Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of children’s access to vaccination services.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Government is committed to improving vaccination uptake rates to fully protect the public from vaccine preventable diseases. The Department works with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and NHS England to improve children’s access to vaccination services through diverse delivery methods, making getting vaccinated easier for all, including those in traditionally under-served groups. NHS England has rolled out additional programmes such as NHS England London’s new drive to increase measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine uptake last summer to improve immunisation coverage for children and catch-up missed vaccinations due to the pandemic.
The Department is working with NHS England and UKHSA to encourage high uptake of all childhood vaccinations, including the polio vaccine, with NHS England London launching the next phase of their polio campaign, delivering a school-based catch-up for children aged between one and 11 years old. This will also provide opportunities to catch up children for other important childhood vaccines, including MMR.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of the allocation of UK Sport funding to (a) deaf athletes and (b) the Deaflympics.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
UK Sport uses funding provided by the Government to support athletes with potential to achieve success in Olympic and Paralympic sports. As the Deaflympics falls outside of Olympic and Paralympic sport, UK Sport are therefore unable to fund athletes targeting this event.
This is in line with the Government’s approach to other Paralympic sports where competition is not offered in an athlete's particular classification or discipline.
Sport England has committed £1.2 million between 2022 and 2027 to UK Deaf Sport to boost deaf sport at the grassroots level and build wider participation. They have also agreed to explore a series of small-scale talent pilots for d/Deaf athletes. These pilots will see Sport England, National Governing Bodies, and UK Deaf Sport working together to explore these issues and suggest potential solutions.
d/Deaf athletes do receive Government funding. Sport England has committed £1.2 million between 2022 and 2027 to UK Deaf Sport to boost deaf sport at the grassroots level and build wider participation. Beyond this, they have also agreed to explore a series of small-scale talent pilots for d/Deaf athletes. These pilots will see Sport England, National Governing Bodies, and UK Deaf Sport working together to explore support around elite competitions and suggest potential solutions.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has carried out an equality impact assessment of the elite sport funding of deaf people.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
UK Sport uses funding provided by the Government to support athletes with potential to achieve success in Olympic and Paralympic sports. As the Deaflympics falls outside of Olympic and Paralympic sport, UK Sport are therefore unable to fund athletes targeting this event.
This is in line with the Government’s approach to other Paralympic sports where competition is not offered in an athlete's particular classification or discipline.
Sport England has committed £1.2 million between 2022 and 2027 to UK Deaf Sport to boost deaf sport at the grassroots level and build wider participation. They have also agreed to explore a series of small-scale talent pilots for d/Deaf athletes. These pilots will see Sport England, National Governing Bodies, and UK Deaf Sport working together to explore these issues and suggest potential solutions.
d/Deaf athletes do receive Government funding. Sport England has committed £1.2 million between 2022 and 2027 to UK Deaf Sport to boost deaf sport at the grassroots level and build wider participation. Beyond this, they have also agreed to explore a series of small-scale talent pilots for d/Deaf athletes. These pilots will see Sport England, National Governing Bodies, and UK Deaf Sport working together to explore support around elite competitions and suggest potential solutions.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to help reduce waiting times for grant of probate.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The probate service received record levels of applications during 2022 and this has continued to grow with higher levels of receipts during January to June 2023 compared to the same period in 2022.
HMCTS has significantly increased staffing levels in Probate over the past year to help process applications faster. The training and upskilling of those new and existing staff have led to applications taking longer in the short term.
HMCTS have streamlined internal processes to cut down on administrative delay and reduce processing times. We are continuing to invest in improving digital systems and online filing capabilities so users can track progress more easily.
Average waiting times for probate grants are routinely published on gov.uk via Family Court Statistics Quarterly and currently cover the period up to June 2023.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to strengthen mediation through the SEND Change Programme; and what outcome measures will be used to determine the success of those changes.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Mediation proposals are being tested through the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Change Programme. These tests aim to develop a best practice model for delivering high-quality mediation provisions.
The proposals being tested include asking local authorities to: signpost new family friendly guidance on mediation in their local offer; take part in pre-mediation meetings; respond to requests for mediation with available dates within 5 working days; and, where possible, to use mediators listed on the Civil Mediation Council/College of Mediators SEND register.
The department will carefully consider the feedback and findings from the Change Programme. The department expects this to include data on mediation timeliness as well as feedback on outcomes and families' experiences of the process. Testing will also help to better understand the required capacity to deliver timely, high-quality mediation and to identify any delivery challenges.
The department is also testing an advisory tailored list in participating local authorities through the Change Programme to gain feedback on the best way to support families as they choose a placement. To illustrate choice, participating families will receive detailed and relevant information about placements that could be suitable to meet the needs of their child, but there will be no change to the existing statutory framework and their existing rights will be unaffected. The department will use the Change Programme as an opportunity to learn how tailored lists can best support family experiences as well as their potential to support local authorities to manage their placements and provision.
Finally, the Education Health and Care (EHC) plan template that local authorities on the Change Programme are now preparing to pilot was extensively coproduced with a wide range of SEND experts, including families themselves. Following this period of testing, the department will finalise and publish the EHC plan template.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what reforms on (a) mediation and (b) choice of education placement for children and young people who have an Education, Health and Care plan are being tested as part of the SEND Change Programme.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Mediation proposals are being tested through the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Change Programme. These tests aim to develop a best practice model for delivering high-quality mediation provisions.
The proposals being tested include asking local authorities to: signpost new family friendly guidance on mediation in their local offer; take part in pre-mediation meetings; respond to requests for mediation with available dates within 5 working days; and, where possible, to use mediators listed on the Civil Mediation Council/College of Mediators SEND register.
The department will carefully consider the feedback and findings from the Change Programme. The department expects this to include data on mediation timeliness as well as feedback on outcomes and families' experiences of the process. Testing will also help to better understand the required capacity to deliver timely, high-quality mediation and to identify any delivery challenges.
The department is also testing an advisory tailored list in participating local authorities through the Change Programme to gain feedback on the best way to support families as they choose a placement. To illustrate choice, participating families will receive detailed and relevant information about placements that could be suitable to meet the needs of their child, but there will be no change to the existing statutory framework and their existing rights will be unaffected. The department will use the Change Programme as an opportunity to learn how tailored lists can best support family experiences as well as their potential to support local authorities to manage their placements and provision.
Finally, the Education Health and Care (EHC) plan template that local authorities on the Change Programme are now preparing to pilot was extensively coproduced with a wide range of SEND experts, including families themselves. Following this period of testing, the department will finalise and publish the EHC plan template.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish the new national template for Education, Health and Care plans that is being tested by SEND Change Programme Partnerships.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Mediation proposals are being tested through the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Change Programme. These tests aim to develop a best practice model for delivering high-quality mediation provisions.
The proposals being tested include asking local authorities to: signpost new family friendly guidance on mediation in their local offer; take part in pre-mediation meetings; respond to requests for mediation with available dates within 5 working days; and, where possible, to use mediators listed on the Civil Mediation Council/College of Mediators SEND register.
The department will carefully consider the feedback and findings from the Change Programme. The department expects this to include data on mediation timeliness as well as feedback on outcomes and families' experiences of the process. Testing will also help to better understand the required capacity to deliver timely, high-quality mediation and to identify any delivery challenges.
The department is also testing an advisory tailored list in participating local authorities through the Change Programme to gain feedback on the best way to support families as they choose a placement. To illustrate choice, participating families will receive detailed and relevant information about placements that could be suitable to meet the needs of their child, but there will be no change to the existing statutory framework and their existing rights will be unaffected. The department will use the Change Programme as an opportunity to learn how tailored lists can best support family experiences as well as their potential to support local authorities to manage their placements and provision.
Finally, the Education Health and Care (EHC) plan template that local authorities on the Change Programme are now preparing to pilot was extensively coproduced with a wide range of SEND experts, including families themselves. Following this period of testing, the department will finalise and publish the EHC plan template.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the tracking of people with neurodiverse conditions on his Department's diversity monitoring forms.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Diversity monitoring forms, which include the Enterprise Resource Planning system used in the Cabinet Office, use question sets in line with the Office for National Statistics harmonised standards. This is considered best practice across government.
As set out in the Autumn statement, the audit of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) spending is coming to its conclusion and, subject to further work, the Government is streamlining EDI training and HR processes with a view to getting value for the taxpayer. As the Minister for the Cabinet Office, I will be outlining the final proposals in due course.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to promote the access to work scheme to people with neurodiverse conditions.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
We collaborate closely with external stakeholders, including charities and employer associations, to raise awareness of the support provided through Access to Work across all types of disability and health conditions. We ensure that Access to Work staff, Jobcentre work coaches, health professionals and advisory groups have the information and tools they need to advocate for the scheme. Recognising the need for clear accessible information, the Access to Work pages on gov.uk have been improved to provide clearer signposting for disabled people and employers.
We also promote Access to Work as part of the Disability Confident scheme.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of people with neurodiverse conditions who used the access to work scheme in the last 12 months.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Regarding the information requested, the department has not made an estimate of the number of people with neurodiverse conditions who used the Access to Work scheme in the last 12 months, as this data is not routinely collected.
Access to Work Official Statistics are published annually and include the number of people who received a payment for Access to Work by various customer characteristics, including primary medical condition. However, the publication does not include ‘neurodiverse condition’ as a primary medical condition.