To match an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search term. eg. "Parliamentary Estate". Use "OR" or "AND" as link words to form more complex queries.


Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest developments by exploring our subscription options to receive notifications direct to your inbox

Written Question
Insurance: Companies
Monday 18th March 2024

Asked by: Vicky Ford (Conservative - Chelmsford)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 5.121, page 99 of the Autumn Statement 2023, what his planned timetable is for publishing a consultation on introducing a UK regime for captive insurance companies; what discussions his Department has had with the (a) Prudential Regulation Authority and (b) Financial Conduct Authority on the potential introduction of a captive insurance regime; and what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing such a regime.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

As announced at Autumn Statement, the Government will consult on the design of a new framework for encouraging the establishment and growth of captive insurance companies in the UK. The consultation will launch in Spring 2024.

The consultation will test views on proposals to introduce an attractive and competitive new UK captive insurance regime that works for businesses. Key to this will also be proportionate regulation that maintains the UK’s high regulatory standards.

The Treasury will continue to work closely with the independent regulators as it considers the case for a UK captives framework.


Written Question
Roads: Accidents
Tuesday 12th March 2024

Asked by: Vicky Ford (Conservative - Chelmsford)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish (a) available data from the Government-sponsored e-scooter trials on the (i) number and (ii) number per million kilometers travelled of people killed or seriously injured in e-scooter incidents and (b) equivalent figures for (A) bicycles, (B) legally registered powered two wheel motorbikes, (C) passenger cars and (D) commercial vehicles; and whether he holds such data for incidents involving e-scooters not included in the trials.

Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Out of millions of trips completed since e-scooter trials began, the vast majority of journeys have been completed safely.

From 2020, DfT has been monitoring the frequency of casualties involving e-scooters. The majority of DfT reported road casualty statistics are based on STATS19 data, the system through which the police report road casualties. STATS19 collects data on e-scooter casualties, including those using private scooters, with data published regularly in e-scooter casualty factsheets. The most recent e-scooter factsheet can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/reported-road-casualties-great-britain-e-scooter-factsheet-year-ending-june-2023/reported-road-casualties-great-britain-e-scooter-factsheet-year-ending-june-2023.

In addition, the Department routinely publishes data on casualties in reported road collisions using all other modes of road transport based upon data provided by police forces via the STATS19 system, including figures for bicycles, motorcycles, cars, HGVs and LGVs. A comparison of the casualty rates for different modes of travel can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/657c4a0983ba380013e1b610/ras0203.ods. Data from STATS19 (2022) found the severity of injuries for e-scooters and pedal cycles to be broadly similar. The most common injuries across both modes were abrasions, sprains, and bruising.


Written Question
Internet: Children and Young People
Tuesday 27th February 2024

Asked by: Vicky Ford (Conservative - Chelmsford)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to help prevent young people being groomed via the internet to commit crime.

Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)

We are committed to keeping children safe online and are delivering a number of initiatives that support that objective. For example, we are investing up to £145m over three years in our County Lines Programme to crack down on the county lines gangs exploiting our children and young people. Through this Programme we are developing a better understanding of how to disrupt online activity that is aimed at recruiting and exploiting children and young people.

The Online Safety Act 2023 is a key piece of legislation to keep children safe. There are a number of priority offences in the Act which relate to child criminal exploitation such as drug related offences, sexual exploitation and weapons and firearms supply offences. Technology companies must take proactive measures and use systems and processes to remove and limit people’s exposure to related content.


Written Question
Households: Parking
Monday 12th February 2024

Asked by: Vicky Ford (Conservative - Chelmsford)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an estimate of the proportion of people living in (a) tower blocks and (b) residential properties without a driveway own cars.

Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)

The Department does not hold the information required to fully respond to this question. We do hold some data on parking facilities available to households and dwellings, published annually in Live Tables DA2201, DA2202, and DA2203 available online, here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/amenities-services-and-local-environments.The Department does not collect data on households’ car ownership.


Written Question
Households: Parking
Monday 12th February 2024

Asked by: Vicky Ford (Conservative - Chelmsford)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an estimate of the number and proportion of households that own a car that do not have a driveway.

Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)

The Department does not hold the information required to fully respond to this question. We do hold some data on parking facilities available to households and dwellings, published annually in Live Tables DA2201, DA2202, and DA2203 available online, here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/amenities-services-and-local-environments.The Department does not collect data on households’ car ownership.


Written Question
Electric Vehicles: Charging Points
Friday 9th February 2024

Asked by: Vicky Ford (Conservative - Chelmsford)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much tax revenue is accrued from VAT on public charge points in residential areas.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The information is not available. HM Revenue and Customs does not hold information on VAT revenue from specific products or services, including VAT on public electric vehicle charging points. This is because businesses are not required to provide figures at a product level within their VAT returns, as this would impose an excessive administrative burden.


Written Question
Electric Vehicles: Charging Points
Friday 9th February 2024

Asked by: Vicky Ford (Conservative - Chelmsford)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much tax revenue is accrued from VAT on public charge points.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The information is not available. HM Revenue and Customs does not hold information on VAT revenue from specific products or services, including VAT on public electric vehicle charging points. This is because businesses are not required to provide figures at a product level within their VAT returns, as this would impose an excessive administrative burden.


Written Question
Pharmacy
Thursday 1st February 2024

Asked by: Vicky Ford (Conservative - Chelmsford)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that there is adequate pharmacy provision.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department monitors changes to the market closely to understand patient access to pharmaceutical services within the National Health Service. The law requires that every three years, local authority Health and Wellbeing Boards undertake pharmaceutical needs assessments to identify if there is a need for improvement or better access to services in the local areas. Contractors can apply to open a pharmacy where there is a gap or a need for improved access to services or if they can make a case for providing other benefits to the local communities.

When their usual local pharmacy closes, patients can choose to access any of the remaining pharmacies nearby. Patients can also choose to access NHS pharmaceutical services remotely through any of the approximately 400 internet pharmacies in England, which are contractually required to deliver medicines to patients’ home address free of charge.

There were 10,673 pharmacies on 31 December 2023 providing NHS services in England. Access remains good with 80% of the population living within 20 minutes walking distance of a pharmacy and twice as many pharmacies in the most deprived areas of the country.


Written Question
Schools: Grants
Monday 15th January 2024

Asked by: Vicky Ford (Conservative - Chelmsford)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools in Chelmsford constituency received school improvement grants in (a) 2010-2017 and (b) 2017-2023; how many grants were received in each period; and what the total amount for each school was in each period.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

Departmental records show that between 2010 and 2017 five schools in Chelmsford constituency received or benefited from specific school improvement grants, and between 2017 and the end of December 2023 ten schools received or benefited from specific school improvement grants.

The following grants have been included in this analysis:

  • Regional Academy Growth Fund (RAGF) 2016/17
  • Multi-academy Trust Development and Improvement Fund (MDIF) 2018/19
  • Trust Capacity Fund (TCaF) - 2019 to date
  • Strategic School Improvement Capital Budget (SSICB) - 2016 to date
  • Environmental Improvement Grant (EIG) - 2016 to date
  • Emergency Strategic Improvement Fund (ESIF) - 2017 to date
  • School Improvement offer (SI) - 2018 to 2020
  • Trust and School Improvement offer (TSI) – 2021 to date.

The department has also included grants allocated for sponsored academy conversions (2010 to date), as well as grants for transferring academies between trusts (2012 to date) because these grants may include elements for school improvement activities.

The department has limited this analysis to these grants as they can be quantified for some of the time periods requested. The department's policy of retaining financial records for seven years limits access to data before the 2016/17 financial year. Other department grants may contribute less directly to wider school improvement. In addition, many of these and other grants are allocated via academy trusts or other organisations, and so schools may benefit indirectly without being the designated recipient from department. Finally, not all grant programs have been operational throughout the entire period between 2010 and 2023.

For a summary of the grants awarded, and for relevant school-level data, please refer to the tables below:

Table 1: Summary of school improvement grants paid for supporting schools in Chelmsford constituency.

Number of institutions in receipt of a school improvement grant and their total value

Grant programme

(a) 2010 to 2017

(b) 2017to2023 (to end December 2023)

Regional Academy Growth Fund**

RAGF 2016-2017 2 trusts each with 1 school in Chelmsford*

N/A

Multi-academy Trust Development and Improvement Fund**

N/A*

2 trusts, one with 2 schools and 1 with 1 school in Chelmsford*

Trust Capacity Fund **

N/A*

1 trust with 2 schools in Chelmsford*

Strategic School Improvement Capital Budget

N/A* 2010-2017
None – 2016-17

None

Environmental Improvement Grant

None for 2016-17.
Records not available prior to 2016-17.

None

Emergency Strategic Improvement Fund

N/A as fund started in 2017-18

None

Sponsored conversions to academy status

3 academies, totalling £210,000

None

Transfer of an academy

None

None

School Improvement Offer

N/A*

1 school, totalling £1,800

Trust and School Improvement offer

N/A*

4 schools, totalling £16,800

* Grant programme not operating during this period.

** The RAGF, MDIF, and TCAF funds support growth in the capacity of academy trusts to oversee academies. Funding is allocated to trusts, and available data only reflects the total amounts received at the trust level. We are unable to attribute specific portions of the funding awarded under the RAGF, MDIF or TCaF programmes to individual school improvement efforts within any given trust or locality.

Table 2: Value of school improvement grants awarded where it is possible to identify a value attributable to the Chelmsford constituency.

Name of school or trust

Grant name

Year funding allocated or first payment made

Amount paid or allocated

Melbourne Park Primary and Nursery School

Pre-opening sponsored grant

2014

£70,000

Meadgate Primary School

Pre-opening sponsored grant

2013

£70,000

Larkrise Primary School

Pre-opening sponsored grant

2016

£70,000

Newlands Spring Primary School

School Improvement Offer Tier 1

2019

£1,800

South Essex Academy Trust

Trust and School Improvement Offer

2022

£3,000

Bridge Academy Trust

Trust and School Improvement Offer

2022

£1,800

The Chelmsford Learning Partnership

Trust and School Improvement Offer

2023

£6,000

Attain Academy Partnership

Trust and School Improvement Offer

2023

£6,000


Written Question
Pupils: Per Capita Costs
Friday 12th January 2024

Asked by: Vicky Ford (Conservative - Chelmsford)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the per pupil funding to schools (a) in Essex and (b) nationally was in (i) 2016/17 and (ii) 2023/24; and what the percentage increase adjusted for inflation for schools (A) in Essex and (B) nationally was between those years.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

The department publishes statistics on schools funding at the national level, including revenue funding to state-funded schools in England for pupils aged 5 to 16, in cash and real terms. Statistics for the 2010/11 to 2023/24 financial years are available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-funding-statistics.

In 2016/17 national per pupil funding in cash terms was £5,590 and in 2023/24 this had risen to £7,460 in cash terms. This represents a cumulative growth in per pupil funding since 2016/17 of 9.9% in real terms, as measured by the GDP deflator.

The published information has been designed to capture core funding for schools and be as consistent and comparable as possible across these years, given that the funding system has changed significantly during that time. It covers mainstream primary and secondary schools, special schools, alternative provision, pupil referral units and non-maintained special schools. Information about the methodology can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/methodology/school-funding-statistics-methodology. The department does not have a breakdown of this time series at local authority level, therefore equivalent figures are not available for Essex.

At local authority level, the department instead publish per pupil units of funding for the schools block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG) in cash terms. In 2016/17 for Essex, this was £4,392. Following changes to the funding system in 2017/18, the primary and secondary per pupil units of funding were provided separately and, in 2023/24 for Essex, these were £4,720 and £6,116 respectively. These figures are for mainstream schools only and do not include any additional grant funding outside of the DSG, such as the mainstream schools additional grant and teachers’ pay additional grant. The national equivalent to these local authority figures is £4,636 for 2016/17 and £4,954 and £6,422 for 2023/24 for primary and secondary schools respectively.