Asked by: Sally-Ann Hart (Conservative - Hastings and Rye)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the SEND and alternative provision improvement plan, published on 2 March 2023, if she will take steps with relevant stakeholders to introduce an apprenticeship for roles such as teachers of the deaf before 2025 to help increase the numbers available to teach deaf children and young people.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
As stated in the SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan, published 2 March 2023, the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) are developing an apprenticeship for teachers of sensory impairment. They are working with universities, local authorities and sector representatives, including the National Deaf Children’s Society, the Royal National Institute of Blind People and the British Association of Teachers of Deaf Children and Young People to develop the qualification. Subject to approval by IfATE, the apprenticeship will be published this year, but the department does not currently expect it to be delivered until 2025; allowing for providers to prepare the courses for delivery.
Asked by: Sally-Ann Hart (Conservative - Hastings and Rye)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to increase the provision of technical education and skills in coastal towns; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Andrea Jenkyns
The department is investing £3.8 billion more in further education and skills over the Parliament as a whole, to ensure people can access high-quality training and education that leads to good jobs, addresses skills gaps, boosts productivity and supports levelling up across the country, including in coastal areas.
This includes more investment for apprenticeships and employers in coastal communities can access funding for apprenticeships to meet their skills needs.
We have also launched T Levels, which are world-class programmes developed with over 250 leading employers to the same quality standards as apprenticeships and will ensure more young people gain the skills and knowledge demanded by employers. T Levels are already being delivered across the country, including in coastal areas such as Scarborough, Blackpool, Hastings, Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft.
Skills Bootcamps are available online across the country, with training also being delivered in many coastal towns including South Shields (construction, engineering, green skills), North Shields (engineering, green skills), Hartlepool (creative industries), Poole (HGV driving), and Weston-Super-Mare (digital).
The Free Courses for Jobs offer gives eligible adults the chance to access high value Level 3 qualifications for free. There are over 400 qualifications on offer in areas such as engineering, social care and accounting, alongside many others, which are delivered in all of England’s coastal areas, for example Bournemouth and Poole College and Weston College.
The government is also in the process of rolling out employer-led Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs), together with supporting funding, which will help deliver a key aim of putting employers more firmly at the heart of the skills system. The policy builds on the experience from eight trailblazers, including Cumbria, Kent, Sussex, Tees Valley and West of England, which have coastal towns economies. Developing and delivering a LSIP will be a collaborative process and the expectation is that the plans will provide an agreed set of actionable local skills priorities that employers, providers, and stakeholders in an area can get behind to drive change. By ensuring skills training is more responsive to the needs of employers and local economies, people will more easily be able to develop the skills they need to get good jobs and increase prospects.
Asked by: Sally-Ann Hart (Conservative - Hastings and Rye)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when her Department will publish the 10 year cancer plan.
Answered by Will Quince
On 7 September, the Government confirmed our commitment to publishing a 10 year cancer plan. The plan will be in line with other Government strategies and is being developed following the call for evidence held earlier this year, which received 5,000 responses. Further details will be announced shortly.
Asked by: Sally-Ann Hart (Conservative - Hastings and Rye)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of the research commissioned by his Department from Professor Douglas Elliffe on the effectiveness of the training of dogs with electronic collars.
Answered by Scott Mann
The proposed ban on the use of electric shock collars controlled by hand-held devices was developed after considering a broad range of factors, including the impact of a ban. When considered alongside the academic research, the public consultation responses, and direct engagement with the sector, HM Government concluded that these types of electric shock collars present an unacceptable risk to the welfare of dogs and cats and that their use should not be permitted.
Defra-commissioned research AW1402 and AW1402a revealed that many e-collar users were not using them properly and in compliance with the manufacturers' instructions. As well as being misused to inflict unnecessary harm, there is also concern that e-collars can redirect aggression or generate anxiety-based behaviour in pets, making underlying behavioural and health problems worse.
We consider the peer-reviewed Defra-commissioned research to be robust. It showed that e-collars have a negative impact on the welfare of some dogs.
Data from the research was published separately in two different reputable scientific journals, which required additional independent peer review exercises involving scrutiny from experts in the same field prior to publication. This gives HM Government further confidence that the results are robust. In addition, we have considered Professor Elliffe’s independent commentary on our research alongside Defra commission research provided by the University of Bristol, University of Lincoln and the Central Science Laboratory as part of the development of our policy.
The statutory Code of Practice for the Welfare of Dogs includes guidance and reminders for owners about their responsibilities to provide for the welfare needs of their animal, but also to keep their dogs safe and under control. The code of practice is available here:
Asked by: Sally-Ann Hart (Conservative - Hastings and Rye)
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 potential impact of banning e-collars on the number of dog attacks on livestock in England in the context of the report in the Sunday Telegraph on 27 March entitled Dog e-collar ban increases livestock deaths.
Answered by Scott Mann
The proposed ban on the use of electric shock collars controlled by hand-held devices was developed after considering a broad range of factors, including the potential impacts of such a ban. HM Government considered academic research, public consultation responses, and direct engagement with the sector and concluded that these devices present an unacceptable risk to the welfare of dogs and cats and that their use should not be permitted.
HM Government takes the issue of livestock worrying very seriously, recognising the distress this can cause farmers and animals, as well as the financial implications. Data on the number, and outcome, of recorded incidents of livestock worrying is held by individual police forces. All reported instances of livestock worrying should be taken seriously, investigated and, where appropriate, taken through the courts and met with tough sentences. The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill, introduced in Parliament on 8th June 2021, includes new measures to crack down on livestock worrying in England and Wales.
Meanwhile we maintain that it is best practice to keep your dog on a lead around livestock. Natural England recently published a refreshed version of the Countryside Code, which highlights that it is best practice to keep dogs on a lead around livestock. The Code also makes specific reference to keeping dogs in sight and under control to make sure they stay away from livestock, wildlife, horses and other people unless invited. Moreover, the Code helpfully sets out certain legal requirements, encouraging visitors to always check local signs as there are locations where you must keep your dog on a lead around livestock for all or part of the year.
The statutory Code of Practice for the Welfare of Dogs includes guidance and reminders for owners about their responsibilities to provide for the welfare needs of their animal, but also to keep their dogs safe and under control. The code of practice is available here:
Asked by: Sally-Ann Hart (Conservative - Hastings and Rye)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the briefing paper by the Climate Change Committee published on 23 March 2022 entitled Blue Carbon, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of including blue carbon habitats in the UK's Greenhouse Gas Inventory.
Answered by Greg Hands
BEIS has commissioned scientific research to better understand the feasibility of including Blue Carbon in the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory, and what change in UK Greenhouse Gas emissions would result from inclusion. A technical report on this subject is due for publication this summer.
Asked by: Sally-Ann Hart (Conservative - Hastings and Rye)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the evidence base is to support the use of fetal analgesia during in-utero surgery for spina bifida from 19 weeks' gestation, but not its use before the termination of a pregnancy at the same gestation.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The Department does not set clinical practice. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has considered the issue of fetal pain and awareness in its guidelines ‘The Care of Women Requesting Induced Abortion (Evidence-based Clinical Guideline No. 7)’ and ‘Fetal Awareness: Review of Research and Recommendations for Practice’, which are available at the following links:
https://www.rcog.org.uk/globalassets/documents/guidelines/abortion-guideline_web_1.pdf
https://www.rcog.org.uk/globalassets/documents/guidelines/rcogfetalawarenesswpr0610.pdf
The Royal College is currently reviewing these guidelines to consider the latest evidence on fetal pain and fetal awareness. It has advised that that the difference in approach in the use of fetal analgesia for in-utero surgery for spinda bifida is related to the fetal stress response, which is not related to fetal pain and the need for the fetus to be immobilised during spinal surgery. There is also evidence that the stress response could impact ongoing development of the fetus.
Asked by: Sally-Ann Hart (Conservative - Hastings and Rye)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the policy proposal in the SEND Review to make mediation mandatory before allowing families to go to the SEND Tribunal, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of that proposal on the time it takes families with disabled children to access the support they need.
Answered by Will Quince
Throughout the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) Review, parents and carers told the department how lengthy, stressful, and often expensive, the tribunal process can be.
In the current system, in most cases, families must secure a mediation certificate before registering an appeal with the tribunal, but they do not have to participate in the mediation itself. If the parent or young person does decide to proceed with mediation, then the local authority must ensure that a mediation session takes place within 30 days. There were 5,100 mediation cases held during 2021. Of these, 74% were settled without the need to progress to Tribunal.
Waiting for a SEND tribunal hearing can take significantly longer, the tribunal has a performance measure that 75% of appeals should be brought to hearing and the decision issued within 22 weeks.
This government’s proposals seek to resolve issues earlier and improve relationships locally by strengthening mediation, including consulting on making it mandatory. Parents will still be able to go to tribunal if necessary.
The green paper is now out for public consultation on its proposals until 22 July.
Asked by: Sally-Ann Hart (Conservative - Hastings and Rye)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps his Department is taking to support peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Government continues to implement the New Decade New Approach agreement and is united around the ambition for a strong functioning Executive delivering a more prosperous, shared future for Northern Ireland. The people of Northern Ireland are going to the polls on 5 May. It is vital that we give people the space to make that choice in an atmosphere of tolerance and respect, to ensure that fully functioning devolved institutions are restored at the earliest possible moment.
Asked by: Sally-Ann Hart (Conservative - Hastings and Rye)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to help ensure that new builds, including residential developments, are energy efficient particularly in respect of renewable energy.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government remains committed to meeting its target of net zero emissions by 2050 and recognises the important contribution that the energy efficiency of buildings has to make in meeting it.
From 2025, the Future Homes Standard will ensure that new homes produce at least 75% fewer CO2 emissions compared to those built to the 2013 standards. These homes will have very high fabric standards and be extremely energy efficient. Similarly, the Future Buildings Standard will ensure that new non-domestic buildings are highly efficient and have the best fabric standards possible.
In December 2021 the Government introduced an uplift in energy efficiency standards that delivers a meaningful reduction in carbon emissions and provides a stepping-stone to the Future Homes and Buildings Standards. Once the uplift comes into force, in June 2022, new homes will be expected to produce around 30% fewer CO2 emissions and new non-domestic buildings will be expected to produce 27% fewer CO2 emissions.
Our approach remains technology-neutral and developers will therefore retain the flexibility they need to use the materials and technologies that suit the circumstances of a site and their business to achieve these targets. This includes the use of solar panels where appropriate. The development of the 2021 energy efficiency targets included consideration of solar panels and thus we expect that many new buildings, where appropriate, will use this technology to meet the new standard.