Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions her Department has had with (a) dental practices in South Leicestershire constituency and (b) the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Integrated Care Board on (i) dental contract (A) reform and (B) value, (ii) units of dental activity rates and (iii) taking steps to increase access to dentistry.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning National Health Service dental services. Our plan to recover and reform NHS dentistry will make dental services faster, simpler, and fairer for patients, and will fund approximately 2.5 million additional appointments. The plan sets out a number of actions which will improve access for patients, by helping the sector to recover activity more quickly, address underlying issues, and set out the action needed for longer term reform of the system. This includes a new patient premium to support dentists in taking on new NHS patients, an uplift to the minimum Units of Dental Activity (UDA) rate, new dental vans to bring dental care to our most isolated communities, and the Golden Hello incentives to encourage dentists into under-served areas. We are also developing further recommendations for dental contract reform, and will consult with the sector before an announcement on this, later this year.
Data on the number and value of NHS contracts in the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland ICB, and the number of UDAs commissioned and delivered, is available on the NHS Business Services Authority’s Open Data Portal, at the following link:
https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/access-our-data-products/open-data-portal-odp
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how much and what proportion of the contract awarded to CityFibre to provide hard-to-reach premises in Leicestershire and Warwickshire with access to gigabit-capable broadband will be spent in South Leicestershire constituency.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
In February 2024, BDUK announced the signing of a £71.5 million Project Gigabit contract for Leicestershire and Warwickshire with the supplier CityFibre, to deliver lightning fast broadband to approximately 38,000 premises. Of these premises, approximately 6,500 are in the South Leicestershire constituency.
The specific funding required to reach the premises in each area will depend on the costs involved for deployment, which can vary. However, it can be anticipated that approximately £11.5 million of the contract funding will be spent in South Leicestershire.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to require manufacturers to fit microplastic-catching filters to new domestic and commercial washing machines.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has already taken significant steps to tackle plastic pollution (e.g. microplastics), including restricting the supply of several single-use plastics through introducing a plastic packaging tax from April 2022; restricting the supply of plastic straws, plastic drink stirrers, and plastic-stemmed cotton buds; and preventing billions of plastic microbeads from entering the ocean each year by introducing a ban on microbeads in rinse off personal care products.
The majority of microfibres are removed through water treatment and analysis of the evidence available to date does not show that there is a sufficient benefit to the environment that can justify legislation to mandate the microfibre filters in new washing machines with prices ranging from £30 to £122 per machine, dependent on manufacturer and whether the filters are disposable or reusable. Defra’s Plan for Water therefore includes a commitment for industry to develop low cost, effective microfibre filters on washing machines and encourage their effective use. We have met industry colleagues and posed this challenge, and we look forward to any proposals they are able to share when they are able to do so.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing the use of loyalty card points to buy baby formula.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Regulations relating to infant formula set robust nutritional and compositional standards which mean that all infant formula for sale in the United Kingdom are suitable for meeting the nutritional requirements of babies, regardless of price or brand. The regulations also restrict the inappropriate marketing and promotion of infant formula so as not to discourage breastfeeding, which evidence shows delivers the best health outcomes for babies and mothers.
The Department has published guidance on infant and follow-on formula and food for special medical purposes which advises businesses on the implementation of the regulations. Where loyalty or reward card schemes are being used to induce the sale of infant formula, this is prohibited under the regulations. Loyalty and reward card schemes vary between retailers, and it is for businesses to ensure that their activities are in compliance with the regulations. The guidance is available at the following link:
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has had recent discussions with (a) NHS England and (b) Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board on transitioning from a clinical commissioning group to an integrated care system; and if her Department will publish guidance on the lessons learned from this process for other integrated care systems and integrated care boards.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England led a transition programme to support the transfer from clinical commissioning groups to integrated care boards (ICBs). Throughout the process, there was careful joint planning and progress monitoring between NHS England and the Department. All 42 ICBs were legally established on 1 July 2022 with no significant transition issues reported.
There are no plans to publish additional guidance, however the Department, via the National Institute for Health and Care Research Policy Research Programme, has recently commissioned an independent research study to evaluate the implementation of the Health and Care Act 2022.
The study aims to understand the different ways that partners within Integrated Care Systems, namely ICBs, integrated care partnerships, and wider system partners) are coming together to design, commission and deliver services, fulfil their duties, and the potential impacts. All study outputs, including interim reports, will be published. An interim report is due in late 2024.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring (a) pension companies to hold a consultation when considering closing a defined benefit pension scheme and (b) independent assessment of the potential closure of such a scheme.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The legal requirements for employers on certain changes to occupational pension schemes are detailed in The Pensions Act of 2004. This states that larger employers with 50 or more workers are required to consult with affected members or their representatives about proposed significant changes to their pension scheme, including closure, before implementing the change.
These requirements ensure that scheme members are aware of the change and the impact on their future pension, and that they have an opportunity to comment. The Pensions Regulator provides information for employers on closing a pension scheme to new members or future accruals and winding up a scheme at their website including detailed regulatory guidance and can be found at https://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/employers/managing-a-scheme/closing-your-scheme.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an estimate of how many XL bully dogs there are in the UK; and what plans she has for such dogs once a ban comes into effect.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Further details will be provided ahead of the tabling of the legislation later this year. Dog owners do not need to take any action at this stage.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of physics teachers in (a) South Leicestershire constituency and (b) Leicestershire.
Answered by Nick Gibb
As at the last school workforce census (November 2022, published on 8 June 2023), the number of teachers remains high, with 468,400 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers working in state funded schools across the country. This is over 27,000 (6%) more than in 2010. The last school workforce census is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
In November 2022 (latest available data), there were 5,331 FTE teachers in state funded schools in Leicestershire. This is an increase of 1.3% from last year (5,263) and an increase of 0.6% since 2010, when the school workforce census began (5,298).
In November 2022 (latest available data), there were 845 FTE teachers in state funded schools in South Leicestershire constituency. This is an increase of 0.8% from last year (838) and an increase of 12.2% since 2010 (753).
The Department’s reforms are aimed at increasing teacher recruitment and at ensuring teachers across England stay and thrive in the profession.
The Department announced a financial incentives package worth up to £181 million for those starting initial teacher training (ITT) in the 2023/24 academic year. The Department is providing bursaries worth up to £27,000 and scholarships worth up to £29,000 to encourage trainees to apply to train in key secondary subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, and computing. The Department has extended bursary and scholarship eligibility to all non-UK national trainees in languages and physics.
The Department provides a Levelling Up Premium for mathematics, physics, chemistry, and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who work in disadvantaged schools nationally, including within Education Investment Areas. There are 18 schools in the Leicester Local Authority area and 12 schools in the Leicestershire Local Authority eligible for Levelling Up Premium payments worth up to £2,000. The eligibility criteria and list of eligible schools is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/levelling-up-premium-payments-for-teachers.
The Department launched a pilot initial teacher training course in spring 2022 called ‘Engineers teach physics’. It was designed to encourage engineering graduates and career changers with an engineering background to consider a career as a physics teacher.
The Department has increased the number of providers offering ‘Engineers teach physics’ in the second year to 18. This expansion of providers will ensure that this programme will be available to more trainees across the country.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the rate of fines for parents and carers taking their children out of school during term times on encouraging school attendance.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Parents have a duty to ensure their child of compulsory school age, who is registered at school, attends regularly.
The Department has not formally assessed the impact of penalty notices. Data shows that absence due to unauthorised holidays, for which 85% of penalty notices are issued, has remained stable between 2017/18 (85%) and 2021/22 (85%). Data for 2020/21 should not be used due to COVID-19 restrictions.
The Department has consulted on a new framework to improve consistency and fairness in issuing penalty notices and to ensure they are used effectively as part of the suite of parental responsibility measures. The Department will be responding to this consultation in due course.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of his Department's progress towards achieving his Smokefree 2030 targets.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
In April, we announced a range of measures to help more people in England quit smoking. These include a new national swap to stop scheme to provide vapes to one million smokers, and a financial incentives scheme to help all pregnant smokers to quit. We are confident that these new measures, in addition to the actions we are already taking, will set us on course to achieve our Smokefree 2030 ambition, and we will monitor progress.