Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people on a (a) student visa and (b) graduate visa took jobs (i) in caring, leisure and other service occupations, (ii) as care workers and (iii) as senior care workers in the financial year (A) 2021-22 (B) 2022-23 and (C) 2023-24.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office published ‘Analysis of migrants use of the Graduate route’. The report shows the proportion of student visa holders who were subsequently granted a work visa after their studies, and those who left the Graduate route and went into work (including those who were granted a Health & Care visa).
The report shows that, of the 25,469 people whose Graduate visas had expired by the end of 2023, 46% had switched to a work visa (9% of the total switched to the Health & Care route). In addition, based on matching Home Office visa records with HMRC income data, of Graduate visa holders who earned in at least one month during the financial year ending 2023 (including those who worked across the full year), 16% worked in the Health and Social Care work sector.
The report does not look at specific occupations Student or Graduate visa holders held, or the number of students who extended into the Health & Care route. This information is not currently published by the Home Office.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress she has made on (a) implementing the actions in the urgent and emergency care plan and (b) preventing ambulances queuing at hospitals.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have made significant progress in implementing the Delivery plan for recovering urgent and emergency care services since it was published in January 2023. A summary is set out in the document, Urgent and emergency care recovery plan Year 2: Building on learning from 2023/24, which is available at the following link:
Progress includes delivering 5,000 additional core hospital beds, exceeding our virtual ward bed capacity ambition, with over 12,000 now available, and increasing same day emergency care services across the country. These measures are helping to improve patient flow through accident and emergency (A&E) and reduce the ambulance capacity lost to handover delays.
Since the publication of the plan, both A&E and ambulance performance has improved during 2023/24, compared to the previous year. In addition, average ambulance patient handover times have fallen to 32 minutes 42 seconds in April 2024, from 37 minutes 33 seconds in October 2023, when the publication of this data began.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2024 to Question 17024 on Department for Work and Pensions: Equality, how many people work in the (a) Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Wellbeing and (b) specialist equalities team.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
In the EDIW team, part of the wider HR function on the 1st May there were 25 people.
As of the 13th May 2024, there is a headcount of 29 people on the Customer Accessibility, Standards and Assurance (CASA) team driving forward changes as part of continuous improvement. The team is developing an assurance framework and a clear set of standards to support the change process in the department.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data his Department holds on the number of people who were claiming (a) Disability Living Allowance and (b) Personal Independence Payment where their main disabling condition was (i) attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, (ii) anxiety and depression and (iii) autistic spectrum disorders, in each month since November 2008.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
On Employment Support Allowance and out of work Universal Credit, the information requested is not readily available due to how the medical condition is recorded so to collate and provide it would incur disproportionate cost. However, Monthly statistics on the outcomes of Employment and Support Allowance work capability assessments are available by primary high-level medical condition on Stat-Xplore. The latest statistics are available by date of decision from November 2008 to September 2023, or date of claim start from October 2008 to June 2023. Statistics on the outcomes of Universal Credit work capability assessments (UC WCA) are available by high-level medical condition for the period from January 2022 to November 2023 in Table 7 of the latest UC WCA data tables.
On Disability Living Allowance (DLA), the information requested is in the attached document.
Points to note:
The latest available data on Personal Independence Payment claims can be found at https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/. The volume of PIP claimants with certain conditions can be found in the ‘PIP Cases with Entitlement’ dataset by going to ‘Disability’ and selecting the relevant conditions. To show the data since April 2013, select all months and then ‘Add to Column/Row’.
The data is based on primary disabling condition as recorded on the PIP computer systems. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which the decision is based but only the primary condition is shown in these statistics. PIP was first introduced in April 2013, so there is no data available before this point.
Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here. An account is not required to use Stat- Xplore, the ‘Guest Login’ feature gives instant access to the main functions.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data his Department holds on the number of people who were claiming (a) Employment Support Allowance and (b) out of work Universal Credit where their main disabling condition was (i) attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, (ii) anxiety and depression and (iii) autistic spectrum disorders, in each month since November 2008.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
On Employment Support Allowance and out of work Universal Credit, the information requested is not readily available due to how the medical condition is recorded so to collate and provide it would incur disproportionate cost. However, Monthly statistics on the outcomes of Employment and Support Allowance work capability assessments are available by primary high-level medical condition on Stat-Xplore. The latest statistics are available by date of decision from November 2008 to September 2023, or date of claim start from October 2008 to June 2023. Statistics on the outcomes of Universal Credit work capability assessments (UC WCA) are available by high-level medical condition for the period from January 2022 to November 2023 in Table 7 of the latest UC WCA data tables.
On Disability Living Allowance (DLA), the information requested is in the attached document.
Points to note:
The latest available data on Personal Independence Payment claims can be found at https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/. The volume of PIP claimants with certain conditions can be found in the ‘PIP Cases with Entitlement’ dataset by going to ‘Disability’ and selecting the relevant conditions. To show the data since April 2013, select all months and then ‘Add to Column/Row’.
The data is based on primary disabling condition as recorded on the PIP computer systems. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which the decision is based but only the primary condition is shown in these statistics. PIP was first introduced in April 2013, so there is no data available before this point.
Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here. An account is not required to use Stat- Xplore, the ‘Guest Login’ feature gives instant access to the main functions.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) male and (b) female live births there were in each lower layer super output area in each year since 2007.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published Births by Lower Layer Super Output Area (LSOA), England and Wales: mid-year periods (1 July to 30 June) 2000 to 2021. This is available at the following link:
The ONS has also published Births by Lower Layer Super Output Area (LSOA) in England and Wales mid-year 2021 to 2022. This is available at the following link:
Both releases include a breakdown of births by gender. Information from 2023 onwards is not available in the requested format.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)
Question
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, how many churches were deconsecrated in each year since 1994.
Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner
The Church of England law around church buildings is complex, but there are two main types; a consecrated church building where the bishop has performed a rite of consecration, setting the church building (and font and altar) aside for public worship, and a place of worship that has been licensed for that purpose by the bishop (not consecrated).
The Church of England does not have a rite of "deconsecration" as such – it is more usual to refer to the 'closure' of a church that is consecrated. The process of closure is a legal one, set out in the Mission and Pastoral Measure 2011 and its predecessor legislation. The bishop's consecration of a church building for worship cannot be removed. However, the legal effects of consecration can be withdrawn in order to allow the disposal of the building and a new use to be found for the building.
Since 1994 there have been around 650 closure schemes for consecrated church buildings brought forward under the Mission and Pastoral Measure. In some of those cases, the closed church building will have been sold to other Christian denominations for worship use, and in some cases some occasional worship continues, even if the closed church building is being used for community activities, for example.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)
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 potential impact of her Department's drug strategy on the number of people who are in (a) drug and (b) alcohol treatment.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
By January 2024 there were an additional 9,907 adults in treatment for drugs and 9,908 adults in treatment of alcohol problems, when compared to the start of the drugs strategy in March 2022. Additionally, over the same period, there were an extra 2,650 children and young people receiving specialist support for drug and alcohol problems.
The number of prison leavers referred to community-based drug and alcohol services engaging in treatment within three weeks of release has risen to a high of 52% in January 2024, up from 36% in March 2022. Additionally, in 2023/24 we engaged over 10,000 people who sleep rough, or who are at risk of sleeping rough, in support for rough sleeping drug and alcohol treatment teams, with over 9,000 people supported by these specialist teams while in treatment.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of applications for citizenship were refused in each year since 1994.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Historical data relating to those who applied to naturalise/registration can be found here:
These summary tables report those who were naturalised, registered, or refused on tab Cit_02 since 1987.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many consultations have been carried out each week as part of Pharmacy First since its launch.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
98 percent of pharmacies have signed up to Deliver Pharmacy First and claimed more than 125,000 clinical pathways consultations for February, the first full month following launch. From May, the NHS Business Services Authority will publish monthly data on the number of consultations claimed.