Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help support PhD students with the increased cost of living.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The Government introduced doctoral loans in the 2018/19 academic year. These loans, which offer up to £28,673 for courses starting in 2023/24, are a contribution to the costs of study, and are the first direct government funding for doctoral study available to students on an open to all basis. For example, available to all eligible students who have gained a place on an eligible programme of study.
The government is considering options for doctoral loans for the 2024/25 academic year and will be making an announcement in due course.
The government recognises the cost-of-living pressures that have impacted students. That is why the department asked the Office for Students to maintain Student Premium and Mental Health funding for the 2023/24 financial year at the same levels as the previous year.
The department has made available £276 million of Student Premium and Mental Health funding for the 2023/24 academic year to support students who need additional help. This funding will complement the help universities are providing through their own bursary, scholarship and hardship support schemes.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
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 potential merits of prioritising the covid-19 vaccine booster programme for people diagnosed with long-covid.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is an independent group of experts who advise the Government health departments in the four nations of the United Kingdom on immunisations and the prevention of infectious disease. On 8 August 2023, the Government accepted advice from the JCVI on who should be offered COVID-19 vaccination in autumn 2023.
The primary aim of the COVID-19 vaccination programme remains the prevention of severe illness, namely hospitalisations and deaths, arising from COVID-19. The JCVI advice is to focus the offer of vaccination on those at greatest risk of serious disease or at high risk of transmitting the disease to vulnerable individuals. For this autumn the eligible groups for vaccination are residents and staff in a care home for older adults, all adults aged 65 years old and over, persons aged 6 months to 64 years old in a clinical risk group, frontline health and social care workers, persons aged 12 to 64 years old who are household contacts and persons aged 16 to 64 years old who are carers.
The clinical risk groups for COVID-19 vaccination are defined in the UK Health Security Agency’s ‘Green Book’ on vaccines and immunisation Chapter 14a tables 3 and 4. Post-COVID Syndrome (long COVID) is not currently identified by the JCVI as one of these conditions. The JCVI considered post-COVID syndromes when developing advice for autumn 2023 and concluded that there is not currently sufficient evidence to support making individuals experiencing post-COVID syndrome an eligible group for vaccination.
To support individuals with long COVID, NHS England has set out a long COVID action plan, including establishing a nationwide network of specialist clinics. Anyone who is concerned about ongoing symptoms following COVID-19 can find information and advice on the ‘NHS Your COVID Recovery’ website. The JCVI will continue to review evidence and will provide further advice regarding future vaccination programmes in due course.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to implement the Sustainability Disclosure Standards.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Green Finance Strategy (March 2023) set out the Government’s plans for endorsement of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation’s recently published sustainability disclosure standards. This document explained that the Government is establishing an endorsement process that will assess the suitability of the standards for use for UK companies, with the aim of publishing a UK-endorsed version of the standards that could be used by UK companies. This version of the standards will form the basis of any regulatory or legal changes that Government or the Financial Conduct Authority may wish to make at a later stage.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to bring forward legislation to implement the sustainability disclosure requirements regime.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) is a framework to facilitate and simplify the flow of robust, decision useful information between corporates, consumers, investors, and capital markets.
Mobilising Green Investment: 2023 Green Finance Strategy contains the plans of both the Government and the regulators to take SDR forward, building on global best practice and leading standards. This includes the Government's plans to establish an endorsement process that will assess the suitability of standards issued by the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) for use by UK companies.
The UK has already implemented mandatory Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) requirements across the economy, and the Financial Conduct Authority is taking forward further Sustainability Disclosure Requirements for authorised financial services firms and listed companies under their existing powers.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help support children who have a parent serving a prison sentence.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018 sets out local areas’ responsibilities to provide support and services. It highlights dependent children of imprisoned parents as a cohort which practitioners should be particularly aware of and should provide the appropriate needs-based advice and support to where needed.
The department’s ambition is for every family to receive the right support, at the right time. In Stable Homes, Built on Love, the department outlined its strategy for whole system reform, including family help which will provide effective and intensive support to any family facing significant challenges.
Prison Mother and Baby Units Admission Boards must be in receipt of a Children’s Services assessment in order to facilitate a Board. Every assessment by a social worker should reflect children’s needs within their family and community context, which would include taking account of a parent being in prison. These children’s circumstances vary considerably and therefore local agencies are best placed to determine what support is needed, whether early help, statutory social care services, or support for other needs such as mental health.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing sustainability content to GCSEs.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Topics related to climate change and the environment are already included within the respective Citizenship, Science and Geography national curricula. Existing GCSEs such as Design and Technology, Food Preparation and Nutrition, and Economics contain opportunities for students to be taught about the environmental and sustainability context of the processes and principles underlying these subjects. The Environmental Science A level is also already available.
As committed to in the Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy for the Education and Children’s Services Systems, the Department is introducing a Natural History GCSE. The Natural History GCSE will allow students to engage with and study specific organisms, such as plants and animals, and the contexts in which they live, including their complex interactions and dependencies. It will develop students’ skills of observation, description, recording, and analysis, through sustained and structured field study. It will enable pupils to build on their knowledge in other subjects, in particular Science and Geography.
Our strategy also commits to a National Education Nature Park and Climate Action Award, which will provide many educational opportunities for young people to take part in community science, in biodiversity monitoring and data analysis, and to translate knowledge into positive action and learn important skills for the future. Participants will have access to a comprehensive, curriculum based set of climate education resources, lesson plans, activities and schemes of work from Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stages 1 to 4, curated and devised by a wide range of very knowledgeable stakeholders.
The Climate Action Award will recognise the environmental work already being done by schools and colleges. At its highest level, young people will be researching and undertaking projects that will prepare them for apprenticeships and further study in the new green economy.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to monitor compliance with the statutory guidance entitled Cost of school uniforms, published on 19 November 2021; and if her Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of the cost of school uniforms on the level of children who do not attend school.
Answered by Nick Gibb
While it is the responsibility of school governing boards to determine their uniform policy, the Department expects schools to comply with the guidance on the cost of school uniforms. The Department continues to engage with the sector to ensure that schools are aware of their obligation to have regard to the guidance and in July 2023 published the results of a survey of school leaders looking at changes made as a result of the guidance. The survey results can be found at here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-and-college-panel-omnibus-surveys-for-2022-to-2023.
The Department also continues to assess compliance with the guidance through engagement with key stakeholders, including school leaders and uniform suppliers, and via correspondence from parents.
The Department has no plans to make an assessment of the potential impact of the cost of school uniform on attendance. The guidance on the cost of school uniform is clear that, where it is suspected that financial hardship has resulted in a pupil not complying with a school’s published uniform policy, schools should take a mindful and considerate approach to resolve the situation.
Last year, the Government introduced strong new expectations on schools and Local Authorities to work together to tackle absence. The Department will continue to monitor attendance data to understand and assess the impact of the attendance reforms.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
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 supply of (a) Lisdexamfetamine and (b) Bupropion Hydrochloride.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department is aware of intermittent supply disruptions affecting Elvanse (lisdexamfetamine) capsules. We continue to work with the respective manufacturer to ensure continuous supply is resumed quickly. However, we can confirm that Elvanse 20mg, 40mg and 60mg capsules are currently in stock and pharmacies should be able to obtain stock via normal wholesaler routes.
We are also aware of a shortage with Bupropion. The resupply date of this product is still to be confirmed. We have issued comprehensive management guidance to healthcare professionals on this shortage in December 2022. Guidance advises on the management of patients who require this medication for both licensed and off-label indications. Clinicians can advise patients on suitable alternative products, and other management options that can be considered. This includes unlicensed bupropion 150mg modified release tablets which have been sourced.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that teaching staff receive appropriate training to support students with (a) autism and (b) sensory issues.
Answered by Nick Gibb
All teachers need to be equipped to teach pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). High quality teaching is the single most important in-school factor in improving outcomes for all pupils, including those with autism.
Training and development to support pupils with autism starts at the beginning of a teacher’s training through their Initial Teacher Training (ITT) course, which is then embedded through the Early Career Framework (ECF). Careful consideration has been given to the needs of trainee teachers in relation to supporting pupils with SEND, and the ECF builds on that training for early career teachers.
Once teachers qualify and are employed in schools, head teachers also use their professional judgement to identify any further training, including specific specialisms, for individual staff that is relevant to them, the school, and its pupils, for example, through the Universal Services Programme.
The programme offers online training, professional development groups, bespoke school and college improvement projects, sector led research, autism awareness training and a focus on preparation for adulthood, including employer led webinars. The programme commenced in May 2022 and will run until Spring 2025.
So far, 6,500 school and college staff have accessed free online training modules, and 81 schools and over 135 colleges have identified and led their own SEND focused school improvement project. These projects focused on SEND Governance, teaching assistant deployment, early identification of SEND and curriculum.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance her Department issues to local authorities on how to (a) prevent and (b) dispose of fly-tipping in public (i) parks and (ii) green spaces.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra chairs the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group (NFTPG), through which we work with a wide range of interested parties, including local authorities, to promote and disseminate good practice with regards to preventing fly-tipping. Together we have produced various guides on tackling fly-tipping and the roles and responsibilities of local authorities and others.
More recently, we have been developing a fly-tipping toolkit with the NFTPG. So far, the group has published a guide on how councils and others can present robust cases to court and a new framework which sets out how they can set up and run effective local partnerships to prevent fly-tipping. These, and other materials, are available at: https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/national-fly-tipping-prevention-group.
In addition to this, Defra has provided £1.2 million in grant funding to help more than 30 councils implement projects aimed at tackling fly-tipping. Case studies from round one have been made available at the link above so other councils can learn about those interventions which were most successful. We intend to launch another grant opportunity for councils later this year.