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Written Question
Electric Vehicles: Charging Points
Thursday 2nd May 2019

Asked by: Rebecca Pow (Conservative - Taunton Deane)

Question to the Department for Transport:

What steps he is taking to improve charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.

Answered by Jesse Norman

The Government’s vision is to have one of the best infrastructure networks in the world for electric vehicles, and we want chargepoints to be accessible, affordable and secure. The Government’s grant schemes fund chargepoints at homes, workplaces and on residential streets. The £400m public-private Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund will add thousands more public chargepoints to the 17,000 already installed. The Automated and Electric Vehicles Act gives Government new powers to regulate the chargepoint market and improve the experience for consumers.


Written Question
Refugees: Syria
Wednesday 1st May 2019

Asked by: Rebecca Pow (Conservative - Taunton Deane)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans he has to extend funding for the Syrian Vulnerable Person Resettlement Scheme beyond 2020.

Answered by Caroline Nokes

We are making positive progress in our work with key stakeholders and international organisations on our future Asylum and Resettlement Strategy. This includes consideration of the UK’s resettlement offer, and how it is funded, beyond 2020.


Written Question
Speech and Language Disorders: Children and Young People
Friday 29th March 2019

Asked by: Rebecca Pow (Conservative - Taunton Deane)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to improve the identification of speech, language and communication needs among children and young people who are in contact with specialist NHS children and young people’s mental health services.

Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price

On 20 December 2018, the first wave of 25 trailblazer sites were announced which will trial the plans set out in the Green Paper, ‘Transforming children and young people’s mental health provision’, published in December 2017.

All trailblazer areas will build on support already in place and will work with other professionals such as speech and language therapists, including in support of delivering schools’ responsibilities for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities. The aim will be to improve identification of mental health needs, including through knowledge of the links between mental health and other needs children and young people have such as speech, language and communication needs, and to provide more comprehensive support for their full range of needs.

In addition, the NHS Long Term Plan sets out where extra National Health Service funding will be focused and how services will be designed.


Written Question
Special Educational Needs: Speech and Language Disorders
Friday 29th March 2019

Asked by: Rebecca Pow (Conservative - Taunton Deane)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children and young people in contact with Pupil Referral Units have speech, language and communication needs.

Answered by Nick Gibb

The Department publishes information on the number of pupils with special educational needs in each Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) by primary need type. This can be found in the underlying data of the “Special education needs in England” statistical releases found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-special-educational-needs-sen.

In January 2018, 365 pupils in PRUs who were identified with special educational needs, had speech, language and communication needs as their primary type of need. This is 2.2% of the 16,730 pupils with special educational needs in PRUs. These figures relate to pupils on special educational needs support and those with a statement or Education, Health and Care Plan who are registered to local authority maintained PRUs and Academy or Free School alternative provision as their main educational provider.


Written Question
Young Offenders: Special Educational Needs
Friday 29th March 2019

Asked by: Rebecca Pow (Conservative - Taunton Deane)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to develop guidance for youth offending teams on how best to (a) support and (b) meet the needs of young people with speech, language and communication needs; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Young people with speech and language difficulties are particularly vulnerable, and we are seeking to ensure that those who work with children and young people with a high prevalence of speech, language and communication needs, are trained in recognising and responding appropriately to these needs. Over the last three years we have provided free, national training for Youth Justice professionals supporting them to identify children’s special educational and disability needs and deliver effective engagement and positive long-term outcomes.

Furthermore, in 2015, the Youth Justice Board (YJB) and Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) published joint practitioner guidance about how to identify children with speech, language and communication needs, how to communicate more effectively with them and how to make written information more accessible. The guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/speech-language-and-communication-needs-in-the-youth-justice-system/practice-advice-speech-language-and-communication-needs-slcn-in-the-youth-justice-system.


Written Question
Speech and Language Therapy: Training
Thursday 28th March 2019

Asked by: Rebecca Pow (Conservative - Taunton Deane)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists on the training of approved mental capacity professionals; and what plans he has for further such discussions.

Answered by Caroline Dinenage

We are discussing with the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists ahead of implementation to establish the detail of the role they will play in the new system and the suitability of speech and language therapists becoming approved mental capacity professionals (AMCPs). We will continue to engage with the College regarding the AMCP role as well as on the statutory Code of Practice.

Subject to further consultation and development of the Code of Practice the government envisages that the professionals which could take on the role of AMCPs would include social workers, learning disability nurses, occupational therapists, psychologists and other suitable health and social care professionals as appropriate.


Written Question
Mental Capacity
Thursday 28th March 2019

Asked by: Rebecca Pow (Conservative - Taunton Deane)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to consult on which groups of professionals are able to train to be approved mental capacity professionals.

Answered by Caroline Dinenage

We are discussing with the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists ahead of implementation to establish the detail of the role they will play in the new system and the suitability of speech and language therapists becoming approved mental capacity professionals (AMCPs). We will continue to engage with the College regarding the AMCP role as well as on the statutory Code of Practice.

Subject to further consultation and development of the Code of Practice the government envisages that the professionals which could take on the role of AMCPs would include social workers, learning disability nurses, occupational therapists, psychologists and other suitable health and social care professionals as appropriate.


Written Question
Pupils: Communication Skills
Wednesday 27th March 2019

Asked by: Rebecca Pow (Conservative - Taunton Deane)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans Ofsted has to ensure that descriptors of high-quality education in new inspection handbooks for (a) early years, (b) schools and (c) further education emphasise the importance of pupils developing language and communication skills.

Answered by Nick Gibb

This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.


Written Question
Apprentices: Finance
Wednesday 27th March 2019

Asked by: Rebecca Pow (Conservative - Taunton Deane)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Education and Skills Funding Agency plans to revise its apprenticeship funding rules for training providers and employers to include training for communication skills development in the list of items that can be funded; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by Anne Milton

The apprenticeship funding rules set out eligible costs that the government will pay to support the training and assessment required to deliver an apprenticeship.

The funding rules do not set out the different skills required for each apprenticeship as these are different for every standard or framework. The knowledge, skills and behaviours required for each apprenticeship are set out in the standard and its assessment plan or in the framework that the apprentice undertakes. Where these include communication as an essential element of the skills needed for an apprentice to be competent, the costs of this training can be covered.

If an individual requires additional learning support that includes developing communication skills in order to successfully complete an apprenticeship, we will also pay up to £150 per month to support this.

The apprenticeship funding rules are published on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apprenticeship-funding-rules.


Written Question
Shipping: Carbon Emissions
Thursday 21st March 2019

Asked by: Rebecca Pow (Conservative - Taunton Deane)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to reduce carbon emissions from shipping.

Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)

The UK was a leading participant in the April 2018 negotiations that led to the Initial International Maritime Organization Greenhouse Gas Strategy. The UK continues to play a leading role in efforts to address carbon emissions from international shipping.

Domestically, we will be launching our Clean Maritime Plan in Spring 2019. This will set out plans to address both greenhouse gas and pollutant emissions from shipping, and will underpin our long-term vision of zero emission shipping.