Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) hospitals and (b) other NHS buildings are in each Integrated Care Board’s area.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The annual Estates Return Information Collection collects data on National Health Service sites and integrated care boards by type and total, for instance hospitals and buildings, and is available at the following link:
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the number of asylum seekers that will be dispersed in (a) West Suffolk District Council and (b) other local authorities in the next twelve months.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office works with local authorities and other stakeholders across the country to ensure that it can fulfil its statutory obligations, and meet the Government’s commitment to reduce the overall costs of asylum accommodation, including ending the use of hotels over time.
The Home Office regularly publishes statistics on the numbers of asylum seekers in receipt of support nationally, and further broken down by region and local authority. These data sets can be found on GOV.UK: (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67bc51acd157fd4b79addd4f/support-local-authority-datasets-dec-2024.xlsx).
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to increase funding for asylum dispersal to (a) West Suffolk District Council, and (b) other local authorities.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
Current accommodation funding arrangements are published on GOV.UK: Asylum Dispersal Grant: funding instruction - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the time period between the introduction of the (a) Extended Producer Responsibility and (b) Deposit Return scheme on levels of glass usage in packaging.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has worked closely with industry, including the glass sector, throughout the development of the scheme. In October 2024 the Government published an updated assessment of the impact of introducing the pEPR scheme on packaging producers. This assessment factored in the introduction of DRS in 2027.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an estimate of the number of plastic recycling facilities that have closed since 2010.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There is no historical record of closures of plastics recycling facilities
However the National Packaging Waste Database which is held by the Environment Agency provides a Public Register of Accredited Reprocessors and Exporters - including those handling plastic - across each nation, that can be tracked back to 2013.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions her department has had with (a) Serco and (b) other contract providers on the scope of contingency accommodation for asylum dispersal.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office continues to work with a range of stakeholders to meet our statutory obligations, while also delivering our commitments to reduce overall asylum accommodation costs, and end the use of hotels over time.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the scope of contingency accommodation for asylum dispersal has been changed since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office continues to work with a range of stakeholders to meet our statutory obligations, while also delivering our commitments to reduce overall asylum accommodation costs, and end the use of hotels over time.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions her Department has had with (a) West Suffolk District Council and (b) other local authorities on an increase in the number of asylum seekers dispersed.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office works with local authorities and other stakeholders across the country to ensure that it can fulfil its statutory obligations, and meet the Government’s commitment to reduce the overall costs of asylum accommodation, including ending the use of hotels over time.
The Home Office regularly publishes statistics on the numbers of asylum seekers in receipt of support nationally, and further broken down by region and local authority. These data sets can be found on GOV.UK: (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67bc51acd157fd4b79addd4f/support-local-authority-datasets-dec-2024.xlsx).
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average waiting time was for children with special educational needs and disabilities to receive an Education, Health and Care plan in (a) England, (b) the East of England and (c) Suffolk in each year since 2020.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Information on the number and percentage of education, health and care (EHC) plans issued within the statutory 20 week deadline, with and without statutory exceptions to that deadline applying, is published as part of the department’s EHC plans statistical release, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans/2024.
The following table shows the number and proportion of plans issued within the statutory 20 week deadline for England, the East of England and Suffolk for each calendar year since 2020: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/176f8770-7fe7-49b2-9bba-08dd7377d1ad.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made on reforming SEND and alternative provision since July 2024.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision receive the right support to achieve and thrive in their education and as they move into adult life.
Supporting our expert teachers is critical to the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and boost the life chances for every child, as the within-school factor that makes the biggest difference to a young person’s educational outcomes is high-quality teaching. This is why we will recruit 6,500 new expert teachers and support the recruitment and retention of specialist teachers in the schools and areas that need them most.
In September 2024, the department introduced a new mandatory leadership level national professional qualification for special educational needs co-ordinators to ensure they receive high-quality, evidence-based training to create inclusive environments where everyone feels welcome, safe and they belong. We have also introduced additional resources for early years educators to support children with developmental differences and SEND, including a free online training module and SEND assessment guidance and resources.
The Initial Teacher Training and Early Career Framework (ITTECF), which sets out the core body of knowledge, skills and behaviours that define great teaching, contains significantly more content related to adaptive teaching and supporting pupils with SEND and from September 2025, will underpin the minimum entitlement to training for new teachers.
The department is providing £1 billion more for high needs budgets in 2025/26, bringing total high needs funding to over £12 billion. This funding will help local authorities and schools with the increasing costs of supporting children and young people with complex SEND. All local authorities will see an increase in funding of at least 7% per head, compared to 2024/25, with some local authorities seeing gains of up to 10%.
We have also published local authority allocations for £740 million of high needs capital funding for 2025/26, to invest in places for children and young people with SEND or who require alternative provision. This funding will start to pave the way for this government’s wide ranging, long term plans for reform to help more pupils with SEND to have their needs met in mainstream schools.
In the longer term, the department is committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, as well as ensuring special schools cater to children and young people with the most complex needs. Ofsted will also increase its focus on disadvantaged children and learners, those with SEND and those who leaders have identified as being particularly vulnerable. Ofsted is proposing introducing a separate evaluation area for ‘inclusion’ on its report cards.
The department will work with the sector to ensure our approach is fully planned and delivered in partnership. To support this approach, we have already appointed a strategic advisor on SEND to engage with sector leaders, practitioners, children and families. We have also established an expert advisory group for inclusion to improve the mainstream education outcomes and experiences for those with SEND, and set up a Neurodivergence Task and Finish Group to provide a shared understanding of what provision and support in mainstream educational settings should look like for neurodivergent children and young people within an inclusive system.