Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the annual budget is for regional schools commissioners, per commissioner per region in each financial year since 2014-15; and how many staff were employed by each commissioner on average in each financial year since 2014-15.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department has identified the costs as the workforce costs and the General Administration Expenditure for the Regional Schools Commissioners (RSCs) and their teams up to 2022, and for Regional Directors and their teams from 2022 onwards. RSCs were replaced in 2022 by Regional Directors with an expanded remit.
The department's policy of retaining financial records for seven years limits access to data before the 2016/17 financial year.
In 2019 the department underwent re-organisation to align its delivery work in relation to academies, free schools and school improvement, bringing together functions that were previously delivered in different parts of the department. This data for 2019/2022 is therefore not directly comparable to previous years, as the functions delivered by the RSC teams expanded.
The RSC Staff programme budget, represented in the table below, was held centrally until the 2020/2021 financial year and then was split and allocated to the individual regions from 2021/2022. This was a change in where the budget sat rather than a change in staffing levels.
Workforce actual spend data for Regional Schools Commissioner teams 2016/2022
Workforce Actual Spend (Millions of GBP) | FY 2016/17 | FY 2017-18 | FY 2018/19 | FY 2019/20 | FY 2020/21 | FY 2021/22 |
RSC East of England and North East London | £1.60 | £1.62 | £1.15 | £1.07 | £1.20 | £1.99 |
RSC East Midlands and Humber | £1.90 | £1.48 | £1.39 | £1.10 | £1.33 | £2.58 |
RSC Lancashire and West Yorkshire | £1.85 | £1.91 | £1.45 | £1.33 | £1.39 | £2.86 |
RSC North & Opportunity North East | £1.57 | £1.29 | £1.16 | £0.74 | £0.93 | £3.36 |
RSC North West London and South Central England | £1.89 | £1.62 | £1.27 | £1.33 | £1.51 | £3.06 |
RSC South East and South London | £2.18 | £1.66 | £1.43 | £1.11 | £1.63 | £3.40 |
RSD South West | £2.20 | £1.98 | £1.39 | £1.59 | £1.81 | £3.55 |
RSC West Midlands | £1.90 | £1.91 | £1.15 | £1.20 | £1.67 | £3.18 |
RSC Staff Programme Costs* | £4.08 | £9.95 | £14.68 | £15.90 | £16.31 | £0.37 |
Full Time Equivalent staffing data for Regional Schools Commissioner teams 2016/2022
Full Time Equivalent Staff per Region | FY16/17 | FY17/18 | FY18/19 | FY19/20 | FY20/21 | FY21/22 |
RSC East of England and North East London | 44.01 | 41.46 | 42.6 | 47.4 | 41 | 41.6 |
RSC East Midlands and Humber | 46.99 | 59.93 | 47 | 51.4 | 53 | 49.9 |
RSC Lancashire and West Yorkshire | 54.16 | 68.71 | 48.6 | 64.2 | 64.1 | 54.5 |
RSC North & Opportunity North East | 40.48 | 41.28 | 32.6 | 41.9 | 37.7 | 37.3 |
RSC North West London and South Central England | 49.35 | 52.43 | 48.4 | 64.1 | 51.6 | 43 |
RSC South East and South London | 54.19 | 58.52 | 42.4 | 61.7 | 54.8 | 52.3 |
RSC South West | 54.66 | 55.59 | 53.7 | 67.2 | 59.2 | 58.9 |
RSC West Midlands | 58.62 | 52.57 | 46.7 | 57.9 | 58.6 | 56.3 |
In July 2022, the creation of Regions Group within the department led to the replacement of the RSC role with Regional Directors, with a broader remit for the delivery of special educational needs and disabilities support and children’s social care improvement and interventions in their regions alongside their role in relation to academies and free schools. The regional structures were also re-organised to align with geographical boundaries of English regions. This data is therefore not directly comparable to the previous years.
Workforce actual spend data for Regional Director teams 2022/2024
Workforce Actual Spend Data for Regional Director Teams 2022 – 2024 (Millions of GBP) | Workforce Actual | Workforce Actual (at end of Feb 2024) |
FY 2022/23 | FY 2023/24 | |
Regional Directorate - East Midlands | £2.70 | £3.11 |
Regional Directorate - East of England | £3.60 | £3.58 |
Regional Directorate - London | £4.06 | £3.68 |
Regional Directorate - North East | £2.47 | £2.09 |
Regional Directorate - North West | £4.44 | £4.36 |
Regional Directorate - South East | £4.04 | £3.93 |
Regional Directorate - South West | £4.34 | £4.13 |
Regional Directorate - West Midlands | £4.26 | £3.91 |
Regional Directorate - Yorkshire and the Humber | £4.00 | £3.89 |
Full Time Equivalent staffing data for Regional Director teams 2022/2024
Full Time Equivalent Staff per Region | FY22/23 | FY23/24 (Actual FTE at end of Feb 24) |
Regional Directorate - East Midlands | 47.7 | 54.6 |
Regional Directorate - East of England | 53.0 | 65.5 |
Regional Directorate - London | 55.6 | 56.3 |
Regional Directorate - North East | 38.3 | 33.2 |
Regional Directorate - North West | 76.2 | 80.0 |
Regional Directorate - South East | 62.8 | 61.2 |
Regional Directorate - South West | 66.3 | 78.5 |
Regional Directorate - West Midlands | 69.7 | 70.7 |
Regional Directorate - Yorkshire and the Humber | 62.7 | 71.7 |
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on the number and proportion of the working age population who are disabled in (a) the East Midlands and (b) Lincolnshire.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is given in the table below.
Number and percentage of disabled people aged 16 to 64, 2022/2023
Geographical area | Number of working age disabled people | Percentage of working age people who are disabled |
East Midlands | 720,200 | 24.5% |
Lincolnshire | 129,300 | 29.7% |
Source – table LMS008
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average waiting time for a driving test was in (a) England and (b) East Midlands as of 25 March 2024.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The average waiting time for a car practical driving test in England, in February 2024, was 17.5 weeks.
The average waiting time for a car practical driving test in the East Midlands, in February 2024, was 17.6 weeks.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people completed unpaid work on the Community Payback Rapid Deployment Project pilot schemes between June and December 2023; how many hours of unpaid work were completed; and how many and what proportion of those hours were attributable to schemes run in the (a) Greater Manchester, (b) East of England, (c) Wales and (d) North East Probation Service regions.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Between 19 June and 31 December 2023, a total of 8,809 community payback hours have been completed as a part of the Community Payback Rapid Deployment Project pilot scheme by 509 different people.
Probation Region | Community Payback Rapid Deployment Hours Worked | Proportion of Rapid Deployment hours worked per region | People completing Community Payback Rapid Deployment |
East of England | 921 | 10.4% | 79 |
Greater Manchester | 5,358 | 60.8% | 193 |
North East Region | 787 | 8.9% | 64 |
Wales | 596 | 6.8% | 90 |
West Midlands Region | 906 | 10.3% | 54 |
Yorkshire and The Humber | 242 | 2.7% | 29 |
The data source is nDelius, the Case Management System used by the Probation Service. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the information collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system. While the figures shown have been checked as far as practicable, they should be regarded as approximate and not necessarily accurate to the last whole number shown in the tables.
To note, the figures are different to those provided in parliamentary question responses in October and December 2023, due to work undertaken to improve the accuracy of the data recorded.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many full-time equivalent qualified school nurses are working in a public health-commissioned (a) school nursing service, (b) zero to 19 service and (c) five to 19 healthy child programme in each local authority area.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Since April 2013, local authorities have held responsibility for commissioning public health services for school-aged children. These services may be commissioned from a range of providers both inside and outside of the National Health Service. NHS England publishes monthly workforce data which includes information on the number of school nurses directly employed by NHS trusts and other core NHS organisations in England. This data will not represent the total number of school nurses delivering local authority commissioned services, as it will excludes places where services are commissioned outside of the NHS. It is not possible to identify the specific service or programme that these staff are working within.
While data is not available at a local authority level, the following table shows full-time equivalent (FTE) school nurses working within NHS trusts and other core organisations in England by Government Office Region, as of November 2023:
Government Office Region | FTE School Nurses |
East Midlands | 140 |
East of England | 161 |
London | 325 |
North East | 55 |
North West | 434 |
South East | 291 |
South West | 81 |
West Midlands | 286 |
Yorkshire and The Humber | 207 |
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much and what proportion of the total flood and coastal risk management budget has been spent in each (a) region, (b) constituency and (c) local authority.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In March 2020, the Government doubled its investment in flood defences to a record £5.2 billion between 2021 and 2027 to better protect communities across England from flooding and coastal erosion. We are in the third year of this Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management investment programme.
Since April 2021, approximately £1.5 billion of this funding has been invested in over 200 flood protection schemes, better protecting over 71,000 properties.
Below is a table which shows the actual spend between 2021 and 2023, the allocation between 2023 and 2025, and an indicative allocation from 2025 to 2027 by ONS region. An indicative range is given for 2025 to 2027 because the programme is reviewed and refreshed annually as projects progress. This allows for flexibility to manage change and introduce new schemes or urgent works if necessary.
Grant in Aid (Millions) | Actual spend | Allocation | Indicative allocation range | ||
ONS Region | April 2021 to March 2022 | April 2022 to March 2023 | April 2023 to March 2024 | April 2024 to March 2025 | April 2025 to March 2027 |
East Midlands | £71.3 | £76.5 | £64.1 | £600.3 | £146 to £206 |
East of England | £73.7 | £79.2 | £107.0 | £111.9 | £168 to £254 |
London | £32.7 | £34.3 | £47.3 | £15.5 | £18 to £36 |
North East | £13.6 | £15.5 | £17.4 | £32.0 | £68 to £94 |
North West | £107.6 | £95.4 | £95.4 | £98.8 | £256 to £356 |
South East | £115.3 | £130.8 | £134.7 | £108.1 | £226 to £330 |
South West | £95.2 | £95.6 | £109.0 | £155.9 | £293 to £417 |
West Midlands | £37.2 | £35.2 | £36.1 | £40.9 | £67 to £99 |
Yorkshire | £128.7 | £114.9 | £104.5 | £117.4 | £246 to £350 |
Projects in more than one ONS region | £66.9 | £76.8 |
|
| £342 to £418* |
* Projects in more than one ONS region indicative allocation range is inclusive of April 2023 to March 2027
Investment is allocated where the flood risk is highest and the benefits of flood resilience are the greatest. A consistent methodology is used, applying a national funding formula under the partnership funding policy, to allocate funding to schemes proposed by all risk management authorities. This ensures a fair distribution of funding based on agreed priorities, principles and needs. The availability of feasible projects also influences the distribution of investment. There are therefore no specific regional investment targets.
The table attached (with data caveats) also shows the allocation and spend by local authority and constituency between 2021 and 2025.
See table attached.
Each year the Environment Agency also produces a summary of flood and coastal erosion risk management work carried out by risk management authorities in England. This is required under Section 18 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. When the current FCERM investment programme ends, after March 2027, the Environment Agency will publish a report with a breakdown of spending, similar to the report published in 2022 after the 2015-2021 investment programme.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much and what proportion of the total flood and coastal risk management budget has been allocated to each (a) region, (b) constituency and (c) local authority.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In March 2020, the Government doubled its investment in flood defences to a record £5.2 billion between 2021 and 2027 to better protect communities across England from flooding and coastal erosion. We are in the third year of this Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management investment programme.
Since April 2021, approximately £1.5 billion of this funding has been invested in over 200 flood protection schemes, better protecting over 71,000 properties.
Below is a table which shows the actual spend between 2021 and 2023, the allocation between 2023 and 2025, and an indicative allocation from 2025 to 2027 by ONS region. An indicative range is given for 2025 to 2027 because the programme is reviewed and refreshed annually as projects progress. This allows for flexibility to manage change and introduce new schemes or urgent works if necessary.
Grant in Aid (Millions) | Actual spend | Allocation | Indicative allocation range | ||
ONS Region | April 2021 to March 2022 | April 2022 to March 2023 | April 2023 to March 2024 | April 2024 to March 2025 | April 2025 to March 2027 |
East Midlands | £71.3 | £76.5 | £64.1 | £600.3 | £146 to £206 |
East of England | £73.7 | £79.2 | £107.0 | £111.9 | £168 to £254 |
London | £32.7 | £34.3 | £47.3 | £15.5 | £18 to £36 |
North East | £13.6 | £15.5 | £17.4 | £32.0 | £68 to £94 |
North West | £107.6 | £95.4 | £95.4 | £98.8 | £256 to £356 |
South East | £115.3 | £130.8 | £134.7 | £108.1 | £226 to £330 |
South West | £95.2 | £95.6 | £109.0 | £155.9 | £293 to £417 |
West Midlands | £37.2 | £35.2 | £36.1 | £40.9 | £67 to £99 |
Yorkshire | £128.7 | £114.9 | £104.5 | £117.4 | £246 to £350 |
Projects in more than one ONS region | £66.9 | £76.8 |
|
| £342 to £418* |
* Projects in more than one ONS region indicative allocation range is inclusive of April 2023 to March 2027
Investment is allocated where the flood risk is highest and the benefits of flood resilience are the greatest. A consistent methodology is used, applying a national funding formula under the partnership funding policy, to allocate funding to schemes proposed by all risk management authorities. This ensures a fair distribution of funding based on agreed priorities, principles and needs. The availability of feasible projects also influences the distribution of investment. There are therefore no specific regional investment targets.
The table attached (with data caveats) also shows the allocation and spend by local authority and constituency between 2021 and 2025.
See table attached.
Each year the Environment Agency also produces a summary of flood and coastal erosion risk management work carried out by risk management authorities in England. This is required under Section 18 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. When the current FCERM investment programme ends, after March 2027, the Environment Agency will publish a report with a breakdown of spending, similar to the report published in 2022 after the 2015-2021 investment programme.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
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 estimate of the amount and proportion of the total flood and coastal risk management budget that has been allocated but not spent in each (a) region, (b) constituency and (c) local authority.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In March 2020, the Government doubled its investment in flood defences to a record £5.2 billion between 2021 and 2027 to better protect communities across England from flooding and coastal erosion. We are in the third year of this Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management investment programme.
Since April 2021, approximately £1.5 billion of this funding has been invested in over 200 flood protection schemes, better protecting over 71,000 properties.
Below is a table which shows the actual spend between 2021 and 2023, the allocation between 2023 and 2025, and an indicative allocation from 2025 to 2027 by ONS region. An indicative range is given for 2025 to 2027 because the programme is reviewed and refreshed annually as projects progress. This allows for flexibility to manage change and introduce new schemes or urgent works if necessary.
Grant in Aid (Millions) | Actual spend | Allocation | Indicative allocation range | ||
ONS Region | April 2021 to March 2022 | April 2022 to March 2023 | April 2023 to March 2024 | April 2024 to March 2025 | April 2025 to March 2027 |
East Midlands | £71.3 | £76.5 | £64.1 | £600.3 | £146 to £206 |
East of England | £73.7 | £79.2 | £107.0 | £111.9 | £168 to £254 |
London | £32.7 | £34.3 | £47.3 | £15.5 | £18 to £36 |
North East | £13.6 | £15.5 | £17.4 | £32.0 | £68 to £94 |
North West | £107.6 | £95.4 | £95.4 | £98.8 | £256 to £356 |
South East | £115.3 | £130.8 | £134.7 | £108.1 | £226 to £330 |
South West | £95.2 | £95.6 | £109.0 | £155.9 | £293 to £417 |
West Midlands | £37.2 | £35.2 | £36.1 | £40.9 | £67 to £99 |
Yorkshire | £128.7 | £114.9 | £104.5 | £117.4 | £246 to £350 |
Projects in more than one ONS region | £66.9 | £76.8 |
|
| £342 to £418* |
* Projects in more than one ONS region indicative allocation range is inclusive of April 2023 to March 2027
Investment is allocated where the flood risk is highest and the benefits of flood resilience are the greatest. A consistent methodology is used, applying a national funding formula under the partnership funding policy, to allocate funding to schemes proposed by all risk management authorities. This ensures a fair distribution of funding based on agreed priorities, principles and needs. The availability of feasible projects also influences the distribution of investment. There are therefore no specific regional investment targets.
The table attached (with data caveats) also shows the allocation and spend by local authority and constituency between 2021 and 2025.
See table attached.
Each year the Environment Agency also produces a summary of flood and coastal erosion risk management work carried out by risk management authorities in England. This is required under Section 18 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. When the current FCERM investment programme ends, after March 2027, the Environment Agency will publish a report with a breakdown of spending, similar to the report published in 2022 after the 2015-2021 investment programme.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of the working age population are disabled in the North East; and how many and what proportion were disabled in 2010.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is shown in the table below.
The definition of disability changed in 2013 therefore estimates for 2010 and 2022 are not directly comparable.
Number and percentage of disabled people aged 16 to 64 by country/region
Country/ region | 2010 | 2022 | ||
Number of disabled people | Percentage of disabled people | Number of disabled people | Percentage of disabled people | |
United Kingdom | 8,257,200 | 20.5 | 9,311,800 | 22.4 |
North East | 399,400 | 24.0 | 429,500 | 26.4 |
North West | 1,012,200 | 22.5 | 1,111,300 | 24.7 |
Yorkshire and The Humber | 738,500 | 21.9 | 818,200 | 24.2 |
East Midlands | 629,200 | 21.8 | 712,500 | 24.1 |
West Midlands | 720,900 | 20.5 | 819,300 | 22.6 |
East | 729,400 | 19.9 | 790,200 | 20.8 |
London | 935,500 | 16.9 | 1,092,600 | 17.7 |
South East | 992,100 | 18.3 | 1,144,800 | 20.4 |
South West | 653,600 | 20.0 | 766,900 | 22.9 |
Wales | 469,200 | 24.4 | 506,600 | 26.5 |
Scotland | 746,500 | 21.9 | 861,200 | 25.0 |
Northern Ireland | 230,700 | 19.9 | 258,700 | 22.1 |
Source: Annual Population Survey (APS) -Nomis - Official Census and Labour Market Statistics (nomisweb.co.uk)
Notes:
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people of working age in (a) Lincolnshire, (b) East Midlands and (c) England are (i) not working and (ii) not looking for a job.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is available at: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp
Guidance for users can be found at: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/home/newuser.asp