Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to ensure that disabled people have access to specialised homes in (a) the private sector and (b) social housing.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) sets out that local authorities should assess the size, type and tenure of housing needed for different groups in the community, including people with disabilities and reflect this in their local plan. Alongside this, my Department, DHSC and the NHS provide capital grant funding to help subsidise the delivery of new supply of supported housing including for disabled people.
Local housing authorities have a statutory duty to provide home adaptations for people who satisfy a needs assessment, eligibility criteria and a means test. They also have powers to provide adaptations for those that do not qualify under the duty. Government funding helps adapt around 50,000 homes annually, with the majority (90%) of adaptations being level access showers, stair lifts, or ramps. Government funding for the Disabled Facilities Grant has more than doubled, rising from £220 million in 2015-16 to £625 million for 2024-25.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, pursuant to the Answer of 8 February 2024 to Question 12419 on Social Rented Housing: EU Nationals, what guidance the Government has issued to people with (a) pre-settled status and (b) settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme to determine whether they have equal treatment protection in matters of housing under the (i) Withdrawal Agreement, (ii) EEA-EFTA Separation Agreement and (iii) Swiss Citizens’ Rights Agreement.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The consultation by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on reforms to social housing allocations continues to be open.
Guidance will be issued in due course, including with respect to eligibility under the proposed UK connection test.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will issue guidance to courts on ensuring adequate food and drink facilities for jurors.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The jury trial is a critical safeguard to the fairness of criminal proceedings in the Crown Court, and as such jurors are of integral importance to the system.
Jurors are advised in information sent to them before they come to court about the court to which they are being summoned, including the available facilities at the court and in the local area, and also that they are welcome to bring a packed lunch.
During a trial or before selection, jurors are free to leave the court to get refreshments during the lunch break.
Arrangements for deliberation vary due to differences in local arrangements and are subject to judicial direction in any particular trial, but usually jurors are advised to bring a packed lunch (either in person the day before or by email/text message) if the trial is approaching its end and they are likely to go into deliberation the following day.
Jurors can claim a daily amount from the court towards food and drink costs. There does not appear to be the need for any further, central, guidance – which in any event would be difficult to prescribe at a national level, given that the available facilities and local arrangements will legitimately vary across different court centres.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government (a) is taking steps to ensure the security of genetic data of UK citizens and (b) has raised potential concerns relating to Chinese genomics companies as part of the US-UK Strategic Dialogue on Biological Security.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Organisations which hold sensitive biological data are subject to the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In addition, organisations such as Genomics England, UK Biobank and NIHR BioResource consider national security in decision making about partnerships with other companies.
The Office for Life Sciences is undertaking a programme of work to assess how we can minimise the risks from biological data to protect our burgeoning bioeconomy, without stifling innovation, and build confidence in sharing personal data to improve health outcomes in the UK and across the world. This is being conducted in consultation with relevant Departments and Agencies across Government, and key partners such as Genomics England and UK Biobank.
Underpinned by the UK Biological Security Strategy and the U.S. Biodefense Strategy, the U.S.-UK Strategic Dialogue on Biological Security reflects a shared ambition to protect against a growing and diverse spectrum of biological threats. These risks include future pandemics as well as those that might arise from misuse of biotechnology and genomic data by state actors.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department plans to (a) review and (b) amend the maximum fair rent inflationary index set in the Rent Act 1977.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government has no plans to amend the Rent Act 1977 or Maximum Fair Rent Order 1999.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
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 adequacy of the availability of rehabilitation physiotherapy appointments for patients in Hornsey and Wood Green constituency.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has no current plans to make an assessment of the adequacy of the availability of rehabilitation physiotherapy appointments for patients in the Hornsey and Wood Green constituency.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Written Statement of 8 January 2024 on Wine Quantities and Units of Measurement Update HCWS168, when retailers will be able to sell still and sparkling wine in the 200ml size.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is planning to introduce legislation in spring 2024 on the proposals for new prepacked wine quantities announced on 27 December. All new legislative changes are subject to parliamentary scrutiny and due process, including in this case the need to notify the World Trade Organisation. Once this legislative process is complete, the legislation is expected to come into force around Autumn 2024, permitting the sale of still wine in pre-packed 200ml formats. The sale of pre-packed sparkling wine in the 200ml size is already permitted.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing guidance on how to adapt school environments to support the needs of autistic students.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department’s ambition is for all children and young people, no matter what their Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) are, to receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. The department aims for children to achieve well throughout their education, to find employment, to lead happy and fulfilled lives and to experience choice and control.
Under the Equality Act 2010, schools must make reasonable adjustments to prevent them being put at a substantial disadvantage. Additionally, under the Children and Families Act 2014, mainstream schools must use their best endeavours to make sure a child or young person who has Special Educational Needs, including those who are autistic, gets the special educational provision they need. The SEND Code of Practice is clear that teachers are expected to monitor the progress of all pupils and put support in place where needed.
In the SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan, the department sets out its vision to improve mainstream education through setting standards for the early and accurate identification of need, and timely access to support to meet those needs. The standards will clarify the types of support that should be ordinarily available in mainstream settings and who is responsible for securing the support. This will give parents confidence and clarity on how their child’s needs will be met.
As part of this, the department has committed to developing practitioner standards, which were known as practice guides in the Improvement Plan, to provide advice to education professionals. These will set out evidence-based best practice in identifying and meeting individual needs. The department will publish three practitioner standards by the end of 2025, one of which will be focused on autism. The department will begin building on existing best practice and will include guidance on how an education environment may be adapted to better support the needs of autistic pupils.
Additionally, the department’s Universal Services contract brings together SEND-specific continuous professional development and support for the school and further education workforce to improve outcomes for children and young people, including those who are autistic, through one programme, which aims to reach 70% of schools and colleges in England per year.
The contract offers autism awareness training and resources. Over 100,000 professionals have undertaken autism awareness training since the Universal Services programme commenced in May 2022.
There is no specific guidance for adapting physical school environments to support autistic students. However, the department does publish a range of guidance documents, including Building Bulletins, which support the provision of inclusive learning environments. These are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/employers-requirements-part-b-generic-design-brief.
The Building Bulletins which have particular relevance to designing inclusive environments for children and young people with SEND, including those who are autistic, are the following:
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to his Department’s consultation on reforms to social housing allocations, published on 30 January 2024, whether (a) EEA, (b) Swiss citizens and (c) their non-EEA/Swiss family members with pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme (i) have equal treatment rights and (ii) will continue to be eligible for social housing under the proposals set out in that consultation.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
If a person has equal treatment protection in matters of housing under the Withdrawal Agreement, the EEA-EFTA Separation Agreement or the Swiss Citizens’ Rights Agreement, they will meet the UK connection test as proposed in the consultation on social housing allocations reform.
The UK connection test will only need to be met by individuals who make an application for social housing, not the entire household.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to close the attainment gap for disadvantaged pupils in (a) primary and (b) secondary state schools in the long-term.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Raising attainment for all pupils is at the heart of this government’s agenda. The disadvantage gap at key stage 2 (KS2), as measured by the disadvantage gap index, is stable compared to 2022 having slightly reduced from 3.23 in 2022 to 3.21 in 2023. The key stage 4 (KS4) disadvantage gap index has widened slightly compared to 2021/22, from 3.84 to 3.95.
Across all major departmental programmes and all phases of education, help to narrow these gaps is targeted towards pupils that need it most. The department is investing in 55 Education Investment Areas where outcomes in literacy and numeracy are the poorest, including £86 million in trust capacity funding to help strong trusts expand into areas most in need of improvement.
Regular school attendance is vital for children’s attainment, mental wellbeing and long term development. The department has a comprehensive strategy in place to improve attendance that includes stronger expectations of the system, an improved data tool, and the expansion of the attendance mentor and attendance hubs programmes. This is important as statistics show that pupils with higher attainment at KS2 and KS4 had lower levels of absence over the key stage compared to those with lower attainment.
The schools National Funding Formula (NFF) targets funding to schools that have the greatest numbers of pupils with additional needs. In 2024/25, the department is targeting over £4.4 billion (10.2%) of the NFF according to deprivation, and over £7.8 billion (17.8%) for additional needs overall. In 2024/25, schools with the highest levels of deprivation, on average, attract the largest per pupil funding increases.
As part of the department’s almost £5 billion multi-year recovery programme, the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) also addresses this gap and has delivered nearly five million tutoring courses since it began in November 2020, of which 345,606 courses were started by pupils from September to October 2023. The department listened to feedback from schools and as a result set the subsidy at 50% for 2023/24, which reduces the amount of money schools contribute towards tutoring, which may enable more tutoring to be delivered. Recovery programmes, such as the NTP and the recovery premium, are also focused on helping the most disadvantaged. The department has provided £1 billion to extend the recovery premium over the 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years. This builds on £300 million delivered in 2021/22.
Pupil premium also provides extra support for these children. This funding will rise to over £2.9 billion in the 2024/25 financial year, an increase of £80 million from 2023/24. The most disadvantaged three and four year olds are also eligible for early years pupil premium funding, which is being extended to the most disadvantaged two year olds from April 2023 and to under twos from September 2023. Low-income families and children experiencing other forms of disadvantage can qualify for 15 hours free early education for two year olds, a year before all children become eligible for 15 hours at ages three and four.
The quality of teaching a pupil receives is the single most important, in-school factor for improving outcomes. That is why the department’s ambition, as set out in the 2022 Schools White Paper, is to build a system of world-class teacher training and professional development that delivers high-quality professional development at every stage of a teacher’s career. 52,939 early career teachers have now benefitted from provider-led training as part of Early Career Framework reforms which are designed to support teachers in their crucial first years in the profession. 65,416 professionals have benefitted from a fully funded National Professional Qualification (NPQ) based on the best available evidence for effective practice since NPQs were reformed in 2021. This represents a substantial increase in comparison to the 33,399 professionals who undertook a funded NPQ in the four years between 2017 and 2021.
Additionally, the Levelling Up Premium offers higher annual payments of up to £3,000 after tax to mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who choose to work in disadvantaged secondary schools. For 2024/25 and 2025/26, the department will be doubling the rate of Levelling Up Premium to up to £6,000 after tax.