Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department’s meeting with Hertfordshire County Council on 18 April 2024 on SEND services, what progress has been made on improving the services provided by that local authority.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
I refer the honourable Member for St Albans to my answer of 20 May 2024 to question 25358.
On April 18, departmental officials met Hertfordshire local authority officials to discuss progress with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) improvement and they were satisfied with the local area's progress so far against its improvement plan. For example, the local authority has recruited over 100 new employees and caseloads have reduced. The local authority has also established a SEND Academy to induct and train new employees. However, further improvement is necessary, and the department will continue to monitor progress closely to ensure that services improve for children and families in Hertfordshire.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made on improving SEND services at Hertfordshire County Council.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department issued an improvement notice to Hertfordshire Council in February of this year to ensure that the local area makes improvements quickly and effectively.
The local authority has appointed Dame Christine Lenehan, a former director at the council for disabled children, as the independent chair of the partnership’s multi-agency improvement board.
Departmental officials are continuing to support and challenge Hertfordshire's special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) improvement. The department has appointed a specialist professional SEND adviser to provide additional advice and support to the local SEND leaders, until such time as my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, is satisfied this is no longer required. The department has also procured expert support for the local area partnership from the council of disabled children and the national development team for inclusion.
Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission will visit in early 2025 for formal monitoring, with a full reinspection taking place in summer 2026.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress her Department has made on the Interim Delivery Plan for ME/CFS.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In August 2023, the Department published My Full Reality, a cross-Government interim delivery plan on myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), which sets out a number of actions to improve the experiences and outcomes for people with the condition through an expansion of research, better education of professionals, improvements in attitudes towards the condition, and improvements to service provision.
Alongside the publication of the interim Delivery Plan, we ran a public consultation to gather the views and experiences of healthcare professionals, organisations, and individuals with lived experiences of ME/CFS. The aim of the consultation is to build a picture of how well the interim delivery plan identifies and meets the needs of the ME/CFS community, and to understand where there are any gaps where further action may be necessary.
The consultation received well over 3,000 highly detailed responses, which are in the process of being analysed. The consideration and analysis of these responses is progressing steadily, and we are on track to publish a summary of the consultation responses shortly. The consultation responses, along with continued close engagement with stakeholders, will inform the development of the final delivery plan, which we aim to publish later this year.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has had discussions with his French counterpart on the potential merits of ensuring British passport holders have an exit stamp added to their passport each time they leave the Schengen area.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
As of 1 January 2021, British citizens are treated as third-country nationals under the Schengen Borders Code. This means British citizens' passports should be stamped on entry to and exit from the Schengen Area, unless they can show evidence that they lawfully reside in an EU Member State or European Free Trade Association (EFTA) country. Border guards will use passport stamps to check that third-country nationals are compliant in terms of the length of stay permitted in the Schengen Area. The Government engages with European counterparts at all levels to ensure the consistent application of the Schengen Borders Code.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make representations to SEGRO on responding to requests for a public meeting on ongoing construction work at the former Radlett Aerodrome site.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Following planning permission being granted for this proposal in 2014, I understand that some site preparation works are currently underway, with construction expected to begin this summer. I am also aware that there are proceedings due to come before the courts next month and as such it would be inappropriate for me to comment on this individual development.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 19 September 2023 to Question 199520 on Luton Airport: Construction, when he plans to respond to the Climate Change Committee's recommendations; and if he will respond to the recommendation on not expanding the airport until a capacity management framework is in place before announcing a decision on expansion of the airport.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government responded to the Climate Change Committee’s recommendations on 26 October 2023. The published response “Responding to the Climate Change Committee’s (CCC) 2023 Annual Progress Report to Parliament” is available in the Libraries of the House.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she plans to take to ensure those that don't have access to the internet can respond to the 10 year review of the NHS constitution.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to supporting people from all backgrounds in accessing the NHS Constitution consultation. We would encourage those without internet access to utilise resources on offer at some public spaces, including libraries and community centres, to support their response. The easy read consultation, which will be launched imminently, will provide an option for the consultation to be printed and sent to the Department. More widely, the Government has taken steps to ensure households across the United Kingdom are able to access fast, reliable mobile and broadband services to support their full participation in society.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 5 June 2023 to Question 187004 on Health Professions: Regulation, if she will set out the timetable to remove the five year time limit for fitness to practice concerns to be investigated by the General Medical Council.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is currently working with the General Medical Council (GMC) to develop a new legislative framework for the GMC, in relation to the regulation of doctors. As set out in the Government’s response to Regulating Healthcare Professionals, Protecting the Public, the Government has committed to the removal of any legislative restrictions on regulators from being able to consider fitness to practise concerns that are more than five years old. Regulators such as the GMC will have the discretion to determine whether a concern should be investigated based on the specific details of a fitness to practise case, which may include reflections on the length of time that has elapsed since the concern was raised or occurred. A public consultation on the new legislative framework will be taken forward in due course, and will adhere to the requirements of section 60 of the Health Act 1999.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the enforcement notice issued by the Information Commissioner's Office on 21 March 2024 on the privacy risks posed by the electronic monitoring of people arriving in the UK by unauthorised means.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) findings related to the Electronic Monitoring Expansion Pilot which operated between 14 June 2022 and 14 December 2023. That pilot has now ended.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers were subject to electronic tagging as part of his Department's pilot programme between 15 June 2022 and 31 December 2023.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The information requested is not available from published statistics.
However, as set out in the Pilot Equality Impact Assessment (available at Equality impact assessment: GPS electronic monitoring expansion pilot - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)), 600 individuals were to be subject to Electronic Monitoring as part of immigration bail conditions.