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1488790

registered interest
date	13/07/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children: Food
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department is taking steps to guarantee access to healthy meals for children living in poverty who are not eligible for free school meals.
tabling member constituency	Weaver Vale
tabling member printed	Mike Amesbury
uin	36098
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/07/2022 answer text <p>Under this government, free school meal eligibility has been extended several times and to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century. This includes the introduction of universal infant free school meals, further education free meals, and the permanent extension of free school meals to some groups of children who have no recourse to public funds.</p><p>Under current criteria, in January 2022, 1.9 million pupils were eligible for and claiming a benefit-related free meal in school at lunch time, saving families hundreds of pounds a year per child. This equates to 22.5% of all pupils, up from 15% in 2015.</p><p>The government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and is providing over £37 billion in support for the cost of living this year. This includes an extra £500 million of local support, which will be extended from this October to March 2023 to help those most in need with payments towards the rising cost of food, energy, and water bills. This brings the total amount provided through the Household Support Fund to £1.5 billion since October 2021. This is administered by local councils in England and helps those in most need with payments towards the rising cost of food, energy, and water bills.</p><p>In setting eligibility for free school meals, the government’s position remains that it is right that provision is targeted at supporting the most disadvantaged, those out of work or on the lowest income. The department will continue to keep all free school meal eligibility under review, to ensure that these meals are supporting those who most need them. Schools are responsible for the provision of school meals and may enter individual contracts with suppliers and caterers to meet this duty. The department is confident that schools will continue providing pupils with nutritious school meals, as required by the school food standards.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 36099 36100 question first answered 21/07/2022 16:38:48 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4667 label Biography information for Mike Amesbury

1488792

registered interest
date	13/07/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children: Poverty
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the cost of living crisis on levels of the number of children living in poverty who are not eligible for free schools meals.
tabling member constituency	Weaver Vale
tabling member printed	Mike Amesbury
uin	36099
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/07/2022 answer text <p>Under this government, free school meal eligibility has been extended several times and to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century. This includes the introduction of universal infant free school meals, further education free meals, and the permanent extension of free school meals to some groups of children who have no recourse to public funds.</p><p>Under current criteria, in January 2022, 1.9 million pupils were eligible for and claiming a benefit-related free meal in school at lunch time, saving families hundreds of pounds a year per child. This equates to 22.5% of all pupils, up from 15% in 2015.</p><p>The government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and is providing over £37 billion in support for the cost of living this year. This includes an extra £500 million of local support, which will be extended from this October to March 2023 to help those most in need with payments towards the rising cost of food, energy, and water bills. This brings the total amount provided through the Household Support Fund to £1.5 billion since October 2021. This is administered by local councils in England and helps those in most need with payments towards the rising cost of food, energy, and water bills.</p><p>In setting eligibility for free school meals, the government’s position remains that it is right that provision is targeted at supporting the most disadvantaged, those out of work or on the lowest income. The department will continue to keep all free school meal eligibility under review, to ensure that these meals are supporting those who most need them. Schools are responsible for the provision of school meals and may enter individual contracts with suppliers and caterers to meet this duty. The department is confident that schools will continue providing pupils with nutritious school meals, as required by the school food standards.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 36098 36100 question first answered 21/07/2022 16:38:48 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4667 label Biography information for Mike Amesbury

1488793

registered interest
date	13/07/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Free School Meals
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make it his policy to review the eligibility criteria for free school meals before the beginning of the next school year.
tabling member constituency	Weaver Vale
tabling member printed	Mike Amesbury
uin	36100
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/07/2022 answer text <p>Under this government, free school meal eligibility has been extended several times and to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century. This includes the introduction of universal infant free school meals, further education free meals, and the permanent extension of free school meals to some groups of children who have no recourse to public funds.</p><p>Under current criteria, in January 2022, 1.9 million pupils were eligible for and claiming a benefit-related free meal in school at lunch time, saving families hundreds of pounds a year per child. This equates to 22.5% of all pupils, up from 15% in 2015.</p><p>The government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and is providing over £37 billion in support for the cost of living this year. This includes an extra £500 million of local support, which will be extended from this October to March 2023 to help those most in need with payments towards the rising cost of food, energy, and water bills. This brings the total amount provided through the Household Support Fund to £1.5 billion since October 2021. This is administered by local councils in England and helps those in most need with payments towards the rising cost of food, energy, and water bills.</p><p>In setting eligibility for free school meals, the government’s position remains that it is right that provision is targeted at supporting the most disadvantaged, those out of work or on the lowest income. The department will continue to keep all free school meal eligibility under review, to ensure that these meals are supporting those who most need them. Schools are responsible for the provision of school meals and may enter individual contracts with suppliers and caterers to meet this duty. The department is confident that schools will continue providing pupils with nutritious school meals, as required by the school food standards.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 36098 36099 question first answered 21/07/2022 16:38:48 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4667 label Biography information for Mike Amesbury

1486506

registered interest
date	05/07/2022
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Bus Services: Finance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Campaign for Better Transport's report, Funding local bus services in England, published in June 2022, if his Department will make an assessment of the implications for its policies of the findings of that report that (a) more than half of areas that applied for more support received no funding and (b) more than a third of the country’s population did not receive funding; and if he will (a) review the competitive funding model and (b) replace that model with long-term funding allocations for all local authorities conditional on achieving certain objectives.
tabling member constituency	Weaver Vale
tabling member printed	Mike Amesbury
uin	31227
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/07/2022 answer text <p>A total of 31 Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIPs), representing 34 local authority areas, have been selected for funding from the £1.2 billion new dedicated funding announced in April to level up local bus services.</p><p>Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) not in receipt of BSIP funding have been offered a further capacity support grant to strengthen their in-house capacity; will be able to access practical assistance, including training, under the auspices of the new Bus Centre of Excellence; and can apply for other government funding sources to improve their bus services and grow bus patronage.</p><p>In the Levelling-Up White Paper, the Government recognised the benefits of long-term funding and has committed to simplifying the funding landscape for local authorities.</p> answering member constituency Copeland answering member printed Trudy Harrison question first answered 12/07/2022 15:24:11 answering member 4593 label Biography information for Trudy Harrison
tabling member	4667 label Biography information for Mike Amesbury

1486640

registered interest
date	05/07/2022
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	High Speed 2 Line: Cheshire
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 July 2022 to Question 26843 on High Speed 2 Line: Cheshire, where in the North West jobs for building Phase 2bWL will be based; and what job roles are included in the figures.
tabling member constituency	Weaver Vale
tabling member printed	Mike Amesbury
uin	31228
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/07/2022 answer text <p>Jobs will be created along the line of route, in counties including Cheshire. We do not have any further details of locations at this stage.</p><p>The job roles included in the figures previously given for Phase 2bWL include those in both the construction and rail engineering sectors. The peak workforce in 29/30 split for Phase 2bWL is: construction 15,400 FTE and rail engineering 2,500 FTE giving a total of 17,500 FTE.</p><p>Construction peaks at around 15,400 people with a relatively constant workforce around that level from 2027/28 to 2029/30. Around 48% of the workforce are in construction operative roles and close to 40% in management roles. Design service roles account for about 13% of the workforce and peak in 2021/22.</p><p>In rail engineering, the largest demand for labour and skills occurs in the track asset type, followed by traction and rolling stock, and then signalling systems &amp; telecommunications.</p><p>Source document : <a href="https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.hs2.org.uk%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2021%2F08%2FHS2_LSF-report_clean_V2-0508.pdf&amp;data=05%7C01%7CLonita.Vas%40dft.gov.uk%7Cd308cdd3f8a84bd2e52708da60c2c7e6%7C28b782fb41e148eabfc3ad7558ce7136%7C0%7C0%7C637928686939326975%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=PwgJG%2BpH99xoX5y7BBd4j%2F46THUy%2B5xYZUTOgpgktbA%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">HS2 Labour and Skills demand and supply forecasting and analysis: July ‘ 21</a>. (Further break down of figures explained on page 37).</p> answering member constituency Copeland answering member printed Trudy Harrison question first answered 13/07/2022 08:58:11 answering member 4593 label Biography information for Trudy Harrison
tabling member	4667 label Biography information for Mike Amesbury

1486145

registered interest
date	04/07/2022
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	Social Services: Reform
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Local Government Association's survey on adult social care reform, published on 27 June 2022, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for its policies of the findings of that survey that over 98 per cent of local authorities do not have confidence that the funding for the Government’s adult social care reform agenda is sufficient; what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the £5.4 billion of funding allocated to this agenda; and whether his Department is taking steps to (i) reassure local authorities that that funding is sufficient and (ii) ensure that people who require care are paying a fair price.
tabling member constituency	Weaver Vale
tabling member printed	Mike Amesbury
uin	30124
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/07/2022 answer text <p><strong> </strong></p><p>No formal assessment has been made. However, on 8 March 2022 we published an impact assessment on the costs of implementing the reforms, which is available at the following link:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/build-back-better-our-plan-for-health-and-social-care/adult-social-care-charging-reform-public-sector-equalities-duty-impact-assessment" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/build-back-better-our-plan-for-health-and-social-care/adult-social-care-charging-reform-public-sector-equalities-duty-impact-assessment</a></p><p>The impact assessment provides the cost modelling for the £3.6 billion announced for the charging reforms. This includes the costs to local government of implementing the charging reforms including the cap, the increased capital limit, moving towards paying a fair rate of care and the associated implementation costs. We are working with local authorities to prepare for implementation, including engaging on the estimated cost of reform. We are committing £1.36 billion to the Market Sustainability and Fair Cost of Care Fund which will support local authorities to move towards paying providers a fair cost of care.</p> answering member constituency Chichester answering member printed Gillian Keegan question first answered 20/07/2022 15:46:34 answering member 4680 label Biography information for Gillian Keegan
tabling member	4667 label Biography information for Mike Amesbury

1484309

registered interest
date	28/06/2022
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	High Speed 2 Line: Cheshire
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many jobs will be created by HS2 in (a) Northwich, (b) Cheshire and (c) the North of England.
tabling member constituency	Weaver Vale
tabling member printed	Mike Amesbury
uin	26843
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/07/2022 answer text <p>Labour market forecasts can be found in the 'HS2 labour and skills demand and supply forecasting and analysis' published in July 2021.</p><p><a href="https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Furldefense.com%2Fv3%2F__https%3A%2F%2Fassets.hs2.org.uk%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2021%2F08%2FHS2_LSF-report_clean_V2-0508.pdf__%3B!!HEBAkwG3r5RD!4Salvh1ExSSQfHRdyGr0PNitYa0IO16idmTP7QSqjB0QtsmxcTzluiKTeeetpL83QjQjmyWCdzZTdFpVcJ_2Xxk7-Nvi9YNv%24&amp;data=05%7C01%7CLonita.Vas%40dft.gov.uk%7C31be6b5ec3e84432e47608da5aab318d%7C28b782fb41e148eabfc3ad7558ce7136%7C0%7C0%7C637921988553312981%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=IvucY2Ctfnr%2BNj8nmfDHQHrXyxjfu0IHrn9uVFib%2B%2F8%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">https://assets.hs2.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/HS2_LSF-report_clean_V2-0508.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p>Whilst we cannot provide geographical specific forecasts, section 2.7 (page 36 - 45) details the labour forecast for building Phase 2bWL, which will all be based in the North West. It estimates there will be a peak workforce of 17,500 in 2029/30, with the workforce sustained at over 14,000 between 2027/28 and 2029/30.</p><p> </p><p>The forecasts for Phase 2a are also given in the table on page 21.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Pendle answering member printed Andrew Stephenson question first answered 04/07/2022 13:45:08 answering member 4044 label Biography information for Andrew Stephenson
tabling member	4667 label Biography information for Mike Amesbury

1484313

registered interest
date	28/06/2022
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	Local Government: Standards
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to Local Government Association analysis of 28 June 2022 which found that rising energy prices, rising inflation, and National Living Wage pressures are set to add £3.6 billion in unforeseen extra cost pressures onto council budgets in 2024-25, what assessment his Department has made of the effects of that matter on (a) council budgets and (b) the ability of local authorities to maintain public services that are helping communities recover from the pandemic and residents cope through cost of living rises; and what steps his Department is taking to (i) tackle cost pressure on councils and (ii) maintain public services.
tabling member constituency	Weaver Vale
tabling member printed	Mike Amesbury
uin	26844
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/07/2022 answer text <p>The Local Government Finance Settlement makes available £54.1 billion in 2022/23 for local government in England, an increase of up to £3.7 billion on 2021/22.</p><p>Inflation forecasts are higher than they were when the settlement was announced. How that interacts with the finances of local government is not straightforward, as not all areas of expenditure will be sensitive to inflation and local authorities may have multi-year contracts, cushioning them from this year’s inflationary increases.</p> answering member constituency Saffron Walden answering member printed Kemi Badenoch grouped question UIN 26824 question first answered 06/07/2022 11:31:14 answering member 4597 label Biography information for Kemi Badenoch
tabling member	4667 label Biography information for Mike Amesbury

1483584

registered interest
date	27/06/2022
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	Health: Screening
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time for NHS biopsy results is; and what steps his Department taking to reduce those waiting times.
tabling member constituency	Weaver Vale
tabling member printed	Mike Amesbury
uin	25996
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/07/2022 answer text <p>Information on the average time for National Health Service biopsy results is not collected in the format requested. The ‘Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care’ sets out for how the NHS will recover and expand elective services over the next three years, including biopsy services. The Department has committed £2.3 billion to increase the volume of diagnostic activity, including the launch of up to 160 community diagnostic centres (CDC) by 2024/25 to increase capacity for clinical checks, including simple biopsies. Since July 2021, CDCs have delivered more than one million additional checks. This funding will also support the digitisation of cell pathology services in the NHS to accelerate turnaround times in testing and improve digital infrastructure.</p><p>No specific assessment of the effect of outsourcing NHS biopsy contracts or current waiting times at Leighton Hospital has been made and there are no plans to have such discussions with providers. Decisions to outsource histology reporting are taken by the clinical leadership of the local pathology network or laboratory.</p> answering member constituency Lewes answering member printed Maria Caulfield grouped question UIN 25997 25998 question first answered 18/07/2022 09:59:28 answering member 4492 label Biography information for Maria Caulfield
tabling member	4667 label Biography information for Mike Amesbury

1483586

registered interest
date	27/06/2022
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	Health: Screening
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of outsourcing NHS biopsy contracts on waiting times for results; and what discussions he has had with representatives of outsourced providers on reducing waiting times for test results.
tabling member constituency	Weaver Vale
tabling member printed	Mike Amesbury
uin	25997
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/07/2022 answer text <p>Information on the average time for National Health Service biopsy results is not collected in the format requested. The ‘Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care’ sets out for how the NHS will recover and expand elective services over the next three years, including biopsy services. The Department has committed £2.3 billion to increase the volume of diagnostic activity, including the launch of up to 160 community diagnostic centres (CDC) by 2024/25 to increase capacity for clinical checks, including simple biopsies. Since July 2021, CDCs have delivered more than one million additional checks. This funding will also support the digitisation of cell pathology services in the NHS to accelerate turnaround times in testing and improve digital infrastructure.</p><p>No specific assessment of the effect of outsourcing NHS biopsy contracts or current waiting times at Leighton Hospital has been made and there are no plans to have such discussions with providers. Decisions to outsource histology reporting are taken by the clinical leadership of the local pathology network or laboratory.</p> answering member constituency Lewes answering member printed Maria Caulfield grouped question UIN 25996 25998 question first answered 18/07/2022 09:59:28 answering member 4492 label Biography information for Maria Caulfield
tabling member	4667 label Biography information for Mike Amesbury