Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve the accessibility of evidence-based parenting support for parents and families residing in local authority areas that do not offer Family Hubs.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Family Hubs and Start for Life programme aims to improve access to services for parents and families with children 0-19 or up to 25 for those with special educational needs and disabilities. It provides funding for parenting support as part of the Start for Life offer to be used on evidence-based programmes alongside peer support and community outreach activities.
The department has selected 75 local authorities based on levels of disadvantage. The department would like to see Family Hubs open across the country. The departments initial focus is on delivering well in the local areas that it is currently working with and building a model and evidence base. The department can then look to expand further in the future.
The published programme guide sets out requirements for local authorities to invest in evidence-based programmes with encouragement to select those that feature in published guidance, which have been rigorously evaluated and demonstrated impact.
The programme guide can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/family-hubs-and-start-for-life-programme-local-authority-guide. The published guidance is available at: https://guidebook.eif.org.uk/programme/incredible-years-preschool.
The department is working with the local authorities selected for the programme to assess delivery of all funded services in Family Hubs, and evidence-based parenting programmes are included as part of this. A comprehensive external evaluation of the parenting support offer has been commissioned and is due to report in late 2025. This evaluation will explore how well different parenting programmes have been implemented into the Family Hubs model. It will include a quasi-experimental impact evaluation that will assess the outcomes for families and an assessment of the value for money offered by the programme as a whole.
The department is currently considering options for widening access to parenting support through Family Hubs and as such undertaking assessments of the effectiveness and value for money of evidence-based parenting programmes, as well as other forms of support for parents. As part of this work to inform future fiscal events, the department considers policies from across the world, including Australia, to inform departmental thinking. This scoping work also includes engaging with the Social Mobility Commission following their recent report into family and parenting programmes.
The department is also investing over £17 million on the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) in order to improve the language skills of reception age children who need it most following the pandemic. This evidence-based programme targets children needing extra support with their speech and language development and is proven to help them make four months of additional progress, and seven months for those on free school meals. Over 500,000 children have had their language screened, with 160,000 reception age children having received extra support with their speech and language development from this proven programme.
Alongside investing in parenting support and the NELI programme, the department has also launched a national media campaign ‘Little Moments Together’ to encourage parents to chat, play and read with their pre-school children. The campaign, run jointly with the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, provides evidence-based advice for parents on the NHS Better Health Start for Life website, and support from national partners on activities for parents. Little Moments Together is based on long-standing evidence on the importance of the home learning environment to providing children the best start to life. The Better Health Start for Life website can be found at: https://www.nhs.uk/start-for-life/early-learning-development/.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference the Social Mobility Commission's publication entitled Family and parenting programmes: rapid evidence assessment, published in October 2023, what assessment her Department has made of the role of evidence-based parenting programmes in ensuring value for money from expenditure on parenting support.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Family Hubs and Start for Life programme aims to improve access to services for parents and families with children 0-19 or up to 25 for those with special educational needs and disabilities. It provides funding for parenting support as part of the Start for Life offer to be used on evidence-based programmes alongside peer support and community outreach activities.
The department has selected 75 local authorities based on levels of disadvantage. The department would like to see Family Hubs open across the country. The departments initial focus is on delivering well in the local areas that it is currently working with and building a model and evidence base. The department can then look to expand further in the future.
The published programme guide sets out requirements for local authorities to invest in evidence-based programmes with encouragement to select those that feature in published guidance, which have been rigorously evaluated and demonstrated impact.
The programme guide can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/family-hubs-and-start-for-life-programme-local-authority-guide. The published guidance is available at: https://guidebook.eif.org.uk/programme/incredible-years-preschool.
The department is working with the local authorities selected for the programme to assess delivery of all funded services in Family Hubs, and evidence-based parenting programmes are included as part of this. A comprehensive external evaluation of the parenting support offer has been commissioned and is due to report in late 2025. This evaluation will explore how well different parenting programmes have been implemented into the Family Hubs model. It will include a quasi-experimental impact evaluation that will assess the outcomes for families and an assessment of the value for money offered by the programme as a whole.
The department is currently considering options for widening access to parenting support through Family Hubs and as such undertaking assessments of the effectiveness and value for money of evidence-based parenting programmes, as well as other forms of support for parents. As part of this work to inform future fiscal events, the department considers policies from across the world, including Australia, to inform departmental thinking. This scoping work also includes engaging with the Social Mobility Commission following their recent report into family and parenting programmes.
The department is also investing over £17 million on the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) in order to improve the language skills of reception age children who need it most following the pandemic. This evidence-based programme targets children needing extra support with their speech and language development and is proven to help them make four months of additional progress, and seven months for those on free school meals. Over 500,000 children have had their language screened, with 160,000 reception age children having received extra support with their speech and language development from this proven programme.
Alongside investing in parenting support and the NELI programme, the department has also launched a national media campaign ‘Little Moments Together’ to encourage parents to chat, play and read with their pre-school children. The campaign, run jointly with the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, provides evidence-based advice for parents on the NHS Better Health Start for Life website, and support from national partners on activities for parents. Little Moments Together is based on long-standing evidence on the importance of the home learning environment to providing children the best start to life. The Better Health Start for Life website can be found at: https://www.nhs.uk/start-for-life/early-learning-development/.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made a comparative assessment of the effectiveness of (a) evidence-based parenting programmes and (b) other interventions to support parents.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Family Hubs and Start for Life programme aims to improve access to services for parents and families with children 0-19 or up to 25 for those with special educational needs and disabilities. It provides funding for parenting support as part of the Start for Life offer to be used on evidence-based programmes alongside peer support and community outreach activities.
The department has selected 75 local authorities based on levels of disadvantage. The department would like to see Family Hubs open across the country. The departments initial focus is on delivering well in the local areas that it is currently working with and building a model and evidence base. The department can then look to expand further in the future.
The published programme guide sets out requirements for local authorities to invest in evidence-based programmes with encouragement to select those that feature in published guidance, which have been rigorously evaluated and demonstrated impact.
The programme guide can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/family-hubs-and-start-for-life-programme-local-authority-guide. The published guidance is available at: https://guidebook.eif.org.uk/programme/incredible-years-preschool.
The department is working with the local authorities selected for the programme to assess delivery of all funded services in Family Hubs, and evidence-based parenting programmes are included as part of this. A comprehensive external evaluation of the parenting support offer has been commissioned and is due to report in late 2025. This evaluation will explore how well different parenting programmes have been implemented into the Family Hubs model. It will include a quasi-experimental impact evaluation that will assess the outcomes for families and an assessment of the value for money offered by the programme as a whole.
The department is currently considering options for widening access to parenting support through Family Hubs and as such undertaking assessments of the effectiveness and value for money of evidence-based parenting programmes, as well as other forms of support for parents. As part of this work to inform future fiscal events, the department considers policies from across the world, including Australia, to inform departmental thinking. This scoping work also includes engaging with the Social Mobility Commission following their recent report into family and parenting programmes.
The department is also investing over £17 million on the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) in order to improve the language skills of reception age children who need it most following the pandemic. This evidence-based programme targets children needing extra support with their speech and language development and is proven to help them make four months of additional progress, and seven months for those on free school meals. Over 500,000 children have had their language screened, with 160,000 reception age children having received extra support with their speech and language development from this proven programme.
Alongside investing in parenting support and the NELI programme, the department has also launched a national media campaign ‘Little Moments Together’ to encourage parents to chat, play and read with their pre-school children. The campaign, run jointly with the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, provides evidence-based advice for parents on the NHS Better Health Start for Life website, and support from national partners on activities for parents. Little Moments Together is based on long-standing evidence on the importance of the home learning environment to providing children the best start to life. The Better Health Start for Life website can be found at: https://www.nhs.uk/start-for-life/early-learning-development/.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of funding a digital roll out of evidence-based parenting programmes similar to the scheme announced by the Australian Federal Government in 2022.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Family Hubs and Start for Life programme aims to improve access to services for parents and families with children 0-19 or up to 25 for those with special educational needs and disabilities. It provides funding for parenting support as part of the Start for Life offer to be used on evidence-based programmes alongside peer support and community outreach activities.
The department has selected 75 local authorities based on levels of disadvantage. The department would like to see Family Hubs open across the country. The departments initial focus is on delivering well in the local areas that it is currently working with and building a model and evidence base. The department can then look to expand further in the future.
The published programme guide sets out requirements for local authorities to invest in evidence-based programmes with encouragement to select those that feature in published guidance, which have been rigorously evaluated and demonstrated impact.
The programme guide can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/family-hubs-and-start-for-life-programme-local-authority-guide. The published guidance is available at: https://guidebook.eif.org.uk/programme/incredible-years-preschool.
The department is working with the local authorities selected for the programme to assess delivery of all funded services in Family Hubs, and evidence-based parenting programmes are included as part of this. A comprehensive external evaluation of the parenting support offer has been commissioned and is due to report in late 2025. This evaluation will explore how well different parenting programmes have been implemented into the Family Hubs model. It will include a quasi-experimental impact evaluation that will assess the outcomes for families and an assessment of the value for money offered by the programme as a whole.
The department is currently considering options for widening access to parenting support through Family Hubs and as such undertaking assessments of the effectiveness and value for money of evidence-based parenting programmes, as well as other forms of support for parents. As part of this work to inform future fiscal events, the department considers policies from across the world, including Australia, to inform departmental thinking. This scoping work also includes engaging with the Social Mobility Commission following their recent report into family and parenting programmes.
The department is also investing over £17 million on the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) in order to improve the language skills of reception age children who need it most following the pandemic. This evidence-based programme targets children needing extra support with their speech and language development and is proven to help them make four months of additional progress, and seven months for those on free school meals. Over 500,000 children have had their language screened, with 160,000 reception age children having received extra support with their speech and language development from this proven programme.
Alongside investing in parenting support and the NELI programme, the department has also launched a national media campaign ‘Little Moments Together’ to encourage parents to chat, play and read with their pre-school children. The campaign, run jointly with the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, provides evidence-based advice for parents on the NHS Better Health Start for Life website, and support from national partners on activities for parents. Little Moments Together is based on long-standing evidence on the importance of the home learning environment to providing children the best start to life. The Better Health Start for Life website can be found at: https://www.nhs.uk/start-for-life/early-learning-development/.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum claims have been successfully made by citizens of (a) Israel, (b) the United States, (c) Canada, (d) New Zealand, (e) Australia, (f) Germany, (g) Spain, (h) France and (i) Italy in each of the last five years.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on asylum applications received, and the initial decisions on claims, is published in tables Asy_D01 and Asy_D02 of the ‘Asylum applications, decisions and resettlement detailed datasets’. This data includes nationality breakdowns.
Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of each workbook. The latest data relates to 31 December 2023. Data up to the end of March 2024 will be published on 23 May 2024.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to collaborate with its counterparts in other countries to tackle fraud.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
Last week the Government hosted the first ever Global Fraud Summit.
This brought together Ministers and senior representatives from the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Singapore and the Republic of Korea as well as the United Nations, European Union, Financial Action Task Force and INTERPOL to emphasise the need for international collaboration to tackle fraud.
We agreed an ambitious communiqué which sets out a new international framework to better understand and address the threat and keep our citizens safe.
We will continue to build upon these commitments whilst also engaging bilaterally with key countries to build capability and strengthen their ability to tackle and disrupt fraud before it reaches the UK.
Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had recent discussions with his international partners on taking steps to enhance resilience to hostile state threats to elections taking place in 2024.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK Government is committed to working with international partners to build our collective electoral resilience, including from hostile state actors. The Deputy Prime Minister, Oliver Dowden, discussed election resilience with international partners at the Summit for Democracy in Seoul on 18-20 March. At the Munich Security Conference attended by the Foreign Secretary in February, we issued a joint statement with Canada and the US to increase international coordination efforts to counter foreign state information manipulation that seeks to undermine our democracies. FCDO officials have engaged with 5EYES, G7 and European partners, including Austria, Romania, and Moldova to share best practice and identify opportunities for future collaboration on election resilience.
Asked by: Michael Shanks (Labour - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had recent discussions with his (a) Swedish and (b) Canadian counterpart on the decision of those countries to resume funding for UNRWA.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We are appalled by allegations that UNRWA staff were involved in the 7 October attack against Israel, a heinous act of terrorism that the UK Government has repeatedly condemned.
We are aware that the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services has released an interim report to the UN Secretary-General. We are pressing Catherine Colonna to produce a rapid interim report on the investigation into UNRWA's neutrality.
We are working with allies, including Sweden and Canada, to try and bring this situation to a rapid conclusion, not least because UNRWA have a vital role to play in providing aid and services in Gaza, and the wider region.
We want UNRWA to give detailed undertakings about changes in personnel, policy and precedents to ensure this can never happen again.
Any future funding decisions will be taken after UNRWA's review has concluded.
Asked by: Michael Shanks (Labour - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, when he plans to decide whether to reinstate funding for UNRWA.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We are appalled by allegations that UNRWA staff were involved in the 7 October attack against Israel, a heinous act of terrorism that the UK Government has repeatedly condemned.
We are aware that the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services has released an interim report to the UN Secretary-General. We are pressing Catherine Colonna to produce a rapid interim report on the investigation into UNRWA's neutrality.
We are working with allies, including Sweden and Canada, to try and bring this situation to a rapid conclusion, not least because UNRWA have a vital role to play in providing aid and services in Gaza, and the wider region.
We want UNRWA to give detailed undertakings about changes in personnel, policy and precedents to ensure this can never happen again.
Any future funding decisions will be taken after UNRWA's review has concluded.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to the statement from the Canadian Government entitled Canada announces continued assistance for people in Gaza, published on 8 March 2024, whether his Department has received the interim report of the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We are aware that the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services has released an interim report to the UN Secretary-General. We are pressing Catherine Colonna to produce a rapid interim report on the investigation into UNRWA's neutrality.
We are working with allies to try to bring this situation to a rapid conclusion - not least because UNRWA have a vital role to play in providing aid and services in Gaza, and the wider region. We want UNRWA to give detailed undertakings about changes in personnel, policy and precedents to ensure this can never happen again.
Any future funding decisions will be taken after UNRWA's review has concluded.