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Written Question
Schools: Mobile Phones
Tuesday 5th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what advice they have provided to schools concerning mobile phone usage in schools by pupils researching subject content during lessons.

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

In response to the Winter 2019 School Snapshot survey, 49% of secondary schools reported that they had a strict policy prohibiting the use of mobile phones and 48% of secondary schools reported they had a policy permitting regulated use of mobile phones. The survey also showed that as many a 76% of primary schools had a strict policy where mobile phones could not be used during the school day with 21% of schools opting out of this question saying that mobile phones were not an issue at their school. Despite this, the department’s omnibus survey found that nearly one third (29%) of secondary school pupils reported that there had been pupils using mobile phones in all or most of their lessons in the past week when they were not supposed to in 2022/23, which is up from 21% in 2021/22.

Schools do not legally have to follow the non-statutory guidance but must show that they have given due weight to the guidance in developing their own mobile phone policy. This guidance will set expectations for schools, pupils and parents, while giving headteachers the clarity and autonomy to decide how they can best prohibit the use of mobile phones in a way that will work in their own schools. The department knows that the majority of headteachers already apply some restrictions on the use of mobile phones in their schools. Therefore, this guidance will provide clear advice and support for those headteachers, while demonstrating best practice to others and increasing consistency across all schools. The guidance makes clear that the department backs head teachers to enforce their policy prohibiting the use of mobile phones throughout the school day.

Should schools continue to raise issues with prohibiting the use of mobile phones in schools, the department will seek to introduce legislation at the earliest opportunity when Parliamentary time allows.

The guidance provided in ‘Mobile phones in schools’ clearly sets out that schools should develop a mobile phone policy that prohibits the use of mobile phones and other smart technology with similar functionality to mobile phones. This should include prohibiting the ability to send and/or receive notifications or messages via mobile phone networks or the ability to record audio and/or video throughout the school day, including during lessons.

Where schools have a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) scheme to facilitate the use of laptops or tablets for learning, such devices should be used in accordance with the school’s BYOD policy, as well as Information and Communications Technology acceptable use policy. BYOD policies used to facilitate learning, including researching subject content, should not include mobile phones.


Written Question
Integrated Schools: Northern Ireland
Tuesday 5th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they remain committed to the Fresh Start Agreement funding programme.

Answered by Lord Caine - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The UK Government remains committed to the Fresh Start Agreement and we will continue to invest and support educational integration in Northern Ireland as an essential aspect of reconciliation.

The Fresh Start agreement in 2015 made provision for funding for integrated and shared education over 10 years. As that funding was due to expire at the end of 2024-25, the decision to remove the ring-fence on £150m of Fresh Start Agreement funding was made by the UK Government on taking a coherent look across its existing funding in Northern Ireland. We came to a considered position in response to the challenging budgetary position faced by the Northern Ireland Executive.

This will enable the Executive to prioritise funding on public service transformation. Integrated education is a vital element of that.


Written Question
Care Workers: Migrant Workers
Tuesday 5th March 2024

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 assessment they have made of the likely impact on numbers of carers and senior carers in healthcare in the UK as a result of changes to immigration rules preventing their dependents from moving to the UK.

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

The Home Office has published estimates of the impact these changes might have on the number of people applying to work in the sector from outside the United Kingdom. A copy of these estimates is attached.


Written Question
Integrated Schools: Northern Ireland
Tuesday 5th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government why money allocated to Fresh Start Agreement funding has been repurposed to the general Northern Ireland budget.

Answered by Lord Caine - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The UK Government is providing the Executive with a significant £3.3 billion spending settlement to stabilise its finances and protect public services. Within this package, we are increasing the spending power of the Executive by repurposing over £700 million of existing and new UK Government funds.

The Fresh Start agreement in 2015 made provision for funding for integrated and shared education over 10 years. As that funding was due to expire at the end of 2024-25, the decision to remove the ring-fence on £150m of Fresh Start Agreement funding was made by the UK Government on taking a coherent look across its existing funding in Northern Ireland. We came to a considered position in response to the challenging budgetary position faced by the Northern Ireland Executive.

The Northern Ireland Executive will be able to decide how it uses the non-ring fenced funding element of reprioritised and new UK Government funding streams which contribute to the settlement package.

In line with commitments in the Belfast Agreement, the Government will continue to invest in and support educational integration in Northern Ireland as an essential aspect of reconciliation.


Written Question
Northern Ireland Executive: Finance
Monday 4th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the warning from the Northern Ireland Fiscal Council that Stormont will face a financial "cliff-edge" in 2026 when money from the Government support package runs out.

Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The UK Government is providing the Northern Ireland Executive with a significant funding settlement of over £3.3 billion. This will support the Executive to stabilise public finances and public services in Northern Ireland.

In the longer term, the UK Government has committed to open discussions on a new fiscal framework for Northern Ireland and to introduce a new needs-based factor which will provide a 24% uplift on future Barnett consequentials for the Northern Ireland Executive from 2024-25.


Written Question
Dementia: Continuing Care
Tuesday 27th February 2024

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 steps they will take to ensure that the cognitive and behavioural needs of dementia sufferers are properly reflected when deciding Continuing Health Care funding.

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

In England, eligibility for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) is not determined by age, diagnosis or condition, or financial means. It is assessed on a case-by-case basis considering the totality of an individual’s needs, including ways in which these needs interact with one another.

When an individual is identified as potentially eligible for CHC, the National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS Funded Nursing Care sets out the process for determining whether they have a ‘primary health need’. This includes assessment by a multidisciplinary team using a tool that has been developed to identify an individual’s needs and aid consistent decision making. A copy of the framework is attached.


Written Question
Continuing Care
Tuesday 27th February 2024

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 steps they are taking to ensure consistency of approach when applying Continuing Health Care funding.

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

In England, the Department has provided detailed guidance on the process for determining eligibility for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) through the National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care, a copy of which is attached. The framework supports practitioners across health and social care to undertake assessments and deliver CHC.

Operational delivery of CHC is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) with oversight from NHS England. NHS England holds ICBs accountable and engages with them to ensure that they discharge their functions, including via timely and well-established assurance mechanisms.


Written Question
Continuing Care: Finance
Tuesday 27th February 2024

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 plans they have to review the system and operation of Continuing Health Care funding.

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

In England, the Department is responsible for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) policy and legislation which includes the National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care, a copy of which is attached.

The Department has no plans at this time to review the system or operation of CHC in England but we continue to work with our partners, including NHS England which is responsible for oversight of CHC delivery, external organisations and people with lived experience, to monitor CHC implementation.


Written Question
Post Office: Private Prosecutions
Thursday 25th January 2024

Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to bring forward additional legislation to remove the power of the Post Office to bring forward prosecutions.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The Post Office scandal is the biggest miscarriage of justice in our history. That is why this Government announced on 10 January its intent to overturn wrongful convictions and ensure swifter access to compensation for hundreds of innocent post-masters and mistresses.

Whilst the vast majority of Horizon cases were prosecuted by the Post Office, some were pursued by other prosecutors, including the Crown Prosecution Service. The Post Office does not have a specific power to bring private prosecutions. It did so under the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985, the same right as other third party organisations, such as the RSPCA. The Post Office has not brought any such prosecutions since 2015.

Sir Wyn Williams’ Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry is examining in detail the failings that led to the Post Office scandal. It would not be appropriate for Government to pre-empt the findings and recommendations of the Inquiry, which are due later this year, by pursuing changes at this time.

We are, however, examining the wider question of private prosecutions and the Government is therefore committed to looking again at the Justice Select Committee’s recommendations in their 2020 report as part of this work.


Written Question
Post Office: Private Prosecutions
Thursday 25th January 2024

Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to remove the power of the Post Office to bring private prosecutions.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The Post Office scandal is the biggest miscarriage of justice in our history. That is why this Government announced on 10 January its intent to overturn wrongful convictions and ensure swifter access to compensation for hundreds of innocent post-masters and mistresses.

Whilst the vast majority of Horizon cases were prosecuted by the Post Office, some were pursued by other prosecutors, including the Crown Prosecution Service. The Post Office does not have a specific power to bring private prosecutions. It did so under the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985, the same right as other third party organisations, such as the RSPCA. The Post Office has not brought any such prosecutions since 2015.

Sir Wyn Williams’ Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry is examining in detail the failings that led to the Post Office scandal. It would not be appropriate for Government to pre-empt the findings and recommendations of the Inquiry, which are due later this year, by pursuing changes at this time.

We are, however, examining the wider question of private prosecutions and the Government is therefore committed to looking again at the Justice Select Committee’s recommendations in their 2020 report as part of this work.