Asked by: Baroness Hamwee (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to raise awareness of the benefits to business of employing prison-leavers and to support businesses to do so.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
We remain committed in increasing the number of prison leavers securing employment on release. The proportion of prison leavers who were employed six months after release more than doubled in the two years to March 2023, from 14% to over 30%. Meanwhile, the proportion who were in employment six weeks after their release almost doubled in the same period, from 9.8% to 19.4%
We know that supporting businesses and raising awareness around the benefits of employing prison leavers are integral in continuing this upward trend.
New Futures Network is the prison service’s specialist employment team that supports businesses to fill skills gaps and prisoners to find employment on release. They use a dedicated website and social media pages to inform the public, including employers, about the opportunities to recruit from prisons. New Futures Network brokers three main types of partnership between prisons and employers:
To increase awareness across sectors facing labour market shortages, in October 2022 New Futures Network began running a series of ‘Unlocking Potential’ recruitment drives in prisons. The most recent event in October 2023, Unlocking Hospitality, saw around 65 events held across 40 sites, attended by 40 employers and 885 prisoners. This resulted in 184 interviews and 45 job offers to date.
We also know that employers want to hear from other employers when talking about the benefits of employing prison leavers. Employment Advisory Boards bring together experienced professionals across the private and third sectors and have been established across 93 prisons. Chaired by business leaders, these are a forum to collaborate with leadership teams within prisons, to support them in creating a positive culture of employment.
Similarly, we continue to work with the Employers Forum for Reducing Re-offending (EFFRR), an HMPPS-led group currently chaired by Greggs. This is a collective of local and national employers that provide training and employment opportunities for ex-offenders, including Greene King, Timpson, Marks & Spencer, Willmott Dixon and many more.
New Futures Network have also partnered with the Department for Education to raise awareness by featuring an employing prison leavers item on their business webpages: Find training and employment schemes for your business (education.gov.uk).
Asked by: Nick Fletcher (Conservative - Don Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has taken steps to implement recommendation 27 on page 260 of the Equality and Human Rights Commission's report entitled Equality and Human Rights Monitor, published in November 2023, on the under-performance of boys relative to girls in primary and secondary education.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Raising attainment for all pupils, no matter their gender or background is at the heart of this government’s agenda and the government is committed to providing a world-class education system for all.
The latest data shows that, while girls continue to outperform boys across most headline measures, the gender gap between boys and girls is narrowing.
At key stage 2 in 2022/23, the gender gap between boys and girls at the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics has decreased since 2022 and is the lowest it has been since 2016. Key stage 4 results show the gender gap has narrowed across all headline measures when comparing 2022/23 with both 2018/19 and 2021/22.
The Schools White Paper, published in March 2022, was clear about the direction of travel needed to improve attainment. It set out the department’s long-term vision for a school system that helps every child to fulfil their potential by ensuring that they receive the right support, in the right place, at the right time – founded on achieving world-class literacy and numeracy.
This is supported by significant investment in education with the overall core school budget totalling over £59.6 billion in 2024/25 which is the highest ever level in real terms per pupil. This will help schools in their vital work to close attainment gaps, and level up educational opportunities.
Alongside this, the department takes a range of steps to improve attainment and outcomes for all pupils, including improving the quality of teaching and curriculum resources, strengthening the school system, increasing attendance, and providing targeted support where needed.
The department is aware that disadvantaged pupils and those with additional needs are more likely to fall behind and need extra support to reach their full potential. This is why the department has provided additional funding to support disadvantaged pupils through the pupil premium, which will rise to over £2.9 billion in 2024/25, an increase of £80 million from 2023/24.
Programmes such as free school meals that support 2 million children, the Holiday Activities and Food programme, and support for up to 2,700 breakfast clubs also support disadvantaged pupils.
The department continues to collaborate with other government departments to address out-of-school factors that we know have a significant impact on attainment outcomes.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the study by Gabriel A. Brooks and Luke Clark entitled, The gamblers of the future? Migration from loot boxes to gambling in a longitudinal study of young adults, published in Computers in Human Behaviour, volume 141, in April 2023.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
His Majesty’s Government struck a balanced and evidence-led approach in our review of gambling regulation. We continue to monitor research, and have carefully considered the findings in this study. We recognise that there is a growing body of research that provides evidence of an association between loot box purchases and gambling activity, as well as evidence of a link with a variety of harms, including harmful gambling. However, research has not established whether a causal relationship exists, and there are a range of plausible explanations.
In order to address gaps in research around these and similar areas, we have developed and published the Video Games Research Framework to support high quality independent research into video games, including loot boxes. We are also introducing a statutory levy charged to gambling operators which will raise trusted, long-term funding for gambling research. We are clear that we will continue to look carefully at any further research that results from that and take action if necessary.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to close the attainment gap for disadvantaged pupils in (a) primary and (b) secondary state schools in the long-term.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Raising attainment for all pupils is at the heart of this government’s agenda. The disadvantage gap at key stage 2 (KS2), as measured by the disadvantage gap index, is stable compared to 2022 having slightly reduced from 3.23 in 2022 to 3.21 in 2023. The key stage 4 (KS4) disadvantage gap index has widened slightly compared to 2021/22, from 3.84 to 3.95.
Across all major departmental programmes and all phases of education, help to narrow these gaps is targeted towards pupils that need it most. The department is investing in 55 Education Investment Areas where outcomes in literacy and numeracy are the poorest, including £86 million in trust capacity funding to help strong trusts expand into areas most in need of improvement.
Regular school attendance is vital for children’s attainment, mental wellbeing and long term development. The department has a comprehensive strategy in place to improve attendance that includes stronger expectations of the system, an improved data tool, and the expansion of the attendance mentor and attendance hubs programmes. This is important as statistics show that pupils with higher attainment at KS2 and KS4 had lower levels of absence over the key stage compared to those with lower attainment.
The schools National Funding Formula (NFF) targets funding to schools that have the greatest numbers of pupils with additional needs. In 2024/25, the department is targeting over £4.4 billion (10.2%) of the NFF according to deprivation, and over £7.8 billion (17.8%) for additional needs overall. In 2024/25, schools with the highest levels of deprivation, on average, attract the largest per pupil funding increases.
As part of the department’s almost £5 billion multi-year recovery programme, the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) also addresses this gap and has delivered nearly five million tutoring courses since it began in November 2020, of which 345,606 courses were started by pupils from September to October 2023. The department listened to feedback from schools and as a result set the subsidy at 50% for 2023/24, which reduces the amount of money schools contribute towards tutoring, which may enable more tutoring to be delivered. Recovery programmes, such as the NTP and the recovery premium, are also focused on helping the most disadvantaged. The department has provided £1 billion to extend the recovery premium over the 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years. This builds on £300 million delivered in 2021/22.
Pupil premium also provides extra support for these children. This funding will rise to over £2.9 billion in the 2024/25 financial year, an increase of £80 million from 2023/24. The most disadvantaged three and four year olds are also eligible for early years pupil premium funding, which is being extended to the most disadvantaged two year olds from April 2023 and to under twos from September 2023. Low-income families and children experiencing other forms of disadvantage can qualify for 15 hours free early education for two year olds, a year before all children become eligible for 15 hours at ages three and four.
The quality of teaching a pupil receives is the single most important, in-school factor for improving outcomes. That is why the department’s ambition, as set out in the 2022 Schools White Paper, is to build a system of world-class teacher training and professional development that delivers high-quality professional development at every stage of a teacher’s career. 52,939 early career teachers have now benefitted from provider-led training as part of Early Career Framework reforms which are designed to support teachers in their crucial first years in the profession. 65,416 professionals have benefitted from a fully funded National Professional Qualification (NPQ) based on the best available evidence for effective practice since NPQs were reformed in 2021. This represents a substantial increase in comparison to the 33,399 professionals who undertook a funded NPQ in the four years between 2017 and 2021.
Additionally, the Levelling Up Premium offers higher annual payments of up to £3,000 after tax to mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who choose to work in disadvantaged secondary schools. For 2024/25 and 2025/26, the department will be doubling the rate of Levelling Up Premium to up to £6,000 after tax.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information her Department holds on the number of Integrated Care Systems that have a specialist multidisciplinary and crisis support service for (a) autistic people and (b) people with a learning disability; and whether she has made an assessment of the (i) adequacy and (ii) availability of such services.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The information requested is not held centrally as these services are commissioned locally. The NHS Long Term Plan committed to increased investment in intensive, crisis and forensic community support to enable people with learning disabilities and autistic people to receive personalised care in the community, closer to home, and with reduced preventable admissions to inpatient services. All systems are expected to have a seven-day multi-disciplinary service and crisis care to support people when they are unwell.
NHS England has worked with local systems to help them understand their gaps against this commitment and has invested £121 million to support local systems in continuing to develop and implement these services during 2023/24. NHS England has commissioned the Local Government Association to work with local systems more intensively to identify and address challenges in implementing this model of community infrastructure, through the peer review programme.
NHS England will continue to work with regional teams and local systems to identify and share areas of good practice, where services have been successful in reducing avoidable admissions to hospital, and helping people to leave hospital when they are clinically ready for discharge.
Each integrated care board produces a five-year joint forward plan with partner trusts and foundation trusts. This will include the needs of the entire local population, including people with a learning disability and autistic people.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the (a) adequacy and (b) availability of forensic community support services for (a) autistic people and (b) people with a learning disability.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
This specific assessment has not been made. The NHS Long Term Plan committed to increased investment in intensive, crisis and forensic community support to enable people with learning disabilities and autistic people receive personalised care in the community, closer to home, and with reduced preventable admissions to inpatient services. All systems are expected to have a seven-day multi-disciplinary service and crisis care to support people when they are unwell.
NHS England has worked with local systems to help them understand their gaps against this commitment and has invested £121 million to support local systems in continuing to develop and implement these services during 2023/24. NHS England has commissioned the Local Government Association to work with local systems more intensively to identify and address challenges in implementing this model of community infrastructure, through the peer review programme.
NHS England will continue to work with regional teams and local systems to identify and share areas of good practice, where services have been successful in reducing avoidable admissions to hospital, and helping people to leave hospital when they are clinically ready for discharge.
Each integrated care board produces a five-year joint forward plan with partner trusts and foundation trusts. This will include the needs of the entire local population, including people with a learning disability and autistic people.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
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 (a) adequacy and (b) availability of alternative short-term accommodation provided by integrated care systems for (i) autistic people and (ii) people with a learning disability.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The NHS Long Term Plan committed to increased investment in intensive, crisis, and forensic community support to enable people with learning disabilities and autistic people to receive personalised care in the community, closer to home, and to reduce preventable admissions to inpatient services. All systems are expected to have a seven-day multi-disciplinary service and crisis care to support people when they are unwell.
NHS England has worked with local systems to help them understand their gaps against this commitment and has invested £121 million to support local systems to continue developing and implementing these services during 2023/24. NHS England has commissioned the Local Government Association to work with local systems more intensively to identify and address challenges to implementing this model of community infrastructure, through the peer review programme.
NHS England will continue to work with regional teams and local systems to identify and share areas of good practice, where services have been successful in reducing avoidable admissions to hospital, and helping people to leave hospital when they are clinically ready for discharge.
Each integrated care board produces a five-year joint forward plan with partner trusts and foundation trusts. This will include the needs of the entire local population, including people with a learning disability and autistic people.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support local authorities with finding homes for children with complex needs.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
All children should live somewhere that meets their needs and keeps them safe. Under Section 22G of the Children Act 1989, it is the duty of each local social services authority to provide suitable accommodation for children in their care. However, the government recognises the challenges local authorities face, and the need for system-wide reform.
To support local authorities, the department has allocated £259 million in funding to maintain capacity and expand provision across open children’s homes (OCHs) and secure children’s homes (SCHs) within England, up until March 2025. Funding to develop OCH provision is provided on a match-funding basis with the department and the local authority local authority contributing 50% funding. For SCH provision, the department provides local authorities with 100% funding. Additional capacity has already been developed, with 36 smaller projects being complete and becoming operational within the SCH estate since the programme launched in 2021.
The government recognises the need for long-term, system-level reform of children’s social care. In February 2023, the government published “Stable Homes, Built on Love – Implementation Strategy and Consultation”, which set out the government’s proposals to reform children’s social care following reviews from the Competition and Markets Authority and Independent Review of Children’s Social Care. The report recommends system changes to ensure suitable placements are available to meet the needs of children.
The department recognises that some children and young people can fall between gaps in a complex system of education, social care and justice services, and there is a lack of evidence-based, integrated, co-commissioned models of care. These gaps are being addressed through a jointly led departmental and NHS England cross-government work programme to improve how system partners work together to improve outcomes for children who are in the most complex situations.
The department has established an ‘‘Improving support for Children in Complex Situations with Multiple Needs” Task and Finish Group (TFG), which aims to enhance support for children in complex situations. The goal is to improve collaboration among system partners to better serve children, particularly those at risk of losing their freedom. The group aims to align government efforts to design, commission and deliver integrated care models, including social care, health, education and youth justice, with the support of key stakeholders.
Transparency data has been published online which provides more information about the TFG and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/improving-cross-sector-support-for-children-in-complex-situations-with-multiple-needs-task-and-finish-group?cgfc.
Asked by: Mark Eastwood (Conservative - Dewsbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of support available to people affected by strokes in West Yorkshire.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board have a dedicated team who are working to implement the National Stroke Service Model. This outlines best practice for stroke care for the National Health Service.
The West Yorkshire and Harrogate Integrated Stroke Delivery Network (ISDN) is currently collaborating with all community stroke teams in the area to transform and improve their services. This work has identified gaps in the current workforce provision and differences across the network that will need resolving so it can deliver the recommended national model by NHS England.
The West Yorkshire and Harrogate ISDN is working with all community stroke teams to develop a long-term strategy to:
- address the shortage of qualified staff;
- reconfigure existing services to continually improve;
- achieve efficiency savings; and
- promote and spread innovative practice throughout the network.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, If he will introduce a National Day of Service and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The Home Office has conducted an internal review into the support package provided to victims of terrorism.
The scope of the review covered how the government considers victims of terrorism, what gaps there are in the current support offer and whether communication of the support available is right.
The review recognises that memorialisation and recognition are an important factor in victims’ recovery and has considered how victims could be commemorated in the future.
We will seek to update on next steps in due course.