Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 24 April to Question 181792 on Child Trust Funds: what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of its policies on simplifying the process for families to access Child Trust Funds.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Although primary responsibility for communicating with account holders and their parents lies with Child Trust Fund (CTF) providers, the government is committed to helping people access the savings they are entitled to and continues to explore new routes to reunite young people with their mature CTFs.
HMRC actively engages with the industry, other government departments, organisations such as the Money and Pensions Service, and youth focused charities to ensure that young people are aware of, and can access, their CTFs. HMRC also issues a range of communications and provides resources for key intermediaries such as the University and Colleges Admissions Service, who have greater influence and visibility amongst the CTF audience.
The government’s current plans will reunite most accounts with their owners, but there may be some cases where further action will be required. The government will monitor how many matured accounts remain open and judge when it is appropriate to intervene in other ways.
If a child lacks the mental capacity to manage their account when they turn 18, a person with responsibility must apply to the Court of Protection (or equivalents in Scotland and Northern Ireland) for a financial deputyship order. While responsibility for the process and legislation relating to mental capacity rests with the Ministry of Justice and devolved administrations, the CTF guidance on gov.uk provides specific references to mental capacity and links to the relevant bodies in England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what guidance his Department provides to the families of children with health conditions that are trying to access their Child Trust Funds.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Although primary responsibility for communicating with account holders and their parents lies with Child Trust Fund (CTF) providers, the government is committed to helping people access the savings they are entitled to and continues to explore new routes to reunite young people with their mature CTFs.
HMRC actively engages with the industry, other government departments, organisations such as the Money and Pensions Service, and youth focused charities to ensure that young people are aware of, and can access, their CTFs. HMRC also issues a range of communications and provides resources for key intermediaries such as the University and Colleges Admissions Service, who have greater influence and visibility amongst the CTF audience.
The government’s current plans will reunite most accounts with their owners, but there may be some cases where further action will be required. The government will monitor how many matured accounts remain open and judge when it is appropriate to intervene in other ways.
If a child lacks the mental capacity to manage their account when they turn 18, a person with responsibility must apply to the Court of Protection (or equivalents in Scotland and Northern Ireland) for a financial deputyship order. While responsibility for the process and legislation relating to mental capacity rests with the Ministry of Justice and devolved administrations, the CTF guidance on gov.uk provides specific references to mental capacity and links to the relevant bodies in England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham on 19 September (HL10107), what consultations have taken place about the membership of the independent advisory panel as set out in Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/786; and who has so far been appointed to the panel.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The last consultation by the European Commission on the Independent Advisory panel on characterising flavours in tobacco products was held from 15 July 2016 to 20 October 2016.
The current panel exists of six members. Members are appointed for a renewable term of five years. The Commission also has a list of reserved suitable panel members. The following experts are current members of the Independent Advisory Panel:
- Dr. Alberto Del Rio, Innovamol Consulting Srl, Bologna, Italy;
- Dr. Garmt Dijksterhuis, The Netherlands;
- Dr. Jan van Amsterdam, Department of Psychiatry, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands;
- Mr. Emmanuel Vanzeveren, It makes sense SPRL, Braine Le Comte, Belgium (Vice-chair);
- Dr. Wouter Visser, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands; and
- Prof. Efthimios Zervas, Hellenic Open University, Patra, Greece (Chair).
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to providing additional resources to fund places for looked after children to boarding schools; and what assessment they have made, of any, of any benefits such children could gain from that process.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department launched the Broadening Educational Pathways programme in 2020 to increase the role of the independent and state-funded boarding sector in the education of looked-after children. The Royal National Children’s Springboard Foundation was appointed as a delivery partner, providing a placement brokerage service to ensure children are placed in schools best suited to support their educational attainment and personal wellbeing. In the ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’ implementation strategy, the department committed to further expansion of the programme and has subsequently extended the contract until September 2024 to further open up educational opportunities in boarding schools to even more children in and on the edge of care.
The department will continue, over the course of the contract, to work in partnership with the Royal National Children’s Springboard Foundation to understand the benefits to the children and young people placed by the programme, including the findings of formal research they have commissioned, from the University of Nottingham, on the outcomes for looked-after and vulnerable children attending boarding schools.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many new hospitals have commenced construction since the beginning of this Parliament.
Answered by Will Quince
There are five schemes currently under construction. Three schemes have completed construction with two already open to patients, and one due to open in the coming weeks. Since this Parliamentary session opened on 10 May 2022, one New Hospital Programme scheme has started construction. This is the scheme at Oriel Eye Hospital for Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. One further scheme for Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, the National Rehabilitation Centre is due to commence construction shortly.
21 sites in the programme have secured either full or outline planning permission, and we continue to work with trusts on opportunities to carry out works to prepare the sites in advance of main construction beginning.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State of 23 March 2023, Official Report, column 1850, if he will provide a breakdown of financial expenditure within (a) the core programme and (b) special development strategies of the prison education budget.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The prison education budget is broken down as follows: (a) the core programme is £115.7 million, and (b) special development strategies is Dynamic Purchasing System (niche and short-term initiatives): £10.4 million, Information, Advice and Guidance: £7.6 Million, Library (non-Prison Education Framework): £5.8 million, Grants (Open University/ Prisoners Education Trust): £1.2 million, OFSTED: £1.4 million, Virtual Campus: £1.4 million.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help increase the number of fishermen.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Through our UK Seafood Fund, we are investing up to £10 million to support projects that will develop new courses and improve the quality of current courses to attract new entrants and upskill existing workers. In our first funding round, we awarded just over £1 million with nearly half of the funding allocated to Scotland.
In Shetland, we awarded just over £186,000 to the University of Highlands and Islands that will partner with industry and schools to pilot courses aimed at introducing 13 to 16 year-olds to the seafood sector and seafood careers and help 16 to 18 year-olds transition into the seafood industry. The courses will also made available to new adult entrants.
A second funding round, which will provide further funding to improve the quality and accessibility of training facilities is open until 19 May and I would encourage applications. More details can be found here: UK Seafood Fund: Skills and Training Scheme - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase the uptake of higher technical qualifications.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The department is delivering reforms to increase the profile, prestige and uptake of higher technical education. Central to this is the introduction of Higher Technical Qualifications (HTQs). Increasing uptake in HTQs is key to help people climb the ladder of opportunity and progress to more highly skilled jobs and careers.
HTQs became available for teaching from September 2022, starting with Digital HTQs. There are over 70 providers able to deliver HTQs from September 2022, with the majority being further education colleges. 106 qualifications have now been approved as HTQs across Digital, Construction and Health and Science routes, with HTQs in the latter two routes available for teaching from September this year. HTQs across all occupational routes are due to be rolled out by academic year 2025/26 where relevant occupational standards are available.
To support more people studying HTQs as they roll out, we are promoting HTQs as part of national government skills communications and engagement campaigns for young people, adults and employers, as well as working with partners such as UCAS and National Careers Service to improve the information and support available.
We have also announced investments of around £70 million to date to support the growth of high quality higher technical education (HTE). This includes supporting providers to grow capacity through the HTE Growth Fund and Skills Injection Fund. We are also supporting the Open University to deliver validation services and support for up to 10 further education providers to give them the confidence and capability to deliver the courses local people want and develop the skills base local employers need.
The department has extended student finance access for HTQs. From September 2023 learners studying HTQs part-time will be able to access maintenance loans, as they can with degrees. This will help learners fit study around work and other commitments.
HTQs will be among the first courses eligible for modular funding when the Lifelong Loan Entitlement launches in academic year 2025/26, as announced on 7 March 2023, providing more flexible options for learning.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of potential merits of introducing a requirement for coroners to inform universities of the death of a student enrolled on a course.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Every student death is a tragedy. Where a student’s death is investigated by the coroner, it may be appropriate for the higher education provider to have “interested person” status in the investigation and, where this is the case, would be provided with the Record of Inquest which includes the cause of death. Inquest hearings are public and open for anyone to attend.
In addition, coroners have a statutory duty to issue a report to prevent future deaths (a PFD report) where they consider that an investigation has identified circumstances which should be addressed to prevent or reduce the risk of future deaths. The report must be made to a person or organisation whom the coroner believes could have the power to take action, which may include higher education providers, and recipients are obliged by law to respond.
As coroners are independent judicial office holders, the way in which they conduct their investigations is entirely a matter for them. It would therefore be inappropriate to impose a duty on them to provide information to higher education providers in relation to individual student suicide cases. Moreover, coronial investigations are limited fact-finding exercises, and it cannot be guaranteed that consistent and comprehensive information on a deceased person’s background will be made available to the coroner in every case.
The Government expects all higher education providers to take suicide prevention very seriously, providing information with place for students to find help, actively identifying students at risk, and intervening with swift support when needed. Where a tragedy does occur, this must be treated with the utmost sensitivity by a provider. This approach to suicide prevention is set out in the Suicide Safer Universities framework, led by Universities UK and Papyrus and supported by Government. Supporting mental health and ensuring action is taken to prevent future tragedies is a high priority for Government. That is why we have targeted funding at mental health support measure including, partnerships between higher education providers and NHS services to provide better pathways of care for university students.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy to require coroners to inform universities when the suicide of an enrolled student is registered.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Every student death is a tragedy. Where a student’s death is investigated by the coroner, it may be appropriate for the higher education provider to have “interested person” status in the investigation and, where this is the case, would be provided with the Record of Inquest which includes the cause of death. Inquest hearings are public and open for anyone to attend.
In addition, Coroners have a statutory duty to issue a report to prevent future deaths (a PFD report) where they consider that an investigation has identified circumstances which should be addressed to prevent or reduce the risk of future deaths. The report must be made to a person or organisation whom the coroner believes could have the power to take action, which may include higher education providers, and recipients are obliged by law to respond.
As coroners are independent judicial office holders, the way in which they conduct their investigations is entirely a matter for them. It would therefore be inappropriate to impose a duty on them to provide information to higher education providers in relation to individual student suicide cases. Moreover, coronial investigations are limited fact-finding exercises, and it therefore cannot be guaranteed that consistent and comprehensive information on a deceased person’s background will be made available to the coroner in every case.
The Government expects all higher education providers to take suicide prevention very seriously, providing information with place for students to find help, actively identifying students at risk, and intervening with swift support when needed. Where a tragedy does occur, this must be treated with the utmost sensitivity by a provider. This approach to suicide prevention is set out in the Suicide Safer Universities framework, led by Universities UK and Papyrus and supported by Government. Supporting mental health and ensuring action is taken to prevent future tragedies is a high priority for Government. That is why we have targeted funding at mental health support measure including, supporting partnerships between higher education providers and NHS services to provide better pathways of care for university students.