Asked by: Paul Howell (Conservative - Sedgefield)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether she plans to complete pre-legislative scrutiny on the bill to ban conversion therapy in this parliamentary term.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government remains committed to protecting everyone who is at risk of conversion practices from harm, and will shortly publish a draft Bill and consultation response setting out our approach to banning these abhorrent practices. The draft legislation will go for pre-legislative scrutiny by a Joint Committee in this parliamentary session.
Asked by: Paul Howell (Conservative - Sedgefield)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
Whether she plans to support the creation of regional innovation clusters.
Answered by George Freeman
Strengthening clusters is a top priority for building our Innovation Nation. More places in the UK hosting world-leading and globally connected innovation clusters will create more jobs, productivity and growth.Asked by: Paul Howell (Conservative - Sedgefield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many National Register of Taxi and Private Hire Licence Revocations and Refusals searches were submitted by (a) Newcastle City Council, (b) Sunderland City Council, (c) Hartlepool Borough Council, (d) Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, (e) Darlington Borough Council and (f) Durham County Council in the last year for which data is available.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Use of the National Register for Refusals and Revocations (NR3) is recommended in the Department’s Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Standards which was published in 2020. The Department is monitoring usage of the NR3 and communicates with local authorities on this matter regularly.
Searches conducted by the local authorities listed over the last year:
Licensing Authority | Drivers Licensed (31 March 2022) | NR3 Searches (March 2022 – Feb 2023) |
Darlington Borough Council | 365 | 342 |
Durham County Council | 1,405 | 789 |
Hartlepool Borough Council | 352 | 4 |
Newcastle City Council | 4,576 | 0 |
Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council | 744 | 725 |
Sunderland City Council | 737 | 481 |
Asked by: Paul Howell (Conservative - Sedgefield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an estimate of the total annual cost of providing (a) 30 hours a week of universal childcare for 48 weeks a year for children aged nine months to two years, (b) 30 hours a week of universal childcare for 48 weeks a year for children aged three and four, (c) 8.00am to 6.00pm wraparound for all primary-aged children and (d) 10 hours a day holiday childcare for 10 weeks a year for all primary-aged children assuming a (i) 50, (ii) 60 and (iii) 70 per cent take up of that provision.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Making predictions about the future costs of extended early years and childcare provision is complex, and subject to significant uncertainty. It requires predicting the size of future cohorts of children as well as making assumptions about the rate at which the government will fund provision, which would be subject to consultation, how many parents will take up new offers and for how long.
The department funds 15 hours a week of early education and care for all 3- and 4-year-olds in England for 38 weeks a year. It funds an additional 15 hours a week of early education and care for 3- and 4-year-olds in working families, also for 38 weeks a year. The department also funds 15 hours of free early education for disadvantaged 2-year-olds, which includes children with education, health and care (EHC) plans and looked after children, as well as families on low incomes. Further information is available at: https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.
The department does not fund wraparound care for primary aged children. The department does fund the Holiday Activities and Food programme to disadvantaged children in England. At Spending Review 2021, the department announced it is investing over £200 million per year.
The department publishes funding allocations for its existing early education entitlements for children aged 2, 3 and 4. Further information is available at: https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.publishing.service.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fuploads%2Fsystem%2Fuploads%2Fattachment_data%2Ffile%2F1124737%2FEarly_years_funding_rates_and_step-by-step_calculations_2023_to_2024.xlsx&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK. These funding rates are not applicable to children aged from 9 months to 1 years old inclusive.
The Childcare and Early Years Provider Survey also includes information on the hourly fees providers charge parents of children under 2, age 2, 3 and 4, and school age, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/childcare-and-early-years-survey-of-parents/2021.
Expanding current entitlement offers to all children aged between 2 and 4, wraparound care for all primary-age children and additional holiday childcare could be estimated using population data published by the Office of National Statistics, available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/datasets/populationestimatesforukenglandandwalesscotlandandnorthernireland.
Asked by: Paul Howell (Conservative - Sedgefield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the level of pupil funding in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Taking the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) allocations and the additional funding announced in the Autumn Statement together, core schools funding is increasing by £3.5 billion in 2023/24, compared to 2022/23. By 2024/25, the core schools budget will total £58.8 billion, the highest level of investment in real terms per-pupil on record.
Asked by: Paul Howell (Conservative - Sedgefield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether funding for the PE and sport premium will continue at current levels for the 2023-24 school year.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Improving school sport and physical education (PE) is a key priority. The Department recognises the important role the PE and sport premium plays in helping schools ensure that children and young people play sport and keep fit.
We are considering arrangements for the Primary PE and sport premium for the 2023/24 academic year and beyond and will confirm the position as early as possible.
Asked by: Paul Howell (Conservative - Sedgefield)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what projects were supported by the first round of the Youth Investment Fund in County Durham and Darlington.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Twelve projects supporting young people in County Durham and Darlington were awarded funding from Phase One of the Youth Investment Fund. The funding has enabled local youth providers to invest in small-scale capital projects including outdoor/activity equipment, IT/Tech, a minibus, and small redevelopments that expand the reach, number and range of services they currently offer.
Phase One of the Youth Investment Fund, administered by BBC Children in Need, has delivered £12 million of funding this year to over 400 local youth organisations in levelling up priority areas in England. The full list of recipients can be found here.
Phase Two of the Youth Investment Fund is expected to open in summer 2022.
Asked by: Paul Howell (Conservative - Sedgefield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with her international counterparts on the prosecution of Aiden Aslin, Shaun Pinner and Brahim Saadoun in Ukraine.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The Government of Ukraine has confirmed that foreign nationals fighting as members of their armed forces are Prisoners of War (PoW). This includes British Nationals captured by Russian forces or proxies and detained in non-government controlled areas of Ukraine. All PoWs must be treated in accordance with International Humanitarian Law, including the Geneva Conventions. HMG is working with the Government of Ukraine on British Nationals detainees, PoWs and potential breaches of International Humanitarian Law and liaising closely with other international partners.
Asked by: Paul Howell (Conservative - Sedgefield)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that internet speeds in rural homes matches those in urban areas.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is determined to deliver great connectivity to every community in the UK and is working to close the digital divide between rural, suburban, and urban areas. We are creating a competition-friendly environment to promote deployment in areas where this is commercially viable and we are investing £5 billion through Project Gigabit to support roll-out in less commercial locations, including rural areas. In three years national coverage has rocketed from six per cent to over 66 per cent and we have already upgraded 600,000 premises in hard-to-reach areas.
Our Project Gigabit procurements are prioritising delivery to rural, hard-to-reach premises and to those with the lowest broadband speeds. Broadband providers have so far been invited to bid for contracts worth up to £292 million to upgrade up to 187,000 premises across Cumbria, Durham, Northumberland, Cambridgeshire, North Dorset and West Cornwall - with initial deployment expected to commence later this year.
As part of Project Gigabit the government is also investing up to £210 million in the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme to support rural communities with the cost of installing new gigabit-capable connections. The scheme provides a micro-grant of up to £1,500 for residents and up to £3,500 for businesses towards the cost of installing gigabit-capable broadband. Further information is available on the gigabit voucher website including eligibility criteria and how to apply for the scheme.
Asked by: Paul Howell (Conservative - Sedgefield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent progress she has made on (a) securing the release of Nazanin Zaghari- Ratcliffe and (b) resolving outstanding repayments to Iran.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We remain committed to securing the immediate and permanent release of unfairly detained British nationals in Iran, including Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, Anoosheh Ashoori and Morad Tahbaz. The Foreign Secretary and I continue to raise Iran's practice of detaining British dual nationals with our Iranian counterparts. Our Ambassador in Tehran also continues to raise these cases with the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The IMS debt is a longstanding issue and we have been consistently clear that we continue to explore options to resolve this 40-year old case. We will not comment further as discussions are ongoing.