Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps parish churches are taking to help (a) progress towards net zero and (b) increase biodiversity.
Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner
Parish churches are signing up to the Eco Church scheme, which asks them to consider how they manage their building and their carbon footprint, and how they manage their churchyard or other land around the church for the benefit of people and nature. It also asks them to integrate environmental issues into their worship and teaching, to join in with wider environmental issues in their community and beyond, and to challenge congregation members to take steps to reduce carbon and take care of the planet in their own lives.
As of October, over 4,000 CofE churches have signed up to the Eco Church scheme, 1,350 have reached bronze, just over 400 silver and 25 gold. Case studies can be seen here: Net Zero Carbon and Environmental case studies | The Church of England. Projects include replacing heating systems with heat pumps or direct electric heating, a community garden in urban Liverpool, and a wild flower garden in the space next to the graveyard in a Sheffield city church. Churches are also being encouraged to review how and when they put the heating on, good maintenance and wherever possible fixing draughts, to reduce overall energy use.
Asked by: Alan Whitehead (Labour - Southampton, Test)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of allocating a dedicated radio spectrum to utilities networks.
Answered by Graham Stuart
As set out in the March 22 Spectrum Roadmap, https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0021/234633/spectrum-roadmap.pdf, Ofcom (who are responsible for spectrum allocation decisions) is undertaking a review of the role of spectrum in supporting utilities networks, with the goal of developing a strategy to support the changing wireless operational communication needs of the Energy (Electricity and Gas) and Water sectors. BEIS and DCMS are actively engaged with Ofcom on this review, and BEIS are commissioning various studies into the communication requirements of the energy sector.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the report published on 24 October by the Institute for Fiscal Studies on Latest trends in further education and sixth form spending in England, what steps she is taking to ensure Further Education Colleges have sufficient funding to meet increased demand in the next five years.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021 (SR21) settlement will provide an extra £1.6 billion for 16-19 education in 2024/25 compared with the 2021/22 financial year in real terms, at the time of the announcement in October 2021. This includes funding to cover the rising demographic of students, additional hours for all 16 to 19-year-olds, aid the recovery of lost learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and for increased take-up of T Levels.
The well-established system of lagged funding for 16-19 education, including further education colleges, sixth forms and school, provides institutions with clear allocations each year based on student data, allowing them to make plans with confidence. Subject to affordability, where institutions see a particularly large increase in student numbers in a year, they typically qualify for exceptional in-year growth funding to help them with the extra costs of these students.
The department has announced how the additional funding from the SR21 will be used for this academic year, 2022/23, including increasing the 16-19 national funding rate from £4,188 to £4,542, the High Value Courses Premium for the most economically valuable subjects from £400 to £600, and looked-after children and care leaver rates from £480 to £504. This follows the extra £691 million allocated in the previous two years and the specific funding made available to help recovery from the pandemic, including the 16-19 Tuition Fund which will make available £400 million over the four academic years from 2020/21 to 2023/24.
In addition, we are investing £3.8 billion more in further education and skills over the course of the Parliament as a whole, to ensure people can access high-quality training and education that leads to good jobs, addresses skills gaps, boosts productivity, and supports levelling up. This will support the sector to reform and deliver the technical, skilled education our economy needs.
The department is aware of the pressures rising inflation is causing providers of post-16 education. The government has announced the Government Energy Bill Relief Scheme, to support non-domestic customers, including further education colleges, sixth forms and schools. The department will continue to monitor the situation to determine our next steps.
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the research by the Chartered Institute of Building entitled Understanding Mental Health in the Built Environment, published on 11 May 2020, and the research by Mates in Mind and The Institute for Employment Studies entitled Supporting the mental health of self-employed construction workers, published in June 2022, if he will take steps to help ensure that (a) employers and (b) suppliers in the construction industry are implementing measures to support the mental health and well-being of workers in that sector.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government is committed to working to improve health and safety, as well as mental and occupational health in the construction sector, to enable the sector to recruit and retain the workforce that it needs in future. This work is being taken forward through the Construction Leadership Council’s Health, Safety and Wellbeing Group, which brings together the Health and Safety Executive, industry representatives and trade unions, to develop and circulate information about best practice in relation to mental health and practical guidance for the industry.
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the research by the Chartered Institute of Building entitled Understanding Mental Health in the Built Environment, published on 11 May 2020, and the research by Mates in Mind and The Institute for Employment Studies entitled Supporting the mental health of self-employed construction workers, published in June 2022, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of procurement demands on the mental health of workers in (a) construction industry supply chains and (b) other parts of the construction industry.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
The Government is committed to working to improve health and safety, as well as mental and occupational health in the construction sector, to enable the sector to recruit and retain the workforce that it needs in future. This work is being taken forward through the Construction Leadership Council’s Health, Safety and Wellbeing Group, which brings together the Health and Safety Executive, industry representatives and trade unions to develop and circulate best practice and practical guidance for the industry.
The Government is also aware that procurement and contractual practices in the sector can have an impact on mental health. The Government has set out its commitment to improving procurement processes, and ensure there are fair and transparent payment and contractual provisions in relation to government construction projects and programmes in the Construction Playbook.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) financial challenges being experienced by university students and (b) potential impact of those challenges on students' ability to undertake their studies.
Answered by Andrea Jenkyns
The department recognises the additional cost of living pressures that have arisen and impacted students this year. Many higher education (HE) providers have hardship funds that students can apply to for assistance.
To support disadvantaged students and those in need of additional help, the department has confirmed in our guidance to the Office for Students (OfS) on funding for the 2022/23 financial year that universities will continue to be able to support students in hardship through their own hardship funds and the student premium, for which up to £261 million is available for the 2022/23 academic year.
We have also worked closely with the OfS to clarify that English providers can draw upon this funding now, to provide hardship funds and support disadvantaged students impacted by cost-of-living pressures.
Maximum grants and loans for living costs have also been increased by 2.3% this 2022/23 academic year. Students who have been awarded a loan for living costs for the 2022/23 academic year that is lower than the maximum, and whose household income for the tax year 2022/23 has dropped by at least 15% compared to the income provided for their original assessment, can apply for their entitlement to be reassessed.
In addition, maximum tuition fees, and the subsidised loans available from the department to pay them remain at £9,250 for the 2022/23 academic year, in respect of standard full-time courses. The department is also freezing maximum tuition fees for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years. By 2024/25, maximum fees will have been frozen for seven years. As well as reducing debt levels for students, the continued fee freeze will help to ensure that the HE system remains sustainable while also promoting greater efficiency at providers.
The Energy Price Guarantee announced on 8 September will save the average household at least £1,000 a year based on current energy prices from October. This is in addition to the £400 energy bills discount for all households. Students who buy their energy from a domestic supplier are eligible for the energy bills discount.
As part of the package of support for rising energy bills, the government is also giving a council tax rebate payment of £150 to households that were living in a property in council tax bands A to D as their main home on 1 April 2022. This includes full-time students that do not live in student halls or in property that is not considered a House in Multiple Occupation for council tax purposes.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the research by Clark, C. et al. entitled Unconventional Oil and Gas Development Exposure and Risk of Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: A Case–Control Study in Pennsylvania, 2009–2017, published in Environmental Health Perspectives on 17 August 2022.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Onshore exploration for oil and gas in the UK is strictly regulated by expert bodies including the Environment Agency and the Health and Safety Executive. This applies to both unconventional and conventional sources of oil and gas.
Those bodies are best placed to consider the applicability of studies from other countries with significantly different regulations and production contexts, to the UK, and to provide guidance accordingly.
The Government will continue to follow the expert advice of regulators to manage risks to the public appropriately.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect of poor nutrition on educational attainment; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Will Quince
It is important that children eat nutritious food at school to provide them with energy and nutrients to support their growth and development.
The department recognises that healthy breakfast clubs can play an important role in ensuring children have a healthy start to their day to enhance their learning potential. An independent evaluation by the Institute of Fiscal Studies, published by the Education Endowment Foundation, found that supporting schools to run a free of charge, universal breakfast club before school delivered an average of two months additional progress for pupils in key stage 1 with moderate to low security. A 2017 evaluation commissioned by the department also found that schools perceived important benefits from having a breakfast club, including improving concentration and behaviour in class.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to increase consumer awareness of heat pumps in advance of the implementation of the Future Homes Standard in 2025.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is working to review and improve its communication to ensure that the public has access to the information and advice they need to make the right decisions. The Government has recently published a series of heat pump user case studies and heat pump user guides with Energy Systems Catapult. There is also further information and advice on heat pumps available through Simple Energy Advice service and the recently launched ‘Check if your home could be suitable for a heat pump’ calculator on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to his Department's Heat Pump Ready Programme, if he will make an estimate of the total number of heat pump installations that have taken place in each of the past three years in each local authority area.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Heat Pump Ready Programme, part of the £1billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio, was launched October 2021.
Heat Pump Ready Stream 1, Phase 1 projects began feasibility studies in July 2022 and have not yet installed heat pumps. BEIS recently published the Stream 1, Phase 1 projects. In Stream 1, Phase 2, commencing in early 2023, the most successful Phase 1 projects will trial their proposed methodology, deploying heat pumps within their local authority areas.
An earlier BEIS Energy Innovation Programme, Electrification of Heat Demonstrator, has installed a total of 742 heat pumps across South-east Scotland, Newcastle and South-East England.