Asked by: Michael Fabricant (Conservative - Lichfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to provide schools with funding to cover the full cost of (a) repairing and (b) replacing autoclave aerated concrete.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The safety of pupils and teachers is paramount. The Department has allocated over £15 billion since 2015 for keeping school buildings safe and in good working order, including £1.8 billion committed for 2023/24. In addition, the School Rebuilding Programme will transform buildings at 500 schools, prioritising poor condition and potential safety issues.
The Department have asked all responsible bodies, such as Local Authorities, academy trusts and voluntary aided school bodies, to inform the Department of the possible presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in their buildings and how they are managing it. The Department continues to urge all responsible bodies to contact us immediately if they have any serious concerns about their school buildings.
The Department is commissioning assessments of cases of suspected RAAC to confirm whether it is present and ensure appropriate and rapid action is taken to address any immediate risk, based on the advice of structural engineers. This can include funding support for capital works to remove any immediate risk and, where absolutely necessary, the provision of temporary buildings.
Longer term remediation of RAAC is supported by annual capital funding provided to the sector and the Department’s rebuilding programme. The Department provides additional support on a case by case basis where there is a serious safety issue with a school building that cannot be managed independently by Local Authorities, academy trusts, and voluntary aided school bodies.
Asked by: Michael Fabricant (Conservative - Lichfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will hold discussions with teacher and school leader unions on teachers pay.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government and the education trade unions, the ASCL, NAHT, NASUWT and NEU, took part in a period of intensive talks between 17 March and 23 March 2023, with over 200 hours of Ministers’ and officials’ time spent on these talks, after which an in principle offer was made by the Government. This offer comprised a package of pay and non-pay related measures. Unfortunately, the four trade unions rejected this fair and funded offer.
Following the unions’ rejection of the Government’s March pay offer, teacher pay for next year will go through an independent pay review process as usual. The School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) makes recommendations on the pay of teachers in England and reports to the Secretary of State for Education and the Prime Minister.
As part of the normal process, the STRB has now submitted its recommendations to the Government on teacher pay for 2023/24. The Department will be considering the recommendations and will publish its response in the usual way.
The Department will continue to engage regularly with teaching and leadership unions on policy developments as usual.
Asked by: Michael Fabricant (Conservative - Lichfield)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the war in Ukraine.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The UK Government is dedicated to supporting Ukraine defend its sovereignty in the face of Russia’s illegal invasion. A key element of our response is being agile in our support as the conflict changes and strands of work such as training or equipment donation are constantly assessed to deliver this goal. We continue to enable and adapt support from across the world to meet Ukraine’s current and future requirements.
Asked by: Michael Fabricant (Conservative - Lichfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when his Department plans to provide funding to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to enable Levelling Up Fund Round 3.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
As confirmed at Spring Budget, round 3 of the Levelling Up Fund will proceed as planned with a further £1 billion to invest in places. Funding will be released from HM Treasury to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and the Department for Transport after the places and projects receiving funding are confirmed. Work is underway to design round 3, and further detail will be provided in due course.
Asked by: Michael Fabricant (Conservative - Lichfield)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, for what reason a young person's railcard is not valid for use in local and national elections as voter ID; and if he will take steps to make the young person's railcard a valid form of voter ID.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The Government carefully considered a wide range of documents when selecting which acceptable forms of identification to use at polling stations . It is essential that the list of accepted identification includes those owned by the majority of the electorate, but also that the list can be effectively administered by polling station staff. Evidence from pilots showed that use of a young person's rail card was very low where they were trialled in Woking in 2018. Young person's railcards are also generally offered in digital and physical formats but digital formats are not currently accepted as voter identification. It was judged that allowing a physical version of a young person's railcard but not a digital version could lead to confusion.
Cabinet Office research shows that 98% of electors already own a form of photographic identification (in date or expired) that is accepted under the changes and this increases to 99% for those ages 18-29. A number of student cards are accredited by the Proof of Age Standards Scheme, and so are accepted. This includes the National Union of Students endorsed 'TOTUM +' student card, and a Young Scot card, meaning there are nationally available student cards that will be accepted as identification in polling stations.
The Government has committed in legislation to review the voter identification policy after implementation and, as set out previously, will consider appropriate changes to the list of accepted identification documents as part of this process.
Asked by: Michael Fabricant (Conservative - Lichfield)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, if he will discuss with the Welsh Health Minister the provision of healthcare for English tourists in Tywyn in Gwynedd following the closure of the minor injuries unit and the inpatient ward at the Tywyn Hospital; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
Healthcare is a devolved matter in Wales. However, I will be writing to the Health Minister to raise the closures at Tywyn Hospital.
Asked by: Michael Fabricant (Conservative - Lichfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the planned timetable is for (a) completion of engineering works and (b) making good of (i) ground works and (ii) roadways for phase 1 of the HS2 route north of Birmingham in (A) the vicinity of the A38 at Streethay and (B) the rest of the HS2 works in Lichfield constituency.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
HS2 works in the Lichfield constituency continue to progress as planned. As elsewhere on the route, HS2 Ltd would communicate updates to programmes of works in this area to the community and local stakeholders.
Asked by: Michael Fabricant (Conservative - Lichfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, If he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the EU policy on banning internal combustion engines.
Answered by Jesse Norman
A full cost benefit analysis has been published alongside a consultation on the Government’s final proposals for a zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate and CO2 emissions regulation for new cars and vans in the UK.
Asked by: Michael Fabricant (Conservative - Lichfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether vaccines are contained within the definition of medicines in the Windsor Framework.
Answered by Will Quince
Vaccines are a type of medicine. ‘Medicinal products’ are defined in Regulation 2 of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012. The Windsor Framework secures a United Kingdom-wide regime for the approval and supply of medicines, removing the role of the European Medicines Agency and helping to ensure that medicines are available at the same time and on the same basis right across the UK.
Asked by: Michael Fabricant (Conservative - Lichfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to increase the number of clinical trials for (a) vaccines and (b) other medicines.
Answered by Will Quince
In March 2021, the Government published its vision Saving and Improving Lives: The Future of UK Clinical Research Delivery. The Future of UK Clinical Research Delivery: 2022 to 2025 implementation plan, published June 2021, outlines the steps that the Department and its partners will take to increase the number of clinical trials and studies, including those for vaccines and other medicines.
The Government has recently entered a 10-year partnership with Moderna which includes substantial investment in United Kingdom-based research and development, including running a significant number of clinical trials in the UK.
In addition, Lord James O’Shaughnessy was appointed in February 2023 to undertake a review of commercial clinical trials in the UK. He will publish his advice this spring, this will include recommendations of priority actions to make progress in 2023, as well as setting out longer-term ambitions for UK clinical trials.