Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to ensure that all Key Stage 3 and 4 pupils are taught about the culture, politics and geography of each of the UK nations as part of the national curriculum.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
All schools in England must offer a curriculum that is balanced and broad, which prepares pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.
The National Curriculum is a framework setting out the content of what the Department expects schools to cover in each subject. The National Curriculum does not set out how curriculum subjects, or topics within the subjects, should be taught. There is plenty of scope to teach pupils about the culture, politics and geography of each of the UK nations within the National Curriculum across a range of subjects, including citizenship, geography and where else teachers and schools feel it is appropriate.
Within citizenship, pupils in secondary maintained schools in England will learn about the diverse national, regional, religious and ethnic identities in the United Kingdom and the need for mutual respect and understanding. Pupils should also be taught about parliamentary democracy and the key elements of the constitution of the United Kingdom.
Within geography, pupils should be taught to name and locate counties and cities of the United Kingdom, geographical regions and their identifying human and physical characteristics, key topographical features and land-use patterns, and understand how some of these aspects have changed over time.
The Department has published Political Impartiality in Schools guidance to support teachers in tackling sensitive issues in the classroom in a politically impartial way. This guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to ensure that all Key Stage 3 and 4 pupils cover (a) the creation of the United Kingdom, (b) Acts and Treaties of Union and (c) the creation of the Union flag as part of the national curriculum.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
The National Curriculum is a framework setting out the content of what the Department expects schools to cover in each subject. The National Curriculum does not set out how curriculum subjects, or topics within the subjects, should be taught. There is plenty of scope to teach about the creation of the United Kingdom, the Union and the UK flag within the themes and eras of the history curriculum.
The forming of the United Kingdom can be taught as part of the Key Stage 3 theme, ‘the development of Church, state and society in Britain 1509-1745’ where one of the non-statutory examples is ‘the Act of Union of 1707’.
The later creation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, as well as its flag, as a result of the Acts of Union in 1800 could be taught as part of the theme, ‘ideas, political power, industry and empire: Britain, 1745-1901’.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to change reimbursement tariffs to help incentivise (a) modern forms of radiotherapy and (b) adaptive radiotherapy.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has signalled its intent to revise the reimbursement arrangements for radiotherapy as part of its consultation on National Health Service tariff arrangements ‘2023/25 NHS Payment Scheme – a consultation notice’, released in December 2022. The new arrangements aim to deliver the NHS Long Term Plan ambition to incentivise innovative forms of radiotherapy, for example the use of hypofractionated protocols, and timely equipment replacement.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s reports on the Women's State Pension age, what recent discussions he has had with the Ombudsman on its investigation into communication of changes to women’s state pension; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
It would not be appropriate to comment on the investigation. The Ombudsman’s investigation is ongoing, and the Ombudsman has not given his final findings. Section 7(2) of the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 states that Ombudsman investigations “shall be conducted in private.
We are cooperating with the Ombudsman’s investigation.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to tackle trends in the level of migrant children who go missing after their arrival in the UK.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The wellbeing of children and minors in our care is an absolute priority.
Robust safeguarding and welfare procedures are in place to ensure all children and minors are safe and supported.
All asylum seekers, including children, have an interview on arrival in the UK which includes a series of questions designed to understand whether there are any potential indicators of trafficking and, if so, tailored plans are put in place to address any vulnerabilities.
Records are kept and monitored of children leaving and returning to interim hotels. Support workers will accompany children off site on activities and social excursions, or where specific vulnerabilities are identified.
However, the Home Office has no power to hold children in hotels or any temporary accommodation if they wish to leave. All sites have security staff to ensure the safety and welfare of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
When a young person goes missing the ‘missing persons protocol’ is followed and led by our directly engaged social workers. A multi-agency missing persons protocol is mobilised alongside the police, who have the statutory responsibility for finding missing children, and local authorities to establish their whereabouts and to ensure that they are safe.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he plans to take with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to facilitate the recycling of marine and leisure vessels as part of the Clean Maritime Plan.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Department intends to publish an updated version of the Clean Maritime Plan in 2023. This update will set out the next steps to decarbonising the maritime sector.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what plans he has to set out more detail on his Department’s proposals for supporting knowledge-intensive clusters to drive economic growth, as announced in the Autumn Statement 2022.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
Further to the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, Investment Zones are being refocused to catalyse a number of the highest potential knowledge intensive growth clusters to boost productivity, growth and job creation. These will be based around the Chancellor's five priority sectors.
We will work closely with Mayors, the Devolved Administrations, local authorities, businesses, and other local partners.
I recently met with Maritime UK, and look forward to further engagement as this policy develops.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has been made of the difference between the eligibility threshold for free school meals in England compared to (a) Northern Ireland and (b) other devolved nations; and if she will take steps to review the threshold that applies for free school meals in England.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Education, including free school meals (FSM), is a devolved matter. The Department is aware that approaches will vary between different administrations. This response outlines the information for England only.
The latest published statistics from the Department are available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics. The figures show that around 1.9 million pupils are claiming FSM. This equates to 22.5% of all pupils, up from 20.8% in 2021. Together with a further 1.25 million infants supported through the Universal Infant Free School Meal policy, over one third of school children are now provided with FSM at a cost of over £1 billion a year. The Department currently has protections in place, ensuring that eligible pupils keep their FSM entitlement even if their household circumstances change.
The Department believes that the current eligibility threshold level, which enables children in low income households to benefit from FSM while remaining affordable and deliverable for schools, is the right one. The Department will continue to keep FSM eligibility under review to ensure that these meals are supporting those who most need them, as well as continuing to monitor current issues that affect disadvantaged families, such as the rising cost of living, and its effect on FSM.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had recent discussions with (a) Cabinet colleagues and (b) relevant stakeholders on the potential merits of introducing a polluter pays levy on the tobacco industry.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Chancellor regularly engages with his Cabinet colleagues and stakeholders on a range of issues.
The Treasury has previously carried out a consultation on introducing a levy on tobacco manufacturers and importers and published its response in September 2015. It is available at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/464795/PU1814_Tobacco_Levy_final_v3.pdf
Following the consultation, the Government decided not to introduce a tobacco levy. However, all taxes are kept under constant review.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made a comparative assessment of the adequacy of multidisciplinary support for Parkinson's care across UK (a) regions and (b) nations.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No specific assessment has been made.