Asked by: Lord Garnier (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will publish the guidance relating to failure to prevent fraud offences, as required under section 204 of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The government is currently working on the guidance for the new offence. We hope to publish it in early summer. The offence will then come into effect after an implementation period of 6 months is complete.
The offence is similar to the existing offence of failure to prevent bribery and failure to prevent facilitation of tax evasion, both of which have had success in changing business culture.
It will drive a culture change towards improved fraud prevention procedures in organisations and hold them to account if they profit from fraud by their employees, agents or other persons providing services on their behalf.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking ensure Integrated Care Schemes are able to support staff retention schemes.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan sets out how to improve culture and leadership, to ensure that up to 130,000 fewer staff leave the National Health Service over the next 15 years. Key to this is the National Retention Programme. The programme builds on the NHS People Promise, and supports integrated care systems (ICSs), regions, NHS trusts, and organisations to improve employee experience to retain their people, and therefore reduce NHS staff leaver rates.
The National Retention Programme provides a suite of evidence-based, targeted, organisational-level interventions, to improve staff engagement and experience, in line with the NHS People Promise. The programme builds on the fundamentals that every organisation should be developing to support a good working environment, providing practical advice and support. It targets activities at the key career points at which staff are most likely to leave, to help improve retention.
Support for organisations and ICSs can be accessed via the Retention Hub, which outlines initiatives mapped against the NHS People Promise, access to tools, guides, and case studies, to enable improvements and contact details for regional colleagues support the retention agenda in each of the seven regions. Further information on the Retention Hub is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/looking-after-our-people/the-programme-and-resources/
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions she has had with Integrated Care Boards on recruitment and retention of health workers.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan sets out how we will meet the workforce needs of the future, through increasing training numbers and reforming training, working differently, and taking action to retain more staff.
There are a number of key national programmes aimed at supporting regions, integrated care boards (ICBs), and providers with recruitment challenges, and growing the workforce. For example, the Overhauling Recruitment programme aims to overhaul and modernise National Health Service recruitment, encouraging innovation and wider access into NHS careers, supporting the growth of a diverse and skilled workforce to meet future demands on healthcare. NHS England will soon be engaging with ICBs and providers to support and enable this transformational change, as it prepares to publish the overhauling recruitment strategic delivery framework.
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan also sets out how to improve culture and leadership to ensure that up to 130,000 fewer staff leave the NHS over the next 15 years. Key to this is the National Retention Programme. The programme builds on the NHS People Promise, and supports integrated care systems (ICS), which are made up of ICBs and integrated care partnerships, regions, NHS trusts, and organisations, to improve employee experience and retain their people, thereby reducing NHS staff leaver rates.
Support for organisations and ICS can be accessed via the Retention Hub, which outlines initiatives mapped against the People Promise, access to tools, guides, and case studies, to enable improvements and contact details for regional colleagues to support the retention agenda in each of the seven regions.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many British Library staff have left that organisation in each year since 2015.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
DCMS does not hold this information. As this is an operational matter, the Member should contact the British Library directly.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many staff have left The National Archives in each year since 2015.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The National Archives does not hold data on the number of staff who have left the department every year since 2015.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many British Film Institute staff have left that organisation in each year since 2015.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
DCMS does not hold this data centrally.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many Arts Council England staff have left that organisation in each year since 2015.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The information is not held centrally.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to protect (a) children and (b) young people from gambling harm.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
His Majesty’s Government recognises that, while millions of people gamble without experiencing problems, for some it becomes an addiction with serious consequences. It is particularly important to take steps to protect those, particularly young people, who are at risk of experiencing gambling harm.
In April 2023 the Department for Culture, Media and Sport published a White Paper following our review of the Gambling Act 2005. The White Paper outlined a series of measures to tackle practices and products which can drive harm and to ensure that people who are at risk of gambling harm and addiction are protected. These include new, frictionless financial risk checks, a stake limit for online slots games, improvements to customer-led tools, and tougher restrictions on bonuses and direct marketing. These measures will be complemented by strengthened messaging about the risks associated with gambling. The White Paper also contained a commitment to introduce a new statutory levy paid by operators to fund research, prevention, and treatment. In July 2023 the Gambling Commission also published a vulnerability statement, outlining its approach to identifying, supporting, and protecting consumers who are in vulnerable situations.
We are working with the Gambling Commission and others to bring the measures from the White Paper into force as quickly as possible, and have already published consultations on a number of important proposals so that we can finalise details ahead of their implementation.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the closure of the British Youth Council on youth representation at the local authority level.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
I was sorry to learn about the closure of the British Youth Council and want to express gratitude for its work over the years. Whilst the British Youth Council has closed, we will continue to support the UK Youth Parliament as the national programme for democratic participation at the Local Authority Level. In addition, Local Authorities have a Statutory Duty to consult with young people in the planning and delivery of local youth services.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 22 April 2024 to Question 21037 on Football: Disadvantaged, whether her Department is taking steps to help ensure the provision of changing facilities for women at sports and recreational grounds.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to delivering top class sports facilities across the country, so that everyone can take part in sport and physical activity. As part of this commitment, DCMS is delivering an historic level of over £400 million in direct investment to build or upgrade thousands of grassroots sport facilities across the UK. This includes the £320 million Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme, which includes conditions on funding regarding equal access for women and girls, as well as directly delivering funding for new changing facilities.
Government’s investment also includes £25 million for the Lionesses Futures Fund for up to 30 brand new artificial pitches in England in 2024/25, with gold-standard women and girls provision that includes appropriate changing and toilet facilities.
The Football Foundation also delivers a specific funding stream for projects seeking to improve changing rooms and pavilions for all players, but especially women and girls. Further details are available on the Football Foundation’s website.