Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1380228

	registered interest
	date	19/11/2021
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Special Educational Needs: Reviews
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, subject to the successful piloting of Access to Work adjustment passports, whether he plans to embed passports for children with special educational needs and disabilities support (SEND) in schools and colleges in an updated Code of Practice following his Department's SEND review.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Wera Hobhouse
	uin	78483
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/11/2021 answer text <p>The department is supporting the Department for Work and Pensions to develop an adjustments passport that aims to smooth the transition into employment and support people changing jobs including people with special educational needs and disabilities. Twelve-month pilots of the adjustments passport are now underway in higher education and post-16 provider pilot sites. The adjustments passport will capture the in-work support needs of the individual and includes the aim to empower them in having confident discussions about adjustments with employers.</p><p>Having an adjustments passport is voluntary and the department will continue to monitor take up alongside communications as to how we might increase visibility and awareness to inform a future approach were the pilots to be successful. Following an evaluation, if the pilots prove successful, the adjustments passport will be made available to support all people with disabilities and health conditions providing a transferable record of adjustments and reduce the need for unnecessary assessments.</p><p>The government launched the SEND Review in September 2019, a cross government review being led by the department. The goal of the SEND Review is to substantially improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND, build parental confidence and bring financial sustainability to the system. The government plans to publish proposals for public consultation, in a Green Paper, in the first three months of 2022.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 29/11/2021 11:24:16 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
	tabling member	4602 label Biography information for Wera Hobhouse

1380229

	registered interest
	date	19/11/2021
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	School Leaving: Disability
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department has taken to encourage (a) awareness and (b) uptake of apprenticeships, supported internships and traineeships among young disabled school-leavers.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Wera Hobhouse
	uin	78484
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/11/2021 answer text <p>In the ‘Skills for Jobs’ White Paper, published in January 2021, we announced the introduction of a three point plan to enforce provider access legislation (the ‘Baker Clause’, commenced in 2018). This requires that all maintained schools and academies provide opportunities for providers of technical education and apprenticeships to visit schools to talk to all year 8-13 pupils, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). This plan includes creating clear minimum legal requirements, specifying who is to be given access to which pupils and when. This is an important step towards real choice for every pupil.</p><p>Through the Careers &amp; Enterprise Company (CEC) we support careers leaders in schools and colleges to design and deliver careers education programmes tailored to the needs of young people with SEND. As part of this work, the CEC has worked with the Gatsby Foundation and Disability Rights UK to create support material to help schools and colleges use the Gatsby Benchmarks to deliver high-quality career guidance for students with a wide range of needs and disabilities.</p><p>As set out in the National Disability Strategy, we will work to improve supported internships in England, including updating guidance and, through our contract/grant delivery partners in financial year 2020-21, developing a self-assessment quality framework for providers, and helping local authorities to develop local supported employment forums. In addition, the CEC continues to encourage employers to provide work experience and supported internships for young people with SEND.</p><p>We are also encouraging more young people to consider apprenticeships through our Apprenticeship Support &amp; Knowledge (ASK) programme which reached over 600,000 students across England in the last academic year. As part of this, we are working with 40 schools through the ASK Development Schools project to support students who have the potential to progress into a traineeship or apprenticeship but who are facing significant personal barriers, including disabilities.</p><p>In partnership with Disability Rights UK, we have launched a Disabled Apprentice Network to provide valuable insight and evidence on how to attract and retain disabled people into apprenticeships. We have also improved our ‘Find an Apprenticeship’ and ‘Find a Traineeship’ services to allow people to identify Disability Confident employers offering opportunities.</p><p>We are also taking several measures to raise awareness of traineeships and increase uptake. We have created a new online collection of free resources for schools including factsheets, case studies and a guide for teachers. We are also working with the National Careers Service and the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure that young people understand the different options available to them and are supported on the right path.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 29/11/2021 11:55:06 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
	tabling member	4602 label Biography information for Wera Hobhouse

1380230

	registered interest
	date	19/11/2021
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Access to Work Programme
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions his Department is having with the Department of Work and Pensions on the forthcoming trial of Access to Work adjustment passports for students leaving education; and what the planned (a) scale, (b) commencement date and (c) duration is of that pilot.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Wera Hobhouse
	uin	78485
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/11/2021 answer text <p>The department is supporting the Department for Work and Pensions to develop an adjustments passport that aims to smooth the transition into employment and support people changing jobs including people with special educational needs and disabilities. Twelve-month pilots of the adjustments passport are now underway in higher education and post-16 provider pilot sites. The adjustments passport will capture the in-work support needs of the individual and includes the aim to empower them in having confident discussions about adjustments with employers.</p><p>Having an adjustments passport is voluntary and the department will continue to monitor take up alongside communications as to how we might increase visibility and awareness to inform a future approach were the pilots to be successful. Following an evaluation, if the pilots prove successful, the adjustments passport will be made available to support all people with disabilities and health conditions providing a transferable record of adjustments and reduce the need for unnecessary assessments.</p><p>The government launched the SEND Review in September 2019, a cross government review being led by the department. The goal of the SEND Review is to substantially improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND, build parental confidence and bring financial sustainability to the system. The government plans to publish proposals for public consultation, in a Green Paper, in the first three months of 2022.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 29/11/2021 11:25:05 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
	tabling member	4602 label Biography information for Wera Hobhouse

1519266

	registered interest
	date	10/10/2022
	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	Local Housing Allowance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the calculation of Local Housing Allowance rates applicable in financial year 2022-23.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Wera Hobhouse
	uin	59968
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/10/2022 answer text <p>Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates are not intended to cover all rents in all areas.<em> </em>For Great Britain in May 2022, 55% of the households on LHA had rents higher than the LHA rates. For these households the average gap was £146 per month.</p><p> </p><p>In April 2020 LHA rates were increased to the 30th percentile of local rents. This significant investment of nearly £1 billion provided 1.5 million claimants with an average £600 more housing support in 2020/21 than they would otherwise have received.</p><p> </p><p>LHA rates have been maintained at their increased levels since then, so that everyone who benefitted from the increase will continue to do so.</p><p> </p><p>For those who require additional support with housing costs, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) are available. Since 2011 we have provided almost over £1.5 billion in DHPs.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 18/10/2022 13:24:00 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
	tabling member	4602 label Biography information for Wera Hobhouse

1603654

	registered interest
	date	13/03/2023
	answering body	Cabinet Office
	answering dept id	53
	answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
	answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
	hansard heading	Government Departments: Travel
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much the Government has spent on helicopter travel in each of the last ten years.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Wera Hobhouse
	uin	163989
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/03/2023 answer text <p><strong>The requested information is not centrally held, and complying with this request would incur a disproportionate cost to the department. Comprehensive details of Senior Officials’ Business Expenses, encompassing domestic flights are available on<a href="https://www.gov.uk/search/transparency-and-freedom-of-information-releases?keywords=travel&amp;organisations%5B%5D=cabinet-office&amp;order=relevance" target="_blank"> GOV.UK</a>.</strong></p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 21/03/2023 18:31:47 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
	tabling member	4602 label Biography information for Wera Hobhouse

1603655

	registered interest
	date	13/03/2023
	answering body	Cabinet Office
	answering dept id	53
	answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
	answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
	hansard heading	Ministers: Travel
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many private flights have been taken by Government Ministers and officials from RAF Northolt in each of the last ten years.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Wera Hobhouse
	uin	163990
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/03/2023 answer text <p><strong>The requested information is not centrally held, and complying with this request would incur a disproportionate cost to the department. Comprehensive details of Senior Officials’ Business Expenses, encompassing domestic flights are available on<a href="https://www.gov.uk/search/transparency-and-freedom-of-information-releases?keywords=travel&amp;organisations%5B%5D=cabinet-office&amp;order=relevance" target="_blank"> GOV.UK</a>.</strong></p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 21/03/2023 18:26:44 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
	tabling member	4602 label Biography information for Wera Hobhouse

381491

	registered interest
	date	16/06/2015
	answering body	Department of Health
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health
	answering dept sort name	Health
	hansard heading	Home Care Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals for changes to the Care Act 2014 to ensure that social carers spend sufficient time with each patient.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Ben Howlett
	uin	2646
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2015 answer text <p>Care workers are routinely tasked with caring for individuals with intimate care and support needs, for example helping those who are older or who have a disability to do everyday things like wash, dress and get out of bed. It is unrealistic to think that very short home care visits, for example, those lasting less than 15 minutes would be enough time to do this - it is not fair on those who need care and it is not fair on care workers. Through the Care Act, the Government has made it clear that commissioning services without considering the impact on people’s wellbeing is unacceptable.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>It is the Government’s position that it would be inappropriate to introduce new or amend existing legislation to address this issue, for example, by specifying a minimum time length for home care visits. Short care visits may be appropriate for specific, non-intimate tasks such as checking medication has been taken.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Commissioning for high quality care requires a more fundamental culture shift where the outcomes individuals want to achieve sits at the heart of every decision made by a local authority. This is best achieved through guidance and support.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Department has published statutory guidance to support the implementation of the Care Act that describes how local authorities must meet these new duties when commissioning. The Department has also worked with the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and the Local Government Association to co-produce a set of standards to support local authorities to assess and improve their commissioning practices.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency North East Bedfordshire answering member printed Alistair Burt question first answered 24/06/2015 11:15:46 answering member 1201 label Biography information for Alistair Burt
	tabling member	4445 label Biography information for Ben Howlett

388280

	registered interest
	date	07/07/2015
	answering body	Department of Health
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health
	answering dept sort name	Health
	hansard heading	Sign Language: Finance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his policy is on future funding for supporting adult sign readers; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Ben Howlett
	uin	5859
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/07/2015 answer text <p>It is the responsibility of local providers and commissioners to make the reasonable adjustments required by the Equality Act 2010 to ensure that disabled people are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled people.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Arrangements for the provision of sign language interpretation and translation services by National Health Service bodies and NHS service providers are a matter for local determination.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In order to reduce unacceptable variation in the provision of accessible information and communication support to disabled people, including adult sign readers, NHS England published an accessible information standard, SCCI1605, on 3 July. The standard sets out that all organisations providing NHS or adult social care must take steps to ensure that people receive information that they can access and understand, and receive communication support if they need it. Organisations must comply in full with the standard by 31 July 2016.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency North East Bedfordshire answering member printed Alistair Burt question first answered 14/07/2015 13:24:00 answering member 1201 label Biography information for Alistair Burt
	tabling member	4445 label Biography information for Ben Howlett

421397

	registered interest
	date	14/10/2015
	answering body	Department of Health
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health
	answering dept sort name	Health
	hansard heading	Mental Health Services: Homelessness
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to ensure that people who are homeless have access to talking therapies.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Ben Howlett
	uin	11880
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2015 answer text <p>Homelessness can lead to significant physical and mental health problems, and without accommodation and support, the chances of recovery are very limited. The £10 million Homeless Hospital Discharge Fund promoted new ways of improving the discharge arrangements of homeless people from hospital by working with other local services to help their recovery and improve their health.</p><br /><p>In April, the £40 million Homelessness Change/Platform for Life programme was launched. This programme will join up health and housing services, and help support young people at risk of homelessness across the country. We will be announcing the successful programme bids shortly.</p><br /><p>Talking Therapies, like the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme are a key weapon in addressing the mental health needs of vulnerable groups, like homeless people. While the normal referral processes to IAPT services are through general practitioners (GPs), individuals can self-refer, meaning that homeless people can refer themselves to services without the need for a GP.</p><br /><p>Public Health England is also working with local authorities to help them understand better the physical and mental health needs of homeless people in which access to IAPT will play a part.</p> answering member constituency North East Bedfordshire answering member printed Alistair Burt grouped question UIN 11879 question first answered 22/10/2015 14:39:46 answering member 1201 label Biography information for Alistair Burt
	tabling member	4445 label Biography information for Ben Howlett

421398

	registered interest
	date	14/10/2015
	answering body	Department of Health
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health
	answering dept sort name	Health
	hansard heading	Health: Homelessness
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to improve the physical and mental health of homeless people.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Ben Howlett
	uin	11879
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2015 answer text <p>Homelessness can lead to significant physical and mental health problems, and without accommodation and support, the chances of recovery are very limited. The £10 million Homeless Hospital Discharge Fund promoted new ways of improving the discharge arrangements of homeless people from hospital by working with other local services to help their recovery and improve their health.</p><br /><p>In April, the £40 million Homelessness Change/Platform for Life programme was launched. This programme will join up health and housing services, and help support young people at risk of homelessness across the country. We will be announcing the successful programme bids shortly.</p><br /><p>Talking Therapies, like the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme are a key weapon in addressing the mental health needs of vulnerable groups, like homeless people. While the normal referral processes to IAPT services are through general practitioners (GPs), individuals can self-refer, meaning that homeless people can refer themselves to services without the need for a GP.</p><br /><p>Public Health England is also working with local authorities to help them understand better the physical and mental health needs of homeless people in which access to IAPT will play a part.</p> answering member constituency North East Bedfordshire answering member printed Alistair Burt grouped question UIN 11880 question first answered 22/10/2015 14:39:46 answering member 1201 label Biography information for Alistair Burt
	tabling member	4445 label Biography information for Ben Howlett