Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 9 May 2019 to Question 249189 on Regulator of Social Housing, how many respondents to the consultation on the Social Housing Green Paper in 2018 (a) supported and (b) rejected the proposal to consider removing the serious detriment test used to determine compliance with the Home Standard if it is a bar to more proactive approach by the Regulator of Social Housing.
Answered by Esther McVey - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the average length of time was for the Housing Ombudsman Service to determine case complaints in the first three months of 2019-20; and how many complaints were dealt with within the six month target during that period.
Answered by Esther McVey - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has plans to update the SEND Code of Practice to in relation to the duties of schools supporting children with SEND to include Ofsted's terminology in a definition of off-rolling.
Answered by Nick Gibb
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many applicants were interviewed for the post of Housing Ombudsman.
Answered by Esther McVey - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 28 March 2019 to Question 234662 on Regulator of Social Housing: Public Appointments, whether any new Board members have been appointed.
Answered by Esther McVey - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Josephine Boaden CBE and Deborah Gregory have been appointed to the Board of the Regulator of Social Housing.
Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2018 to Question 192956 on Regulator of Social Housing: Public Appointments, at what stage is the recruitment process for the permanent Chair of the Regulator of Social Housing.
Answered by Esther McVey - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The then Housing Minister decided not to appoint a new permanent Chair of the Board of the Regulator of Social Housing. The Minister considered the Advisory Assessment Panel’s recommendations carefully, but in light of the narrow field of candidates, he decided to refresh the specification for the role so as to attract the best possible candidates in a future campaign. The Minister also decided to extend the appointment of the current Interim Chair for a further 12 months.
Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department plans to undertake a review of the charging of VAT on mooring fees for residents of houseboats.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Mooring fees on houseboats designed or adapted for use solely as a place of permanent habitation, which do not have the means of, and are not be capable of being readily adapted for self-propulsion, are VAT exempt.
Under the current EU VAT rules, there is no scope to extend the remit of these VAT reliefs for houseboats. Whilst the UK remains a member of the EU, it must comply with the rights and obligations that membership entails. This includes the application of EU VAT rules.
Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data his Department collects on outcomes achieved by disabled children, including those who have not been formally identified as having a special educational need.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The department collects data, via the school census, on pupils identified with a special educational need. This will include some pupils who have a disability, but the department does not collect data on pupils who have a disability but have not been identified with a special educational need.
The department collects and publishes a range of data on outcomes achieved by children, and the published data is generally broken down by a range of characteristics, including pupils identified with special educational needs. A summary of the data published by special educational needs is available in the following publication:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sen-analysis-and-summary-of-data-sources.
Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, where a local authority has failed, following a revisit by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission, to make sufficient progress in improving its provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities, what steps his Department will take to involve local parents in decision-making on next steps.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
If a local area has failed to make sufficient progress following a special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) revisit by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission, local area leaders must, as a minimum, submit an updated action plan to the Department for Education, NHS England and the Department for Health and Social Care. The action plan must be co-produced with partners and state how the local area will report on progress and impact, as well as how partners, including families, will be kept fully aware and informed of progress. The action plan will be published and a formal progress review meeting will take place within six months of the revisit report being published. The key partners involved, including the Parent Carer Forum, will be invited to attend this meeting.
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, makes a case-by-case assessment regarding which actions to take following a local area SEND inspection. The outcomes of inspection reports – and particularly where local areas have not made sufficient progress following their revisit by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission - are key criteria in the Secretary of State’s consideration of the use of intervention powers.
The Secretary of State has asked Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission to design a programme of further local area SEND inspections to follow the current 5-year round. Discussions around the design and delivery of a possible second cycle are underway but no final decisions have yet been made.
Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether local area inspections of provision by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission for children with special educational needs and disabilities will continue beyond 2021.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
If a local area has failed to make sufficient progress following a special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) revisit by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission, local area leaders must, as a minimum, submit an updated action plan to the Department for Education, NHS England and the Department for Health and Social Care. The action plan must be co-produced with partners and state how the local area will report on progress and impact, as well as how partners, including families, will be kept fully aware and informed of progress. The action plan will be published and a formal progress review meeting will take place within six months of the revisit report being published. The key partners involved, including the Parent Carer Forum, will be invited to attend this meeting.
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, makes a case-by-case assessment regarding which actions to take following a local area SEND inspection. The outcomes of inspection reports – and particularly where local areas have not made sufficient progress following their revisit by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission - are key criteria in the Secretary of State’s consideration of the use of intervention powers.
The Secretary of State has asked Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission to design a programme of further local area SEND inspections to follow the current 5-year round. Discussions around the design and delivery of a possible second cycle are underway but no final decisions have yet been made.