Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to review the Equitable Life payment scheme.

Answered by Tulip Siddiq - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Equitable Life Payment Scheme has been fully wound down and closed since 2016, and there are no plans to reopen any decisions relating to the Payment Scheme or review the £1.5 billion funding allocation previously made to it. Further guidance on the status of the Payment Scheme after closure is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/equitable-life-payment-scheme#closure-of-the-scheme.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the presumption of contact at the Family Court does not result in unsafe contact arrangements.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The welfare of a child must be the court’s paramount consideration when making decisions about a child’s life. This is known as the welfare principle. Prior to the application of the presumption of parental involvement, the court is legally obliged to assess if a parent poses a risk of harm to the child - if their involvement would pose a risk to the child, the presumption does not apply.

The Ministry of Justice has undertaken evidence gathering on the presumption of parental involvement, focused on its application in the family court. We will publish the evidence and proposed next steps in due course.

As part of our commitment to ensuring the justice system is designed to put victims and survivors first, including those who have experienced domestic abuse, we are carefully considering the next steps for supporting victims and survivors across the justice system, including in the family court. We are working across departments to ensure that victims and survivors are supported and that children are kept safe.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she plans to review the recommendations of the Final Report on Assessing Risk of Harm to Children and Parents in Private Law Children Cases.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

We are committed to ensuring that parties to private law children cases in the family courts are protected from harm and that the welfare of the child is always the court’s paramount consideration when making decisions about children’s lives.

The Ministry of Justice published a delivery update in May 2023 which outlined the progress made against the recommendations of the Final Report on Assessing Risk of Harm to Children and Parents in Private Law Children Cases. This can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/646e0e577dd6e7000ca9b2f8/harm-panel-delivery-update.pdf.

We will now take the time to consider what more should be done to ensure that children and families are kept safe and supported throughout the family justice system.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending (a) a discount on and (b) an exemption from vehicle excise duty to people receiving Attendance Allowance.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government is committed to supporting disabled people and is determined that support should be focused on people who need it most. The aim of existing Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) exemptions for recipients of some disability benefits is to provide additional help for people who become disabled early, or relatively early, in life and as a result experience economic disadvantage. These allowances are therefore only available to people who become disabled before State Pension age.

For individuals who develop a disability after State Pension age, Attendance Allowance (AA) is a non-means-tested benefit which provides targeted help with the extra costs of disability and helps them maintain their independence. Unlike Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment, AA does not have a mobility component and is intended to cover the need for care or supervision an individual requires as a result of their disability rather than specific mobility needs. Individuals can however choose to use their AA to fund mobility aids.

The Government keeps all taxes under review as part of the policy making process, and the Chancellor makes decisions at fiscal events in the context of public finances.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has had discussions with the Motability charity on inclusion of Attendance Allowance recipients in their scheme.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Motability scheme is open to recipients of enhanced mobility Personal Independence Payment, higher rate mobility Disability Living Allowance, War Pensioner’s Mobility Supplement and Armed Forces Independence Payment.

Attendance Allowance does not have a mobility component for those whose needs arise after State Pension age. This is because it is expected that many older people will develop mobility issues as part of the ageing process. Eligible benefits such as DLA or PIP are awarded to individuals under pensionable age and, as long as entitlement conditions remain satisfied, the mobility component can continue to be paid beyond State Pension age.

There are no current plans to include Attendance Allowance as an eligible benefit for the Scheme.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will take steps to provide additional financial support to disabled people in receipt of the State Pension.

Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

Ensuring a decent foundation State Pension for pensioners is a priority for this Government. That is why we have set out our commitment to the Triple Lock, which will substantially improve outcomes for current and future pensioners.

There are already other benefits for those who are disabled, Attendance Allowance (AA) provides additional financial support towards the extra costs faced by those over State Pension age (SPa) with a severe disability who have care needs. It is neither means-tested, nor based on National Insurance contributions paid and recipients can choose how they wish to spend it.

Those already in receipt of Disability Living Allowance or Personal Independence Payment when they reach SPa can continue to receive those benefits. They are not obliged to switch to claiming AA.

Disability benefits open the door to additional amounts in means tested support, receipt of a disability benefit can provide a passport to additional amounts in means-tested benefits (notably Pension Credit and Housing Benefit) for those on low incomes and to Carer’s Allowance for the person providing care for them.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the provision of maintained nursery schools in (a) Wandsworth and (b) England.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Maintained nursery schools (MNS) are a valuable part of early years provision. There are 381 MNS as at January 2024. They are predominantly located in disadvantaged areas.

Additional supplementary funding is provided to local authorities for MNS in their areas. In the 2024/25 financial year, the initial budget for MNS supplementary funding is £82.6 million, subject to final budget update. The national average hourly rate for MNS supplementary funding is £5.27, the minimum supplementary funding rate is £4.64 and the cap on the hourly rate is £10.

Ensuring that parents are able to access affordable and high-quality childcare is a priority for the department. This includes delivering new nursery provision in primary schools to help deliver the expansion in childcare entitlements and ensuring that a variety of different types of provision are available that suit the needs of different parents. The department is continuing to monitor the sufficiency of childcare places.

The key measure of sufficiency is whether the supply of available places is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents and children. The department’s Childcare and Early Years Provider Survey shows that the number of places available has remained broadly stable since 2019. Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area.

The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, the department will discuss what action they are taking to address those issues, and where needed, the department will support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract.

Where a MNS does close, or is merged with a school, what replaces it must be of equal quantity, preserve expertise and specialisms, and it must be more accessible and convenient for local parents. The department has not received any reports on sufficiency challenges in Wandsworth.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of supporting maintained nursery schools.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Maintained nursery schools (MNS) are a valuable part of early years provision. There are 381 MNS as at January 2024. They are predominantly located in disadvantaged areas.

Additional supplementary funding is provided to local authorities for MNS in their areas. In the 2024/25 financial year, the initial budget for MNS supplementary funding is £82.6 million, subject to final budget update. The national average hourly rate for MNS supplementary funding is £5.27, the minimum supplementary funding rate is £4.64 and the cap on the hourly rate is £10.

Ensuring that parents are able to access affordable and high-quality childcare is a priority for the department. This includes delivering new nursery provision in primary schools to help deliver the expansion in childcare entitlements and ensuring that a variety of different types of provision are available that suit the needs of different parents. The department is continuing to monitor the sufficiency of childcare places.

The key measure of sufficiency is whether the supply of available places is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents and children. The department’s Childcare and Early Years Provider Survey shows that the number of places available has remained broadly stable since 2019. Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area.

The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, the department will discuss what action they are taking to address those issues, and where needed, the department will support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract.

Where a MNS does close, or is merged with a school, what replaces it must be of equal quantity, preserve expertise and specialisms, and it must be more accessible and convenient for local parents. The department has not received any reports on sufficiency challenges in Wandsworth.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of regulating websites that promote (a) eating disorders, (b) suicide and (c) self harm.

Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Online Safety Act requires all in-scope services to swiftly remove illegal content as soon as they become aware of it. This includes content that intentionally encourages or assists suicide and self-harm, including eating disorder behaviours. User-to-user services which are likely to be accessed by children must use highly effective age assurance to prevent children encountering this material.

Search services also have targeted duties that focus on minimising the risk of all users encountering illegal suicide and self-harm search content, and children from harmful but legal suicide and self-harm content.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he plans to regulate websites that promote (a) eating disorders, (b) suicide and (c) self harm.

Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Online Safety Act requires all in-scope services to swiftly remove illegal content as soon as they become aware of it. This includes content that intentionally encourages or assists suicide and self-harm, including eating disorder behaviours. User-to-user services which are likely to be accessed by children must use highly effective age assurance to prevent children encountering this material.

Search services also have targeted duties that focus on minimising the risk of all users encountering illegal suicide and self-harm search content, and children from harmful but legal suicide and self-harm content.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the UK Health Security Agency's response to the recent fire at the recycling centre on Weir Road.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The UK Heath Security Agency (UKHSA) provided expertise in local health protection and environmental hazards to support the response to this incident.

UKHSA engaged with other stakeholders, including the London Fire Brigade and the Environment Agency, as well as the Directors of Public Health for both the London Borough of Wandsworth and the London Borough of Merton. UKHSA assessed the impacts on air quality to inform health advice for residents, and remained involved with the incident until the fire was extinguished.

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 adequacy of the Environment Agency's response to the fire at the Weir Road recycling centre on Saturday 7 September 2024.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Environment Agency are responsible for the regulation of the environmental permit held by Reston Waste Management at 77 Weir Road. After being notified of the fire late on Saturday 7 September by the London Fire Brigade (LFB), Environment Agency staff worked throughout the weekend with LFB to review potential impacts to air, land and water. As the incident continued, the Environment Agency provided advice to LFB and London Boroughs of Merton and Wandsworth regarding impacts to the environment and maintained input via multi-agency meetings. Environment Agency staff attended the site on Tuesday 10th September following a large number of complaints about the smoke from the fire. Their attendance ensured that waste was being managed appropriately and no longer causing a discharge to enter the River Wandle.

Officers from the Environment Agency are in regular contact with the Cllrs in Merton and Wandsworth whose Wards were affected by the fire, along with officers from those boroughs. The cause of the fire is being investigated by the Environment Agency, alongside those partners. They will be working with the fire brigade to understand the cause of the fire, and the reasons why it took so long to extinguish. The London Borough of Merton is leading a formal multi-agency review of the incident and the Environment Agency will feed into this review. Alongside this, the Environment Agency is assessing the actions taken by Restons Waste Management, to understand if any more could have reasonably been done to prevent or mitigate the effects of the fire.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve the supply of methylphenidate hydrochloride in pharmacies.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department has been working hard with industry and NHS England to help resolve supply issues with some attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medicines, which are affecting the United Kingdom and other countries around the world. As a result of intensive work, some issues have been resolved. All strengths of lisdexamfetamine, atomoxetine capsules, and guanfacine prolonged-release tablets are now available.

We are continuing to work to resolve medicine supply issues, where they remain, for some strengths of methylphenidate. We are engaging with all suppliers of methylphenidate prolonged-release tablets to assess the challenges faced, and their actions to address them. We are also directing suppliers to secure additional stocks, expedite deliveries where possible, and review plans to further build capacity to support continued growth in demand for the short and long-term. It is anticipated the methylphenidate supply issues will be resolved by October 2024.

In parallel, the Department has worked with specialist clinicians, including those within the National Health Service, to develop management advice for the NHS clinicians to consider prescribing available alternative brands of methylphenidate prolonged release tablets. We would expect ADHD service providers and specialists to follow our guidance to offer rapid response to primary care teams seeking urgent advice or opinion for the management of patients, including those known to be at a higher risk of adverse impact because of these shortages.

To aid ADHD service providers and prescribers further, we have widely disseminated our communications and continually update a list of currently available and unavailable ADHD products on the Specialist Pharmacy Service website, helping ensure that those involved in the prescribing and dispensing of ADHD medications can make informed decisions with patients. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.sps.nhs.uk/articles/prescribing-available-medicines-to-treat-adhd/

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of basing eligibility for Free Childcare For Working Parents on household rather than individual income.

Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

Eligibility is assessed on a per person rather than per household basis because the application is made by the individual, it aligns to the existing boundary in the tax system and means there is no incentive for the lower earner in the household to reduce their income in order to be eligible. The eligibility criteria are kept under review.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to (a) reduce and (b) prevent fraud against consumers.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

DBT supports broader government efforts to tackle fraud through its funding of Citizens Advice and National Trading Standards to advise on and enforce consumer law, including fraud.

DBT is also implementing the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act, which strengthens consumer law enforcement powers and introduces significant new monetary penalties to better deter wrongdoers.

Through the Consumer Protection Partnership, Citizens Advice run an annual Scams Awareness campaign to give consumers the skills to identify scams, share their experiences and gain the confidence to report scams. The next campaign, focusing on financial scams launches on 21 October.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to prevent fraudulent practices by online shopping sites

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

DBT is implementing the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act which strengthens consumer law enforcement by giving the CMA new administrative powers, and the CMA and courts the ability to impose significant monetary penalties.

The Act also updates the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, setting out new ‘banned practices’ relating to the buying, selling, and publishing of fake consumer reviews and prohibiting ‘drip pricing’.

The Product Regulation and Metrology Bill was introduced on 4 September and aims to address the gap in consumer protections which allow online marketplaces to facilitate the sale of unsafe and illegal products.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to the correspondence of 7 August 2024 from the hon. Member for Tooting on children's cancer services in the South East.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We replied to the hon. Member’s letter on 16 September 2024. We apologise for the delay in replying, as this was due to Conference.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve the affordability of childcare for families ineligible for free childcare for working parents.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Ensuring that parents are able to access affordable and high quality childcare is a priority for this government. Our focus in reforming the system will be to ensure that there are greater and more equal opportunities to access early education for every family, and that there are greater opportunities for children to thrive and develop. As an initial step, we are progressing work to deliver new places in 3,000 nurseries through upgrading space in primary schools.

Families that are not eligible for the childcare entitlements for working parents may be entitled to other forms of support, including the 15 hours entitlement for disadvantaged two year olds and the 15 hours universal entitlement for three and four year olds. The universal entitlement is available to all parents of three and four year olds, regardless of income or immigration status. In terms of the disadvantaged two year olds entitlement, parents do not need to work to claim this entitlement. However, they will need to be claiming certain benefits and have a household net income of less than £15,400 per year. All two year olds with an education, health and care (EHC) plan, those in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and looked after children are eligible regardless of household income. Some two year olds with ‘no recourse to public funds’ immigration status may also be eligible subject to different income thresholds.

Working families claiming universal credit can also claim up to 84% of the childcare costs back through Universal Credit Childcare. This offer can be used alongside the entitlements set out above.

We will be undertaking a comprehensive evaluation programme of the expansion of childcare entitlements for working parents which will explore how families not eligible for the new entitlements experience finding and accessing childcare, including the associated costs. Further, the impact evaluation will assess how the expansion has impacted upon the quality of childcare provision and children’s development, for all children, and wider family outcomes. As per Government Social Research guidelines, evaluation findings will be available within 12 weeks of the projects being finalised. We expect the first to be available from spring 2026.