Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Government has sold arms to Israel since 1 April 2024.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The UK government has not sold arms to Israel since 1 April 2024.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the origin of (a) munitions and (b) hardware used by the Israel Defence Force in the drone strikes that killed World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza on 1 April 2024.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Government is carefully reviewing Israel’s Fact Finding and Assessment Mechanism (FFAM)’s initial findings of their investigations into the killing of World Central Kitchen aid workers and welcome the suspension of two officers as a first step. The findings of the investigation must be published in full and followed up with a wholly independent review to ensure the utmost transparency and accountability.
We continue to monitor the situation in Israel and Gaza closely but are not commenting on specific licences.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Royal Air Force flights have travelled to Israel (a) since October 7 2023 and (b) between October 2022 and October 2023.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
There have been 59 Royal Air Force aircraft that have travelled to Israel from 7 October 2023 to 9 May 2024. There were 15 Royal Air Force flights to Israel from October 2022 to October 2023.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the purpose of UK military flights travelling to Israel since 7 October 2023 has been.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
Royal Air Force operated planes travelling to Israel since 7 October 2023 have been used by Ministers, officials and UK Armed Forces personnel conducting diplomatic and defence engagement, and to transport life-saving medical supplies.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether armed forces personnel have been deployed in Gaza since 7 October 2023.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
No UK Armed Forces personnel have been on the ground in Gaza in any capacity since 7 October 2023.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the impact of sewage discharges into waterways on the health of those using the waterways for water sports between 2019 and 2024.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is responsible for detecting, investigating and managing outbreaks of infectious diseases including those linked to water sports. They have not made a specific assessment about the impact of sewage discharges into waterways on the health of those using waterways for water sports between 2019 and 2024.
However, the Government takes the health of users of our waterways very seriously and is clear that the current volume of sewage being discharged to our waters is unacceptable. Our Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan will eliminate ecological harm from all storm overflows by 2050. It also requires all storm overflows discharging to designated bathing waters to be improved by 2035.
Where a waterway is a designated bathing site, information about the quality of the water is displayed by local authorities on signage and online on the Environment Agency’s Swimfo website, to allow bathers to make informed decisions before entering the water.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the findings of the study funded by the Nuffield Foundation entitled A generation at risk: Rebalancing education in the post-pandemic era, published in April 2024.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Predicting GCSE results is very difficult as there are many drivers that can interact in unforeseen ways. However, as the Nuffield Foundation’s report indicates, the pandemic deprived children of the advantages of studying together within the safety and support of their schools.
The pandemic created a unique challenge for teachers, staff, students and families. Minimising its impact on education and tackling the challenges has been the department’s priority from the start. Almost £5 billion was made available specifically for education recovery, with support focussed on those who needed it most, while giving education providers as much flexibility as possible to tailor-make help for their own circumstances. This includes the National Tutoring Programme (NTP), which focuses on disadvantaged pupils and those who have fallen behind, and has seen nearly five million tutoring courses start since it launched in November 2020.
The department knows that disadvantaged children and pupils with a special educational need or disability were disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. The department continues to take a range of steps to give priority support and deliver programmes to help them, including improving the quality of teaching and curriculum resources, strengthening the school system and providing targeted support where needed. The department is also supporting disadvantaged pupils through the pupil premium, which is rising to almost £2.9 billion in 2024/25, which is the highest in cash terms since this funding began.
Further to this, latest results from 2023 show that over 45% of pupils sitting GCSEs achieved a grade 5 or higher in both English and mathematics, which is an increase of more than two percentage points compared with pre-pandemic 2019 levels and almost three percentage points when compared with 2017.
England recently came fourth in primary reading out of 43 countries which tested pupils of the same age in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS). Despite disruption from the pandemic, England’s score remained stable and well above the international and European averages.
Furthermore, the department has committed to making schools safe, calm and supportive environments, which promote and support mental wellbeing alongside delivering an excellent education.
Enrichment activities can deepen children’s in-school experience while supporting them to develop their socio-emotional skills. The department is now delivering the vision set out in its Schools White Paper, which states that every child and young person will have access to high-quality extra-curricular provision, including an entitlement to take part in sport, music and cultural opportunities.
Monitoring and measuring wellbeing in schools strengthens this, which is why the department’s guidance on promoting a whole-school approach to pupil wellbeing includes this as one of its eight key principles. You can find out more here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/614cc965d3bf7f718518029c/Promoting_children_and_young_people_s_mental_health_and_wellbeing.pdf.
The department is supporting all state schools and colleges with a grant to train a senior mental health lead. To date 15,100 settings have claimed a grant so far, including more than 7 in 10 state-funded secondary schools.
Intervening early is critical. To expand access to early mental health support, the department is continuing to roll out Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) to schools and colleges. MHSTs deliver evidence-based interventions for mild to moderate mental health issues, support the senior mental health lead (where established) in each school or college to introduce or develop whole school or college approaches and give timely advice to school and college staff, and liaise with external specialist services, to help children and young people get the right support to stay in education. The department is extending coverage of MHSTs to cover at least 50% by the end of March 2025.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the impact of sewage discharges into waterways on wildlife in those waterways between 2019 and 2024.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency produces a full set of water body classifications covering every water body in England every six years, with the last full assessment in 2019. To supplement this, last year the Environment Agency published a limited data set which assessed data from 2019 to 2022 to help inform delivery. The next full assessment will be produced in 2025.
Environment Agency data shows that the pollutants that harm wildlife discharged by sewage treatment works are greatly reduced. For example, there is now 85% less ammonia and 80% less phosphorus in the water environment than there was in 1990.
However, the Government is clear that the sector needs to go further and faster to tackle sewage discharges and the harm they cause. The government's Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan will eliminate ecological harm from all storm sewage discharges by 2050. It will protect biodiversity, the ecology of our rivers and seas, and the public health of our water users for generations to come.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an estimate of the number of British National Overseas visa holders that are unable to access student finance.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
Under the existing student support regulations, Hong Kong British National Overseas (BNO) visa holders would not have access to student finance until they have acquired a settled status in the UK and meet the three-year ordinary residence requirement. As the BNO route only opened in January 2021, the earliest a person is likely to become settled (and have access student finance) is in January 2026. As such, all persons who have been granted leave under the BNO route, are not currently able to access student finance.
Home Office statistics show that 140,300 people have arrived in the UK on the scheme since it began. However, not all of these people will go on to study in higher education.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an estimate of the average increase in monthly private rent in Warwick and Leamington constituency in the period between 2022 and 2023.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Rental data at constituency level is not held centrally.