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.
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 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 HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an estimate of the total tax revenue lost due to the smuggling of (a) alcohol and (b) tobacco since 2010.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC does not estimate the tax gap due to the smuggling of alcohol and tobacco.
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 publish a list of medical professionals (a) warned, (b) suspended and (c) with attempted suspensions for raising concerns over (i) covid-19 treatments and (ii) the pandemic response.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The General Medical Council (GMC) is the independent regulator of all medical doctors practising in the United Kingdom. It sets and enforces the standards all doctors must adhere to. The GMC is independent of Government, and directly accountable to Parliament. The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) operates separately from the investigatory role of the GMC, and makes independent decisions about whether doctors are fit to practise medicine. The hearings and decisions of the MPTS are published and available to access online.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) safe and (b) peaceful protests can take place outside the Envigo laboratory in Loughborough.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
It is a long-standing tradition in this country that people are free to gather together and to demonstrate their views, provided that they do so within the law. This government supports these rights, including the right of individuals to engage in peaceful protest. However, a balance must be struck between the rights of protesters and the rights of others to go about their lives without serious disruption or intimidation.
The management of protests is an operational matter for the police. The government expects the police to act where necessary to maintain public safety. In certain circumstances, the police will have a duty to take reasonable steps to protect those who want to exercise their rights peacefully.
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 there are contracts for the cremation of (a) stillborns, (b) miscarriages and (c) baby deaths at a (i) national and (ii) NHS trust level; and if she will publish (A) details and (B) the start dates of those contracts.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Neither the Department nor NHS England holds information on contracts for the cremation of stillborns, miscarriages, and baby deaths.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) babies, (b) stillborn and (c) miscarriages were cremated in each year between 2020 and 2023.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Data on how many (a) babies, (b) stillborn and (c) miscarriages are cremated each year in England and Wales is not held centrally.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will hold discussions with his Armenian counterpart on the protection of Armenian Christian cultural heritage sites in Nagorno-Karabakh; and whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the inclusion of Nagorno-Karabakh in Open Door UK’s World Watch List, published on17 January 2024.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
We are clear that the preservation of religious and cultural sites in the region is an important issue and we take seriously reports of the destruction of churches and other sites of religious significance in both Armenia and Azerbaijan as a result of their long-running conflict. Ministers and the British Embassies in Yerevan and Baku have raised the need to protect such sites with the Armenian and Azerbaijani Governments consistently and at the most senior levels. Open Door UK's World Watch List provides a sobering account of the extreme difficulties faced by many Christians around the world. We note the report's comments regarding Azerbaijan and regularly raise human rights issues with the Azerbaijani Government.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in Azerbaijan on the (a) condition and (b) security of Armenian Christian (i) churches and (ii) other heritage sites in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK Government is clear that the preservation of religious and cultural sites in the region is an important issue and we take seriously reports of the destruction of churches or other sites of religious significance. We are aware of allegations from both Armenia and Azerbaijan that cultural and religious sites have been deliberately damaged over the course of the conflict. UK Ministers and the British Embassy in Baku have raised the topic of religious and cultural destruction with the Azerbaijani government consistently and at the most senior levels.