Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how his Department plans to meet its target of 9.3 million heat pumps by 2035.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The government will continue to provide financial support to households through our support schemes and by growing the market for green finance, and we will set out more details in the Warm Homes Plan.
The government is supporting supply chain growth through the reformed Clean Heat Market Mechanism, investing in manufacturing capacity through the Heat Pump Investment Accelerator, and helping installers train through the Heat Training Grant.
Our expectation is that the vast majority of heating system replacements will be with heat pumps and other low-carbon technologies, as these become the natural, affordable choice for consumers at the point of replacing an existing heating appliance at the end of its life.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the Health Data Research UK projects that access NHS data where specific project independent review was not received from NHS England's Advisory Group for Data, and what is the current status of those projects.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has a Data Sharing Agreement, project identification code DARS-NIC-381078-Y9C5K, with a consortium of academic organisations in the United Kingdom for the purpose of the Health Data Research UK-led, British Heart Foundation Data Science Centre’s CVD-COVID-UK programme.
This agreement was put in place by NHS Digital prior to its merger with NHS England in 2023, and prior to the establishment of NHS England’s Advisory Group for Data (AGD). The AGD was informed of a Senior Information Risk Owner decision to approve an amendment to the agreement on 22 February 2024.
The agreement was subject to reviews by NHS Digital’s Independent Group Advising on the Release of Data (IGARD) on 25 June 2020, 23 July 2020, 15 October 2020, 3 December 2020, 25 February 2021, 29 July 2021, 29 July 2021, 5 May 2022, and 24 November 2022. It was also subject to advice from the Professional Advisory Group on 24 June 2020 and 28 July 2021.
The agreement allowed the data controllers under that agreement to approve access to National Health Service data for individual projects, subject to approval per project by the CVD-COVID-UK oversight committee, which included a representative of NHS Digital/NHS England. Individual projects were not reviewed by IGARD or the AGD.
Under the terms of the agreement, the CVD-COVID-UK oversight committee is required to maintain a list of projects undertaken under the agreement and provide a quarterly report to NHS Digital/NHS England. The following table lists the projects and their current status from the latest report provided in April 2025:
Secure Data Environment research project reference | Current project status | Project title |
CCU001 | Live - Data in Use | Investigating the effects of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers on COVID-19 outcomes |
CCU002 | Live - Data in Use | SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination and the risk of vascular events |
CCU003 | Live - Data in Use | Direct and indirect effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in individuals with cardiovascular disease (CVD) |
CCU004 | Live - Data in Use | COVID-19 and CVD risk prediction |
CCU005 | Live - Data in Use | Data management and analysis methods |
CCU007 | Live - Data in Use | Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on heart disease patients undergoing cardiac surgery |
CCU008 | Completed | Evaluating impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the prevalence and management of risk factors |
CCU010 | Live - Data in Use | In people with CVD and COVID-19, what is the influence of multi-morbidity on risk of poorer outcomes? |
CCU013 | Live - Data in Use | High-throughput electronic health record phenotyping approaches |
CCU014 | Live - Data in Use | Assessing the impact of COVID-19 on clinical pathways using a medicines approach |
CCU018 | Live - Data in Use | COVID-19 infection during pregnancy on CVD and related risk factors |
CCU019 | Live - Data in Use | Identification and personalised risk prediction for severe COVID-19 in patients with rare disorders impacting cardiovascular health |
CCU020 | Completed | Evaluation of antithrombotic use and COVID-19 outcomes |
CCU022 | Live - Data in Use | Genomics of multimorbidity and CVD associated with susceptibility to COVID-19 infection and complications |
CCU023 | Live - Data in Use | Repurposing medicines used to treat CVD risk to prevent COVID-19 |
CCU024 | Completed | CovPall-Connect. Evaluation of how palliative and end of life care teams have responded to COVID-19: Connecting to boost impact and data assets |
CCU028 | Live - Data in Use | Coronary revascularisation and outcomes before and after the COVID-19 pandemic |
CCU029 | Live - Data in Use | Child hospital admission with COVID-19: risk factors; risk groups; and NHS care utilisation |
CCU030 | Live - Data in Use | Examining potential factors underlying the increased risk of severe COVID-19 experienced by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities |
CCU032 | Live - Data in Use | The effects of COVID-19 on heart failure subtypes |
CCU035 | Completed | Are people with COVID-19 and pre-existing respiratory disease at a higher risk of future cardiovascular and venous thromboembolic events compared with COVID-19 patients without pre-existing respiratory disease? |
CCU036 | Live - Data in Use | The impact of previous exposure to COVID-19 and the safety of COVID-19 vaccination for fertility and pregnancy outcomes |
CCU037 | Live - Data in Use | Improving methods to minimise bias in ethnicity data for more representative and generalisable models, using CVD in COVID-19 as an example |
CCU038 | Live - Data in Use | Evaluating the impact of COVID-19 on critical care outcomes |
CCU040 | Completed | Investigating why some people with diabetes have a greater risk of becoming seriously unwell or dying with COVID-19 |
CCU043 | Live - Data in Use | Investigating new onset diabetes following COVID-19 infection |
CCU045 | Live - Data in Use | The impact of COVID-19 on heart failure epidemiology, quality of care and outcomes across primary and secondary care |
CCU046 | Live - Data in Use | Severe mental illness and receipt of acute cardiac care and mortality following myocardial infarction |
CCU049 | Live - Data in Use | Healthcare utilisation in individuals with Long COVID |
CCU051 | Completed | Un-vaccination and under-vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 in the UK |
CCU052 | Live - Data in Use | An observational retrospective cohort study describing the changing epidemiology pre, during and post COVID-19 of asthma, interstitial lung disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in England |
CCU053 | Live - Data in Use | Risks and benefits of treatment with SGLT2 inhibitors and the impact of intercurrent illness with COVID-19 |
CCU056 | Completed | Socio-demographic make-up of patients undergoing surgical and transcatheter aortic valve intervention in England and the impact of COVID-19 on this |
CCU057 | Live - Data in Use | Risks for mortality in people with severe mental illnesses during the COVID-19 pandemic |
CCU058 | Live - Data in Use | COVID-19 impact on the long-term outcomes of Improving Access to Psychological Therapies in people with long-term cardiovascular conditions |
CCU059 | Completed | Which combinations of multiple long-term conditions are associated with the greatest risk of hospital admission over the winter season, and to what extent does COVID-19 or influenza vaccination modify this risk? |
CCU060 | Live - Data in Use | Improving characterisation, prediction and intervention for COVID-19 and influenza-related morbidity and mortality |
CCU063 | Live - Data in Use | The effect of COVID-19 on maternal and paediatric health among individuals whose first language isn’t English and require an interpreter in England: from preconception to adolescence |
CCU064 | Live - Data in Use | Impact of COVID-19 clinical care pathway changes on gestational diabetes incidence and pregnancy outcomes in England |
CCU066 | Live - Data in Use | Changes in acute cardiac care of patients with reduced kidney function during the COVID-19 pandemic |
CCU068 | Completed | The impact of vaccination on the excess clinical risks of COVID-19 in patients with congenital heart disease |
CCU069 | Live - Data in Use | RARE-CVD-COVID: To understand COVID-19 impact on intersectional disparity in rare versus common cardiometabolic diseases: CVD and metabolic diseases, including diabetes |
CCU070 | Live - Data in Use | Supporting novel trial designs using healthcare systems data to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on diabetes research |
CCU071 | Live - Data in Use | A regional approach for policy makers to tackle health inequalities in CVD and its risk factors |
CCU072 | Live - Data in Use | Influence of COVID-19 on British burden of CVD |
CCU073 | Live - Data in Use | Impact of COVID-19 on the association between Type 2 diabetes and incidence of CVD |
CCU074 | Live - Data in Use | Improving the accuracy, equity and efficiency of using healthcare systems data for recruitment to a clinical trial involving people with CVD and diabetes mellitus: a simulation study in the “Covid era” using the CVD‑COVID‑UK dataset |
CCU075 | Live - Data in Use | Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on corticosteroid use and side effects in Takayasu arteritis and ANCA-associated vasculitis in England |
CCU076 | Live - Data in Use | The effect of COVID-19 infection on cardiovascular outcomes: an interaction analysis with environmental exposure |
CCU077 | Live - Data in Use | Risk assessment and long-term outcomes of acute coronary syndrome management strategy in cardio-oncology patients before and after the COVID-19 era |
CCU078 | On hold | Foresight: a generative artificial intelligence model of patient trajectories across the COVID-19 pandemic |
CCU079 | Live - Data in Use | Investigating the diagnoses of conditions among children in England following SARS-CoV-2 infections compared to general respiratory infections |
CCU080 | Live - Data in Use | Impact of COVID-19 on the use of cardiovascular imaging |
CCU081 | Live - Data in Use | Investigating the impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular and thromboembolic events in idiopathic inflammatory myopathies and the incidence of connective tissue diseases |
CCU082 | Live - Data in Use | Pulmonary arterial hypertension in repaired congenital heart disease: impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on prevalence; late diagnosis; and outcomes |
CCU083 | Live - Data in Use | Trends in choice of management strategy for NSTE-ACS among patients with previous bypass surgery before and after the COVID-19 pandemic |
CCU084 | Live - Data in Use | Impact of COVID-19 on stroke incidence, severity, aetiology, management, and outcome in younger versus older individuals in England |
CCU085 | Live - Data in Use | STROKE-IMPACT: What are the long-term consequences of stroke on the patient and to the NHS, and how does COVID-19 contribute to variation? |
CCU086 | Live - Data in Use | A data landscape review of datasets used in the surveillance of neurological complications of COVID-19 |
CCU087 | Live - Data in Use | The impact of COVID-19 on heart failure outcomes: the moderation roles of diabetes and obesity |
CCU088 | Live - Data in Use | The impact of COVID-19 on the management of iron deficiency, with or without anaemia, in primary and secondary care |
CCU089 | Live - Data in Use | The impact of comorbidity, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity on waiting times for surgery before and after the COVID-19 pandemic |
CCU090 | Live - Data in Use | The impact of cardiac rehabilitation following transcatheter aortic valve implantation before and after the COVID-19 pandemic |
CCU092 | Live - Data in Use | Simulation modelling of CVD development and management, identifying the extent to which COVID-19 has impacted on the assessment and treatment of CVD. |
CCU093 | Live - Data in Use | Understanding the relationship between diabetes and the development of multiple long-term conditions in England, Scotland, and Wales during and after the COVID-19 pandemic |
CCU094 | Live - Data in Use | Identifying preventative opportunities for coronary heart disease and stroke in multi-ethnic patients with non-cardiovascular conditions including COVID-19 |
CCU095 | Live - Data in Use | Quantifying and mitigating bias and health inequalities induced by clinical risk models predicting COVID-19-related risks of people with CVD and diabetes. |
CCU096 | Live - Data in Use | Impact of COVID-19 on obesity and risks of cardio-renal-metabolic outcomes |
CCU097 | Live - Data in Use | Drivers, consequences and the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on severe hyperglycaemia at type 2 diabetes diagnosis |
CCU100 | Live - Data in Use | Impact of COVID-19 on fatty liver disease and cardiovascular outcomes in England, across ethnicities and social deprivation |
CCU101 | Live - Data in Use | Lung-Pal-Equity: To identify patterns in use of hospital services in the last year of life for those with advanced lung disease and to examine inequalities by socio-economic group, including before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic |
The status of project CCU078 has been updated to reflect that NHS England paused the project on 29 May. Further detail on the projects is published on the British Heart Foundation Data Science Centre’s website.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing guidance on how to adapt school environments to support the needs of autistic students.
Answered by David Johnston
The department’s ambition is for all children and young people, no matter what their Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) are, to receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. The department aims for children to achieve well throughout their education, to find employment, to lead happy and fulfilled lives and to experience choice and control.
Under the Equality Act 2010, schools must make reasonable adjustments to prevent them being put at a substantial disadvantage. Additionally, under the Children and Families Act 2014, mainstream schools must use their best endeavours to make sure a child or young person who has Special Educational Needs, including those who are autistic, gets the special educational provision they need. The SEND Code of Practice is clear that teachers are expected to monitor the progress of all pupils and put support in place where needed.
In the SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan, the department sets out its vision to improve mainstream education through setting standards for the early and accurate identification of need, and timely access to support to meet those needs. The standards will clarify the types of support that should be ordinarily available in mainstream settings and who is responsible for securing the support. This will give parents confidence and clarity on how their child’s needs will be met.
As part of this, the department has committed to developing practitioner standards, which were known as practice guides in the Improvement Plan, to provide advice to education professionals. These will set out evidence-based best practice in identifying and meeting individual needs. The department will publish three practitioner standards by the end of 2025, one of which will be focused on autism. The department will begin building on existing best practice and will include guidance on how an education environment may be adapted to better support the needs of autistic pupils.
Additionally, the department’s Universal Services contract brings together SEND-specific continuous professional development and support for the school and further education workforce to improve outcomes for children and young people, including those who are autistic, through one programme, which aims to reach 70% of schools and colleges in England per year.
The contract offers autism awareness training and resources. Over 100,000 professionals have undertaken autism awareness training since the Universal Services programme commenced in May 2022.
There is no specific guidance for adapting physical school environments to support autistic students. However, the department does publish a range of guidance documents, including Building Bulletins, which support the provision of inclusive learning environments. These are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/employers-requirements-part-b-generic-design-brief.
The Building Bulletins which have particular relevance to designing inclusive environments for children and young people with SEND, including those who are autistic, are the following:
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an estimate of how the number of finally unplaced young people at the end of the 2022 university admission round will compare to years prior to the covid-19 outbreak; if she will make it her policy to (a) fund additional and specific careers guidance and pastoral support, (b) make available an additional year of full further education funding, (c) provide additional access provision in Higher Education and (d) undertake any other measures needed to support young people in that position; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Andrea Jenkyns
The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) operates as an independent charity and is separate from the government. The department will continue to work closely with UCAS, schools, colleges, awarding organisations, and the higher education (HE) sector to support the 2022 intake of students, so they can go on to their next step in life, whether that is university, further training, or work.
In November 2021, my right hon. Friend, the former Minister for Higher and Further Education, wrote to Vice Chancellors to recognise the hard work and dedication that the sector has shown to students throughout the 2021 and 2022 admissions cycles. The former Minister asked that additional resilience is built into strategies for the 2022 HE admissions cycle. HE sector bodies were engaged through the HE Taskforce to commend them on their efforts to date and to ask that they continue to put students first.
In June 2022, UCAS reported that 281,500 UK 18-year-olds were holding a firm offer, up 7,000 on last year and the highest on record. UCAS expect more students than in previous years to gain a place at their firm choice institution. It expects that on A level and T Level Results Day the majority of students are likely to be confirmed at their firm choice. However, it is important to note that the exact numbers will not be known until 18 August, A level and T Level Results Day.
If students do not get the required grades, their preferred HE provider may still offer them a place. In the first instance, students are encouraged to talk to their school or college, or to their preferred university, who may be able to offer some flexibility. Students can also seek advice from the Exam Results Helpline run by the National Careers Service. UCAS will help thousands of students to find places through Clearing or explore other options once they have received their grades and predict that over 30,000 courses will be available. Last year, 56,225 students (10%) entered university via Clearing.
While HE opens many doors for those who study at this level, it is by no means the right option for everyone, including those with the highest grades. There are multiple options for students to progress, including HE but also traineeships, T Levels, apprenticeships, the Kickstart scheme, and higher technical qualifications.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether UCAS plans to analyse its data to track young people who (a) receive lower A Level grades in the 2021-22 academic year than predicted as a result of their academic performance having been adversely affected by lockdown and other restrictions introduced to prevent the spread of covid-19 during 2020 and 2021 and (b) will consequently be without any Higher Education place at the end of the 2022 admission round; what discussions she has had with UCAS on steps to take to support young people in that position; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Andrea Jenkyns
The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) operates as an independent charity and is separate from the government. The department will continue to work closely with UCAS, schools, colleges, awarding organisations, and the higher education (HE) sector to support the 2022 intake of students, so they can go on to their next step in life, whether that is university, further training, or work.
In November 2021, my right hon. Friend, the former Minister for Higher and Further Education, wrote to Vice Chancellors to recognise the hard work and dedication that the sector has shown to students throughout the 2021 and 2022 admissions cycles. The former Minister asked that additional resilience is built into strategies for the 2022 HE admissions cycle. HE sector bodies were engaged through the HE Taskforce to commend them on their efforts to date and to ask that they continue to put students first.
In June 2022, UCAS reported that 281,500 UK 18-year-olds were holding a firm offer, up 7,000 on last year and the highest on record. UCAS expect more students than in previous years to gain a place at their firm choice institution. It expects that on A level and T Level Results Day the majority of students are likely to be confirmed at their firm choice. However, it is important to note that the exact numbers will not be known until 18 August, A level and T Level Results Day.
If students do not get the required grades, their preferred HE provider may still offer them a place. In the first instance, students are encouraged to talk to their school or college, or to their preferred university, who may be able to offer some flexibility. Students can also seek advice from the Exam Results Helpline run by the National Careers Service. UCAS will help thousands of students to find places through Clearing or explore other options once they have received their grades and predict that over 30,000 courses will be available. Last year, 56,225 students (10%) entered university via Clearing.
While HE opens many doors for those who study at this level, it is by no means the right option for everyone, including those with the highest grades. There are multiple options for students to progress, including HE but also traineeships, T Levels, apprenticeships, the Kickstart scheme, and higher technical qualifications.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Your Party - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government plans to take to (a) reduce textiles waste in the UK, (b) improve the environmental sustainability of materials and production processes used in the production of textiles sold in the UK, (c) tackle exploitative labour practices used in the supply chains of textiles sold in the UK, (d) tackle lack of access to clothing in the context of the rise in the cost of living and (e) support consumers to make sustainable clothing choices.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The Government’s Resources & Waste Strategy for England identified textiles as a priority sector for action. We fund Textiles 2030, a voluntary partnership with industry to reduce the environmental impact of textiles, with signatories covering over 62% of all clothing put on the UK market. This programme is underpinned by ambitious science-based targets, including halving the carbon footprint of new products and reducing the water footprint by 30%, both by 2030.
Our landmark Environment Act 2021 provides general powers to introduce Extended Producer Responsibility schemes, design standards and require information on the resource efficiency of products, which will enable us to act more effectively
With those powers in mind, we are considering what wider framework of policy measures could best help reduce the environmental footprint of fashion and building our evidence base. This could include options to reduce waste through increased producer responsibility for goods at end of life, measures to drive increased reuse and longevity of garments as well as better product design and information standards to support consumers to make the most environmentally friendly choice.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what further steps they are taking to discourage plastic packaging.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
Our 2018 Resources and Waste Strategy for England sets out our ambitions of doubling resource productivity and eliminating avoidable waste by 2050. To help us achieve this we are working with the devolved administrations to jointly reform the packaging producer responsibility regulations and introduce a UK-wide extended producer responsibility (EPR) scheme for packaging.
Our second consultation on Packaging EPR closed on the 4 June. This will see packaging producers paying for the management of the packaging that they place on the market, including at end of life. This will ensure producers think carefully about the necessity of any packaging they use. Producer’s fees would also be varied to account for certain criteria, including recyclability, so that producers who use easily recyclable packaging will pay less than those who use packaging that is not. Producers will also be required to achieve ambitious recycling targets for packaging obligated under the scheme. This will include plastic packaging. In addition, the consultation sought views on the introduction of obligations to encourage the use of re-useable and re-fillable packaging
Aside from Packaging EPR, we have seen progress in the reduction in the use of single-use carrier bags. Their use by the main supermarket retailers in England has reduced by 95% since the introduction of the 5p charge. To drive further progress we have increased this charge to 10p and extended to all retailers on 21 May 2021.
The Government is also working with retailers and Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to encourage efforts to reduce waste and to explore the introduction of plastic-free supermarket initiatives in which fresh food is sold loose, giving consumers the choice.
The UK Plastics Pact is jointly founded between WRAP and the Ellen McArthur Foundation and is supported by the Government. The Pact brings together organisations from across the plastics supply chain with four key targets for 2025 that aim to reduce the amount of plastic waste generated. Our proposed reforms will support The Pact in achieving these targets.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect on the financial and mental well-being of visa applicants of extensive travel to (a) complete the English Language and Life in the UK tests and (b) submit a visa application in person.
Answered by Kevin Foster
UKVI work hard to ensure that front-end immigration services are accessible to customers.
UKVI works closely with commercial partners both oversees and in the UK, to ensure that there is a sufficient geographical spread of English language and Life in the UK (UK only) testing and biometric enrolment locations to minimise the amount of travel required by customers by analysing where concentrations of demand are. Our footprints in respect to both services are kept under review and further locations opened where sufficient demand supports.
In addition, our commercial partners offer a range of optional added-value services which provide customers additional choice in how they access biometric enrolment services overseas or in the UK such as mobile enrolment at a location at their convenience.
Individuals applying in the UK who have higher needs, may be vulnerable, or whose circumstances may be complex are directed to the Home Office run Support Centres (SSC) where they receive support with their application.
SSC customers who are unable to pay the application fee may submit a fee waiver request. Customers who have been granted a fee waiver and who fit certain criteria may be eligible to apply for travel assistance to attend their closest SSC.
Within the UK, customers who cannot travel to enrol biometrics due to ill heath are directed to contact either UKVI (if routed to SSCs) or Sopra Steria Limited (if routed to the UKVCAS service which they run on behalf of UKVI) once they have completed their application and before booking an appointment. Information on how to do this is provided at the end of the online application form on Gov.uk.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to help local authorities improve their support for vulnerable children.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The department aims to provide world-class education, training and care for everyone, whatever their background. We work closely with local authorities to make sure that everyone has the chance to reach their potential and to live a more fulfilled life.
We currently have an improvement system which seeks to identify local authorities with children’s services at risk of failing and to work collaboratively with them to put in place targeted support to help them improve the services they provide to vulnerable children and families.
Working closely with the sector, we have identified areas where help is needed to avoid failure, funding good local authorities to provide peer support on children’s services through the Partners in Practice programme to more than 80 authorities, with work underway to broker support for many more. We are investing £3 million over the 3 years to March 2021 to support leadership across children’s services, working with the Local Government Association. 146 local authorities out of a total of 151 have benefited from the programme.
Since the programme rolled out in November 2017, we have identified many local authorities who would benefit from additional help to avoid the risk of potential failure and have provided immediate support. As a result, we have seen an overall improvement in the quality of children’s services as judged by Ofsted. At the end of August 2020, 50% of local authorities were judged Good or Outstanding at their most recent inspection. This is 14 percentage points higher than the proportion judged Good or Outstanding following each authority’s first inspection under the previous Ofsted framework.
The department also acts quickly and decisively to intervene in local authorities found to be failing in their delivery of children’s services and judged Inadequate by Ofsted. Our intervention brings results: the first children’s services trust in Doncaster moved from Inadequate to Good in just 2 years, and after almost a decade of deeply entrenched failure, children’s services in Birmingham are no longer Inadequate. Where we have intervened and provided support, other local authorities have moved from Inadequate to Good, such as Rotherham and Barnet. All the local authorities judged Inadequate that were inspected in 2019 subsequently improved to be Good or Requiring Improvement.
Our aim is to continue the improvements we are making at pace so that, by 2022, less than 10% of local authorities are rated Inadequate by Ofsted, halving failure rates within 5 years and providing consistently better services for thousands of children and families across the country.
Similarly, our vision for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is the same as for all children – that they achieve well in their early years, at school and in college, that they find employment, lead happy and fulfilled lives, and experience choice and control. We are driving high performance across local area SEND services, aiming for 75% of areas delivering good quality SEND services. We are working closely with Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission to identify areas of weakness through the Interim Visits programme and the current inspection cycle. To reflect our ambitious programme of improvement in this area, we have commissioned a new, rolling cycle of Area SEND inspections to commence in 2022.
In relation to helping local authorities improve support for vulnerable children during the COVID-19 outbreak, the safety and wellbeing of the most vulnerable children has always been our priority. This is why nurseries and colleges have remained open to them because it the safest place for them to be.
Over recent months, we have worked across the government to improve what we know about the children and young people who are most at risk. We have worked closely with local authorities to improve our understanding of how COVID-19 is impacting children’s social care services across the country and how we can best support or challenge individual councils to protect the most vulnerable children in their care.
Regional Education and Children’s Teams (REACT) have been established to better co-ordinate how the department captures information and intelligence about local needs and circumstances in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, including in relation to vulnerable children, whilst offering support where it is needed.
More widely, during March and April 2020, the government provided £3.2 billion of emergency grant funding and over £5 billion of cashflow support to support local authorities with the COVID-19 outbreak.
On 2 July, the government announced a new comprehensive package of support to address spending pressures and in recognition of lost income. A further £500 million brought funding, given to support local councils with pressures, to £4.3 billion. This funding is un-ringfenced, recognising local authorities are best placed to decide how to meet the major service pressures in their local area, including support for children’s services, that have been caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what recent assessment they have made of the level of job satisfaction among armed forces personnel; and what trends, if any, they have identified.
Answered by Baroness Goldie - Shadow Minister (Defence)
The 2020 Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey (AFCAS) demonstrates that 58 per cent of personnel are satisfied with their job, an increase of three per cent since 2018.
Job satisfaction in the Armed Forces is a high priority for Defence. The Department seeks to measure job satisfaction in a robust, consistent and scientific manner, through forums such as the AFCAS. Although nearly 60 per cent are satisfied with their job, only 45 per cent are satisfied with Service life; we recognise that aspects of the latter can be a factor in decisions to leave. Whilst Armed Forces retention is generally stable and is towards the higher end of historic levels, we are taking active steps to bolster it.
The Ministry of Defence is actively working to modernise the employment offer for Service personnel to attract and retain the right mix of people and skills. This includes addressing the financial aspect of the offer, trialling at scale a new Future Accommodation Model (FAM) giving greater choice over housing options, and the introduction of Flexible Service allowing alteration of career commitment for set periods of time.