Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to reduce the costs of error in the last three financial years.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Figures used in the cross-Government Fraud Landscape Report show the level of detected error across the group including arm’s length bodies. The figures for 2021-22 and 2022-23 may be found in the following reports: Annual Report and Accounts 2021-22 and Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23.
Steps we have taken are detailed in the annual report and accounts. These include creation of a dedicated grants hub with counter fraud expertise, fraud risk assessments, prepayment checks allowing correction of errors prior to payment, audits of both the control environment and delivery bodies’ counter fraud capability, external assurance, as well as governance forums which routinely consider the risk of fraud and error at both design and delivery stages.
The Government reports a combined fraud and error rate as it is difficult to disaggregate between the two, is cost intensive and may not be the most effective use of limited department resources. The choice is therefore left to the discretion of individual departments.
When found, error would be defined as losses arising from unintentional events, processing errors and official government errors.
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 Charity Commission in each year since 2015.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
454 staff members have left the Charity Commission since 2014/2015. The Charity Commission publishes monthly transparency data on its workforce management which includes staffing headcount data. Additionally, yearly data on the Commission’s workforce is available online.
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 steps she is taking to ensure young people continue to have opportunities for democratic participation at the local authority level following the closure of the British Youth Council.
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: 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: Andy Carter (Conservative - Warrington South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help increase uptake of the shingles vaccine by people aged over 65 in Warrington.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has recommended that those who are eligible for the shingles vaccine should change, to allow individuals to be protected at an earlier age, particularly those that have a weakened immune system. Based on the evidence, they recognised that there may be more clinical benefit from starting shingles vaccinations at a lower age, with modelling indicating that a greater number of cases of shingles would be prevented with vaccination at 60 years old for immunocompetent individuals, and 50 years old for immunosuppressed individuals. The committee advised that the programme should be implemented in stages, starting with those that are over 50 years old with a weakened immune system and those turning 65 and 70 years old, then eventually moving down to those turning 60 years old. This is a similar pattern to the roll out of the shingles vaccine from 2013. This is why the vaccine offer has been expanded to all those turning 65 and 70 years old and all those over 50 years old with a weakened immune system, from 1 September 2023. The programme began on 1 September 2023 and will run until 31 August 2028, offering the vaccine to people as they turn 65 and 70 years old, until the offer has been made to all those aged 65 to 70 years old. It will then expand to offering the vaccine to all those that are turning 60 and 65 years old, from 1 September 2028.
The shingles vaccine is available through general practice (GP) surgeries in primary care, and GPs are required to identify and put in place a call or recall arrangement to offer the shingles vaccination to eligible patients. All eligible patients are contacted by their GP surgery to invite them for vaccination. The GP will then follow up with letters or with calls and text messages, to encourage eligible people that have not come forward to take up the offer.
There is a wide range of public facing information to help increase uptake of the shingles vaccine, and to publicise the programme in GP surgeries and online, including display bunting, leaflets, and posters. GPs are also adding messages regarding shingles to their practice websites, prescription counterfoils, and social media banners. Public facing information regarding the shingles vaccination programme includes translations into over 20 different languages including braille, audio, large print, and British Sign Language. Information for healthcare professionals, including GP toolkits for improving uptake of shingles vaccination, has also been produced and published by local immunisation commissioning teams.
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: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government made plans for the celebration of St. George's Day in England.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
My department promotes the importance of celebrating St George’s Day each year through its flag flying policy for designated days which encourages the flying of the Union Flag on UK Government Buildings.
St George’s Day is a designated day. UK Government Buildings, where they have more than one flag pole, are also encouraged to fly the Cross of St George alongside the Union Flag. Individuals, local authorities and other organisations may fly the Cross of St George if they wish.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students who have started T-Level courses have not completed them in the last two years.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The department’s recently published 2023/24 T Level Action Plan outlines the developments and next steps for T Levels and includes the latest student data for the programme. It shows that 5,321 students began their T Level in 2021/22. In summer 2023, 3,592 of those students were retained (68%), and 3,510 were retained and assessed (66%). Further data about T Levels, as well as details of the methodology used in the above can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66290c86b0ace32985a7e6d6/T_Level_action_plan_-_analytical_annex.pdf.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information his Department holds on the number for fire fighting (a) appliances and (b) vehicles owned by the Fire and Rescue Service over the last five financial years, by each region.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The latest available data (year ending March 2021) on the number of fire -fighting appliances and vehicles owned by the Fire and Rescue Service is published in FIRE1403, available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/634d2ed6e90e0731aa0fcc59/fire-statistics-data-tables-fire1403-201022.xlsx.
This provides the number of fire operational appliances (fire-fighting appliances) and non-operational appliances which includes the subcategory of vehicles. The data is provided by year for England, and for each fire and rescue service (FRS), designated as either metropolitan or non-metropolitan. We do not publish the data by region, but the numbers for each FRS can be aggregated to provide required regional level data.
The table below provides the number of operational and non-operational appliances in England between the years ending March 2017 and years ending March 2021.
Year ending March | Number of operational appliances | Number of non-operational appliances | Total number of appliances |
2017 | 3,201 | 5,831 | 9,032 |
2018 | 3,445 | 5,609 | 9,054 |
2019 | 3,352 | 5,740 | 9,092 |
2020 | 3,525 | 5,727 | 9,252 |
2021 | 3,608 | 5,729 | 9,337 |
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.