Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what additional support they are providing to enable local authorities and childcare providers to meet demand arising from their commitment to provide free childcare hours.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
There were 15,100 more childcare places in 2023 than the previous year, with 12,900 paid staff added to the same period according to the department’s latest Childcare and early years provider survey (2023).
To support providers to expand their provision further, the department is investing over £400 million of additional funding to uplift the hourly rate for the entitlements next year. This investment consists of £67 million in new funding to reflect the latest National Living Wage increase, an additional £57 million to support providers in respect of teachers’ pay and pensions, and the £288 million for the existing entitlements in 2024/25 announced in the Spring Budget in March 2023. It also builds on the £204 million of additional investment to increase funding rates this year. To further support the sector delivering the expansion of childcare support, the government is confirming that the hourly rate providers are paid to deliver the free hours offers will increase in line with the metric used at Spring Budget 2023 for the next two years. This reflects that workforce costs are the most significant costs for childcare providers and represents an estimated additional £500 million of investment over two years. Additionally, hundreds of thousands of children aged 3 and 4 are registered for a 30-hour place, saving eligible working parents up to £6,900 per child per year, helping even more working parents and making a real difference to the lives of those families.
Local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare, including supporting them through our childcare delivery support contract where appropriate.
The government has allocated £100 million in capital funding to local authorities to support the expansion of childcare places and the supply of wraparound care. The funding is anticipated to deliver thousands of new places across the country.
On top of the department’s funding reforms, it is also providing significant support for local authorities to deliver the early years expansion from April, such as:
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of (1) primary, and (2) secondary, schools currently provide breakfast clubs.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is committed to continuing support for breakfast clubs in England in schools in disadvantaged areas. Up to £40 million is being invested to continue the department’s national programme until July 2025. This funding will support up to 2,700 schools in disadvantaged areas in England, meaning thousands of children from low income families will be offered free nutritious breakfasts to better support their attainment, wellbeing and readiness to learn. Schools are eligible for the programme if they have 40% or more pupils from deprived households, as measured by the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index.
The department does not currently hold recent data on the percentage of schools that provide breakfast clubs. As of November 2022, over 2,100 schools signed up to the programme, of which 65% were primary and 23% secondary.
The recruitment process is still underway for schools that wish to sign up. In March 2023, 2,500 schools had signed up to the programme and the department will work with its supplier, Family Action, to monitor and publish updated data in due course.
The government is very supportive of school breakfasts and the contribution these can make to children’s wellbeing and learning. Alongside our national programme, there are a number of organisations such as Magic Breakfast, Kellogg’s and Greggs providing valuable support to schools with a breakfast provision.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the percentage of eligible families who will be able to take advantage of free childcare care hours committed by April.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In the 2023 Spring Budget, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced that free childcare would be extended to children of eligible working parents in England from nine months old to support increased parental engagement in the labour market.
The proportion of eligible parents who will take up the new entitlement is provisionally estimated to be around 75% for those with children aged two, around 60% for those with children aged one and around 35% for those with children under the age of one. These estimates are detailed in a policy costing information note, which was published in July 2023. The information note can be found in the attachment.
Data on actual take up of the entitlement for children aged two from April 2024 will be collected via the early years census in January 2025, and published in June or July 2025.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to expand the applicability of the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Bill to cover postmasters and postmistresses in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK Government has worked at pace to deliver legislation to tackle the injustice faced by wrongfully convicted postmasters. The Government carefully considers the territorial extent of each piece of legislation and remains committed to supporting devolved administrations. Devolved administrations with powers to legislate in these areas should be expected to use them, as the UK Government has done in England and Wales.
The UK Government stand ready to support the Northern Ireland Executive to enable them to progress their own approaches to overturning convictions in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what occupations are covered by the new Immigration Salary List.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Immigration Salary list can be found on page 230 to 232 of the statement of changes laid in Parliament on 14 March. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65f18e57ff11701fff6159bb/E03091226_-_HC_590_-_Immigration_Rules_Changes__Web_Accessible_.pdf.
The Government consult regularly with a broad range of stakeholders, including those in social care, on a regular basis.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the health and social care sectors regarding the implications for those sectors of the proposed new net migration measures, since the announcement of those measures on 4 December 2023.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Immigration Salary list can be found on page 230 to 232 of the statement of changes laid in Parliament on 14 March. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65f18e57ff11701fff6159bb/E03091226_-_HC_590_-_Immigration_Rules_Changes__Web_Accessible_.pdf.
The Government consult regularly with a broad range of stakeholders, including those in social care, on a regular basis.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure the implementation and application of the definition of extremism is consistent across all (1) Government departments, and (2) public bodies throughout England.
Answered by Baroness Swinburne - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
As I set out in the debate of Tuesday 19 March, the updated definition, and accompanying set of engagement principles, apply to engagement undertaken in England, Scotland, and Wales by UK Government ministerial departments to ensure they are not inadvertently providing a platform, funding or legitimacy to groups, organisations or individuals who attempt to advance extremist ideologies. Further guidance on the definition and engagement principles will be published in the coming months.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to ban mercury-based dental amalgam in England and, if so, when.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The United Kingdom’s current position is to phase down the use of dental amalgam in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, in line with national plans published in 2019. This includes avoiding the need for fillings through improvements in oral health and prevention, a clinical minimal intervention approach, restrictions on the use of dental amalgam on the treatment of deciduous teeth; in children under 15 years; and in pregnant or breastfeeding women, except when strictly deemed necessary by the practitioner on the ground of specific medical needs of the patient. This position is based on existing research on dental amalgam alternatives, clinical assessments based on clinical, and population need of the UK, impacts of COVID-19 and environmental uncertainties.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the EU about the possibility of seeking an exemption for Northern Ireland on any ban on mercury-based dental amalgam.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government published an explanatory memorandum for the European Union’s (EU) mercury products legislation COM(23)395 and C(23)4683, on 1 November 2023. The final regulation has not yet been published by the EU, and we continue to assess the potential impacts. The Windsor Framework provides important mechanisms for robust engagement on matters of regulatory policy between the EU and the United Kingdom, as well as a guarantee of democratic oversight for the Northern Ireland Assembly. The Government has regular conversations with the EU about Windsor Framework-related matters.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the proposed EU ban on mercury-based dental amalgam will apply in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government published an explanatory memorandum for the European Union’s (EU) mercury products legislation COM(23)395 and C(23)4683, on 1 November 2023. The final regulation has not yet been published by the EU, and we continue to assess the potential impacts. The Windsor Framework provides important mechanisms for robust engagement on matters of regulatory policy between the EU and the United Kingdom, as well as a guarantee of democratic oversight for the Northern Ireland Assembly. The Government has regular conversations with the EU about Windsor Framework-related matters.