Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to help tackle (a) knife crime by and (b) the online sale of bladed weapons to people under the age of 18 in Wales.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Since 2019, the Home Office has provided over £5 million of funding for a Violence Reduction Unit in Wales (known as the Wales Violence Prevention Unit (VPU)) which is providing a multi-agency, preventative response designed to tackle the drivers of serious violence and knife crime. Over the same period, we have invested c.£3.5 million (including c.£535k in 2023/24) in ‘hotspot policing’ to boost the policing response to serious violence in South Wales. In 24/25, we are providing c.£4.4 million of funding to all force areas in Wales under the Hotspot Response fund to deliver high-visibility patrols and problem-solving tactics in the streets and neighbourhoods worst affected by serious violence and Anti Social Behaviour.
The Wales VPU is tasked with investing in evidence-based approaches designed to steer vulnerable young people away from involvement in violence. As part of this approach, the VPU is funding local interventions including A&E Navigators, delivering advice, support and guidance to patients of any age who have experienced violence with injury, with the aim of engaging with those injured whilst they are in hospital to help break the cycle of violence at the point of crisis. The VPU is also funding youth workers to deliver sessions to young people within both education and community settings covering issues such as knife crime. Additionally, just under £1m was awarded in 2023/24 to support delivery of the Serious Violence Duty across Wales.
We have also introduced new legislation which, subject to parliamentary approval, will ban zombie-style knives and machetes from 24 September 2024. Through the Criminal Justice Bill 2023, we are providing more powers for police to seize knives held in private that they believe will be used for unlawful violence, increasing the maximum penalty for the offences of selling prohibited weapons and selling knives to under 18s and creating a new offence of possessing an article with blade or point or an offensive weapon with intent to commit unlawful violence.
It is an offence to sell bladed articles to people under the age of 18 and with measures in the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 we strengthened the requirements for age verification, and made it an offence to send bladed articles to residential addresses after they are bought online, unless the seller has arrangements in place with the delivery company to ensure that the product would not be delivered into the hands of a person under 18. This legislation is enforced by Trading Standards and the police. The Home Office does not hold enforcement data in relation to breaches of this legislation.
The Online Safety Act 2023 has finished its parliamentary passage and received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023. The Government's intention is to have the regime operational as soon as possible.
Ofcom published the first draft codes of practice on illegal content for consultation on 9 November 2023. The Government expects these to be finalised in late 2024. These codes of practice will set out the steps companies can take to fulfil the duties for illegal content. In scope services will either need to follow these codes, or show their approach is equally effective. Tech companies will need to remove and limit the spread of illegal content. This means less illegal content online and when it does appear it will be removed quicker.
Schedule 7 of the Act sets out a series of priority offences which includes the sale of weapons. Companies will need to take particularly robust action to prevent the proliferation of this content online and ensure that their services are not used for offending. This means companies will need to proactively mitigate the risk that their services are used for illegal activity or to share this illegal content, to design their services to mitigate the risk of this occurring and to remove any content that does appear as soon as they are made aware of it.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made a recent assessment of the effectiveness of the enforcement of regulations on the sale of bladed items (a) to and (b) by persons under the age of 18.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Since 2019, the Home Office has provided over £5 million of funding for a Violence Reduction Unit in Wales (known as the Wales Violence Prevention Unit (VPU)) which is providing a multi-agency, preventative response designed to tackle the drivers of serious violence and knife crime. Over the same period, we have invested c.£3.5 million (including c.£535k in 2023/24) in ‘hotspot policing’ to boost the policing response to serious violence in South Wales. In 24/25, we are providing c.£4.4 million of funding to all force areas in Wales under the Hotspot Response fund to deliver high-visibility patrols and problem-solving tactics in the streets and neighbourhoods worst affected by serious violence and Anti Social Behaviour.
The Wales VPU is tasked with investing in evidence-based approaches designed to steer vulnerable young people away from involvement in violence. As part of this approach, the VPU is funding local interventions including A&E Navigators, delivering advice, support and guidance to patients of any age who have experienced violence with injury, with the aim of engaging with those injured whilst they are in hospital to help break the cycle of violence at the point of crisis. The VPU is also funding youth workers to deliver sessions to young people within both education and community settings covering issues such as knife crime. Additionally, just under £1m was awarded in 2023/24 to support delivery of the Serious Violence Duty across Wales.
We have also introduced new legislation which, subject to parliamentary approval, will ban zombie-style knives and machetes from 24 September 2024. Through the Criminal Justice Bill 2023, we are providing more powers for police to seize knives held in private that they believe will be used for unlawful violence, increasing the maximum penalty for the offences of selling prohibited weapons and selling knives to under 18s and creating a new offence of possessing an article with blade or point or an offensive weapon with intent to commit unlawful violence.
It is an offence to sell bladed articles to people under the age of 18 and with measures in the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 we strengthened the requirements for age verification, and made it an offence to send bladed articles to residential addresses after they are bought online, unless the seller has arrangements in place with the delivery company to ensure that the product would not be delivered into the hands of a person under 18. This legislation is enforced by Trading Standards and the police. The Home Office does not hold enforcement data in relation to breaches of this legislation.
The Online Safety Act 2023 has finished its parliamentary passage and received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023. The Government's intention is to have the regime operational as soon as possible.
Ofcom published the first draft codes of practice on illegal content for consultation on 9 November 2023. The Government expects these to be finalised in late 2024. These codes of practice will set out the steps companies can take to fulfil the duties for illegal content. In scope services will either need to follow these codes, or show their approach is equally effective. Tech companies will need to remove and limit the spread of illegal content. This means less illegal content online and when it does appear it will be removed quicker.
Schedule 7 of the Act sets out a series of priority offences which includes the sale of weapons. Companies will need to take particularly robust action to prevent the proliferation of this content online and ensure that their services are not used for offending. This means companies will need to proactively mitigate the risk that their services are used for illegal activity or to share this illegal content, to design their services to mitigate the risk of this occurring and to remove any content that does appear as soon as they are made aware of it.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he is taking steps to ensure that young offenders are provided therapeutic support (a) in the community and (b) in secure settings.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) are central to supporting children in the community who are on the cusp of offending, as well as those who have already offended. Working as multi-agency teams, with representatives from police, probation, education, health and social services, and specialist workers, such as accommodation officers and substance misuse workers, they are able to tailor their interventions and referrals based on an assessment of a child's vulnerabilities, risk and needs. YOTs are increasingly moving towards becoming a ‘trauma-informed’ service, and most have access to a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services practitioner who will assess children and provide early intervention to young people coming into contact with the justice system.
In secure settings, in collaboration with Health partners, the Youth Custody Service is committed to the delivery of an individualised, trauma-informed model of care for every child in custody across England and Wales. This approach ensures every child has access to a needs-based programme of therapy, interventions, treatment, and education. Interventions include a range of cognitive behavioural programmes, counselling psychology services and Family Therapy to promote desistance from future offending.
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 has taken to tackle shortages in family social workers.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Social workers play a valuable role in supporting the most vulnerable in society and the department is committed to ensuring there is an excellent child and family social worker for everyone who needs one. The department recognises the ongoing challenge facing local authorities across the country in recruiting and retaining child and family social workers, with reasons for social workers leaving the profession varied and complex.
On 2 February 2023, the department published the care reform strategy, ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’, which set out proposals to help stabilise the workforce. This includes supporting the recruitment of up to 461 social worker apprentices, a new Early Career Framework that will set out the development plans for a social worker’s first five years, proposals to reduce the overreliance on agency social workers, and setting up a National Workload Action Group to tackle unnecessary workload drivers which keep social workers away from direct time with children and families.
Every year, through the department’s fast track and development programmes, the department trains an average of 800 new social workers and provides professional development for around 4,000 others.
The number of full time equivalent child and family social workers in post at 30 September 2023 was 33,100. This is the highest figure we've seen since gathering this data. The statistics show that the department’s £50 million average yearly investment over this Spending Review on recruitment and training child and family social workers, alongside the hard work of local authorities is generating positive results.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many agency staff were employed in NHS hospitals on 30 January 2024.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Agency workers are not National Health Service employees, and their services are invoiced upon their delivery. Invoices for these services will confirm the hours billed, and the cost of those hours. Due to the variability and complexity of the invoices, it is not possible to collect reliable statistical data on agency headcount.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State the Home Department, if his Department will (a) develop a definition of trauma-informed in relation to the delivery of public services to (i) women and (ii) girls and (b) publish a toolkit explaining the implications of that definition.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
Trauma informed practice is an innovative intervention to help frontline workers recognise and respond to trauma in the people they work with. It encourages a public health approach and effective multi-agency working, addresses barriers to accessing support, and reduces the potential for re-traumatisation.
The Department of Health and Social Care published their Women’s Health Strategy in July 2022, and committed to publishing a definition of trauma informed practice for use in the health and social care sector.
The Department of Health and Social Care published the working definition of trauma informed practice in November 2022, which provides the health and social care sector with a consistent foundation on which to build trauma-informed practice into their services and systems.
To better understand the potential impact of taking a trauma informed approach, the Home Office is providing up to £4m towards the Youth Endowment Fund’s (YEF) trauma informed practice grant round.
Asked by: Tobias Ellwood (Conservative - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department is taking steps to encourage NHS bank staff to remain employed by the NHS in the context of higher rates of pay available through external agencies.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Most temporary staffing shifts are filled by bank workers with latest available figures for 2022/23 being 76%. Trusts are encouraged to fill workforce gaps through bank workers, including expanding the provision of in-house staff banks, and trusts are working together to improve transparency of pay rates across both bank and agency staff which is helping to reduce costs.
Bank rates of pay are set locally to align with agenda for change pay scales. The agency price cap was set to be broadly comparable with the cost of substantive and bank staff, in terms of cost to the National Health Service. While there are instances of agency workers receiving higher pay levels than the price cap, NHS England is supporting trusts to reduce off-framework agency provision and to improve price cap compliance. Trusts are working to improve flexible working opportunities for staff to encourage them towards substantive NHS contracts.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
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 allowing people that are not currently eligible for covid-19 booster vaccines to (a) purchase them at an affordable price and (b) receive them free of charge if they are eligible for free prescriptions on levels of people returning to work.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), a body of independent experts, advises the Government on who should be offered vaccination through the national programme for COVID-19. Vaccination for COVID-19 through the National Health Service is free for those eligible and there are no plans to introduce charges.
Current COVID-19 vaccines offer good protection against serious outcomes but only short-lived protection from mild symptomatic disease. The aim therefore is to offer vaccination to those the JCVI advises are at higher risk of hospitalisation and death. This risk is strongly linked to older age and some specified clinical conditions.
No recent general assessment has been carried out on the impact of COVID-19 vaccination on absences from work. However, a cost effectiveness assessment has been carried for the groups recommended by the JCVI for autumn 2023 vaccination which includes front line healthcare workers. The analysis for this group explored the potential impact on staff absences due to COVID-19. The available data was insufficient to allow formal conclusions but what data was available suggested that, due to the limited ability of current vaccines to prevent mild illness, vaccination would have only a very modest impact on staff absences. The analysis is published at the following link:
On the advice of the JCVI, NHS eligibility is focussed on those at higher risk of serious outcomes. However, all vaccines that have been licensed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency for use in the United Kingdom may be prescribed by physicians privately as well as through the NHS. Currently COVID-19 vaccines are not available privately but as is the case for many other vaccines, manufacturers and providers are able to set up a private market alongside the NHS offer when they consider this viable and appropriate. The Government is supportive of the emergence of a private market for COVID-19 vaccines and is engaging with relevant parties on this.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Manchester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by Josh MacAlister The independent review of children’s social care, published on 23 May 2022; and what progress they have made in improving council-run homes in the children’s social care system given the findings of that report.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In February 2023 the department published its consultation and implementation strategy, ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’. This sets out the department’s plans for a system-wide transformation of children’s social care, and details how the department will help families overcome challenges, keep children safe, and make sure children in care have stable loving homes, long-term loving relationships, and opportunities for a good life.
To support local authorities to meet their statutory duty to ensure there is sufficient provision for children in their care, the department has announced £259 million capital funding to maintain capacity and expand provision in both secure and open children’s homes that provide high-quality, safe homes for some of the most vulnerable children and young people across England. The department has allocated a portion of the £259 million capital funding to open children’s homes enabling a total of 69 projects to be delivered, which will create an additional 350 beds across this sector.
The department has also committed to developing a core overarching set of Standards of Care for fostering, children’s homes, and supported accommodation. This will help simplify the regulatory landscape, raise quality, and ensure there are consistent safeguards across different types of settings.
The department will develop a programme to support improvements in the quality of leadership and management in children’s homes, including exploring proposals for a leadership programme to attract and train new talent.
In addition, the department is investing £10 million to develop Regional Care Co-operatives (RCCs) to plan, commission and deliver children’s social care placements. Through operating on a larger scale and developing specialist capabilities, the RCCs will be able to develop a wider range of places to meet children’s needs better.
The department is also making good progress on addressing challenges relating to the retention and recruitment of social workers, which is key to supporting the delivery of the wider children’s social care reforms. This includes introducing an Early Career Framework to better support newly qualified social workers to meet the challenges of child and family social work, increasing the number of social worker apprenticeships, and supporting local authorities with their retention and workload challenges. Alongside ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’, the department also published a consultation on a set of rules for local authority engagement of agency child and family social workers. The response to this consultation was published on 25 October 2023 and sets out a set of national rules intended to increase workforce quality and sustainability. The department will consult on statutory guidance on the technical detail in Spring 2024. These reforms are in addition to the department’s £50 million annual investment in recruiting, training and developing the workforce.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the 3,310 total headcount figure for permanent civil servants excluding agency workers working for his Department as of 31 March 2023, as detailed in Cabinet Office statistics entitled Permanent and temporary civil servants by sex, age band and department: 2023, published on 31 October 2023, what that figure was on 31 March (a) 2011, (b) 2016 and (c) 2020.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 2 October 2023, the Chancellor announced an immediate cap on civil servant headcount across Whitehall to stop any further expansion, increase efficiencies and boost productivity.
The Civil Service grew to manage the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the illegal war in Ukraine, but it is right that we reduce the size of the Civil Service over time as we drive up productivity and deliver efficiencies.
The following table shows the total headcount figure for permanent civil servants working for the Department, excluding agencies:
31 March 2011 | 31 March 2016 | 31 March 2020 | |
Total Departmental headcount | 2615 | 1952 | 1741 |