Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will extend the Children’s Hospice Grant beyond 2024–25.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has renewed the Children and Young People hospice funding for 2024/25, again allocating £25 million for children’s hospices, using the same prevalence-based allocation approach as previously used. We are currently considering the future of this funding stream beyond 2024/25.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made a cost benefit analysis of the implementation of assisted dying.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No cost benefit analysis has been made of the implementation of assisted dying.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many requests have been made by the Irish government for the UK to accept an asylum seeker since 2016.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Prior to leaving the EU, the UK participated in the Dublin Regulation which allowed us to return third country nationals to other Member States, using the first safe country principle. Our statistics on Dublin III returns requests are published online and can be found here: (Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)).
Following our departure from the EU, we agreed to an operational arrangement with Ireland which allows for the return and readmission of asylum seekers. We do not routinely publish any statistics regarding the returns requests made under our operational arrangements.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers have been returned to the UK from Ireland since 2016.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Prior to leaving the EU, the UK participated in the Dublin Regulation which allowed us to return third country nationals to other Member States, using the first safe country principle. Our statistics on Dublin III transfers are published online and can be found here: (Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)).
Following our departure from the EU, we agreed to an operational arrangement with Ireland which allows for the return and readmission of asylum seekers. Ireland has not returned anyone to the UK under these arrangements.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the EU Critical Raw Materials Act on levels of trade between Northern Ireland and the (a) rest of the UK and (b) EU.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is carefully considering this Regulation and will be publishing an explanatory memorandum shortly, with detail on its potential impact on Northern Ireland.
Any applicability in Northern Ireland will of course be subject to the important democratic scrutiny mechanisms in the Windsor Framework.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support small rural community projects in North West Leicestershire constituency.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help disadvantaged children access (a) traineeships and (b) apprenticeships.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
Apprenticeships offer great opportunities for young people who are starting out in their careers, and the department is committed to supporting young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to access these opportunities more easily.
The Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge (ASK) programme, funded at £3.2 million per year, provides schools and further education colleges across England with a free, bespoke package of comprehensive information and supports young people from all backgrounds and areas to access apprenticeships. The department is expanding the ASK Development Schools project in the 2023/24 academic year from 40 to 60 schools, including those in disadvantaged areas. This provides bespoke support for students in years 10 and 11 at levels one and below, who have the potential to progress into an apprenticeship but who are facing significant personal barriers such as learning difficulties, disabilities, or emotional, behavioural development issues.
The department has also tripled the care leavers’ bursary for apprentices under the age of 25 from £1000 to £3000, helping even more young people to access and complete their apprenticeships, and continues to pay an additional £1,000 to employers and providers to support apprentices aged 16-18, care leavers and those with an Education, Health and Care plan aged 24 and under. The department is also supporting young people to undertake apprenticeships by fully funding training costs for new apprentices aged 16-21 in non-levy paying employers, who tend to be small and medium-sized enterprises, from April 2024.
As part of the government’s commitment to provide a comprehensive and clear skills offer for employers and individuals, in August 2023 the traineeships programme was integrated into the 16-19 study programme and adult education provision. All the elements of the traineeship programme, English and mathematics, work experience, employability, and occupational skills and qualifications will continue to be funded for 16-19 year olds as part of the national 16-19 study programme. Providers with access to funding can continue to offer traineeship type programmes for young people who need support to get into work, apprenticeships, or further learning.