Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve rail services.
Answered by Huw Merriman
We are delivering a simpler and better railway. In advance of legislation to establish Great British Railways, we have reorganised the Department of Transport with the creation of an integrated Rail Services Group. This group brings together most of the Passenger Services Group and the Rail Infrastructure Group. This single team, focussed on the day-to-day operational performance of the railway, will pave the way to an integrated rail body.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will list the teacher recruitment and retention schemes that have received notice that funding will be (a) reduced and (b) ended since 1 January 2024.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
England currently has the highest number of teachers on record. At the last count there were over 468,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state-funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.
To make sure the department’s teacher recruitment and retention efforts are focussed on where they are needed most and providing best value for taxpayers’ money, the department has made some changes to funding allocations. Since January 2024, notice of changes to funding has been sent to the following teacher recruitment and retention partners:
Since January 2024, notice of non-renewal of funding has been sent to:
The department has put in place a range of measures, including bursaries that are worth £28,000 tax-free and scholarships that are £30,000 tax-free, to encourage talented trainees to key subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing. The ITT financial incentives package for the 2024/25 recruitment cycle is worth up to £196 million, which is a £15 million increase on the last cycle.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of HMRC sending (a) paper self-assessment tax returns to people who complete their tax returns online for the 2023-24 financial year and (b) correction letters to those people.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston
HMRC are aware that some customers who normally file their Self Assessment (SA) tax returns online have received a paper SA. These were sent in error, and customers who were expecting to file online should continue to do so. HMRC have written to everyone affected to apologise for the confusion and to reassure them that they do not need to take any action other than to file their return, which they can still do online, by the 31st January 2025.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many paper self-assessment tax returns were erroneously dispatched by HMRC to people who normally complete their self-assessment tax returns online in financial year 2023-24.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston
HMRC are aware that some customers who normally file their Self Assessment (SA) tax returns online have received a paper SA. These were sent in error, and customers who were expecting to file online should continue to do so. HMRC have written to everyone affected to apologise for the confusion and to reassure them that they do not need to take any action other than to file their return, which they can still do online, by the 31st January 2025.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment her Department has made of the viability of the universal service obligation; and if she will hold discussions with the Leader of the House on making parliamentary time to debate the universal service obligation.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
The Government’s objective continues to be ensuring the provision of a sustainable, accessible, and affordable universal postal service. It is the responsibility of Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, to ensure the provision of a financially sustainable and efficient universal postal service.
Ofcom recently published a discussion document setting out potential options to reform the service, to ensure it remains affordable and sustainable in the future as well as meeting consumers’ needs. The Government will consider any recommendations that Ofcom puts forward, but Ministers are not currently minded to introduce new legislation to change the obligations on postal deliveries.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the shortage of ADHD medication on students during the upcoming exam season; and whether her Department has had discussions with (a) examination boards and (b) schools on mitigation measures.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
The department is aware of the current difficulties some students are facing in obtaining medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The department has not held discussions with examination boards specific to this.
There are established arrangements in place that schools and colleges will be familiar with, which should be used to arrange any reasonable adjustments or access arrangements for students with disabilities.
The Equality Act 2010 requires examination boards to make reasonable adjustments where a disabled person would be at a substantial disadvantage in undertaking an assessment. Reasonable adjustments are changes made to exams or assessments, or to the way they are conducted, to mitigate the risk that a disabled person would be at a substantial disadvantage in undertaking an assessment. They are needed because some disabilities can make it harder for students to show what they know, understand and can do in an assessment, than it would be had the student not been disabled. The exam or assessment must still test the same knowledge, skills and understanding for that qualification.
If a student’s need has changed or they need a reasonable adjustment that has not been applied for, the school or college should contact the relevant awarding organisation as soon as possible.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's data release Pupil absence in schools in England, published on 21 March 2024, how many children were subject to a (a) special guardianship and (b) child arrangements order by (i), age (ii) ethnicity and (iii) local authority in 2022/23.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
Data on pupils who have ceased to be looked after and are subject to a Special Guardianship Order (SGO) or Child Arrangements Order (CAO) by age, ethnicity and local authority in England in the 2022/23 academic year is attached. The information is taken from the school census, where children are reported as having previously left care due to adoption, a SGO or a CAO only if their parents or carers have declared this information to the school. Therefore, the data is reliant on self-declaration from parents and is partial rather than a full count.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
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 it his policy to facilitate greater involvement of architects in the development stage of new housing schemes.
Answered by Lee Rowley
National planning policy makes clear that local authorities should prepare their own local design codes in line with the principles set out in the National Design Guide and National Model Design Code, which can define what well-designed new development means in their local area.
The NPPF and supporting National Design Guide and National Model Design Code emphasise that effective engagement between local authorities, communities, applicants and other interests, such as architects, throughout the design process, including the preparation of design codes, is helpful to achieving well designed and sustainable new development.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure standards of (a) quality and (b) sustainability in new housing developments.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The Government legislated through the Building Safety Act 2022 to provide for a statutory New Homes Ombudsman and accompanying Code of Practice that set out expectations of scheme members around standards of conduct and standards of quality of work.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the number of schools that recorded zero young carers in their most recent school census return; and what steps her Department is taking to improve the identification of young carers in schools.
Answered by David Johnston
The most recent published census data on young carers is from January 2023, and can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics/2022-23.
You can find the number of young carers in each school in column JF of the school level underlying data file – see ‘School level underlying data - 2022/23 (csv, 22 Mb)’ under the heading ‘Additional supporting files’. 17,093 of the total 21,642 state-funded schools recorded no young carers. Statistics from the January 2024 school census will be published in June.
As this is a new data collection, the department expects the quality of the data returns to improve over time as the collection becomes established. All schools, except nursery schools, must send this information as part of the Spring school census. However, the recording and handling of the information is at the school’s discretion. In 2023, 79% of schools recorded no young carers.
Young carers make an enormous contribution in caring for their loved ones. The department wants to ensure that they are supported in their education and can take advantage of opportunities beyond their caring responsibilities.
The department added young carers to the annual school census in 2023, raising the visibility of young carers in the school system and, in time, providing the department with hard evidence on both the numbers of young carers and their educational outcomes.
The department will be incorporating young carers in the school-level annual school census for independent schools from early 2024 to ensure parity with the school census, which further builds on the department’s data on young carers across the school system.
The government has published information on how and where young carers can get help and support, encouraging them to speak to someone they trust at their school or college, like a teacher or school nurse, about their caring responsibilities and how this might affect them. As set out in ‘Keeping children safe in education’, the department require Designated Safeguarding Leads to undergo training to provide them with the knowledge and skills to carry out their role, which includes having a good understanding of, and alertness to, the needs of young carers. The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2.