Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of establishing regional Circular Economy Champions to support the Circular Economy Taskforce.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

This Government recognises that delivering circular economy principles through local action is key for any Circular Economy Strategy. We believe it is crucial to listen to high-performing and high-ambition local, regional, and combined authorities, as well as private sector bodies, that are already, or could potentially develop and deliver, local circular economy initiatives.

As ambitious, impactful, and replicable examples which other local and combined authorities, and/or businesses could adopt, we are engaging with these organisations, together with the Circular Economy Taskforce, as we develop our Circular Economy Strategy for England.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what changes to legislation the Circular Economy Taskforce is considering to help increase the size of the repair and reuse economy.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

This Government is committed to transitioning to a circular economy. We have convened a Circular Economy Taskforce, comprising experts from industry, academia, and civil society, to help develop a Circular Economy Strategy for England. The strategy will map our transition to a circular economy, supported by a series of roadmaps that detail the interventions that the government and others will make on a sector-by-sector basis.

Defra recognises that repair and reuse are fundamental tenets of any circular economy, and a successful transition aims to eliminate waste and promote sustainability through reuse and resource efficiency. We will consider the evidence for appropriate action, including legislative changes, right across the economy as we develop the strategy.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill on the number of local authority funded adult social care beds in (a) England and (b) Hampshire.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

To enable local authorities to deliver key services such as adult social care, the Government is making available up to £3.7 billion of additional funding for social care authorities in 2025/26, which includes an £880 million increase in the Social Care Grant.

The additional funding available to Hampshire in 2025/26 means that they will see an increase to their core spending power of up to 6.7% in cash terms.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the number of local authority funded adult social care beds (a) leaving and (b) joining the care sector.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Any provider carrying out regulated care activities must register with the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which includes providing information on the number of registered care beds which can be occupied by the local authority, the National Health Service, or self-funded residents. If a regulated activity is no longer being provided, the provider must notify the CQC so that the location can be removed from the register. However, the CQC’s registration does not require providers to inform the CQC if care beds are funded by the local authority.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes in local authority funded adult social care beds due to the National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill on the number of delayed hospital discharges.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government has announced an additional £502 million of support for local authorities in England to manage the impact of the changes to employer National Insurance contributions announced at the Autumn Budget

To repair the public finances and help raise the revenue required to increase funding for public services, the Government has taken the necessary decision to increase employer National Insurance. A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the bill containing the changes to employer National Insurance contributions. The TIIN sets out the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill on the night-time economy.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of education recruitment agencies on the number of teachers finding jobs via her Department's teaching vacancies service; and if she will make an estimate of the potential cost to the public purse of these agencies to schools.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Schools spend an estimated £75 million a year on recruitment advertising. Teaching Vacancies is a leading job listing service and 98% of secondary schools and 75% of primary schools have signed up to post their vacancies, for free. The department estimates that primary and secondary schools using Teaching Vacancies have saved, in total, between £47.3 and £60.8 million (from September 2018 to August 2024). More information about this calculation can be found on the Teaching Vacancies website: https://teaching-vacancies.service.gov.uk/pages/savings-methodology.

In addition to listing teaching and leaderships roles, the service expanded last year to include all school roles meaning schools will be able to save even more money by using the service.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for Care Quality Commission initial inspections for (a) GP practices, (b) dental practices and (c) care homes.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department has introduced additional oversight measures to ensure significant improvements are made to the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) operational performance.

CQC is aware of the issues providers have experienced with delays in processing registration applications and the reduction in the number of assessments it undertakes.

CQC is progressing four immediate actions and five foundational improvements, which includes clearing the backlog of registration applications and making improvements to its assessment approach to enable it to complete more, and better quality, assessments. These actions will ensure CQC is more efficient, and lead to a reduction in the time providers wait before they receive a first inspection and rating.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of waiting times for Care Quality Commission initial inspections for (a) GP practices, (b) dental practices and (c) care homes.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department has introduced additional oversight measures to ensure significant improvements are made to the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) operational performance.

CQC is aware of the issues providers have experienced with delays in processing registration applications and the reduction in the number of assessments it undertakes.

CQC is progressing four immediate actions and five foundational improvements, which includes clearing the backlog of registration applications and making improvements to its assessment approach to enable it to complete more, and better quality, assessments. These actions will ensure CQC is more efficient, and lead to a reduction in the time providers wait before they receive a first inspection and rating.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reason the National Procurement Policy Statement exempts the Ministry of Defence defence and security contracts from the priority on delivering social value.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Defence and security contracts under the previous procurement regime were exempt from social value requirements under Procurement Policy Note (PPN) 06/20. This meant contracts let by Central Government Departments, their Executive Agencies and Non-Departmental Public Bodies in scope of the Public Contracts Regulations (2015) only, excluding those covered by the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 (DSPCR).

From 24 February 2025, Procurement Policy Note 002: Taking account of social value in the award of contracts which sets out how to take account of social value in the award of central government contracts, will not be mandated for the Ministry of Defence (MOD) in relation to defence and security contracts as defined by section 7 of the Procurement Act 2023 and exempt procurements.

However, MOD delivery teams will have the flexibility to include Social Value criteria in defence and security or exempt contracts if relevant to the subject matter of the contract, proportionate, fair and non-discriminatory. This will be considered by individual MOD Delivery Teams on a case-by-case basis. All other MOD contracts that are in scope of the Procurement Act 2023 and not classified as a defence and security contract will be required to comply with the National procurement Policy Statement and PPN 002.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of mandating the sharing of students' data between Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

All schools maintained by a local authority in England are required to send a Common Transfer File (CTF) to the new school when a pupil ceases to be registered at their school and becomes a registered pupil at another school. Academies, including free schools, are also strongly encouraged to send CTFs when a pupil leaves to attend another school.

Information specified by the department for inclusion in a CTF includes a record of the pupil’s attainment and achievements, which would include details of key stage 4 results where available. Details of a pupil’s prior attainment is included in the CTF to ensure schools are able to meet the individual needs of each pupil with greater accuracy and maintain the momentum of their learning.

Although there is no legal requirement for a school to transfer information to a further education (FE) college, schools are encouraged to do so on request from the FE college, where a secure method of transfer is available.

In addition, the department runs the Learning Records Service (LRS). The LRS allows providers to collect and manage unique learner numbers on behalf of learners aged 14 and above. This provides a consistent identifier for young people to learning providers including schools, academies, FE providers, higher education providers and offender learning providers (prisons), which allows those providers to access a learner’s personal learning record to support education and career information, advice and guidance.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2025 to Question 22902 on Flood Control: Finance, when he plans to announce the flood and coastal erosion risk management projects that will receive funding through regional flood and coastal committees in the 2025-26 financial year.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

We are investing £2.65 billion in 2024/25 and 2025/26 to improve flood resilience, by building, maintaining and repairing flood defences. We published a full list of over 700 schemes that will receive funding in 2025/26 on Monday 31^st March.

This includes an additional £140 million to fill funding gaps for 29 flood schemes, to allow them to proceed to construction. As part of this, schemes in Alverstoke and Hill Head to Portsmouth have been allocated £3,588,150 and £778,185 respectively. Further information is available on GOV.UK, at the link below. Programme of flood and coastal erosion risk management (FCERM) schemes - GOV.UK.

Found: Current membership Dame Caroline Dinenage (Conservative; Gosport) (Chair) Mr Bayo Alaba (Labour; Southend

Found: Alberto Costa (Conservative; South Leicestershire) Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour; Slough) Dame Caroline Dinenage

Found: Dame Caroline Dinenage MP Culture, Media and Sport Committee House of Commons London

Found: Letter from Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, Committee Chair, to Vinous Ali, Deputy Executive Director, Startup

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Dame Caroline Dinenage (Chair); Mr Bayo Alaba; Zöe Franklin; Damian

Found: Carolyn Harris Tonia Antoniazzi Gill Furniss Catherine Fookes Elaine Stewart Cat Smith Dame Caroline Dinenage

Found: _NC2 Victoria Collins Sir John Whittingdale Pete Wishart Dame Caroline Dinenage Clive Jones Ms Stella

Found: Carolyn Harris Tonia Antoniazzi Gill Furniss Catherine Fookes Elaine Stewart Cat Smith Dame Caroline Dinenage

Found: _NC2 Victoria Collins Sir John Whittingdale Pete Wishart Dame Caroline Dinenage Clive Jones Ms Stella

Found: Carolyn Harris Tonia Antoniazzi Gill Furniss Catherine Fookes Elaine Stewart Cat Smith Dame Caroline Dinenage

Found: Carolyn Harris Tonia Antoniazzi Gill Furniss Catherine Fookes Elaine Stewart Cat Smith Dame Caroline Dinenage

Found: _NC2 Victoria Collins Sir John Whittingdale Pete Wishart Dame Caroline Dinenage .

Found: Carolyn Harris Tonia Antoniazzi Gill Furniss Catherine Fookes Elaine Stewart Cat Smith Dame Caroline Dinenage

Found: Carolyn Harris Tonia Antoniazzi Gill Furniss Catherine Fookes Elaine Stewart Cat Smith Dame Caroline Dinenage

Found: Carolyn Harris Tonia Antoniazzi Gill Furniss Catherine Fookes Elaine Stewart Cat Smith Dame Caroline Dinenage

Found: Carolyn Harris Tonia Antoniazzi Gill Furniss Catherine Fookes Elaine Stewart Cat Smith Dame Caroline Dinenage

Found: Carolyn Harris Tonia Antoniazzi Gill Furniss Catherine Fookes Elaine Stewart Cat Smith Dame Caroline Dinenage

Found: _NC2 Victoria Collins Sir John Whittingdale Pete Wishart Dame Caroline Dinenage .

Found: Carolyn Harris Tonia Antoniazzi Gill Furniss Catherine Fookes Elaine Stewart Cat Smith Dame Caroline Dinenage

Found: Carolyn Harris Tonia Antoniazzi Gill Furniss Catherine Fookes Elaine Stewart Cat Smith Dame Caroline Dinenage