Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing non-repayable maintenance grant funding for higher education students from the least advantaged backgrounds.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The government believes that income-contingent student loans are a fair and sensible way of financing higher education. It is only right that those who benefit from the system should make a fair contribution to its costs. The department has continued to increase maximum loans and grants for living and other costs for undergraduate and postgraduate students each year with a 2.8% increase for the current 2023/24 academic year and a further 2.5% increase announced for the 2024/25 academic year.
In addition, the department has frozen maximum tuition fees for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years. By 2024/25, maximum fees will have been frozen for seven successive years. The department believes that the current fee freeze achieves the best balance between ensuring that the system remains financially sustainable, offering good value for the taxpayer and reducing debt levels for students in real terms.
The government understands the pressures people have been facing with the cost of living and has taken action to help. The department has already made £276 million of student premium and mental health funding available for the 2023/24 academic year to support successful outcomes for students, including disadvantaged students. The department has also made a further £10 million of one-off support available to help student mental health and hardship funding for the 2023/24 academic year. This funding will complement the help universities are providing through their own bursary, scholarship and hardship support schemes. For the 2024/25 financial year the department has increased the Student Premium, including the full-time, part-time and disabled premium, by £5 million to reflect high demand for hardship support. Further details of this allocation for the 2024/25 academic year will be announced by the Office for Students (OfS) in the summer.
Overall, support to households to help with the high cost of living is worth £108 billion over 2022/23 to 2024/25, which is an average of £3,800 per UK household. The department believes this will have eased the pressure on family budgets and so will in turn enable many families to provide additional support to their children in higher education to help them meet increased living costs.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department is taking to reduce daily standing charges for gas and electricity in (a) Coventry and (b) the Midlands.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Ofgem launched a call for input on standing charges looking at how it is applied to energy bills and what alternatives could be considered. Ofgem is currently analysing the responses and will publish its response in due course.
The variance in standing charge is mainly due to regional differences in energy distribution costs. These costs reflect the expenses of maintaining and upgrading the distribution network in a specific area, and the number of consumers those costs are spread across.
On 30 March, my Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State and I wrote to the Chief Executive of Ofgem, highlighting the importance of keeping standing charges as low as possible.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will set a target time for women to receive treatment from specialist referred services after they first present symptoms of heavy menstrual bleeding in primary care.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We recognise the severe impact that heavy menstrual bleeding can have on women and girls, which is why improving care for menstrual problems, including heavy menstrual bleeding, is among our 2024 priorities for the Women’s Health Strategy.
Many women can have heavy menstrual bleeding managed in a general practice and women’s health hubs. We are investing £25 million in women’s health hubs, so that women can get better access to care for essential services in the community. One of the core services of women’s health hubs is menstrual problems assessment and treatment, including for women experiencing heavy menstrual bleeding.
Accessing treatment at a health hub can avoid the need for a referral to secondary care, and therefore cut waiting times, one of the Prime Minister’s top priorities. We are making good progress on tackling the longest waits, to ensure patients get the care they need when they need it. The main standard in elective performance is the referral-to-treatment standard. The NHS Constitution sets out that a minimum of 92% of patients waiting for their first definitive elective treatment, including patients with heavy menstrual bleeding, should have been waiting no more than 18 weeks from referral.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of including a screening process for heavy menstrual bleeding for women attending primary care surgeries for gynecological (a) procedures and (b) consultations.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No formal assessment has been made. Improving care for menstrual problems, including heavy menstrual bleeding, is among our 2024 priorities for the Women’s Health Strategy. We recognise the severe impact that heavy menstrual bleeding can have on women, and we are taking steps to improve access to care so that women experiencing heavy menstrual bleeding can receive the care they need. We are investing £25 million in women’s health hubs, so that women can get better access to care for essential services, including for menstrual problems such as heavy menstrual bleeding.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if her Department will take steps to categorise heavy menstrual bleeding as a chronic disabling condition.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We do not currently have any plans to categorise heavy menstrual bleeding as a chronic disabling condition. Improving care for menstrual problems, including heavy menstrual bleeding, is among our 2024 priorities for the Women’s Health Strategy. We recognise the severe impact that heavy menstrual bleeding can have on women throughout much of their lives, and we are taking steps to improve access to care, so that women experiencing heavy menstrual bleeding can be treated. We are investing £25 million in women’s health hubs, so that women can get better access to care for essential services, including for menstrual problems such as heavy menstrual bleeding.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to ensure infected blood interim compensation payments are made to bereaved parents and children through the England Infected Blood Support Scheme.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
In October 2022, we made interim payments of £100,000 available to those infected and bereaved partners registered with existing support schemes. I recognise the importance the infected blood community places on interim payments relating to those deaths not yet recognised, and the Government is working through the technical implications of recommendation 12.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish a draft amendment on infected blood compensation at Report Stage in the House of Lords for the Victims & Prisoners Bill in advance of that Report Stage.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
During Committee Stage of the Victims and Prisoners Bill, the Government committed to tabling amendments at Report Stage and this remains the Government’s intention. Amendments tabled by the Government will be publicly available in advance of the relevant stage of the Bill, as is standard procedure.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have been diagnosed with a brain tumour through the non-specific symptoms pathway.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The latest data shows that fewer than 10 brain and central nervous system (CNS) cancers have been diagnosed through non-specific symptom (NSS) pathways, or 0.4% of all cancers diagnosed through NSS pathways. Brain and CNS cancers are not one of the most common types diagnosed through NSS pathways.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an estimate of the number and proportion of asylum seekers that have not had access to a local immigration and asylum legal aid provider in the last 12 months.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The commissioning and monitoring of civil legal aid services are done by Procurement Area rather than by individual town or city, with Procurement Areas differing for different categories of law. The commissioning standard is to have at least one immigration provider per Procurement Area. Coventry falls within the Midlands and East of England Procurement Area. There are currently 45 immigration and asylum providers operating out of 55 offices within this procurement area. Information about number of legal aid offices undertaking work, broken down by region, legal aid scheme and category of law are published as part of the Legal Aid Agency (LAA)’s official statistics [see tables 9.1-9.8].
The LAA recently tendered for new contracts that will start on 1 September 2024 and is in the process of assessing the bids. There will also be a further tender opportunity commencing on 18 March. These procurement exercises provide opportunities for new providers to obtain a contract to deliver legal aid services and existing contract holders to deliver additional services in other categories of law with a view to maximising available provision.
Across England and Wales, we have taken a number of steps to help increase access to legal aid for immigration and asylum cases. For example, we are providing up to £1.4 million of funding in 2024 for accreditation and reaccreditation of senior caseworkers to conduct immigration and asylum legal aid work.
The ongoing Review of Civil Legal Aid is considering the broader economic context of the civil legal aid market as a whole, including for immigration cases, so that it can operate sustainably in the long-term; the Green Paper consultation is expected in July 2024.
The Ministry of Justice does not have data on the number and proportion of asylum seekers that have not had access to a local immigration and asylum legal aid provider in the last 12 months. At a national level, the LAA monitors capacity across its legal aid contracts on an ongoing basis and, where demand is greater than the available supply, takes action to secure additional provision to ensure the continuity of legal aid-funded services.
The LAA regularly engages with provider representative groups, including on the provision of immigration and asylum services, via forums such as the Civil Contract Consultative Group.
The Ministry of Justice has not made an assessment of the potential impact of trends in the level of immigration and asylum legal aid provision on the success rate of asylum appeals in Coventry in the last 12 months. We do publish data on tribunal outcomes as a part of the published statistics – see tab FIA3 in the main tables (Tribunals statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of trends in the level of immigration and asylum legal aid provision on the success rate of asylum appeals in Coventry in the last 12 months.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The commissioning and monitoring of civil legal aid services are done by Procurement Area rather than by individual town or city, with Procurement Areas differing for different categories of law. The commissioning standard is to have at least one immigration provider per Procurement Area. Coventry falls within the Midlands and East of England Procurement Area. There are currently 45 immigration and asylum providers operating out of 55 offices within this procurement area. Information about number of legal aid offices undertaking work, broken down by region, legal aid scheme and category of law are published as part of the Legal Aid Agency (LAA)’s official statistics [see tables 9.1-9.8].
The LAA recently tendered for new contracts that will start on 1 September 2024 and is in the process of assessing the bids. There will also be a further tender opportunity commencing on 18 March. These procurement exercises provide opportunities for new providers to obtain a contract to deliver legal aid services and existing contract holders to deliver additional services in other categories of law with a view to maximising available provision.
Across England and Wales, we have taken a number of steps to help increase access to legal aid for immigration and asylum cases. For example, we are providing up to £1.4 million of funding in 2024 for accreditation and reaccreditation of senior caseworkers to conduct immigration and asylum legal aid work.
The ongoing Review of Civil Legal Aid is considering the broader economic context of the civil legal aid market as a whole, including for immigration cases, so that it can operate sustainably in the long-term; the Green Paper consultation is expected in July 2024.
The Ministry of Justice does not have data on the number and proportion of asylum seekers that have not had access to a local immigration and asylum legal aid provider in the last 12 months. At a national level, the LAA monitors capacity across its legal aid contracts on an ongoing basis and, where demand is greater than the available supply, takes action to secure additional provision to ensure the continuity of legal aid-funded services.
The LAA regularly engages with provider representative groups, including on the provision of immigration and asylum services, via forums such as the Civil Contract Consultative Group.
The Ministry of Justice has not made an assessment of the potential impact of trends in the level of immigration and asylum legal aid provision on the success rate of asylum appeals in Coventry in the last 12 months. We do publish data on tribunal outcomes as a part of the published statistics – see tab FIA3 in the main tables (Tribunals statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).