Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the PwC report UK Higher Education Financial Sustainability Report, published in January.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Higher education (HE) providers are autonomous institutions responsible for their own financial sustainability. The department’s role and priority is to work with the Office for Students (OfS) and other stakeholders as appropriate to protect students’ best interests.

The OfS is responsible for monitoring the financial sustainability of registered HE providers in England. Its latest report on the financial health of the sector, which was published in May 2023, found that the overall aggregate financial position of universities was sound. However, there continue to be quite significant differences between individual providers, both across the sector and within peer groups.

The department will continue to work closely with the OfS and many parties including a variety of HE providers across the sector, mission groups and other government departments to understand the ongoing impacts and changing landscape of financial sustainability in the sector.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to support universities who are facing bankruptcy.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Higher education (HE) providers are autonomous institutions responsible for their own financial sustainability. The department’s role and priority is to work with the Office for Students (OfS) and other stakeholders as appropriate to protect students’ best interests.

The OfS is responsible for monitoring the financial sustainability of registered HE providers in England. Its latest report on the financial health of the sector, which was published in May 2023, found that the overall aggregate financial position of universities was sound. However, there continue to be quite significant differences between individual providers, both across the sector and within peer groups.

The department will continue to work closely with the OfS and many parties including a variety of HE providers across the sector, mission groups and other government departments to understand the ongoing impacts and changing landscape of financial sustainability in the sector.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the levels of debt in UK universities.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Higher education (HE) providers are autonomous institutions responsible for their own financial sustainability. The department’s role and priority is to work with the Office for Students (OfS) and other stakeholders as appropriate to protect students’ best interests.

The OfS is responsible for monitoring the financial sustainability of registered HE providers in England. Its latest report on the financial health of the sector, which was published in May 2023, found that the overall aggregate financial position of universities was sound. However, there continue to be quite significant differences between individual providers, both across the sector and within peer groups.

The department will continue to work closely with the OfS and many parties including a variety of HE providers across the sector, mission groups and other government departments to understand the ongoing impacts and changing landscape of financial sustainability in the sector.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of value lost to the economy through period inequity, as set out in the report, The State of Period Equity in the UK, published by In Kind Direct on 29 February.

Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

No formal assessment has been made. Menstrual health and gynaecological conditions are a priority in the Women’s Health Strategy for England. This strategy sets out our ambitions for improving information provision and tackling stigma surrounding topics such as periods and menstrual health, so society is better able to support women across their lives, including in schools and in workplaces. The statutory relationships, health, and sex education curriculum covers several areas of women’s health, including menstrual health. In July 2023 we launched a women’s health area on the National Health Service website, which brings together over 100 health topics, and includes a section on periods.

The Government is also committed to making period products more financially accessible, which will reduce barriers faced by women and girls in accessing education and work. The Period Product Scheme is available to girls and women in state-funded schools and colleges, providing a wide range of free period products, so that periods are not a barrier to education. 99% of secondary schools, 94% of post 16-year-old education organisations, and 75% of primary schools have used the scheme since it began in 2020. Free period products are also available for people in hospital and in custody. Since 1 January 2021, a zero rate of VAT has applied to sanitary products, and in January 2024 this was extended to include period pants.

Within the workplace, flexible working arrangements can allow individuals, including women suffering from menstrual problems, to work at a time, place, and during hours that support their needs. The Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act makes changes to the right to request flexible working, to provide employees with better access to flexible working arrangements.

More widely, the Government continues to support people on lower incomes, including those who struggle to afford period products. We will spend approximately £124 billion on people of working age and children, through the welfare system in Great Britain, and the Government has provided support, totalling £96 billion, from 2022 onwards to help households with the cost of living. We are providing further support for 2024/2025, including uprating working age benefits by 6.7%, raising the National Living Wage, and extending the Household Support Fund in England for a further six months.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made, if any, of how many preventable hospitalisations have occurred as a result of medication shortages caused by Brexit.

Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The medicine supply chain is highly regulated, complex, and global. Supply disruption is an issue which affects the United Kingdom as well as the other countries around the world, and it can have a variety of causes, including manufacturing issues, problems with access to raw ingredients, and sudden spikes in demand.

Whilst we can’t always prevent supply issues from occurring, we have a responsibility to manage and mitigate them, working in collaboration with the pharmaceutical industry, NHS England, the devolved administrations, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, and others operating in the supply chain, to help prevent shortages and to ensure that the risks to patients are minimised.

Following the exit from the European Union (EU), the Department has worked collaboratively with industry to support trader readiness for the new border controls. While some suppliers experienced delays at the border associated with trader readiness, these issues were swiftly resolved with no sustained impacts on medical supplies, and the Department has no evidence of the EU Exit leading to sustained medicines shortages.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to publish feedback to the Licensing of non-surgical cosmetic procedures consultation, which ran from 2 September to 28 October 2023.

Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We are currently analysing the feedback received during the consultation, and intend to publish the Government’s response later in the spring.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the National Rural Crime Network's report Rural Crime: Serious, Organised and International, published on 10 March.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

We welcome the National Rural Crime Network’s report and will consider its recommendations.

This Government is committed to tackling the threat from Serious and Organised Crime (SOC). In December 2023, we published the 2023 Serious and Organised Crime Strategy that commits to reducing SOC in the UK by disrupting and dismantling organised crime groups and networks operating in and against the UK.

Serious and organised crime is a major threat to the national security and prosperity of the UK. It costs lives, blights communities, hampers economic growth, and corrodes the global reputation of the UK and its institutions.

Additionally, the Government recognises that there can be particular challenges in responding to rural crime and welcomed the rural and wildlife crime strategy published by the National Police Chiefs’ Council in September 2022.

The Home Office provided £200,000 for the National Rural Crime Unit to tackle rural crime including the theft of farming or construction machinery, livestock theft, rural fly tipping, rural fuel theft and equine crime. We will continue to work closely with the NRCU to help ensure an effective police response to rural crime.

Question

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of recent research reported by The Times which suggests that unconscious bias training is not effective.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

This research is a welcome addition to the canon of research on the efficacy of diversity and inclusion (D&I) training.

We removed central unconscious bias training following the 2020 Behavioural Insight Team report which concluded that unconscious bias training was ineffective. This is supported by the recent report on the Inclusion at Work Panel’s recommendations for improving D&I practice in the workplace (published 20 March 2024). We are currently considering these recommendations, including the recommendation to develop a digital tool kit to assess the rigour, efficacy and value for money of a range of D&I practices, including training interventions.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to address the problem of criminal gangs intentionally crossing police force borders to exploit weaknesses in policing methods.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

We know serious and organised crime (SOC) does not respect police force borders which is why all police forces in England and Wales collaborate and share resources, funding and specialist capabilities to deliver Regional Organised Crime Units (ROCUs) to lead complex cross-border SOC investigations. There are nine ROCUs in England and Wales with equivalent capability in London.

Alongside approximately £70m in direct funding from the Home Office in 2023/24, Chief Constables, PCCs and Mayors with PCC functions have recently provided significant resource to the ROCU network by allocating 725 extra officers to ROCUs between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2023. Those officers are working in partnership now to tackle drugs supply and enablers, including firearms and criminal finances.

County lines is a major cross-cutting issue involving a range of criminality including drugs, violence, criminal gangs and child criminal exploitation, and involves the police, a wide range of Government departments, local government agencies and voluntary and community sector organisations. County lines gangs often export drugs across county borders from one police force area to another.

This Government is determined to crack down on county lines gangs which is why we are investing up to £145m over three years in our County Lines Programme to tackle the most violent and exploitative drug supply model yet seen. Through the County Lines Programme, we have established dedicated county lines taskforces in the four force areas exporting the majority of lines (MPS, Merseyside, West Midlands and Greater Manchester Police) as well as the British Transport Police to tackle the national rail network. We are also funding the National County Lines Coordination Centre (NCLCC), to monitor the intelligence picture and co-ordinate the national law enforcement response. The NCLCC has been vital in strengthening the law enforcement response, promoting best practice, and enabling police forces to work together to tackle this complex issue.

Since the County Lines Programme was launched in 2019, police activity has resulted in over 5,600 line closures, over 16,500 arrests and over 8,800 safeguarding referrals. This includes over 2,500 line closures since April 2022, surpassing the Drugs Strategy commitment of over 2,000 line closures by April 2025. Having met this target in half the time, we have now committed to close a further 1,000 lines by August 2024, bringing the total since the Drugs Strategy was launched in April 2022 to over 3,000.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to producing a rural crime strategy which would be fully integrated into the overall Government Crime Strategy, as called for in the National Rural Crime Network’s recent report, Rural Crime: Serious, Organised and International, published on 10 March.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

We welcome the National Rural Crime Network’s report and will consider its recommendations.

This Government is committed to tackling the threat from Serious and Organised Crime (SOC). In December 2023, we published the 2023 Serious and Organised Crime Strategy that commits to reducing SOC in the UK by disrupting and dismantling organised crime groups and networks operating in and against the UK.

Serious and organised crime is a major threat to the national security and prosperity of the UK. It costs lives, blights communities, hampers economic growth, and corrodes the global reputation of the UK and its institutions.

The Government welcomed the rural and wildlife crime strategy published by the National Police Chiefs’ Council in September 2022, this provides a comprehensive framework through which policing, and partner agencies can work together to tackle rural and wildlife crime, including where it is linked to other forms of serious and organised crime such as the drugs trade.

The National Rural Crime Unit works closely with Interpol to share information about stolen agricultural and construction machinery. As a result of the partnership it has established with INTERPOL, equipment has been recovered from criminal gangs across Europe.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to the National Rural Crime Network’s call for the Home Office to undertake a comprehensive economic impact assessment of rural crime in its report Rural Crime: Serious, Organised and International, published on 10 March.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

We welcome the National Rural Crime Network’s report and will consider its recommendations.

This Government is committed to tackling the threat from Serious and Organised Crime (SOC). In December 2023, we published the 2023 Serious and Organised Crime Strategy that commits to reducing SOC in the UK by disrupting and dismantling organised crime groups and networks operating in and against the UK.

Serious and organised crime is a major threat to the national security and prosperity of the UK. It costs lives, blights communities, hampers economic growth, and corrodes the global reputation of the UK and its institutions.

The Government welcomed the rural and wildlife crime strategy published by the National Police Chiefs’ Council in September 2022, this provides a comprehensive framework through which policing, and partner agencies can work together to tackle rural and wildlife crime, including where it is linked to other forms of serious and organised crime such as the drugs trade.

The National Rural Crime Unit works closely with Interpol to share information about stolen agricultural and construction machinery. As a result of the partnership it has established with INTERPOL, equipment has been recovered from criminal gangs across Europe.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the UK’s decision to leave the EU on the UK’s ability to track down or trace stolen plant and agricultural machinery.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

We welcome the National Rural Crime Network’s report and will consider its recommendations.

This Government is committed to tackling the threat from Serious and Organised Crime (SOC). In December 2023, we published the 2023 Serious and Organised Crime Strategy that commits to reducing SOC in the UK by disrupting and dismantling organised crime groups and networks operating in and against the UK.

Serious and organised crime is a major threat to the national security and prosperity of the UK. It costs lives, blights communities, hampers economic growth, and corrodes the global reputation of the UK and its institutions.

The Government welcomed the rural and wildlife crime strategy published by the National Police Chiefs’ Council in September 2022, this provides a comprehensive framework through which policing, and partner agencies can work together to tackle rural and wildlife crime, including where it is linked to other forms of serious and organised crime such as the drugs trade.

The National Rural Crime Unit works closely with Interpol to share information about stolen agricultural and construction machinery. As a result of the partnership it has established with INTERPOL, equipment has been recovered from criminal gangs across Europe.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the links between wildlife offences and the drugs trade, as highlighted in the report Rural Crime: Serious, Organised and International published by the National Rural Crime Network, published on 10 March.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

We welcome the National Rural Crime Network’s report and will consider its recommendations.

This Government is committed to tackling the threat from Serious and Organised Crime (SOC). In December 2023, we published the 2023 Serious and Organised Crime Strategy that commits to reducing SOC in the UK by disrupting and dismantling organised crime groups and networks operating in and against the UK.

Serious and organised crime is a major threat to the national security and prosperity of the UK. It costs lives, blights communities, hampers economic growth, and corrodes the global reputation of the UK and its institutions.

The Government welcomed the rural and wildlife crime strategy published by the National Police Chiefs’ Council in September 2022, this provides a comprehensive framework through which policing, and partner agencies can work together to tackle rural and wildlife crime, including where it is linked to other forms of serious and organised crime such as the drugs trade.

The National Rural Crime Unit works closely with Interpol to share information about stolen agricultural and construction machinery. As a result of the partnership it has established with INTERPOL, equipment has been recovered from criminal gangs across Europe.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential impact upon national security of Chinese-made electric vehicles; and whether they plan to further investigate any risks that may arise.

Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

DfT co-chairs the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) group that developed two new international regulations related to connected vehicles – one on cyber security and one on software updates. The cyber security regulation sets out requirements to mitigate potential threats in vehicle construction, to monitor emerging threats and to respond to cyber attacks.

The Government takes national security extremely seriously. The Department for Transport (DfT) works closely with the transport sector and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), and other Government departments, including the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and Department for Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT), to understand and respond to cyber vulnerabilities associated with all connected vehicles, including electric vehicles.