), improving the language skills of reception age children who need it most following the pandemic. In July 2023, the department announced that funded support for the 11,100 schools registered for the NELI programme would continue for the academic year 2023/24.
The programme targets children needing extra support with their speech and language development and is proven to help them make four months of additional progress; this is seven months for those on free school meals.
The department estimates that the programme has screened over 500,000 children in the last three years and supported 160,000 children affected by the pandemic.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing deaf athletes to access funding allocated to Olympic and Paralympic sport through UK Sport.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Opposition Chief Whip (Commons)
UK Sport uses funding provided by the Government to support athletes with potential to achieve success in Olympic and Paralympic sports. As the Deaflympics falls outside of Olympic and Paralympic sport, UK Sport are therefore unable to fund athletes targeting this event.
This is in line with the Government’s approach to other Paralympic sports where competition is not offered in an athlete's particular classification or discipline.
Sport England has committed £1.2 million between 2022 and 2027 to UK Deaf Sport to boost deaf sport at the grassroots level and build wider participation. They have also agreed to explore a series of small-scale talent pilots for d/Deaf athletes. These pilots will see Sport England, National Governing Bodies, and UK Deaf Sport working together to explore these issues and suggest potential solutions.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what efficiency targets he has set for the top level budget areas in his Department for each of the next three years.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
The Department has a well-established and ambitious efficiency programme to ensure it protects key elements of its output. Each Top-Level Budget (TLB) area has an efficiency target that they are delivering as part of their overall budget settlement, set out below:
TLB Efficiencies (£million) | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | Total over next three years |
Army | 596 | 838 | 853 | 2,287 |
Air | 438 | 402 | 407 | 1,247 |
Navy | 477 | 417 | 447 | 1,341 |
UK Strat Com | 584 | 540 | 531 | 1,656 |
DNO | 270 | 324 | 254 | 847 |
DIO | 21 | 21 | 23 | 65 |
DE&S | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Head Office | 21 | 20 | 23 | 65 |
Strategic Programmes | 188 | 161 | 117 | 466 |
Total | 2,595 | 2,724 | 2,656 | 7,975 |
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 20 September 2023 to Question 199262 on Ministry of Defence: Assets, if he will take steps to require asset sales to be reported to his Department's Director General Finance.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
The proceeds from the sale of property, plant, equipment, and intangible assets are reported in the Departmental Annual Report and Accounts (ARAc,) which the DG Finance reviews prior to publication, and is reviewed as part of the In-Year financial management reporting processes.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what financial returns Ploughshare has delivered in each of the last five years; and what financial performance targets have been set for Ploughshare in each of the next three years.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
Ploughshare Innovations Ltd (04401901) is a Private Limited Company, therefore Ploughshare's accounts are published annually on the Companies House website;
[https://findandupdate.companyinformation.service.gov.uk/company/04401901/filing-history].
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the written statement of 13 November 2023 entitled Service Family Accommodation and Winter Planning, HCWS28, what steps his Department is taking to fund damp and mould mitigation packages in all service family properties who have a damp and mould report raised.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
The Department is aware that what happened last winter was not good enough. Too many homes were affected by damp and mould. That is why we have prioritised a year-long £29 million programme as part of the additional £400 million funding over the next two years announced in the Defence Command Paper Refresh 2023. This will address the underlying causes of damp and mould for around 4,000 homes, representing around 60% of all properties requiring such work.
Most homes will receive a standardised package of relatively simple works including increasing insulation, replacing guttering, upgrading extractor fans, replacing radiators, and resealing windows and doors. The most severely affected homes are being tackled first, with remediation work to over 1,000 already completed.
In properties where more substantial works are required, £94 million of investment this financial year has been dedicated to replacing doors and windows, upgrading heating for around 1,500 homes, improving groundwater drainage and damp-proof courses, roof repairs and/or replacement and installation of external wall insulation to make homes more energy efficient.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what sanctions apply to the export of agricultural equipment to Russia by UK manufacturers.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
The Government has always been clear that our sanctions do not target food. They contain carve-outs to avoid unintended consequences for food security, including a General Licence published in November 2022 which permits payments in connection with food, fertiliser, seed and to be made to persons designated under our Russia sanctions regime. We have prohibited the export of certain items, which can be used in agricultural production, including tractors and cutting blades, because of their potential military application.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with EU counterparts on exports of agricultural equipment by EU companies to Russia.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The UK and EU continue to cooperate on all elements of sanctions policy, from design and implementation to anti-circumvention activity. The former Foreign Secretary emphasised the importance of continued alignment to EU ambassadors in October, as did the PM with President von der Leyen in early November. The UK has prohibited the export of certain items which can be used in agricultural production, including tractors and cutting blades, because of their potential military application. The Government has always been clear that our sanctions do not target food, with carve-outs included in UK sanctions to avoid unintended consequences for food security.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with (a) British Sugar and (b) the National Farmers Union on the 2024/25 sugar beet price negotiations.
Answered by Mark Spencer
Defra has had discussion with all parties. The Government recognises the importance of sugar beet farmers and their vital contribution to UK sugar production. We are committed to promoting fairness across the food supply chain, with risk and reward being properly shared. That includes seeing a price agreed for sugar beet that benefits both growers and processors, in the context of the global market.
There is a well-established process in place to agree the sugar beet price; designed to be independent between both parties, with Government only acting as final arbitrator at the end of the process should no agreement be reached. It is very important that all parties involved now continue to follow that process and reach a mutually acceptable outcome.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she plans to respond to the Climate Change Committee’s 2023 Progress Report to Parliament.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government will respond to the Committee’s report by 31st October 2023.