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1506318

registered interest
date	08/09/2022
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Police: Harlow
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers are designated to cover Harlow and the surrounding villages.
tabling member constituency	Harlow
tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
uin	49611
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/09/2022 answer text <p>The Beating Crime Plan sets out the government’s commitment to driving down crime, protecting the public and increasing public confidence in the criminal justice system. This includes the recruitment of 20,000 additional officers through the Police Uplift Programme. We are working with policing partners to deliver this plan. It is for Chief Constables and elected Police and Crime Commissioners to target their resources (including the deployment of additional officers) to tackle local priorities.</p><p> </p><p>The Home Office collects and publishes data on the number of officers recruited as part of the Police Officer Uplift Programme on a quarterly basis. The latest data, covering the situation to 30 June 2022, are available here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-officer-uplift-statistics" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-officer-uplift-statistics</a>. These data are published at Police Force Area level in the supplementary tables accompanying the bulletin.</p><p> </p><p>Essex police has been allocated a total of 449 additional officers for the three year uplift programme. As at 30 June 2022, Essex police has recruited 345 additional officers.</p><p> </p><p>The Home Office collects and publishes data on the size of the police workforce in England and Wales on a biannual basis in the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, available here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales" target="_blank">Police workforce England and Wales statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a>. These data are collected by Police Force Area only. Data on the number of police officers in Essex Police, on both a full-time equivalent (FTE) and a headcount basis are available in the Open Data Tables that accompany the release:</p><p><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1005761/open-data-table-police-workforce-280721.ods" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1005761/open-data-table-police-workforce-280721.ods</a></p><p> </p><p>The deployment of officers across a police force area is a decision for operationally independent Chief Constables.</p> answering member constituency Horsham answering member printed Jeremy Quin grouped question UIN 49612 49613 question first answered 22/09/2022 08:42:24 answering member 4507 label Biography information for Sir Jeremy Quin
tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon

1505430

registered interest
date	06/09/2022
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	Horticulture: Heating
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 his Department plans to help support glasshouse growers to heat their greenhouses in the context of the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
tabling member constituency	Harlow
tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
uin	48312
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/10/2022 answer text <p>HM Government Food Strategy published in June this year acknowledges the important role of industrial horticulture, including the contribution of glasshouse crop production in ensuring a reliable and sustainable supply of fresh produce throughout the year. Growth of this sector would boost home-grown fruit and vegetable production, help future-proof the sector in a warming climate and create new skilled job opportunities.</p><p> </p><p>HM Government Food Strategy explains that industrial horticulture will be considered alongside other manufacturing sectors in decisions on industrial energy policy and that we will also incentivise the sector to make use of surplus heat and CO2 from industrial processes, and renewable sources of energy. HM Government is developing a Horticulture Strategy for England which will explore how controlled environment horticulture can be supported.</p><p> </p><p>In recognition of significant increases in energy costs, we have recently announced that businesses, charities and public sector organisations will be protected through HM Government’s Energy Bill Relief Scheme from October over the next six months. This support discounts price per unit of gas and electricity, meaning businesses and others will pay wholesale energy costs well below half of expected prices this winter.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 04/10/2022 08:51:55 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon

1466112

registered interest
date	26/05/2022
answering body	Attorney General
answering dept id	88
answering dept short name	Attorney General
answering dept sort name	Attorney General
hansard heading	Sexual Offences: Prosecutions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Attorney General, what steps she is taking to increase prosecution rates for (a) sexual assault and (b) rape offences.
tabling member constituency	Harlow
tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
uin	900270
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/05/2022 answer text <p>This Government is determined to increase the number of rape and sexual assault cases going to court.</p><p> </p><p>The CPS is undertaking extensive work to drive up and improve prosecutions through its Joint National RASSO Action Plan with the police, the Rape Strategy, and the Operation Soteria Path Finders, which are testing methods for best practice in six CPS Areas.</p><p> </p><p>Since publication of its strategy, the CPS has continued to see increases in the number of rape charges, prosecutions and convictions.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 26/05/2022 15:53:54 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon

1459823

registered interest
date	22/04/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupils: Computers
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of school children that do not have a personal laptop or tablet.
tabling member constituency	Harlow
tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
uin	157561
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/04/2022 answer text <p>Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the department has delivered over 1.95 million laptops and tablets to schools, trusts, local authorities, and further education providers for disadvantaged children and young people. This is part of a £520 million government investment to support access to remote education and online social care services.</p><p>The laptops and tablets distributed through the department are owned by schools, trusts, local authorities, or further education providers who can lend these to children and young people who need them the most. These laptops and tablets are an injection of support on top of an estimated 2.9 million already owned by schools before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. These devices are intended to give schools the flexibility to provide remote education support and can continue to be used in the longer term either in the classroom or from home.</p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 27/04/2022 11:39:36 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon

1457318

registered interest
date	14/04/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	National Union of Students
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much grant funding has been allocated to the National Union for Students over the past five years.
tabling member constituency	Harlow
tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
uin	153900
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/04/2022 answer text <p>The department has not made any grant payments to the National Union for Students over the last five years.</p> answering member constituency Chippenham answering member printed Michelle Donelan question first answered 26/04/2022 12:48:57 answering member 4530 label Biography information for Michelle Donelan
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

1452118

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	Special Educational Needs: Teachers
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the upcoming SEND Review and Green Paper, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of revising the Initial Teacher Training framework to ensure that all teachers are equipped to teach children with (a) speech, language and communication needs and (b) other special educational needs.
tabling member constituency	Harlow
tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
uin	141963
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/04/2022 answer text <p>Since September 2020, all courses offered by initial teacher training (ITT) providers have been aligned to a mandatory core content framework (CCF), which was published in November 2019. The framework sets out a minimum entitlement for all trainee teachers.</p><p>Evidence shows that teacher quality is the most important factor within schools in improving outcomes for all children, particularly those from a disadvantaged background, or for those with additional needs. The CCF is therefore key to the government’s plans to improve school standards for all.</p><p>The CCF is based on the best peer-reviewed evidence about what works and is designed to emphasis the importance of high quality teaching. The framework therefore deliberately does not detail approaches specific to particular needs, but what makes the most effective teaching. The department expects ITT providers and their partners to continue to tailor their curricula to the needs of their trainees and the children in the schools where they train and will work, which may include pupils with specific speech, language and communication needs.</p><p>Additionally, courses must continue to be designed so that trainee teachers can demonstrate that they meet the Teachers’ Standards at the end of their course, including standard 5, which is clear that teachers must have an understanding of the needs of all pupils, including those with special educational needs.</p><p>In July 2021 we published the government response to the ITT Review which set out new quality requirements for all ITT from September 2024 and the government's aim to ensure that all trainee teachers experience consistently high-quality ITT that incorporates the ITT Core Content Framework in full.</p><p>This week, the department published the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and Alternative Provision Green Paper for full public consultation. These proposals set out a system that offers children and young people the opportunity to thrive, with access to the right support, in the right place, and at the right time, so they can fulfil their potential and lead happy, healthy and productive adult lives.</p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 01/04/2022 15:36:55 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
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

1451752

registered interest
date	16/03/2022
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Tax Avoidance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the revenue that will accrue to the Exchequer from the loan charge.
tabling member constituency	Harlow
tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
uin	141179
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/03/2022 answer text <p>The Loan Charge was announced at Budget 2016 as part of a package of measures to tackle Disguised Remuneration (DR) tax avoidance. The forecast was last revised at Spring Budget 2021. There was an estimated overall Exchequer yield of £3.3 billion for the entire package, including the Loan Charge.</p><p> </p><p>In September 2019, the Government commissioned an Independent Review into the Loan Charge which was led by Lord Morse. The Government accepted 19 of the 20 recommendations made by the review. Changes to the Loan Charge were estimated to reduce the forecast yield. At Budget 2020, the changes were costed as a separate measure, with an estimated reduction to the Exchequer yield of £745 million.</p><p> </p><p>HMRC is committed to continuing to tackle promoters and operators of tax avoidance schemes. This includes challenging the entities and individuals who promote disguised remuneration loan schemes.</p><p> </p><p>Promotion or operation of mass marketed tax avoidance schemes is not in and of itself a criminal offence. However, there are a range of offences which might be committed by those who promote tax avoidance schemes or advise on their use.</p><p> </p><p>On that basis, while to date there have been no prosecutions of individuals directly related to the promotion of schemes subject to the Loan Charge, a number of individuals are currently under criminal investigation by HMRC for offences linked to schemes subject to the Loan Charge.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to schemes subject to the Loan Charge, since 1 April 2016, more than 20 individuals have been convicted for offences relating to arrangements which have been promoted and marketed as tax avoidance, including offences related to DR. These have resulted in over 100 years of custodial sentences, the majority of which relate to promoters.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 141180 question first answered 22/03/2022 17:34:37 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon

1451753

registered interest
date	16/03/2022
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Tax Avoidance: Prosecutions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many promoters and operators of schemes subject to the loan charge have been prosecuted for promoting and operating those schemes.
tabling member constituency	Harlow
tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
uin	141180
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/03/2022 answer text <p>The Loan Charge was announced at Budget 2016 as part of a package of measures to tackle Disguised Remuneration (DR) tax avoidance. The forecast was last revised at Spring Budget 2021. There was an estimated overall Exchequer yield of £3.3 billion for the entire package, including the Loan Charge.</p><p> </p><p>In September 2019, the Government commissioned an Independent Review into the Loan Charge which was led by Lord Morse. The Government accepted 19 of the 20 recommendations made by the review. Changes to the Loan Charge were estimated to reduce the forecast yield. At Budget 2020, the changes were costed as a separate measure, with an estimated reduction to the Exchequer yield of £745 million.</p><p> </p><p>HMRC is committed to continuing to tackle promoters and operators of tax avoidance schemes. This includes challenging the entities and individuals who promote disguised remuneration loan schemes.</p><p> </p><p>Promotion or operation of mass marketed tax avoidance schemes is not in and of itself a criminal offence. However, there are a range of offences which might be committed by those who promote tax avoidance schemes or advise on their use.</p><p> </p><p>On that basis, while to date there have been no prosecutions of individuals directly related to the promotion of schemes subject to the Loan Charge, a number of individuals are currently under criminal investigation by HMRC for offences linked to schemes subject to the Loan Charge.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to schemes subject to the Loan Charge, since 1 April 2016, more than 20 individuals have been convicted for offences relating to arrangements which have been promoted and marketed as tax avoidance, including offences related to DR. These have resulted in over 100 years of custodial sentences, the majority of which relate to promoters.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 141179 question first answered 22/03/2022 17:34:37 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon