Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will inform local authorities of their provisional public health grant budgets for 2023–24.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We will announce the 2023/24 Public Health Grant allocations to local authorities shortly.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the analysis by the Local Government Association that £13 billion needs to be delivered into social care so that councils can deliver on all their statutory duties so that (1) people of all ages can live an equal life, and (2) the need for hospital treatment is reduced.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Whilst we have not made a specific analysis of the figure referenced by the Local Government Association, we have assessed the level of funding made available to local authorities for this purpose through the Autumn Statement delivered on 17 November 2022. The Government is providing up to £7.5 billion of additional funding over two years to support adult social care and discharge, which represents a higher than real terms increase and will enable local authorities to deliver tangible improvements in adult social care services. These improvements aim to address discharge delays, social care waiting times, low fee rates, and workforce pressures.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to allowing the addition of a separate set of Model Standards to those provided in 1983 under the Caravan Sites Control and Development Act 1960, which would recognise the distinction between caravans and motorcaravans.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
Section 5(6) of the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 gives the Secretary of State powers to from time to time specify model standards with respect to the lay-out and the provision of facilities, services and equipment for caravan sites or particular types of caravan site.
The planning permission for many holiday and touring caravan sites permit motorhomes to be stationed on those sites. The model standards for those sites make provision for motorhomes. We do not consider that additional model standards are necessary.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will meet with the family of Collette Gallacher to discuss changing the law to ensure that those convicted of committing violent sexual offences against children before 1997 can be included on the sex offenders register.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The UK has some of the toughest powers in the world to deal with sex offenders and those who pose a risk.
In addition to the notification requirements for registered sex offenders (“sex offenders’ register”), where someone poses a risk of sexual harm, the courts can impose Sexual Harm Prevention Orders on individuals convicted of certain sexual or violent offences (including murder), and Sexual Risk Orders, on any individual who poses a risk of sexual harm, even if they have never been convicted. Both orders can place a range of restrictions on individuals, and breach is a criminal offence punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment.
We are strengthening these orders through the Policing and Crime Bill, including enabling the imposition of positive requirements.
Although I am unable to comment on specific cases, I thank my Noble Friend for raising this case, and I will look into this matter to see what appropriate actions can be taken.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the electrification of vehicles on (1) lowering the cost of motoring, and consequentially, (2) the mode shift to public transport and active travel.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
While electric vehicles (EVs) currently cost more to purchase than their petrol and diesel alternatives, EV motorists benefit from their comparatively cheaper running costs. It costs from 1p/mile to run a new electric vehicle, compared to around 10p per mile for new diesel/petrol vehicles. Additionally, we have put in place a tax regime that benefits motorists who choose cleaner vehicles. We expect the upfront cost and total cost of ownership of EVs to come down and demand to grow even further as they become more commonplace.
Our ambitions for zero emission driving will be supported by an accompanying package of £2.8 billion, with up to £1 billion to support the electrification of UK vehicles and their supply chains, £1.3 billion to accelerate the roll out of charging infrastructure and £582 million for plug in vehicle grants. Accelerating modal shift to public and active transport is one of the strategic priorities for our forthcoming Transport Decarbonisation Plan and forms a key part of both last year’s cycling and walking plan “Gear Change” and the recent National Bus Strategy.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to periodically review the £700 million education recovery package for children and young people, announced on 24 February, to ensure that those from the most disadvantaged backgrounds are being supported.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
Understanding the impact of lost education on attainment and progress is a key research priority for the government, and an independent research and assessment agency has been commissioned to monitor progress over the course of the year and help us target support.
The department knows that the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak has been felt most heavily by disadvantaged children and young people, and so it is vital that we target support towards these pupils.
In February 2021, the department appointed Sir Kevan Collins as Education Recovery Commissioner to advise how to help pupils make up their education over the course of this Parliament. As an immediate step, we have invested a further £700 million to support education recovery measures (bringing total investment in catch up to over £1.7 billion).
The package contains a new one-off £302 million Recovery Premium (which includes £22 million to scale up evidenced approaches) for state primary and secondary schools in the 2021/22 academic year. Building on the pupil premium, the Recovery Premium will help schools to deliver evidence-based approaches for supporting the most disadvantaged pupils.
£200 million will be used to expand our successful tutoring programmes. The National Tutoring Programme was first announced in June 2020 and has increased access to high-quality tuition for the most disadvantaged young people, helping to accelerate their academic progress and tackling the attainment gap between them and their peers. This investment will fund an £83 million expansion of the National Tutoring Programme for 5–16-year-olds in 2021/22, in order to reach hundreds of thousands more pupils next academic year; a £102 million extension of the 16-19 Tuition Fund for a further year to support more students in English, maths and other vocational and academic subjects; and £18 million funding to support language development in the early years, supporting a critical stage of child development.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to work with local government to deliver national strategies for carbon reduction.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Government is committed to tackling climate change, and local authorities have a vital contribution to make. Their unique insight into local opportunities and priorities, their role as place-shapers, and their convening power enable them to drive carbon emissions reductions and develop climate resilient services across their whole area, with co-benefits for better public health and thriving local economies.
Tackling emissions at a local level will make an important contribution to the decarbonisation of transport, energy and buildings. As such, many parts of Government work closely with local government to deliver national strategies for carbon reduction effectively at the local level.
In 2020 the Government launched the Greenhouse Homes Grant Local Authority Delivery Scheme, the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme and the Public Sector Low Carbon Skills Fund.
The Local Energy programme also supports Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), local authorities and communities in England to play a leading role in decarbonisation and clean growth. The Government's wider plan to work with local government to deliver national strategies for carbon reduction will be set out in our forthcoming net zero strategy.
In Spring 2021 we will be publishing a bold and ambitious Transport Decarbonisation Plan which will set out how to achieve net zero emissions across all modes of transport. Different decarbonisation solutions will be required and will work best in different places across the UK, and we have engaged with local government at all levels in developing this Plan
The Government will continue to work closely with local authorities, now and over the course of the net zero transition.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure the new £700 million education recovery package for children and young people will prioritise those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The department is aware that the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak has been felt most heavily by disadvantaged children and young people, and so it is vital that support is targeted here.
In June 2020, the department announced an initial package of support worth £1 billion, including a catch up premium worth a total of £650 million to support schools to make up for lost teaching time. Alongside this universal grant, a National Tutoring Programme worth £350 million will provide additional, targeted tuition support to disadvantaged pupils who have been hardest hit from disruption to their education as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. Research shows high quality individual and small group tuition can add up to five months of progress for disadvantaged pupils.
In February 2021, the department appointed Sir Kevan Collins as Education Recovery Commissioner to advise how to help pupils make up for their lost education over the course of this Parliament. The department has provided a further £700 million to support education recovery measures, bringing total investment in catch up to over £1.7 billion. This package includes significant funding aimed at addressing the needs of disadvantaged pupils.
This package includes a one-off £302 million recovery premium for the next academic year that will be allocated to schools based on the pupil premium eligibility. Schools with more disadvantaged pupils will therefore receive larger allocations.
Schools will continue to receive the pupil premium every quarter. Each school’s original pupil premium strategy will not have been delivered since March 2020 and the pupils’ needs will have changed or intensified. The department recommends that, as part of the planning for needs based universal catch up, headteachers should review their pupil premium strategy and amend it to reflect the new situation from September 2020.
The department will provide £200 million in order to expand our successful tutoring programmes. This will fund an £83 million expansion of the National Tutoring Programme for 5 to 16 year olds in the 2021/22 academic year, £102 million funding extension of the 16 to 19 tuition fund for a further year to support more students in English, mathematics and other vocational and academic subjects, and £18 million funding to support language development in the early years, supporting a critical stage of child development.
The department will also make a further £200 million available to secondary schools to help deliver face to face summer schools this year, offering a blend of academic teaching and enrichment activities to support education recovery. Schools will be able to decide whether to run a summer school and how to make places available. We recommend an initial focus on incoming year 7 pupils, but schools will have the flexibility to target provision towards the pupils they feel will most benefit.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the resources local authorities will need to replace fossil fuel heating in their buildings and housing stock to meet the Government's net zero carbon emission targets.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises that Local Authorities have an important part to play in tackling climate change, including in heat and buildings decarbonisation. Meeting our net-zero target will require virtually all heat in buildings to be decarbonised, and heat in industry to be reduced to close to zero carbon emissions. Local Authorities can play a number of important roles in heat and buildings decarbonisation, including decarbonising heat in their own buildings and raising awareness of the support available to increase voluntary uptake of low carbon heat and energy efficiency measures. Local Authorities are able to apply for funding to decarbonise heat in their buildings through the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme.
We also work closely with Local Authorities to support heat pump and heat networks deployment through schemes such as the Local Authority Delivery scheme and Local Energy Hubs, as well as providing funding through the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund to improve the energy performance of social homes. In addition, the Government is providing funding and prioritising support for councils to tackle climate change as part of the annual Sector Support Programme delivered by the Local Government Association in 2021/22.
The upcoming Heat and Buildings Strategy will set out further details on how we plan to work with local authorities to meet our ambition on heat and buildings decarbonisation.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to ensure that (1) electricity networks have capacity to facilitate the mass rollout of electric vehicles, and (2) the process of connecting electric vehicle charging points to those networks is effective and efficient.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Mechanisms are in place to ensure networks are prepared for the significant new demand for electricity from the transition to electric vehicles (EVs). Ofgem, as the independent regulator, use the price control framework to ensure that the network companies provide the required infrastructure to deliver the capacity to meet both current and future demand on the network.
EVs also offer new opportunities for consumers to be part of a smarter and more flexible energy system. Smart charging can help reduce the need for additional network investment by shifting charging to off-peak periods. In 2019, the Government consulted on mandating that all private charge points sold or installed in the UK must have smart functionality and meet device level requirements. We intend to lay the relevant legislation later this year.
Ensuring a smooth process for connecting EV charging points to the electricity networks is the responsibility of network operators at both the distribution and transmission levels, and they are incentivised to do so through the regulatory framework, also set by Ofgem. Officials from BEIS and the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles regularly meet both network operators and connection customers, such as fleet operators, from across the country to discuss the connection process and ensure that the needs of consumers are placed at the heart of the EV transition.