Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will hold discussions with his counterparts in the devolved Administrations on levels of bovine tuberculosis cases across the UK.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Inter-ministerial Group for Environment, Food and Rural affairs recognise the importance of working together to tackle bovine TB. Further information about this group and its priorities can be found on GOV.UK at: Inter-Ministerial Group for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs communiqué: 16 September 2024 - GOV.UK.
Chief Veterinary Officers from all four administrations of the United Kingdom also meet regularly to discuss bovine TB, as do policy officials. These meetings provide an opportunity for each administration to update on policy developments, statistical analysis of TB prevalence in each administration, and to exchange ideas on TB control.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential implications for her policies of the recommendations of Ofsted’s subject report on religious education, published in April 2024.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
The government notes the findings of the Ofsted subject report on religious education (RE) and is committed to ensuring high-quality provision of RE in schools in England.
In order to improve teaching quality, we currently offer a £10,000 bursary for RE trainee teachers starting initial teacher training courses in England.
To support teachers when they are in post, and to ensure high standards and consistency of RE teaching, RE resources have been procured by Oak National Academy. This ensures that high-quality lessons are available nationwide, benefitting both teachers and pupils, should schools opt to use them. Initial RE resources were launched in autumn 2024, with full curriculum packages expected to be available by autumn 2025.
The government also welcomes the work that the Religious Education Council has done to assist curriculum developers by publishing its National Content Standard for RE in England.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure the (a) safety and (b) suitability of older school buildings.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
Responsibility for keeping school buildings safe and well-maintained lies with those with responsibility for managing the school estate, which includes local authorities, governing bodies and academy trusts. The department provides support through capital funding, delivering major rebuilding programmes and offering guidance and support.
In April 2024, the department published guidance on typical construction types used in the school estate to help building users, owners and maintenance staff prioritise future maintenance and repair of their buildings. In December 2024 we commissioned research to better understand future issues that could present themselves as the school and college estate ages, focusing on post-war building construction.
The department has regular discussions with relevant professional bodies and leading material specialists to share information on any emerging risks regarding the safety of all building types in the school estate.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's statutory guidance entitled Initial teacher training (ITT): criteria and supporting advice - Statutory guidance for accredited ITT providers, whether the curriculum for primary trainees must cover (a) the national curriculum subjects and (b) the statutory subject of religious education.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
The initial teacher training (ITT) criteria and supporting advice is statutory guidance for accredited ITT providers which sets out mandatory guidance on the criteria that organisations must meet to provide ITT for all courses leading to Qualified Teacher Status.
All accredited ITT providers must design a sequenced ITT curriculum that adequately covers all national curriculum subjects for primary trainees.
As a statutory subject, religious education should also be included.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many carers have a Carer’s Allowance overpayment debt as a result of breaching the earnings limit in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
This Government recognises and values the vital contribution made by carers in supporting some of the most vulnerable in society, including pensioners and disabled people. We are determined to provide unpaid carers with the support they need and deserve. From April 2025, the Government is boosting the Carer’s Allowance earnings threshold by £45 a week to £196, benefitting more than 60,000 carers by 2029/30. This is the biggest ever cash increase in the earnings threshold for Carer’s Allowance.
Claimants have a responsibility to ensure they are entitled to benefits they claim and to inform the DWP of any changes in their circumstances that could impact their award.
We understand that providing care can be a demanding role, which is why we are trialling new ways of communicating with customers to support them in fully understanding their responsibilities to report changes in their circumstances, such as employment, including through a trial of text message reminders.
An independent review into the issue of overpayments of Carer’s Allowance in cases where earnings have exceeded the entitlement threshold has begun. The review will investigate how overpayments of Carer’s Allowance related to earnings have occurred, how we can best support those who have accrued them, and how to reduce the risk of these problems occurring in future. Timelines and terms of reference were published on Gov.uk on 9 December for reference. We expect review findings and recommendations to be submitted to the Department in early summer 2025. Liz Sayce OBE, the Independent Reviewer, is keen to hear from interested parties.
Where overpayments do occur, the Department has a duty to the taxpayer to protect public funds and to ask for money to be paid back. We remain committed to working with anyone who is struggling with their repayment terms and will always look to negotiate sustainable and affordable repayment plans.
Information on the volume of customers with an outstanding Carers Allowance debt and the volume of customers with a Carer’s Allowance overpayment debt as a result of breaching the earnings limit is provided below. This will include people who are no longer receiving Carers Allowance, people who are no longer carers and people who made fraudulent claims and were never entitled to carers allowance.
| Volume of customers with an outstanding CA debt | Volume of Customers with an Outstanding CA Debt with the E-Referral Overpayment Reason of - 'Earnings over CA Limit' |
English postcode | 116,874 | 81,503 |
Welsh postcode | 7,657 | 5,359 |
Scottish postcode | 13,922 | 9,112 |
Northern-Irish postcode | 5,469 | 3,375 |
The data has been sourced from internal DWP management information, which is intended only to help the Department to manage its business. It is not intended for publication and has not been subject to the same quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many carers have Carer’s Allowance overpayment debt in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
This Government recognises and values the vital contribution made by carers in supporting some of the most vulnerable in society, including pensioners and disabled people. We are determined to provide unpaid carers with the support they need and deserve. From April 2025, the Government is boosting the Carer’s Allowance earnings threshold by £45 a week to £196, benefitting more than 60,000 carers by 2029/30. This is the biggest ever cash increase in the earnings threshold for Carer’s Allowance.
Claimants have a responsibility to ensure they are entitled to benefits they claim and to inform the DWP of any changes in their circumstances that could impact their award.
We understand that providing care can be a demanding role, which is why we are trialling new ways of communicating with customers to support them in fully understanding their responsibilities to report changes in their circumstances, such as employment, including through a trial of text message reminders.
An independent review into the issue of overpayments of Carer’s Allowance in cases where earnings have exceeded the entitlement threshold has begun. The review will investigate how overpayments of Carer’s Allowance related to earnings have occurred, how we can best support those who have accrued them, and how to reduce the risk of these problems occurring in future. Timelines and terms of reference were published on Gov.uk on 9 December for reference. We expect review findings and recommendations to be submitted to the Department in early summer 2025. Liz Sayce OBE, the Independent Reviewer, is keen to hear from interested parties.
Where overpayments do occur, the Department has a duty to the taxpayer to protect public funds and to ask for money to be paid back. We remain committed to working with anyone who is struggling with their repayment terms and will always look to negotiate sustainable and affordable repayment plans.
Information on the volume of customers with an outstanding Carers Allowance debt and the volume of customers with a Carer’s Allowance overpayment debt as a result of breaching the earnings limit is provided below. This will include people who are no longer receiving Carers Allowance, people who are no longer carers and people who made fraudulent claims and were never entitled to carers allowance.
| Volume of customers with an outstanding CA debt | Volume of Customers with an Outstanding CA Debt with the E-Referral Overpayment Reason of - 'Earnings over CA Limit' |
English postcode | 116,874 | 81,503 |
Welsh postcode | 7,657 | 5,359 |
Scottish postcode | 13,922 | 9,112 |
Northern-Irish postcode | 5,469 | 3,375 |
The data has been sourced from internal DWP management information, which is intended only to help the Department to manage its business. It is not intended for publication and has not been subject to the same quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help increase the number of (a) women and (b) under-represented groups among construction apprentices.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
To support young people, including women and those from disadvantaged backgrounds, access apprenticeships in England, the department is promoting apprenticeships to students in schools and colleges through the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge programme and through the Skills for Life campaign.
The department is also transforming career opportunities and advice to increase awareness of the range of high-quality options available to young people, including apprenticeships. The government has committed to improve careers advice and guarantee two weeks’ worth of work experience for every young person, as well as establish a national jobs and careers service to support people into work and help them get on at work.
The government is reforming the apprenticeships offer into a growth and skills offer, which will provide greater flexibility to employers and learners across England and align with the Industrial Strategy. This will create routes into skilled jobs in growing industries, such as construction, for people of all ages and backgrounds.
This will include introducing new foundation apprenticeships for young people, as well as shorter-duration apprenticeships in targeted sectors. The minimum duration of an apprenticeship will be reduced to eight months from August 2025, which is down from the current minimum of 12 months. These measures will support more people from all backgrounds to gain high-quality skills at work and fuel innovation in business across the country.
Additionally, as part of the government’s ambitious plan to deliver 1.5 million homes in England in this Parliament, around 5,000 more construction apprenticeship places will be made available per year by 2027/28 through a £140 million industry investment. 32 new Homebuilding Skills Hubs will deliver fast-track training in critical areas such as bricklaying, groundwork and site carpentry to boost housebuilding and drive forward the government’s growth mission.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people who are currently in prison for drug offences are under 21 years of age.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
As of 31 December 2024 (latest available published data snapshot), there were 463 people in prison in England and Wales under 21 years of age with an associated (alleged or proven) drug offence. This is based on the total prison population, and includes those held on remand (both unconvicted, and convicted unsentenced), sentenced and non-criminals. It also includes those held in Young Offenders' Institutions (YOIs).
For those whose offending is driven by a drug problem, we work with health partners to divert them into treatment in the community where appropriate. This includes working to increase the use and strengthen the quality of Drug Rehabilitation Requirements as part of community sentences, which aim to tackle the root causes of offending behaviour through structured treatment and regular testing. Where a prison sentence is appropriate, we focus on supporting people into treatment, and ensuring their environment supports recovery – 81 prisons have an Incentivised Substance-Free Living unit, which provide a dedicated, supportive environment for any prisoner who wants to live drug-free in prison, with regular drug testing and incentives.
Recognising the distinct needs of young adults, HMPPS have developed a Young Adults Custodial strategy to ensure there is a consistent approach amongst prisons to understand this group and support staff in working with them, to better respond to the needs of the cohort.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an estimate of the number of unpaid carers that were entitled to the (a) Carer Premium and (b) Carer Addition in each year since 2000; and what proportion of those recipients were women.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many convictions there have been for hate crime in the last 12 months.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on convictions for a large range of offences at criminal courts in England and Wales in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal Justice Statistics.
Convictions for selected racial and religiously aggravated crimes can be identified by filtering on the HO offence code. Other offences contained within the Outcomes by Offences data tool may be related to hate crimes, including different strands of hate crimes, but are not identifiable from data held centrally.
Crown Prosecution Service performance data which includes convictions data pertaining to hate crime flagged offences is available here: CPS data summary Quarter 2 2024-2025 | The Crown Prosecution Service.
The published offence-level data reflects the offence wording as set out in legislation. The published volumes will not include all racially or religiously motivated offences. In addition, other aggravating factors which contribute to the commissioning of an offence are not identifiable from the published Ministry of Justice convictions data.