Asked by: Tahir Ali (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the statement by the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs that there are no safe areas for the civilian population in Gaza.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We are deeply concerned by the high loss of civilian life in Gaza and widespread destruction. To help alleviate the crisis, the Foreign Secretary has announced a further £30 million worth of humanitarian assistance, bringing it to a total of £60 million, and the UK has additionally delivered 74 tonnes of aid to date, but there is still more to do. We have been consistent in supporting a sustainable ceasefire, and will endeavour to continue to get aid into Gaza on a sustained basis now that the truce has ended. The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary have repeatedly stressed to Israeli leaders that they must abide by International Humanitarian Law and protect all civilians as far as possible, regardless of whether or not they are in safe areas, spaces or zones. The Prime Minister has also pressed Israel to ensure its campaign is targeted against Hamas fighters and military objectives.
Asked by: Tahir Ali (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate her Department has made of the number of extra beds available at hospitals in winter 2023-24.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Our Delivery plan for recovering urgent and emergency care services set the ambition in to increase the core general and acute (G&A) bed base by 5,000 permanent beds above originally planned 2022/23 levels. The latest published core G&A beds figures show over 3,700 additional core beds are now in place. The peak of total G&A bed numbers, encompassing both core and escalation beds, will depend on demand pressures, including from respiratory illnesses such as flu.
Asked by: Tahir Ali (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she plans to take to respond to the findings of the Competition and Markets Authority that manufacturers of branded food products have been increasing prices above inflation.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government notes the CMA's findings and supports its continued work on groceries pricing. Tackling the cost of living is a priority issue for this Government and the cost of grocery products is a key component of household expenditure. Through regular engagement, the Government will continue to work with food retailers and producers to explore the range of measures they can take to ensure the availability of affordable food.
Asked by: Tahir Ali (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps to help teachers reduce vaping in classrooms.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Schools are required by law to have a behaviour policy that sets out what is expected of all pupils, including what items are banned from school premises. The department supports head teachers in taking proportionate and measured steps to ensure good behaviour in schools. To support schools to do so, the department has strengthened the Behaviour in Schools guidance which is the primary source of help and support for schools on developing and implementing a behaviour policy that can create a school culture which has high expectations of all pupils. This guidance outlines effective strategies that will encourage good behaviour and the sanctions that will be imposed for misbehaviour, including vaping anywhere in school.
Schools have the autonomy to decide which items should be banned from their premises, and these can include e-cigarettes or vapes. School staff can search pupils for banned items as outlined in the department’s searching, screening and confiscation guidance available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/searching-screening-and-confiscation.
On 1 June 2023, the Prime Minister announced an intervention which will take steps to prevent children obtaining e-cigarettes illegally. The government consulted on measures to reduce the appeal and availability of vapes to children. The consultation response will be published in the coming weeks.
The department is planning to include a specific reference to the dangers of e-cigarettes in the amended relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) curriculum. The RSHE statutory guidance sets out the curriculum topics and already states that in primary and secondary school, pupils should be taught the facts about legal and illegal harmful substances and associated risks. This includes smoking, alcohol use, and drug taking. To support schools to deliver this content effectively, the department published a suite of teacher training modules, including drugs, alcohol and tobacco, which makes specific reference to e-cigarettes. The RSHE statutory guidance is available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education.
Asked by: Tahir Ali (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the prevalence of difficulties in the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of teachers in (i) primary and (ii) secondary schools in Birmingham, Hall Green constituency.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The most recent School workforce census shows that, as at November 2022, there are over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state-funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes it the highest FTE of teachers since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.
Teacher numbers at a school level are published in the additional supporting files. This can be found in the School workforce census 2022 publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england#dataBlock-d32da738-358d-4c1f-955b-6c6f83552d65-tables. The department also produces national targets for postgraduate initial teacher training (ITT) for each subject based on estimates from the Teacher Workforce Model to ensure focus on the right subjects each year. These are available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/postgraduate-initial-teacher-training-targets.
The department knows that some schools face challenges with recruitment and retention, particularly in some secondary subjects, and action is being taken to increase teacher recruitment and retention.
The department is offering a financial incentives package worth up to £196 million for those starting ITT in the 2024/25 academic year, including bursaries worth up to £28,000 and scholarships worth up to £30,000 to encourage trainees to apply to train in key secondary subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, and computing. The department is also offering a £25,000 tax-free bursary for biology, design and technology, geography and languages (including ancient languages), and a £10,000 tax-free bursary for English, art and design, music and RE.
The department is providing a Levelling Up Premium worth up to £3,000 annually for mathematics, physics, chemistry, and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who work in disadvantaged schools nationally, including within education investment areas (EIAs). For 2024/25 and 2025/26, the department will be investing approximately £100 million each year to double the rates of the Levelling Up Premium to up to £6,000 after tax. This builds on knowledge gained from similar pilots and will support recruitment and retention of specialist teachers in these subjects and in the schools and areas that need them most.
There are 97 schools in the Birmingham local authority area eligible for the Levelling Up Premium, including nine schools in the Birmingham, Hall Green constituency. The eligibility criteria and list of eligible schools is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/levelling-up-premium-payments-for-teachers.
Earlier this year the department accepted the School Teachers’ Review Body’s recommendations for the 2023/24 pay award for teachers and leaders. This means that teachers and leaders in maintained schools will receive a pay award of 6.5%. This is the highest pay award for teachers in over thirty years and delivers the manifesto commitment of a minimum £30,000 starting salary for school teachers across England.
To support teacher retention across all school phases, the department has published a range of resources to help address staff workload and wellbeing. This includes the workload reduction toolkit and the education staff wellbeing charter. More than 3,000 schools have signed up to the wellbeing charter so far. The wellbeing charter can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/education-staff-wellbeing-charter. The workload reduction toolkit is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-workload-reduction-toolkit. As part of the pay announcement for 2023/24, the department also convened a workload reduction taskforce to explore how to further support trusts and school leaders to minimise workload.
Asked by: Tahir Ali (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help increase the number of children getting a place at their preferred school in Birmingham.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Local authorities have a statutory duty, under Section 14 of the Education Act 1996, to ensure that there are sufficient primary and secondary school places for all children living in their area, with a view to securing diversity of provision and increasing opportunities for parental choice and special educational provision for pupils who have Special Educational Needs. The department’s Pupil Place Planning Advisers engage with local authorities on a regular basis to review their plans for creating additional places and to consider alternatives where necessary. When local authorities are experiencing difficulties, they offer support and advice. The department provides capital funding through the Basic Need grant to support local authorities to meet their statutory duty to provide sufficient school places. This funding is based on their own pupil forecasts and school capacity data. Local authorities can use the funding to provide places in new schools or through expansions of existing schools and can work with any school in their local area, including academies and free schools.
The funding is not ringfenced, subject to the conditions set out in the published Grant Determination Letter, nor is it time bound, meaning local authorities are free to use this funding to best meet their local priorities.
The department has announced Birmingham City Council will receive just over £51 million to support the provision of new school places needed between May 2022 and September 2026, paid across the 2022/23 and 2025/26 financial years. This takes their total funding allocated between 2011 and 2026 to just over £345.7 million.
Asked by: Tahir Ali (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to increase the number of Highly Protected Marine Areas.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The first three Highly Protected Marine Areas in English waters were designated in summer 2023 and we are currently working to put in place management measures.
Defra continues to explore additional sites for potential consideration. Any future sites would be subject to Ministerial agreement and public consultation.
Asked by: Tahir Ali (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the potential trauma for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children of being housed in hotels.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
We maintain that the best place for these children to be accommodated is within local authority care. As part of the national transfer scheme, the receiving local authority must provide suitable support for all children being moved into their care, including health care, irrespective of the child’s immigration status.
Asylum seekers have access to health and social care services from the point of arrival in the UK. The Home Office and its contractors work closely with the NHS, local authorities and non-governmental organisations to ensure that people can access the healthcare and support they need.
The Home Office also operates a Safeguarding Hub to support vulnerable individuals in accessing these services. In addition, the Home Office contracts Migrant Help to provide advice and guidance to asylum seekers should they have an issue with their accommodation or support, and for signposting to health and welfare services. Asylum seekers can access Migrant Help 24/7, every day of the year by a freephone telephone number, via an online chat, or completing an email enquiry form, both of which can be accessed free of charge on the Migrant Help website. Interpreting and translation services are available through Migrant Help when the need arises for asylum seekers to raise any queries or concerns.
The information you have requested of the Home Office is not held in a reportable format.
Asked by: Tahir Ali (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied children in temporary accommodation have been provided with healthcare support in the last 12 months.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
We maintain that the best place for these children to be accommodated is within local authority care. As part of the national transfer scheme, the receiving local authority must provide suitable support for all children being moved into their care, including health care, irrespective of the child’s immigration status.
Asylum seekers have access to health and social care services from the point of arrival in the UK. The Home Office and its contractors work closely with the NHS, local authorities and non-governmental organisations to ensure that people can access the healthcare and support they need.
The Home Office also operates a Safeguarding Hub to support vulnerable individuals in accessing these services. In addition, the Home Office contracts Migrant Help to provide advice and guidance to asylum seekers should they have an issue with their accommodation or support, and for signposting to health and welfare services. Asylum seekers can access Migrant Help 24/7, every day of the year by a freephone telephone number, via an online chat, or completing an email enquiry form, both of which can be accessed free of charge on the Migrant Help website. Interpreting and translation services are available through Migrant Help when the need arises for asylum seekers to raise any queries or concerns.
The information you have requested of the Home Office is not held in a reportable format.
Asked by: Tahir Ali (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made an assessment of the potential factors that contribute to teenage involvement in knife crime.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Home Office analysts have previously produced a report examining risk factors for serious violence (including weapons carrying) based on two UK-based longitudinal surveys of young people.
The report is available at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5d36d7fa40f0b604d8e5fe4b/analysis-of-indicators-of-serious-violence-horr110.pdf