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1700943

	registered interest
	date	15/04/2024
	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	Social Security Benefits: Uprating
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether it remains his Department's policy for benefits to continue to be increased in line with inflation.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	21657
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/04/2024 answer text <p>The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is required by law to undertake an annual review of State Pensions and benefits.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Secretary of State will commence his 2025/26 up-rating review in the Autumn.</p> answering member constituency Bury St Edmunds answering member printed Jo Churchill question first answered 18/04/2024 14:00:12 answering member 4380 label Biography information for Jo Churchill
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1700946

	registered interest
	date	15/04/2024
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Debt Respite Scheme
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending the Breathing Space (Debt Respite Scheme) to 180 days.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	21658
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/04/2024 answer text <p>The government launched the Breathing Space scheme on 4 May 2021, and as of February 2024, over 216,000 people in problem debt have benefited from Breathing Space protections.</p><p> </p><p>In developing the scheme, the government took the decision that sixty days is an appropriate period for breathing space to last to give individuals the time to engage with debt advice, whilst maintaining fairness and certainty for creditors.</p> answering member constituency Hitchin and Harpenden answering member printed Bim Afolami question first answered 18/04/2024 13:21:26 answering member 4639 label Biography information for Bim Afolami
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1698472

	registered interest
	date	25/03/2024
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Small Claims: Internet
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the accessibility of the official injury claim small claims portal.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	20308
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2024 answer text <p>The Official Injury Claim (OIC) service is a free, easy-to-use online system owned and operated by the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) on behalf of the Ministry of Justice. OIC was built to be usable and accessible including to those with access needs or who prefer or require assistive or adaptive technologies.</p><p>On-screen guidance leads both represented and unrepresented claimants through the claims process, supported by an online help-hub and additional written guidance. There is also a dedicated telephone Portal Support Centre who can assist claimants who need to make a paper-based claim. The OIC also provides translation services in multiple foreign languages.</p><p>Ministry of Justice officials continue to work with MIB to increase awareness and improve the visibility of the OIC through identifying and implementing appropriate web optimisation. Regularly updated useful information on making a claim via the OIC is also available on GOV.UK.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 15/04/2024 11:20:18 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1698474

	registered interest
	date	25/03/2024
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Civil Proceedings: Witnesses
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to paragraph 4 of Practice Direction 1A - Participation of Vulnerable Parties or Witnesses, how many civil cases involve each of the vulnerability factors listed.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	20309
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2024 answer text <p>The information requested is not held centrally.</p> answering member constituency Newbury answering member printed Laura Farris question first answered 15/04/2024 11:48:10 answering member 4826 label Biography information for Laura Farris
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1698475

	registered interest
	date	25/03/2024
	answering body	Department for Business and Trade
	answering dept id	214
	answering dept short name	Business and Trade
	answering dept sort name	Business and Trade
	hansard heading	Holidays: Personal Injury
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what progress she has made on establishing an exceptional compensation scheme for holidaymakers who have outstanding (a) loss of life and (b) serious personal injury claims against UK companies.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	20310
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2024 answer text <p>The Government understands that an alternative route for Thomas Cook personal injury claimants is being pursued that would potentially be financially beneficial to them.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is committed to establishing a payment scheme for customers of Thomas Cook with serious and long-term injuries for which the company would have been liable but for its insolvency, if it is established that there are no alternative routes to compensation.</p> answering member constituency Thirsk and Malton answering member printed Kevin Hollinrake question first answered 15/04/2024 15:05:24 answering member 4474 label Biography information for Kevin Hollinrake
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1693294

	registered interest
	date	04/03/2024
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Parents
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of parenting programmes on (a) levels of expenditure associated with (i) child and adult mental health and (ii) youth anti-social behaviour and (b) the proportion of parents able to return to the workplace as a result of a reduction in school refusal rates.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	16740
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/03/2024 answer text <p>The department is clear that parents should do everything they can to ensure that their child is in school every day. Regular school attendance is vital for children’s attainment, mental wellbeing and long-term development. It is crucial that the department has a system of support in place to ensure every child attends school every day, ready to learn and thrive.</p><p>The government’s ‘Working Together to Improve School Attendance’ guidance, which will become statutory ahead of the next school year, includes a core set of functions that local authority attendance support staff, whether titled education welfare officers, attendance officers or early help practitioners, are expected to provide free of charge to all schools and funded centrally through the Central Schools Service Block and Supporting Families Grant. Some early adopters have reported benefits from integrating attendance into other services, and providing better, more joined up whole family support, that has the potential to reduce demand for higher cost crisis services over time.</p><p>The department’s attendance mentors pilot sees mentors supporting a group of persistently absent pupils and their families, on a one-to-one basis, to help identify and address their barriers to education. The department has had positive feedback from parents, pupils and schools who have engaged with the attendance mentors programme and have started to see some promising impact data. The department has recently announced an additional investment of £15 million to expand mentoring into ten new areas over the next three years.</p><p>The government’s Supporting Families programme continues to work with families where attendance issues are a significant concern. ‘Getting a good education’ is a headline indicator in the national Supporting Families Outcomes Framework, which requires sustained good attendance for all children in the family, across two consecutive school terms. It is important that those identifying attendance issues begin to explore and identify any issues which may be behind the attendance problems, including any needs and circumstances in the wider family as part of Early Help Assessment processes.</p><p>The department’s reforms are starting to make a difference. There were 440,000 fewer pupils persistently absent or not attending in 2022/23 than in the year before. Overall absence during the 2023/24 autumn term was 6.8%, down from 7.5% in the 2022/23 autumn term.</p><p>Alongside this, the department is currently considering options for widening access to parenting support through family hubs and is undertaking assessments of the effectiveness and value for money of evidence-based parenting programmes, as well as other forms of support for parents. As part of this work to inform future fiscal events, the department will consider the downstream economic impacts of parenting programmes.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 28/03/2024 17:31:21 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1696750

	registered interest
	date	18/03/2024
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisoner Escorts
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Crown Court hearings have been delayed due to a (a) failure to deliver a prisoner and (b) a delay in bringing a prisoner to a court by (i) Serco and (ii) other providers of escort services.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	19051
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/03/2024 answer text <p>The number of contractual delays at the Crown Court attributable to the two PECS suppliers, in each month from September 2023 to February 2024, is shown in the table below.</p><p>Contractual delays include both failure to deliver a prisoner, and delay in bringing a prisoner to court. In contractual terms, a delay occurs when a prisoner who is at that time the responsibility of a PECS supplier, is not available in the courtroom at the required time so that courtroom business is delayed by 15 minutes or more. Whenever a delay occurs, its cause is investigated by the PECS Management Team in His Majesty’s Prison &amp; Probation Service. During the period for which data have been provided, there were no instances of failure to deliver a prisoner: all recorded instances are attributable to delay in bringing a prisoner to court.</p><p> </p><p>PECS contractual delays to Crown Court hearings, September 2023 to February 2024</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Serco</p></td><td><p>Total moves to Crown Court</p></td><td><p>Number of contractual delays</p></td><td><p>Performance %</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Sep 2023</p></td><td><p>4872</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>99.90</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Oct 2023</p></td><td><p>4651</p></td><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>99.83</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Nov 2023</p></td><td><p>5408</p></td><td><p>17</p></td><td><p>99.69</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Dec 2023</p></td><td><p>3803</p></td><td><p>20</p></td><td><p>99.48</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jan 2024</p></td><td><p>5136</p></td><td><p>14</p></td><td><p>99.73</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Feb 2024</p></td><td><p>4733</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>99.86</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>GEOAmey</p></td><td><p>Total moves to Crown Court</p></td><td><p>Number of contractual delays</p></td><td><p>Performance %</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Sep 2023</p></td><td><p>4904</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>99.96</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Oct 2023</p></td><td><p>5169</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>99.95</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Nov 2023</p></td><td><p>5559</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>99.97</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Dec 2023</p></td><td><p>4419</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>99.99</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jan 2024</p></td><td><p>5586</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>99.99</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Feb 2024</p></td><td><p>5223</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>99.99</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency Orpington answering member printed Gareth Bacon question first answered 26/03/2024 16:39:57 answering member 4798 label Biography information for Gareth Bacon
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1693288

	registered interest
	date	04/03/2024
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Child rearing
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve the accessibility of evidence-based parenting support for parents and families residing in local authority areas that do not offer Family Hubs.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	16734
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/03/2024 answer text <p>The Family Hubs and Start for Life programme aims to improve access to services for parents and families with children 0-19 or up to 25 for those with special educational needs and disabilities. It provides funding for parenting support as part of the Start for Life offer to be used on evidence-based programmes alongside peer support and community outreach activities.</p><p>The department has selected 75 local authorities based on levels of disadvantage. The department would like to see Family Hubs open across the country. The departments initial focus is on delivering well in the local areas that it is currently working with and building a model and evidence base. The department can then look to expand further in the future.</p><p>The published programme guide sets out requirements for local authorities to invest in evidence-based programmes with encouragement to select those that feature in published guidance, which have been rigorously evaluated and demonstrated impact.</p><p>The programme guide can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/family-hubs-and-start-for-life-programme-local-authority-guide" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/family-hubs-and-start-for-life-programme-local-authority-guide</a>. The published guidance is available at: <a href="https://guidebook.eif.org.uk/programme/incredible-years-preschool" target="_blank">https://guidebook.eif.org.uk/programme/incredible-years-preschool</a>.</p><p>The department is working with the local authorities selected for the programme to assess delivery of all funded services in Family Hubs, and evidence-based parenting programmes are included as part of this. A comprehensive external evaluation of the parenting support offer has been commissioned and is due to report in late 2025. This evaluation will explore how well different parenting programmes have been implemented into the Family Hubs model. It will include a quasi-experimental impact evaluation that will assess the outcomes for families and an assessment of the value for money offered by the programme as a whole.</p><p>The department is currently considering options for widening access to parenting support through Family Hubs and as such undertaking assessments of the effectiveness and value for money of evidence-based parenting programmes, as well as other forms of support for parents. As part of this work to inform future fiscal events, the department considers policies from across the world, including Australia, to inform departmental thinking. This scoping work also includes engaging with the Social Mobility Commission following their recent report into family and parenting programmes.</p><p>The department is also investing over £17 million on the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) in order to improve the language skills of reception age children who need it most following the pandemic. This evidence-based programme targets children needing extra support with their speech and language development and is proven to help them make four months of additional progress, and seven months for those on free school meals. Over 500,000 children have had their language screened, with 160,000 reception age children having received extra support with their speech and language development from this proven programme.</p><p>Alongside investing in parenting support and the NELI programme, the department has also launched a national media campaign ‘Little Moments Together’ to encourage parents to chat, play and read with their pre-school children. The campaign, run jointly with the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, provides evidence-based advice for parents on the NHS Better Health Start for Life website, and support from national partners on activities for parents. Little Moments Together is based on long-standing evidence on the importance of the home learning environment to providing children the best start to life. The Better Health Start for Life website can be found at: <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/start-for-life/early-learning-development/" target="_blank">https://www.nhs.uk/start-for-life/early-learning-development/</a>.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston grouped question UIN 16736 16738 16739 question first answered 22/03/2024 11:26:45 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1693290

	registered interest
	date	04/03/2024
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Child rearing
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made a comparative assessment of the effectiveness of (a) evidence-based parenting programmes and (b) other interventions to support parents.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	16736
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/03/2024 answer text <p>The Family Hubs and Start for Life programme aims to improve access to services for parents and families with children 0-19 or up to 25 for those with special educational needs and disabilities. It provides funding for parenting support as part of the Start for Life offer to be used on evidence-based programmes alongside peer support and community outreach activities.</p><p>The department has selected 75 local authorities based on levels of disadvantage. The department would like to see Family Hubs open across the country. The departments initial focus is on delivering well in the local areas that it is currently working with and building a model and evidence base. The department can then look to expand further in the future.</p><p>The published programme guide sets out requirements for local authorities to invest in evidence-based programmes with encouragement to select those that feature in published guidance, which have been rigorously evaluated and demonstrated impact.</p><p>The programme guide can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/family-hubs-and-start-for-life-programme-local-authority-guide" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/family-hubs-and-start-for-life-programme-local-authority-guide</a>. The published guidance is available at: <a href="https://guidebook.eif.org.uk/programme/incredible-years-preschool" target="_blank">https://guidebook.eif.org.uk/programme/incredible-years-preschool</a>.</p><p>The department is working with the local authorities selected for the programme to assess delivery of all funded services in Family Hubs, and evidence-based parenting programmes are included as part of this. A comprehensive external evaluation of the parenting support offer has been commissioned and is due to report in late 2025. This evaluation will explore how well different parenting programmes have been implemented into the Family Hubs model. It will include a quasi-experimental impact evaluation that will assess the outcomes for families and an assessment of the value for money offered by the programme as a whole.</p><p>The department is currently considering options for widening access to parenting support through Family Hubs and as such undertaking assessments of the effectiveness and value for money of evidence-based parenting programmes, as well as other forms of support for parents. As part of this work to inform future fiscal events, the department considers policies from across the world, including Australia, to inform departmental thinking. This scoping work also includes engaging with the Social Mobility Commission following their recent report into family and parenting programmes.</p><p>The department is also investing over £17 million on the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) in order to improve the language skills of reception age children who need it most following the pandemic. This evidence-based programme targets children needing extra support with their speech and language development and is proven to help them make four months of additional progress, and seven months for those on free school meals. Over 500,000 children have had their language screened, with 160,000 reception age children having received extra support with their speech and language development from this proven programme.</p><p>Alongside investing in parenting support and the NELI programme, the department has also launched a national media campaign ‘Little Moments Together’ to encourage parents to chat, play and read with their pre-school children. The campaign, run jointly with the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, provides evidence-based advice for parents on the NHS Better Health Start for Life website, and support from national partners on activities for parents. Little Moments Together is based on long-standing evidence on the importance of the home learning environment to providing children the best start to life. The Better Health Start for Life website can be found at: <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/start-for-life/early-learning-development/" target="_blank">https://www.nhs.uk/start-for-life/early-learning-development/</a>.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston grouped question UIN 16734 16738 16739 question first answered 22/03/2024 11:26:45 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1693292

	registered interest
	date	04/03/2024
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Child rearing
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference the Social Mobility Commission's publication entitled Family and parenting programmes: rapid evidence assessment, published in October 2023, what assessment her Department has made of the role of evidence-based parenting programmes in ensuring value for money from expenditure on parenting support.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	16738
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/03/2024 answer text <p>The Family Hubs and Start for Life programme aims to improve access to services for parents and families with children 0-19 or up to 25 for those with special educational needs and disabilities. It provides funding for parenting support as part of the Start for Life offer to be used on evidence-based programmes alongside peer support and community outreach activities.</p><p>The department has selected 75 local authorities based on levels of disadvantage. The department would like to see Family Hubs open across the country. The departments initial focus is on delivering well in the local areas that it is currently working with and building a model and evidence base. The department can then look to expand further in the future.</p><p>The published programme guide sets out requirements for local authorities to invest in evidence-based programmes with encouragement to select those that feature in published guidance, which have been rigorously evaluated and demonstrated impact.</p><p>The programme guide can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/family-hubs-and-start-for-life-programme-local-authority-guide" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/family-hubs-and-start-for-life-programme-local-authority-guide</a>. The published guidance is available at: <a href="https://guidebook.eif.org.uk/programme/incredible-years-preschool" target="_blank">https://guidebook.eif.org.uk/programme/incredible-years-preschool</a>.</p><p>The department is working with the local authorities selected for the programme to assess delivery of all funded services in Family Hubs, and evidence-based parenting programmes are included as part of this. A comprehensive external evaluation of the parenting support offer has been commissioned and is due to report in late 2025. This evaluation will explore how well different parenting programmes have been implemented into the Family Hubs model. It will include a quasi-experimental impact evaluation that will assess the outcomes for families and an assessment of the value for money offered by the programme as a whole.</p><p>The department is currently considering options for widening access to parenting support through Family Hubs and as such undertaking assessments of the effectiveness and value for money of evidence-based parenting programmes, as well as other forms of support for parents. As part of this work to inform future fiscal events, the department considers policies from across the world, including Australia, to inform departmental thinking. This scoping work also includes engaging with the Social Mobility Commission following their recent report into family and parenting programmes.</p><p>The department is also investing over £17 million on the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) in order to improve the language skills of reception age children who need it most following the pandemic. This evidence-based programme targets children needing extra support with their speech and language development and is proven to help them make four months of additional progress, and seven months for those on free school meals. Over 500,000 children have had their language screened, with 160,000 reception age children having received extra support with their speech and language development from this proven programme.</p><p>Alongside investing in parenting support and the NELI programme, the department has also launched a national media campaign ‘Little Moments Together’ to encourage parents to chat, play and read with their pre-school children. The campaign, run jointly with the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, provides evidence-based advice for parents on the NHS Better Health Start for Life website, and support from national partners on activities for parents. Little Moments Together is based on long-standing evidence on the importance of the home learning environment to providing children the best start to life. The Better Health Start for Life website can be found at: <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/start-for-life/early-learning-development/" target="_blank">https://www.nhs.uk/start-for-life/early-learning-development/</a>.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston grouped question UIN 16734 16736 16739 question first answered 22/03/2024 11:26:45 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham