Asked by: Nick Fletcher (Conservative - Don Valley)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, pursuant to the Written Statement of 23 May 2022, Official Report, HCWS47, on Review of legislative drafting, whether the Guide to Gender-Neutral Drafting published in 2019 by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel and the Government Legal Department has been withdrawn.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Office of the Parliamentary Counsel will publish its revised drafting guidance on GOV.UK in due course, and a copy will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses. This guidance will reflect the Government’s position as set out in the Written Statement of 23 May 2022, Official Report, HCWS47.
The 2019 Guide to Gender-Neutral Drafting is not a Government publication. It was produced for an external seminar, and although based on guidance of the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, it was not published by them. Stonewall was not consulted in relation to either publication.
Asked by: Nick Fletcher (Conservative - Don Valley)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, whether Stonewall was consulted on the drafting of the Guide to Gender-Neutral Drafting published by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel and the Government Legal Department in 2019.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Office of the Parliamentary Counsel will publish its revised drafting guidance on GOV.UK in due course, and a copy will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses. This guidance will reflect the Government’s position as set out in the Written Statement of 23 May 2022, Official Report, HCWS47.
The 2019 Guide to Gender-Neutral Drafting is not a Government publication. It was produced for an external seminar, and although based on guidance of the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, it was not published by them. Stonewall was not consulted in relation to either publication.
Asked by: Nick Fletcher (Conservative - Don Valley)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, with reference to the Written Statement of 23 May 2022, Official Report, HCWS47, on Review of legislative drafting, whether the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel's revised drafting guidance has been approved by Ministers; and whether she plans to place a copy of the approved guidance in the Library of the House.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Office of the Parliamentary Counsel will publish its revised drafting guidance on GOV.UK in due course, and a copy will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses. This guidance will reflect the Government’s position as set out in the Written Statement of 23 May 2022, Official Report, HCWS47.
The 2019 Guide to Gender-Neutral Drafting is not a Government publication. It was produced for an external seminar, and although based on guidance of the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, it was not published by them. Stonewall was not consulted in relation to either publication.
Asked by: Nick Fletcher (Conservative - Don Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to ensure that the Independent Advisory Panel for the DfE Review of the RSHE Statutory Guidance engages adequately with (a) schools and (b) parents as set out in the terms of reference published on 31 May 2023, in the context of the announcement that it will conclude its work by September 2023 and of the school summer holidays which will take place from late July to September.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is providing dedicated secretariat support to service all aspects of the Panel’s work, including the identification of further experts and stakeholders for the Panel to engage with. The Department expects the Panel to report back regularly.
The Department expects that any engagement with schools undertaken by the Panel will be prioritised to ensure relevant activity takes place before the school holidays. The Department has already engaged with parent groups as part of the review and will facilitate their engagement with the Panel.
The terms of reference stipulate that the Panel will identify the topics within the relationships, sex and health education curriculum which would benefit from age limits. The Panel will bring together expertise on health, teaching, curriculum development, and safeguarding. It will advise on the application of suitable age limits for some topics to ensure pupils are protected from inappropriate concepts they are too young to understand. In doing so, it will draw on wider expertise on specific matters. The Panel will be independent and make its own recommendations to the Secretary of State for Education on age restrictions, including whether some topics are unsuitable. It will be for the Panel to determine what topics they wish to look at and whether they deem further work is necessary.
Asked by: Nick Fletcher (Conservative - Don Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the terms of reference entitled Terms of Reference: Independent Advisory Panel to inform the DfE Review of the RSHE Statutory Guidance, published on 31 May 2023, whether the independent advisory panel will be restricted to advising only on age restrictions for each topic.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is providing dedicated secretariat support to service all aspects of the Panel’s work, including the identification of further experts and stakeholders for the Panel to engage with. The Department expects the Panel to report back regularly.
The Department expects that any engagement with schools undertaken by the Panel will be prioritised to ensure relevant activity takes place before the school holidays. The Department has already engaged with parent groups as part of the review and will facilitate their engagement with the Panel.
The terms of reference stipulate that the Panel will identify the topics within the relationships, sex and health education curriculum which would benefit from age limits. The Panel will bring together expertise on health, teaching, curriculum development, and safeguarding. It will advise on the application of suitable age limits for some topics to ensure pupils are protected from inappropriate concepts they are too young to understand. In doing so, it will draw on wider expertise on specific matters. The Panel will be independent and make its own recommendations to the Secretary of State for Education on age restrictions, including whether some topics are unsuitable. It will be for the Panel to determine what topics they wish to look at and whether they deem further work is necessary.
Asked by: Nick Fletcher (Conservative - Don Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing parents who do not wish to use the 30 hours of free childcare with grants to pay for relatives and friends to look after their children.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
In the Spring Budget 2023, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced transformative reforms to childcare for parents, children and the economy. By 2027/28, the government will expect to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year on free hours and early education, helping working families with their childcare costs. This represents the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever.
As set out in the Childcare Act 2006, the definition of ‘childcare’ excludes care provided for a child by a parent or other relative. The government has no current plans to extend the definition of childcare to include relatives. Friends or acquaintances known to the parent can receive government funding, but they must be registered childcare providers.
Parents who are eligible for Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) or Universal Credit (UC) Childcare can use it to pay for any childcare provision registered with Ofsted or a childminder agency. If a relative registers as a childminder and cares for a related child outside the child’s own home, or registers as a nanny and cares for a related child inside the child's own home, that childminder or nanny can qualify for TFC or UC.
As part of the government’s biggest ever expansion to childcare provision, low-income families will be able to access increased childcare support worth a total of £900 million from 28 June 2023.
Later this month, the Department for Work and Pensions will raise the amount that parents in Great Britain can claim back monthly for their childcare costs on Universal Credit, up to £951 for one child and £1,630 for two or more children. This is a rise of 47% from the previous limits of £646 for one child or £1,108 for two or more children.
At the same time, the government will help eligible parents to cover the costs of the first month of childcare when they enter work or significantly increase their hours, removing one of the most significant barriers to parents working and helping to grow the economy.
Those parents will also receive up to 85% of their childcare costs back before their next month’s bills are due. This means they should have money to pay for childcare one month in advance going forward.
The government is also supporting families by providing additional cost of living payments of up to £900 for households on eligible means-tested benefits. Over 6 million people across the UK on eligible ‘extra-costs’ disability benefits will receive a further £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment during summer 2023/24, to help with the additional costs they face.
UC improves incentives for parents to enter work. Claimants with children are entitled to a work allowance which is an amount they can earn before their benefit is affected. Once earnings are above their work allowance, a single taper is applied. This ensures their UC reduces gradually as their earnings increase.
The government has consistently said that the best way to support people’s living standards is through good work, better skills and higher wages. To that end, the UC taper rate was reduced from 24 November 2021 from 63% to 55%, meaning that claimants can keep more of their earnings. At the same time, we also increased the work allowance by £500 a year, in addition to the normal benefits uprating.
State Pensions, benefits, and statutory payments have been increased in line with the Consumer Prices Index for the year to September 2022, which was 10.1%. These increases took effect from April 2023.
The government is committed to protecting vulnerable claimants by providing a last resort repayment method for arrears of essential services. The government recognises the importance of safeguarding the welfare of claimants who have incurred debt.
Asked by: Nick Fletcher (Conservative - Don Valley)
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 giving stay at home parents the same level of funding as that provided to working parents of all children over the age of nine months to access 30 hours of free childcare.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
In the Spring Budget 2023, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced transformative reforms to childcare for parents, children and the economy. By 2027/28, the government will expect to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year on free hours and early education, helping working families with their childcare costs. This represents the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever.
As set out in the Childcare Act 2006, the definition of ‘childcare’ excludes care provided for a child by a parent or other relative. The government has no current plans to extend the definition of childcare to include relatives. Friends or acquaintances known to the parent can receive government funding, but they must be registered childcare providers.
As part of the government’s biggest ever expansion to childcare provision, low-income families will be able to access increased childcare support worth a total of £900 million from 28 June 2023.
Later this month, the Department for Work and Pensions will raise the amount that parents in Great Britain can claim back monthly for their childcare costs on Universal Credit, up to £951 for one child and £1,630 for two or more children. This is a rise of 47% from the previous limits of £646 for one child or £1,108 for two or more children.
At the same time, the government will help eligible parents to cover the costs of the first month of childcare when they enter work or significantly increase their hours, removing one of the most significant barriers to parents working and helping to grow the economy.
Those parents will also receive up to 85% of their childcare costs back before their next month’s bills are due. This means they should have money to pay for childcare one month in advance going forward.
The government is also supporting families by providing additional cost of living payments of up to £900 for households on eligible means-tested benefits. Over 6 million people across the UK on eligible ‘extra-costs’ disability benefits will receive a further £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment during summer 2023/24, to help with the additional costs they face.
Universal Credit (UC) improves incentives for parents to enter work. Claimants with children are entitled to a work allowance which is an amount they can earn before their benefit is affected. Once earnings are above their work allowance, a single taper is applied. This ensures their UC reduces gradually as their earnings increase.
The government has consistently said that the best way to support people’s living standards is through good work, better skills and higher wages. To that end, the UC taper rate was reduced from 24 November 2021 from 63% to 55%, meaning that claimants can keep more of their earnings. At the same time, we also increased the work allowance by £500 a year, in addition to the normal benefits uprating.
State Pensions, benefits, and statutory payments have been increased in line with the Consumer Prices Index for the year to September 2022, which was 10.1%. These increases took effect from April 2023.
The government is committed to protecting vulnerable claimants by providing a last resort repayment method for arrears of essential services. The government recognises the importance of safeguarding the welfare of claimants who have incurred debt.
Asked by: Nick Fletcher (Conservative - Don Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the remit of her Department's review into relationships, sex and health education will include a consideration of whether parents with children at (a) primary and (b) secondary schools should have the option of withdrawing their children from all relationships, health and sex education lessons.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The right to withdraw is set out in the Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education (England) Regulations 2019. The review announced by the Department in March 2023 will be focused on the content of the statutory relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) guidance. The Department has no current plans to revisit the legislation.
The Department remains committed to ensuring that all pupils receive age appropriate RSHE to support their wellbeing and attainment and helping them to become successful adults who make a meaningful contribution to society.
As part of the review, the Department is setting up an independent panel of experts to advise on what can be done to ensure that what is taught is appropriate, including introducing age restrictions: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/review-of-relationships-sex-and-health-education-to-protect-children-to-conclude-by-end-of-year.
Asked by: Nick Fletcher (Conservative - Don Valley)
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 extending access to 30 free hours of childcare to working parents of all children over the age of nine months on (a) workforce participation and (b) the economy over the next two years from the go live date; and what estimate her Department has made of the annual cost to the public purse of this policy over the next two years from the go live date.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The department is determined to support as many families as possible with access to high-quality, affordable childcare, which is why in the Spring Budget 2023, my Right Hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced significant new investments to expand the free early education entitlements.
From September 2025, eligible working parents in England will be able to access 30 hours of childcare per week for 38 weeks of the year, from when their child is nine months old to when they start school.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) expects the new 30 hours entitlement to gradually increase labour market participation of parents with young children. A 2016 study from the Institute for Fiscal Studies had found that expanding from part-time to full-time free childcare leads to significant increases in labour force participation and employment of mothers, which emerge immediately and grow over the months following entitlement.
By 2027/28, the OBR expects around 60,000 to enter employment and an equivalent effect from 1.5 million mothers of young children already in work increasing their hours.
The department will substantially uplift the hourly rate paid to local authorities to increase hourly funding rates paid to childcare providers, to deliver the existing free early education entitlements. We will provide £204 million of additional funding in 2023/24, increasing to £288 million by 2024/25.
This funding is in addition to the £4.1 billion that the government will provide by 2027/28 to facilitate the expansion of the new free hours offer, by which time we will expect to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year on free hours and early education. This represents the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever.
Asked by: Nick Fletcher (Conservative - Don Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she will publish the membership of the independent panel which will inform the review of the relationships, sex, and health education guidance; and what steps she will take to ensure that the views of faith groups are represented on that panel.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is in the process of identifying the members for an independent expert panel to inform the wider review of the Relationships, Sex and Health Education statutory guidance. The Department expects the process to be completed shortly and will then make public more details of the panel and their work. The Department will ensure that the views of faith groups are represented in the review process.