Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of trends in the retention of ambulance workers aged fifty and over in the last ten years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to tackling the workforce crisis across the National Health Service. This will be achieved through better workforce planning, which will address the recruitment and retention challenges facing the NHS.
Valuing and supporting our NHS workforce will be essential in delivering our mission to build an NHS fit for the future and the pay uplifts announced on 29 July 2024 will mean paramedics will see their pay increase by 5.5%, backdated to April 2024.
In the meantime, NHS England continues to lead on a range of initiatives to boost retention, with a strong focus on improving organisational culture, supporting staff wellbeing, and promoting flexible working opportunities. It is continually reviewing the effectiveness of these and their impact on the workforce.
New retirement flexibilities were introduced in the legacy NHS Pension Scheme last year. These measures are designed to allow older staff to choose to work for longer in a more flexible way, thereby helping to boost capacity, supporting patient care.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many referrals have been accepted by Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in Birmingham in each of the last five years.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the number of referrals to Birmingham mental health services for those aged 17 years old and under, those referrals who received first contact, and those referrals who received first contact within six months of the referral date, over each of the last five years:
Year | Referrals | Referrals who received first contact | Referrals who received first contact within six months of the same year |
2019/20 | 22,265 | 8,946 | 1,607 |
2020/21 | 19,936 | 7,880 | 1,444 |
2021/22 | 27,435 | 10,594 | 1,681 |
2022/23 | 25,252 | 7,831 | 1,403 |
2023/24 | 34,879 | 7,500 | 385 |
Source: data taken from the Mental Health Services Dataset, published by NHS England.
Notes:
Finally, as of March 2024 the number of referrals still waiting for first contact, having waited at least six months and regardless of when the referral started, is 15,181.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have been waiting over six months to access CAMHS support in Birmingham.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the number of referrals to Birmingham mental health services for those aged 17 years old and under, those referrals who received first contact, and those referrals who received first contact within six months of the referral date, over each of the last five years:
Year | Referrals | Referrals who received first contact | Referrals who received first contact within six months of the same year |
2019/20 | 22,265 | 8,946 | 1,607 |
2020/21 | 19,936 | 7,880 | 1,444 |
2021/22 | 27,435 | 10,594 | 1,681 |
2022/23 | 25,252 | 7,831 | 1,403 |
2023/24 | 34,879 | 7,500 | 385 |
Source: data taken from the Mental Health Services Dataset, published by NHS England.
Notes:
Finally, as of March 2024 the number of referrals still waiting for first contact, having waited at least six months and regardless of when the referral started, is 15,181.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to (a) reinstate the Children's Hospice Grant for 2025-26 and (b) up-rate that funding in line with inflation.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In 2024/25, NHS England provided £25 million in funding for children and young people’s hospices. This was distributed via integrated care boards, in line with National Health Service devolution. We are currently considering the future of this important funding stream beyond 2024/25.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many apprenticeships have started in Birmingham Northfield constituency in each of the last five years.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Apprenticeship starts by parliamentary constituency are published in the Apprenticeships Statistics publication. Figures for Birmingham Northfield constituency can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/2abb827d-653c-4a6f-5350-08dca71310d3.
Note: Figures are based on parliamentary constituency boundaries as at July 2024.
Further information on apprenticeship starts can be found in the Apprenticeships Statistics publication, which can be accessed at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 22 July 2024 to Question 216 on Birmingham City Council: Insolvency, whether (a) Ministers and (b) officials in her Department were informed that the decision would be made on 5 September 2023 prior to that notification being issued.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Both officials and former Ministers in the Department were notified of the decision of Birmingham City Council to issue a Section 114 report after the report had been issued by the Council’s Section 151 officer.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the independent report entitled Birmingham City Council: Statutory intervention update letter from Commissioners of 9 January 2024, published on 22 February 2024, whether her Department responded to the separate letter on the Birmingham Highways PFI contract; and if she will place a copy of that letter in the House of Commons Library.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Department for Transport officials sent a letter to Birmingham City Council’s chief executive to acknowledge receipt of the letter in question and to offer a meeting to discuss the PFI contract. The letter from DfT officials will be deposited in the House of Commons Library.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of undertaking a review of the jailing of the Cammell Laird workers who took strike action in 1984.
Answered by Heidi Alexander - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
I can confirm that my department will consider and explore options for carrying out a review into these events. If the member wishes to write with more information I will provide him with a further update once this matter has been considered.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average funding per pupil was in mainstream schools in (a) Birmingham Northfield constituency, (b) Birmingham, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England in each of the last five years.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The tables below provide average per-pupil funding from 2020/21 to 2024/25.
For Birmingham, the West Midlands and England, the figures represent the funding provided through the schools block of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). All of the figures in table one exclude growth funding but include premises and additional funding from grants.
The DSG is allocated at local authority level, and as such the equivalent figures are not available for Birmingham Northfield constituency. The constituency level data for Birmingham Northfield is therefore instead calculated based on the notional schools national funding formula (NFF) allocations for all mainstream schools in the constituency. The figures in table two are not comparable to those in table one, not only because DSG funding cannot be aggregated down to constituency level, but also because the context of the funding figures are not the same. The figures in table two do not include the money that schools in the Birmingham Northfield constituency have received through additional grants, such as the Schools Supplementary Grant (SSG) and the Mainstream Schools Additional Grant (MSAG), therefore making the constituency-level funding appear to rise slower than that of the others presented.
Table one
Year | DSG Schools Block per-pupil funding | ||
Birmingham | West Midlands | England | |
2020-21 | £5,162 | £4,823 | £4,845 |
2021-22 | £5,518 | £5,198 | £5,212 |
2022-23 | £5,830 | £5,506 | £5,534 |
2023-24 | £6,144 | £5,815 | £5,838 |
2024-25 | £6,244 | £5,931 | £5,957 |
Table two
NFF Schools Block per-pupil funding * | |
Year | Birmingham Northfield constituency |
2020-21 | £5,429 |
2021-22 | £5,562 |
2022-23 | £5,707 |
2023-24 | £5,991 |
2024-25 | £6,304 |
* The allocations that schools within a constituency actually receive are determined by the local funding formula in their area.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department’s transparency data, entitled Local authority applications to open a special free school: waves 3 and 4, updated on 16 May 2024, what the expected opening date is of the Frankley Hill School in Birmingham.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The school, which is planned to be a 400 place, co-educational school for pupils aged 4 to 19 with Autistic Spectrum Disorders, was approved into the pre-opening stage in March 2024. Departmental officials are working closely with the local authority and the trust to agree an opening date.