Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of animal population decline in other countries on the UK, following the WWF’s Living Planet Report 2022 which showed that worldwide animal populations have declined by 69 per cent since 1970.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is susceptible to impacts from animal population decline worldwide through global impacts on food supply and the increasing emergence and transmission of diseases. For example, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Pollinators Assessment showed that 35% of global crop production volume depends on animal pollination, while the IPBES Workshop report on Biodiversity and Pandemics showed that over 30% of emerging disease events are caused by land-use change and its impacts on wildlife. Healthy ecosystems are also vital for mitigating and adapting to climate change, thus animal population declines may also exacerbate the climate impacts felt by the UK, as set out in the UK’s Climate Change Risk Assessment. The UK Government with others continues to support the work of the IPBES and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to further understand these global impacts.
A recently published report from the Green Finance Institute, entitled ‘Assessing the Materiality of Nature-Related Financial Risks for the UK’, with direction from Defra and others, showed that about half of all UK nature-related risk comes from overseas, through supply chains and financial exposures. It showed that the combination of biodiversity loss and environmental degradation could lead to major economic shocks leading to UK Gross Domestic Product being up to 12% lower that it may otherwise have been by the 2030s (even lower when combined with climate impacts).
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what assessment he has made of recent reluctance by Libyan stakeholders to establish elections in the country.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The ongoing political impasse in Libya is unsustainable, and deeply damaging for ordinary Libyans. It leaves Libya extremely vulnerable to third state actors set on pursuing control over Libya's security, politics and economy. The UK continues to support the UN's efforts to broker a Libyan-owned and led political settlement, with the onus on Libya's leaders to fulfil their responsibilities. We note with regret the resignation by UN Special Representative of the Secretary General, Abdoulaye Bathily, and renew our full support to the United Nations and the key role it continues to play in Libya.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her Department's (a) mean result and (b) standard deviation in the civil service people survey results for questions (i) W01, (ii) W02, (iii) W03 and (iv) W04 on personal wellbeing has been in each of the last 15 years.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The questions on personal wellbeing were introduced to the Civil Service People Survey in 2012 and therefore have only been in the survey for each of the last 12 years.
The attached table provides the mean average and standard deviation of the department’s results for the four questions on personal wellbeing W01 to W04.
The department does not hold the individual-level survey data, which is required in order to calculate the mean and standard deviation for 2017 or 2019.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will hold discussions with his Irish counterpart on the accuracy of figures for asylum-seekers who moved between the two countries in 2023.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
There is a high level of cooperation on migration and border security between the UK and Irish Government. In particular, the Home Office regularly discuss asylum trends and work to respond to these trends with our counterparts in the Department of Justice.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many allegations of bullying have been made against Ministers by staff in her Department in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Alan Mak - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade) (jointly with the Cabinet Office)
None.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with the Secretary of State for the Home Department to help prevent people (a) promoting, (b) encouraging and (c) glorifying terrorism at universities.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
Higher education (HE) providers must comply with the statutory Prevent duty to have 'due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism'. The statutory Prevent duty can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prevent-duty-guidance/prevent-duty-guidance-for-england-and-wales-accessible.
HE providers should have effective policies and procedures in place to safeguard individuals susceptible to radicalisation. This includes assessing the risk of learners becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. The Office for Students has delegated responsibility from the Secretary of State for Education for monitoring compliance of the Prevent duty in Registered HE Bodies.
The department has a team of Prevent Regional Education Co-ordinators who work directly with HE institutions in England to provide advice, support and training to ensure providers are well equipped to prevent people from being drawn into or supporting terrorism. Further guidance, including bespoke training material for HE providers, can be found on GOV.UK.
In the 'Independent Review of Prevent: One year on' progress report, the department announced that it is committed to publishing research on the implementation of the Prevent duty in HE, and guidance for universities on managing external speakers on campus. The Independent Review of Prevent can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-review-of-prevents-report-and-government-response/independent-review-of-prevent-one-year-on-progress-report-accessible.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department (a) has taken and (b) plans to take steps to (a) monitor the incidence of depression among stroke survivors and (b) improve interventions to enhance (i) aftercare and (ii) quality of life for those people.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Depression affects approximately one third of people with stroke, and stroke services in the National Health Service are very aware of the impact this can have on the quality of life and level of independence of people who experienced a stroke, and the importance of understanding through measurement which people are affected, to support appropriate management.
The National Clinical Guideline for Stroke 2023 recommends that people with stroke should be routinely screened for anxiety and depression using standardised tools, the results of which should be used alongside other sources of information to inform clinical formulation of treatment and support needs.
The latest published Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme (SSNAP) data, from October to December 2023, showed that 92.4% of stroke patients were screened for mood disturbances, including depression, in hospital. 75% of stroke patients who were followed up at six months post stroke also had a mood screen, with 53% of patients receiving the psychological support needed.
NHS England is driving implementation of the National Service Model for an Integrated Community Stroke Service (ICSS) with a number of specific projects aimed at improving delivery of psychological rehabilitation. The ICSS model is vital to support psychological recovery, return to work, and improved quality of life. From July 2024, the SSNAP will record the amount of psychological rehabilitation provided to patients, and measure changes in quality of life over time.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many level 7 apprenticeship starts there have been in small and medium sized businesses in each of the last five years.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The most recent statistics on apprenticeship starts by business size relate to the 2020/21 academic year and are available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships-in-england-by-industry-characteristics.
The following table shows the number of apprenticeship starts at Level 6 and above by business size in the last five academic years for which data is available. Apprenticeships at Level 6 and 7 are not split out within published data so the figures are a combined total.
| 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 |
Small (0-49 employees) | 240 | 1,430 | 2,880 | 3,870 | 5,540 |
Medium (50-249 employees) | 80 | 850 | 1,550 | 1,850 | 2,390 |
Data for 2021/22 will be published in July 2024.
Apprenticeship starts are defined as the count of apprenticeship programmes that begin in an academic year, showing the take-up of programmes. An apprentice is counted for each apprenticeship they start at a provider.
More details on the methodology can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/methodology/apprenticeships-in-england-by-industry-characteristics-methodology#content-section-4-content-1.
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what steps he has taken to reduce the cost of fraud in his Department in the last three financial years.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Scotland Office reported no cases of fraud or amounts lost due to fraud or error in any of the last three financial years. This is disclosed as part of the Annual Report and Accounts available on GOV.UK.
The Government is determined to uncover fraud in the public sector and is proud of its record. As part of this, the Government established the Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA).
In 22/23, the PSFA set a target of delivering £180m of savings to the taxpayer. In fact, the PSFA far surpassed this within the first 12 months by preventing and recovering £311 million. As it enters its second year, the PSFA has a target of achieving £185 million of savings for the taxpayer.
The Government has also announced an additional £34 million to deploy cutting-edge tools and Artificial Intelligence tools to help combat fraud across the public sector, saving £100 million for the public purse. This is in addition to existing partnerships between PSFA and the tech sector.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of introducing a separate nursing pay spine on trends in the level of pay progression within the nursing profession.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The call for evidence in relation to a separate pay spine for nursing closed on 4 April 2024. A large volume of evidence was submitted, and analysis of this evidence remains underway. The Government will publish its formal response in due course.