Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage the uptake of the learning of foreign languages in schools.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government remains committed to increasing the proportion of pupils who choose to study a language up to GCSE and beyond, as well as to improving the quality of language teaching at both primary and secondary schools.
In March 2023, the department announced a new £14.9 million Language Hubs programme, including a distinct German Promotion Project. The programme will be comprised of up to 25 lead hub schools, all of which will work with partner schools to improve standards of language teaching across the country, in line with recommendations of the Teaching Schools Council’s 2016 modern foreign languages pedagogy review.
Since 2016, the department has funded the £20 million Mandarin Excellence Programme, which supports schools and teachers to deliver intensive Mandarin study to increase the quality of Mandarin lessons and to increase uptake in the subject. The programme provides professional development and teaching resources for teachers in participating schools across England.
From September 2024, teaching of the revised subject content for French, German, and Spanish GCSEs will begin. The new content is intended to encourage more students to take up these important subjects, making them more accessible to all pupils.
To ensure high standards of modern foreign language teaching, language curriculum materials and associated resources will be developed by Oak National Academy, as part of its second tranche of procurement. The first materials will be available from autumn 2024, and full curriculum packages by autumn 2025. This will ensure that high quality, optional lessons are available nationwide, benefitting both teachers and pupils.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the danger of Asian hornets becoming established in England; and what steps they are taking, if any, in response.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In 2011, the GB Non-Native Invasive Species Team conducted a pest risk assessment (copy attached) to assess the dangers of Asian hornets establishing in the UK, following the spread of Asian hornet across Europe and the associated impacts reported on pollinators. The risk of the pest entering the UK and establishing was assessed as very likely and it was suggested that the impacts on honey bees and wild pollinators could be significant.
Following this assessment Defra and the Welsh Government developed the Asian hornet contingency plan (copy attached) which outlines what actions will be taken when incursions occur. This Plan has been regularly updated with the most recent version published in January 2023.
We have taken contingency action against all credible sightings of Asian hornet that have been reported in the UK since the first occurrence in 2016. Contingency action is delivered on the ground by the National Bee Unit (NBU) – part of the Animal and Plant Health Agency. As of 6th September 2023, the NBU have located 37 Asian hornet nests which have been destroyed.
Genetic analyses of hornet and nest samples are done to determine relatedness and assess whether Asian hornets are established in England. Evidence from previous years suggested that all 13 Asian hornet nests found in the UK between 2016 and 2022 were separate incursions and there is nothing to suggest that Asian hornets are established in the UK. We have not seen any evidence which demonstrates that Asian hornets discovered in England this year were produced by queens that overwintered. More detailed analysis will be done over winter to assess this.
Raising awareness is a key aspect of the response. We ask anyone who thinks they may have spotted an Asian hornet to report it through the Asian hornet app or online. By ensuring we are alerted to possible sightings as early as possible, we can take swift and effective action to stamp out the threat posed by Asian hornets.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage the provision of reciprocal free healthcare within Europe and England.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There is currently wide-ranging advice and guidance on reciprocal healthcare arrangements across GOV.UK, the National Health Service website and the NHS Business Services Authority website. The Department also works closely with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office across Europe to promote people’s reciprocal healthcare entitlements, which includes country-specific guides.
We use a variety of communications activities including videos, blogs and social media messaging to reach different groups. The Department also works with travel companies and relevant media outlets to include reciprocal healthcare information.
To further promote the benefits of the Global Health Insurance Card, which is the eligibility document for accessing necessary healthcare when United Kingdom residents visit eligible countries, we are in the process of reviewing all Government content to make clearer the benefits of reciprocal healthcare arrangements to the public and ensure people can easily access information on the support available in-country should they require necessary healthcare.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of delays in Royal Mail deliveries on the delivery of medicines.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
It is for Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, to set and monitor Royal Mail’s service standards and decide how to use its powers to investigate and take enforcement action should Royal Mail fail to achieve its obligations without good justification.
Ofcom is currently investigating whether Royal Mail failed to meet its quality-of-service performance targets for 2022-23.
Royal Mail delivers medicines on behalf of a number of organisations, including the NHS. However, the Government does not have a role in Royal Mail’s contractual arrangements with its customers, including delivery of medication and the delivery services used.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address delays to postal deliveries by Royal Mail.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
It is for Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, to set and monitor Royal Mail’s service standards and decide how to use its powers to investigate and take enforcement action should Royal Mail fail to achieve its obligations without good justification.
Ofcom is currently investigating whether Royal Mail failed to meet its quality-of-service performance targets for 2022-23.
Royal Mail delivers medicines on behalf of a number of organisations, including the NHS. However, the Government does not have a role in Royal Mail’s contractual arrangements with its customers, including delivery of medication and the delivery services used.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the state of preparedness to deal with bush fires in hot weather.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office works closely with other departments and key stakeholders including Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities to mitigate the risk of wildfire as set out in the Wildfire Framework for England. The framework can be found at Wildfire Framework for England | Fire England.
Each Fire and Rescue Authority is required to plan for the foreseeable risks in their area, through their Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP), having regard to other key local responders, the top local and national risks, and the communities which they serve.
The government recognises the risk that wildfire presents for landscapes and communities and recently wrote to Local Resilience Forums to share lessons and recommendations from the recent 2022 wildfire season. Further actions are set out in the third National Adaptation Plan, which was recently published: Third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The Home Office maintains regular engagement with National Bodies including the National Fire Chiefs Council and England and Wales Wildfire Forum to monitor and review sector led improvements to wildfire response and mitigation.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of available compensation measures for Royal Mail customers who have experienced problems receiving deliveries; and what plans they have to publicise those compensation measures to members of the public.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Royal Mail is a private business. The Government does not have a role in the commercial or operational decisions of Royal Mail.
As the Universal Service Provider, Ofcom requires Royal Mail to provide fair and reasonable remedies and redress in respect of delays to deliveries under its universal service obligation.
Under Section 89 of the Postal Services Act 2000, Royal Mail is required to publish its terms and conditions, including compensation policies, for certain products and services on its website.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the performance of Royal Mail, and its failure to deliver mail in some areas.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
It is for Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, to set and monitor Royal Mail's service standards and decide how to use its powers to investigate and take enforcement action should Royal Mail fail to achieve its obligations without good justification. Ofcom is currently undertaking an investigation into Royal Mail's failure to meet its quality of service performance targets for 2022-23.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the reasons for initiating consultations on the closure of ticket offices in railway stations.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Together with industry, we want to improve and modernise the experience for passengers by moving staff out from behind the ticket office screens to provide more help and advice in customer focused roles and additional support to those who need it.
When proposing major changes to ticket office opening hours – including closures – train operators are required to take into account the adequacy of the proposed alternatives in relation to the needs of passengers who are disabled; and to include this in the notice of the proposal sent to other operators and passenger groups. We would also expect operators to consider other equality related needs and make this clear in the notice sent to other operators and passenger groups.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Murray of Blidworth on 10 July (HL8747), how many claims are yet to be settled under the Windrush Compensation Scheme; and when they expect those claims to be settled.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The latest Transparency data for the Windrush Compensation Scheme was published on 21 June 2023, which covers the period up to the end of May 2023.
We understand ‘yet to be settled’ to mean claims which have not received a final decision and are in the ‘Work in Progress’ category.
The requested information, regarding how many claims are in the ‘Work in Progress’ (WIP) category can be found on Tab WCS_05 of Windrush Compensation Scheme data: May 2023 - GOV.UK
The Transparency data note 12 defines WIP as “WIP defined as claims at Registration, Eligibility, Preliminary Payment Consideration, Casework and QA stages, excluding any claim that has received a final offer at Payment, and any claim at Tier 1 and Tier 2.”
The department does not impose time limit targets for concluding claims, as each person’s claim is deeply personal and deserves to be processed with the utmost care and sensitivity. This holistic approach necessarily takes time but is ultimately beneficial to individuals.