Select Committees
Panel of Chairs (since March 2020)Professional Qualifications Bill [HL] (since January 2022)
15 APPG memberships (as of 15 Jun 2022)
'Left Behind' Neighbourhoods, Beauty and Wellbeing, Dementia, Dentistry and Oral Health, Film and Broader Screen, Gambling Related Harm, Indonesia, Manufacturing, Menopause, Mongolia, Osteoporosis and Bone Health, Policing and Security, Rugby League, Social Mobility, Thailand10 Former APPG memberships
Beauty, Aesthetics and Wellbeing, Further Education and Lifelong Learning, Japan, Key Cities, Oracy, Policing, Rail in the North, State Pension Inequality for Women, Thalassaemia, Transport Across the North11:00
6 Jul 2022, 11 a.m.
Support for energy intensive industries
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voted Aye - in line with the party majority
One of 151 Labour Aye votes vs 0 Labour No votes
Tally: Ayes - 191 Noes - 271
My constituent Debra and her daughter Poppy recently attended my surgery to ask for my help in raising awareness of …
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 16 May 2022 to …
That this House celebrates the 75th Anniversary of the The Indomitables' 1946 British Lions Rugby League tour of Australia and …
A Bill to require quad bike riders on public highways to wear helmets; to make provision about the registration of …
12:49
23 November 2021, received £225. Hours: 75 mins. (Registered 06 December 2021)
That this House supports Maggie’s campaign You Care, We Care highlighting the pressure felt by those closest to people living …
A Bill to make provision about the administration to persons under the age of 18 of botulinum toxin and of …
Division Voting information
Debates during the 2019 Parliament
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
Sparring Partners
Minister of State (Minister for Brexit Opportunities and Government efficiency)
(17 debate interactions)
(11 debate interactions)
Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
(10 debate interactions)
Department Debates
(30 debate contributions)
(23 debate contributions)
(18 debate contributions)
(15 debate contributions)
Legislation Debates
(1,575 words contributed)
(1,430 words contributed)
(1,311 words contributed)
(476 words contributed)
Bradford South Petitions
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
of 128,195 signatures (0.20%)
of 50,937 signatures (0.20%)
of 213,737 signatures (0.12%)
of 153,639 signatures (0.12%)
of 147,108 signatures (0.07%)
of 213,737 signatures (0.12%)
of 128,195 signatures (0.20%)
of 153,639 signatures (0.12%)
of 147,108 signatures (0.07%)
of 50,937 signatures (0.20%)
Petition Closed
Increase funding for urgent research into devastating motor neurone disease
Gov Responded - 7 Apr 2021 Debated on - 12 Jul 2021 View Judith Cummins's petition debate contributionsclosed 12 months ago
We ask Government to significantly increase targeted research funding for motor neurone disease (MND).
A new investment of £50m over 5 years could kickstart a pioneering MND Research Institute.
This would lead to better, faster and more definitive research outcomes and hope for those with MND.
Latest EDMs signed by Judith Cummins
Maggie's You Care, We Care Campaign
Tabled by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)That this House supports Maggie’s campaign You Care, We Care highlighting the pressure felt by those closest to people living with cancer; notes research showing nearly 90 per cent of people looking after someone with cancer have experienced feelings of anger, guilt and helplessness; recognises the importance of providing support …
(Most recent: 27 Jun 2022)
Signatures by party:
Labour: 5
Scottish National Party: 5
Plaid Cymru: 3
Democratic Unionist Party: 1
Independent: 1
Liberal Democrat: 1
Alba Party: 1
Get me home safely campaign
Tabled by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)That this House notes that shift work is widespread in many industries, especially hospitality, and can often entail late-night working; further notes that many workers, especially women, are increasingly worried about their safety travelling to and from work at night; believes that while employers may feel their duty of care …
(Most recent: 21 Jun 2022)
Signatures by party:
Labour: 26
Independent: 1
Liberal Democrat: 1
Scottish National Party: 1
Commons initiatives
These initiatives were driven by Judith Cummins, 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.
Judith Cummins has not been granted any Urgent Questions
Judith Cummins has not been granted any Adjournment Debates
2 Bills introduced by Judith Cummins
A Bill to require quad bike riders on public highways to wear helmets; to make provision about the registration of quad bikes; to make provision about the dangerous and anti-social use of quad bikes; and for connected purposes.
A Bill to impose certain duties upon Her Majesty’s Government to ensure the accuracy, completeness and utility of electoral registers; to make provision for the sharing of data for the purposes of electoral registration; and for connected purposes.
1 Bill co-sponsored by Judith Cummins
Botulinum Toxin and Cosmetic Fillers (Children) Act 2021 - Private Members' Bill (Ballot Bill)
Sponsor - Laura Trott (CON)
176 Written Questions in the current parliament
(View all written questions)The Attorney General’s Office (AGO), Government Legal Department (GLD) and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) have not had any spending on opinion polling and focus groups since January 2019.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has spent £9,000 in May 2019, £9,000 in Nov 2019, £3,421 in Mar 2020 and £9,000 in May 2020 on opinion polling. The CPS has not had any spending on focus groups since Jan 2019.
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) commissioned a short reputation survey from YouGov at a cost of £1100 + VAT on 30 May 2020 to inform and guide its work on communications and recruitment. There has been no other spending on opinion polls or focus groups since Jan 2019.
Paymaster General
I refer the Hon. member to the answer given to PQs 62462, 62526 and 62463 on 25 June 2020.
Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The office of the Prime Minister is an integral part of the Cabinet Office. Complete information on opinion poll and focus group spending is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate costs. However, the Government routinely publishes details of all contracts over £10,000 on Contracts Finder.
As has been the case under successive administrations, any Government research, polling or analysis would be for official use.
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The office of the Prime Minister is an integral part of the Cabinet Office. Complete information on opinion poll and focus group spending is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate costs. However, the Government routinely publishes details of all contracts over £10,000 on Contracts Finder.
As has been the case under successive administrations, any Government research, polling or analysis would be for official use.
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Guidance on the provision of education for the children of certain critical workers can be found here:
This guidance has been updated to reflect the decision to move forward with the wider opening of education and childcare settings. It is already the case that dentists and dental workers would be eligible for the support if the role they are undertaking is required to maintain the UK’s health and social care sector.
Minister of State (Department for International Trade)
15 Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Questions
(View all Judith Cummins's BEIS questions)The Government appointed Simon Bowen as Industry Adviser to lead the set-up of the new Great British Nuclear body on 13 May. With Simon’s support, the Government is working with industry to develop options for GBN’s scope and remit, and to establish GBN in line with the ambitions set out in the British Energy Security Strategy, published in April 2022.
Minister of State (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy)
The Government committed to establish Great British Nuclear in the British Energy Security. This new body will be charged with helping nuclear projects through the development process and realising the Government’s ambition of generating up to 24GW of nuclear-sourced energy by 2050.
Minister of State (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy)
The Government will follow HM Treasury Green Book guidance to assess the value for money and deliverability of future nuclear projects. The Government is in constructive commercial negotiations on the Sizewell C project, which proposes to use the Regulated Asset Base (RAB) funding model established by the Nuclear Energy (Financing) Act 2022. In addition to satisfying the Green Book guidance, all projects seeking to use the RAB model must demonstrate that they are both sufficiently advanced and likely to result in value for money, against the criteria set out in Nuclear RAB Model: statement on procedure and criteria for designation.
Minister of State (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy)
The Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF) supports late-stage R&D and capital investments across strategically important parts of the electric vehicle supply chain. Securing battery cell manufacturing (gigafactories) is a priority, with targeted investment in battery materials, motors, drives, power electronics and hydrogen fuel cells and storage also required. Information about open funding competitions and further detail on scope and eligibility can be found on the IFS portal: https://apply-for-innovation-funding.service.gov.uk/competition/search.
As part of the Net Zero Strategy, the Government announced a further £350m to be delivered through the ATF over the next three years to support development of an internationally competitive electric vehicle supply chain here in the UK. This is additional to the £500m announced as part of my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s 10 Point Plan.
The funding for ATF is part of the up to £1 billion committed by the Government to ensure that the UK takes advantage of this once in a generation opportunity.
Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The published official statistics to date do not include a breakdown of applications by region and type of measure.
However, the latest official statistics release shows that as of 7 October 2021, no biomass boilers were installed in Yorkshire and the Humber.
Minister of State (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy)
The UK Government worked closely with the scheme administrator to ensure voucher applications were processed as quickly as possible.
The average time between homeowners applying for a Green Homes Grant voucher and the voucher being issued was 89 days.
Minister of State (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy)
As of 7 October 2021, there were eight live voucher applications for biomass boilers – these are vouchers that were not rejected or withdrawn following the initial application.
Of these eight live applications, six had a voucher issued with all six subsequently installed. Two vouchers have expired.
Minister of State (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy)
The official statistics published to date do not include a breakdown of all voucher applications by type of measure installed. The statistics refer to applications that were submitted to the Green Homes Grant scheme, but for which installation has not yet been completed.
As of 7 October 2021, there were eight live voucher applications for biomass boilers – these are vouchers that were not rejected or withdrawn following the initial application.
Minister of State (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy)
Over the course of the pandemic the Government has provided an unprecedented package of support to businesses, including those in the wedding sector, which it keeps under regular review.
I meet regularly with representatives of the wedding sector to understand the impact of COVID-19 on wedding businesses.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy)
I meet regularly with the industry-led Weddings Taskforce, established to represent all parts of the UK Weddings sector, to understand the impact of COVID-19 on wedding businesses.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy)
According to Cabinet Office’s guide for the new national restrictions, they are classed as personal care services. As their guide states, the Government cannot provide comments on individual cases of whether or not a business is permitted to open. It is for each business to assess whether they are a business required to close having considered the guidance and Regulations.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy)
The UK is currently experiencing a public health emergency as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is critical that employers, employees, the self-employed and clients take steps to keep everyone safe.
Incidence rates are growing and the NHS is under increasing pressure. From 5th November to 2nd December, non-essential retail and stores must close including close contact services such as hair, beauty, spa and wellness services. At the end of the period, we will look to return to a local and regional approach, based on the latest data.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy)
Our guidance for the sector has a specific section, 3.3., covering equality in the workplace.
Cabinet Office guidance behind the new national restrictions has been brought because Government assessed that we had to take action immediately to protect the NHS and to get R decisively below 1.
The Government has, however, enabled click and collected services, as well as training and education (see guide) to enable COVID-secure businesses in this sector to operate where possible.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy)
The expenditure with our primary market research provider, Kantar UK LTD, between January 2019 and March 2020 was £4 million. The table below shows spend by month. We are unable to breakdown the expenditure into the activities undertaken by the supplier.
Month | Spend |
Jan-19 | 201,138 |
Feb-19 | 178,337 |
Mar-19 | 691,451 |
Apr-19 | 901,263 |
May-19 | 333,556 |
Jun-19 | 57,000 |
Jul-19 | 39,476 |
Aug-19 | 242,270 |
Sep-19 | 350,683 |
Oct-19 | 54,369 |
Nov-19 | 281,817 |
Dec-19 | 37,824 |
Jan-20 | 47,942 |
Feb-20 | 187,725 |
Mar-20 | 407,757 |
Total | 4,012,608 |
Secretary of State for Education
4 Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Questions
(View all Judith Cummins's DCMS questions)Reclaim Fund Ltd annually receives dormant assets and reserves the amount required to meet customer reclaims. The remainder is allocated to The National Lottery Community Fund for distribution. In an unprecedented move to respond to the Covid-19 crisis, all money available for distribution this financial year was allocated in May 2020 as part of the government’s announcement of £150m of dormant assets funding. This money is supporting charities, social enterprises, and vulnerable communities to respond to and recover from the pandemic. There are therefore no unallocated funds available for England at this time.
The dormant assets scheme is managed by Reclaim Fund Ltd (RFL), who estimate that £68m of new assets will be received by them in 2020, followed by £83m in 2021 and £54m in 2022. Estimates are not made beyond this point, but RFL anticipates that ongoing levels will remain broadly similar in 2023. It should be noted that the dormant asset scheme is voluntary and so estimates can vary over time.
Currently, the dormant assets scheme only accepts bank and building society accounts. A consultation on expanding the scheme to include a wider range of dormant financial assets, such as shares and insurance policies, closed in mid-July. The government response to this consultation will be published this Autumn. We are working with industry stakeholders to estimate the value of the assets in scope for inclusion as part of this.
The information requested is not held centrally and therefore can only be provided at disproportionate costs.
The potential impact of the COVID-19 outbreak was taken into consideration when making some changes to the lagged funding mechanism for 16 to 19 education. When calculating 16 to 19 education funding allocations for 2021 to 2022, we applied an average retention factor for each provider, rather than using data from 2019 to 2020. Our intention was to provide a retention factor for 2021 to 2022 allocations that was not affected by the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. In addition, we changed how we calculated exceptional in year Growth funding, making it more responsive to the increase in students from Autumn 2020. This helped providers with the costs of student number growth, in year.
The department also provided specific interventions to help young people in the circumstances of the COVID-19 outbreak. For example, we introduced the 16-19 Tuition Fund aimed at helping colleges and other providers to give prompt support to young people who needed it. It also designed a one year offer for 18- and 19-year-olds who were due to leave school or college in the summer of 2020. This funding helped providers to offer courses of up to one year duration in high value subjects to enable young people, who would otherwise have moved into apprenticeships or employment, to continue in education if work-based opportunities were not available to them.
In the academic year 2018/19, the total amount of 16 to 19 programme funding was £5,132 million, with an average funding per student of £4,504[1]. By the academic year 2021/22 the total amount 16 to 19 programme funding had increased to £5,881 million with an average funding per student of £4,994[1]. This followed an increase in funding rates paid for in the 2019 and 2020 spending rounds.
We are committed to investing in 16 to 19 education to ensure every young person has access to an excellent education, and to ensuring the further education sector can play its part in that and in developing adult skills, which requires it to be financially sustainable. The 2021 Spending Review has made available an extra £1.6 billion per year for 16-19 education in 2024-25 compared with financial year 2021-22. This will fully fund the additional students we anticipate in the system, pay for the increasing take-up of T Levels, maintain funding per student in real terms, and enable increased time in education for all 16 to 19 year-olds. The department will set out details of how this additional funding will be allocated in due course.
The Education and Skills Funding Agency will continue to work with further education and sixth form colleges to monitor and support their financial sustainability.
[1] This calculation is based on published allocations, taking the amount of Total Programme Funding allocated, divided by the total number of students in each academic year, at providers receiving programme funding. Some institutions receive only high needs funding, and their students are not included in this calculation.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The potential impact of the COVID-19 outbreak was taken into consideration when making some changes to the lagged funding mechanism for 16 to 19 education. When calculating 16 to 19 education funding allocations for 2021 to 2022, we applied an average retention factor for each provider, rather than using data from 2019 to 2020. Our intention was to provide a retention factor for 2021 to 2022 allocations that was not affected by the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. In addition, we changed how we calculated exceptional in year Growth funding, making it more responsive to the increase in students from Autumn 2020. This helped providers with the costs of student number growth, in year.
The department also provided specific interventions to help young people in the circumstances of the COVID-19 outbreak. For example, we introduced the 16-19 Tuition Fund aimed at helping colleges and other providers to give prompt support to young people who needed it. It also designed a one year offer for 18- and 19-year-olds who were due to leave school or college in the summer of 2020. This funding helped providers to offer courses of up to one year duration in high value subjects to enable young people, who would otherwise have moved into apprenticeships or employment, to continue in education if work-based opportunities were not available to them.
In the academic year 2018/19, the total amount of 16 to 19 programme funding was £5,132 million, with an average funding per student of £4,504[1]. By the academic year 2021/22 the total amount 16 to 19 programme funding had increased to £5,881 million with an average funding per student of £4,994[1]. This followed an increase in funding rates paid for in the 2019 and 2020 spending rounds.
We are committed to investing in 16 to 19 education to ensure every young person has access to an excellent education, and to ensuring the further education sector can play its part in that and in developing adult skills, which requires it to be financially sustainable. The 2021 Spending Review has made available an extra £1.6 billion per year for 16-19 education in 2024-25 compared with financial year 2021-22. This will fully fund the additional students we anticipate in the system, pay for the increasing take-up of T Levels, maintain funding per student in real terms, and enable increased time in education for all 16 to 19 year-olds. The department will set out details of how this additional funding will be allocated in due course.
The Education and Skills Funding Agency will continue to work with further education and sixth form colleges to monitor and support their financial sustainability.
[1] This calculation is based on published allocations, taking the amount of Total Programme Funding allocated, divided by the total number of students in each academic year, at providers receiving programme funding. Some institutions receive only high needs funding, and their students are not included in this calculation.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The potential impact of the COVID-19 outbreak was taken into consideration when making some changes to the lagged funding mechanism for 16 to 19 education. When calculating 16 to 19 education funding allocations for 2021 to 2022, we applied an average retention factor for each provider, rather than using data from 2019 to 2020. Our intention was to provide a retention factor for 2021 to 2022 allocations that was not affected by the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. In addition, we changed how we calculated exceptional in year Growth funding, making it more responsive to the increase in students from Autumn 2020. This helped providers with the costs of student number growth, in year.
The department also provided specific interventions to help young people in the circumstances of the COVID-19 outbreak. For example, we introduced the 16-19 Tuition Fund aimed at helping colleges and other providers to give prompt support to young people who needed it. It also designed a one year offer for 18- and 19-year-olds who were due to leave school or college in the summer of 2020. This funding helped providers to offer courses of up to one year duration in high value subjects to enable young people, who would otherwise have moved into apprenticeships or employment, to continue in education if work-based opportunities were not available to them.
In the academic year 2018/19, the total amount of 16 to 19 programme funding was £5,132 million, with an average funding per student of £4,504[1]. By the academic year 2021/22 the total amount 16 to 19 programme funding had increased to £5,881 million with an average funding per student of £4,994[1]. This followed an increase in funding rates paid for in the 2019 and 2020 spending rounds.
We are committed to investing in 16 to 19 education to ensure every young person has access to an excellent education, and to ensuring the further education sector can play its part in that and in developing adult skills, which requires it to be financially sustainable. The 2021 Spending Review has made available an extra £1.6 billion per year for 16-19 education in 2024-25 compared with financial year 2021-22. This will fully fund the additional students we anticipate in the system, pay for the increasing take-up of T Levels, maintain funding per student in real terms, and enable increased time in education for all 16 to 19 year-olds. The department will set out details of how this additional funding will be allocated in due course.
The Education and Skills Funding Agency will continue to work with further education and sixth form colleges to monitor and support their financial sustainability.
[1] This calculation is based on published allocations, taking the amount of Total Programme Funding allocated, divided by the total number of students in each academic year, at providers receiving programme funding. Some institutions receive only high needs funding, and their students are not included in this calculation.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The number of home educated children with education, health and care plans (EHCPs) was 3,660 in 2021 and 2,983 in 2020, according to the department’s data on children with EHCPs. The department does not otherwise collect data on children who are home educated, including the number of children with high functioning autism.
The government remains committed to a form of registration system for children not in school. Further details on this will be in the government’s response to the Children Not in School consultation, which will be published in the coming months.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The free schools programme has already delivered 74 new special free schools, and 63 are working towards opening, helping to ensure that children and young people with special educational needs have access to a high-quality school place, no matter where they live.
As part of this, the department is working with trusts and local authorities to open 24 new free schools with specialist provision for children and young people with autism as soon as possible in the following local authority areas:
Bedford, Bromley, Bury, Dorset, Hertfordshire, Kent, Kingston Upon Thames, Leeds, Newham, North Yorkshire, Oxfordshire, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Reading, Rochdale, Salford, Sandwell, Sheffield (two projects approved), Solihull, Stockport, Suffolk, Warrington and Wiltshire.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is working at pace, and extensively with children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), parents, carers, and those working in local government, education, health and care services to ensure that proposals from our SEND Review translate into improved outcomes for children and young people, with a focus on preparing them for later life and adulthood.
We will be bringing forward proposals for public consultation in the first quarter of 2022.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places sits with local authorities. This includes places for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), such as those with high functioning autism. We are supporting local authorities to meet this duty by investing £300 million in the 2021-22 financial year to support local authorities to deliver places and improve existing provision for pupils with SEND, or who require alternative provision.
The department will also be investing a further £2.6 billion between 2022 and 2025 to deliver new places and improve existing provision for pupils with SEND, or who require alternative provision. This funding represents a transformational investment in new high needs provision and will help deliver tens of thousands of new high needs places. Details of how this funding will be distributed will be announced in due course.
Local authorities are best placed to say how many places are available in their area for pupils with high functioning autism. The government does not currently collect data centrally on available capacity in high needs provision but is continuing to work with local authorities to better understand demand for SEND provision, including for children with autism, as it considers how it can best support the sector going forwards.
The SEND Review is also looking at ways to make sure the SEND system is consistent, high quality, and integrated across education, health and care. It is also considering measures to make sure that money is being spent fairly, efficiently and effectively, and that the support available to children and young people is sustainable in the future, including for those with autism.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places sits with local authorities. This includes places for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), such as those with high functioning autism. We are supporting local authorities to meet this duty by investing £300 million in the 2021-22 financial year to support local authorities to deliver places and improve existing provision for pupils with SEND, or who require alternative provision.
The department will also be investing a further £2.6 billion between 2022 and 2025 to deliver new places and improve existing provision for pupils with SEND, or who require alternative provision. This funding represents a transformational investment in new high needs provision and will help deliver tens of thousands of new high needs places. Details of how this funding will be distributed will be announced in due course.
Local authorities are best placed to say how many places are available in their area for pupils with high functioning autism. The government does not currently collect data centrally on available capacity in high needs provision but is continuing to work with local authorities to better understand demand for SEND provision, including for children with autism, as it considers how it can best support the sector going forwards.
The SEND Review is also looking at ways to make sure the SEND system is consistent, high quality, and integrated across education, health and care. It is also considering measures to make sure that money is being spent fairly, efficiently and effectively, and that the support available to children and young people is sustainable in the future, including for those with autism.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Employers are facing a skills shortage that we must act to address. It is vital in a fast moving and high-tech economy that technical education closes the gap between what people study and the needs of employers. This is why we are introducing over 20 T Levels, developed with 250 leading employers, and reviewing the wider post-16 qualifications system at level 3 and below. The department’s plans for reform of level 3 qualifications were published on 14 July 2021. We will continue to fund high quality qualifications that can be taken alongside or as alternatives to T Levels and A levels where there is a clear need for skills and knowledge that T Levels and A levels cannot provide.
The department is streamlining and improving the quality of post-16 qualifications at level 3 and below. We are strengthening the pathways to progression, creating clearly defined routes to further study, and/or skilled employment.
The call for evidence on qualifications and study at level 2 and below closed on 14 February. This asked for views on the range of options and types of support needed to support both 16 to 19 year olds and adults to progress to level 3 and above. We are considering feedback to the call for evidence and will consult on proposals later this year.
Our final plans setting out the groups of level 3 qualifications that will be available to adults in future were published on 14 July. This followed a consultation on level 3 qualifications that ran from 23 October 2020 to 31 January 2021.
It is intended that T Levels will be available for adults, and we believe these should exist alongside a range of other high-quality technical qualifications that are backed by employers. Adults will be able to study technical qualifications that allow entry to occupations, including those served by T Levels, and qualifications focusing on cross-sectoral skills that are transferrable across different occupations such as management, leadership and digital. Qualifications within safety critical industries will also be available for adults.
Adults progressing into further study will have access to the same range of academic qualifications as 16 to 19 year olds, as set out in the consultation response. We will also fund Access to HE Diplomas to support adults who do not have traditional qualifications to progress into higher education or to reskill.
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Our final plans setting out the groups of qualifications that will be available alongside T Levels and A levels in future were published on 14 July.
We will fund two groups of technical qualifications alongside T Levels for 16 to 19 year olds. The first will be qualifications that are designed to enable entry into occupations where there are no T Levels. The second will be qualifications that develop more specialist skills and knowledge than could be acquired through a T Level alone, helping to protect the skills supply into more specialist industries or occupations.
Adults will be able to study a broader range of technical qualifications than 16 to 19 year olds. T Levels will be available for adults but we believe these should exist alongside a range of other high quality technical qualifications that are backed by employers. This includes smaller technical qualifications that enable entry into occupations that are already served by T Levels, and qualifications focusing on cross-sectoral skills that are transferrable across different occupations such as management, leadership, and digital. Qualifications within safety critical industries will also be available for adults.
We are phasing the introduction of reformed qualifications in line with the national rollout of T Levels, starting with a single test route (pathfinder) concentrating on the Digital route in the 2023/24 academic year. This means technical qualifications that lead to occupations in the Digital route that are not covered by T Levels will be available for young people and adults from 2023/24.
From the 2024/25 academic year, building on learning from the pathfinder, we will scale up the introduction of reformed technical qualifications including those which lead to occupations not covered by T Levels in the Education and Childcare, Construction, Health and Science, and Engineering and Manufacturing routes. All remaining technical and academic qualifications for young people and adults, including technical qualifications that lead to occupations in routes where there is no T Level will be introduced in 2025/26.
Detailed criteria for approval including qualification content and assessment are still in development and we will continue to work with sector experts to finalise these, including the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education, Ofqual, employers, awarding organisations and post-16 providers. Guidance, qualification approval criteria and funding approval criteria for qualifications approved for delivery from 2023 will be published later in 2021. Approval criteria for qualifications to be delivered from 2024 and beyond will be published in 2022.
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Employers are facing a skills shortage that we must act to address. It is vital in a fast moving and high-tech economy that technical education closes the gap between what people study and the needs of employers. This is why we are introducing over 20 T Levels, developed with 250 leading employers, and reviewing the wider post-16 qualifications system at level 3 and below. The department’s plans for reform of level 3 qualifications were published on 14 July 2021. We will continue to fund high quality qualifications that can be taken alongside or as alternatives to T Levels and A levels where there is a clear need for skills and knowledge that T Levels and A levels cannot provide. This may include some Pearson BTECs provided they meet new quality criteria for funding approval.
The impact assessment published alongside the consultation response acknowledged that students from disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to take qualifications that could have their funding approval removed. However, it stated that these students should gain the most from these changes because they are the most likely to be taking qualifications that do not deliver the skills employers need and will have access to higher quality qualifications in future.
We are strengthening progression pathways, creating clearly defined academic and technical routes with qualifications leading to further study, and/or skilled employment. This clarity of purpose will provide all students, including those from lower income and disadvantaged backgrounds, with a range of good options and allow them to see more easily how their study will help them to progress. For students progressing to higher education, A levels provide excellent preparation, either on their own or alongside other high-quality academic qualifications. Removing many qualifications that overlap with A levels and streamlining the system to a smaller number of high-quality qualifications will provide greater clarity for students, higher education institutions and employers and will give confidence that every option is high quality and will support progression.
Alongside our reforms to level 3 qualifications, we want to improve study at level 2 and below, which has been neglected for too long. Getting level 2 and below right is key to making sure that students have clear lines of sight to level 3, apprenticeships, traineeships, and for some, directly into other employment. We are considering feedback to the call for evidence which ran from 10 November to 14 February and will consult on proposals for reform later this year.
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Employers are facing a skills shortage that we must act to address. It is vital in a fast moving and high-tech economy that technical education closes the gap between what people study and the needs of employers. This is why we are introducing over 20 T Levels, developed with 250 leading employers, and reviewing the wider post-16 qualifications system at level 3 and below.
The department’s plans for reform of level 3 qualifications were published on 14 July 2021. We will continue to fund high quality qualifications that can be taken alongside or as alternatives to T Levels and A levels where there is a clear need for skills and knowledge that T Levels and A levels cannot provide. The future landscape may include some Pearson BTECs and/or qualifications similar to current Applied General qualifications, provided they meet new quality criteria for funding approval.
The impact assessment published alongside the consultation response recognised that some students may find it more difficult to achieve level 3 qualifications in future. However, the assessment stated that the changes will generally be positive as students will have access to higher quality qualifications in the future, including new T Levels. This will put students in a stronger position to progress onto further study or skilled employment. The assessment acknowledged that students from disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to take qualifications that could have their funding approval removed. These students should gain the most from these changes because they are the most likely to be taking qualifications that do not deliver the skills employers need. We are committed to ensuring that T Levels are accessible to all young people and have introduced flexibilities for students with special educational needs and disabilities. The T Level Transition Programme will support young people who are not yet ready to progress to a T Level but have the potential to succeed on it after some further preparation.
All qualifications will need to meet new quality criteria to be approved for funding in future. Technical qualifications will need to be approved by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (the Institute) to be considered for funding approval. For academic qualifications, the department will set criteria to ensure all qualifications approved for funding are necessary alongside A levels. Ofqual will provide advice about quality to both the Institute and the department. This will ensure that all qualifications are high quality and provide the skills needed to support progression either into skilled employment or further study.
Alongside our reforms to level 3 qualifications, the department wants to improve study at level 2 and below, which has been neglected for too long. Improving level 2 and below is key to making sure that every student has a clear progression route, whether that is to high quality level 3 qualifications, apprenticeships, traineeships, or directly into skilled employment at level 2. The department is considering feedback to the call for evidence, which ran from 10 November 2020 to 14 February 2021, and there will be consultation on reform proposals later this year.
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ensuring sufficient childcare for families continues to be a government priority. This is why we have ensured that wraparound childcare settings have been able to remain open for vulnerable children and children of critical workers during the current national lockdown, in line with those children eligible to attend school for onsite provision; and have updated our guidance for providers of after-school and holiday clubs and other out-of-school settings to support providers to operate as safely as possible, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/guidance-for-schools-coronavirus-covid-19.
However, we recognise that the wraparound childcare sector, like many sectors, is facing unprecedented financial pressures as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. It is for this reason, the Government has made a range of financial packages of support available for businesses to access throughout the current crisis. This includes tax relief, business loans or cash grants, through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), and the Self-Employed Support Scheme (SEISS), as well as a £594 million discretionary fund for councils and the Devolved Administrations to support local businesses that may not be eligible for other support, during the current national lockdown.
We have also encouraged all local authorities to consider using local grants that have been made available to them during the COVID-19 outbreak, to support the wraparound childcare sector in their areas, and to safeguard sufficient childcare provision for all families, but particularly those with vulnerable children and children of critical workers. This includes funding streams such as the discretionary fund already mentioned, as well as the expanded Holiday Activities and Food Programme, which comprises a £220 million fund to be delivered through grants to local authorities. This programme will give children eligible for Free School Meals the option to join a free holiday-time programme that provides healthy food and enriching activities during the summer, Christmas and Easter holidays in 2021 – giving disadvantaged young people opportunities they might otherwise lose out on.
The department does not hold a central register of wraparound providers, and so we are unable to make an official assessment of the effects wraparound closures on levels of children’s physical activity. However, we are acutely aware of the benefits to children’s physical and mental wellbeing of attending these settings. Therefore, the Youth Investment Fund remains an important manifesto commitment. In the recently announced Spending Review, £30 million of capital investment was committed for 2021-22. This will provide a transformational investment in new and refurbished safe spaces for young people, so they can access support youth workers, and positive activities out of school, including sport and culture.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Ensuring sufficient childcare for families continues to be a government priority. This is why we have ensured that wraparound childcare settings have been able to remain open for vulnerable children and children of critical workers during the current national lockdown, in line with those children eligible to attend school for onsite provision; and have updated our guidance for providers of after-school and holiday clubs and other out-of-school settings to support providers to operate as safely as possible, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/guidance-for-schools-coronavirus-covid-19.
However, we recognise that the wraparound childcare sector, like many sectors, is facing unprecedented financial pressures as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. It is for this reason, the Government has made a range of financial packages of support available for businesses to access throughout the current crisis. This includes tax relief, business loans or cash grants, through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), and the Self-Employed Support Scheme (SEISS), as well as a £594 million discretionary fund for councils and the Devolved Administrations to support local businesses that may not be eligible for other support, during the current national lockdown.
We have also encouraged all local authorities to consider using local grants that have been made available to them during the COVID-19 outbreak, to support the wraparound childcare sector in their areas, and to safeguard sufficient childcare provision for all families, but particularly those with vulnerable children and children of critical workers. This includes funding streams such as the discretionary fund already mentioned, as well as the expanded Holiday Activities and Food Programme, which comprises a £220 million fund to be delivered through grants to local authorities. This programme will give children eligible for Free School Meals the option to join a free holiday-time programme that provides healthy food and enriching activities during the summer, Christmas and Easter holidays in 2021 – giving disadvantaged young people opportunities they might otherwise lose out on.
The department does not hold a central register of wraparound providers, and so we are unable to make an official assessment of the effects wraparound closures on levels of children’s physical activity. However, we are acutely aware of the benefits to children’s physical and mental wellbeing of attending these settings. Therefore, the Youth Investment Fund remains an important manifesto commitment. In the recently announced Spending Review, £30 million of capital investment was committed for 2021-22. This will provide a transformational investment in new and refurbished safe spaces for young people, so they can access support youth workers, and positive activities out of school, including sport and culture.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I can confirm that a response has been sent to the letter from the hon. Member for Bradford South dated 2 July.
The Department does not hold this informational centrally and could only obtain it at disproportionate cost.
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, has made it clear that schools will only reopen when the scientific advice indicates that it is the right time to do so, based on five key tests. The Department is working closely with the sector on our approach.
The safety of students, parents and staff is our top priority. The Department has published guidance on social distancing in education settings which is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-implementing-social-distancing-in-education-and-childcare-settings/coronavirus-covid-19-implementing-social-distancing-in-education-and-childcare-settings.
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, has made it clear that schools will only reopen when the scientific advice indicates that it is the right time to do so, based on five key tests. The Department is working closely with the sector on our approach.
The safety of students, parents and staff is our top priority. The Department has published guidance on social distancing in education settings which is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-implementing-social-distancing-in-education-and-childcare-settings/coronavirus-covid-19-implementing-social-distancing-in-education-and-childcare-settings.
The government has set out specific measures to support childcare providers during the COVID-19 outbreak:
- We will continue to pay funding to local authorities for the early years entitlements for 2, 3 and 4-year-olds
- To support private nurseries, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has also announced that they will be eligible for a business rates holiday for one year from 1 April
Childcare providers will also benefit from the wider measures the Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced to support the people and businesses of the UK:
- A three-point plan announced in the Budget providing £12 billion of support for public services, individuals and businesses whose finances are affected by the outbreak
- A package to provide additional support for businesses and individuals totalling £350 billion
- The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to help firms continue to keep people in employment. This means that businesses can put workers on temporary leave and the government will pay them cash grants of 80% of their wages up to a cap of £2,500, providing they keep the worker employed
- A scheme to help the UK’s self-employed who are affected by the coronavirus outbreak. The new Self-Employed Income Support Scheme will enable those eligible to receive a cash grant worth 80% of their average monthly trading profit over the last three years. This covers 95% of people who receive the majority of their income from self-employment
- On 28 March, my right hon.Friend, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, announced that the government will also temporarily suspend the wrongful trading provisions to give company directors greater confidence to use their best endeavours to continue trading during this pandemic emergency, without the threat of personal liability should the company ultimately fall into insolvency
The government is also providing the following additional support:
- deferral of Self-Assesment income tax payments due in July 2020
- VAT payments due with VAT returns between now and the end June 2020 will be deferred. UK VAT registered businesses will not need make those payments until March 2021
- grants for businesses that pay little or no bussiness rates
- increased amounts of Universal Credit
- the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme
The latest guidance from the department for early years and childcare providers can be found here:
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
6 Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Questions
(View all Judith Cummins's Defra questions)We believe that local authorities are best placed to deliver communications on their local Clean Air Zones (CAZ). To support the local authorities with the communication of their local air quality plans, in this financial year, we have allocated £1.5m for their regional marketing campaigns.
We commissioned evaluations of the communications campaigns which showed that they were effective in raising and supporting awareness of the CAZ, driving people to the vehicle checker which provides further details of the individual CAZs.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Under the Clean Air Zone Framework, a national standard notification was established through the requirement to delineate zones by use of standard signs along major access routes.
Local authorities are best placed to deliver communications on their local Clean Air Zones (CAZ). To support the local authorities with the communication of their local air quality plans, in this financial year, we have allocated £1.5m for their regional marketing campaigns. We also work with local authorities to ensure that their communications are appropriate to notify non-local road users.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
A wide range of distributional and equalities analysis is carried out to determine which groups could be unduly impacted by proposed Clean Air Zones (CAZ). Each local authority’s distributional impact assessment is conducted in line with Defra guidance, which mandates the types of analysis and demographic groups that must be considered, as a minimum. These assessments are subsequently used to inform what mitigation measures could be introduced to alleviate the adverse impacts identified for the relevant groups. Individual local authority CAZ distributional impact assessments can be found published on their respective websites.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Communications related to Clean Air Zones (CAZ) are the responsibility of local authorities. However, under the Clean Air Zone Framework, a national standard notification was established through the requirement to delineate zones by use of standard signs along major access routes.
In addition, early notice letters are issued to owners where their vehicles drive in a CAZ prior to the activation of charging. These measures help road users to identify and understand that they need to check whether their vehicle is compliant.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Used tyres have a range of applications in the UK, including for reuse as part-worn tyres, various recycling routes including commercial tyre retreading and the use of granulated tyres in sports and safety surfaces and for recovery, where tyres are used as a fuel in cement kilns. Export is also a feature of the used tyre market. For example, my officials are pursuing with the Indian authorities questions related to the environmentally sound movement and subsequent treatment of tyres there.
Under the Government’s 2018 Resources and Waste Strategy we identified a number of waste streams, including used tyres, as candidates on which to consult for future producer responsibility approaches. We will consider circular economy principles in the design of schemes that result from that.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Between January and September 2019 the Department for International Development ran a nationally representative survey to assess the level of demand for sustainable investment practices at cost of £44,950. There was no other departmental budget spent on opinion polling or focus groups in the UK in 2019.
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The UK Global Tariff (UKGT) is tailored to the UK economy and balances the interests of UK consumers and producers. It is a lower tariff regime than the EU’s Common External Tariff. In designing the UKGT, we assessed all available evidence submitted during the public consultation in depth and considered a range of factors, such as the five principles set out in the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018.
The UKGT eliminates tariffs on imports where the UK has limited domestic production, which may lower cost pressures for UK households and businesses.
We will publish more analysis in the Taxation Information and Impact Note (TIIN) alongside the legislation, as is standard practice.
Minister of State (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy)
The UK Global Tariff (UKGT) is tailored to the UK economy and balances the interests of UK consumers and producers. It is a lower tariff regime than the EU’s Common External Tariff. In designing the UKGT, we assessed all available evidence submitted during the public consultation in depth and considered a range of factors, such as the five principles set out in the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018.
The UKGT eliminates tariffs on imports where the UK has limited domestic production, which may lower cost pressures for UK households and businesses.
We will publish more analysis in the Taxation Information and Impact Note (TIIN) alongside the legislation, as is standard practice.
Minister of State (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy)
The information requested is not held centrally by the Department for International Trade and therefore can only be provided at disproportionate costs.
All the Department’s contracts of over £10,000 can be found on the Government Contracts Finder web-site at https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder.
Minister of State (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy)
Steps are taken to notify non-compliant vehicle keepers about an upcoming CAZ, through sending out Early Notice letters. These letters are sent, before the CAZ is launched, to keepers of non-compliant vehicles to alert them that they will be subject to a charge. Local authorities can also offer a period of ‘soft enforcement’ after the CAZ is launched, in which motorists receive a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) but have a period in which they are only required to pay the CAZ charge.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We have developed a national Clean Air Zone (CAZ) infrastructure scheme through the ‘Drive in a Clean Air Zone’ service. This centralised service and IT infrastructure ensures a consistent approach for users across Clean Air Zones. Certain matters, such as charges and local exemptions, are for LAs to determine and agree with Government. This is due to the highly localised nature of the pollution, where local knowledge is crucial in solving the problem.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Removing tailpipe emissions from road vehicles is fundamental to decarbonising transport. Regulations that ensure that from 2035 all new cars and vans are fully zero emission at the tailpipe will remain technology neutral. The Government’s response to our recent consultation on the regulatory options for the design of those regulations will be published in due course.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Following consultation, we announced at COP26 that the UK would become the first country in the world to commit to phasing out new, non-zero emission heavy goods vehicles weighing 26 tonnes and under by 2035, with all new HGVs sold in the UK to be zero emission by 2040. Regulations used to deliver these dates will be technology neutral and the next steps will be set out in Government’s response to the phase out dates consultation which will be published shortly.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Drivers who successfully pass the initial Certificate of Professional Competence qualification are issued with a Driver Qualification Card (DQC). Drivers must renew their DQC every five years by undergoing 35 hours of periodic training.
The table below shows the total number of DQCs issued and renewed since 2018 for all vocational drivers. It is not possible to determine if the card relates to lorry or bus entitlement.
Year | Cards issued |
2018 | 152,091 |
2019 | 516,583 |
2020 | 118,727 |
2021 (to date) | 79,317 |
Certificates of Professional Competence for lorry drivers were introduced in 2009. The higher number of cards issued in 2019 reflects the number of lorry drivers who were renewing their card for a second time.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Responsibility for approving Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (DCPC) courses and providers in Great Britain rests with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA).
DVSA conduct almost 1400 DCPC centre and course audits a year and the training delivers a positive outcome for drivers. Where issues with training are identified, DVSA will work with the provider to address weaknesses. If the outcome is unsatisfactory, centre approval will be removed.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The quickest and easiest way to make an application to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is by using its extensive suite of online services. There are no delays in successful online applications and customers should receive their documents within a few days.
However, many people still choose or have to make a paper application. The DVLA receives around 60,000 items of mail every day and industrial action by members of the Public and Commercial Services union has led to delays for customers, alongside a significantly reduced number of staff on site to ensure social distancing in line with Welsh Government requirements. The current increased demand for the DVLA’s services has also contributed to delays with paper applications.
Paper driving licence applications are currently taking between six and ten weeks to process. There may be additional delays in processing more complex transactions, for example if medical investigations are needed. The latest information on turnaround times for paper driving licence applications can be found here.
The DVLA continues to explore opportunities to reduce turnaround times and has been developing additional new online services and recruiting additional staff. The DVLA is exploring the possibility of securing extra office space to accommodate more staff to work predominantly on driver’s medical casework and queries. This will be surge capacity accommodation and resource to help reduce backlogs while providing future resilience and business continuity.
The DVLA has a number of communication channels for applicants to seek updates on their applications. As well as the contact centre’s telephone enquiry lines there are also email and webchat services available via GOV.UK. The DVLA’s contact centre has introduced extended opening hours and increased remote working with some staff handling email, webchat, social media and more recently telephone customer contacts remotely.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Information on the average time taken between applying for a provisional driving licence and receiving it is not recorded. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s (DVLA) online services are the quickest and easiest way to apply for a driving licence. There are no delays in successful online applications and customers should receive their driving licence within a few days.
However, many people still choose or have to make a paper application for a driving licence. The DVLA receives around 60,000 items of mail every day which must be dealt with in person. Ongoing industrial action by members of the Public and Commercial Services union is leading to delays for customers who make paper applications.
Currently, paper applications are likely to take between six and ten weeks to process. There may be additional delays in processing more complex transactions, for example, if medical investigations are needed as part of a driving licence application. The latest information on turnaround times for paper driving licence applications can be found here.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
We are expecting the National Infrastructure Commission’s Rail Needs Assessment report shortly and the Integrated Rail Plan will follow once Ministers have considered this advice.
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Secretary of State has had regular discussions with Transport for the North about Northern Powerhouse Rail, most recently in September. The Secretary of State also has regular conversations with Northern Leaders in his role as the Northern Powerhouse Minister, including several in preparation for the next Northern Transport Acceleration Council meeting.
In the Integrated Rail Plan, the Department will set out how projects, including HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail, can be connected strategically to deliver the train services that people need and deserve, as effectively as possible. We are expecting the National Infrastructure Commission’s Rail Needs Assessment report shortly and the Integrated Rail Plan will follow once Ministers have considered this advice.
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Northern Powerhouse Rail aims to transform connectivity and economic growth. The assessment of proposals therefore includes their comparative connectivity and economic outcomes. Work to assess options is ongoing, including options serving Bradford. The Government is providing up to £500,000 funding to Bradford City Council to develop the city’s regeneration and development plans to support that work. We are currently awaiting the National Infrastructure Commission’s Rail Needs Assessment for the North and Midlands, which will inform the Government’s Integrated Rail Plan.
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Secretary of State has had regular discussions with Transport for the North about Northern Powerhouse Rail, most recently in September. The Secretary of State also has regular conversations with Northern Leaders in his role as the Northern Powerhouse Minister, including several in preparation for the next Northern Transport Acceleration Council meeting.
In the Integrated Rail Plan, the Department will set out how projects, including HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail, can be connected strategically to deliver the train services that people need and deserve, as effectively as possible. We are expecting the National Infrastructure Commission’s Rail Needs Assessment report shortly and the Integrated Rail Plan will follow once Ministers have considered this advice.
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Northern Powerhouse Rail aims to transform connectivity and economic growth. The assessment of proposals therefore includes their comparative connectivity and economic outcomes. Work to assess options is ongoing, including options serving Bradford. The Government is providing up to £500,000 funding to Bradford City Council to develop the city’s regeneration and development plans to support that work. We are currently awaiting the National Infrastructure Commission’s Rail Needs Assessment for the North and Midlands, which will inform the Government’s Integrated Rail Plan.
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
On 24 November, the Government announced a financial support scheme to support eligible commercial airport and ground handling businesses by reducing cash burn and could unlock shareholder and lender support. This will provide support up to the equivalent of the site’s business rates liabilities in 2020/21 financial year, capped at up to £8m per eligible site, and subject to certain conditions. The scheme will open for applications in the new year, and we will be looking to make payments to successful applicants before the end of the financial year.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The information requested could only be provided at a disproportionate cost.
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury and Chief Whip
The Integrated Rail Plan will be published by the end of the year. Government is committed to pressing ahead with HS2, NPR and related programmes.
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
As set out in the Terms of Reference, published on 21 February 2020, the Integrated Rail Plan will be published by the end of the year.
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Integrated Rail Plan will consider how best to integrate HS2 Phase 2b and wider transport plans in the North and Midlands, delivering benefits from investments more quickly. This will include a recommended way forward on scoping, phasing and sequencing delivery of HS2 Phase 2b, Northern Powerhouse Rail, Midlands Rail Hub and other proposed rail investments.
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
I am committed to ensuring the North and Midlands are fully engaged and consulted throughout the Integrated Rail Plan process. I plan to undertake a series of roundtables and visits with Northern and Midlands leaders in the coming months as we begin to develop our ambitious Integrated Rail Plan.
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Opinion polls and focus groups are routinely used to gather insight on communication campaigns to inform the strategic approach to DWP’s employment, benefits and pensions campaigns and to ensure these campaigns have impact, benefit the public and demonstrate good value for money.
In this case opinion polling for communication campaigns has been taken to mean all quantitative research which measures attitudes, behaviours and campaign recall.
Spending on opinion polling and related activities since January 2019 is as follows:
March 2019 | £157,979 |
October 2019 | £47,500 |
February 2020 | £52,875 |
March 2020 | £42,875 |
Spending on focus groups for communication campaigns since January 2019 is as follows:
July 2019 | £29,850 |
August 2019 | £48,000 |
December 2019 | £51,000 |
April 2020 | £10,475 |
Spending on focus groups for social research projects since January 2019 is as follows:
March 2019 | £6,500 |
October 2019 | £19,000 |
September 2019 | £4,000 |
April 2020 | £4,500 |
To note: The costs for the social research focus groups for the primary research projects are estimates, as the costs for research methods are usually combined (for example, by phase of the project); so the cost of one particular methodology wouldn’t necessarily be itemised by the contractor.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The data requested is not yet held centrally as dental contract holders submit claims for activity within 60 days. The data is then centrally validated to ensure accuracy. We anticipate the information will be available by the end of July.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The data requested is not yet held centrally as dental contract holders submit claims for activity within 60 days. The data is then centrally validated to ensure accuracy. We anticipate the information will be available by the end of July.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The data requested is not yet held centrally as dental contract holders submit claims for activity within 60 days. The data is then centrally validated to ensure accuracy. We anticipate the information will be available by the end of July.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The data requested is not yet held centrally as dental contract holders submit claims for activity within 60 days. The data is then centrally validated to ensure accuracy. We anticipate the information will be available by the end of July.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The data requested is not yet held centrally as dental contract holders submit claims for activity within 60 days. The data is then centrally validated to ensure accuracy. We anticipate the information will be available by the end of July.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information is not currently held centrally in the format requested. The annual data showing the number of dentists undertaking National Health Service activity in England in 2022 is due to be published in August 2022.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not currently held centrally. National Health Service dentists submit claims for payment within two months following the completion of a course of treatment. We anticipate this information will be available from June 2022.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not currently held centrally. National Health Service dentists submit claims for payment within two months following the completion of a course of treatment. We anticipate this information will be available from June 2022.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not currently held centrally. National Health Service dentists submit claims for payment within two months following the completion of a course of treatment. We anticipate this information will be available from June 2022.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not currently held centrally. National Health Service dentists submit claims for payment within two months following the completion of a course of treatment. We anticipate this information will be available from June 2022.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not currently held centrally. National Health Service dentists submit claims for payment within two months following the completion of a course of treatment. We anticipate this information will be available from June 2022.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Information on the number of dentists delivering National Health Service dental care is published annually by NHS Digital. Data for 2022/23 is not yet available. The next annual report is due to be published in August 2022 and will include information for the 12-month period to 31 March 2022. Between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2020, 24,684 dentists delivered NHS activity.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
This information is not yet available. The National Health Service commits £3 billion to dentistry each year.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England and NHS Improvement published details of the contractual arrangements for the first quarter of 2022/23 on 5 April 2022. Between April and June 2022, NHS England and NHS Improvement have asked practices to deliver at least 95% of contracted units of dental activity and 100% of units of orthodontic activity to improve access for patients safely. Many contractors are already delivering over 100% and the sector aims to safely return to pre-pandemic levels of activity as quickly as possible.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Between April and June 2022, NHS England and NHS Improvement have asked practices to deliver at least 95% of contracted units of dental activity and 100% of units of orthodontic activity to improve access for patients safely. Many contractors are already delivering over 100% and the sector is working to safely return to pre-pandemic levels of activity as quickly as possible.
We have developed a number of short to medium term measures to National Health Service dentistry with a range of stakeholders, aimed at improving access and supporting NHS dentists and their teams. We are currently negotiating these measures with the British Dental Association and the development of further proposed changes will follow these discussions.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Between April and June 2022, NHS England and NHS Improvement have asked practices to deliver at least 95% of contracted units of dental activity and 100% of units of orthodontic activity to improve access for patients safely. Many contractors are already delivering over 100% and the sector is working to safely return to pre-pandemic levels of activity as quickly as possible.
We have developed a number of short to medium term measures to National Health Service dentistry with a range of stakeholders, aimed at improving access and supporting NHS dentists and their teams. We are currently negotiating these measures with the British Dental Association and the development of further proposed changes will follow these discussions.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not currently held centrally. National Health Service dentists have two months to submit FP17 data after completing a course of treatment. We anticipate that data for this additional activity should be available from June 2022. Regions are strongly advised to spend their full budget. NHS England’s regional commissioners continue to work with local contractors to commission as much additional activity as possible.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not currently held centrally. National Health Service dentists have two months to submit FP17 data after completing a course of treatment. We anticipate that data for this additional activity should be available from June 2022. Regions are strongly advised to spend their full budget. NHS England’s regional commissioners continue to work with local contractors to commission as much additional activity as possible.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not currently held centrally. National Health Service dentists have two months to submit FP17 data after completing a course of treatment. We anticipate that data for this additional activity should be available from June 2022. Regions are strongly advised to spend their full budget. NHS England’s regional commissioners continue to work with local contractors to commission as much additional activity as possible.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not currently held centrally. National Health Service dentists have two months to submit FP17 data after completing a course of treatment. We anticipate that data for this additional activity should be available from June 2022. Regions are strongly advised to spend their full budget. NHS England’s regional commissioners continue to work with local contractors to commission as much additional activity as possible.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not currently held centrally as National Health Service dentists have two months to submit FP17 dental activity data forms after completing a course of treatment. We expect this data will be available from June 2022.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information is not held in the format requested and therefore no assessment has been made.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data on National Health Service orthodontics expenditure is not held centrally.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data on National Health Service orthodontics expenditure is not held centrally.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No decision has been made on changes to dental patient charges for the 2021/22 financial year.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
No decision has been made on changes to dental patient charges for the 2021/22 financial year.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
No decision has been made on changes to dental patient charges for the 2021/22 financial year.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We replied to the joint letter on 23 March 2021.
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No formal assessment has been made recently. However, we know that diagnosis is important in ensuring appropriate access to treatment and support.
NHS England and NHS Improvement are continuing to encourage memory assessment services to provide safe and person-centred assessment and diagnosis via remote methods or in face-to-face consultations as appropriate during the pandemic. Webinars and guidance have been provided to support evolving best practice and a person-centred approach to diagnosis that supports patient choice.
Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
No formal assessment has been made recently. However, we know that diagnosis is important in ensuring appropriate access to treatment and support.
NHS England and NHS Improvement are continuing to encourage memory assessment services to provide safe and person-centred assessment and diagnosis via remote methods or in face-to-face consultations as appropriate during the pandemic. Webinars and guidance have been provided to support evolving best practice and a person-centred approach to diagnosis that supports patient choice.
Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has advised that phase one of the COVID-19 vaccination programme should be targeted at reducing mortality, as well as protecting health and social care staff and systems. As a result, vaccines have first been prioritised amongst care home residents and staff, followed by people aged over 80 years old and health and social care workers, then to the rest of the population in order of age and clinical risk factors.
As set out by the JVCI, dental care staff fall under the second priority cohort during phase one, comprising of health and social care workers. The JCVI’s advice states that this not only includes those working for the NHS, but also those in independent, voluntary, non-standard and community healthcare settings.
Secretary of State for Education
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has advised that phase one of the COVID-19 vaccination programme should be targeted at reducing mortality, as well as protecting health and social care staff and systems. As a result, vaccines have first been prioritised amongst care home residents and staff, followed by people aged over 80 years old and health and social care workers, then to the rest of the population in order of age and clinical risk factors.
As set out by the JVCI, dental care staff fall under the second priority cohort during phase one, comprising of health and social care workers. The JCVI’s advice states that this not only includes those working for the NHS, but also those in independent, voluntary, non-standard and community healthcare settings.
Secretary of State for Education
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation recommended that frontline healthcare staff including dentists and other staff providing dental services be vaccinated in priority group two. This advice was on based on their increased personal risk of exposure to infection with COVID-19 and of transmitting that infection to vulnerable patients.
Vaccinating dental staff also protects public health and enables access to services for patients. Staff were invited for their first vaccine dose before 15 February 2021 and will be have been offered their second dose within 12 weeks of their first.
Secretary of State for Education
Information on the size and length of the waiting lists for children and adults who require dental treatment under a general anaesthetic is not collected centrally. This information may be collected at local level as secondary data.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are working rapidly to provide all Members and external correspondents with accurate answers to their correspondence, as well as supporting the Government’s response to the unprecedented challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The hon. Member’s letter will be answered as soon as possible.
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The full evaluation has now taken place and the Department intends to publish its findings later in the year.
Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Data is not available in the format requested.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As a result of the safety restrictions brought in as part of the COVID-19 response, the General Dental Council (GDC) suspended Parts 1 and 2 of the Overseas Registration Exam (ORE) earlier this year.
Following engagement with exam providers, the GDC has decided it will not be practicable to run any sittings of the exams in 2020. The GDC aim to resume the ORE as soon as it is safe and viable to do so.
In the meantime, regular discussions with exam providers continue and further information will be provided to candidates as soon as it is available. Candidates who booked a place on the cancelled exams have been advised they may request a refund.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We will continue to work closely with the dentistry sector to review whether any of the available testing technologies could be appropriately and safely deployed to further eliminate the risk associated with asymptomatic patients attending for treatment.
Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Data on the number of units of dental activity that have been performed by dentists in England since June 2020 is not available at this time. National Health Service dental activity statistics from June to December 2020 will be included in the ‘NHS Dental statistics for England 2020-21, Biannual Report’, due to be published on 25 February. Dental practices have been able to open for face to face NHS care from 8 June, with urgent provision backed up by over 600 urgent dental care centres across the country. NHS England and NHS Improvement have set out guidance that dentists should focus on care that is urgent, care to vulnerable groups and then overdue routine appointments.
A steady increase in dental activity has been made possible following updated Infection Prevention and Control guidance issued by Public Health England. Contractual arrangements for quarter four have been introduced by NHS England and NHS Improvement requiring dental practices to deliver 45% of contracted units of dental activity from 1 January to 31 March 2021 to be deemed to have delivered the full contractual volume. This is expected to increase available NHS dental care for patients.
The Department is working closely with NHS England and NHS Improvement and the Chief Dental Officer for England to increase levels of service, as fast as is safely possible.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Guidance published by Public Health England (PHE) updating the infection prevention advice for supervised toothbrushing programmes has enabled these programmes to restart when schools reopened in the autumn term. The guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-supervised-toothbrushing-programmes
PHE does not have a complete picture of how many supervised toothbrushing or other oral health improvement schemes have restarted as these programmes are commissioned locally.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The need to carefully assess risks of use of certain epilepsy medications in pregnancy and the factors that should be considered by patient and clinician are set out in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) ‘Epilepsies: diagnosis and management’ guideline (originally published January 2012 and updated in February 2020). The update includes strengthened warnings about the specific risks that the anti-epileptic medicine valproate presents to unborn children. As the guideline sets out, in pregnancy valproate is contraindicated and an alternative treatment should be decided on, with appropriate specialist consultation, taking into account the individual clinical needs of the patient and the risks and benefits of particular medications and treatment approaches. The NICE guideline is available at the following link:
Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
The Government has worked closely with universities on their safe reopening. We have issued guidance on GOV.UK to support this which is available at the following link:
During the pandemic there have been no restrictions on individuals on being able to attend medical appointments and accessing prescriptions for their medical conditions. Where a student is self-isolating and needs to access essential supplies like prescriptions, NHS Volunteer Responders may be able to help if they meet the criteria. Details are available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-accessing-food-and-essential-supplies.
Local authorities also have put in place support services which is another service students may be able to access alongside those provided by universities.
Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
The Joint Biosecurity Centre’s contain framework outlines how the process for national decision-making works. The Chief Medical Officer chairs the Silver Committee. The remit of this group is to “assess the latest national and local epidemiological picture” and “review and evaluate local outbreak responses and consider further action or escalation”. The Gold Committee chaired by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is the decision-making body and the Chief Medical Officer is a permanent member of this group. More information the process is available at the following link:
Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
The Joint Biosecurity Centre’s contain framework outlines how the process for national decision-making works. The Chief Medical Officer chairs the Silver Committee. The remit of this group is to “assess the latest national and local epidemiological picture” and “review and evaluate local outbreak responses and consider further action or escalation”. The Gold Committee chaired by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is the decision-making body and the Chief Medical Officer is a permanent member of this group. More information the process is available at the following link:
Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
The Joint Biosecurity Centre’s contain framework outlines how the process for national decision-making works. The Chief Medical Officer chairs the Silver Committee. The remit of this group is to “assess the latest national and local epidemiological picture” and “review and evaluate local outbreak responses and consider further action or escalation”. The Gold Committee chaired by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is the decision-making body and the Chief Medical Officer is a permanent member of this group. More information the process is available at the following link:
Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
General practitioners and other National Health Service providers have been asked to prioritise flu vaccination for all those who are in the defined clinically vulnerable groups documented in the national guidance. In addition, this season household contacts of those who are on the shielded patients list are also eligible for a free NHS vaccine to allow us to offer additional protection.
NHS England and NHS Improvement will be introducing a call and recall service to ensure that all eligible individuals are aware that they can receive a free vaccination and how to access one. Alongside this, additional trained workforce is being made available to local providers to support them to access the most vulnerable patients who may be in care homes or require domiciliary visits.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement are working hard to ensure that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on existing inequalities is minimised.
During the pandemic peak face to face dentistry was limited to urgent care only provided from over 600 urgent dental centres. However, from 8 June all National Health Service dental services including practices, community dental services and bespoke services aimed at particular groups such as homeless people were permitted and encouraged to reopen for urgent and routine care at as fast a pace as is compatible with patient and staff safety.
In the letter announcing the restart, NHS England and NHS Improvement set out clear guidance that in the sequencing and scheduling of patients for treatment as services resume organisations should take into account the urgency of patient needs and the particular unmet needs of vulnerable groups.
A copy of the letter can be found at the following link:
The Chief Dental Officer issued a further letter and an updated standard operating (SOP) procedure to further assist NHS dental service recovery on 28 August. A copy of this letter and SOP can be found at the following link:
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement are working hard to ensure that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on existing inequalities is minimised.
During the pandemic peak face to face dentistry was limited to urgent care only provided from over 600 urgent dental centres. However, from 8 June all National Health Service dental services including practices, community dental services and bespoke services aimed at particular groups such as homeless people were permitted and encouraged to reopen for urgent and routine care at as fast a pace as is compatible with patient and staff safety.
In the letter announcing the restart, NHS England and NHS Improvement set out clear guidance that in the sequencing and scheduling of patients for treatment as services resume organisations should take into account the urgency of patient needs and the particular unmet needs of vulnerable groups.
A copy of the letter can be found at the following link:
The Chief Dental Officer issued a further letter and an updated standard operating (SOP) procedure to further assist NHS dental service recovery on 28 August. A copy of this letter and SOP can be found at the following link:
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
With National Health Services (NHS) services under intense pressure as COVID-19 spread, we ensured that we had as many beds available as possible to care for patients with severe respiratory problems during the COVID-19 pandemic peak.
To enable this, every hospital in England suspended non-urgent elective operations to free up additional capacity needed to assist with the COVID-19 response. With the pandemic easing, NHS providers are now expected to recover the maximum elective activity possible between now and winter, making full use of available capacity both in the NHS and in contracted independent hospitals.
Elective care activity is now ramping up, and by October we expect the NHS to deliver:
- The same number of outpatient attendances, follow ups, scans and endoscopy procedures as October last year; and
- 90% of the overnight elective procedures and day cases carried out last October.
Face to face dental care has resumed across primary care and, as set out above, is expected to be quickly ramped up in hospital dental departments that provide the equivalent of primary care dental treatment. Likewise, where inpatient care is needed for dental extractions requiring general anaesthesia (GA) services are expected to quickly recover the maximum elective capacity possible ahead of winter to help address any backlog.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On 21 May the Government announced plans for a national roll-out of antibody testing in the National Health Service and care sector. Since the end of May, lab-based antibody tests have been available to all NHS staff that want one, with patients and care residents eligible at their clinician’s request. Since the end of May, over 1.36 million (27 July) COVID-19 antibody tests have been carried out.
The NHS staff include those working on NHS premises but not directly employed by the NHS, those working for the NHS but not on NHS premises, and those in primary, community, and mental health care including community pharmacists. This will include dentists and dental staff.
Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
From Monday 8 June all National Health Service practices were able to start, at their own pace, seeing patients again once they have appropriate social distancing and other safety measures in place. Personal protective equipment for dentists is being made available through their business as usual wholesalers. We have also set up new distribution routes for dentistry to ensure continuity of supply for all urgent dental care centres and have placed them on the list of priority areas to receive supplies from local resilience forums.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The information requested is not held centrally and therefore can only be provided at disproportionate costs.
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is in the process of setting up a life assurance scheme for frontline health and social care staff in England who contract COVID-19 during the course of their work.
The scheme is non-contributory and pays a £60,000 lump sum where staff die as a result of COVID-19 and had been recently working in frontline roles and locations where personal care is provided to individuals who have recently contracted COVID-19. The scheme is also available to staff whose duties require them to be present in a frontline National Health Service or social care setting where COVID-19 is present. This includes agency staff and staff employed by NHS wholly owned subsidiary companies, providng their work requires them to be present in frontline NHS or social care settings where COVID-19 is present.
In relation to the NHS, the scheme covers frontline staff who are employed by a statutory NHS organisation, or who work for organisations that support the delivery of NHS services or who work on an NHS contract.
Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Both newly recruited staff, and staff returning to the National Health Service during the COVID-19 outbeak, where they take up employment alongside existing NHS staff, will be employed on standard NHS terms and conditions of service. Staff will also have access to the NHS Pension Scheme subject to them satisfying scheme eligibility criteria. Many of those who have retired are not permitted by the rules of the NHS Pension Scheme to re-join on their return to work.
In relation to other associated benefits, the Government is in the process of setting up a life assurance scheme for frontline health and social care staff in England who contract COVID-19 during the course of their work.
Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
We recognise that students registered with a general practitioner (GP) practice near their university may need to access treatment from another GP when returning home or away from university. Anyone who requires treatment that a GP or healthcare professional regards as an emergency should be provided treatment free of charge, regardless of whether they are registered with a GP. A patient can receive emergency treatment for 14 days. If the patient needs treatment for more than 14 days, they can register with that GP surgery as a temporary patient for up to three months. Additionally, students will be able to access their repeat prescriptions from a GP practice near their home. Patients who have nominated a pharmacy local to their place of study through the Electronic Prescription Service will be able change their nominated pharmacy to their new preferred location by contacting the GP practice who prescribed the repeat prescription or set up a nomination if they do not have one.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There are currently no plans to reimburse tuition fees and students will continue to be required to pay fees for their final term.
The Government is extremely grateful to all students who are choosing to opt in to work in the National Health Service during this extremely difficult time and will be ensuring all students who do so are rewarded fairly for their hard work. Nursing students who opt in will receive a salary and automatic NHS pension entitlement at the appropriate band. They will also still receive their student maintenance loan and Learning Support Fund payments.
Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
We have re-prioritised the services commissioned by the National Health Service and have delayed the introduction of new services and pilot programmes to maximise capacity in community pharmacy to supply medicines and provide health advice. We have also worked with the General Pharmaceutical Council to increase the workforce available.
NHS England and NHS Improvement has updated the COVID-19 standard operating procedure for community pharmacy to allow for all pharmacies to close to the public for two and half hours a day, if necessary. This will give pharmacy staff the time to focus on safely dispensing prescriptions and providing advice over the phone, together with giving them the opportunity to maintain the hygiene of pharmacies and take necessary rest breaks.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The information requested is shown in the following table.
National Health Service dental services | 2018/19 outturn |
£ millions | |
Primary care and community dental services | 3,004 |
Secondary care dental services | 678 |
Source: NHS England
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The information is not available in the format requested.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The information is not available in the format requested.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We expect to publish the refreshed all age autism strategy this spring, informed by the key findings from our National Call for Evidence, which was launched on 14 March 2019 and closed on 16 May 2019.
Freedom of expression and the right to peaceful protest, which are protected in both the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law, are fundamental to Hong Kong's way of life.
We continue to make clear to mainland Chinese and Hong Kong authorities our strong opposition to the National Security Law. It is clear that this legislation is being used to curtail freedoms, punish dissent and shrink the space for opposition, free press and civil society.
As a co-signatory to the Sino-British Joint Declaration, we will continue to stand up for the people of Hong Kong, to call out the violation of their rights and freedoms, and to hold China to its international obligations.
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The right to peaceful protest is fundamental to Hong Kong's way of life, and guaranteed in both the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law. As a co-signatory to the Joint Declaration, we will continue to stand up for the people of Hong Kong, to call out the violations of their rights and freedoms, and to urge China to uphold the rights set out in the Joint Declaration and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, including freedoms of speech, the press and assembly.
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The FCDO does not routinely ask British nationals to register with a British Embassy or High Commission overseas. Recognising the circumstances in Afghanistan, British nationals still in Afghanistan were asked to register their continued presence to allow the FCDO to maintain contact after the evacuation phase ended. British nationals continue to receive updates from the FCDO on the situation in Afghanistan.
Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The FCDO does not routinely ask British nationals to register with a British Embassy or High Commission overseas. Recognising the circumstances in Afghanistan, British nationals still in Afghanistan were asked to register their continued presence to allow the FCDO to maintain contact after the evacuation phase ended. British nationals continue to receive updates from the FCDO on the situation in Afghanistan.
Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
Between 15-28 August over 8,300 British nationals and dependents were evacuated from Afghanistan. Since the end of Operation Pitting, the FCDO has assisted over 700 British nationals and their dependents back to the UK. This includes helping 210 British nationals and their dependents leave Afghanistan through Qatari Government charter flights. We continue to work to support British nationals and their eligible dependants to leave Afghanistan if that is their wish.
Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
In all but the most exceptional of circumstances demolitions are contrary to International Humanitarian Law. The UK regularly raises the issue of demolitions with the Government of Israel, most recently on 12 July. The Foreign Secretary did so during his visit to the region on 26 May.
Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
We continue to monitor the humanitarian situation in Gaza, exacerbated by recent escalation of violence between Hamas and Israel, including significant damage and destruction of civilian infrastructure including homes, schools, hospitals, and clinics.
We are in close contact with UN agencies and key partners on the ground to assess the situation and will monitor closely.
I announced funding of £3.2 million to UNRWA’s emergency flash appeal on 20 May. This will address the immediate humanitarian needs of vulnerable Palestinians living in Gaza.
Humanitarian access remains critical. We continue to urge Israel to ensure access into and out of Gaza, including for essential health services.
Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The UK remains clear that any Rohingya returns to Rakhine state must be voluntary, safe, dignified, and in line with UNHCR principles. At present, conditions in Myanmar preclude this possibility. The situation in Rakhine State is unpredictable following the military coup and we are monitoring the situation closely, including for the increased risk of atrocities. Until conditions improve, we will continue to support the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and the surrounding host communities.
The Minister of State for South Asia, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, most recently raised these issues with Bangladesh State Minister Shahriah Alam on 18th February 2021.
Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister without Portfolio)
This information is not held centrally and to compile it would incur disproportionate cost.
Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister without Portfolio)
The temporary reduced rate of VAT was introduced on 15 July to support the cash flow and viability of over 150,000 businesses and protect 2.4 million jobs in the hospitality and tourism sectors, and will run until 31 March 2021. This relief comes at a significant cost to the Exchequer, and there are currently no plans to extend the scope to include other sectors.
The Government has announced a significant support package to help businesses through the winter months, which includes an extension of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, an extension of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme grant, and an extension of the application window for the government-backed loan schemes.
The temporary zero rate of VAT on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) was an extraordinary measure to help affected sectors (such as hospitals and care homes) during the initial shock of the COVID-19 pandemic and when the global supply of PPE did not meet demand. The zero rate applies to PPE that meets the standard set out in the guidance from Public Health England (PHE).
This measure will come to an end on 31 October (as legislated), as new measures introduced by the Government will ensure supply of COVID-19 related PPE to affected sectors from 1 November. Face coverings that do not meet the standard set by PHE should not be affected by the temporary zero rate coming to an end.
HM Treasury has spent the below on (a) opinion polling in the periods under question:
September 2019 | November 2019 | May 2020 | June 2020 | Total |
£3,000 | £2,400 | £13,188 | £6,828 | £25,416 |
The recent increase was partially to help understand public perceptions in order to inform the government’s response to the pandemic in the Spring Budget.
HM Treasury has spent no amounts on focus groups in the periods under question.
Minister for Equalities
The Department works to a target of responding to 95% of Hon. Members written correspondence within 20 working days.
Performance has been impacted by a very significant increase in the volume of correspondence received, including the unprecedented amount of correspondence about the situation in Afghanistan. Ministers and officials have also had to instigate a remote process for drafting and signing correspondence during the period of COVID-19 restrictions.
The Department recognises that it has not been able to meet service standard in some cases but has implemented an action plan to clear backlogs and drive up performance. The Department has recruited additional resources and expects to return to answering Hon. Member’s correspondence within service standard by the end of March 2022.
Data about intake and performance for answering Hon. Members correspondence are published quarterly with the latest Quarter available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/customer-service-operations-data-q3-2021 and this includes data up to and including the end of quarter 3 - 2021.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Department works to a target of responding to 95% of Hon. Members written correspondence within 20 working days.
Performance has been impacted by a very significant increase in the volume of correspondence received, including the unprecedented amount of correspondence about the situation in Afghanistan. Ministers and officials have also had to instigate a remote process for drafting and signing correspondence during the period of COVID-19 restrictions.
The Department recognises it has not been able to meet service standard in some cases but has implemented an action plan to clear backlogs and drive up performance. The Department has recruited additional resources and expects to return to answering Hon. Member’s correspondence within service standard by the end of March 2022.
Data about intake and performance in answering Hon. Members and Members of the House of Lords correspondence are published quarterly with the latest Quarter available at
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/customer-service-operations-data-q3-2021 and this includes data up to and including the end of quarter 3 - 2021.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Department recognises that it has not been able to meet service standard in some cases but has implemented an action plan to clear backlogs and drive up performance.
The Department works to a target of responding to 95% of Hon. Members written correspondence within 20 working days and has recruited additional resources to help clear the backlogs. The Department expects to return to answering Hon. Member’s correspondence within service standard by the end of March 2022.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office is pursuing a programme of transformation and business improvement initiatives which will speed up decision making, reduce the time people spend in the system and reduce the numbers who are awaiting an interview or decision. This includes increasing the number of decision makers and providing improved training and career progression opportunities to aid retention of staff. We are continuing to develop existing and new technology to help build on recent improvements such as digital interviewing and move away from a paper-based system. We are streamlining and digitalising the case working process to enable more effective workflow, appointment booking and decision-making.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office is pursuing a programme of transformation and business improvement initiatives which will speed up decision making, reduce the time people spend in the system and reduce the numbers who are awaiting an interview or decision. This includes increasing the number of decision makers and providing improved training and career progression opportunities to aid retention of staff. We are continuing to develop existing and new technology to help build on recent improvements such as digital interviewing and move away from a paper-based system. We are streamlining and digitalising the case working process to enable more effective workflow, appointment booking and decision-making.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
How road traffic offences are enforced and how resources are deployed are operational matters for the individual Police and Crime Commissioners and Chief Constables in conjunction with local policing plans.
The police have a range of powers available to them in road traffic legislation and will in each case decided what the most appropriate enforcement action is.
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
Opinion polling and focus groups - along with other research methodologies and techniques - are conducted across the Department by individual business areas.
Each Directorate is responsible for commissioning work to meet their specific business needs. The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Information on spend for opinion polling and focus groups for the whole department is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The information in the table below has been provided by the Directorate of Defence Communications and Army both of whom have readily available figures broken down by month. The RAF has one payment of £2,000 for opinion polling over the timeframe requested.
| Polling (excl VAT) | Focus Groups (Excl VAT) | Total cost (Excl VAT) |
January 2019 | £32,150 | - | £32,150 |
February 2019 | £28,930 | - | £28,930 |
March 2019 | £12,540 | £13,800 | £26,340 |
April 2019 | - | £6,700 | £6,700 |
May 2019 | - | - | £0 |
June 2019 | £25,430 |
| £25,430 |
July 2019 | - | - | £0 |
August 2019 | - | - | £0 |
September 2019 | £12,540 | - | £12,540 |
October 2019 | £12,890 | - | £12,890 |
November 2019 | £1,550 | - | £1,550 |
December 2019 | £12,540 | - | £12,540 |
January 2020 | £12,890 | - | £12,890 |
February 2020 | - | £12,500 | £12,500 |
March 2020 | £62,090 | £18,500 | £80,590 |
April 2020 | £7,400 | - | £7,400 |
May 2020 | £14,540 | - | £14,540 |
June 2020 | - | - | £0 |
Total | £235,490 | £51,500 | £286,990 |
Polling and focus groups are vital tools within Defence Communications because they provide insight for communications plans and allow us to evaluate the effect of our work. Communication is most effective when the target audience and their behavioural context is understood. By learning more about the general public’s behaviours, intentions, attitudes and communication preferences, Government communications can become more relevant, meaningful and impactful. Effective monitoring and evaluation helps us to articulate the value of communications campaigns and also helps us to improve campaigns on an ongoing basis.
4 Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities Questions
(View all Judith Cummins's DLUHC questions)MHCLG Ministers and officials have regular engagement with counterparts in the Department for Health and Social Care, as well as with other government departments and with local authorities, on all matters relating to local authorities’ finances. We have worked closely with the Department for Health and Social Care on the Test and Trace Support Payment Scheme.
The cost of establishing the full spend on opinion polling and focus groups is disproportionate. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) undertakes many research projects each year using external experts. Some of these projects will include either opinion polling or focus groups. This would form part of a wider package of research and to establish the specific cost of that part of the work across all of the projects would exceed 2.5 working days of effort.
Details of contracts awarded by MHCLG are routinely published on Contracts Finder.
MHCLG is able to provide the following limited information where it is able to identify spend through contracts solely for a) Opinion polling and b) focus groups.
Opinion Polls
Month | Value (excl. VAT) |
May 2019 | £5,000 |
July 2019 | £1,100 |
October 2019 | £825 |
January 2020 | £2,300 |
March 2020 | £2,600 |
June 2020 | £4,000 |
Focus Groups
Month | Value (excl VAT) |
March 2020 | £9,999 |
The Government will provide English councils with £500 million to support financially vulnerable residents, and expects that most of the funding will be used to provide additional council tax relief.
Further guidance is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/council-tax-covid-19-hardship-fund-2020-to-2021-guidance .
Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The 2020-21 settlement for local government provided local authorities with access to the largest increase in spending power in a decade to help local authorities meet rising demand for adult social care. In total, local authorities will have access to almost £6 billion of dedicated funding across adult and children’s social care in 2020-21.
The Government has also announced additional funding of £2.9 billion to support hospitals, councils and adult social care providers through the COVID-19 outbreak. Of this, £1.6 billion will go to local authorities to allow them to address increased pressures on services in their local areas, including adult social care.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The table below shows how many Education Health and Care plan (EHCP) appeals were made to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal, by reason for the appeal and how many EHCP appeals were successful at hearing in each of the last three calendar years.
2020 | 2020 | 2019 | 2019 | 2018 | 2018 | ||||
| |||||||||
Description of EHCP appeal | Appeals received in year | Appeals successful at hearing | Appeals received in year | Appeals successful at hearing | Appeals received in year | Appeals successful at hearing | |||
CEASE TO MAINTAIN THE PLAN | 48 | 31 | 81 | 24 | 56 | 11 | |||
CEASE TO MAINTAIN, REC - H | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | |||
CEASE TO MAINTAIN, REC - H & S | 11 | 4 | 11 | 3 | 6 | 0 | |||
CEASE TO MAINTAIN, REC - S | 6 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |||
REFUSAL TO AMEND PLAN AFTER ANNUAL REVIEW, REC - H | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||||
REFUSAL TO AMEND PLAN AFTER ANNUAL, REC - S | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |||
REFUSAL TO AMEND PLAN AFTER ANNUAL, REC - H & S | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 0 | |||
REFUSAL TO AMEND THE PLAN AFTER A REVIEW | 18 | 16 | 39 | 36 | 57 | 23 | |||
REFUSAL TO ISSUE EHC PLAN, REC - H | 25 | 4 | 21 | 6 | 8 | 2 | |||
REFUSAL TO ISSUE EHC PLAN, REC - H & S | 23 | 11 | 33 | 7 | 17 | 6 | |||
REFUSAL TO ISSUE EHC PLAN, REC - S | 1 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |||
REFUSAL TO MAKE AN EHC PLAN | 762 | 294 | 679 | 195 | 562 | 141 | |||
REFUSAL TO RE-ASSESS | 5 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 2 | |||
REFUSAL TO SECURE AN EHC ASSESSMENT | 2,186 | 618 | 2254 | 540 | 1844 | 379 | |||
SECTION B | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 1 | |||
SECTION B - REC - HEALTH | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
SECTION B & F | 357 | 217 | 319 | 231 | 399 | 274 | |||
SECTION B & F - REC - HEALTH | 51 | 25 | 37 | 17 | 16 | 1 | |||
SECTION B & F - REC - HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE | 106 | 34 | 101 | 33 | 36 | 4 | |||
SECTION B & F - REC - SOCIAL CARE | 32 | 10 | 28 | 7 | 10 | 2 | |||
SECTION B & I | 29 | 22 | 31 | 12 | 25 | 14 | |||
SECTION B & I - REC - HEALTH | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |||
SECTION B & I - REC - HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |||
SECTION B & I - REC - SOCIAL CARE | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||
SECTION B, F & I | 1,573 | 1,065 | 1356 | 977 | 1408 | 873 | |||
SECTION B, F & I - REC - HEALTH | 187 | 113 | 149 | 65 | 44 | 6 | |||
SECTION B, F & I - REC - HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE | 419 | 208 | 361 | 128 | 173 | 19 | |||
SECTION B, F & I - REC - SOCIAL CARE | 178 | 84 | 134 | 57 | 48 | 4 | |||
SECTION F | 99 | 51 | 90 | 40 | 104 | 48 | |||
SECTION F - REC - HEALTH | 5 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | |||
SECTION F - REC - HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1 | |||
SECTION F - REC - SOCIAL CARE | 4 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 0 | |||
SECTION F & I | 118 | 85 | 139 | 67 | 132 | 54 | |||
SECTION F & I - REC - HEALTH | 15 | 10 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 0 | |||
SECTION F & I - REC - HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE | 10 | 8 | 12 | 6 | 5 | 0 | |||
SECTION F & I - REC - SOCIAL CARE | 7 | 7 | 13 | 5 | 5 | 0 | |||
SECTION I - DISAGREEMENT WITH THE SCHOOL NAMED | 1,375 | 657 | 1241 | 358 | 879 | 180 | |||
SECTION I - DISAGRMNT WITH SCH NAMED, REC - H | 19 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 2 | |||
SECTION I - DISAGRMNT WITH SCH NAMED, REC - H & S | 3 | 4 | 15 | 2 | 3 | 1 | |||
SECTION I - DISAGRMNT WITH SCH NAMED, REC - S | 7 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1 | |||
SECTION I - NO SCH NAMED IN THE PLAN, REC - H | 6 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 2 | |||
SECTION I - NO SCH NAMED IN THE PLAN, REC - H & S | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||
SECTION I - NO SCH NAMED IN THE PLAN, REC - S | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||
SECTION I - NO SCHOOL NAMED IN THE PLAN | 128 | 65 | 159 | 60 | 123 | 14 | |||
Appeals found in favour of the parent or young person are those in which the appellant was successful in all or part of the appeal
The data are extracted from GAPS2- the Tribunal’s case management system
The years referred to above are calendar years.
The SEND Tribunal does not gather data on the average time for EHCP appeals to be heard. It has a performance measure that 75% of appeals should be brought to hearing and the decision issued within 22 weeks of the appeal being registered. Performance against that measure in the calendar year 2020 was 80%; 2019, 89%; and in 2018, 91%.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (and Assistant Government Whip)
The table below shows how many Education Health and Care plan (EHCP) appeals were made to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal, by reason for the appeal and how many EHCP appeals were successful at hearing in each of the last three calendar years.
2020 | 2020 | 2019 | 2019 | 2018 | 2018 | ||||
| |||||||||
Description of EHCP appeal | Appeals received in year | Appeals successful at hearing | Appeals received in year | Appeals successful at hearing | Appeals received in year | Appeals successful at hearing | |||
CEASE TO MAINTAIN THE PLAN | 48 | 31 | 81 | 24 | 56 | 11 | |||
CEASE TO MAINTAIN, REC - H | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | |||
CEASE TO MAINTAIN, REC - H & S | 11 | 4 | 11 | 3 | 6 | 0 | |||
CEASE TO MAINTAIN, REC - S | 6 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |||
REFUSAL TO AMEND PLAN AFTER ANNUAL REVIEW, REC - H | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||||
REFUSAL TO AMEND PLAN AFTER ANNUAL, REC - S | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |||
REFUSAL TO AMEND PLAN AFTER ANNUAL, REC - H & S | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 0 | |||
REFUSAL TO AMEND THE PLAN AFTER A REVIEW | 18 | 16 | 39 | 36 | 57 | 23 | |||
REFUSAL TO ISSUE EHC PLAN, REC - H | 25 | 4 | 21 | 6 | 8 | 2 | |||
REFUSAL TO ISSUE EHC PLAN, REC - H & S | 23 | 11 | 33 | 7 | 17 | 6 | |||
REFUSAL TO ISSUE EHC PLAN, REC - S | 1 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |||
REFUSAL TO MAKE AN EHC PLAN | 762 | 294 | 679 | 195 | 562 | 141 | |||
REFUSAL TO RE-ASSESS | 5 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 2 | |||
REFUSAL TO SECURE AN EHC ASSESSMENT | 2,186 | 618 | 2254 | 540 | 1844 | 379 | |||
SECTION B | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 1 | |||
SECTION B - REC - HEALTH | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
SECTION B & F | 357 | 217 | 319 | 231 | 399 | 274 | |||
SECTION B & F - REC - HEALTH | 51 | 25 | 37 | 17 | 16 | 1 | |||
SECTION B & F - REC - HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE | 106 | 34 | 101 | 33 | 36 | 4 | |||
SECTION B & F - REC - SOCIAL CARE | 32 | 10 | 28 | 7 | 10 | 2 | |||
SECTION B & I | 29 | 22 | 31 | 12 | 25 | 14 | |||
SECTION B & I - REC - HEALTH | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |||
SECTION B & I - REC - HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |||
SECTION B & I - REC - SOCIAL CARE | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||
SECTION B, F & I | 1,573 | 1,065 | 1356 | 977 | 1408 | 873 | |||
SECTION B, F & I - REC - HEALTH | 187 | 113 | 149 | 65 | 44 | 6 | |||
SECTION B, F & I - REC - HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE | 419 | 208 | 361 | 128 | 173 | 19 | |||
SECTION B, F & I - REC - SOCIAL CARE | 178 | 84 | 134 | 57 | 48 | 4 | |||
SECTION F | 99 | 51 | 90 | 40 | 104 | 48 | |||
SECTION F - REC - HEALTH | 5 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | |||
SECTION F - REC - HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1 | |||
SECTION F - REC - SOCIAL CARE | 4 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 0 | |||
SECTION F & I | 118 | 85 | 139 | 67 | 132 | 54 | |||
SECTION F & I - REC - HEALTH | 15 | 10 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 0 | |||
SECTION F & I - REC - HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE | 10 | 8 | 12 | 6 | 5 | 0 | |||
SECTION F & I - REC - SOCIAL CARE | 7 | 7 | 13 | 5 | 5 | 0 | |||
SECTION I - DISAGREEMENT WITH THE SCHOOL NAMED | 1,375 | 657 | 1241 | 358 | 879 | 180 | |||
SECTION I - DISAGRMNT WITH SCH NAMED, REC - H | 19 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 2 | |||
SECTION I - DISAGRMNT WITH SCH NAMED, REC - H & S | 3 | 4 | 15 | 2 | 3 | 1 | |||
SECTION I - DISAGRMNT WITH SCH NAMED, REC - S | 7 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1 | |||
SECTION I - NO SCH NAMED IN THE PLAN, REC - H | 6 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 2 | |||
SECTION I - NO SCH NAMED IN THE PLAN, REC - H & S | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||
SECTION I - NO SCH NAMED IN THE PLAN, REC - S | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||
SECTION I - NO SCHOOL NAMED IN THE PLAN | 128 | 65 | 159 | 60 | 123 | 14 | |||
Appeals found in favour of the parent or young person are those in which the appellant was successful in all or part of the appeal
The data are extracted from GAPS2- the Tribunal’s case management system
The years referred to above are calendar years.
The SEND Tribunal does not gather data on the average time for EHCP appeals to be heard. It has a performance measure that 75% of appeals should be brought to hearing and the decision issued within 22 weeks of the appeal being registered. Performance against that measure in the calendar year 2020 was 80%; 2019, 89%; and in 2018, 91%.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (and Assistant Government Whip)
The table below shows how many Education Health and Care plan (EHCP) appeals were made to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal, by reason for the appeal and how many EHCP appeals were successful at hearing in each of the last three calendar years.
2020 | 2020 | 2019 | 2019 | 2018 | 2018 | ||||
| |||||||||
Description of EHCP appeal | Appeals received in year | Appeals successful at hearing | Appeals received in year | Appeals successful at hearing | Appeals received in year | Appeals successful at hearing | |||
CEASE TO MAINTAIN THE PLAN | 48 | 31 | 81 | 24 | 56 | 11 | |||
CEASE TO MAINTAIN, REC - H | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | |||
CEASE TO MAINTAIN, REC - H & S | 11 | 4 | 11 | 3 | 6 | 0 | |||
CEASE TO MAINTAIN, REC - S | 6 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |||
REFUSAL TO AMEND PLAN AFTER ANNUAL REVIEW, REC - H | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||||
REFUSAL TO AMEND PLAN AFTER ANNUAL, REC - S | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |||
REFUSAL TO AMEND PLAN AFTER ANNUAL, REC - H & S | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 0 | |||
REFUSAL TO AMEND THE PLAN AFTER A REVIEW | 18 | 16 | 39 | 36 | 57 | 23 | |||
REFUSAL TO ISSUE EHC PLAN, REC - H | 25 | 4 | 21 | 6 | 8 | 2 | |||
REFUSAL TO ISSUE EHC PLAN, REC - H & S | 23 | 11 | 33 | 7 | 17 | 6 | |||
REFUSAL TO ISSUE EHC PLAN, REC - S | 1 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |||
REFUSAL TO MAKE AN EHC PLAN | 762 | 294 | 679 | 195 | 562 | 141 | |||
REFUSAL TO RE-ASSESS | 5 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 2 | |||
REFUSAL TO SECURE AN EHC ASSESSMENT | 2,186 | 618 | 2254 | 540 | 1844 | 379 | |||
SECTION B | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 1 | |||
SECTION B - REC - HEALTH | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
SECTION B & F | 357 | 217 | 319 | 231 | 399 | 274 | |||
SECTION B & F - REC - HEALTH | 51 | 25 | 37 | 17 | 16 | 1 | |||
SECTION B & F - REC - HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE | 106 | 34 | 101 | 33 | 36 | 4 | |||
SECTION B & F - REC - SOCIAL CARE | 32 | 10 | 28 | 7 | 10 | 2 | |||
SECTION B & I | 29 | 22 | 31 | 12 | 25 | 14 | |||
SECTION B & I - REC - HEALTH | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |||
SECTION B & I - REC - HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |||
SECTION B & I - REC - SOCIAL CARE | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||
SECTION B, F & I | 1,573 | 1,065 | 1356 | 977 | 1408 | 873 | |||
SECTION B, F & I - REC - HEALTH | 187 | 113 | 149 | 65 | 44 | 6 | |||
SECTION B, F & I - REC - HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE | 419 | 208 | 361 | 128 | 173 | 19 | |||
SECTION B, F & I - REC - SOCIAL CARE | 178 | 84 | 134 | 57 | 48 | 4 | |||
SECTION F | 99 | 51 | 90 | 40 | 104 | 48 | |||
SECTION F - REC - HEALTH | 5 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | |||
SECTION F - REC - HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1 | |||
SECTION F - REC - SOCIAL CARE | 4 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 0 | |||
SECTION F & I | 118 | 85 | 139 | 67 | 132 | 54 | |||
SECTION F & I - REC - HEALTH | 15 | 10 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 0 | |||
SECTION F & I - REC - HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE | 10 | 8 | 12 | 6 | 5 | 0 | |||
SECTION F & I - REC - SOCIAL CARE | 7 | 7 | 13 | 5 | 5 | 0 | |||
SECTION I - DISAGREEMENT WITH THE SCHOOL NAMED | 1,375 | 657 | 1241 | 358 | 879 | 180 | |||
SECTION I - DISAGRMNT WITH SCH NAMED, REC - H | 19 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 2 | |||
SECTION I - DISAGRMNT WITH SCH NAMED, REC - H & S | 3 | 4 | 15 | 2 | 3 | 1 | |||
SECTION I - DISAGRMNT WITH SCH NAMED, REC - S | 7 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1 | |||
SECTION I - NO SCH NAMED IN THE PLAN, REC - H | 6 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 2 | |||
SECTION I - NO SCH NAMED IN THE PLAN, REC - H & S | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||
SECTION I - NO SCH NAMED IN THE PLAN, REC - S | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||
SECTION I - NO SCHOOL NAMED IN THE PLAN | 128 | 65 | 159 | 60 | 123 | 14 | |||
Appeals found in favour of the parent or young person are those in which the appellant was successful in all or part of the appeal
The data are extracted from GAPS2- the Tribunal’s case management system
The years referred to above are calendar years.
The SEND Tribunal does not gather data on the average time for EHCP appeals to be heard. It has a performance measure that 75% of appeals should be brought to hearing and the decision issued within 22 weeks of the appeal being registered. Performance against that measure in the calendar year 2020 was 80%; 2019, 89%; and in 2018, 91%.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (and Assistant Government Whip)
The information requested is not held centrally and therefore can only be provided at disproportionate costs.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Northern Ireland Office has had no spend on (a) opinion polling or (b) focus groups in any month since January 2019.
Minister of State (Education)
The Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland has had no spend on (a) opinion polling or (b) focus groups in any month since January 2019.
Secretary of State for Scotland
The Office of the Secretary of State for Wales has not spent any money on opinion polling or focus groups since January 2019.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Wales Office)