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1388598

	registered interest
	date	16/12/2021
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Free School Meals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils were in receipt of free school meals in the 12 months from June (a) 2011 and (b) 2021.
	tabling member constituency	Harlow
	tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
	uin	94335
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/01/2022 answer text <p>The department does not hold monthly pupil data of who is in receipt of free school meals. The answer provided is based off the annual School Census. In 2011, 1,246,435 children were eligible for free school meals, 16.8% of the school population. In 2021, 1,737,600 were eligible for free school meals, 20.8% of the school population.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 05/01/2022 18:00:19 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon

1340418

	registered interest
	date	28/06/2021
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Children: Disadvantaged
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	What recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Education on support for vulnerable children.
	tabling member constituency	Harlow
	tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
	uin	901865
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/06/2021 answer text <p>The Secretary of State frequently meets with counterparts across Government to discuss a range of issues, including how we can support families and vulnerable children, so we can deliver on our clear manifesto commitment to reduce child poverty.</p><p>Just last week, we announced the extension of the Covid Local Support Grant to 30<sup>th</sup> September, with a further £160 million of support to be delivered across England and primarily targeted at vulnerable families with children.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 28/06/2021 15:35:01 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon

1521788

	registered interest
	date	13/10/2022
	answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
	answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
	hansard heading	NHS: Drugs
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason her Department included branded (a) generic and (b) biosimilar medicines that delivered savings to the NHS within the current voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing and access scheme.
	tabling member constituency	Harlow
	tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
	uin	62792
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/11/2022 answer text <p>Medicines which are required to be prescribed by brand name, including some branded generics and biosimilars, are not interchangeable. Therefore, competitive forces will not act in the same way as for generic medicines and price regulation is justified. The inclusion of these medicines in the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access was agreed with industry in 2019.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 01/11/2022 12:23:25 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon

1521782

	registered interest
	date	13/10/2022
	answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
	answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
	hansard heading	NHS: Drugs
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans her Department has to carry out an impact assessment on the effect of an increased voluntary scheme for branded medicine rate to a projected 23.7 per cent in 2023 upon the supply of medicines to the NHS.
	tabling member constituency	Harlow
	tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
	uin	62790
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/11/2022 answer text <p>The Department has no plans to carry out an impact assessment on the 2023 payment percentage. The Department’s standard practice is to set the payment percentage based on measured sales. The payment percentage projected for 2023 is in line with Department projections shared with industry when the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access (VPAS) was agreed.</p><p>We have seen no evidence that increased VPAS payments have or will impact on the supply of medicines to the National Health Service. Where payment rates may put pressure on the profitability of individual products, there are provisions in the scheme for companies to apply for a price increase.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 01/11/2022 12:16:12 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon

1521780

	registered interest
	date	13/10/2022
	answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
	answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
	hansard heading	NHS: Drugs
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many medicine by presentations included within the Voluntary Patient Access Scheme have had NHS List Price increase approved by their Department since 1 January 2020; and what was the average percentage increase for any such increases.
	tabling member constituency	Harlow
	tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
	uin	62789
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2022 answer text <p>Between 1 January 2020 and 14 October 2022, members of the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access have received approval for an increase to the National Health Service list price for 35 medicines, for 120 presentations. The majority of price increases have been concentrated in specific market segments particularly impacted by global cost increases in the active pharmaceutical ingredient.</p><p>Price increase requests are assessed in line with Scheme’s rules, which ensure companies cannot make excess profits by setting a return on sales target of 6% for standard price increase requests.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 03/11/2022 13:28:21 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon

1357973

	registered interest
	date	23/09/2021
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Education: Equality
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to help ensure equal accessibility in education for children from all backgrounds.
	tabling member constituency	Harlow
	tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
	uin	53873
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/10/2021 answer text <p>Our ambition is for every child, no matter what challenges they face, to have access to a world-class education that sets them up for life.</p><p>The government places mandatory requirements on school admission authorities through the School Admissions Code. Its purpose is to ensure that all school places for maintained schools and academies are allocated and offered in an open and fair way. The School Admissions Code requires that admission arrangements do not unfairly disadvantage children from a particular social group. On 1 September 2021, the department introduced a new School Admissions Code which aims to improve the in-year admission of vulnerable children and help reduce to a minimum any time spent out of school.</p><p>Looked after and previously looked after children are among the most vulnerable in our society and so all schools are required to give highest priority in their admissions criteria to them. The School Admissions Code also gives admission authorities the freedom to choose to prioritise children eligible for the pupil premium or who have a social or medical need, according to their local circumstances.</p><p>Where a pupil is identified as having special educational needs, schools should take action to remove barriers to learning and put effective special educational provision in place. Schools also have a legal duty to produce an accessibility plan that sets out how, over time, they are going to increase access to the curriculum for disabled pupils, improve the physical environment of the school to increase access for disabled pupils, and make written information more accessible to disabled pupils by providing information in a range of different ways.</p><p>The department is investing £300 million in the 2021-22 financial year to support local authorities to deliver new places and improve existing provision for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities or who require alternative provision. It is for local authorities to determine how to best use this funding to address their local priorities, such as investment in accessibility to improve or broaden access to existing provision.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 21/10/2021 08:25:11 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon

1186318

	registered interest
	date	18/03/2020
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Food Banks: Coronavirus
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions she has had with supermarket chains and suppliers on ensuring that the foodbanks can meet the increased demand as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
	tabling member constituency	Harlow
	tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
	uin	31483
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/03/2020 answer text <p>Food banks are independent charitable organisations and, as such, are best placed to decide on the most appropriate arrangements for supporting people who use them. As both the Prime Minister and the Chancellor have made clear, the Government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID 19 and we have been clear in our intention that no one should be penalised for doing the right thing. These are rapidly developing circumstances, we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.</p><p> </p><p>I also refer the honourable member to the response given by the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in response to an oral question made on 19 March:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2020-03-19/debates/EBB8F3D7-F9F4-4C5C-B913-86FD27851B5D/VulnerablePeopleFoodSupplies" target="_blank">https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2020-03-19/debates/EBB8F3D7-F9F4-4C5C-B913-86FD27851B5D/VulnerablePeopleFoodSupplies</a>”</p><p /><p>[Additionally announcements were made at the Prime Minister’s daily briefings on 21 and 22 March in relation to food supply]</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 23/03/2020 18:29:01 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon

1452119

	registered interest
	date	17/03/2022
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Children: Speech and Language Disorders
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how the £1 billion allocated to schools as part of the Recovery Premium will be spent to help children’s speech and language.
	tabling member constituency	Harlow
	tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
	uin	141964
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/03/2022 answer text <p>The £300 million Recovery Premium for this academic year is additional funding to help schools deliver evidence-based approaches to support education recovery. In October 2021, as part of our broader Spending Review settlement, we announced an extension to the Recovery Premium, worth £1 billion for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years.</p><p>Recovery Premium eligibility builds on that of pupil premium, but school leaders have flexibility to use the funding to support any pupil where a need is identified, including those with speech and language difficulties.</p><p> </p><p>Schools are expected to spend their Recovery Premium, alongside their pupil premium, in line with the Education Endowment Foundation’s recommendation to fund activities that support high quality teaching, provide targeted academic support, and address non-academic barriers to success in school, such as attendance, behaviour, and social and emotional support.</p><p>Schools should therefore use their funding to assess and address immediate needs, such as those relating to speech and language difficulties, as well as longer-term strategic improvements, such as boosting the quality of oracy teaching.</p><p>We are also investing up to £180 million of recovery support in the early years sector, with new programmes focusing on key areas such as speech and language development for the youngest children. This includes:</p><ul><li>an expansion of the professional development programme, which has a focus on early language and mathematics, as well as personal, social, and emotional development</li><li>a significant expansion in the number of staff in group-based providers, and childminders, with an accredited level 3 Special Educational Needs Coordinator qualification</li><li>programmes to train early years practitioners to support parents with the home learning environment, and improve children’s early language, social and emotional development, and</li><li>the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) programme, aimed at reception aged children needing extra support with their speech and language development.</li></ul><p>The NELI programme includes training for staff on identifying speech and language difficulties, and is proven to help children make around 3 months of additional progress.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 141962 question first answered 25/03/2022 14:50:37 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon

1452117

	registered interest
	date	17/03/2022
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Children: Speech and Language Disorders
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of how the Recovery Premium benefit children with a speech and language difficulty or whose development in speaking and understanding language has been adversely affected as a result of the covid-19 outbreak and associated schools closures.
	tabling member constituency	Harlow
	tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
	uin	141962
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/03/2022 answer text <p>The £300 million Recovery Premium for this academic year is additional funding to help schools deliver evidence-based approaches to support education recovery. In October 2021, as part of our broader Spending Review settlement, we announced an extension to the Recovery Premium, worth £1 billion for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years.</p><p>Recovery Premium eligibility builds on that of pupil premium, but school leaders have flexibility to use the funding to support any pupil where a need is identified, including those with speech and language difficulties.</p><p> </p><p>Schools are expected to spend their Recovery Premium, alongside their pupil premium, in line with the Education Endowment Foundation’s recommendation to fund activities that support high quality teaching, provide targeted academic support, and address non-academic barriers to success in school, such as attendance, behaviour, and social and emotional support.</p><p>Schools should therefore use their funding to assess and address immediate needs, such as those relating to speech and language difficulties, as well as longer-term strategic improvements, such as boosting the quality of oracy teaching.</p><p>We are also investing up to £180 million of recovery support in the early years sector, with new programmes focusing on key areas such as speech and language development for the youngest children. This includes:</p><ul><li>an expansion of the professional development programme, which has a focus on early language and mathematics, as well as personal, social, and emotional development</li><li>a significant expansion in the number of staff in group-based providers, and childminders, with an accredited level 3 Special Educational Needs Coordinator qualification</li><li>programmes to train early years practitioners to support parents with the home learning environment, and improve children’s early language, social and emotional development, and</li><li>the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) programme, aimed at reception aged children needing extra support with their speech and language development.</li></ul><p>The NELI programme includes training for staff on identifying speech and language difficulties, and is proven to help children make around 3 months of additional progress.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 141964 question first answered 25/03/2022 14:50:37 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon

1416310

	registered interest
	date	25/01/2022
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Children: Protection
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Health and Social Care Bill proposals on joint working between local authorities, the police and health authorities on safeguarding children.
	tabling member constituency	Harlow
	tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
	uin	111551
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/02/2022 answer text <p>Safeguarding children requires strong multi-agency arrangements. This statutory duty is equally shared between local authorities, health and police. The department is working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care, the Home Office and key sector stakeholders to ensure that safeguarding remains a priority under the Health and Social Care Bill. We are also working to assure that the needs of children and young people stay central to decision-making within these new multi-agency arrangements.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 02/02/2022 12:38:30 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon