Asked by: Baroness Scott of Bybrook (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to financially support the modern methods of construction sector as part of their housebuilding programme.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Modern methods of construction (MMC) provides an important opportunity to improve productivity in the construction sector, and quickly deliver high quality, energy efficient, homes whilst creating new and diverse jobs in the sector.
We will reflect on views from across the sector to establish how best to increase the use of MMC and will set out more details on this in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the present NHS commissioning system and to develop more robust arrangements to alleviate any potential of creating a two-tier system which could lead to differing priorities between Councils, the NHS, and the care sector.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department supports the role and structure of statutory integrated care systems (ICSs) in both commissioning health services to meet the needs of their populations, and bringing together commissioners and other partners to plan and deliver joined up health and care services that improve the lives of people who live and work in their area.
The organisations within an ICS include the National Health Service, local government, social care providers, charities, and other organisations working together to provide more joined up care for people, and to improve the outcomes for their populations. NHS England has set out the four core purposes for the ICSs, which are as follows:
- improve outcomes in population health and healthcare;
- tackle inequalities in outcomes, experience, and access;
- enhance productivity and value for money; and
- help the NHS support broader social and economic development.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Bybrook (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact modern methods of construction could have on achieving their housebuilding targets early.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Modern methods of construction (MMC) provides an important opportunity to improve productivity in the construction sector, and quickly deliver high quality, energy efficient, homes whilst creating new and diverse jobs in the sector.
We will reflect on views from across the sector to establish how best to increase the use of MMC and will set out more details on this in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Bybrook (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role modern methods of construction might play in speeding up the delivery of housing.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Modern methods of construction (MMC) provides an important opportunity to improve productivity in the construction sector, and quickly deliver high quality, energy efficient, homes whilst creating new and diverse jobs in the sector.
We will reflect on views from across the sector to establish how best to increase the use of MMC and will set out more details on this in due course.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to (a) promote public sector reform and (b) increase public sector productivity.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Chancellor has launched a multi-year Spending Review to conclude in Spring 2025 that will establish a new approach to public service reform to drive greater productivity in the public sector.
The Government will use the Spending Review to change the way public services are delivered by embedding a mission-led approach, driving forward public service reform and making the best use of technology to better deliver services. The Spending Review will set spending plans for a minimum of three years of the five-year forecast period.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to page 6 of the policy document entitled Statement of Levelling Up Missions, published on 25 January 2024, whether it remains his Department's policy that levels of public investment in research and development outside the Greater South East will increase by at least 40% by 2030.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
This public R&D regional investment target is committed to in legislation via the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023.
Increasing productivity right across the UK is fundamental to our mission to kickstart economic growth. Through our Industrial Strategy and the development of Local Growth Plans, we will build on local strengths to ensure that public and private R&D investment right across the UK helps local places to reach their potential.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 30 July 2024 to Question 919 on Civil Service, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of working from home on Civil Service productivity.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
We have reviewed the wide range of studies available on the benefits of hybrid working, which has been used to inform the expectation for 60% office attendance for Civil Servants.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to reduce waiting times for tribunal hearings.
Answered by Heidi Alexander - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We are working to reduce the outstanding caseload in the First-tier Tribunal and the Upper Tribunal including the Employment Tribunal and Employment Appeal Tribunal. Reducing outstanding caseloads is the key measure to bringing down the waiting times for tribunal hearings.
HMCTS continues to invest in improving tribunal productivity through the recruitment of additional Judges, deployment of Legal Officers to actively manage cases, the development of modern case management systems and the use of remote hearing technology.
Data on Tribunals performance is published by the Ministry of Justice on a quarterly basis. Receipts, disposals and the outstanding caseload for individual Chambers in the First-tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal, the Employment Tribunal and the Employment Appeal Tribunal can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of ending the Investment Opportunity Fund on trends in (a) domestic growth and (b) direct investment into the UK.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Economic growth is the number one mission of this Government. The Government has committed to delivering productivity growth in every part of the country, making everyone, not just a few, better off. As part of this, Government will work in partnership with local leaders to develop ambitious, long-term Local Growth Plans reflecting their local strengths and opportunities to support the national growth mission and new Industrial Strategy.
Immediate action to fix the foundations of the economy is the only way to rebuild Britain and make every person and every part of the country better off. We are being honest about those schemes that we cannot afford to deliver so that we can fix the foundations of our economy by addressing spending pressures and repairing the public finances.
The Investment Opportunity Fund, which was launched at Autumn Statement 2023, has yet to provide support to any projects.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing 16 to 19 funding to colleges to help fund pay deals.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government recognises how critical further education (FE) teachers are to unlocking opportunity, tackling disadvantage and equipping learners with the skills needed to secure high value work and boost employer productivity. While the government does not set or recommend pay in the FE sector, it is clear that remuneration is an important factor in teacher recruitment and retention.
The government continues to invest in FE teachers, including through additional funding of around £600 million across the 2024/25 and 2025/26 financial years. This includes extending retention payments of up to £6,000 after tax to eligible early career FE teachers in key subject areas. This will support FE providers to recruit and retain high quality teachers in critical subject areas where vacancy rates are high.