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1698303

registered interest
date	25/03/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Childcare
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what additional support they are providing to enable local authorities and childcare providers to meet demand arising from their commitment to provide free childcare hours.
tabling member printed	Lord Weir of Ballyholme
uin	HL3607
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/04/2024 answer text <p>There were 15,100 more childcare places in 2023 than the previous year, with 12,900 paid staff added to the same period according to the department’s latest Childcare and early years provider survey (2023).</p><p>To support providers to expand their provision further, the department is investing over £400 million of additional funding to uplift the hourly rate for the entitlements next year. This investment consists of £67 million in new funding to reflect the latest National Living Wage increase, an additional £57 million to support providers in respect of teachers’ pay and pensions, and the £288 million for the existing entitlements in 2024/25 announced in the Spring Budget in March 2023. It also builds on the £204 million of additional investment to increase funding rates this year. To further support the sector delivering the expansion of childcare support, the government is confirming that the hourly rate providers are paid to deliver the free hours offers will increase in line with the metric used at Spring Budget 2023 for the next two years. This reflects that workforce costs are the most significant costs for childcare providers and represents an estimated additional £500 million of investment over two years. Additionally, hundreds of thousands of children aged 3 and 4 are registered for a 30-hour place, saving eligible working parents up to £6,900 per child per year, helping even more working parents and making a real difference to the lives of those families.</p><p>Local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare, including supporting them through our childcare delivery support contract where appropriate.</p><p>The government has allocated £100 million in capital funding to local authorities to support the expansion of childcare places and the supply of wraparound care. The funding is anticipated to deliver thousands of new places across the country.</p><p>On top of the department’s funding reforms, it is also providing significant support for local authorities to deliver the early years expansion from April, such as:</p><ul><li>Appointing a delivery support contractor (Childcare Works) to provide local authorities with support, advice, guidance and best practice sharing to help them deliver the expansion and deliver enough childcare places for residents. Coram are part of the Childcare Works consortium, and the department is delighted to be working with them to support local authorities to deliver.</li><li>Providing £12 million of delivery support funding to local authorities in financial year 2023/24, to help them meet the costs associated with the rollout.</li><li>In February 2024, the department launched a new national recruitment campaign for the early years and childcare sector, ‘Do something Big, Work with small children’, and a financial incentives pilot. Eligible joiners and returners will receive a tax-free payment of up to £1,000. This followed the introduction of workforce flexibilities to the Early Years Foundation Stage in January 2024.</li><li>The department has also introduced Skills Bootcamps for Early Years which will create a pathway to accelerated Level 3 Early Years Apprenticeships.</li></ul> answering member printed Baroness Barran grouped question UIN HL3609 question first answered 08/04/2024 12:07:12 answering member 4703 label Biography information for Baroness Barran
tabling member	4970 label Biography information for Lord Weir of Ballyholme

1698304

registered interest
date	25/03/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Childcare
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the percentage of eligible families who will be able to take advantage of free childcare care hours committed by April.
tabling member printed	Lord Weir of Ballyholme
uin	HL3608
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/04/2024 answer text <p>In the 2023 Spring Budget, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced that free childcare would be extended to children of eligible working parents in England from nine months old to support increased parental engagement in the labour market.</p><p>The proportion of eligible parents who will take up the new entitlement is provisionally estimated to be around 75% for those with children aged two, around 60% for those with children aged one and around 35% for those with children under the age of one. These estimates are detailed in a policy costing information note, which was published in July 2023. The information note can be found in the attachment.</p><p>Data on actual take up of the entitlement for children aged two from April 2024 will be collected via the early years census in January 2025, and published in June or July 2025.</p> answering member printed Baroness Barran question first answered 08/04/2024 12:23:14 answering member 4703 label Biography information for Baroness Barran attachment 1 file name HL3608 attachment.pdf title HL3608_attachment
tabling member	4970 label Biography information for Lord Weir of Ballyholme

1698305

registered interest
date	25/03/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Childcare: Shortages
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the percentage of areas where there is a shortage of childcare facilities and providers to provide their commitment of free childcare hours.
tabling member printed	Lord Weir of Ballyholme
uin	HL3609
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/04/2024 answer text <p>There were 15,100 more childcare places in 2023 than the previous year, with 12,900 paid staff added to the same period according to the department’s latest Childcare and early years provider survey (2023).</p><p>To support providers to expand their provision further, the department is investing over £400 million of additional funding to uplift the hourly rate for the entitlements next year. This investment consists of £67 million in new funding to reflect the latest National Living Wage increase, an additional £57 million to support providers in respect of teachers’ pay and pensions, and the £288 million for the existing entitlements in 2024/25 announced in the Spring Budget in March 2023. It also builds on the £204 million of additional investment to increase funding rates this year. To further support the sector delivering the expansion of childcare support, the government is confirming that the hourly rate providers are paid to deliver the free hours offers will increase in line with the metric used at Spring Budget 2023 for the next two years. This reflects that workforce costs are the most significant costs for childcare providers and represents an estimated additional £500 million of investment over two years. Additionally, hundreds of thousands of children aged 3 and 4 are registered for a 30-hour place, saving eligible working parents up to £6,900 per child per year, helping even more working parents and making a real difference to the lives of those families.</p><p>Local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare, including supporting them through our childcare delivery support contract where appropriate.</p><p>The government has allocated £100 million in capital funding to local authorities to support the expansion of childcare places and the supply of wraparound care. The funding is anticipated to deliver thousands of new places across the country.</p><p>On top of the department’s funding reforms, it is also providing significant support for local authorities to deliver the early years expansion from April, such as:</p><ul><li>Appointing a delivery support contractor (Childcare Works) to provide local authorities with support, advice, guidance and best practice sharing to help them deliver the expansion and deliver enough childcare places for residents. Coram are part of the Childcare Works consortium, and the department is delighted to be working with them to support local authorities to deliver.</li><li>Providing £12 million of delivery support funding to local authorities in financial year 2023/24, to help them meet the costs associated with the rollout.</li><li>In February 2024, the department launched a new national recruitment campaign for the early years and childcare sector, ‘Do something Big, Work with small children’, and a financial incentives pilot. Eligible joiners and returners will receive a tax-free payment of up to £1,000. This followed the introduction of workforce flexibilities to the Early Years Foundation Stage in January 2024.</li><li>The department has also introduced Skills Bootcamps for Early Years which will create a pathway to accelerated Level 3 Early Years Apprenticeships.</li></ul> answering member printed Baroness Barran grouped question UIN HL3607 question first answered 08/04/2024 12:07:12 answering member 4703 label Biography information for Baroness Barran
tabling member	4970 label Biography information for Lord Weir of Ballyholme

1698306

registered interest
date	25/03/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Breakfast Clubs
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of (1) primary, and (2) secondary, schools currently provide breakfast clubs.
tabling member printed	Lord Weir of Ballyholme
uin	HL3610
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/04/2024 answer text <p>The government is committed to continuing support for breakfast clubs in England in schools in disadvantaged areas. Up to £40 million is being invested to continue the department’s national programme until July 2025. This funding will support up to 2,700 schools in disadvantaged areas in England, meaning thousands of children from low income families will be offered free nutritious breakfasts to better support their attainment, wellbeing and readiness to learn. Schools are eligible for the programme if they have 40% or more pupils from deprived households, as measured by the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index.</p><p>The department does not currently hold recent data on the percentage of schools that provide breakfast clubs. As of November 2022, over 2,100 schools signed up to the programme, of which 65% were primary and 23% secondary.</p><p>The recruitment process is still underway for schools that wish to sign up. In March 2023, 2,500 schools had signed up to the programme and the department will work with its supplier, Family Action, to monitor and publish updated data in due course.</p><p>​The government is very supportive of school breakfasts and the contribution these can make to children’s wellbeing and learning. ​Alongside our national programme, there are a number of organisations such as Magic Breakfast, Kellogg’s and Greggs providing valuable support to schools with a breakfast provision.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Barran question first answered 08/04/2024 12:24:26 answering member 4703 label Biography information for Baroness Barran
tabling member	4970 label Biography information for Lord Weir of Ballyholme

1698053

registered interest
date	21/03/2024
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Vaccination: UK Internal Trade
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what restrictions, if any, exist for the movement of thawed COVID-19 vaccine products from Great Britain to Northern Ireland for commercial purposes as a consequence of provisions of the Northern Ireland Protocol.
tabling member printed	Lord Weir of Ballyholme
uin	HL3547
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/04/2024 answer text <p>The Windsor Framework secured an unprecedented settlement for human medicines, ensuring that licensing of all medicines will happen on a UK-wide basis by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) from 1 January 2025. The same medicines, in the same packs and with the same labels, will be available across the United Kingdom.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>This also applies to vaccines, including COVID-19 vaccines. Vaccines can therefore be moved between GB and NI without restrictions.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe grouped question UIN HL3548 question first answered 08/04/2024 14:58:53 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
tabling member	4970 label Biography information for Lord Weir of Ballyholme

1698054

registered interest
date	21/03/2024
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Vaccination: UK Internal Trade
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government whether the removal of restrictions on movement of human medicines from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, as a result of the Windsor Framework, and subsequently agreed to by the EU, also covers the movement of medical vaccines for human usage.
tabling member printed	Lord Weir of Ballyholme
uin	HL3548
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/04/2024 answer text <p>The Windsor Framework secured an unprecedented settlement for human medicines, ensuring that licensing of all medicines will happen on a UK-wide basis by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) from 1 January 2025. The same medicines, in the same packs and with the same labels, will be available across the United Kingdom.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>This also applies to vaccines, including COVID-19 vaccines. Vaccines can therefore be moved between GB and NI without restrictions.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe grouped question UIN HL3547 question first answered 08/04/2024 14:58:53 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
tabling member	4970 label Biography information for Lord Weir of Ballyholme

1697695

registered interest
date	20/03/2024
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Migrant Workers: Pay
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what occupations are covered by the new Immigration Salary List.
tabling member printed	Lord Weir of Ballyholme
uin	HL3502
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/04/2024 answer text <p>The Immigration Salary list can be found on page 230 to 232 of the statement of changes laid in Parliament on 14 March. <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65f18e57ff11701fff6159bb/E03091226_-_HC_590_-_Immigration_Rules_Changes__Web_Accessible_.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65f18e57ff11701fff6159bb/E03091226_-_HC_590_-_Immigration_Rules_Changes__Web_Accessible_.pdf</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The Government consult regularly with a broad range of stakeholders, including those in social care, on a regular basis.</p> answering member printed Lord Sharpe of Epsom question first answered 05/04/2024 10:57:36 answering member 4888 label Biography information for Lord Sharpe of Epsom attachment 1 file name E03091226_-_HC_590_-_Immigration_Rules_Changes__Web_Accessible_.pdf title STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN IMMIGRATION RULES
tabling member	4970 label Biography information for Lord Weir of Ballyholme

1697696

registered interest
date	20/03/2024
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Migrant Workers: Health Services and Social Services
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the health and social care sectors regarding the implications for those sectors of the proposed new net migration measures, since the announcement of those measures on 4 December 2023.
tabling member printed	Lord Weir of Ballyholme
uin	HL3503
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/04/2024 answer text <p>The Immigration Salary list can be found on page 230 to 232 of the statement of changes laid in Parliament on 14 March. <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65f18e57ff11701fff6159bb/E03091226_-_HC_590_-_Immigration_Rules_Changes__Web_Accessible_.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65f18e57ff11701fff6159bb/E03091226_-_HC_590_-_Immigration_Rules_Changes__Web_Accessible_.pdf</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The Government consult regularly with a broad range of stakeholders, including those in social care, on a regular basis.</p> answering member printed Lord Sharpe of Epsom question first answered 05/04/2024 10:56:42 answering member 4888 label Biography information for Lord Sharpe of Epsom attachment 1 file name E03091226_-_HC_590_-_Immigration_Rules_Changes__Web_Accessible_.pdf title STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN IMMIGRATION RULES
tabling member	4970 label Biography information for Lord Weir of Ballyholme

1697697

registered interest
date	20/03/2024
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	Horizon IT System: Northern Ireland
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to expand the applicability of the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Bill to cover postmasters and postmistresses in Northern Ireland.
tabling member printed	Lord Weir of Ballyholme
uin	HL3504
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/04/2024 answer text <p>The UK Government has worked at pace to deliver legislation to tackle the injustice faced by wrongfully convicted postmasters. The Government carefully considers the territorial extent of each piece of legislation and remains committed to supporting devolved administrations. Devolved administrations with powers to legislate in these areas should be expected to use them, as the UK Government has done in England and Wales.</p><p>The UK Government stand ready to support the Northern Ireland Executive to enable them to progress their own approaches to overturning convictions in Northern Ireland.</p> answering member printed Lord Offord of Garvel question first answered 05/04/2024 10:54:55 answering member 4931 label Biography information for Lord Offord of Garvel
tabling member	4970 label Biography information for Lord Weir of Ballyholme

1697297

registered interest
date	19/03/2024
answering body	Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
answering dept id	211
answering dept short name	Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
answering dept sort name	Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
hansard heading	Radicalism
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure the implementation and application of the definition of extremism is consistent across all (1) Government departments, and (2) public bodies throughout England.
tabling member printed	Lord Weir of Ballyholme
uin	HL3430
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/04/2024 answer text <p>As I set out in the debate of Tuesday 19 March, the updated definition, and accompanying set of engagement principles, apply to engagement undertaken in England, Scotland, and Wales by UK Government ministerial departments to ensure they are not inadvertently providing a platform, funding or legitimacy to groups, organisations or individuals who attempt to advance extremist ideologies. Further guidance on the definition and engagement principles will be published in the coming months.</p> answering member printed Baroness Swinburne question first answered 04/04/2024 14:32:03 answering member 4985 label Biography information for Baroness Swinburne
tabling member	4970 label Biography information for Lord Weir of Ballyholme