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Written Question
Department of Health and Social Care: Staff
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what staff networks there are in her Department.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The following staff-led support networks currently operate in the Department:

- EnABLE, a disability and long-term conditions network;

- Autism Network;

- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Network;

- Dyslexia and Dyspraxia Network;

- Race Equality Matters Network;

- Prism, an LGBT+ network;

- Women’s Network;

- Parents’ Network;

- Age Diversity Network;

- Carers’ Network;

- Care Leavers’ Network;

- Social Mobility Network;

- Men’s Health Network;

- Christian Network;

- Jewish Network;

- Muslim Network;

- Hinduism and Sikhism Group;

- Humanists Network;

- Diversity and Inclusion Analytical Network;

- Domestic Abuse Support Group;

- Working Through Cancer Network; and

- Mental Health First Aid.

The following networks support and promote professional development and operational delivery:

- International Network;

- Flexible Working Network;

- Green Network;

- Social Workers Network;

- Health Science and Engineering Network;

- IT User Engagement Group;

- Clinicians’ Network;

- Nutritionist Network;

- Perspectives Network;

- History Network;

- Culture and Engagement Champions Network;

- Active Travel Network;

- International Network;

- First Aid Network;

- Administrative Officer and Executive Officer Network;

- Personal Assistant Network;

- Senior Executive Officer and Higher Executive Officer Network;

- G6 and G7 Network; and

- Direct Appointment Scheme Network.


Written Question
Defence Equipment & Support: Staff
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people were employed in the weapons support team at Defence Equipment and Support in each year since 2019.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) employed within the complex weapons delivery, complex weapons portfolio, weapons engineering and weapons support future enterprise teams in each Financial Year (FY) since 2019 as at 31 March, is detailed in the table below. The figures include civilian and military employees and workforce substitutes.

Figures for 2023-24 will not be available until the end of the FY.

Financial Year

Complex Weapons Delivery

Complex Weapons Portfolio

Weapons Engineering

Future Enterprise

2018-19

Team did not exist

21.33

115.46

Team did not exist

2019-20

4.00

21.22

126.94

Team did not exist

2020-21

5.00

12.00

119.68

12.11

2021-22

5.00

14.81

132.25

24.03

2022-23

18.65

12.65

130.25

30.89

Note: The numbers employed in the Weapons Support team is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.


Written Question
Defence Equipment & Support: Staff
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people were employed in the complex weapons delivery team at Defence Equipment and Support in each year since 2019.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) employed within the complex weapons delivery, complex weapons portfolio, weapons engineering and weapons support future enterprise teams in each Financial Year (FY) since 2019 as at 31 March, is detailed in the table below. The figures include civilian and military employees and workforce substitutes.

Figures for 2023-24 will not be available until the end of the FY.

Financial Year

Complex Weapons Delivery

Complex Weapons Portfolio

Weapons Engineering

Future Enterprise

2018-19

Team did not exist

21.33

115.46

Team did not exist

2019-20

4.00

21.22

126.94

Team did not exist

2020-21

5.00

12.00

119.68

12.11

2021-22

5.00

14.81

132.25

24.03

2022-23

18.65

12.65

130.25

30.89

Note: The numbers employed in the Weapons Support team is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.


Written Question
Defence Equipment & Support: Staff
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people were employed in the weapons engineering team at Defence Equipment and Support in each year since 2019.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) employed within the complex weapons delivery, complex weapons portfolio, weapons engineering and weapons support future enterprise teams in each Financial Year (FY) since 2019 as at 31 March, is detailed in the table below. The figures include civilian and military employees and workforce substitutes.

Figures for 2023-24 will not be available until the end of the FY.

Financial Year

Complex Weapons Delivery

Complex Weapons Portfolio

Weapons Engineering

Future Enterprise

2018-19

Team did not exist

21.33

115.46

Team did not exist

2019-20

4.00

21.22

126.94

Team did not exist

2020-21

5.00

12.00

119.68

12.11

2021-22

5.00

14.81

132.25

24.03

2022-23

18.65

12.65

130.25

30.89

Note: The numbers employed in the Weapons Support team is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.


Written Question
Defence Equipment & Support: Staff
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people were employed in the complex weapons portfolio team at Defence Equipment and Support in each year since 2019.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) employed within the complex weapons delivery, complex weapons portfolio, weapons engineering and weapons support future enterprise teams in each Financial Year (FY) since 2019 as at 31 March, is detailed in the table below. The figures include civilian and military employees and workforce substitutes.

Figures for 2023-24 will not be available until the end of the FY.

Financial Year

Complex Weapons Delivery

Complex Weapons Portfolio

Weapons Engineering

Future Enterprise

2018-19

Team did not exist

21.33

115.46

Team did not exist

2019-20

4.00

21.22

126.94

Team did not exist

2020-21

5.00

12.00

119.68

12.11

2021-22

5.00

14.81

132.25

24.03

2022-23

18.65

12.65

130.25

30.89

Note: The numbers employed in the Weapons Support team is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.


Written Question
Defence Equipment & Support: Staff
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people were employed in the weapons support future enterprise team at Defence Equipment and Support in each year since 2019.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) employed within the complex weapons delivery, complex weapons portfolio, weapons engineering and weapons support future enterprise teams in each Financial Year (FY) since 2019 as at 31 March, is detailed in the table below. The figures include civilian and military employees and workforce substitutes.

Figures for 2023-24 will not be available until the end of the FY.

Financial Year

Complex Weapons Delivery

Complex Weapons Portfolio

Weapons Engineering

Future Enterprise

2018-19

Team did not exist

21.33

115.46

Team did not exist

2019-20

4.00

21.22

126.94

Team did not exist

2020-21

5.00

12.00

119.68

12.11

2021-22

5.00

14.81

132.25

24.03

2022-23

18.65

12.65

130.25

30.89

Note: The numbers employed in the Weapons Support team is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.


Written Question
Health Professions: Career Development
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing the modernising scientific careers framework for (a) medical physicists, (b) clinical engineers and (c) clinical scientists.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The curriculum underpinning the Modernising Scientific Careers framework has been recently reviewed. Undergraduate level training, known as the Practitioner Training Programme, now has the Practitioner Training Programme Principles. This means there is now far more flexibility when Higher Education Institutes design new, or develop existing, courses. The postgraduate level training for clinical scientists, known as the Scientist Training Programme, has been substantially reviewed. The professions had considerable input into the rewriting of the curricula. The first cohort of trainees started the new curriculum in September 2022. This includes all Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering specialisms.


Written Question
NHS: Health Professions
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

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 the age demographic on the workforce for (a) medical physics and (b) clinical engineering.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

No assessment has been made. The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan sets out future National Health Service workforce requirements and includes healthcare science figures, though this is not broken down into Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering workforce targets. The plan assesses that education and training places for healthcare scientists need to increase by 20 to 34%, reaching 930 to 1,039 places by 2033/34. The ambition set out in this plan is to increase training places for healthcare scientists by 32%, to over 1,000 places by 2031/32. We will work towards achieving this ambition by increasing training places by 13%, to over 850 places by 2028/29.

The workforce plan also sets out the ambition to retain up to 130,000 more staff across the NHS over the next 15 years, through measures to improve staff’s experience of working in the NHS. This applies to all NHS staff groups, including medical physicists and clinical engineers.


Written Question
Autism: Research
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will take steps to commission research into new models of (a) assessment and (b) support for people with autism.

Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Gateway to Research lists 50 active Medical Research Council (MRC) projects looking at autism and/or neurodevelopment. There are a further 27 projects funded by Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Innovate UK. These cover a range of research questions from using AI based diagnostics for autism spectrum disorders to optimising technology used on recruitment platforms to meet the needs of neurodiverse applicants.

Autistica, a UK based charity engaged in funding and campaigning for research on autism and related conditions, is receiving £378k through Government support for Early Career Researcher fund.


Written Question
Artificial Intelligence: Migrant Workers
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 11 March 2024 to Question 17194 on Artificial Intelligence: Migrant Workers, when the new dedicated visa scheme will be operational.

Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The new Future Technology Research & Innovation (Government Authorised Exchange) visa scheme is expected to go live on 4 April 2024, which the Home Office announced in their Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules laid in Parliament on 14 March. This visa scheme will allow sponsored researchers and interns to come to the UK to work in eligible organisation in the areas of the Government’s five critical technologies (AI, engineering biology, future telecommunications, semiconductors, and quantum technologies).