Asked by: Thérèse Coffey (Conservative - Suffolk Coastal)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many security passes are valid for use on the Parliamentary Estate by (a) MPs, Peers and their staff; (b) staff supporting Parliamentary activities in each House, (c) staff supporting non-Parliamentary activities, (d) security guards; (e) police officers; (f) contractors and (g) any other category.
Answered by Charles Walker
A breakdown of pass data is available, however the categories used do not match up exactly with the categories specified. This is because the House regards every member of the Administration as supporting parliamentary activities, whether directly or indirectly.
The number of passes on issue changes constantly, so the following represents a snapshot of data recorded on 17 April 2024:
(a) MPs, Peers and their staff
(b) (c) and (d) Staff in both Houses
(e) police officers
(f) contractors
(g) any other category
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the financial loss to UK residents due to (a) fraudulent text messages and (b) fake payment websites.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The Fraud strategy estimates that in 2019/20 the financial loss from fraud offences was £3.1bn.
A link to the Fraud strategy can be found here: Fraud Strategy 2023
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, what assessment the Commission has made of the level of performance of the Polycom phone system.
Answered by Charles Walker
The performance of the current telephony system is not good enough and is falling short of reasonable expectation. The Parliamentary Digital Service is working hard with our suppliers and technology partners to bring the level of service up to an acceptable standard. A new solution has been procured and will be implemented later this year. I apologise to the right hon. Member and all colleagues for the inconvenience they are experiencing.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with the Secretary of State for the Home Department to help prevent people (a) promoting, (b) encouraging and (c) glorifying terrorism at universities.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
Higher education (HE) providers must comply with the statutory Prevent duty to have 'due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism'. The statutory Prevent duty can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prevent-duty-guidance/prevent-duty-guidance-for-england-and-wales-accessible.
HE providers should have effective policies and procedures in place to safeguard individuals susceptible to radicalisation. This includes assessing the risk of learners becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. The Office for Students has delegated responsibility from the Secretary of State for Education for monitoring compliance of the Prevent duty in Registered HE Bodies.
The department has a team of Prevent Regional Education Co-ordinators who work directly with HE institutions in England to provide advice, support and training to ensure providers are well equipped to prevent people from being drawn into or supporting terrorism. Further guidance, including bespoke training material for HE providers, can be found on GOV.UK.
In the 'Independent Review of Prevent: One year on' progress report, the department announced that it is committed to publishing research on the implementation of the Prevent duty in HE, and guidance for universities on managing external speakers on campus. The Independent Review of Prevent can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-review-of-prevents-report-and-government-response/independent-review-of-prevent-one-year-on-progress-report-accessible.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many level 7 apprenticeship starts there have been in small and medium sized businesses in each of the last five years.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The most recent statistics on apprenticeship starts by business size relate to the 2020/21 academic year and are available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships-in-england-by-industry-characteristics.
The following table shows the number of apprenticeship starts at Level 6 and above by business size in the last five academic years for which data is available. Apprenticeships at Level 6 and 7 are not split out within published data so the figures are a combined total.
| 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 |
Small (0-49 employees) | 240 | 1,430 | 2,880 | 3,870 | 5,540 |
Medium (50-249 employees) | 80 | 850 | 1,550 | 1,850 | 2,390 |
Data for 2021/22 will be published in July 2024.
Apprenticeship starts are defined as the count of apprenticeship programmes that begin in an academic year, showing the take-up of programmes. An apprentice is counted for each apprenticeship they start at a provider.
More details on the methodology can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/methodology/apprenticeships-in-england-by-industry-characteristics-methodology#content-section-4-content-1.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many veterans have been identified as Universal Credit claimants since the introduction of the new DWP marker.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) started collecting data on the Armed Forces status of Universal Credit (UC) claimants in Great Britain (GB) in April 2021. At first only new claimants were asked about their Armed Forces status. From June 2021 onwards, other UC claimants reporting changes in their work and earnings have also been able to report their status. From July 2021 onwards, UC agents have also been able to record claimants’ Armed Forces status if they are told about this via other means such as journal messages, face-to-face meetings or by telephone.
It should be noted that Armed forces status is self-reported by claimants and is not verified by the Ministry of Defence or Office for Veterans’ Affairs. A claimant’s status can be recorded as “currently serving”, “served in the past”, “not served” or “prefer not to say”.
By 14th March 2024, an armed forces status of “served in the past” had been recorded for approximately 110,000 claimants with UC claims for which a statement had been generated. This figure includes some people who are no longer on the UC caseload, some who had a nil payment claim and some who subsequently reported a different armed forces status, e.g. “currently serving”. It should be noted that the available data does not allow a comprehensive estimate of the total number of UC claimants who are, or have been, veterans.
Notes:
1. The figure provided is for Great Britain. Data is not collected on the Armed Forces status of UC claimants in Northern Ireland.
2. The figure provided has been rounded to the nearest ten thousand.
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what steps he has taken to reduce the cost of fraud in his Department in the last three financial years.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Scotland Office reported no cases of fraud or amounts lost due to fraud or error in any of the last three financial years. This is disclosed as part of the Annual Report and Accounts available on GOV.UK.
The Government is determined to uncover fraud in the public sector and is proud of its record. As part of this, the Government established the Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA).
In 22/23, the PSFA set a target of delivering £180m of savings to the taxpayer. In fact, the PSFA far surpassed this within the first 12 months by preventing and recovering £311 million. As it enters its second year, the PSFA has a target of achieving £185 million of savings for the taxpayer.
The Government has also announced an additional £34 million to deploy cutting-edge tools and Artificial Intelligence tools to help combat fraud across the public sector, saving £100 million for the public purse. This is in addition to existing partnerships between PSFA and the tech sector.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of introducing a separate nursing pay spine on trends in the level of pay progression within the nursing profession.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The call for evidence in relation to a separate pay spine for nursing closed on 4 April 2024. A large volume of evidence was submitted, and analysis of this evidence remains underway. The Government will publish its formal response in due course.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment has been made of the potential impact of the withdrawal of the WJEC Level 3 qualification in Criminology on the (a) diversity and (b) inclusivity of post-16 education (i) for students from (A) disadvantaged backgrounds and (B) underrepresented groups and (ii) generally.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
Qualifications reform aims to streamline the qualifications landscape, simplify choices for students and only fund qualifications that are necessary, high-quality and lead to good progression outcomes.
Between October 2020 and January 2021, the government consulted on proposals to reform post-16 technical and academic qualifications at Level 3. A subsequent policy statement, published in July 2021, considered all the evidence submitted by consultation respondents. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reforms-to-post-16-qualifications-at-level-3-in-england.
Qualification reform places A levels and T Levels at the heart of study programmes, which evidence shows provide the best foundation to progress, either into higher education (HE) or skilled employment. The department recognises there is a need for alternative academic qualifications (AAQs) in a small range of subjects aimed at progression to HE, to support the A level offer. The department will fund small AAQs where they are necessary because there is no A level in the sector subject area or where it is strategically important to do so.
Qualifications reforms are being undertaken in cycles. Criminology qualifications will be considered in cycle 2. An announcement, on which qualifications will be approved and which will see funding removed, will be made in 2025 and implemented from 1 August 2026. Criminology is contained in the sector subject area of sociology and social policy which also contains a sociology A level that will serve students wishing to progress to HE. For those wishing to progress into other careers, such as police or prison officer, they could undertake small AAQs in subjects such as uniformed protective services alongside A levels such as physical education and sociology. Our reforms also allow for technical occupational entry qualifications to be developed. Consequently, criminology has not been listed as an area where the department would accept a small AAQ.
An impact assessment was undertaken to consider the post-16 reforms at Level 3 as a whole, which can be read here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1091841/Revised_Review_of_post-16_qualifications_at_level_3_in_England_impact_assessment.pdf.
For students from disadvantaged backgrounds and underrepresented groups, the department expects the impact to be generally positive, as those learners will see the biggest improvement in the quality of qualifications, and their outcomes thereafter. Students are expected to benefit from a more rigorous qualification system, with qualifications that better equip students with the necessary skills for progression into employment or further study. This in turn should help improve their economic returns and employability. However, the department recognises that for a small minority of students, Level 3 may not be achievable in future. That is why the department is raising the quality of qualifications at Level 2 and below so that there is plenty to offer students from all backgrounds who cannot access Level 3 straightaway, or for students who wish to exit into valuable occupations at Level 2.
There will also be provision available for students who require additional help and support to reach Level 3. This includes the academic progression programme pilot and the T Level foundation year, where the department has seen 49% of students progress to Level 3 or higher from the first cohort.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff in his Department were working on programmes supporting disabled people into work as of 23 April (a) 2010 and (b) 2024.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not hold this information centrally and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs.
Improving the lives of disabled people is a priority for this Government. This includes supporting more disabled people and people with health conditions to start, stay and succeed in work. In recognition of this, the Joint DWP and DHSC Work & Health Directorate was set up in 2015 in recognition of the significant link between work and health and to reflect the shared agenda of boosting employment opportunities for disabled people and people with health conditions. This not only benefits people’s health and wealth, but also the UK economy through increased productivity and reduced economic inactivity.