Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent steps his Department has taken to help tackle rough sleeping.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
In September we published our ‘Ending Rough Sleeping for Good’ strategy, as part of our manifesto commitment to end rough sleeping within this parliament.
The Government will spend an unprecedented £2 billion over the next three years to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping. This will build on the success of Everyone In, which helped to protect thousands of vulnerable people during the pandemic.
This is in the context of significant economic challenges ahead and the Government is focused on getting the public finances on a sustainable footing whilst protecting the most vulnerable members in society.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the ban on placing children under the age of 16 in unregulated accommodation on outcomes for those children in the 12 months since the introduction of that policy.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The department completed a child rights impact assessment and an equalities impact assessment banning the placement of under 16s in unregulated provision. Children of this age should be placed in children’s homes or in foster care.
The department will keep these under review as we move forward with wider reforms to introduce mandatory national standards and Ofsted registration and inspection requirements for providers of unregulated supported accommodation for 16 and 17-year-old looked-after children and care leavers.
Ofsted will continue to monitor placement practice through the inspecting local authority children’s services framework, and the department will also continue to collect and review data on local authority placements via the annual children looked after data return. Data from the period, since the regulations were laid in 2021, will be submitted to the department by local authorities in 2022. This data will be monitored and tracked by the department and will assist us to understand the impact on outcomes for the children placed in these settings.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to help increase the availability of places in secure children's homes.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
To help local authorities ensure there is sufficient available accommodation for all children in their care, the department is making a substantial investment in building new secure children’s homes (SCH). The Chancellor announced £259 million capital funding in the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021 to provide high-quality homes for some of the most vulnerable young people, closer to families, schools, and health services. This also includes £195 million to support SCH estates.
This investment will enable local authorities to undertake more ambitious work to reconfigure and expand these estates, reduce the number of children waiting for a secure welfare place in a SCH, and support local authorities to place children in their care closer to families and friends, where possible. This includes replacing ageing parts of the estates, investing in upgrades and improvement works to improve occupancy rates, increase the number of beds, and build new provision in regions, such as London and the West Midlands, where there is currently none.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of the requirement for providers of supported accommodation for 16 and 17 year olds to register with Ofsted on the sufficiency of placements.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Local authorities have a statutory duty to make sure there is sufficient provision in their area to meet the needs of children in their care. The government is supporting local authorities to meet their statutory duty by investing £259 million capital funding to maintain capacity and expand provision in both secure and open children’s homes. This will provide high-quality safe homes for some of the most vulnerable children and young people. This will support local authorities to develop the provision they need locally, that may not be met in the private market.
The government will invest over £142 million across the next three years to support local authorities, providers, and Ofsted to implement mandatory national standards, and Ofsted registration and inspection for currently unregulated supported accommodation providers who accommodate 16 and 17-year-old looked-after children and care leavers.
The department expects the national standards to become mandatory from autumn 2023, following a minimum six-month registration window, which will enable providers to register before the standards come into force, reducing any potential disruption or sufficiency challenges for local authorities. We will invest up to £1.3 million to support providers to prepare for the reforms.
The department will complete the required impact assessments ahead of laying the regulations, which will bring the new regime into effect.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many under-16s are currently placed in unregulated accommodation compared to prior to when the ban on that practice came into force on 9 September 2021.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
On 31 March 2021, 65 looked-after children aged under 16 were placed in unregulated accommodation. Information for the reporting year 2021/22 will not be available until November 2022.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what support her Department is providing to help drivers who are face delays in renewing international HGV licences.
Answered by Katherine Fletcher
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is processing straightforward HGV driving licence applications within five days and there are no delays.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is adding new capacity to its driving test booking system all the time. Tests do become available when customers move or cancel existing bookings. Candidates can also use the DVSA’s change your driving test service (www.gov.uk/change-driving-test) to check for earlier test slots. The DVSA also suggests that candidates check other nearby test centres which may have earlier dates available.
The Department for Transport is also continuing to consider changes to help with recruitment to the transport industry. A number of measures were introduced in November 2021 to streamline the requirements for HGV and bus drivers. These included changes to testing, including removing the requirement to take tests in rigid vehicles before moving onto tests for articulated vehicles and trailers.
The Government is aware that the costs of training can be a barrier both to new entrants and business and has invested up to £34 million to create skills bootcamps to train up to 11,000 more people to become HGV drivers.
The Government is also supporting new HGV drivers through apprenticeships. By working with the industry, the Large Goods Vehicle Driver apprenticeship (for articulated lorries and supported with up to £7,000 of funding) and the Urban Driver apprenticeship (for rigid lorries and supported with up to £5,000 of funding) have been developed.
The UK Government does not issue international HGV licences. Holders of an HGV licence may use that licence overseas providing the country they are driving in is signed up to the relevant international driving conventions.
Drivers may choose to carry an international driving permit (IDP) to supplement the use of their driving licence when driving in another country. IDPs can be purchased over the counter at the Post Office.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has had recent discussions with her European counterparts on issuing of international HGV licences.
Answered by Katherine Fletcher
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is processing straightforward HGV driving licence applications within five days and there are no delays.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is adding new capacity to its driving test booking system all the time. Tests do become available when customers move or cancel existing bookings. Candidates can also use the DVSA’s change your driving test service (www.gov.uk/change-driving-test) to check for earlier test slots. The DVSA also suggests that candidates check other nearby test centres which may have earlier dates available.
The Department for Transport is also continuing to consider changes to help with recruitment to the transport industry. A number of measures were introduced in November 2021 to streamline the requirements for HGV and bus drivers. These included changes to testing, including removing the requirement to take tests in rigid vehicles before moving onto tests for articulated vehicles and trailers.
The Government is aware that the costs of training can be a barrier both to new entrants and business and has invested up to £34 million to create skills bootcamps to train up to 11,000 more people to become HGV drivers.
The Government is also supporting new HGV drivers through apprenticeships. By working with the industry, the Large Goods Vehicle Driver apprenticeship (for articulated lorries and supported with up to £7,000 of funding) and the Urban Driver apprenticeship (for rigid lorries and supported with up to £5,000 of funding) have been developed.
The UK Government does not issue international HGV licences. Holders of an HGV licence may use that licence overseas providing the country they are driving in is signed up to the relevant international driving conventions.
Drivers may choose to carry an international driving permit (IDP) to supplement the use of their driving licence when driving in another country. IDPs can be purchased over the counter at the Post Office.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential barriers faced by individuals in acquiring a HGV licence.
Answered by Katherine Fletcher
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is processing straightforward HGV driving licence applications within five days and there are no delays.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is adding new capacity to its driving test booking system all the time. Tests do become available when customers move or cancel existing bookings. Candidates can also use the DVSA’s change your driving test service (www.gov.uk/change-driving-test) to check for earlier test slots. The DVSA also suggests that candidates check other nearby test centres which may have earlier dates available.
The Department for Transport is also continuing to consider changes to help with recruitment to the transport industry. A number of measures were introduced in November 2021 to streamline the requirements for HGV and bus drivers. These included changes to testing, including removing the requirement to take tests in rigid vehicles before moving onto tests for articulated vehicles and trailers.
The Government is aware that the costs of training can be a barrier both to new entrants and business and has invested up to £34 million to create skills bootcamps to train up to 11,000 more people to become HGV drivers.
The Government is also supporting new HGV drivers through apprenticeships. By working with the industry, the Large Goods Vehicle Driver apprenticeship (for articulated lorries and supported with up to £7,000 of funding) and the Urban Driver apprenticeship (for rigid lorries and supported with up to £5,000 of funding) have been developed.
The UK Government does not issue international HGV licences. Holders of an HGV licence may use that licence overseas providing the country they are driving in is signed up to the relevant international driving conventions.
Drivers may choose to carry an international driving permit (IDP) to supplement the use of their driving licence when driving in another country. IDPs can be purchased over the counter at the Post Office.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions her Department has had with the DVLA on issuing of HGV licences.
Answered by Katherine Fletcher
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is processing straightforward HGV driving licence applications within five days and there are no delays.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is adding new capacity to its driving test booking system all the time. Tests do become available when customers move or cancel existing bookings. Candidates can also use the DVSA’s change your driving test service (www.gov.uk/change-driving-test) to check for earlier test slots. The DVSA also suggests that candidates check other nearby test centres which may have earlier dates available.
The Department for Transport is also continuing to consider changes to help with recruitment to the transport industry. A number of measures were introduced in November 2021 to streamline the requirements for HGV and bus drivers. These included changes to testing, including removing the requirement to take tests in rigid vehicles before moving onto tests for articulated vehicles and trailers.
The Government is aware that the costs of training can be a barrier both to new entrants and business and has invested up to £34 million to create skills bootcamps to train up to 11,000 more people to become HGV drivers.
The Government is also supporting new HGV drivers through apprenticeships. By working with the industry, the Large Goods Vehicle Driver apprenticeship (for articulated lorries and supported with up to £7,000 of funding) and the Urban Driver apprenticeship (for rigid lorries and supported with up to £5,000 of funding) have been developed.
The UK Government does not issue international HGV licences. Holders of an HGV licence may use that licence overseas providing the country they are driving in is signed up to the relevant international driving conventions.
Drivers may choose to carry an international driving permit (IDP) to supplement the use of their driving licence when driving in another country. IDPs can be purchased over the counter at the Post Office.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many special schools are currently in receipt of the NHS Special Schools Eye Care Service; and how many children attend those schools.
Answered by Will Quince
There are 83 special schools with approximately 9,324 children who have participated in the NHS England’s Special Schools Eye Care Service proof of concept programme. NHS England is currently evaluating the programme to inform the future of any special schools’ sight testing service model and will set out the further information in due course.