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 adequacy of the geographical coverage of bereavement services; and whether she has identified (a) geographical, (b) socio-economic and (c) protected characteristic inequalities in the coverage of such services.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No assessment has been made of the adequacy of geographical coverage of bereavement services, nor of the geographical, socioeconomic or protected characteristic inequalities in the coverage of such services. The Government wants people to be able to access the bereavement support they need, when they need it. We strongly encourage anyone struggling with bereavement, no matter how long after loss, to contact their general practitioner who can help provide support, signpost to specialist bereavement support charities, or make a referral to a counsellor.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of school building conditions.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The government has compiled one of the largest and most comprehensive surveys of school building condition in Europe. The Condition Data Collection (CDC) programme is the first of its kind to help us understand the condition of the school estate, and target funding to where it is most needed. This programme ran from 2017 to 2019 and visited over 22,000 schools. The key findings from the first CDC programme is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/989912/Condition_of_School_Buildings_Survey_CDC1_-_key_findings_report.pdf.
A follow up programme, known as Condition Data Collection 2, is underway and has already visited over half of the government funded school and college estate in England. The programme is due to be completed by 2026.
It is the responsibility of those who run schools – such as academy trusts and local authorities – who work with their schools day to day to manage maintenance and to alert the department if there is a serious concern with a building that cannot be managed independently. The department supports them by providing capital funding, delivering major rebuilding programmes and offering guidance and support.
The department has allocated over £17 billion since 2015 for improving the condition of schools, including £1.8 billion announced for 2024/25. In addition, the School Rebuilding Programme is transforming buildings at over 500 schools across England.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
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 estimate of average weekly expenditure on the NHS in real terms in each year since 2016.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The below table shows the average weekly and yearly expenditure on the National Health Service in real terms and nominally, each year since 2016, including spending against the Revenue Departmental Expenditure Limit (RDEL) by NHS England, the integrated care boards, and providers:
Year | RDEL spend per year in nominal terms | RDEL spend per year in real terms | RDEL spend per week in real terms |
2016/17 | £105,735,000,000 | £125,293,000,000 | £2,409,000,000 |
2017/18 | £109,605,000,000 | £127,879,000,000 | £2,459,000,000 |
2018/19 | £114,331,000,000 | £130,634,000,000 | £2,512,000,000 |
2019/20 | £123,750,000,000 | £138,145,000,000 | £2,657,000,000 |
2020/21 | £143,367,000,000 | £151,775,000,000 | £2,919,000,000 |
2021/22 | £149,322,000,000 | £159,379,000,000 | £3,065,000,000 |
2022/23 | £158,347,000,000 | £158,347,000,000 | £3,045,000,000 |
Source: table 66 of the Department of Health and Social Care’s annual report.
Note: figures have been adjusted for inflation using HM Treasury’s gross domestic product deflators, as of April 2024.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what steps his Department is taking to monitor (a) the enforcement of dress codes and (b) other human rights abuses in Iran.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We continue to work with international partners to hold Iran accountable for its unacceptable human rights record. At the 55th Human Rights Council session, the UK was on the core group for the Iran human rights resolution, which successfully renewed the mandates of the Special Rapporteur and the Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Iran human rights, enabling continued monitoring of abuses against women and girls and religious and ethnic minorities, as well as freedom of expression. We continue to engage with UK-based and international organisations on human rights, including Iranian diaspora organisations. In October 2023, the former Foreign Secretary and Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon hosted a roundtable with women's rights activists, joining them publicly in calling for an end to impunity and violence. Since October 2022, we have sanctioned 94 individuals or entities for human rights abuses, including senior decision makers responsible for enforcing Iran's mandatory hijab law. We continually assess our human rights sanctions regime, and will make further designations where we have the evidence to do so. We will continue to raise human rights issues with the Iranian Government.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he plans to issue his Department's guidance on the circumstances in which exceptions will be made for asylum seekers from countries on the safe list.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Section 80A(5) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 and section 6(5) of the Illegal Migration Act 2023 set out some examples of what may constitute exceptional circumstances, relevant to the substantive consideration of asylum claims and to removal under the Illegal Migration Act to s.80AA(1) listed states (respectively). These examples are neither exhaustive nor relevant to all cases, and do not purport to be.
Exceptional circumstances are not defined or limited in legislation, but will be considered and applied on a case-by-case basis where it is appropriate.
When we commence and implement the wider measures as set out in section 59 of the Illegal Migration Act 2023, we will provide updated guidance to assist caseworkers in their consideration of exceptional circumstances, and the wider provisions.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the apprenticeship system in increasing the number of high quality apprenticeship starts.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
High-quality apprenticeships reach nearly 700 occupations and deliver for individuals and businesses, with apprenticeship starts up 2% so far this year.
Over 80% of employers are satisfied with their apprenticeships and 92% of apprentices that achieve go into sustained employment.
The department is injecting an additional £60 million this year to support even more apprenticeships, including for young people and small and medium-sized enterprises, and £50 million over two years to boost starts in growth sectors like engineering and manufacturing.
The department has also increased the apprentice minimum wage by 21% to £6.40 per hour which will benefit an estimated 40,000 apprentices.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the risk to British–Iranian journalists in the United Kingdom after threats from the government of Iran, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in particular.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Whilst we do not routinely comment on operational matters or specific threats, Iran has been clear in its intentions, publicly calling for the capture or killing of those holding it to account, either in the UK or abroad. Since the start of 2022, Iran has attempted to carry out these threats on numerous occasions, with over 15 credible threats to kill or kidnap British or UK-based individuals.
The UK Government is committed to the promotion of media freedom and takes protection of individuals’ rights, freedoms, and safety very seriously. It is paramount that all media professionals are free to work without fear and journalists must be able to investigate and report independently.
We continually assess potential threats to individuals and take a proactive approach to identifying and investigating them. Wherever a threat is identified, we use all measures, including through the Police and security and intelligence services, to mitigate risk to individuals.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what evidence of (a) identity and (b) immigration status GPs require from patients seeking to access their services; and whether her Department provides guidance to GPs on ensuring that identification provided by those people is genuine.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Patients have the legal right to choose a general practice (GP) that best suits their needs. An individual should not be refused registration or appointments because they do not have proof of address or personal identification. Patients do not need to provide proof of address or immigration status, identification, or a National Health Service number to register with a GP. The vast majority of migrants are required to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge when applying for a visa to stay in the United Kingdom for longer than six months.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people the Work and Health Programme has supported into work (a) in total and (b) by region.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The number of participants on the Work and Health Programme who achieve job outcomes, and when they are achieved, are published in the job outcomes statistics on Stat-Xplore and are available for England and Wales and regional level to November 2023.
Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 17 April 2024 to Question 21043 on Afghanistan: Refugees, in how many and what proportion of reassessed ARAP applications has the applicant been assessed as being eligible for relocation.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The reassessment of applications from those with credible links to former Afghan specialist units began on March 26 and I can confirm that overturned decisions have already been communicated to applicants.
As I stated in my answer to Question 21043, my immediate priority is to process all cases as diligently and swiftly as is possible. I will update the House once the review is completed.