Ministerial Corrections
Business and Trade
(10 months ago)
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Kevin Hollinrake
Of course, as part of my role, or my successor’s role if I move from this position back to the Back Benches or wherever, we regularly have meetings with the CMA to discuss its activities and where it is using its powers. Indeed, we write an annual letter to the CMA, which sets out where we expect its focus to lie.
[Official Report, Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Public Bill Committee, 29 June 2023, Vol. 735, c. 283.]
Letter of correction from the Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade, the hon. Member for Thirsk and Malton (Kevin Hollinrake).
An error has been identified in my contribution. The correct information should have been:
Kevin Hollinrake
Of course, as part of my role, or my successor’s role if I move from this position back to the Back Benches or wherever, we regularly have meetings with the CMA to discuss its activities and where it is using its powers. Indeed, we write a letter to the CMA, which sets out where we expect its focus to lie, and update this when required.
The following is an extract from the 13th sitting of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Public Bill Committee on 4 July 2023.
Kevin Hollinrake
The provisions apply specifically to traders to consumers, not traders to businesses. On how we determine the exemptions, such as for magazines, delivery services, gyms, software and so on, a range of stakeholders, including regulators, businesses and consumer groups, developed the list and the scope of sectors that are exempt from the subscription measures.
[Official Report, Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Public Bill Committee, 4 July 2023, Vol. 735, c. 344.]
Letter of correction from the Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade, the hon. Member for Thirsk and Malton (Kevin Hollinrake).
An error has been identified in my contribution. The correct information should have been:
Kevin Hollinrake
The provisions apply specifically to traders to consumers, not traders to businesses. On how we determine the exemptions, a range of stakeholders, including regulators, businesses and consumer groups, developed the list and the scope of sectors that are exempt from the subscription measures.
The following is an extract from the 14th sitting of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Public Bill Committee on 11 July 2023.
Kevin Hollinrake
The CEO and chair of the CMA regularly appear before the relevant Select Committee—five times as the hon. Member said. Most recently, they appeared before the House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee. Indeed, they meet me on a regular basis, and we also provide an annual strategic steer.
[Official Report, Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Public Bill Committee, 11 July 2023, Vol. 736, c. 406.]
Letter of correction from the Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade, the hon. Member for Thirsk and Malton (Kevin Hollinrake).
An error has been identified in my contribution. The correct information should have been:
Kevin Hollinrake
The CEO and chair of the CMA regularly appear before the relevant Select Committee—five times as the hon. Member said. Most recently, they appeared before the House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee. Indeed, they meet me on a regular basis, and we also provide a strategic steer.
Education
(10 months ago)
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Robert Halfon
He talked about the budget, but he will know that 99.6% of the apprenticeship budget, which includes the levy that is set by the Treasury, was used over the past year.
[Official Report, Fifth Delegated Legislation Committee, 12 July 2023, Vol. 736, c. 7.]
Letter of correction from the Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education, the right hon. Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon).
An error has been identified in my contribution. The correct information should have been:
Robert Halfon
He talked about the budget, but he will know that 99.6% of the apprenticeship budget, which is set by the Treasury, was spent in the 2021-22 financial year.
Skills and Apprenticeships: Funding
The following are extracts from Education questions on 17 July 2023.
Mr Toby Perkins (Chesterfield) (Lab)
New research from the House of Commons Library has shown that the amount of the apprenticeship levy paid by employers that has been allocated to the apprenticeship budget has fallen from 89% in 2017 to just 77% in the most recent year. The truthful answer to the question from the hon. Member for Stroud (Siobhan Baillie) is that the Secretary of State is doing nothing to reform the apprenticeship levy, as she believes it is working perfectly. Can the Minister confirm that any employer that, like the hon. Member for Stroud, wants greater flexibility in the levy should vote Labour in the next general election?
Gillian Keegan
There is nothing that would make me give such drastic advice. The truth about the apprenticeship levy is that 99.6% of it will be spent this year. We can look in the rear view mirror, and there are some reports going back over time that show some underspend in the levy, but they are back over time. We are now spending 99.6% of the levy. Perhaps what the hon. Gentleman has not appreciated is that some of the funding goes to the devolved Governments.
[Official Report, 17 July 2023, Vol. 736, c. 602.]
Letter of correction from the Secretary of State for Education:
An error has been identified in the response given to the hon. Member for Chesterfield (Mr Perkins).
The correct response should have been:
Gillian Keegan
There is nothing that would make me give such drastic advice. The truth about the apprenticeship budget is that 99.6% of it was spent in the 2021-22 financial year. We can look in the rear view mirror, and there are some reports going back over time that show some underspend in the levy, but they are back over time. We have spent 99.6% of the budget. Perhaps what the hon. Gentleman has not appreciated is that some of the funding goes to the devolved Administrations.
Reading Standards: Primary-age Children
Sally-Ann Hart (Hastings and Rye) (Con)
The Minister for Schools (Nick Gibb)
The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study was published in May this year. England had come fourth among 43 countries that tested children of the same age, nine and 10-year-olds. In 2012 we introduced the phonics screening check, testing six-year-olds for their progress in reading and phonics.
[Official Report, 17 July 2023, Vol. 736, c. 608.]
Letter of correction from the Minister for Schools:
An error has been identified in the response given to my hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye (Sally-Ann Hart).
The correct response should have been:
Nick Gibb
The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study was published in May this year. England had come fourth among 43 countries that tested children of the same age, nine and 10-year-olds. In 2012 we introduced the phonics screening check, testing year 1 pupils for their progress in reading and phonics.
Topical Questions
Munira Wilson (Twickenham) (LD)
The chairs of the governing bodies of 19 primary and secondary schools across the London Boroughs of Richmond and Kingston upon Thames have today written to the Education Secretary, requesting an urgent meeting to discuss the crippling funding and recruitment challenges they face. Will she agree to meet them?
Nick Gibb
Of course the Secretary of State will agree, as she has just said to me. We are spending record amounts of funding on schools. The Secretary of State achieved an extra £2 billion in the autumn statement last year and we are now spending £59.6 billion on school funding.
[Official Report, 17 July 2023, Vol. 736, c. 620.]
Letter of correction from the Minister for Schools:
An error has been identified in the response given to the hon. Member for Twickenham (Munira Wilson).
The correct response should have been:
Nick Gibb
Of course the Secretary of State will agree, as she has just said to me. We are spending record amounts of funding on schools. The Secretary of State achieved an extra £2 billion in the autumn statement last year and by 2024-25, we will be spending £59.6 billion on school funding.
Health and Social Care
(10 months ago)
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Kate Hollern
In May last year I wrote to the then Health Secretary and the Prime Minister about the case of a young man in my constituency, Elliott Simpson, who was misdiagnosed with a water wart in a telephone consultation with a GP. When Elliott was finally able to see someone face-to-face, he found that he had late-stage skin cancer. He passed away on 28 April, aged just 27.
Between January and March this year, both the two-week wait target and the 62-day target were missed at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust. Does the Secretary of State accept that delays are costing lives?
Steve Barclay
The whole House will be hugely saddened to learn of the passing of Elliott, especially at such a tender age.
The hon. Lady is right to highlight the importance of speedy diagnosis, and I was pleased that we met the faster diagnosis standard in February for the first time and again in March, with three in four patients receiving their diagnosis within two weeks and nine in 10 starting treatment within a month. She is also right to point out that there is still variation between trusts, and we are focusing on that in particular, but it is good that nationally we are hitting the faster diagnosis standard.
[Official Report, 6 June 2023, Vol. 733, c. 664.]
Letter of correction from the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, the right hon. Member for North East Cambridgeshire (Steve Barclay):
Errors have been identified in my response to the hon. Member for Blackburn (Kate Hollern).
The correct information should have been:
Steve Barclay
The whole House will be hugely saddened to learn of the passing of Elliott, especially at such a tender age.
The hon. Lady is right to highlight the importance of speedy diagnosis, and I was pleased that we met the faster diagnosis standard in February for the first time, with three in four patients receiving their diagnosis within 28 days and nine in 10 starting treatment within a month, and virtually met it in March. She is also right to point out that there is still variation between trusts, and we are focusing on that in particular, but it is good that nationally we are hitting the faster diagnosis standard.
Work and Pensions
(10 months ago)
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Guy Opperman
Having worked in the Department for Work and Pensions for the past eight years, for my sins, I can strongly assure the hon. Member for Midlothian that the administration of the state pension is a marvel, but it is also incredibly complex. The moment that there were an introduction of a differential assessment, it would create a logistical conundrum, to say the least, and would require administration on an epic level. Getting such a thing correct—I suspect that as the hon. Gentleman proposes, all these things would have to be assessed, including with a prior medical assessment—is extraordinarily difficult. With respect, that approach was comprehensively rejected by the Cridland report. I accept that one paragraph of the Neville-Rolfe report seems to suggest that certain people do so; I think it talks about people who are w65 with 45 years of national insurance contributions. It is something that can be legislated for, because this Government or any future Government will have to legislate for the state pension situation in the next two years.
[Official Report, 12 July 2023, Vol. 736, c. 156WH.]
Letter of correction from the Minister for Employment, the hon. Member for Hexham (Guy Opperman).
An error has been identified in my response to the debate. The correct response should have been:
Guy Opperman
Having worked in the Department for Work and Pensions for the past eight years, for my sins, I can strongly assure the hon. Member for Midlothian that the administration of the state pension is a marvel, but it is also incredibly complex. The moment that there were an introduction of a differential assessment, it would create a logistical conundrum, to say the least, and would require administration on an epic level. Getting such a thing correct—I suspect that as the hon. Gentleman proposes, all these things would have to be assessed, including with a prior medical assessment—is extraordinarily difficult. With respect, that approach was comprehensively rejected by the Cridland report. I accept that one paragraph of the Neville-Rolfe report seems to suggest that certain people do so; I think it talks about people who are 65 with 45 years of national insurance contributions. It is something that can be legislated for, because this Government or any future Government will have to consider the state pension situation in the next two years.