Paul Davies

For too long the education and care system has not met the needs of all children and young people, particularly those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), with parents struggling to get their children the support they need and deserve.

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with SEND receive the right support to succeed in their education and develop the skills they need as they move into adult life. We are committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream settings, as well as ensuring special schools cater to those with the most complex needs, restoring parents’ trust that their child will get the support they need.

The department is working closely with experts on reforms and recently appointed Dame Christine Lenehan as Strategic Advisor for SEND. Dame Christine will play a key role in convening and engaging with the sector, including leaders, practitioners, children and families, as the department considers the next steps for the future of SEND reform.

Successful transitions must be well-planned. Poor support for and around transitions was a clear theme in the issues raised when the previous government consulted on the SEND and alternative provision green paper of March 2022.

All local authorities must set out the support available to help children and young people with SEND prepare for and transition to adulthood as part of their local offer. This should be co-produced with children, young people, and their families to ensure it meets local needs.

For children and young people with an education, health, and care (EHC) plan, there must be a focus from year 9 onwards on preparing the young person for adulthood as part of their plan’s annual review. This focus must continue until the young person’s EHC plan ceases. Planning for the transition to adulthood should result in clear outcomes being agreed that are ambitious and stretching, and which are tailored to the needs and interests of the young person.

Ofsted undertook a thematic review into ‘Preparation for Adulthood’ this year to find out the extent to which local area partners are working together effectively to prepare children and young people with SEND for adulthood. The report’s findings are expected to be published soon.

For too long the education and care system has not met the needs of all children and young people, particularly those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), with parents struggling to get their children the support they need and deserve.

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with SEND receive the right support to succeed in their education and develop the skills they need as they move into adult life. We are committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream settings, as well as ensuring special schools cater to those with the most complex needs, restoring parents’ trust that their child will get the support they need.

The department is working closely with experts on reforms and recently appointed Dame Christine Lenehan as Strategic Advisor for SEND. Dame Christine will play a key role in convening and engaging with the sector, including leaders, practitioners, children and families, as the department considers the next steps for the future of SEND reform.

Successful transitions must be well-planned. Poor support for and around transitions was a clear theme in the issues raised when the previous government consulted on the SEND and alternative provision green paper of March 2022.

All local authorities must set out the support available to help children and young people with SEND prepare for and transition to adulthood as part of their local offer. This should be co-produced with children, young people, and their families to ensure it meets local needs.

For children and young people with an education, health, and care (EHC) plan, there must be a focus from year 9 onwards on preparing the young person for adulthood as part of their plan’s annual review. This focus must continue until the young person’s EHC plan ceases. Planning for the transition to adulthood should result in clear outcomes being agreed that are ambitious and stretching, and which are tailored to the needs and interests of the young person.

Ofsted undertook a thematic review into ‘Preparation for Adulthood’ this year to find out the extent to which local area partners are working together effectively to prepare children and young people with SEND for adulthood. The report’s findings are expected to be published soon.

For too long the education and care system has not met the needs of all children and young people, particularly those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), with parents struggling to get their children the support they need and deserve.

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with SEND receive the right support to succeed in their education and develop the skills they need as they move into adult life. We are committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream settings, as well as ensuring special schools cater to those with the most complex needs, restoring parents’ trust that their child will get the support they need.

As part of our commitment to helping children and young people with SEND to develop the skills they need as they move into adult life, the department is investing up to £18 million until 2025 to build capacity in supported internships. We aim to double the number of internships each year to around 4,500, to support more young people with education, health and care (EHC) plans to gain the skills to transition into employment.

The SEND code of practice is clear that all children and young people with SEND should be prepared for adulthood. This includes supporting children and young people to develop independence, contribute to their community, develop positive friendships, be as healthy as possible and, for the majority of young people, prepare them for higher education and/or employment.

For those with an EHC plan, there must be a focus from year 9 onwards on preparing the young person for adulthood as part of their plan’s annual review. This focus must continue until the young person’s EHC plan ceases. Planning for the transition to adulthood should result in clear outcomes being agreed that are ambitious and stretching, and which are tailored to the needs and interests of the young person.

Ofsted undertook a thematic review into ‘Preparation for Adulthood’ this year to find out the extent to which local area partners are working together effectively to prepare children and young people with SEND for adulthood. The report’s findings are expected to be available soon.

This government has set a bold ambition to raise the healthiest generation of children in history, giving mental health the same attention as physical health. We are reforming NHS services and have committed to providing access to mental health professionals in every school, removing barriers to opportunity and helping children to thrive. The government will also be putting in place new Young Futures hubs, including access to mental health support workers, and will recruit an additional 8,500 new mental health staff to treat children and adults.

The Office for National Statistics publishes a range of children’s wellbeing measures and the department maintains an ongoing monitoring of the national data landscape and publications regarding children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing to support its policy making.

Schools measuring their pupils’ wellbeing to inform their approach to supporting mental health and wellbeing is encouraged by the department, and as many as 63% of leaders reported in June 2023 that they have either partially or fully embedded this practice in their schools. The government has made no commitment to a national standard measure of children’s wellbeing. However, this is something that the department welcomes exploring further with the education sector and relevant experts.

It is this government’s ambition for all families to have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, thereby improving the life chances for every child and the work choices for every parent.

Through the student loans company, the department offers a specific Childcare Grant (CCG) to support students with the costs of childcare whilst they are in study. The CCG offers support of up to 85% of childcare costs where both parents are students, the student is a lone parent, or the student-parent’s partner is on a low income. Students are also eligible for universal 15 hours childcare, which is available to all two, three and four year olds, regardless of family circumstances and/or income.

The government has committed to continue to roll out the expanded childcare entitlements for eligible working parents of children aged from nine months. The department is also growing the provision of wraparound before and after school provision of childcare for primary school children.

In addition to the entitlements, parents may also be eligible for childcare support through Tax-Free Childcare or Universal Credit Childcare. Parents can check what childcare support they are entitled to via the Childcare Choices website.

The government is committed to delivering a modern childcare system from the end of parental leave to the end of primary school, providing every child with a firm foundation which sets them up for life, ensuring parents are able to work the jobs and hours they choose and effectively breaking down the barriers to opportunity for every family.

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) assesses the impact gamebird releases have on the likelihood of transmission of avian influenza to wild birds, and between wild birds and kept birds. These risk assessments are available as part of the APHA’s ‘Animal diseases: international and UK monitoring’ collection on GOV.UK.

Fire Operation Groups (FOGs) and similar networks across the country play a vital role in mitigating, preventing and responding to the risks and realities of wildfire. The government applauds the work they do. Defra supports the promotion of shared learning and professional development through its membership of established forums and networks.

Fire Services are responsible for responding to and fighting fires. Defra will not provide training on firefighting equipment beyond the control of managed vegetation fires.

We are committed to protecting our nature-rich habitats, including our moorlands, through promoting sustainable land management and restoration practices. Wetter, healthy-functioning peatlands are more resilient to the impacts of fire.

My Department is committed to improving transport links in West Yorkshire, and across the country. West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) has been allocated £830m of City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements funding over a five-year period, to help transform local transport into an integrated and inclusive network. Included in the investment is £160m set aside for mass transit development in West Yorkshire.

WYCA has also received £13.373m of additional Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) funding for 2024/2025, helping deliver their vision for better buses in West Yorkshire. The Department’s Buses Bill will support WYCA in their vision to bring buses back under local control, ensuring their networks can meet the needs of the communities who rely on them.

Additionally, as part of improving rail connectivity in West Yorkshire and the rest of the country, we have established Shadow Great British Railways to bring a major overhaul of the rail network, putting passengers first and driving up performance.

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

On 7 November 2024, the NHS Business Service Authority published data on the costs of medicines, appliances, dressings, and medical devices prescribed within primary and secondary care in England. This report is available at the following link:

https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/statistical-collections/prescribing-costs-hospitals-and-community-england/prescribing-costs-hospitals-and-community-england-2023-24.

A breakdown of the prescribing costs in England between branded and generic medicines is available for primary care only, and can be found at the following link:

https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/statistical-collections/prescription-cost-analysis-england/prescription-cost-analysis-england-202324.

Such publications do not account for income received under the 2024 voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing, access, and growth (VPAG) or the statutory scheme. Information on how the VPAG and the statutory scheme, which operate United Kingdom-wide, control the cost of sales of branded medicines to the National Health Service is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/voluntary-scheme-quarterly-net-sales-and-payment-information

VPAG and statutory scheme sales data does not reflect the total cost to the NHS. The publication reports net sales of non-exempt products and non-exempt companies only, and is exclusive of additional costs such as pharmacy and wholesaler margins.

Annex 3 of the document titled Annexes to the 2024 Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing, Access and Growth outlines the forecasts of measured sales and payments from branded medicines. This document is available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/657b2993254aaa000d050de1/Annexes-2024-voluntary-scheme-for-branded-medicines-pricing-access-and-growth.pdf

The Department is committed to maximising our potential to lead the world in clinical trials and ensuring clinical trials are more accessible, including for children and young people. The Department does not hold data on the overall percentage of children and young people with cancer that are enrolled in clinical trials nationwide, but does collect data on participation through National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funded infrastructure.

The Department funds research and research infrastructure through the NIHR. NIHR-funded infrastructure is enabling clinical trial participation for children and young people with cancer. In particular, the NIHR Clinical Research Network, now the NIHR Research Delivery Network, supported 15 cancer studies which children and young people were eligible for between 2021/22 and 2023/24, and across all these studies, 715 total participants were recruited during this timeframe.

Through the NIHR, the Department also jointly funds the Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre Paediatric Cancer Network with Cancer Research UK and the Little Princess Trust, which brings together clinicians and translational scientists to run early phase clinical trials for children and young people with cancer.

We are committed to getting the National Health Service diagnosing cancer earlier and treating it faster, so that more patients survive this horrible set of diseases. This includes children, teenagers, and young adults.

The Department is taking steps to improving waiting times for cancer diagnosis across all cancer patient groups in England. We will start by delivering an extra 40,000 scans, appointments, and operations each week to ensure that patients are seen as quickly as possible.

We are also working with the NHS to maximise the pace of the roll-out of additional diagnostic capacity, delivering the final year of the three-year investment plan for establishing Community Diagnostic Centres, with capacity prioritised for cancer. This will help us continue to meet the Faster Diagnosis Standard, which aims to ensure that over 75% patients have cancer diagnosed or ruled out within 28 days of referral from a general practice (GP) or screening service.

To support timely and effective referrals, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has set out detailed guidance for GPs on the symptoms of cancer in children and young people, recommending referral within 48 hours for those presenting with a range of potential cancer symptoms.

Lord Darzi’s independent investigation into the NHS highlighted that there is more to be done to increase the speed at which patients are diagnosed with and treated for cancer. His report will inform our 10-year plan to reform the NHS, which will include further details on how we will improve cancer diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes. This includes children and young people.

On 21 October 2024, the Department launched a national engagement exercise to inform the plan. We encourage people and organisations who would like to share their views on the priorities of children and young people with cancer to do so via the online platform, change.NHS.UK. Following the engagement exercise, the Department will carefully consider how the priorities of this group should be reflected in the plan and any subsequent work.

We are committed to getting the National Health Service diagnosing cancer earlier and treating it faster, so that more patients survive this horrible set of diseases. This includes children, teenagers, and young adults.

The Department is taking steps to improving waiting times for cancer diagnosis across all cancer patient groups in England. We will start by delivering an extra 40,000 scans, appointments, and operations each week to ensure that patients are seen as quickly as possible.

We are also working with the NHS to maximise the pace of the roll-out of additional diagnostic capacity, delivering the final year of the three-year investment plan for establishing Community Diagnostic Centres, with capacity prioritised for cancer. This will help us continue to meet the Faster Diagnosis Standard, which aims to ensure that over 75% patients have cancer diagnosed or ruled out within 28 days of referral from a general practice (GP) or screening service.

To support timely and effective referrals, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has set out detailed guidance for GPs on the symptoms of cancer in children and young people, recommending referral within 48 hours for those presenting with a range of potential cancer symptoms.

Lord Darzi’s independent investigation into the NHS highlighted that there is more to be done to increase the speed at which patients are diagnosed with and treated for cancer. His report will inform our 10-year plan to reform the NHS, which will include further details on how we will improve cancer diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes. This includes children and young people.

On 21 October 2024, the Department launched a national engagement exercise to inform the plan. We encourage people and organisations who would like to share their views on the priorities of children and young people with cancer to do so via the online platform, change.NHS.UK. Following the engagement exercise, the Department will carefully consider how the priorities of this group should be reflected in the plan and any subsequent work.