Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help improve pre-school communication for deaf children (a) in early years settings and (b) between family members.
Answered by David Johnston
The department wants every child to receive a high standard of early education and we are committed to supporting children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), including in early years.
The early years foundation stage statutory framework states that all providers must have arrangements in place to support children with SEND, including deaf children. Maintained schools, maintained nursery schools and all providers who are funded by the local authority to deliver early education places must have regard to the SEND code of practice.
The government is also investing approximately £300 million to enable 75 local authorities to create family hubs, and to improve vital services to give every baby the best start in life, including those with SEND. Staff in family hubs should be knowledgeable about SEND services and be able to connect families to appropriate support and services. SEND information advice and support may be physically located within the hub buildings, and should be in an accessible format, addressing wider accessibility needs. Staff can make referrals to appropriate services within the hub network and make families aware of education, health and care request procedure.
Family hubs provide services for children of all ages (0-19 or 0-25 for families with children who have SEND), with a great start for life offer at their core. Family hubs are a way of joining up locally to improve access to services, the connections between families, professionals, services, and providers, and prioritise strengthening the relationships. On 10 January 2024, the government announced that every one of the 75 local authorities in the family hubs and start for life programme have now opened family hubs, creating a welcoming place where families with children aged 0-19, or 25 with SEND, can be connected to a wide range of services for families.
It is important that the government leads by example. The duties in the British sign language (BSL) Act encourage government departments to improve how they communicate with and meet the needs of the deaf community. The department is keen to ensure that every department is aware of, and understands, the legal requirements of the BSL Act. The department is also keen that, from one reporting period to the next, every department can show a steady and significant improvement in their use of BSL.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Disability Unit has made a recent assessment of the (a) level of demand for and (b) adequacy of the availability of courses in British Sign Language.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities
The Disability Unit in the Cabinet Office has not made any recent assessments of the (a) level of demand for and (b) adequacy of the availability of courses in British Sign Language (BSL) as this is the remit of the Department of Education. However, following the passage of the BSL Act (2022), the Government established a non-statutory BSL Advisory Board who will continue to consider and advise the Government on matters of importance to the d/Deaf community.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support fishing communities.
Answered by Mark Spencer
Fisheries are a priority for this Government. Since the fishing sector rightly want stocks to be there for the future, sustainability is critical to the economy and the environment. We are showing our support in a variety of ways.
We secured quota uplifts, amounting to £146 million by 2026, due to leaving the EU.
We have started to develop Fisheries Management Plans which allow more bespoke approaches to managing our stocks, including those that were badly protected by the Common Fisheries Policy. This will help ensure economic, environmental and social sustainability in the long term.
We have opened new sustainable fisheries for spurdog and bluefin tuna, and have responded to requests to improve the management of crawfish.
Additionally, the £100 million UK Seafood Fund is bringing long-term economic benefits to coastal communities.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero during Consideration of Lords message on the Energy Bill [Lords] on 18 October 2023, Official Report, column 352, what his planned timetable is for the consultation on barriers to developing community energy projects.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government is working with the Community Energy Contact Group on the content of the annual report and consultation. Until these discussions have concluded, the Government is unable to outline a definitive timeline.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress he has made on (a) establishing and (b) defining the priorities of the Highly Specialised Services Programme Board.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
We will not define the priorities of the Highly Specialised Services Programme Board. NHS England established the Highly Specialised Services Oversight Group (HSSOG), previously referred to as the Highly Specialised Services Programme Board, in April 2023 to ensure that there is a continued clear focus on highly specialised services and rare diseases.
HSSOG is the operational group responsible for discharging NHS England’s duties, powers and responsibilities in respect of the 80 highly specialised services. HSSOG’s membership is across the United Kingdom and includes representation from integrated care boards.
HSSOG takes its strategic clinical advice and clinical leadership from the Rare Diseases Advisory Group and has a role in implementing the England Rare Diseases Action Plan.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when her Department plans to respond to its consultation on minimum energy efficiency standards for the non-domestic private rented sector.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government has reviewed the responses to its consultations on minimum energy efficiency standards in the non-domestic private rented sector. The policy design is being reviewed to ensure it remains fair and proportionate for landlords and tenants and to help realise the benefits to businesses of reduced energy bills, more comfortable and healthier workplaces and greater energy security.
The Government is engaging with commercial building owners and representative groups to understand the different pathways to support decarbonisation and give certainty to the energy efficiency supply chain. The response will be published in due course.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether non-domestic privately rented properties will be required to have an EPC rating of C by April 2027.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government consulted on strengthening the existing regulations to require non-domestic private rented buildings to reach the highest EPC that a cost-effective package of measures can deliver up to EPC C by April 2027 and EPC B by April 2030.
The policy design and timelines are being reviewed to ensure they remain fair and proportionate for landlords and tenants and to help realise the benefits of energy efficiency. The Government is engaging with stakeholders on the different pathways to support decarbonisation and to give certainty to the supply chain. A response will be published in due course.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if her Department will publish guidance to inform businesses about the measures that can be taken to ensure they comply with the forthcoming minimum energy efficiency standards; and whether her Department plans to make support available to help them achieve those requirements.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government has guidance on gov.uk advising landlords on the measures and steps to comply with current non-domestic minimum energy efficiency standards. The Government recently launched a campaign to inform businesses of available support and to help reduce their energy consumption and in the West Midlands have launched an audit and grant pilot for small businesses.
For future regulation options the policy design is being reviewed to ensure it remains fair and proportionate for landlords and tenants and to help realise the benefits of energy efficiency. The Government is considering what support and guidance may be required.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which service specifications NHS England plans to (a) develop and (b) update before commissioning is delegated to integrated care boards.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
NHS England will only delegate specialised services to integrated care boards (ICBs) following a moderation process. This may mean that ICBs take on responsibility for commissioning specific specialised services at varying points in time. In parallel, NHS England is taking forward work to update service specifications for specialised services. Some specifications will need only minor changes and these will be progressed via a light touch process, whilst others require a deeper review which will take longer to complete.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to help ensure that integrated care boards are (a) ready and (b) supported to commission neurology services identified as suitable for delegation.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
To support assurance of integrated care board (ICB) readiness for taking on greater responsibility for in-scope specialised services, a pre-delegation assessment framework was developed, which set out the criteria that ICBs should meet prior to assuming responsibility for the functions, and builds on the primary care pharmaceutical, general ophthalmic and dental commissioning functions framework. ICBs, with the support of their regional team, undertook a self-assessment against the pre-delegation assessment framework for specialised commissioning. Final decisions will be taken by the NHS England board later this year.
The NHS England Neurology Transformation Programme has developed, in partnership with stakeholders, a new whole pathway neurology model to support ICBs to deliver the right service, at the right time for all neurology patients including providing care closer to home. A toolkit is being developed to support ICBs to understand and implement this new model. It will provide them with resources and information they will need to drive transformation in their neurology services, as they take on delegated responsibility for commissioning specialised neurology services from April 2024 onwards.