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1649732

registered interest
date	03/07/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Education: Boys
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to take steps to implement large-scale evaluation of the interventions aimed at increasing boys' learning in educational settings.
tabling member constituency	Crawley
tabling member printed	Henry Smith
uin	192067
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/07/2023 answer text <p>The Government is committed to improving outcomes for all pupils no matter their gender, and raising attainment for pupils is at the heart of this Government’s agenda.</p><p>The Department funds and supports large scale evaluation and research into improving education and attainment through the Educational Endowment Foundation (EEF), which aims to build a high quality evidence base on what is proven to be successful in education practice, and to support schools, colleges and early years providers to access and effectively mobilise this evidence to raise attainment of disadvantaged 2 to 19 year olds. The Department recently re-endowed the EEF with £137 million in 2022 to continue to build the evidence base until at least 2032. This funding will cement the EEF’s role as a central, long-term feature of the education landscape for at least the next decade.</p><p>Evidence from formal assessments, and recent reports from the Education Policy Institute and Rising Stars showed that attainment for all pupils, including boys, fell during the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><p>Between its introduction in 2012 and the last assessments before the pandemic in 2019, attainment in the phonics screening check has increased significantly for boys and girls. In 2019, 78% of boys and 85% of girls met the expected standard by Year 1, compared to 54% of boys and 62% of girls in 2012. In 2022, following the pandemic, attainment in the phonics screening check was down by 6% for both boys and girls. 72% of boys met the expected standard compared to 79% of girls.</p><p>At Key Stage 2, the proportion of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics increased between 2016 and the last assessments before the pandemic in 2019. 65% of pupils met the expected standard in all three subjects in 2019 (60% of boys, 70% of girls), compared to 53% in 2016 (50% of boys, 56% of girls). In 2022, following the pandemic, attainment fell among both girls and boys in all subjects except reading. However, the fall was slightly larger for girls. Girls continue to outperform boys in all subjects except mathematics.</p><p>At Key Stage 4 more girls enter the full English Baccalaureate than boys, and girls continue to do better than boys across all headline attainment measures. The gap for the percentage achieving grades 5 and above in English and mathematics has narrowed from 6.6% in 2018/19 and 7.6% in 2020/21, to 5.7% in 2021/22. The widening between 2019 and 2021 was driven by girls seeing a larger increase (9.2% vs 8.2%), but the narrowing to 2022 was caused by girls having a larger decrease than boys (3.1% vs 1.2%).</p><p>In response to this, the Department is continuing to take action to support schools, including increasing core schools funding at the Autumn Statement 2022. The additional funding announced in the Autumn Statement will mean that the core schools budget is a net £2 billion higher than published at Spending Review 2021 in each of 2023/24 and 2024/25.</p><p>The Department continues to deliver the proposals set out in the Schools White Paper, which aim to improve outcomes for all pupils, including boys. This includes providing an excellent teacher for every child, securing high standards in curriculum, behaviour and attendance, and providing targeted support for every pupil who needs it.</p><p>For teachers, the Department remains committed to delivering £30,000 starting salaries to attract and retain the very best teachers. In addition, the Department will deliver 500,000 teacher training and development opportunities by the end of 2024 and have recently announced a £181 million incentive package for initial teacher training. This package of support will secure more high quality teaching, which is the single most important in school factor on attainment.</p><p>The Department continues to promote the use of phonics (supported by the English Hubs Programme) and support schools to offer a high quality, knowledge rich curriculum, both of which are critical to ensuring boys are able to achieve well in later life. The Government has also transformed the way mathematics is taught in schools based on the best available international evidence, including approaches from the highest performing countries in the world. Reform of the mathematics curriculum was accompanied by the introduction of a National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics, which is now working with a network of 40 mathematics hubs to help local schools improve the quality of their teaching through the £100 million Teaching for Mastery programme. In addition, the Government has established the Oak National Academy, setting aside up to £43 million over the next three years to support it to provide high quality resources to schools.</p><p>The Department continues to support schools through the Pupil Premium, National Tutoring Programme and Recovery Premium. More than £1 billion is available to support tutoring up to 2023/24, with a further £1 billion of Recovery Premium funding in the 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years.</p><p>The Department continues to assess the impact of these specific programmes where possible and to consider their combined impact on attainment outcomes for pupils overall, alongside the large scale research and evaluation of the EEF.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 11/07/2023 15:05:33 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1649323

registered interest
date	30/06/2023
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Marine Animals: Fishing Catches
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to enforce the legal requirement for non-UK-flagged supertrawlers fishing in UK waters to report marine mammal bycatch to the Marine Management Organisation.
tabling member constituency	Crawley
tabling member printed	Henry Smith
uin	191906
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/07/2023 answer text <p>The Government recognises that accidental bycatch in fisheries is one of the greatest threats faced by sensitive marine species such as cetaceans, and we remain fully committed to tackling this issue.</p><p> </p><p>The UK introduced new rules in 2021 making it a mandatory requirement under fishing vessel licence conditions for fishers, including non-UK-flagged large pelagic trawlers, to report any marine mammal bycatch to the Marine Management Organisation (MMO). The UK notified the European Commission that this requirement would be coming into force and is a licence condition for all vessels fishing in our waters.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 06/07/2023 09:00:57 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1649324

registered interest
date	30/06/2023
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Fisheries: Monitoring
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will take steps to introduce remote electronic monitoring of bycatch as part of licensing conditions for supertrawlers to access UK waters.
tabling member constituency	Crawley
tabling member printed	Henry Smith
uin	191907
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/07/2023 answer text <p>We will shortly be consulting on proposals to increase the use of remote electronic monitoring on English vessels and in English waters, including on large pelagic trawlers. The Scottish government consulted on similar measures in spring 2022.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 04/07/2023 14:43:53 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1645957

registered interest
date	20/06/2023
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Seafood: Standards
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she is taking steps to address concerns raised by (a) On The Hook and (b) other campaigns on the adequacy of standards set by seafood sustainability certification schemes.
tabling member constituency	Crawley
tabling member printed	Henry Smith
uin	190284
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/06/2023 answer text <p>Defra has made no assessment of the standards set by seafood certification schemes, which are voluntary and operate independently of Government. The Government remains fully committed to sustainable fishing, and Fisheries Management Plans will be a key tool through which we will work with industry to improve the sustainability and management of our fisheries.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer grouped question UIN 190285 question first answered 27/06/2023 13:36:49 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1645958

registered interest
date	20/06/2023
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Seafood: Standards
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that UK consumers can rely on the information provided by seafood certification schemes.
tabling member constituency	Crawley
tabling member printed	Henry Smith
uin	190285
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/06/2023 answer text <p>Defra has made no assessment of the standards set by seafood certification schemes, which are voluntary and operate independently of Government. The Government remains fully committed to sustainable fishing, and Fisheries Management Plans will be a key tool through which we will work with industry to improve the sustainability and management of our fisheries.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer grouped question UIN 190284 question first answered 27/06/2023 13:36:49 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1646013

registered interest
date	20/06/2023
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Airports: Standards
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will establish a standing resilience forum of stakeholders to assess the risks to airport travel disruption from (a) adverse weather, (b) pandemic restrictions, (c) industrial action, (d) air traffic control situations and (e) other causes..
tabling member constituency	Crawley
tabling member printed	Henry Smith
uin	190295
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/06/2023 answer text <p>The Department understands the important role that resilience plays in the aviation sector and continues to encourage the sector to work together on this.</p><p> </p><p>The Department’s officials and ministers are working closely with the aviation industry on a host of resilience topics to ensure that the UK Government and the UK aviation sector are adequately prepared to meet challenges should they arise.</p><p> </p><p>However, it is ultimately the responsibility of industry to ensure adequate preparations are in place, with the Government supporting where appropriate.</p><p> </p><p>The aviation industry has a wide range of well-established resilience forums, chaired and attended by all parts of the aviation industry, as well as the Department for Transport and where appropriate other government departments. Where appropriate the Department supports industry but ultimately it is for industry to build resilience into their organisation and as an eco-system.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hereford and South Herefordshire answering member printed Jesse Norman question first answered 28/06/2023 11:32:08 answering member 3991 label Biography information for Jesse Norman
tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1643069

registered interest
date	08/06/2023
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	Cancer and Radiology
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made recent representations made to (a) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and (b) NHS England on investment in the clinical (i) radiology and (ii) oncology workforce.
tabling member constituency	Crawley
tabling member printed	Henry Smith
uin	188505
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/06/2023 answer text <p>The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care meets regularly with other Cabinet colleagues and with NHS England to discuss issues relating to the National Health Service workforce.</p> answering member constituency Faversham and Mid Kent answering member printed Helen Whately question first answered 14/06/2023 14:00:35 answering member 4527 label Biography information for Helen Whately
tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1642678

registered interest
date	07/06/2023
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Microplastics
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to tackle microplastic fibre pollution.
tabling member constituency	Crawley
tabling member printed	Henry Smith
uin	188242
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/06/2023 answer text <p>The Plan for Water outlined our position that we will expect industry to develop low cost, effective microfibre filters on washing machine and encourage their effective use. With the plan being published only just last month, we are now considering the best actions for its implementation. As a first step, we will look to manufacturers to reduce costs and to provide appropriate evidence of the value of microfibre filters to persuade consumers to invest in them and use them correctly.</p><p> </p><p>Defra funds Textiles 2030, a voluntary initiative with over 110 signatories from the fashion manufacturing industry covering 62% by sales of the UK clothing market. Signatories are committed to circular economy principles such as agreeing good design principles so that their products are durable and recyclable.</p><p> </p><p>Our landmark Environment Act 2021 also provides general powers on design standards and requiring information on the resource efficiency of products. We are, therefore, exploring the best mix of policy measures to tackle the environmental impact of textiles.</p><p> </p><p>Defra supports a range of research including the UK Water Industry Research project (performed by UK Centre for Ecology &amp; Hydrology) which reported in April 2022 that wastewater treatment plants remove 99% of microplastics by number and 99.5% by mass. The Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) includes over £7.39 million of commitment from the water industry to further research microplastics removal through wastewater treatment processes to sludge, which may be a source of microplastics to final effluent discharges.</p><p> </p><p>Technical experts from the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) have been leading the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment to develop a new indicator for microlitter (including microplastics) in seafloor sediments. This will help us to track progress in reducing plastics in the environment at a regional scale.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow grouped question UIN 188323 question first answered 13/06/2023 14:05:55 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1641189

registered interest
date	02/06/2023
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the oral statement of 25 May by the Minister for Food, Farming and Fisheries, Official Report, column 495, what plans he has to take forward the provisions of the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill on (a) a ban on live exports, (b) reducing puppy smuggling and (c) primates as pets,; and to what timetable.
tabling member constituency	Crawley
tabling member printed	Henry Smith
uin	187162
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/06/2023 answer text <p>We will be taking forward measures in the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill individually through other means during the remainder of this Parliament. This includes the manifesto commitments to ban live exports for fattening and slaughter and to crack down on puppy smuggling. We will also deliver the manifesto commitment to ban the keeping of primates as pets, which will be implemented via a statutory instrument to be laid this year.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 06/06/2023 16:20:53 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1641197

registered interest
date	02/06/2023
answering body	Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
answering dept id	216
answering dept short name	Science, Innovation and Technology
answering dept sort name	Science, Innovation and Technology
hansard heading	Animal Experiments
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she will provide further funding to support the scientific community in transitioning from animal-based research to (a) organ-on-a-chip, (b) artificial intelligence and (c) other human-specific methodologies.
tabling member constituency	Crawley
tabling member printed	Henry Smith
uin	187163
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/06/2023 answer text <p>The Government is committed to the development of alternatives to using animals in scientific procedures and through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) continues to provide core funding for the National Centre for 3Rs (NC3Rs), which works nationally and internationally to drive the uptake of non-animal technologies.</p><p> </p><p>UKRI funds a portfolio of research projects involving humans, human materials, animal models, and non-animal technologies, including a joint £4.7 million joint funding call with the NC3Rs launched last year, focussed on supporting next generation non-animal technologies, such as organ-on-a-chip.</p> answering member constituency Sutton and Cheam answering member printed Paul Scully question first answered 14/06/2023 12:04:46 answering member 4414 label Biography information for Paul Scully
tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith