Asked by: Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether there are enough English for Speakers of Other Languages classes throughout the country to meet demand, and whether those classes are free for asylum seekers and refugees.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The department supports adults aged 19+ in England to access English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) provision, funded through the Adult Skills Fund (ASF), subject to the eligibility requirements laid out in the ASF. This allows learners to develop the English language skills they need for everyday life, work or further learning.
Adults who are granted refugee status or humanitarian protection by the Home Office, and asylum seekers whose cases have been pending for six months or longer, are eligible for the same skills funding as any other English resident and are not subject to the normal three year qualifying period to access ASF funding.
Currently, approximately 60% of the ASF is devolved to nine mayoral strategic authorities and delegated to the Mayor of London acting through the Greater London Authority. These authorities are responsible for the provision of adult education and allocation of the ASF in their local areas.
The department is responsible for the remaining ASF in non-devolved areas where colleges and training providers have the freedom and flexibility to determine how they use their ASF to meet the specific needs of their communities.
In non-devolved ASF areas, adults eligible for ASF funding, including those granted humanitarian protection and asylum seekers whose cases have been pending for six months or more, can be fully funded or co-funded to study ESOL, depending on their employment status and salary.
Asked by: Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to assist employers whose premises are inaccessible to potential employees with disabilities.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) runs the Access to Work Scheme which provides grant funding to disabled people, as well as those with a health condition. The grant supports workplace adjustments that go beyond what would normally be expected from an employer through their duty to provide reasonable adjustments as outlined in the Equality Act 2010. This can include grants to make appropriate changes to a place of work, to make them more accessible for the customer.
In addition, as set out in the Pathways to Work Green Paper published on 18 March, DWP are consulting on the future of the Access to Work scheme.
Asked by: Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to keep the Muslim community informed on the progress of talks towards a Sharia-compliant agreement on alternative student finance, other than through the Gov.uk website.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The department has convened an expert working group, made up of representatives from the Muslim community and Islamic finance sector, to keep the Muslim community informed on progress towards introducing an alternative student finance product, compatible with Islamic finance principles.
As part of the department’s engagement with the working group, we are seeking their expert advice and drawing on their feedback to develop our community and stakeholder engagement plans.
It is important that the Muslim community is kept informed on the certification of the alternative student finance product as compatible with Islamic finance principles. We have appointed Islamic finance advisers, the Islamic Finance Council UK, to oversee this work and will provide further updates as the work progresses.
Asked by: Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 17 December (HL3216), whether they will consult with interested parties and expedite the implementation of the remaining parts of section 36 and associated Schedules of the Equality Act 2010 to address the shortage of housing for disabled people.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The government is continuing to consider the remaining parts of section 36 and associated Schedules. We will set out next steps in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to enforce section 36 and Schedule 4 of the Equality Act 2010, to ensure landlords cannot unreasonably deny disabled access adaptations to communal areas.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The government is considering the remaining parts of section 36 and associated Schedules.
These provisions would impose a duty on those responsible for common parts of leasehold properties, such as landlords, to make reasonable adjustments to those parts if asked to do so by a disabled tenant and if, after consultation, the landlord concluded that it would be reasonable to do so. This would apply in England and Wales.
Asked by: Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how long the initial training is for the new round of immigration officer recruits; and whether there is any mentoring by experienced officers.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
All new Entrants to Immigration Enforcement attend a two-day induction. Immigration officers then complete an initial training course lasting 7 weeks. This is a blended programme, consisting of classroom and practical training. If officers pass the course it is followed by a period of 12 months mentoring with an experienced officer, before being deemed fully operationally competent.
Asked by: Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure that integrated care boards are providing sufficient suitable wheelchairs in all parts of the country to enable wheelchair users, particularly children, to access one without delay.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the provision and commissioning of local wheelchair services, including children’s wheelchair services, and the development of their local wheelchair service eligibility criteria, based on the needs of their local population. NHS England supports ICBs to commission effective, efficient, and personalised wheelchair services.
NHS England is taking a number of steps to reduce regional variation in the quality and provision of National Health Service wheelchairs, and to support ICBs to reduce delays in people receiving timely intervention and wheelchair equipment. These include:
Asked by: Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will end emergency authorisations of neonicotinoids which are poisonous to bees.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government has been clear that we will change existing policies to ban the use of neonicotinoid pesticides that threaten bees and other vital pollinators by the next General Election.
Asked by: Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the average waiting time for Personal Independence Payment assessments.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
These figures can be found at part 6 of the Personal Independence Payment: Official Statistics to July 2024 and are published quarterly as part of the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) statistics on GOV.UK.
As of July 2024, clearance times for normal rules new claims are 15 weeks “end to end” (from registration to a decision being made) and 10 weeks from the assessment provider (AP) referral to the DWP decision on entitlement.
The clearance times in July 2023 were 15 weeks and 10 weeks respectively. The clearance times peaked in August 2021 at 26 weeks “end to end” (from registration to a decision being made) and 21 weeks from the AP referral to the decision.
This was partly because claims that had been allowed a longer deadline for return of the PIP 2 form during the period late February to late May 2021 were reaching clearance, and partly because priority in some areas was given to claims that had been waiting longer for processing due to the COVID-19 disruption.
Asked by: Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the way Personal Independence Payments are accessed by people with fluctuating conditions.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment is designed to take into account the impact of variations in an individual's level of functional impairment. The criteria consider an individual’s ability over a 12-month period, ensuring that fluctuations are taken into account.
Health professionals carrying out PIP assessments are required to assess individuals in line with the statutory criteria, including whether an individual can complete each of the PIP activities, the manner in which they do it, and whether they can complete each activity safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and in a reasonable time period.
The PIP assessment criteria were developed in collaboration with independent specialists in health, social care & disability, including disabled people. The Department aims to continually improve the assessment process through customer insight, stakeholder engagement and qualitative research. We are exploring the option of a Health Impact Record that claimants could use on a voluntary basis, in addition to other evidence, to capture the changing effect of their condition on day-to-day functionality. This could help claimants present evidence in a structured way at or preceding an assessment.