Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of granting Home Fee status to Hong Kongers under the British National (Overseas) Visa Scheme after three years’ residency in the UK before the start of the spring term in 2025.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Generally, to qualify for higher education (HE) student support and home fee status in England, a person must have settled status and have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for the three years preceding the first day of the first academic year of their course. There are exceptions to this for persons who have been granted international protection by the Home Office. This includes persons granted refugee status, humanitarian protection, or leave under one of the Afghan or Ukraine schemes.

The creation of a bespoke immigration route for Hong Kong British National (Overseas)’s (BN(O)) reflects the unique and unprecedented circumstances in Hong Kong and the UK’s historic and moral commitment to BN(O) citizens. The BN(O) route is not a form of international protection and is not, therefore, comparable to the Afghan and Ukraine schemes. However, it remains open to a Hong Kong BN(O) to apply for refugee status or humanitarian protection should they believe they qualify.

There are no plans to extend HE student support and home fee status to Hong Kong BN(O)s before they are settled in the UK.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make a comparative assessment of the (a) tuition fee status and (b) student financing arrangements for students under the (i) Ukraine and (ii) Afghanistan humanitarian visa schemes and (iii) the British National (Overseas) visa scheme.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Generally, to qualify for higher education (HE) student support and home fee status in England, a person must have settled status and have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for the three years preceding the first day of the first academic year of their course. There are exceptions to this for persons who have been granted international protection by the Home Office. This includes persons granted refugee status, humanitarian protection, or leave under one of the Afghan or Ukraine schemes.

The creation of a bespoke immigration route for Hong Kong British National (Overseas)’s (BN(O)) reflects the unique and unprecedented circumstances in Hong Kong and the UK’s historic and moral commitment to BN(O) citizens. The BN(O) route is not a form of international protection and is not, therefore, comparable to the Afghan and Ukraine schemes. However, it remains open to a Hong Kong BN(O) to apply for refugee status or humanitarian protection should they believe they qualify.

There are no plans to extend HE student support and home fee status to Hong Kong BN(O)s before they are settled in the UK.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to review the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence's decision not to recommend Ruxolitinib for use within NHS England for the treatment of vitiligo.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently developing guidance for the National Health Service on whether ruxolitinib should be routinely funded by the NHS, based on an assessment of its costs and benefits.

The NICE was unfortunately unable to recommend ruxolitinib as a clinically and cost-effective use of NHS resources in its final draft guidance published on 18 July. The NICE received four appeals against its draft recommendation which were heard by an independent panel on 11 October 2024. If any of the appeals are upheld, the NICE’s appraisal committee will reconsider its recommendations in light of the appeal panel’s decision.

It is right that the NICE makes its decisions at arm’s length of the Government and in line with its carefully developed methods and processes. As such, it would not be appropriate for ministers to intervene in the NICE’s decision-making.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle school absences among young carers.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department wants to ensure that young carers have the best life chances by supporting them in their education. The department recognises that absence from school is almost always a symptom of wider needs and barriers that a family are facing. It is often also the best early indication of need in a family that may not be in contact with other services.

The department’s expectations of local authorities and schools, as set out in the ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance, were made statutory on 19 August 2024. The ‘support first’ ethos of the attendance guidance is that pupils and families, including young carers, should receive holistic, whole-family support to help them overcome the barriers to attendance they are facing. This includes holding regular meetings with the families of pupils who the school, and/or local authority, consider to be vulnerable to discuss attendance and engagement at school. Schools are expected to recognise that absence is a symptom and that improving pupil’s attendance is part of supporting the pupil’s overall welfare.

Young carers are also now part of the school census, which will improve their visibility in the school system, allowing schools to better identify and support their young carers. This will provide an annual data collection to establish long term trends. Separately, the department also publishes daily attendance data fortnightly and will continue to monitor the quality of data on young carers that is collected via the school register for consideration to include in the daily data collection in the future.

Schools can also use pupil premium funding to support other pupils with identified needs, including young carers. Pupil premium funding has increased to over £2.9 billion for the 2024/25 financial year.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help tackle (a) moped and (b) illegal e-bike related crimes.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

This government is determined to crack down on snatch theft and other crimes, including those facilitated by mopeds and e-bikes, that make people feel unsafe in our communities.

We are committed to strengthening neighbourhood policing, recruiting and putting thousands of additional officers back on the beast to provide a visible presence in our communities, and tackle all forms of street crime.

Tackling the market for stolen goods and making these crimes less attractive to commit in the first place, is a key part of our approach. As announced last month, the Home Office is engaging with tech companies to see what more can be done to break the business model of mobile phone thieves.

The police may, when appropriate, pursue mopeds and e-bikes, and may employ tactical options to bring the vehicle to a stop. The College of Policing Authorised Professional Practice (APP) on Roads Policing Police Pursuits provides guidance for police pursuits.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has had discussions with the Mayor of London on levels of noise pollution on the London Underground.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Secretary of State has not had discussions with the Mayor of London specifically on levels of noise pollution on the London Underground. Ministers and officials have regular conversations with Transport for London on a variety of issues. However, transport in London is devolved to the Mayor, and TfL is responsible for the operation of London’s transport network.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to extend the HS2 terminus from Old Oak Common to London Euston.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The government is reviewing the position it has inherited on HS2 and will set out detailed plans in due course.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the average change in (a) stroke and (b) heart attack ambulance waiting times as a result of the London drop and go ambulance policy.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department does not hold the information requested. Category 2 ambulance calls are emergency responses, which can include serious time-sensitive incidents such as strokes and heart attacks. The following table shows the national and London Ambulance Service NHS Trust (LAS) Category 2 response times, displayed in minutes and seconds, for September 2024:

Source: The data is published by NHS England, and is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ambulance-quality-indicators/

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to improve support to victims of stalking.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

This Government is fully committed to tackling stalking as part of our ambition to halve violence against women and girls in a decade.

Achieving this will require a dramatic improvement in the policing and criminal justice response to these crimes, including stalking. improving the police and wider criminal justice response and sustained support for victims.

To start that work, we have committed to giving women the right to know the identity of online stalkers and to strengthening the use of Stalking Protection Orders, and will set out further action on stalking in the coming weeks.

In addition, to help ensure support for victims, the Home Office part-funds the National Stalking Helpline, run by the Suzy Lamplugh Trust.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure police officers are more able to (a) identify and (b) respond to stalking crimes.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

This Government is fully committed to tackling stalking as part of our ambition to halve violence against women and girls in a decade.

Achieving this will require a dramatic improvement in the policing and criminal justice response to these crimes, including stalking. improving the police and wider criminal justice response and sustained support for victims.

To start that work, we have committed to giving women the right to know the identity of online stalkers and to strengthening the use of Stalking Protection Orders, and will set out further action on stalking in the coming weeks.

In addition, to help ensure support for victims, the Home Office part-funds the National Stalking Helpline, run by the Suzy Lamplugh Trust.

Ban trophy hunting imports

National Engineering Day 2024

Social care workers and National Insurance

Establishment of the Women’s Caucus in Westminster

UN Special Rapporteur's report on atrocity crimes in Iran

Israeli Knesset decision to ban UNRWA

Veterans and the Winter Fuel Payment

Immediate ceasefire in Lebanon

Conflict in the Middle East

Peace in the Middle East

Voter identification

UK arms exports to Israel

Tall ship Tenacious

Restoration of Hammersmith Bridge