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1600455

	registered interest
	date	01/03/2023
	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	Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether employees of the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust Gender Identity Development Service will lead the replacement multi-disciplinary teams within the new providers.
	tabling member constituency	Northampton South
	tabling member printed	Andrew Lewer
	uin	156266
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/03/2023 answer text <p>NHS England’s new draft interim service specification that went out to consultation proposes that the new Multi-Disciplinary Teams will only be led by a medical practitioner. They will also have a broader composition of expertise than under the previous service, including paediatricians and experts in neurodiversity and autism.</p><p>NHS England’s national transformation programme aims to ensure that relevant expertise is transferred to the new teams. The new providers and the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust are working together to establish a process that is consistent with employment law and with National Health Service Human Resources best practice.</p> answering member constituency Lewes answering member printed Maria Caulfield question first answered 28/03/2023 10:56:55 answering member 4492 label Biography information for Maria Caulfield
	tabling member	4659 label Biography information for Andrew Lewer

1601574

	registered interest
	date	06/03/2023
	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	Air Quality Grant Scheme
	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 (a) Greater Manchester Combined Authority or (b) any other councils within that Combined Authority (i) applied for and (ii) secured funding through the Air Quality Grant scheme 2022-23.
	tabling member constituency	Bury North
	tabling member printed	James Daly
	uin	159097
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/03/2023 answer text <p>Defra did not receive or accept any applications from Greater Manchester Combined Authority or any councils within the combined authority as part of the Air Quality Grant scheme 2022-23.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>79 applications were received from councils for this year’s scheme. 44 applicants were provided with funding totalling £10.7 million, which is helping them to develop and implement measures to benefit schools, businesses and communities and reduce the impact of air pollution on people’s health. Examples include supporting programmes that will educate doctors, nurses and social care workers about air quality; support for an e-cargo bike library helping local businesses in Norfolk to cut operating costs while lowering their emissions; and data collection to develop and deliver a traffic management plan that will reduce congestion and improve traffic flow across Derbyshire.</p><p> </p><p>The air quality grant scheme sits alongside a further£883 million made available as part of the government’s NO2 Plan to support local authorities in cleaning up transport and cutting levels of nitrogen dioxide down to legal levels in the shortest possible time.</p><p> </p><p>Under the 2017 UK Plan for Tackling Roadside Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) Concentrations, Greater Manchester authorities are required to take urgent action to address NO2 pollution and develop plans to bring levels to within legal limits in the shortest possible time.</p><p> </p><p>Greater Manchester’s review in July 2022 identified they would not be fully compliant with legal limits before 2027 without action, with 79 points of exceedance predicted in 2023. We have reviewed Greater Manchester’s proposals and identified a number of gaps in the evidence, meaning it is not yet possible to understand how the proposed approach will achieve compliance with NO2 limits in the shortest possible time. We have requested further evidence from the Greater Manchester authorities to enable us to consider the plans further.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 28/03/2023 17:00:18 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
	tabling member	4854 label Biography information for James Daly

1601911

	registered interest
	date	07/03/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Childcare: Finance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure childcare remains affordable despite the rising cost of living.
	tabling member constituency	Batley and Spen
	tabling member printed	Kim Leadbeater
	uin	160461
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/03/2023 answer text <p>The department recognises that families and early years providers across the country are facing financial pressures. This is why we have spent more than £20 billion over the past five years to support families with the cost of childcare. We are currently looking into options to improve the cost, flexibility, and availability of childcare.</p><p>In July 2022, the department announced measures to increase take-up of childcare support to ensure that families can access government support on their childcare bills. This included our Childcare Choices communications campaign to ensure every parent knows about the government funded support they are eligible for. The launch of this campaign has had a positive impact, leading to an increase in referrals for Universal Credit, Tax-Free Childcare, and 30 hours entitlements.</p><p>In the 2023 Spring Budget, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that the department will provide over £4.1 billion by 2027/28 to fund 30 hours of free childcare per week, over 38 weeks per year, for working parents with children aged nine months to three years in England.</p><p>From April 2024, working parents of two-year-olds can access 15 hours of free childcare per week, over 38 weeks a year. From September 2024, this will be extended to parents of nine month to three-year-olds, and from September 2025, working parents of nine month to three-year-olds will be able to access 30 free hours per week, over 38 weeks a year.</p><p>The department also announced that we will invest £204 million in 2023/24 to uplift the rates for existing entitlements, rising to £288 million in 2024/25, with further uplifts beyond this.</p><p>We are continuing to take action to maintain choice and availability for parents by attracting more people to childminding, through a start-up grant fund of up to £7.2 million over the next two years.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Surrey answering member printed Claire Coutinho question first answered 28/03/2023 16:09:34 answering member 4806 label Biography information for Claire Coutinho
	tabling member	4923 label Biography information for Kim Leadbeater

1601921

	registered interest
	date	07/03/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Childcare: Fees and Charges
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of amending the eligibility rules for 30 hours of free childcare so that children become eligible in the month following their third birthday.
	tabling member constituency	Tynemouth
	tabling member printed	Sir Alan Campbell
	uin	160213
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/03/2023 answer text <p>Eligible working parents of 3 and 4-year-olds are currently eligible for 30 hours of free childcare per week, over 38 weeks a year. In the 2023 Spring Budget, the government announced a number of transformative reforms to childcare. This includes the expansion of the free childcare offer so that eligible working parents in England will be able to access 30 hours of free childcare per week, for 38 weeks, per year from when their child is 9 months old to when they start school.</p><p>The department expects to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year on free hours and early education by 2027/28, helping working families with their childcare costs. This announcement represents the single biggest investment in childcare in England.</p><p>From April 2024, all eligible working parents of 2-year-olds will become eligible for 15 hours of free childcare, with eligible parents of 9 months to 2-year-olds eligible for 15 hours from September 2024 onwards. The offer will be rolled out in full, with eligible working parents of children aged 9 months to 3 years able to access 30 hours, from September 2025.</p><p>To be eligible for this offer, parents will need to earn the equivalent of 16 hours a week at National Minimum or Living Wage, and less than £100,000 adjusted net income per year.</p><p>As set out in the regulations underpinning the entitlements, eligibility for the current free early education entitlements, including 30 hours free childcare, begins from 1 September, 1 January or 1 April following the child’s third birthday, or their second birthday if they are eligible for the 15 hours for disadvantaged 2-year-olds. Parents must apply for 30 hours free childcare in the term their child turns 3 if they wish to take up a place from the start of the following term. Further information on the recommended dates at which parents should apply is available at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/30-hours-free-childcare?step-by-step-nav=f517cd57-3c18-4bb9-aa8b-1b907e279bf9" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/30-hours-free-childcare?step-by-step-nav=f517cd57-3c18-4bb9-aa8b-1b907e279bf9</a>.</p><p>These termly deadlines ensure that children can receive at least two years of early education and/or reception before they reach compulsory school age, which is the beginning of the term following their fifth birthday. They also allow local authorities and childcare providers to better plan and ensure that sufficient early years places are available for parents each term, as there are clear periods for when children are likely to start a place.</p><p>In the meantime, parents can also access other childcare offers such as Tax-Free Childcare and Universal Credit. Tax-Free Childcare can help parents with childcare for children aged from 0-11, and for disabled children until the age of 17. Universal Credit Childcare provides support with childcare costs for children aged 0-16. The government is taking action to support parents in receipt of this with childcare costs upfront when they need it, rather than in arrears.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Surrey answering member printed Claire Coutinho question first answered 28/03/2023 16:06:58 answering member 4806 label Biography information for Claire Coutinho
	tabling member	529 label Biography information for Sir Alan Campbell

1602383

	registered interest
	date	08/03/2023
	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	General Practitioners: East of England
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GP surgeries have closed since the start of 2022 in each county in the East of England.
	tabling member constituency	St Albans
	tabling member printed	Daisy Cooper
	uin	161414
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/03/2023 answer text <p>This data is not held in the format requested.</p> answering member constituency Harborough answering member printed Neil O'Brien question first answered 28/03/2023 16:37:47 answering member 4679 label Biography information for Neil O'Brien
	tabling member	4769 label Biography information for Daisy Cooper

1602760

	registered interest
	date	09/03/2023
	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	Gender Dysphoria: Health Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether current employees of the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust Gender Identity Development Service will lead the replacement multi-disciplinary teams within the new provider.
	tabling member constituency	Northampton South
	tabling member printed	Andrew Lewer
	uin	162292
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/03/2023 answer text <p>NHS England’s new draft interim service specification that went out to consultation proposes that the new multi-disciplinary teams will only be led by a medical practitioner. They will also have a broader composition of expertise than under the previous service, including paediatricians and experts in neurodiversity and autism.</p><p> </p><p>NHS England’s national transformation programme aims to ensure that relevant expertise is transferred to the new teams. The new providers and the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust are working together to establish a process that is consistent with employment law and with National Health Service human resources best practice.</p> answering member constituency Lewes answering member printed Maria Caulfield question first answered 28/03/2023 10:55:49 answering member 4492 label Biography information for Maria Caulfield
	tabling member	4659 label Biography information for Andrew Lewer

1602812

	registered interest
	date	09/03/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Pre-school Education: Government Assistance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to support Early Years providers in order to (a) reduce provider closures and (b) maintain or increase the number of available childcare places.
	tabling member constituency	Portsmouth South
	tabling member printed	Stephen Morgan
	uin	162276
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/03/2023 answer text <p>The department recognises that families and early years providers across the country are facing financial pressures. This is why we have spent more than £20 billion over the past five years to support families with the cost of childcare.</p><p>In the 2023 Spring Budget, my right hon Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced transformative reforms to childcare for parents, children and the economy. By 2027/28, the government will expect to be spending in excess of £8 billion a year on free hours and early education, helping working families with their childcare costs. This represents the largest ever investment in childcare in England.</p><p>This includes £204 million this year, increasing to £288 million in 2024/25, for local authorities to increase hourly rates paid to childcare providers, and then increasing year on year to meet rising cost pressures.</p><p>This will include an average of 30% increase in the national average 2 year old rate from September 2023 to around £8.</p><p>The department also announced that we will launch a consultation on further measures to support reform of the childcare market, to improve the childcare offer for parents. This will include exploring further flexibilities for providers, growing and supporting the workforce, allowing childminders more choice over how they operate and introducing a new, better tailored childminder-specific Early Years Foundation Stage framework.</p><p>The department is continuing to take action to maintain choice and availability for parents by attracting more people to childminding, through a start-up grant fund of up to £7.2 million over the next two years.</p><p>The government has announced a freeze to the business rates multiplier in 2022/23 and 2023/24. This will support all ratepayers, including early years businesses, and mean bills are 6% lower than without the freeze.</p><p>In the 2022 Spring Statement, the government increased the Employment Allowance from £4,000 to £5,000 to support smaller businesses by reducing their costs of employment. Businesses who had employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) bills of £100,000 or less in the previous tax year will be able to claim up to £5,000 off their employer NICs bills. This means that 40% of all businesses will be unaffected by changes to employer NICs.</p><p>The £18 billion Energy Bill Relief Scheme is supporting millions of businesses with rising energy costs, and the Chancellor has made clear this will continue until June 2023.</p><p>From April 2023 to March 2024 the introduction of the Energy Bills Discount Scheme will provide non-domestic consumers, including early years and childcare providers, with a unit discount on gas and electricity costs. The new scheme will strike a balance between supporting businesses over the next 12 months and limiting taxpayer’s exposure to volatile energy markets. This financial support provides long term certainty for non-domestic consumers.</p><p>The key measure of sufficiency is whether the supply of available places is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents and children. Ofsted data currently shows that the number of places offered by providers on the Early Years Register has remained broadly stable since August 2015.</p><p>Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area.</p><p>The department has regular contact with each local authority in England regarding sufficiency of childcare and any issues local authorities are facing.</p> answering member constituency East Surrey answering member printed Claire Coutinho question first answered 28/03/2023 16:51:51 answering member 4806 label Biography information for Claire Coutinho
	tabling member	4653 label Biography information for Stephen Morgan

1602813

	registered interest
	date	09/03/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Childcare: Portsmouth South
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to deliver more affordable childcare for parents and carers of children in Portsmouth South constituency.
	tabling member constituency	Portsmouth South
	tabling member printed	Stephen Morgan
	uin	162277
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/03/2023 answer text <p>The department recognises that families and early years providers across the country are facing financial pressures. That is why we have spent more than £20 billion over the past five years to support families with the cost of childcare. Families across the country, including parents and carers in Portsmouth South constituency, are entitled to government support to help families with the cost of childcare.</p><p>The government has doubled the entitlement for working parents of 3 and 4 year olds to 30 hours and introduced 15 free hours a week for disadvantaged 2 year olds.</p><p>Working parents on Universal Credit may be eligible for help with up to 85% of their childcare costs through Universal Credit to support with the costs of childcare.</p><p>In July 2022, the department announced a package of measures to increase the choice and availability of childcare. This included taking action to open up the childminder market to support childminders and halt the decline in numbers, giving more parents access to affordable, flexible childcare. We also launched our Childcare Choices communications campaign to ensure every parent knows about the government funded support they are eligible for.</p><p>In the 2021 Spending Review, we announced additional funding for the early years entitlements of £160 million in 2022/23, £180 million in 2023/24 and £170 million in 2024/25, compared to the 2021/22 financial year. Improving the cost, choice and availability of childcare for working parents is important for this government.</p><p>For 2023/24, we will invest an additional £20 million into early years funding, on top of the additional £180 million for 2023/24. Taken together, this will help support providers at a national level with the additional National Living Wage costs associated with delivering the free childcare entitlements next year.</p><p>The 2023 Spring Budget announced that we are closing the gap between parental leave ending and the current childcare offer for working parents, and ensuring all parents of primary-aged children can access wraparound childcare in school.</p><p>This represents the largest ever investment in childcare in England and will be transformative for parents, children and the economy.</p><p>By 2027/28, the department will provide over £4.1 billion to fund 30 hours of free childcare per week, covering 38 weeks per year, for working parents which children aged nine months to three years old in England.</p><p>The department will invest £204 million in 2023/24 to uplift the rates for existing entitlements, rising to £288 million in 2024/25, with further uplifts beyond this so that providers have the funding they need to deliver childcare entitlements.</p><p>We are removing one of the largest barriers to working parents by increasing the amount of free childcare available. Childcare is a vital enabler for parents to work, which is why we are bringing forward a number of measures to support parents to return and stay in work. This new funding will empower parents, allowing them to progress in their careers and supporting their families.</p><p>We believe all parents should have access to childcare before and after the school day to help them work. That is why we are also launching a new national wraparound childcare pilot scheme.</p><p>We will provide a total of £289 million in start-up funding to enable schools and local areas to test flexible ways of providing childcare.</p><p>By 2027/28, this government expects to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year on free hours and early education, helping families with young children with their childcare costs.</p> answering member constituency East Surrey answering member printed Claire Coutinho question first answered 28/03/2023 17:08:43 answering member 4806 label Biography information for Claire Coutinho
	tabling member	4653 label Biography information for Stephen Morgan

1603746

	registered interest
	date	13/03/2023
	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	Travel: Trading Standards
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to ensure that trading standards are being upheld (a) in the travel industry and (b) with regard to travel agents who sell flights to customers.
	tabling member constituency	Mitcham and Morden
	tabling member printed	Siobhain McDonagh
	uin	163698
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/03/2023 answer text <p>There is a robust legal framework in place to protect consumers and uphold trading standards. The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 provide additional bespoke protections for package holiday bookings. Traders, including travel agents, must comply with consumer protection law, which is enforced by Local Authority trading standards teams and the Competition and Markets Authority</p><p>The Department engages regularly with Trading Standards and the Competition and Markets Authority to discuss consumer and trading issues. The framework is kept under review to ensure it continues to provide effective consumer protection.</p> answering member constituency Thirsk and Malton answering member printed Kevin Hollinrake question first answered 28/03/2023 14:33:45 answering member 4474 label Biography information for Kevin Hollinrake
	tabling member	193 label Biography information for Dame Siobhain McDonagh

1603994

	registered interest
	date	14/03/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Academies
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent progress her Department has made on ensuring that schools run by local authorities (a) become an academy and (b) join a multi-academy trust.
	tabling member constituency	Southport
	tabling member printed	Damien Moore
	uin	165431
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/03/2023 answer text <p>The Department is focused on continuing to improve standards in schools, providing the best education for children, including for those from disadvantaged backgrounds and with special educational needs. The best way for this to happen is for all schools to be in strong families of schools, benefitting from the support of the best in the group, and the resilience that comes from being part of a larger group of schools. That is why, over time, the Department would like all schools to be in a strong multi-academy trust (MAT), due to the positive impact it can have on children’s lives. If we get this right then we will see the vast majority of schools in trusts before 2030. The Department is exploring how to further support the growth of strong multi-academy trusts through the Regulation and Commissioning Review.</p><p>The current national academisation rate is 47.4%, which includes 10,254 academies and free schools out of a total of 21,630 state funded schools. This has increased from 45.7% in March 2022 when the Schools White Paper was published. Of those, 9,173 are in a MAT.</p><p>There are 94 MATs that serve at least 7,500 pupils. These represent 6.9% of the total of 1,345 MATs, and are comprised of 2,341 Academies (22.8% of the total number) and just over 1.24 million pupils (26.2% of the total).</p><p>There are 266 MATs serving 10 or more schools, which is 19.7% of the total. These are comprised of 4,872 Academies (47.5%) and 1.94 million pupils (40.8%).</p><p>The Department does not issue guidance specifically on the size of MATs.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb grouped question UIN 165432 165433 question first answered 28/03/2023 17:26:53 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4669 label Biography information for Damien Moore