Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of increasing the provision of financial support available to kinship carers.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department recognises the important role that kinship carers play in caring for some of the most vulnerable children and this government is determined to give every child the opportunities they deserve. Kinship carers play a crucial role in delivering this.
At Budget, the department recently announced a £40 million package to trial a new kinship allowance in up to ten local authorities to test whether paying an allowance to cover certain costs, such as covering day to day costs, supporting them to settle into a new home with relatives, or affording activities to support their wellbeing, can help increase the number of children taken in by family members and friends. This trial will help the department make decisions about future national rollout.
This is the single biggest investment made by government in kinship care to date. This investment could transform the lives of vulnerable children who can no longer live at home.
Departmental officials and I will continue to work across government to implement the new kinship allowances trial and to learn from this to inform any future policy.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many staff were appointed to roles within his Department between 5 July and 5 November 2024, broken down by pay grade.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Between 5 July 2024 and 31 October 2024, the following number of UK based members of staff joined the FCDO:
Grade | Number of Staff |
AO | 50-59 |
EO | 70-79 |
HEO | 120-139 |
SEO | 30-39 |
G7 | 20-29 |
G6 | 10-19 |
SCS1 | Fewer than 10 |
Grand Total | 320-339 |
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many staff have left his Department between 5 July and 5 November 2024, broken down by pay grade.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Between 5 July 2024 and 31 October 2024, the following number of UK based members of staff left the FCDO:
Grade | Number of Staff |
AO | 30-39 |
EO | 10-19 |
HEO | 40-49 |
SEO | 20-29 |
G7 | 40-49 |
G6 | 10-19 |
SCS1 | 10-19 |
SCS2 | Fewer than 10 |
Grand Total | 180-199 |
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many full-time equivalent employees are currently employed by (a) his Department and (b) non-departmental public bodies sponsored by his Department; and how many he expects to be employed next year.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As of 30 September 2024 there were a) 8266 Headcount / 8131.58 full-time equivalent staff employed by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and b) 1217 Headcount / 1170.98 full-time equivalent staff employed by the non-departmental public bodies of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. I would expect the number of staff employed by both the FCDO and associated non-departmental public bodies to reduce next year in line with workforce savings targets.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made a comparative assessment of financial support available to (a) kinship and (b) foster carers.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Statutory guidance issued to local authorities makes it clear that children and young people should receive the support that they and their carers need to safeguard and promote their welfare.
As local authorities know their carers best, they have the power to decide what financial support should be provided to carers and their children and any payments should be made in accordance with their model for assessing support needs. The government does not set a maximum or minimum allowance for local authorities to administer. However, the kinship care statutory guidance, published in October 2024. states that in its calculation of any ongoing special guardianship financial support, the local authority should have regard to the fostering allowance that would have been paid if the child was fostered.
Broadly speaking, no foster carer should be financially disadvantaged because of their fostering role. The government expects that all foster parents receive at least the weekly National Minimum Allowance (NMA), in addition to any agreed expenses to cover the full cost of caring for each child placed with them. More information is set out in the National Minimum Standards (NMS) Standard 28, which can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7abe16e5274a319e77a6a1/NMS_Fostering_Services.pdf.
The department has raised the NMA for foster carers above inflation for two consecutive years. In 2024/25, we increased the NMA by 6.88%, following an increase of 12.43% in 2023/24. The new allowance amounts for 2024/25 can be found at https://www.gov.uk/support-for-foster-parents/help-with-the-cost-of-fostering.
Fostering service providers can choose to pay above the minimum allowance or pay additional fees. However, there is no requirement to pay fees beyond the minimum allowance.
The government is committed to supporting children in care through kinship and foster care.
At the Autumn Budget 2024, the government announced £40 million to trial a new kinship allowance in up to 10 local authorities. We will test whether paying an allowance to cover certain costs, like supporting a child to settle into a new home with relatives, can help increase the number of children taken in by family members and friends.
The department is also investing £15 million to boost the number of foster carers next year, to generate hundreds of new foster placements and offer children a stable environment to grow up in. This will help recruit more foster parents by ensuring that every local authority has access to a regional recruitment hub. These hubs help raise awareness about fostering and offer prospective carers a centralised platform to find information, ask questions and get support from the start of their fostering journey.
Asked by: Jodie Gosling (Labour - Nuneaton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will take steps to increase the funding for the Child Maintenance Service to ensure prompt responses to correspondence from (a) residents of Nuneaton constituency and (b) other correspondents.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) continues to make significant investments in improving customer communications and correspondence through digital transformation and the Service Modernisation Programme.
A proportion of the overall funding for the programme is and will continue to be used to improve the service, including response times to correspondence.
One aim of the Programme is to improve CMS response times by increasing the capability of our self-service platforms, simplifying guidance and internal systems for our colleagues, and by freeing up caseworker time.
We strive to ensure staff are equipped with the tools needed to respond quickly and comprehensively to customer correspondence, however response times can vary depending on the complexity of individual cases. We will continue to invest in improving our contact channels for customers to offer a more flexible and responsive service to all customers.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Independent - Salford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of schools provide swimming lessons for Key stage (a) 1 and (b) 2 pupils.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department does not collect data on primary schools’ provision of swimming and water safety lessons. Sport England collects some data on swimming and water safety in from their annual Children and Young People’s Survey. This includes whether and how many swimming and water safety lessons are provided by primary schools who participate in the survey. This information can be found here: https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fsportengland-production-files.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fs3fs-public%2F2023-12%2FActive%2520Lives%2520CYP%252022-23%2520Tables%252041-43%2520School%2520data.xlsx%3FVersionId%3DxCNGsG7bgs5I3oTWIn4Z9fmFsmfQvEdO&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Convenor of the Executive Council of Hong Kong on human rights violations in that region.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I met Regina Ip on 31 October in London. Human rights were raised as part of the discussion. The UK will continue to speak often and candidly with Hong Kong authorities across both areas of contention as well as areas for cooperation. Engagement with representatives of Hong Kong and China is pragmatic and necessary to support UK interests.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make it her policy to publish an impact assessment which has been assessed by the Regulatory Policy Committee on the potential impact of the changes to National Insurance contributions announced in the Autumn Budget 2024 on employers.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
A Tax Information and Impact Note that covers the employer NICs changes was published by HMRC on 13 November.
It has not been successive Government’s policy since 2010 for tax policy changes to be assessed by the Regulatory Policy Committee.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what is the latest estimate by HM Treasury of the total revenue from business rates in England in each year from 2023-24 for which projections are available.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Office for Budget’s Responsibility’s (OBR) October 2024 Economic and Fiscal Outlook includes forecasts for UK business rates receipts. This is available online: https://obr.uk/docs/dlm_uploads/OBR_Economic_and_fiscal_outlook_Oct_2024.pdf.
Additionally, the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) publish non-domestic ratings receipts data and forecasts for the financial year ahead in England. Local authorities reported that the non-domestic rates income for 2023-24 was £25.1 billion. This is the amount that authorities collected after all reliefs, accounting adjustments and sums retained outside the rates retention scheme are taken into consideration. This is available online: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-non-domestic-rates-collected-by-councils-in-england-2023-to-2024/national-non-domestic-rates-collected-by-local-authorities-in-england-2023-to-2024.
For 2024-25, local authorities estimate the non-domestic rating income is forecast to be £26.3 billion: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-non-domestic-rates-collected-by-councils-in-england-forecast-2024-to-2025/national-non-domestic-rates-collected-by-councils-in-england-forecast-for-2024-to-2025
At the Autumn Budget, the government announced business rates policy for the 2025-26 period. The small business multiplier has been frozen at 49.9p and the standard multiplier has been uprated by CPI inflation from 54.6p to 55.5p. The Government also announced 40 per cent relief to Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) properties up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business. This package is worth more than £1.6 billion in 2025-26. Projections for non-domestic rates income for this period will be published subsequently by MHCLG. Business rates policy for 2026-27 will be announced at Autumn Budget 2025.