Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will take steps to issue guidance on the (a) roles and (b) responsibilities of (i) health, (ii) education, (iii) social care, (iv) education services and (v) the charitable sector for the provision of specialist equipment for disabled children.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The integrated care boards (ICBs) in England are responsible for commissioning services to meet the health needs of their local population. NHS England Specialised Commissioning commissions complex disability equipment services, including communication aids, environmental controls, and prosthetics.

We expect ICBs to follow guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). In 2022, NICE published the guidance, Disabled children and young people up to 25 with severe complex needs: integrated service delivery and organisation across health, social care and education, which is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng213/chapter/Recommendations-on-service-organisation-integration-and-commissioning

The Children and Families Act 2014 requires that education, health, and social care services must work together to meet the needs of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Local authorities are responsible for providing social care services for disabled children, which can include specialist equipment. The guidance on supporting disabled children and their carers is available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/669e7501ab418ab055592a7b/Working_together_to_safeguard_children_2023.pdf

Further guidance on the roles and responsibilities of different organisations in meeting the needs of children with SEND can be found in the SEND code of practice: 0 to 25 years, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25

Since July 2015, NHS England has collected data quarterly from clinical commissioning groups, now ICBs, on wheelchair provision. This data looks at waiting times across the pathway to enable targeted action if improvement is required. NHS England is taking several steps to reduce regional variation in the quality and provision of National Health Service wheelchairs, and to support ICBs to reduce delays in people receiving timely intervention and wheelchair equipment.

Data on the length of time taken to provide other equipment for disabled children is not collected centrally.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that children with disabilities receive equipment in a timely manner.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The integrated care boards (ICBs) in England are responsible for commissioning services to meet the health needs of their local population. NHS England Specialised Commissioning commissions complex disability equipment services, including communication aids, environmental controls, and prosthetics.

We expect ICBs to follow guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). In 2022, NICE published the guidance, Disabled children and young people up to 25 with severe complex needs: integrated service delivery and organisation across health, social care and education, which is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng213/chapter/Recommendations-on-service-organisation-integration-and-commissioning

The Children and Families Act 2014 requires that education, health, and social care services must work together to meet the needs of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Local authorities are responsible for providing social care services for disabled children, which can include specialist equipment. The guidance on supporting disabled children and their carers is available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/669e7501ab418ab055592a7b/Working_together_to_safeguard_children_2023.pdf

Further guidance on the roles and responsibilities of different organisations in meeting the needs of children with SEND can be found in the SEND code of practice: 0 to 25 years, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25

Since July 2015, NHS England has collected data quarterly from clinical commissioning groups, now ICBs, on wheelchair provision. This data looks at waiting times across the pathway to enable targeted action if improvement is required. NHS England is taking several steps to reduce regional variation in the quality and provision of National Health Service wheelchairs, and to support ICBs to reduce delays in people receiving timely intervention and wheelchair equipment.

Data on the length of time taken to provide other equipment for disabled children is not collected centrally.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the length of time taken to provide equipment for children with disabilities.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The integrated care boards (ICBs) in England are responsible for commissioning services to meet the health needs of their local population. NHS England Specialised Commissioning commissions complex disability equipment services, including communication aids, environmental controls, and prosthetics.

We expect ICBs to follow guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). In 2022, NICE published the guidance, Disabled children and young people up to 25 with severe complex needs: integrated service delivery and organisation across health, social care and education, which is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng213/chapter/Recommendations-on-service-organisation-integration-and-commissioning

The Children and Families Act 2014 requires that education, health, and social care services must work together to meet the needs of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Local authorities are responsible for providing social care services for disabled children, which can include specialist equipment. The guidance on supporting disabled children and their carers is available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/669e7501ab418ab055592a7b/Working_together_to_safeguard_children_2023.pdf

Further guidance on the roles and responsibilities of different organisations in meeting the needs of children with SEND can be found in the SEND code of practice: 0 to 25 years, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25

Since July 2015, NHS England has collected data quarterly from clinical commissioning groups, now ICBs, on wheelchair provision. This data looks at waiting times across the pathway to enable targeted action if improvement is required. NHS England is taking several steps to reduce regional variation in the quality and provision of National Health Service wheelchairs, and to support ICBs to reduce delays in people receiving timely intervention and wheelchair equipment.

Data on the length of time taken to provide other equipment for disabled children is not collected centrally.

Question

To ask the hon. Member for Warrington North, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, what the percentage increases were for (a) MP's staffing budgets and (b) IPSA staffing expenditure between financial years 2018-19 and 2024-25.

Answered by Charlotte Nichols

IPSA's proposed budgets are scrutinised each year by the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Authority and approved by the House of Commons.

MPs' staffing budgets have increased by 63.3% between 2018-19 and 2024-25. In 2018-19, the London Staffing Budget was £164,460 and the non-London Saffing Budget was £153,620. In 2024-25, the London Staffing Budget was £268,550 and the non-London Saffing Budget was £250,820.

IPSA staffing expenditure has increased by 47.8% between 2018-19 and 2023-24 (the most recent year for which there is a full year expenditure) in response to MPs clearly expressed wish to see service standards significantly improved.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department will take steps to work with the Lead Ministers for Disability to help ensure disabled children receive specialist equipment in a timely manner.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

On the International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2024, the Minister for Social Security and Disability announced new Lead Ministers for Disability in every Government department. I am the Lead Minister for Disability for the Department of Health and Social Care.

The Lead Ministers for Disability will break down barriers to opportunity across the Government’s long-term missions. They will meet regularly to make sure that the Government is delivering on the commitment to put the views and voices of disabled people at the heart of everything we do, right across every department.

The Government is committed to ensuring that all children, including children with special educational needs and disability, receive the support they need to live healthy, fulfilling lives. The Department of Health and Social Care continues to work closely with NHS England and the Department for Education to achieve this.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of variations in per pupil funding for places in pupil referral units on pupils' educational outcomes.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Most funding for pupil referral units, and other alternative provision (AP), comes from local authorities’ high needs budgets, Following the Autumn Budget 2024, the department is providing an increase of £1 billion for high needs budgets in England in the 2025/26 financial year, bringing total high needs funding for children and young people with complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and AP to £11.9 billion. Of that total, Staffordshire County Council is being allocated over £143 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), an increase of £10.4 million on this year’s DSG high needs block, calculated using the high needs national funding formula (NFF). This NFF allocation is an 8.7% increase per head of their 2 to 18-year-old population, on their equivalent 2024/25 NFF allocation.

Top-up funding is agreed locally, between the local authority and alternative providers themselves. The top-up funding should reflect the costs of additional support to meet the individual pupil or student’s needs. Top-up funding also reflects costs that relate to the facilities required to support a pupil or student’s education and training needs and can take into account expected place occupancy levels and other factors, which means they can vary from one local authority to another.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help support people with type 1 diabetes with disordered eating in (a) Staffordshire and (b) other areas that are not included in the pilot scheme.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne

To support improved treatment and care for people with type 1 diabetes with disordered eating (T1DE) across the National Health Service, NHS England will:

- provide another year of funding for the five T1DE pilot sites, up to March 2026, to ensure sufficient patient numbers to support evaluation;

- review the pilot evaluation findings to inform future national strategy;

- seek additional national investment for T1DE treatment and care through the multi-year Spending Review, from 2026 to 2030;

- share pilot evaluation findings with all integrated care boards (ICBs) and make the case for local investment in T1DE from ICB baseline budgets, including support with potential commissioning approaches, which will be important if further national funding is not secured, and reflective of the fact that treating the consequences of T1DE is already a cost being funded by all ICBs, with the opportunity to improve both treatment and care and reduce activity and costs if the right care model and commissioning arrangements can be agreed; and

- share evidence with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and collaborate with a range of partner organisations on providing wider support for the NHS on T1DE.

In addition, each of the five new pilot areas is submitting quarterly data to the evaluation. The analysis of this data is to be included in a final evaluation report which NHS England expects to be able to publish, once complete, in September 2025.

In Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent there are structured education programmes for both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. All patients diagnosed with type 1 diabetes are invited to join the programme, along with any carers they may have.

The Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent ICB was not part of the T1DE pilot project funded by NHS England. The ICB will work with NHS colleagues to build upon the outcomes from the T1DE pilot.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to publish the outcomes of NHS England trials of bespoke services for patients with type 1 diabetes with disordered eating.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne

To support improved treatment and care for people with type 1 diabetes with disordered eating (T1DE) across the National Health Service, NHS England will:

- provide another year of funding for the five T1DE pilot sites, up to March 2026, to ensure sufficient patient numbers to support evaluation;

- review the pilot evaluation findings to inform future national strategy;

- seek additional national investment for T1DE treatment and care through the multi-year Spending Review, from 2026 to 2030;

- share pilot evaluation findings with all integrated care boards (ICBs) and make the case for local investment in T1DE from ICB baseline budgets, including support with potential commissioning approaches, which will be important if further national funding is not secured, and reflective of the fact that treating the consequences of T1DE is already a cost being funded by all ICBs, with the opportunity to improve both treatment and care and reduce activity and costs if the right care model and commissioning arrangements can be agreed; and

- share evidence with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and collaborate with a range of partner organisations on providing wider support for the NHS on T1DE.

In addition, each of the five new pilot areas is submitting quarterly data to the evaluation. The analysis of this data is to be included in a final evaluation report which NHS England expects to be able to publish, once complete, in September 2025.

In Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent there are structured education programmes for both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. All patients diagnosed with type 1 diabetes are invited to join the programme, along with any carers they may have.

The Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent ICB was not part of the T1DE pilot project funded by NHS England. The ICB will work with NHS colleagues to build upon the outcomes from the T1DE pilot.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that there is adequate capacity in pupil referral units in (a) Cannock Chase constituency and (b) Staffordshire.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Local authorities are responsible for providing enough school places for their area. The department provides capital funding through the basic need grant to secure mainstream school places and through the high needs provision capital allocations to invest in places for children and young people with special education needs and disabilities or who require alternative provision (AP). In Cannock Chase constituency there are four special schools, one pupil referral unit (PRU), one Progress Centre and one independent AP provider.

Ensuring schools and other education settings have the resources and buildings they need is a key part of this government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every child the best start in life. Responsibility for keeping education buildings safe and well-maintained lies with settings and their responsible bodies, such as local authorities and academy trusts. The department supports them by providing capital funding, delivering major rebuilding programmes and offering guidance and support.

The department has allocated £1.8 billion in condition funding for the 2024/25 financial year to improve the condition of schools, including PRUs. As part of the 2025/26 financial year budget, we are increasing capital funding to improve the condition of the estate to £2.1 billion, which is £300 million more than this year. The department expects to publish allocations in the spring, including for individual local authorities and other responsible bodies. Capital funding beyond 2025/26 will be set out following the spending review.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that pupil referral unit premises are fit for purpose.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Local authorities are responsible for providing enough school places for their area. The department provides capital funding through the basic need grant to secure mainstream school places and through the high needs provision capital allocations to invest in places for children and young people with special education needs and disabilities or who require alternative provision (AP). In Cannock Chase constituency there are four special schools, one pupil referral unit (PRU), one Progress Centre and one independent AP provider.

Ensuring schools and other education settings have the resources and buildings they need is a key part of this government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every child the best start in life. Responsibility for keeping education buildings safe and well-maintained lies with settings and their responsible bodies, such as local authorities and academy trusts. The department supports them by providing capital funding, delivering major rebuilding programmes and offering guidance and support.

The department has allocated £1.8 billion in condition funding for the 2024/25 financial year to improve the condition of schools, including PRUs. As part of the 2025/26 financial year budget, we are increasing capital funding to improve the condition of the estate to £2.1 billion, which is £300 million more than this year. The department expects to publish allocations in the spring, including for individual local authorities and other responsible bodies. Capital funding beyond 2025/26 will be set out following the spending review.

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 make an assessment of the effectiveness of the farming in protected landscapes programme.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The interim evaluation of the programme found the Farming in Protected Landscapes programme (FiPL) to be delivering positively for nature, climate, people, and place, with over 7,000 farmers participating and 3,700 projects in the first three years across our National Parks, National Landscapes and The Broads. We will be sharing further detail from the final evaluation report due later this year.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding from the Farming in Protected Landscapes programme has been allocated to projects in the (a) Cannock Chase constituency and (b) the Cannock Chase National Landscape area.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Over £570,000 has been spent on approved projects in the Cannock Chase National Landscape area since the Farming in Protected Landscapes programme (FiPL) launched in July 2021, with further projects in progress and to be completed by the end of 24/25.

116th anniversary of the 1909 West Stanley Pit Disaster

Lichfield Young Farmers' Club Christmas Tractor Run

Found: Carmichael (Chair); Sarah Bool; Charlie Dewhirst; Helena Dollimore; Sarah Dyke; Jayne Kirkham; Josh Newbury

Found: members present: Mr Alistair Carmichael (Chair); Charlie Dewhirst; Helena Dollimore; Sarah Dyke; Josh Newbury

Found: members present: Mr Alistair Carmichael (Chair); Charlie Dewhirst; Helena Dollimore; Sarah Dyke; Josh Newbury

As it strives to deliver its energy, environmental and growth commitments, balancing the pressures on the marine environment will be a challenge for the Government.