First elected: 6th May 2010
Left House: 6th November 2019 (Standing Down)
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
These initiatives were driven by Jeremy Lefroy, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Jeremy Lefroy has not been granted any Urgent Questions
A Bill to make provision about the safety of health and social care services in England; to make provision about the integration of information relating to users of health and social care services in England; to make provision about the sharing of information relating to an individual for the purposes of providing that individual with health or social care services in England; to make provision for removing individuals convicted of certain offences from the registers kept by the regulatory bodies for health and social care professions; to make provision about the objectives of the regulatory bodies for health and social care professions and the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care; to make provision about the disposal of cases concerning a person’s fitness to practise a health or social care profession; and for connected purposes.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 26th March 2015 and was enacted into law.
The Bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament before the end of the session. This means the Bill will make no further progress. A Bill to enable electricity generators to become local electricity suppliers; and for connected purposes.
The Bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament before the end of the session. This means the Bill will make no further progress. A Bill to enable local planning authorities to impose a mandatory financial penalty where planning permission has been deliberately breached; and for connected purposes.
Freehold Properties (Management Charges) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Preet Kaur Gill (LAB)
Hares Preservation Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - George Eustice (Con)
Police Officer Training (Autism Awareness) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Ann Clwyd (Lab)
Banknote Diversity Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Helen Grant (Con)
Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Pauline Latham (Con)
Charity Trustees (Time Off for Duties) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Susan Elan Jones (Lab)
Health and Social Care (National Data Guardian) Act 2018
Sponsor - Peter Bone (Ind)
Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (England) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Fiona Bruce (Con)
Local Health Scrutiny Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Gareth Snell (LAB)
Ceramics (Country of Origin Marking) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)
Civil Aviation (Accessibility) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Helen Whately (Con)
Voyeurism (Offences) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Wera Hobhouse (LD)
Hospital Car Parking Charges (Abolition) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Robert Halfon (Con)
The total amount of renewable electricity generation for the second quarter of 2015 was 19,945 GWh. Full details, including breakdowns by technology, can be found in the Quarterly Energy Trends release, available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/energy-trends-section-6-renewables.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change does not publish other renewable generation figures (heat and transport) on a quarterly basis, but annual figures are available in Table 6.6 of the Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES), available at the following link:
At the end of March 2015, total renewable electricity installed capacity in the UK was 26.4 GW. Figures as at end of June 2015 will be available on 24 September 2015.
Source:
Table 6.1, Energy Trends section 6: renewables, available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/energy-trends-section-6-renewables.
I refer my hon Friend to the answer I gave to my hon Friend the Member for Congleton (Fiona Bruce) to UIN 1755.
Information on the number of apprenticeship starts by geography is published in a supplementary table to a Statistical First Release (SFR):
I refer my Hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 22 October 2014 to Question UIN 210227.
The primary support for business in Stafford and elsewhere is our long term economic plan which is delivering jobs, growth and low inflation.
16 start up loans have been made available in Stafford and 1,000 Apprenticeships in the past year.
My Hon. Friend may also wish to note that in the Stafford constituency there is one Round 1 Regional Growth Fund project with a grant of £4 million leveraging £57 million of private sector investment and creating or safeguarding 1,600 jobs. The grant will help the company undertake research and development for the creation of High Voltage Direct Current power transmission products, including the installation of equipment at a new engineering centre of excellence owned and run by the company in Stafford. It will create 200 new jobs and safeguard 1,400 existing jobs.
Businesses can access support via two local programmes that cover the Stafford constituency. These are run by the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and the Staffordshire Chamber of Commerce. In addition to the above there are a number of national Regional Growth Fund programmes which companies in Stafford can apply to.
Stoke and Staffordshire LEP area is one of 15 Wave 2 Cities who are receiving £6.4m Government funding to establish growth hubs in 2014-15, from a £32m Regional Growth Fund programme managed by Lancaster University which also includes local business support. Growth hubs are intended to raise awareness and take up of business support, impact of business support, simplify the local business support landscape, eliminate duplication and improve the impact of business support, helping to increase private sector growth.
The Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) has assisted 22 companies in Stafford since 1 January 2012 when the new national MAS service was launched. Businesses have forecast this could help create 65 jobs and over £2.75 million Gross Value Added. Figures are not available for the regional MAS delivered by the former Regional Development Agencies prior to January 2012.
In each of the last three years, the following numbers of companies were incorporated in the Staffordshire constituency:
Year | Number |
2011/12 | 13,336 |
2012/13 | 13,349 |
2013/14 | 13,445 |
The Government is committed to ensuring businesses can access the finance they need to invest and grow.
We are setting up the British Business Bank to make finance markets work better for small firms. Over the next five years, the Bank aims to unlock up to £10 billion of financing for viable smaller businesses. The Business Bank funds schemes including Start Up Loans and the Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme.
A breakdown of businesses in the Stafford Constituency that have been supported by British Business Bank schemes last 12 months are detailed in the table below.
| Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme (EFG) | Start Up Loans Company |
Stafford constituency | 7 loans with a drawn value of £1,051,700 | 16 loans with a drawn value of £59,850 |
*Data from 01/09/2013-31/08/2014
The Black Country Reinvestment Society (BCRS) are a Community Development Finance Institution (CDFI) serving the Stafford constituency providing credit and funding to local businesses unable to secure finance from traditional financial institutions such as banks. BCRS are accredited to provide EFG backed lending facilities and are also a Start Up Loan delivery partner.
The Community Development Finance Association (of which BCRS is a member) have also received Regional Growth Fund support
There is one Round 1 Regional Growth Fund project in the Stafford constituency with a grant of £4 million, leveraging £56.5 million of private sector investment and creating or safeguarding 1,600 jobs.
The grant will assist this project to undertake research and development (R&D) for the creation of High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) power transmission products at a new engineering centre of excellence in Stafford. The project will create 200 jobs and safeguard 1400 jobs in Stafford and involves a new R&D centre, together with the installation of technical equipment.
Small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy and our small business owners have driven this economic recovery. Stafford has benefitted from a number of support schemes. The Start-Up Loan Scheme has provided business advice and 16 loans with a value of almost £60,000 to people starting a business. Since May 2010, 7 companies have benefitted from the Government’s Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme with a drawn down value of over £1 million.
We are committed to making Britain the best place in the world to start and grow a business, and are doing this in a number of ways:
The Bank of England does not own any gold reserves of its own, except for two bars held for display at the Bank of England Museum. However, the Bank provides safe custody for the UK's gold reserves and for other customers. It has only started recently publishing the weight of all the gold in its custody on its website, which includes data back to 2011. On 30 June 2018, it held 166,516,000 fine troy ounces of gold. There is no equivalent data available for 1998 and 2008.
I am pleased to report that over 1,200 young people in Staffordshire have participated in NCS over the past two years. The NCS Trust does not collect data at a constituency level. Therefore, the figures below are for the local authority area of Staffordshire:
2014 - 465 participants
2015 - 738 participants
The National Risk Register of Civil Emergencies (NRR) is the public-facing version of the National Risk Assessment (NRA), a classified assessment of the civil emergency risks facing the UK over the next five years. The NRR is published by the Civil Contingencies Secretariat, Cabinet Office. Due to sensitivities, beyond the detail contained within the NRR (particularly Chapter 3 of the 2015 iteration) the NRA methodology is not for public disclosure. However, every risk in the NRR is owned and assessed by a lead government department. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is owned by the Department of Health, which is preparing a paper for submission to the Lancet that sets out the analytical methods used to underpin the National AMR Strategy.
The Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 received Royal Assent on 30 January 2014. Section 39 of the Act provides for a post-election review of the operation of the regulatory regime governing third parties at the 2015 General Election.
Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts CBE was appointed to lead the independent review on 28 January 2015. Work on the review is ongoing.
The reviewer must make a written report on the review and provide this to the Minister who must lay a copy of the report before Parliament and publish the report in such a manner as they consider appropriate by November 2016.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The Industrial Energy Transformation Fund was announced in October 2018. We are providing £315m for this fund to support industrial energy efficiency and decarbonisation projects. This will help to bring down energy costs and reduce carbon emissions for vital industries, including energy intensive industries. We have sought stakeholder views through our informal consultation as well as a market intelligence exercise, helping to inform the design of the fund. We will publish a consultation setting out our preferred fund design and invite stakeholders to comment shortly.
The IETF will complement existing schemes such as the Industrial Heat Recovery Scheme and the Industrial Energy Efficiency Accelerator.
The establishment of the pathway has been led by the Accelerated Access Collaborative (AAC), working with industry and patients. The establishment of the AAC has been supported by the Office for Life Sciences, which is a joint unit between both the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). A member of the BEIS departmental board sits on the AAC.
The Capacity Market is securing the capacity required to meet peak electricity demand through auctions held four and one year ahead of delivery. It supports technically reliable existing plant to remain in the market and, as coal and other ageing plant retire, it strengthens incentives for new plant to be financed and built.
The Capacity Market has already secured over 5.4GW of new build capacity for delivery between 2018/19 and 2021/22. Alongside traditional gas generation, significant levels of alternative, innovative new capacity, such as demand-side response (DSR) and battery storage, has been brought forward. This wide range of new resources is helping deliver the security, reliability and flexibility that the country needs.
Other measures being taken to ensure the security of electricity supply include the broadening of the UK’s generation base through the deployment of new nuclear generation, with Hinkley Point C under construction, and offshore wind.
Under Euratom Treaty arrangements, businesses based in Euratom Member States are required to seek approval from the Euratom Supply Agency to conclude contracts for the supply of nuclear materials. When the UK leaves the Euratom Community, UK businesses will only be subject to these arrangements for supply contracts involving businesses in a Euratom Member State. The EU position is that, in a “no deal” scenario, these contracts would require re-approval once the UK is no longer part of the Euratom Community, as set out in the EU’s Notice to Stakeholders published on 28 March 2018[1].
The UK has raised this as a priority issue with the European Commission, as set out in the UK’s position paper on Nuclear materials and safeguards issues, published on 13 July 2017[2]. This remains an issue of concern to the nuclear industry in both the UK and in the wider EU. There are positive signs that the Commission are seeking ways to address the problem, and the UK will continue to press for a solution that does not lead to any additional costs or inconvenience to industry.
[1] https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/euratom_en
[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nuclear-materials-and-safeguards-issues-position-paper
We continue to work closely with the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) as they take on the role and responsibilities required to enable the UK’s domestic nuclear safeguards regime to meet international nuclear safeguards and nuclear non-proliferation obligations when Euratom safeguards arrangements no longer apply in the UK.
Based on current progress, the ONR will be in a position to deliver a regime that will discharge the commitments set out in the UK’s new safeguards agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency by 29 March 2019.
The ONR will move to deliver Euratom equivalence as soon as possible. The speed with which the ONR is able to apply a system offering equivalent effectiveness and coverage as that provided by the Euratom regime is dependent on a wide variety of factors. These factors include negotiations on future cooperation with Euratom and technical discussions between Euratom and the ONR.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy regularly publish statistics on UK participations in Horizon 2020, the main EU programme for research and innovation funding. As part of Horizon 2020, between 2014 and 2017 UK organisations have been allocated €4.0 billion research funding. Further information can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uks-participation-in-horizon-2020-september-2017.
The European Commission publishes data on the 2014-20 European Structural and Investment Funds programmes. Over €1.6bn has been allocated for research and innovation to the UK. Further information can be found at: https://cohesiondata.ec.europa.eu/countries/UK# .
The Office for National Statistics has published user requested statistics regarding the number of enterprise “births” in UK Parliamentary Constituencies. A “birth” occurs when a business appears on the Inter-Departmental Business Register, following registration for either VAT or PAYE.
The following table gives “births” in the Stafford Parliamentary Constituency for the most recent three years available.
Stafford Parliamentary Constituency
2013 - 405
2014 - 415
2015 - 380
A study carried out by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills found that 13% of all projects funded by the government’s Manufacturing Advisory Service between (2012 - 2016) were located in the West Midlands, however the service was closed in (March) 2016. However, figures are not broken down to specific areas or towns.
We are working hard to support businesses and entrepreneurs across the UK to ensure they can access finance and wider support to grow and the right conditions are in place for companies to invest for the long-term.
Small businesses in Stoke and Staffordshire can access support through GOV.UK and the Business Support Helpline. The Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Growth Hub also acts as the first port of call for local businesses seeking advice or support. Since its launch in May 2014, the Stoke and Staffordshire Growth Hub has engaged and supported 4340 businesses and it has helped 385 individuals to start up a new business.
Since November 2014, British Business Bank programmes have facilitated over £4.3m* to 87 businesses in the constituency of Stafford. This includes 54 Start-up Loans at a value of £415,957.
Stafford constituency is also part of the Midlands Engine. A key part of the Government’s strategy for fuelling growth in the region is the £250m Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF), which is a result of close collaboration between the British Business Bank, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Department for Communities and Local Government and 10 Midlands Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs). It aims to transform the finance landscape for smaller businesses in the Midlands, accelerate economic growth and promote job creation. The Fund launched its first wave, £120m of Debt and Small Business funds, at the end of August.
*This does not include ENABLE funding data as this is not available at a constituency level.
We are working hard to support businesses and entrepreneurs across the UK to ensure they can access finance and wider support to grow and the right conditions are in place for companies to invest for the long-term.
Small businesses in Stoke and Staffordshire can access support through GOV.UK and the Business Support Helpline. The Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Growth Hub also acts as the first port of call for local businesses seeking advice or support. Since its launch in May 2014, the Stoke and Staffordshire Growth Hub has engaged and supported 4340 businesses and it has helped 385 individuals to start up a new business.
Since November 2014, British Business Bank programmes have facilitated over £4.3m* to 87 businesses in the constituency of Stafford. This includes 54 Start-up Loans at a value of £415,957.
Stafford constituency is also part of the Midlands Engine. A key part of the Government’s strategy for fuelling growth in the region is the £250m Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF), which is a result of close collaboration between the British Business Bank, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Department for Communities and Local Government and 10 Midlands Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs). It aims to transform the finance landscape for smaller businesses in the Midlands, accelerate economic growth and promote job creation. The Fund launched its first wave, £120m of Debt and Small Business funds, at the end of August.
*This does not include ENABLE funding data as this is not available at a constituency level.
We are working hard to support businesses and entrepreneurs across the UK to ensure they can access finance and wider support to grow and the right conditions are in place for companies to invest for the long-term.
Small businesses in Stoke and Staffordshire can access support through GOV.UK and the Business Support Helpline. The Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Growth Hub also acts as the first port of call for local businesses seeking advice or support. Since its launch in May 2014, the Stoke and Staffordshire Growth Hub has engaged and supported 4340 businesses and it has helped 385 individuals to start up a new business.
Since November 2014, British Business Bank programmes have facilitated over £4.3m* to 87 businesses in the constituency of Stafford. This includes 54 Start-up Loans at a value of £415,957.
Stafford constituency is also part of the Midlands Engine. A key part of the Government’s strategy for fuelling growth in the region is the £250m Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF), which is a result of close collaboration between the British Business Bank, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Department for Communities and Local Government and 10 Midlands Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs). It aims to transform the finance landscape for smaller businesses in the Midlands, accelerate economic growth and promote job creation. The Fund launched its first wave, £120m of Debt and Small Business funds, at the end of August.
*This does not include ENABLE funding data as this is not available at a constituency level.
This Government wants the UK to be the go-to place for innovators and investors across the world, and we intend to secure the best possible outcome for the UK research base as we exit the European Union.
The United Kingdom’s exit from and new partnership with the European Union’ White Paper set out that the UK Government would welcome an agreement to continue to collaborate with our European partners on major science, research, and technology initiatives and we will approach the upcoming negotiations on this basis. The Government is committed to ensuring the UK remains a world leader in international research and innovation.
It is for developers to bring forward new nuclear power stations in England and Wales; this includes procuring the technology. All developers must submit their full designs to the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and the Environment Agencies as part of the Generic Design Assessment (GDA) process: the GDA is the non-statutory system by which the UK’s independent nuclear regulators assess safety, security and environmental aspects of new reactor designs proposed for use in the UK. In addition, any organisation wishing to carry out prescribed nuclear activities must apply for, and be granted, a nuclear site licence. A site licence puts the licence holder under strict legal obligations and, importantly, gives specific regulatory powers to ONR to ensure the safe and secure construction, commissioning and operation of a nuclear site.
The Government is working with industry and skills bodies to achieve this goal, and Government-backed skills initiatives such as the Apprenticeship Levy and the National College for Nuclear are examples of actions taken to date. The National College for Nuclear aims to train 7,000 people by 2020, with the first intake of students to begin in September 2017.
The Government plans to deliver the majority of skills needed for the sector through national Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education, including apprenticeships and higher education in combination with organisations’ in-house training and targeted support from accredited skills bodies.
The Government engages with developers proposing new nuclear projects in the UK on a range of issues, including funding. Discussions on funding, as my hon. Friend would expect, are commercially sensitive.
The Government announced on September 15 2016 that, after Hinkley Point C, it would take a special share in all future nuclear new build projects. A special share would be discussed at the time any support package for a project is negotiated, and before a developer makes a Final Investment Decision and starts construction.
Companies House estimates that, in the Stafford parliamentary constituency area, the number of new companies started is as follows:
2014-15: 1,649
2015-16: 1,701
These figures are estimates because Companies House’s data is drawn from postcode areas and these can cross constituency boundaries.
The Government is working to make the UK the best place to start and grow a business by supporting businesses across the country. In Stafford, 42 Government backed Start-Up Loans have been drawn down since September 2012 with a value of over £218,000. A Regional Growth Fund award of £4m made in 2011 has attracted private investment of £56.5 million, delivering 1,600 jobs. Since May 2010, 26 loans have been drawn down in Stafford, worth over £2.6 million, from the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme. Businesses in Stafford also have access to the Stoke-on-Trent & Staffordshire Growth Hub which was live from September 2014, which is one of a network of 39 Growth Hubs set up across England.
The Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 contained two specific policies to support Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in accessing finance.
The first requires major banks to refer SMEs they reject for finance to designated ‘finance platforms’ that can help match SMEs with alternative finance providers. This will ensure that viable SMEs, including businesses in Stafford, that may not fit the major banks’ risk appetite can still get the finance they need to grow and expand. Three platforms have recently been designated by HM Treasury on the advice of the British Business Bank and are expected to come into operation later this year.
The second requires the major banks to share information on their SME customers, with the SME’s permission, with other lenders through designated Credit Reference Agencies. This will improve the ability of challenger banks and alternative finance providers to conduct accurate risk assessments and level the playing field between providers and make it easier for SMEs to get finance from providers other than their bank.
The Government is supporting the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) and Crowdfunding sectors, which provide alternative sources of finance for both businesses and individuals. The British Business Bank, for example, has invested £100m in SMEs via five P2P platforms.
In addition, the British Business Bank’s Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) scheme has facilitated over £2.6 billion of bank lending and other finance to over 25,000 SMEs. Since the start of the scheme, 45 EFG loans have been drawn down in Stafford worth over £5 million. Government has also provided loans through the Start Up Loans Company to help new businesses in Stafford. 42 start up businesses in Stafford have secured a loan from the Start Up Loans Company, with a total value of over £218, 000.
More widely, credit conditions for business continue to improve with net lending to SMEs in 2015 positive across the complete year, the first time this has happened since the financial crisis.
The Department does not hold information on how many new antibiotics are in development by UK companies.
The independent review on antimicrobial resistance led by Lord O’Neill publication Securing New Drugs for Future Generations – the Pipeline of antibiotics, provides a high-level assessment of the development pipeline for new antibiotics:
The Department does not hold full data from this consultation broken down by specific question as a large portion of respondents chose to respond in their own words rather than addressing the consultation questions directly, and/or did not indicate the type of organisation they represented.
The Government published its response to the consultation on 9 February, in which it sets out its proposals to devolve Sunday trading rules to a local level. The Government has no plans to publish in full the responses at this time.
Littering is a concern for everyone, residents and visitors alike. VisitBritain have recently carried out research into the factors that encourage people to come to the UK. Litter was one of the factors they asked people to consider, and the report will be released on the VisitBritain website in due course.
Additionally, the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have put forward measures in their 25 Year Plan to address littering.
The Government is clear that the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) should be studied as part of a broad and balanced curriculum. It is limited in size in order to allow pupils to continue to study additional subjects that reflect their individual interests and strengths, including arts subjects. The proportion of pupils taking at least one Arts GCSE has fluctuated but remained broadly stable since the EBacc was introduced in 2010
Arts subjects are not limited to the classroom, and according to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s Taking Part Survey, in 2017-18, 96% of children aged 5-15 had engaged with the arts in the past 12 months[1]. The government is providing almost £500 million of funding between 2016-20 for arts and cultural education programmes.
[1] The arts cover music activities, theatre/drama, reading/writing, arts crafts and design, film, video, media, and radio activities, dance activities, street arts, circus, carnival, and festival activities.
In March 2018, the Government launched an externally-led review of exclusions practice, led by Edward Timpson CBE. The review is exploring how head teachers use exclusion, and why pupils with particular characteristics are more likely to be excluded from school. It is also considering the differences in exclusion rates across primary and secondary schools in England.
The review has gathered substantial evidence, including over 900 submissions to the call for evidence. Edward Timpson has also chaired a series of roundtables and the review has met with over 100 organisations and individuals, including schools, local authorities, parents and children. The review will report in this term.
We are providing around £6 million in the period 2018 to 2019 and in the period 2019 to 2020 for a national pilot of Staying Close in eight sites.
These pilots provide an enhanced support offer for those leaving residential care. The support offer includes an accommodation offer close to their former children’s home alongside practical and emotional support from a member of staff from their former children's home whom they know and trust.
Reports from the pilots show that 120 care leavers participated in the Staying Close pilots from January 2018 to July 2018.
A full evaluation will be available when the pilots end in March 2020.
Staying Put has helped thousands of care leavers to continue to benefit from a stable and secure family setting and to prepare for independence at a more gradual pace rather than facing a ‘cliff-edge’ at the age of 18. The policy has been welcomed by care leavers and the sector.
The latest data for the year ending March 2017 shows that 51% of those ceasing to be looked after in a foster placement on their 18th birthday remained with their former foster carer. In addition, 25% of 19 and 20 year olds were still living with their former foster carers.
For 2010, the number and percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals are 717,060 and 17.3%, respectively.
For 2014, the number and percentage of pupils eligible for and claiming free school meals are 755,485 and 17.0%, respectively.
For 2017, the number and percentage of pupils eligible for and claiming free school meals are 666,708 and 14.1%, respectively.
The ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics: January 2018’ statistical release will be released in June 2018, (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2018).