Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of members of defined benefit pension schemes with pre-1997 service who have received no discretionary pension increases in the last ten years; and what steps he is taking to encourage sponsoring employers and trustees to grant discretionary increases to pre-1997 pension benefits.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Analysis published by the Pensions Regulator indicates that, as of March 2023, around 17 per cent of members of private sector defined benefit pension schemes do not receive any pre-1997 indexation on benefits. This information can be found at: thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/document-library/research-and-analysis/data-requests.
Reforms in our Pension Schemes Bill will enable more trustees of well-funded defined benefit pension schemes to share surplus with employers, and deliver better outcomes for members, and benefit the wider economy, unlocking some of the estimated £160 billion of scheme surplus. As part of any agreement to release surplus funds to the employer, trustees will be better placed to negotiate additional benefits for members such as discretionary indexation.
The Pension Regulator already sets out that trustees should consider the situation of those members who would benefit from a discretionary increase and whether the scheme has a history of making such awards. The Regulator will be producing further guidance on surplus sharing once the legislation is in place.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to introduce standardised digital literacy guidance for schools to teach children critical evaluation skills for assessing the reliability of online information.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Following the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review’s final report on 5 November, the department will update the national curriculum to prepare young people for life and work in a changing world. In line with the Review’s recommendations, refreshed programmes of study will include critical thinking skills, in addition to digital and media literacy and artificial intelligence.
To ensure consistency, we are legislating so that academies will be required to teach the refreshed national curriculum alongside maintained schools. Content will be shaped through expert engagement, with a public consultation on draft proposals next year.
Currently, media literacy is taught through citizenship, relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) and computing, whilst digital literacy is addressed in computing and RSHE. To support teachers now, the department-funded National Centre for Computing Education provides free resources and continuing professional development, including materials on messaging in digital media, the credibility of sources and identifying ‘fake’ news and edited images.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is planning to take to ensure that public confidence in the criminal justice system is maintained if the use of jury trials is reduced.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government inherited a justice system in crisis, with a record and rising open caseload of nearly 80,000 criminal cases waiting to be heard and too many victims waiting years for justice. The significant delays in our courts are corrosive of public confidence in our justice system. In many cases, witnesses and victims are pulling out of the court process, resulting in the collapse of trials and justice not being served. That is why this Government is determined to tackle the crisis and why we asked Sir Brian Leveson to undertake his Independent Review of the Criminal Courts. On 2 December, the Deputy Prime Minister responded to the first part of that review and set out why reform is necessary, alongside investment and modernisation. The central purpose of these reforms is precisely to restore public confidence in the justice system.
Whilst jury trial will remain an important feature of the criminal justice system following reforms, it is important to recognise that there is no constitutional right to a jury trial. The removal of the defendants’ right to elect is compatible with Article 6 of the ECHR. As you will be aware, the vast majority of criminal trials in this country are conducted fairly, without a jury. 90% of all criminal cases are dealt with by magistrates. Only around 3% of all criminal trials are heard by a jury currently.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of proposals to remove jury trials for offences other than the most serious crimes on defendants’ rights.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Whilst the jury trial will remain an important feature of the criminal justice system following reforms, it is important to recognise that there is no constitutional right to a jury trial. The removal of the defendants’ right to elect or right to insist on a jury trial irrespective of the seriousness of the offence is compatible with Article 6 of the ECHR. As you will be aware, the vast majority of criminal trials in this country are conduct fairly, without a jury. 90% of all criminal cases are dealt with by magistrates. Only around 3% of all criminal trials are heard by a jury currently.
The Government inherited a justice system in crisis, with a record and rising open caseload of nearly 80,000 criminal cases waiting to be heard and too many victims waiting years for justice. One of the first priorities of this Government has been to tackle this crisis, which is why we asked Sir Brian Leveson to undertake his independent review. On 2 December, the Deputy Prime Minister responded to the first part of that review and set out why reform is necessary, alongside investment and modernisation.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will commit to appointing a new National Clinical Director for Rare Diseases.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Working under the UK Rare Diseases Framework the Government is committed to improving the lives of those living with rare diseases. NHS England and the Department are strongly supportive of clinical leadership and recognise that national clinical directors play an important role in policy development and implementation. There are over 7,000 types of rare disease which span the range of clinical specialities. As such, NHS England and the Department expect to continue to draw upon the range of clinical expertise that their national clinical directors hold to inform our work in this area, as well as that of expert clinicians delivering services for rare diseases, such as those commissioned by specialised commissioning. In addition, there is a National Medical Director for Specialised Services who provides national leadership and advice for the healthcare of rare disease and oversight for the portfolio of rare diseases which NHS England commissions services for.