Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of changing the eligibility criteria for the winter fuel payment on (a) the number of additional patients that will require NHS treatment as a consequence of that decision and (b) other NHS services in Essex.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to a preventative approach to public health. Keeping people warm and well at home and improving the quality of new and existing homes will play an essential part in enabling people to live longer, healthier lives and reducing pressures on the NHS.
Given the substantial pressures faced by the public finances this year and next, the Government has had to make hard choices to bring the public finances back under control. This means that the Winter Fuel Payment will be better targeted to low-income pensioners who need it.
The Household Support Fund is also being extended for a further six months, from 1st October 2024 until 31st March 2025. An additional £421 million will be provided to enable the extension of the HSF in England, plus funding for the Devolved Governments through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion, as usual.
The Warm Home Discount scheme in England and Wales provides eligible low-income households across Great Britain with a £150 rebate on their electricity bill. This winter, we expect over three million households, including over one million pensioners, to benefit under the scheme.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make a comparative assessment of the adequacy of funding per pupil in (a) Stratford-on-Avon constituency, (b) Warwickshire and (c) nationally.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The overall core schools budget will total £61.8 billion in the 2024/25 financial year. The average per pupil funding in England, as allocated through the schools block of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG), is £5,957.
In the 2024/25 financial year, the average per-pupil funding for Warwickshire, as allocated through the schools block of the DSG, is £5,634.
The DSG is allocated at local authority level, and as such the equivalent figures are not available for the Stratford-on-Avon constituency. The allocations that schools within a constituency receive are determined by the local funding formula in their area.
The figures provided include premises funding but exclude growth funding. The figures do not include the additional grant funding that schools across the country have received to support pay and pensions increases in 2024/25.
One reason why the per pupil funding figure in Warwickshire is lower than the average in England is that schools in Warwickshire have a lower proportion of pupils who attract deprivation funding through the NFF than the national average.
The department continues to consider the various funding formulae used at national and local levels to ensure that we have a fair education funding system that directs funding to where it is needed.
Jun. 20 2011
Source Page: New burdens doctrine: guidance for government departments. 31 p.Found: them. 1.2 In 2010, the Coalitio n Government agreed to freeze council tax in England for at least one
Mentions:
1: Richard Burgon (Ind - Leeds East) The crisis in SEND provision is one of the biggest messes left by the previous Government—one that the - Speech Link
2: Caroline Dinenage (Con - Gosport) interact and communicate with them and in the way they are supported, reducing the need for EHCPs and one-to-one - Speech Link
3: Sharon Hodgson (Lab - Washington and Gateshead South) That is just one stat of many that I could give. - Speech Link
4: Victoria Collins (LD - Harpenden and Berkhamsted) The funding formula must move with the times. - Speech Link
5: Catherine McKinnell (Lab - Newcastle upon Tyne North) That includes looking at the national funding formula. - Speech Link
Published - Monday 7th October 2024
Department: HM TreasuryThese Regulations amend Schedules 29 and 36 to the Finance Act 2004 (“FA 2004”) and subordinate legislation to make further consequential provision in connection with the removal of the lifetime allowance and the lifetime allowance charge by the Finance (No. 2) Act 2023 (c. 30) and the Finance Act 2024 …
Found: a); (ii)after that paragraph insert “, and “(b)the individual does not become entitled to more than one
Laid - 7 Oct 2024 In Force Not stated
These Regulations amend Schedules 29 and 36 to the Finance Act 2004 (“FA 2004”) and subordinate legislation to make further consequential provision in connection with the removal of the lifetime allowance and the lifetime allowance charge by the Finance (No. 2) Act 2023 (c. 30) and the Finance Act 2024 …
Found: a); (ii)after that paragraph insert “, and “(b)the individual does not become entitled to more than one
Mentions:
1: Andrew Western (Lab - Stretford and Urmston) I said 12 months ago that people were watering down formula, and my hon. - Speech Link
2: Sarah Dyke (LD - Somerton and Frome) By the time children start school, one in five is living with obesity. - Speech Link
3: Preet Kaur Gill (LAB - Birmingham, Edgbaston) Almost one in four households with at least one child under four reported being food insecure this year - Speech Link
4: Preet Kaur Gill (LAB - Birmingham, Edgbaston) of infant formula to feed their children. - Speech Link
Asked by: Eagle, Tim (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party - Highlands and Islands)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many applications to the University Innovation Fund were (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful in each year since 2016-17.
Answered by Dey, Graeme - Minister for Higher and Further Education; and Minister for Veterans
The University Innovation Fund is one of the Scottish Funding Council’s core grants designed to support research and knowledge exchange activity across all institutions and is allocated according to a formula developed in consultation with the sector. Therefore Scotland’s 19 universities have received funding each academic year since 2016-17 through the UIF. Individual funding allocations for universities for each academic year are managed through the Scottish Funding Council and made publicly available on the SFC’s website, accessible here: University Indicative Funding Allocations 2024-25 - Scottish Funding Council (sfc.ac.uk)
Asked by: Lord Stevenson of Balmacara (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether children in low-income families are permitted to use funding from the apprenticeship levy to stay on at secondary school.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
Apprenticeships are jobs with training that are open to anyone aged 16 and over. The apprenticeship levy was introduced to support employers of all sizes to invest in high-quality apprenticeship training. The department’s annual budget for apprenticeships in England has increased to over £2.7 billion in the 2024/25 financial year. This budget is ringfenced for spend on apprenticeships training and assessment only to meet employer demand for high-quality apprenticeships and cannot be used for other purposes.
To ensure that every child, regardless of their background, can excel at school and achieve their full potential, the department has targeted a greater proportion of the schools national funding formula towards deprived pupils than ever before. In total, 10.2%, over £4.4 billion, of the formula will be allocated according to deprivation factors in the 2024/25 financial year and 17.8%, or £7.8 billion, will be allocated for additional needs overall. This will help schools in their vital work to close attainment gaps and level up educational opportunities.
The pupil premium grant, introduced in 2011, also offers direct funding to schools to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged 5 to 16 year olds in state-funded schools in England. The department increased the premium pupil funding to over £2.9 billion this financial year to ensure the most disadvantaged pupils receive the support they need to succeed at school.
The department is providing funding to ensure that every 16 to 18 year old has a place in further education or training if they want one. The department invested over £7 billion on 16 to 19 programme funding during the 2023/24 academic year, which included over £590 million to support students who are economically deprived and to account for low prior attainment in English and mathematics. Over £35 million has also been allocated in the 2023/24 academic year to provide free meals for 16 to 19 year olds in further education. Additionally, the department allocated over £159 million of bursary funding to institutions in the 2023/24 academic year to help disadvantaged 16 to 19 year olds with costs such as travel, books, equipment and trips, which is nearly 12% higher than published allocations for the 2022/23 academic year.
Apr. 18 2024
Source Page: Does Scotland benefit from Barnett consequential as a result of funded schemes: FOI releaseFound: This link is achieved through the operation of the Barnett formula (changes in Scottish Government block