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 the Answer of 12 July 2023 to Question 192929 on Special Educational Needs: Unpaid Work, how many and what proportion of supported internships have been given to young people without an education, health and care plan under the pilot announced in the Spring Budget 2023.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Supported internships are a work study programme for young people aged 16 to 24 who have an Education Health and Care (EHC) plan, want to move into employment and need extra support to do so. In 2022, the department invested around £18 million until March 2025 to build capacity in the supported internship programme and double the number of supported internships to 4,500 by March 2025.
In 2022, the SEN2 data collection recorded 2,477 supported internship starts. In 2023, SEN2 recorded 1,526 supported internship starts. However, this was following a change in the data collection to gather individual learner level, rather than aggregated returns, for each local authority. As with any new data collection, there were some quality issues and limitations to the data received, which the department is working with local authorities to address. The SEN2 data collection for 2024 will be published in June.
The charity, DFN Project Search, are contracted as part of the Internships Work consortium to deliver local authority special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) Employment Forum training to any local authorities who wish to take up the offer to help them develop their supported internship programmes. DFN Project Search have delivered training to 134 out of 153 local authorities. Moving into the final year of the contract, DFN Project Search will target the remaining local authorities and additional training will remain open to any local authorities that request it.
In the Spring Budget 2023, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the supported internship pilot which extends the programme to young people with learning difficulties and disabilities (LDD) without EHC plans until March 2025.
The pilot is being rolled out in 12 local authorities with a strong, existing supported internship offer in a mix of urban and rural areas. Delivery began in September 2023. Through the pilot, the department is hoping to support around 250 young people aged 16 to 24, who have complex SEND and LDD but who do not have an EHC plan, to develop the skills and experience needed to move into sustained, paid employment.
As the delivery is still in its early stages, the department has not yet formally assessed the effectiveness of the pilot. The pilot will be evaluated to inform future policy planning on supported internships. Participating local authorities, employers, providers and interns are engaging with the evaluation partner, CooperGibson Research, who aim to publish their report in the summer of 2026.
Early feedback from local authorities that are delivering the pilot shows that interns have been enrolled on positive and stretching work placements.
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 the Answer of 12 July 2023 to Question 192929 on Special Educational Needs: Unpaid Work, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the pilot extending supported internships to young people without an education, health and care plan.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Supported internships are a work study programme for young people aged 16 to 24 who have an Education Health and Care (EHC) plan, want to move into employment and need extra support to do so. In 2022, the department invested around £18 million until March 2025 to build capacity in the supported internship programme and double the number of supported internships to 4,500 by March 2025.
In 2022, the SEN2 data collection recorded 2,477 supported internship starts. In 2023, SEN2 recorded 1,526 supported internship starts. However, this was following a change in the data collection to gather individual learner level, rather than aggregated returns, for each local authority. As with any new data collection, there were some quality issues and limitations to the data received, which the department is working with local authorities to address. The SEN2 data collection for 2024 will be published in June.
The charity, DFN Project Search, are contracted as part of the Internships Work consortium to deliver local authority special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) Employment Forum training to any local authorities who wish to take up the offer to help them develop their supported internship programmes. DFN Project Search have delivered training to 134 out of 153 local authorities. Moving into the final year of the contract, DFN Project Search will target the remaining local authorities and additional training will remain open to any local authorities that request it.
In the Spring Budget 2023, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the supported internship pilot which extends the programme to young people with learning difficulties and disabilities (LDD) without EHC plans until March 2025.
The pilot is being rolled out in 12 local authorities with a strong, existing supported internship offer in a mix of urban and rural areas. Delivery began in September 2023. Through the pilot, the department is hoping to support around 250 young people aged 16 to 24, who have complex SEND and LDD but who do not have an EHC plan, to develop the skills and experience needed to move into sustained, paid employment.
As the delivery is still in its early stages, the department has not yet formally assessed the effectiveness of the pilot. The pilot will be evaluated to inform future policy planning on supported internships. Participating local authorities, employers, providers and interns are engaging with the evaluation partner, CooperGibson Research, who aim to publish their report in the summer of 2026.
Early feedback from local authorities that are delivering the pilot shows that interns have been enrolled on positive and stretching work placements.
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 the Answer of 12 July 2023 to Question 192929 on Special Educational Needs: Unpaid Work, how many supported internships have been given to young people with an education, health and care plan in (a) 2022, (b) 2023 and (c) 2024.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Supported internships are a work study programme for young people aged 16 to 24 who have an Education Health and Care (EHC) plan, want to move into employment and need extra support to do so. In 2022, the department invested around £18 million until March 2025 to build capacity in the supported internship programme and double the number of supported internships to 4,500 by March 2025.
In 2022, the SEN2 data collection recorded 2,477 supported internship starts. In 2023, SEN2 recorded 1,526 supported internship starts. However, this was following a change in the data collection to gather individual learner level, rather than aggregated returns, for each local authority. As with any new data collection, there were some quality issues and limitations to the data received, which the department is working with local authorities to address. The SEN2 data collection for 2024 will be published in June.
The charity, DFN Project Search, are contracted as part of the Internships Work consortium to deliver local authority special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) Employment Forum training to any local authorities who wish to take up the offer to help them develop their supported internship programmes. DFN Project Search have delivered training to 134 out of 153 local authorities. Moving into the final year of the contract, DFN Project Search will target the remaining local authorities and additional training will remain open to any local authorities that request it.
In the Spring Budget 2023, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the supported internship pilot which extends the programme to young people with learning difficulties and disabilities (LDD) without EHC plans until March 2025.
The pilot is being rolled out in 12 local authorities with a strong, existing supported internship offer in a mix of urban and rural areas. Delivery began in September 2023. Through the pilot, the department is hoping to support around 250 young people aged 16 to 24, who have complex SEND and LDD but who do not have an EHC plan, to develop the skills and experience needed to move into sustained, paid employment.
As the delivery is still in its early stages, the department has not yet formally assessed the effectiveness of the pilot. The pilot will be evaluated to inform future policy planning on supported internships. Participating local authorities, employers, providers and interns are engaging with the evaluation partner, CooperGibson Research, who aim to publish their report in the summer of 2026.
Early feedback from local authorities that are delivering the pilot shows that interns have been enrolled on positive and stretching work placements.
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 the Answer of 12 July 2023 to Question 192929 on Special Educational Needs: Unpaid Work, which local authorities have received training from DFN Project Search on developing their local supported internship offer.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Supported internships are a work study programme for young people aged 16 to 24 who have an Education Health and Care (EHC) plan, want to move into employment and need extra support to do so. In 2022, the department invested around £18 million until March 2025 to build capacity in the supported internship programme and double the number of supported internships to 4,500 by March 2025.
In 2022, the SEN2 data collection recorded 2,477 supported internship starts. In 2023, SEN2 recorded 1,526 supported internship starts. However, this was following a change in the data collection to gather individual learner level, rather than aggregated returns, for each local authority. As with any new data collection, there were some quality issues and limitations to the data received, which the department is working with local authorities to address. The SEN2 data collection for 2024 will be published in June.
The charity, DFN Project Search, are contracted as part of the Internships Work consortium to deliver local authority special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) Employment Forum training to any local authorities who wish to take up the offer to help them develop their supported internship programmes. DFN Project Search have delivered training to 134 out of 153 local authorities. Moving into the final year of the contract, DFN Project Search will target the remaining local authorities and additional training will remain open to any local authorities that request it.
In the Spring Budget 2023, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the supported internship pilot which extends the programme to young people with learning difficulties and disabilities (LDD) without EHC plans until March 2025.
The pilot is being rolled out in 12 local authorities with a strong, existing supported internship offer in a mix of urban and rural areas. Delivery began in September 2023. Through the pilot, the department is hoping to support around 250 young people aged 16 to 24, who have complex SEND and LDD but who do not have an EHC plan, to develop the skills and experience needed to move into sustained, paid employment.
As the delivery is still in its early stages, the department has not yet formally assessed the effectiveness of the pilot. The pilot will be evaluated to inform future policy planning on supported internships. Participating local authorities, employers, providers and interns are engaging with the evaluation partner, CooperGibson Research, who aim to publish their report in the summer of 2026.
Early feedback from local authorities that are delivering the pilot shows that interns have been enrolled on positive and stretching work placements.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the (a) dates, (b) times and (c) locations of incidents when smart-motorway technology lost power.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This is an operational matter, for which National Highways is responsible. The latest safety data was published by National Highways in their Third Year Progress Report, which was published in December 2023: https://nationalhighways.co.uk/our-work/smart-motorways-evidence-stocktake/
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to require drivers to carry a warning triangle in their cars.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There are no plans to put forward legislative proposals to require drivers to carry a warning triangle in their cars.
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 assessment he has made of the potential merits of including carers in the eligibility criteria for the Spring 2024 Covid Vaccination Programme.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Government remains committed to protecting those most vulnerable to COVID-19 through vaccination, as guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). On 7 February 2024, the JCVI published further advice on the United Kingdom’s COVID-19 vaccination programme. The JCVI advice is that a COVID-19 vaccine should be offered in spring 2024 to those at greatest risk of serious disease, and who are therefore most likely to benefit from vaccination. Those eligible are: adults aged 75 years old and over; residents in a care home for older adults; and individuals aged six months old and over who are immunosuppressed, as defined in chapter 14a of the UK Health Security Agency Green Book. The JCVI’s advice for spring 2024, including the approach to eligibility, is available via the following link:
The Government has accepted this advice, and the spring 2024 COVID-19 vaccination programme is now in progress. The spring programme is targeted to those at highest risk of serious outcomes from COVID-19. Whilst carers as a group are therefore not recommended for vaccination in this programme, any carer who falls within one of the above cohorts will be eligible. Everyone who is eligible is encouraged to take up the offer of spring COVID-19 vaccination.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies on funding for UNRWA of the final report of the Independent Review of Mechanisms and Procedures to Ensure Adherence by UNRWA to the Humanitarian Principle of Neutrality, published on 22 April 2024.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Allegations that UNRWA staff were involved in the events that took place on 7 October in Israel are appalling, which is why we took decisive action to pause future funding to the organisation.
The Prime Minister has been clear that the UK will set out its position on future funding to UNRWA following careful consideration of Catherine Colonna's final report, UNRWA's response and the ongoing UN Office for Internal Oversight Services investigation into these allegations.
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, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing access to pelvic floor (a) training and (b) physiotherapy for every new mother.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Last October, NHS England published a national service specification for Perinatal Pelvic Health Services. The specification sets out the expected standards of care to improve the prevention, identification, and access to physiotherapy for pelvic health issues during pregnancy, and for at least one year following birth. Perinatal Pelvic Health Services will work with local Maternity and Physiotherapy services so that all women receive quality information about the risk of developing pelvic health problems before they have their baby, the key signs of pelvic floor dysfunction, and things they can do to help prevent these issues from developing, for instance performing pelvic floor exercises. The aim is to reduce the number of women living with pelvic health problems postnatally and in later life.
The specification also states that Perinatal Pelvic Health Services will work with maternity services across England to implement the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ Obstetric Anal Sphincter Injuries Care Bundle, to reduce rates of perineal tears resulting from labour and vaginal birth, and improve outcomes for women. This has been shown to reduce serious birth injuries by as much as 20%. Perinatal Pelvic Health Services are currently being rolled out across England.
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, whether she plans to develop waiting time targets for receiving treatment in the eight new children and young people's gender services regional centres.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
There are no plans to develop tailored waiting time targets for receiving treatment in children and young people's gender services regional centres. NHS England has made significant progress on its overhaul of children’s gender identity services. NHS England closed the Tavistock Gender Clinic last month and opened two new, regional services operating under a fundamentally differing service model earlier this month. A third clinic is set to open in Bristol this Autumn, and NHS England has committed to a further three services by 2026. These new services will increase service capacity and reduce waiting lists.