Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number and proportion of three and four year old (a) children and (b) children with British citizenship who are not eligible for the extended 30 hours of childcare offer because their parents work the required number of hours but have no recourse to public funds.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government is making the largest investment in childcare in England’s history. By the 2027/28 financial year, the government will expect to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year on free hours and early education. It will provide hard working parents 30 hours of free childcare per week (38 weeks per year) for children aged 9 months to until they start school. This represents the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever.
The department does not hold data on the numbers of 3- and 4-year-old children who are not eligible for 30 hours because their parents have no recourse to public funds, and what proportion of those children have British citizenship.
The expanded working parent entitlement, which will be rolled out in phases from April 2024, will be available to working parents who meet the eligibility criteria. These will be the same as the current 30 hours offer for 3- and 4-year-olds.
The free childcare entitlements for the children of working parents are not within the definition of ’public funds’ in the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 or the Immigration Rules. However, there are requirements in the Childcare (Free of Charge for Working Parents) (England) Regulations 2022 for the parent, or one of the parents, not to be subject to immigration control. This means that where both parents have no recourse to public funds, they will not be eligible for the entitlements. However, if there are two parents and just one of them is subject to immigration control the family will still be eligible for the entitlements, provided they meet the other conditions.
Parents with no recourse to public funds are, however, able to access the 15 hours free early education entitlement available for all 3 and 4-year-olds and, if eligible, 15 hours free early education for disadvantaged 2-year-olds. In September 2022, the department extended eligibility for the 2-year-old entitlement to disadvantaged families who have no recourse to public funds. This is because these entitlements are intended to support children's development and help prepare them for school.
The government has no current plans to extend the free childcare entitlements offer for working parents to families with no recourse to public funds.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department has taken to communicate with (a) schools and (b) local authorities about the expansion of eligibility for the disadvantaged two-year-old offer to include families affected with no recourse to public funds.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department consulted on extending eligibility for the 15 hour early education entitlement for 2-year-olds between 25 March 2022 and 20 May 2022. The department published its response on 25 August 2022 alongside guidance, including a sample application form, for local authorities which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/30-hours-free-childcare-la-and-early-years-provider-guide. In addition, the eligibility criteria have been updated on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has made an estimate of the number of families with no recourse to public funds who are unable to access the 30 hours extended childcare offer for three- and four-year-olds.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) condition applies to millions of people, the vast majority of whom are visitors or other temporary migrants who have no need for public funds during their stay. It also applies to those without status, many of whom may not be in touch with the Home Office.
The Home Office’s Chief Statistician wrote to the Office for Statistics Regulation on 3 July 2020 to explain why the Home Office does not feel that it is of practical application to produce an estimate of the total population subject to the NRPF condition present in the UK at any one time. His letter can be found at: https://osr.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/correspondence/response-from-daniel-shaw-to-ed-humpherson-parliamentary-question-response/.
To note, 30 hours’ free childcare is not considered a ‘public fund’ for immigration purposes. However, the eligibility criteria, as set by the Department for Education, requires at least one parent to have permission to access public funds, which means it may not be available to all families.
Parents with NRPF are able to access the 15 hours’ free early education entitlement available for all three- and four-year-olds regardless of their family circumstances and, if eligible, 15 hours free early education for disadvantaged two-year-olds. These 15-hour entitlements primarily benefit the child and their educational development and outcomes. While there are some benefits to parents in reduced childcare fees, this is not the main purpose of these entitlements. The 30 hours’ free childcare entitlement is primarily focused on supporting the parent(s) into work.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people are being investigated for social media posts supporting (a) Palestine and (b) Israel.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not collect this data.
However, ministers expect police forces to investigate, without fear or favour, social media posts linked to recent events in Israel and Gaza which may cross the criminal threshold.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent (a) technical and (b) financial support the Government has provided to the global south to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK is delivering on our commitment to spend £11.6 billion of International Climate Finance (ICF) between financial year 2021/2022 and financial year 2025/2026, including £3 billion on development solutions that protect and restore nature. This supports developing countries to both mitigate against and adapt to the impacts of climate change. We publish our ICF results on an annual basis. To date, we have supported over 100 million people to better adapt to the effects of climate change, provided nearly 70 million people with improved access to clean energy and reduced or avoided over 86 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, we have supported 125 countries and 1,450 organisations with technical assistance in areas including energy supply, sustainable agriculture and transport.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of her Department's move-on period for asylum seekers to find new accommodation after being granted refugee status on trends in the level of homelessness.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
An individual remains eligible for asylum support for a prescribed period from the day they are notified of the decision on their asylum claim. Where someone is given notice that their asylum claim has been granted, their appeal has been allowed or their asylum claim has been refused but they have been given leave to enter or remain, the prescribed period in legislation is 28 days. There has been no change to the prescribed period.
Individuals should make plans to move on from asylum support as quickly as possible. We offer support through Migrant Help or their partner organisation in doing this. This includes providing advice on accessing the labour market, on applying for Universal Credit and signposting to local authorities for assistance with housing. Newly recognised refugees are entitled to housing assistance from their local authority and are treated as a priority need if they have children or are considered vulnerable. Individuals do not need to wait for their BRP to make a claim for benefits and are encouraged to do so as early as possible if they require them.
We are ensuring our cross government partners, such as the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) are sighted on data to enable them to consider the impacts of increased decision making and effectively plan. We are also working with DLUHC to ensure the right asylum decision data is being shared with local authorities to enable effective planning and to lessen the impact on existing homelessness and rough sleeping pressures. Our accommodation providers are directly working with local authorities to notify them when an individual is due to have their asylum support ended.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of her Department's move-on period for asylum seekers to find new accommodation after being granted refugee status on the number of refugees.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
An individual remains eligible for asylum support for a prescribed period from the day they are notified of the decision on their asylum claim. Where someone is given notice that their asylum claim has been granted, their appeal has been allowed or their asylum claim has been refused but they have been given leave to enter or remain, the prescribed period in legislation is 28 days. There has been no change to the prescribed period.
Individuals should make plans to move on from asylum support as quickly as possible. We offer support through Migrant Help or their partner organisation in doing this. This includes providing advice on accessing the labour market, on applying for Universal Credit and signposting to local authorities for assistance with housing. Newly recognised refugees are entitled to housing assistance from their local authority and are treated as a priority need if they have children or are considered vulnerable. Individuals do not need to wait for their BRP to make a claim for benefits and are encouraged to do so as early as possible if they require them.
We are ensuring our cross government partners, such as the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) are sighted on data to enable them to consider the impacts of increased decision making and effectively plan. We are also working with DLUHC to ensure the right asylum decision data is being shared with local authorities to enable effective planning and to lessen the impact on existing homelessness and rough sleeping pressures. Our accommodation providers are directly working with local authorities to notify them when an individual is due to have their asylum support ended.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact on public health of expanding UK oil and gas fields.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The UK Health Security Agency has not conducted a specific assessment concerning the potential impact on public health of expanding oil and gas fields in the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason students studying Masters of Pharmacy courses do not qualify for support from the NHS Learning Support Fund.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Learning Support Fund (LSF) is available broadly to those courses which were eligible for the NHS Bursary prior to the 2017 reforms, and therefore, subjects such as pharmacy are outside of the scope of the LSF arrangements.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of applying adult rate (a) Universal Credit and (b) other benefits to people aged over 21.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made.