Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the respective responsibilities of MyCSP and Capita are for administrative failures in the civil service pension scheme; and what steps he is taking to hold them to account.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme to Capita in November 2023 under the previous government.
The issues and delays facing a number of civil servants and pension scheme members in accessing their pensions are unacceptable.
Our full focus is on stabilising the service and supporting any members experiencing hardship. We will conduct a full review once this has been achieved.
In prioritising the most urgent cases, Capita has committed to all outstanding death-in-service and ill-health retirement cases to be either in payment, or have
undertaken all activity possible whilst waiting for the member to respond, with the vast majority of these having been paid in February.
No former civil servant should be facing financial hardship as a result of delays to their pension. We are putting in place interest-free bridging loans of up to £5,000 (and up to £10,000 in exceptional cases) to recent retirees facing payment delays. These loans are to be repaid and will be met from existing departmental settlements.
Additionally, interest will be paid on delayed benefits to avoid financial loss by members.
Furthermore, all member complaints regarding the transition are being handled in accordance with the standards set by the Pensions Ombudsman.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to provide compensation for civil servants impacted by administrative failures in the civil service pension scheme.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme to Capita in November 2023 under the previous government.
The issues and delays facing a number of civil servants and pension scheme members in accessing their pensions are unacceptable.
Our full focus is on stabilising the service and supporting any members experiencing hardship. We will conduct a full review once this has been achieved.
In prioritising the most urgent cases, Capita has committed to all outstanding death-in-service and ill-health retirement cases to be either in payment, or have
undertaken all activity possible whilst waiting for the member to respond, with the vast majority of these having been paid in February.
No former civil servant should be facing financial hardship as a result of delays to their pension. We are putting in place interest-free bridging loans of up to £5,000 (and up to £10,000 in exceptional cases) to recent retirees facing payment delays. These loans are to be repaid and will be met from existing departmental settlements.
Additionally, interest will be paid on delayed benefits to avoid financial loss by members.
Furthermore, all member complaints regarding the transition are being handled in accordance with the standards set by the Pensions Ombudsman.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many deaths involving refuse collection vehicles have been recorded in each of the last five years.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Deaths in reported road collisions, on public roads (including footways) in Great Britian are based on data supplied to the Department by police forces via a collection known as STATS19.
The latest figures available are for 2024, and figures for the last 5 years are shown in the table.
Year | Deaths in collisions involving a refuse collection vehicle |
2020 | 6 |
2021 | 6 |
2022 | 6 |
2023 | 2 |
2024 | 4 |
Collisions on private roads or car parks are not included in the statistics.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, when his Department will launch its consultation on children's social media use.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government’s consultation on the children’s use of technology and social media will be launched in the coming weeks. This will be a short, swift consultation of three months, with the government planning to respond in the summer.
The consultation will be backed by a national conversation about the impact of technology on children’s wellbeing. Ministers are already hearing the views of parents, children and civil society through nationwide events.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether RSL levels will continue once V-Levels are introduced in September 2027.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department has recently closed the consultation on Post-16 Level 3 and Below Pathways. We are carefully considering transition arrangements to reach the new qualifications landscape set out in the Post-16 Skills White Paper, and will set out plans in due course.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether a student with settled status, who has lived in the UK for three years, can obtain a student loan.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Eligibility for student finance is determined by several criteria, including residency status, the type of course, its location, the student’s previous study history, and whether they already hold a higher education qualification.
Students residing in England who hold settled status and have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands (the Channel Islands and Isle of Man) for the three years preceding the first day of the first academic year of their course will be eligible for student finance, subject to meeting all other eligibility criteria. To qualify, this period of residence must not have been wholly or mainly for the purpose of receiving full-time education.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that funding being provided for secondary schools on the National School Breakfast Programme in the 2026/2027 academic year is used as effectively as possible.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
From September 2026, participating national school breakfast programme schools with secondary-aged pupils will continue to be supported to an equivalent value of what they currently receive on the national school breakfast programme. Further details and guidance for eligible schools will be published in the spring term.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the funding that mainstream primary schools with SEN Units receive to fund their free breakfast club.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department selected schools, including those with special educational needs units, for the early adopter (EA) scheme to ensure that there is a range of participating schools operating within different contexts and from diverse starting points.
The EA ‘test and learn’ phase has been crucial to informing the national rollout of free breakfast clubs. Through consultation with EAs, we have heard from the sector about what schools and trusts need to do to ensure free breakfast clubs effectively support children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). EA funding was designed to take account of the numbers of children with additional needs in different schools. However, we heard from EAs that the way funding was allocated did not always align with the number of children attending a club who may need additional support and was therefore not working as effectively as possible for some EA schools. In line with our ‘test and learn’ approach, we have therefore changed the funding rate and allocations for mainstream schools on the programme for national rollout so that the funding better enables all schools to meet the needs of children who attend, including children with SEND. These changes simplify the funding rate and mean schools will receive more money, at a rate of £25 per day, plus £1 per child per day. Schools have the autonomy to spend this funding according to how it best fits their needs.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of using evidence-based parenting programmes, like Triple P and Incredible Years, to ensure more families receive more support to manage their children’s online activities.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
As part of our ‘Giving every child the best start in life’ strategy, the department is investing in evidence-based parenting and home learning environment interventions delivered through Best Start Family Hubs.
These interventions are designed to strengthen children’s social, emotional and behavioural wellbeing and promote positive parent-child interactions, encouraging families to chat, play and read together. They help parents create balanced routines that may include using screens as a tool for learning while also supporting activities away from screens, fostering healthy habits and strong relationships.
The department is working in partnership with the National Centre for Family Hubs, the Foundations - What Works Centre for Children & Families, and Nesta to ensure local areas can identify and implement the most effective programmes. This approach will promote greater consistency and quality across the country and support our ambition for 75% of children to achieve a good level of development by 2028.
Protecting children online is a priority, and we will continue to build the evidence base on the impact of screen time on children and listen to parents, children and schools to help us improve our guidance and our understanding of emerging needs and gaps.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many complaints has OIA received from disabled students in each of the last 5 years, what proportion were upheld, and how many reasonable adjustments were made during complaint processes.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Office of the Independent Adjudicator is independent from government, and the department does not hold the requested information.