Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure children in foster care are provided access to mental health support.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Children in foster care should be provided with access to mental health support at home and at school.
The National Minimum Standards for fostering sets out that children should ‘live in a healthy environment where their physical, emotional and psychological health is promoted.’
Children should have prompt access to doctors and other health professionals, including specialist services, when they need these services.
The government is committed to providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school by expanding Mental Health Support Teams.
Alongside the Department of Health and Social Care, the department is reviewing and updating current statutory guidance on promoting the health and wellbeing of children in care.
As part of the statutory guidance review, we are considering what changes are needed to better ensure that children in care, including those in foster care, and care leavers receive the necessary support for their mental health and wellbeing.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals achieved a grade 5 or above in English and Maths GCSEs in the 2024-25 academic year .
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The data for the 2024/25 academic year is not yet available and is intended for release in October 2025, when it will be available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/key-stage-4-performance/.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to protect nurseries from measles outbreaks; what support he is providing to the early years sector to deal with cases; and whether he plans to introduce a public health awareness campaign on measles.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the National Health Service are working with local partners to provide advice, as well as supporting local communities to be aware of actions they can take to protect against measles, including by getting vaccinated. Vaccination has a direct positive impact on health and wellbeing, protecting individuals as well as their communities. Vaccination induces long-term immunity and thereby provides protection to that individual and reduces transmission to others.
UKHSA health protection teams support cluster and outbreak management. Further advice is available at the following link:
NHS England continues to deliver national and regional improvement plans. These include activities to strengthen the routine vaccination offer and to address inequalities, supporting measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) catch up vaccination by school age vaccination services in schools and community settings.
The UKHSA, NHS England, and the Department will launch a new ‘always on’ vaccination campaign this summer to drive increased take up of the routine maternal, childhood, and seasonal flu vaccinations. The MMR vaccine is a particular focus, with parents and carers of zero- to five-year-olds and pregnant women being two of the priority audiences for campaign activity.
NHS England has provided detailed information for parents whose children have contracted measles, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/measles/
The Department for Education also provides advice to parents, which is available at the following link:
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support (a) children experiencing Emotionally Based School Avoidance and (b) their families.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Tackling absence is at the heart of the government’s mission to break down the barriers to opportunity. However, we recognise that some pupils face barriers to attendance, such as those who have mental health conditions, or who have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
To tackle these issues our statutory guidance, ‘Working together to improve school attendance’, sets out a ‘support first’ approach. Specific guidance for schools on mental health and attendance has also been published, and the department is committed to providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school. This guidance is accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-health-issues-affecting-a-pupils-attendance-guidance-for-schools.
Six in ten pupils will have access to a mental health support team by March 2026 and, under government plans, all pupils will have access to mental health support in school by 2029/30.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the level of funding for International Climate Finance to support countries in the Global South in tackling climate change.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Honourable Member to the answer provided on 21 July to Question 66691.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children were referred to the Prevent duty in schools in the last 12 months; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of referrals on (a) ethnic minority pupils, (b) neurodiverse pupils, (c) teaching staff and (d) safeguarding responsibilities.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Annual Prevent Programme statistics are published by the Home Office each year and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/individuals-referred-to-prevent-to-march-2024.
The education sector, in the year ending 31 March 2024, made 2,788 referrals.
The department publishes comprehensive advice and made a range of resources freely available on our Educate Against Hate website to support teachers in protecting children from extremism and radicalisation. We also have a team of regional co-ordinators who work directly with education institutions in England to provide advice, support and training to ensure providers are well equipped to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of breeding brachycephalic animals on animal welfare; and what steps her Department is taking to raise public awareness of health issues faced by those animals.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
To provide a detailed scientific view on the range of issues faced by breeding dogs and cats, the Department commissioned two independent Opinions from the Animal Welfare Committee (AWC). One Opinion assessed the welfare implications of specialised canine reproductive practices, and one on the welfare implications of current and emergent feline breeding practices. The Government welcomes the AWC’s Opinions and is carefully considering their recommendations.
Defra also supports the work of the UK Brachycephalic Working Group which is comprised of academia, the veterinary profession and leading animal charities.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for applications to the Access to Work grant.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As set out in the Green Paper, we are reforming Access to Work to improve the scheme so that it helps more disabled people into and on in work. We are committed to reducing waiting times for claims and we prioritise customers starting a job in four weeks. Nevertheless, Access to Work is demand-led and tailored to the needs of each customer.
We are continuing to streamline delivery practices and have increased the number of staff processing claims. Since May 2024, 118 additional staff have been redeployed to support Access to Work.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the support available to (a) families and (b) carers of people with frontotemporal dementia.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the vital role of families and unpaid carers and is committed to improving dementia care and ensuring carers have the support they need.
Under the 10 Year Health Plan, those living with dementia will benefit from improved care planning and better services. We will deliver the first ever Modern Service Framework for Frailty and Dementia to deliver rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity.
To support carers, we are equipping and supporting carers by making them more visible, empowering their voices in care planning, joining up services, and streamlining their caring tasks by introducing a new ‘MyCarer’ section to the NHS App. The Government is also reviewing the implementation of carer’s leave and the potential benefits of introducing paid leave.
From 7 April, the Carer's Allowance weekly earnings limit increased from £151 to £196, the largest rise since its introduction. Local authorities, under the Care Act 2014, have a duty to provide high-quality, sustainable support services for carers.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve training for health and social care staff in supporting patients with frontotemporal dementia.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Our health system has struggled to support those with complex needs, including those with dementia. Under the 10 Year Health Plan, those living with dementia will benefit from improved care planning and better services.
We will deliver the first ever Modern Service Framework for Frailty and Dementia to deliver rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity. This will be informed by phase one of the independent commission into adult social care, expected in 2026.
The Modern Service Framework for Frailty and Dementia will seek to reduce unwarranted variation and narrow inequality for those living with dementia; it will set national standards for dementia care and redirect National Health Service priorities to provide the best possible care and support.
We want all health and care staff to have received appropriate training to provide high quality care to people with dementia. Employers in the health system are responsible for ensuring that their staff are trained to the required standards to deliver appropriate treatment for patients. The required training needs are set out in the Dementia Training Standards Framework, which is available through Skills for Health.
In January, we announced that the Care Workforce Pathway will expand to further support opportunities for career progression and development.
The Care Workforce pathway is designed to be a foundation which will enable individuals to develop a ‘portable portfolio’ of skills attained both through learning programmes and practical experience within a range of care services, such as learning disabilities, autism or dementia.