Asked by: Siobhan Baillie (Conservative - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many care leavers were accepted onto courses at high tariff Higher Education providers broken down by individual institution.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The attached table contains the department’s analysis of the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) student record showing the number of care leavers who entered courses at English higher education providers in academic year 2020/21. Coverage refers to entrants domiciled in England prior to study and care leavers are defined as codes 01 and 04 in the HESA care leaver collection documentation. Further information can be found here: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/collection/c20051/a/careleaver.
This shows that in academic year 2020/21, there were 4,290 care leavers who entered courses at English higher education providers in academic year 2020/21. Of these, 580 entered courses across 27 high tariff providers. A full breakdown by institution can be found in the attachment.
Asked by: Siobhan Baillie (Conservative - Stroud)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether people who purchase energy saving products not through an installer will be covered by the VAT reduction.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
At Spring Statement 2022, the Chancellor announced the expansion of the VAT relief for the installation of energy saving materials (ESMs) in Great Britain from 1 April 2022.
This relief will continue to apply to the installation of ESMs, rather than the direct purchase of the materials themselves. However, complex eligibility conditions, introduced in 2019 following an EU Court of Justice ruling, have been removed.
Further to this, wind and water turbines have been reinstated as materials which qualify for the relief, and all qualifying installations will also benefit from a VAT zero-rate until April 2027. Overall, this represents an additional £280 million of support for investment in ESMs over the next 5 years, building on the £9.7 billion that the Government has committed to invest since March 2021 to increase the energy efficiency and decarbonisation of our homes and buildings.
Targeting the VAT relief on professional installations ensures that the Government supports best practice in the choice and installation of ESMs. Going further would impose additional pressure on the public finances, to which VAT makes a significant contribution. VAT raised around £130 billion in 2019-20 and helps to fund key spending priorities. As you will know, any reduction in tax paid is a reduction in the money available to support important public services, including the NHS and policing.
Given this, although the Government keeps all taxes under review, there are no plans to further extend the VAT relief to direct purchases of ESMs.
Asked by: Siobhan Baillie (Conservative - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of representations to delay or cancel the 1 January 2026 deadline to correct legal record rights of way.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We understand the concerns that many stakeholders have about the 2026 cut-off date due to delays to the project brought about by our EU Exit and the need to reprioritise the Government’s legislative agenda accordingly.
Deferring the 2026 cut-off date for registration of historic rights of way is a possibility, which would create more time for the reforms to rights of way legislation to be implemented effectively. However, we must weigh this against the desire for certainty around where rights of way exist, which implementing the cut-off date will bring. Officials will continue to keep this under review in consultation with the Stakeholder Working Group.
Asked by: Siobhan Baillie (Conservative - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
What steps he is taking to help ensure that coastal wetland habitat creation and other nature-based solutions form part of the Government's plans to reach net zero.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As stated in the Net Zero Strategy, nature-based solutions, including protecting, restoring and sustainably managing coastal wetlands, are key to tackling climate change and averting its impacts. We do not currently have the required data to include coastal wetlands habitats in the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory, but we are working to address these evidence gaps. We are also championing nature-based solutions internationally, and supporting delivery through our Official Development Assistance, including International Climate Finance.
Asked by: Siobhan Baillie (Conservative - Stroud)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to include parental alienation in the statutory guidance of the Domestic Abuse Bill.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
For the first time in history there is in statute a wide-ranging definition of domestic abuse which incorporates a range of abuses beyond physical violence, including emotional, coercive or controlling behaviour, and economic abuse.
The Home Secretary is to issue statutory guidance on domestic abuse, under section 84 of the Domestic Abuse Act to support the implementation of the definition of domestic abuse introduced by the Act.
The guidance aims to provide information to help with recognising abuse and how it may impact different victims. This includes children, who are for the first time recognised as victims of domestic abuse in their own right. In addition, it seeks to provide support to frontline professionals, signpost other sources of guidance, useful resources and tools. A finalised version of the guidance is not yet available, the Home Secretary is required under the legislation to undertake consultation ahead of finalising the guidance and before it may be issued, details of this will follow in due course. A draft of the guidance was published during the passage of the Bill, and is available for reference:
Asked by: Siobhan Baillie (Conservative - Stroud)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Pet Theft Taskforce is taking to tackle the challenges of gathering data on pet theft from police forces, including the (a) inconsistent data collection and recording methods and (b) lack of specific data collection on pet theft.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government recognises the distress pet theft causes will consider the evidence and what more could be done to prevent these cruel crimes. That is why we launched the Pet Theft Taskforce on 8 May. Among the activities that the Taskforce will be undertaking is work with police and other law enforcement partners is to understand the scale of pet theft.
Asked by: Siobhan Baillie (Conservative - Stroud)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the Pet Theft Taskforce plans to bring forward legislative proposals to tackle pet theft, such as (a) reforming the existing sentencing guidelines and (b) bringing forward bespoke proposals; and what non-legislative steps the taskforce will take to tackle pet theft.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The pet theft taskforce has been set up to gather evidence to understand the factors that may be contributing to any rise in pet thefts and to recommend any necessary measures – legislative and non-legislative - to tackle the problem. It will consider the issue from end to end, including causes, prevention, reporting, and enforcement, examining every option available to protect families from this hurtful crime and make sure perpetrators feel the full force of the law. The taskforce is due to report its recommendations in the summer.
The sentencing guidelines are produced by the Sentencing Council which is independent of Government and aims to promote greater transparency and consistency in sentencing.
Asked by: Siobhan Baillie (Conservative - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how the (a) UK and (b) Global carbon budget informs the Government's Climate Change mitigation strategy.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government’s independent advisers, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) advised that reaching net zero by 2050 is the right target for the UK, which is consistent with the UK’s contribution to reducing global emissions in line with the Paris Agreement. We followed their advice by legislating for net zero in 2019.
When setting our carbon budgets, which step down towards our 2050 target, we follow the requirements set out in the Climate Change Act 2008. These include taking account of several matters including “scientific knowledge about climate change” and “circumstances at European and international level”.
We will carefully consider the CCC’s advice ahead of setting the sixth carbon budget in legislation later this year. Following the setting of this target, we will be publishing a comprehensive Net Zero Strategy ahead of COP26 which sets out the Government’s vision for how we transition to a net zero economy.
Asked by: Siobhan Baillie (Conservative - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with his Israeli counterpart on the potential merits of introducing the recently released Israeli-developed self-service instant covid-19 test at UK airports.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Government recently announced the launch of Test to Release for International Travel, which will be implemented from 15 December. The test to release scheme is a voluntary, opt-in scheme that allows people arriving in England from countries, territories and regions not on the travel corridor list to book and pay for a test which, if negative, allows them to cease self-isolating early and go about their daily lives. The test needs to be taken no earlier than 5 full days since the traveller was last in a country, territory or region, not on the travel corridors list and must meet minimum standards.
The regulations do not specify the type of test that should be used – any tests that meet the minimum standards will be able to be used for the purposes of determining whether you can cease self-isolating early. We continue to engage with international partners on health measures at the border, including how testing and other technology is developing.
Detailed guidance on minimum standards for private providers is available on Gov.uk https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/testing-to-release-for-international-travel-minimum-standards-for-testing/minimum-standards-for-private-sector-providers-of-covid-19-testing-for-testing-to-release-for-international-travel
Asked by: Siobhan Baillie (Conservative - Stroud)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the NHS is taking to reschedule as soon as possible cancer treatments and operations that were cancelled as a result of the covid-19 outbreak in hospitals.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
A letter was issued to trusts on 29 April detailing the Second Phase of Response to COVID-19. This letter sets out that:
Local systems and Cancer Alliances must continue to identify ring-fenced diagnostic and surgical capacity for cancer, and providers must protect and deliver cancer surgery and cancer treatment by ensuring that cancer surgery hubs are fully operational. Full use should be made of the available contracted independent sector hospital and diagnostic capacity locally and regionally. Regional cancer Senior Responsible Officers must now provide assurance that these arrangements are in place everywhere.
Treatment must be brought back to pre-pandemic levels at the earliest opportunity to minimise potential harm, and to reduce the scale of the post-pandemic surge in demand.