Asked by: Mike Hill (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many previously looked after children on a (a) special guardianship order, (b) child arrangements order and (c) residence order in each local authority area are in receipt of a pupil premium grant.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
We publish annual figures for the overall number of previously looked after children eligible for the pupil premium plus grant, in each local authority area at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-conditions-of-grant-2018-to-2019.
A breakdown of these figures is provided in the attached table showing the post looked after arrangements which children have left local authority care in England and Wales through either adoption, a special guardianship order, a residence order or a child arrangement order.
Asked by: Mike Hill (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance his Department provides to Directors of Children's Services to help them understand their responsibility to provide support services to kinship care families; and what monitoring his Department undertakes to measure the efficiency of those services nationally.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The government issued statutory guidance in 2011 for local authorities about supporting family and friends providing care for children who cannot live with their parents. The guidance makes it clear that children and young people should receive the support that they and their carers need to safeguard and promote their welfare. It explains that support can be provided under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989.
Local authorities are required to publish a policy setting out their approach to promoting and supporting the needs of all children living with family and friends as carers, regardless of their legal status. The department monitors whether local authorities are meeting this requirement and we have recently written to non-compliant local authorities to remind them of this duty and that the policy should be clear, regularly updated, and made freely and widely available.
Asked by: Mike Hill (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department plans to reduce beer duty.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The government keeps all taxes under review as part of the Budget process, and we will continue to evaluate all alcohol duties, including beer duty, to ensure they are fair and efficient.
This government remains clear in its support for consumers, pubs and breweries, and we have taken action to this end – meaning that the price of a pint of beer is 12p is lower than it otherwise would have been since 2013/14.
However, we cannot ignore the cost to the Exchequer of successive freezes – equal to over £4 billion since 2013/14. Any assessment of the merits of further freezes or cuts needs to consider the resulting reduction in funds available for vital public services.
Asked by: Mike Hill (Labour - Hartlepool)
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 cohesion between NHS Trust areas to ensure that patients who move to different NHS Trust areas do not lose access to services they previously received in other areas.
Answered by Steve Brine
NHS England has advised that in all cases, the originating clinical commissioning group (CCG) should liaise at the earliest opportunity with the receiving CCG to ensure continuity of healthcare and to agree appropriate transfers of funding. Where a patient moves during the course of treatment, every effort should be made to ensure continuity of care.
Guidance issued to CCGs sets out the framework for determining responsibility for payments to providers and responsibility for commissioning an individual's care within the National Health Service. The guidance can be found at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/who-pays.pdf
Asked by: Mike Hill (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when his Department plans to review the banding of domestic properties for the purpose of collecting council tax.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Leader of HM Official Opposition
The Government has no plans to undertake a council tax revaluation.
Asked by: Mike Hill (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the number of people in Hartlepool who use a blue badge.
Answered by Jesse Norman
As at 31 March 2016, 5,060 valid blue badges were held by organisations or individuals in Hartlepool.
Asked by: Mike Hill (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children in Hartlepool were eligible for free school meals before the introduction of universal credit.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Department does not differentiate between pupils eligible for free school meals under the pre-Universal Credit free school meals system and those that have become eligible since Universal Credit has been introduced. The number of pupils eligible for and claiming free school meals is published in the file “Underlying data: SFR28/2017” in the annual ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’ statistical release.
For 2017, the information is available at:
www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2017.
Information for earlier years is available at:
www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-and-pupil-numbers.
Asked by: Mike Hill (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that firearms licensing medical procedures are being (a) complied with and (b) promoted.
Answered by Nick Hurd
In accordance with arrangements introduced in 2016, the police write to the GPs of those who apply for a firearms licence to seek relevant information regarding the applicant’s medical and mental health before the licence is issued. We are working with the police, relevant medical bodies and others to understand whether these arrangements are working as intended or whether further measures are required to ensure that we have consistent arrangements across the country.
The Policing and Crime Act 2017 provides the Secretary of State with the power to issue statutory guidance to the police on their firearms licensing functions, including guidance on these medical arrangements. We intend to consult on this guidance before it is finalised.
Asked by: Mike Hill (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the status is of the proposal to create a national infrastructure police force; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Government continues to consider the feasibility, benefits and risks of creating a national infrastructure police force. As this work continues, the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, Ministry of Defence Police and the British Transport Police continue to work together and in collaboration with territorial forces to optimise the protection of the public and our critical infrastructure.
Asked by: Mike Hill (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will take steps to provide (a) financial and (b) other support for Hartlepool United; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
The Government does not provide financial assistance to professional sports clubs. I am however encouraged by the steps the community, fans and other stakeholders are taking to safeguard the future of Hartlepool United FC, and welcome the advice that Supporters Direct are providing.