Asked by: Lord Lingfield (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect the national speed limit of 70 miles per hour to be applied on the section of the M25 between Godstone and Sevenoaks.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The M25 between Godstone and Sevenoaks is currently subject to a 50mph speed limit whilst new stopped vehicle detection (SVD) technology is tested. Normal operations (variable mandatory speed limits up to the national speed limit) will be reinstated once the tests are complete. National Highways expects this to be before the end of May 2025 but is working hard to improve on this.
Asked by: Lord Lingfield (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the number of approved independent schools for pupils with special educational needs or disabilities in respect of which they intend to impose VAT on fees.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
On 29 July, the Government announced that, as of 1 January 2025, all education services and vocational training provided by a private school, including independent special schools, in the UK for a charge will be subject to VAT at the standard rate of 20 per cent. This will also apply to boarding services provided by private schools.
This change will not impact pupils with the most acute additional needs, where these can only be met in private schools. Where a Local Authority (LAs) funds a pupil’s place in a private school because their needs can only be met in a private school, LAs will be able to reclaim the VAT on the fees from HMRC. In Northern Ireland, it will be the Education Authority who fund placements in private schools and will be able to reclaim the VAT.
Asked by: Lord Lingfield (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent the abuse of the driving test block booking system through the purchase and resale of test appointments by unofficial brokers.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
DVSA has already taken a range of measures to restrict abuse of driving test booking services.
The DVSA is continuing to take steps to block cancellation services from accessing the booking system. These applications, however, are constantly evolving and changing, and the DVSA’s work on this is ongoing.
Asked by: Lord Lingfield (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether it is possible for a school in a multi-academy trust to opt by resolution of its governing body to become a stand-alone academy; and, if so, how many such schools have done so in the last three years.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
It is not possible for a school in a multi academy trust to opt by resolution of its local governing board to become a stand-alone academy
It is possible, however, for an academy to leave a multi academy trust with the mutual agreement of the governing board of the trust and the Secretary of State for Education. Before agreeing to such a move, the Secretary of State for Education would need assurance that it would be in the best interest of all pupils within the trust. However, there have been no recorded instances of this happening during the last 3 years.
Asked by: Lord Lingfield (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that stroke rehabilitation services continue to be delivered effectively during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Bethell
NHS England and NHS Improvement have ensured that stroke services across England continue to provide rehabilitation and post-acute services to stroke survivors and their families and carers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
NHS England and NHS Improvement have funded the Stroke Association over the last six months to provide Stroke Connect, which was developed in direct response to COVID-19 to ensure stroke survivors and their carers have support when discharged from hospital.
Asked by: Lord Lingfield (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to create more new maths schools in England.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The department has announced the approval of 5 new maths schools into the pre-opening stage: Cambridge Mathematics School, Durham Mathematics School, Imperial College London Mathematics School, Lancaster University School of Mathematics and Surrey Mathematics School. These are in addition to King’s Maths School and Exeter Maths School, which are already open, and the University of Liverpool Mathematics School, which opened in September 2020.
The department is working with the proposers to obtain sites and prepare these schools for opening, subject to funding agreements. We are also in discussion with other potential maths school proposers, in order to have a 16-19 maths school in every region. Successful proposals will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Lord Lingfield (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what recent assessment they have made of the efficacy of the healthcare system in diagnosing silent strokes.
Answered by Lord Bethell
NHS England and NHS Improvement continue to focus on the detection and management of risk factors including high blood pressure, raised cholesterol, atrial fibrillation and diabetes to improve diagnosis of silent strokes.
The NHS Long Term Plan highlighted that stroke community rehabilitation as an area with significant scope for improvement. NHS England and NHS Improvement are developing a service specification for an integrated community rehabilitation service in order to reduce variation in the provision of stroke rehabilitation across England.
Stroke rehabilitation pilot schemes from 2020 to 2022 will develop a best practice model for high intensity rehabilitation, to be rolled out nationally. Both the specification and the pilot schemes will incorporate learning and innovation within community stroke teams as a response to COVID-19, including virtual rehabilitation.
Asked by: Lord Lingfield (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress has been made on the commitments to improve stroke rehabilitation set out in the NHS Long Term Plan.
Answered by Lord Bethell
NHS England and NHS Improvement continue to focus on the detection and management of risk factors including high blood pressure, raised cholesterol, atrial fibrillation and diabetes to improve diagnosis of silent strokes.
The NHS Long Term Plan highlighted that stroke community rehabilitation as an area with significant scope for improvement. NHS England and NHS Improvement are developing a service specification for an integrated community rehabilitation service in order to reduce variation in the provision of stroke rehabilitation across England.
Stroke rehabilitation pilot schemes from 2020 to 2022 will develop a best practice model for high intensity rehabilitation, to be rolled out nationally. Both the specification and the pilot schemes will incorporate learning and innovation within community stroke teams as a response to COVID-19, including virtual rehabilitation.
Asked by: Lord Lingfield (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide COVID-19 testing equipment to schools and colleges so that pupils and students can be tested on-site; and what assessment they have made of the impact of any such plans on the transmission rate of COVID-19 once schools begin to resume.
Answered by Lord Bethell
To provide a more comprehensive response to a number of outstanding Written Questions, this has been answered by an information factsheet Testing – note for House of Lords which is attached, due to the size of the data. A copy has also been placed in the Library
Asked by: Lord Lingfield (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what practical support there is to assist pupils with special educational needs and disabilities to learn a musical instrument at school.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
Our vision for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is the same as that for all children and young people, namely that they are taught a broad and ambitious curriculum.
The department funds a national network of 120 Music Education Hubs who work with the majority of schools to deliver 4 core roles, one of which is to enable children from all backgrounds and every part of England to have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument. This includes children with SEND.
In addition, one of the programmes that the department partially funds with Arts Council England is Music for Youth. Working with the Music Education Hubs, this provides over 60,000 young people each year with free opportunities to perform and experience live music through nationwide festivals, concerts and tailored projects. This includes giving pupils with SEND opportunities to both perform and access performances they would not otherwise be able to.