Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help improve the (a) accuracy and (b) reliability of personal immigration status information generated by the Government View and Prove system; and what safeguards her Department plans to introduce to avoid system failures.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The transition towards eVisas is already underway, with millions of people already receiving and using eVisas successfully, by logging into the View and Prove service using their UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) account.
While most people are able to use the online services successfully without problems, where issues do occur, we have robust processes in place. Any person experiencing issues with their eVisa should contact the UKVI Resolution Centre which provides a full range of digital and telephone support. The Resolution Centre can assist users who are experiencing technical issues with their eVisa, and where necessary, enable a person’s status to be verified through alternative means.
As part of our move to an immigration system which is more digital and streamlined, we stopped issuing any new BRPs and BRCs on 31 October 2024. People with existing permission in the UK are encouraged to take action now to create a UKVI account if they have not already done so, to access their eVisa. Most people will be able to see their status right away. Anyone who cannot do so should be able to see their status shortly. Those who cannot see their status can use the existing Prove your right to work to an employer: Overview - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and Prove your right to rent in England: Overview - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) online services in the meantime, and, if they still have it, use their BRP to prove their rights for other purposes. Otherwise, they should contact the UKVI Resolution Centre.
We have designed our digital services to be highly resilient, with rigorous testing to build assurance, and deployed across multiple data centres. Our online services and their constituent parts are also proactively monitored for failures, which highlight any potential problems to allow support teams to triage and resolve them as quickly as possible. We are constantly improving the accuracy, reliability and accessibility of our digital status services, including the View and Prove service. This includes proactive work to enhance the service as well as resolving issues reported to us by customers. We also continue to engage with stakeholders to test whether any improvements to implementation or our communications need to be made. The View and Prove platform is rigorously tested for security and stability and proven to be reliable in terms of availability.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will make it his policy to require (a) unused and (b) decommissioned (i) laptops, (ii) mobile phones and (iii) other public sector devices to be donated to device banks.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Digital inclusion is a priority for the Government and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is committed to extending the life of its equipment and devices, to reduce our environmental impact and provide more people with access to devices. Device donation is one of the issues we shall be looking at as we develop our approach on digital inclusion.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of (a) recruitment and (b) retention in police forces.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The latest Home Office statistics for the overall Police Workforce show a 1.2% increase when compared to the previous year. The total paid police workforce in the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales was 236,588 full-time equivalents (FTE) as at 31 March 2024; an increase of 2,752 FTE, compared to 233,836 FTE as at 31 March 2023. This includes 147,746 FTE police officers (up 0.2% on 147,434 in March 2023); and 81,303 FTE police staff and designated officers (up 3.4% on 78,596 in March 2023).
This Government is committed to ensuring police forces are supported to tackle crime effectively. As part of the Government’s Safer Streets mission, the Home Secretary has made a clear commitment to strengthen neighbourhood policing through the introduction of a Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee. This includes getting thousands of additional neighbourhood police officers and PCSOs back on the beat in communities across the country.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what percentage of police officers are currently classified as deployable; and what the primary reasons are for officers being deemed non-deployable.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not have an official measure of ‘deployable’.
The Home Office collects and publishes data annually on the number and proportion of police officers available for duty as at 31 March each year in the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales.
Table H1 of the data tables accompanying the publication provides the number and proportion of police officers available for duty, by Police Force Area, as at 31 March 2024. The number of police officers available for duty is calculated by excluding those on long-term absence (that has lasted for more than 28 calendar days). Long-term absence includes career breaks, compassionate leave, maternity or paternity leave, sickness, special leave, study leave and suspension.
The number of police officers available for duty includes police officers that are on recuperative (duties falling short of full deployment, undertaken by a police officer following an injury, accident, illness or medical incident) or adjusted (duties falling short of full deployment, in respect of which workplace adjustments have been made to overcome barriers to working) duties. The Home Office does not collect data on the reason for recuperative or adjusted duties.
Table W5 and W6 of the data tables accompanying the publication provide the number and proportion of police officers on recuperative and adjusted duties, by Police Force Area, as at 31 March 2024.
The Home Office does not collect data on officers that are non-deployable due to management restricted duties.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring the Jobcentre Plus to signpost people to digital inclusion services.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Jobcentre work coaches will consider the range of barriers faced by claimants to best support them into work and to progress in their careers. Digital inclusion is amongst the challenges that some claimants may experience and work coaches are encouraged to take action to address issues relating to poor digital skills and/or digital connectivity (access).
Where claimants have poor Essential Digital Skills, work coaches will consider referral to locally available skills provision to help them address these needs.
Where claimants are digitally excluded due to issues relating to access to digital equipment or connectivity, work coaches are able to use the Flexible Support Fund to procure devices, internet dongles, talk time, and broadband in the home on the basis that this will support labour market progression.
DWP has also ensured that all operational staff in Jobcentres, Universal Credit service centres, Pension Centres, and partnership managers who engage with claimants and stakeholders are able to signpost to information promoting broadband social tariffs.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that people diagnosed with autism are actively consulted on the support they require by (a) addressing healthcare barriers, (b) improving health outcomes and (c) implementing necessary adjustments in health services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidelines for autism highlight the importance of working in partnership with autistic people and, where appropriate, with their families, partners, and carers. The national framework and operational guidance for all-age autism assessment pathways, published by NHS England, set out what types of support autistic people may benefit from following diagnosis.
From 1 July 2022, service providers registered with the Care Quality Commission are required to ensure their staff receive learning disability and autism training appropriate to their role, as set out in the Health and Care Act 2022. To support this, we are rolling out the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism. Over 1.7 million people have now completed the e-learning module, which is the first part of the training.
To make it easier for autistic people to use health services, NHS England has mandated the use of a Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag in health records from April 2024. This shows where a disabled person needs a reasonable adjustment to their care. In addition, in June 2024, NHS England published a Health and Care Passport guidance and template. Owned by the individual, hospital passports aim to support personalised care for people with a learning disability and autistic people, enabling better informed clinical decisions and shared decision making.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure ADHD testing is accessible to children in Greater Manchester.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is currently considering next steps to improve access to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) services. It is the responsibility of integrated care boards to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including ADHD care pathways, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
We are supporting a taskforce that NHS England is establishing to look at ADHD service provision and its impact on patient experience. The taskforce will bring together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the National Health Service, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD and help provide a joined-up approach in response to concerns around rising demand.
NHS Greater Manchester advises that it has launched a public engagement exercise to gather views on improving children and young people’s ADHD services in Greater Manchester. The engagement exercise, which runs until 29 November 2024, seeks to address several issues including long wait times, levels of ongoing support for patients, the referral and assessment process, and how services vary across Greater Manchester.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure that people diagnosed with autism at the age of 30 or later receive comparable (a) support and (b) resources to people diagnosed in childhood; and what plans he has to tackle disparities in services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is currently considering next steps to improve support for autistic people of all ages. It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including support services for autistic people of all ages, in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. The NICE guideline, Autism spectrum disorder in adults: diagnosis and management, aims to improve access and engagement with interventions and services, and the experience of care, for autistic adults.
On 5 April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance to deliver improved outcomes in all-age autism assessment pathways. This guidance will help ICBs and the National Health Service to deliver improved outcomes for children, young people, and adults referred to an autism assessment service. The guidance sets out what support should be available before an assessment and what support should follow a recent diagnosis of autism based on the available evidence. This includes setting out specific considerations for developing post-diagnostic support for adults diagnosed as autistic.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to reduce waiting times for autism diagnosis; and what steps he is taking to improve access to diagnostic services for (a) children and (b) adults.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is currently considering next steps to improve diagnostic assessment and support for autistic people. It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including autism assessment and support services, in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
On 5 April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance to deliver improved outcomes in all-age autism assessment pathways. This guidance will help ICBs and the National Health Service to deliver improved outcomes for children, young people, and adults referred to an autism assessment service. The guidance also sets out what support should be available before an assessment and what support should follow a recent diagnosis of autism, based on the available evidence.
In 2024/25, £4.3 million is available nationally to improve services for autistic children and young people, including autism assessment services.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she plans to take to improve support for employers who hire people with autism.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Employers play a key role in increasing employment opportunities and supporting autistic people to thrive as part of the workforce. Our current support to employers includes the Disability Confident scheme and a digital information service for employers which offers tailored guidance on supporting health and disability in the workplace.
In our plan to Make Work Pay, we committed to raising awareness of neurodiversity in the workplace. Our forthcoming employment White Paper considers how to improve employment outcomes and experiences for disabled people and people with health conditions. We are exploring how we can build on the earlier, independent, Buckland Review which was focused more narrowly on autism and employment, to improve understanding and support for all neurodivergent people at work.