theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_126
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_126

James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 7 April 2025 to Question 43178 on Defence: Procurement, how much has been spent on Project Appivate; and when the business case was first submitted. \p Maria Eagle: Appivate is the RAF's own in-house software delivery team, established as an innovation initiative in 2021.

Since it was established, the total spend by RAF digital on Appivate up to the end of financial year 2024-25 was £26.2 million.

The Business Case referred to in the answer to Question 43178 was submitted to the Cabinet Office in March 2025.
wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_127
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_127

James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 7 April to Question 43178 on Defence: Procurement, what expenditure is involved in the Defence Marine Services - Next Generation; and when the business case was first submitted. \p Maria Eagle: The Full Business Case (FBC) was submitted to the Department’s Investment Approval Committee (IAC) members on 21 January 2025. Permission to proceed with the award of contracts was received on 9 April 2025.

The FBC authorised an Approved Budgetary Limit of £1.393 Billion over 10 years for the DMS-NG programme (including Ministry of Defence cost and risk provision).
wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_128
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_128

James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 7 April to Question 43178 on Defence: Procurement, what expenditure was involved in the Future Maritime Support Programme; and when the business case was first submitted. \p Maria Eagle: The Full Business Case for the Future Maritime Support Programme (FMSP) was submitted in November 2020 and contracts were awarded in April 2021. The current total approved budgetary limit for FMSP through to contract expiration in 2026 is £6.853 billion.

An extension of the current contract to 2028 is currently being costed.
wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_129
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_129

James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 7 April 2025 to Question 43178 on Defence: Procurement, how much has been spent on the Defence Digital ICT manage services project; and when the business case was first submitted. \p Maria Eagle: This information is being withheld on the grounds of National Security as its’ disclosure would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the United Kingdom.
wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_130
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_130

James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 7 April 2025 to Question 43178 on Defence: Procurement, how much has been spent on the AWE Client Partnership Framework; and when the business case was first submitted. \p Maria Eagle: As of March 2025, £3.8 million has been spent on the development phase of the AWE Client Partnership Framework. The business case for the framework was submitted to the Cabinet Office in January 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_131

James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 7 April 2025 to Question 43178 on Defence: Procurement, how much has been spent on HESTIA (Facilities Management); and when the business case was first submitted. \p Maria Eagle: The committed spend on HESTIA as at 31 March 2025, is £1.51 million..

The date when the business case was submitted for each of the seven regional HESTIA contracts can be found below:

Regional HESTIA Contract

Date that the Business Case was submitted

South West

10 July 2017

Wales and West Midlands

01 March 2017

East

03 July 2017

North

02 February 2017

Scotland and Northern Ireland

30 January 2017

South East

28 October 2016

South

26 April 2016
wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_132
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_132

James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent progress his Department has made on implementing the MODnet Evolve Programme. \p Maria Eagle: Significant progress has been made on the MODNET Evolve programme over the last quarter.

The development of the next generation MODNET Official service is nearing completion, and rollout of the new service to Ministry of Defence's (MOD) 200,000 users worldwide began in February 2025 with the start of the rollout to the 700-user pilot group.

The new Managed Print Service has been rolled out to over 95% of sites worldwide, with the remainder due for completion this financial year. This is providing a more secure and easier to use service, while saving MOD circa £26 million across the life of the new contract.

The contract for the MODNET Secret service was signed in December 2024, and is on track to achieve Service Transition by end June 2025 resulting in formal exit from the ATLAS contract.

All these contracts deliver considerable cost savings to defence, enhance the quality of service to users, and ensure MOD has a modern ICT infrastructure that aligns to the Department’s need.
wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_133
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_133

James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 7 April to Question 43178 on Defence: Procurement, what expenditure is involved in the Astute programme; and when the business case was first submitted. \p Maria Eagle: The Astute programme’s Approved Budgetary Level is currently £12.2 billion. The business case was submitted to HM Treasury in March 2025.
wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_134
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_134

James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 7 April 2025 to Question 43178 on Defence: Procurement, how much has been spent on Dreadnought Support; and when the business case was first submitted. \p Maria Eagle: As of April 2025, there has been no spend on the Dreadnought Support Programme. The business case to initiate the support activities is currently going through the relevant approvals process.
wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_135
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_135

Derek Twigg:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of serving personnel in the (a) Navy, (b) Army and (c) RAF were recruited from countries outside the UK in each year since 2015; and from which countries. \p Luke Pollard: The attached tables provide the intake into the Regular Armed Forces by Service and the Brigade of Gurkhas by nationality, and as percentage of overall intake in each year between 1 January 2015 and 31 December 2024. Commonwealth citizens have been grouped together as numbers from individual Commonwealth countries can be very small.

Armed Forces personnel statistics (docx, 98.1KB)
wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_136
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_136

Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much has been paid in application fees for indefinite leave for members of the armed forces on discharge in each year since 2015. \p Al Carns: This information is not held by the Ministry of Defence. Individuals who choose to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK on discharge, also known as Settlement, submit their application and any associated fee to the Home Office.
wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_137
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_137

James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 28 April 2025 to Question 44502 on Puma Helicopters: Decommissioning, whether the First Battalion, The Royal Gurkha Rifles make use of jungle training facilities in Brunei. \p Luke Pollard: The resident Battalion of The Royal Gurkha Rifles continue to make use of jungle training in Brunei within the permitted training parameters.
wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_138
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_138

James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 23 April to Question 45049 on Military Strategic Headquarters: Armed Forces, what the apportionment is of service representation in his Department's (a) Head Office, (b) MSHQ, (c) Strategic Command and (d) the National Armaments Director Group. \p Luke Pollard: It is too early to specify the staffing requirements and representation levels for the four new areas of Defence created by Defence Reform: Department of State, Defence Nuclear Enterprise, National Armaments Director Group, and Military Strategic Headquarters (MSHQ). Head Office responsibilities have been subsumed into the new structure, and Strategic Command is part of MSHQ.

However, Service personnel apportionment and representation will be balanced to ensure effective strategic direction, policy formulation, and coordination of joint capabilities and operations. It is anticipated that this continue to apply in new structure through a combination of rotation, competition-based appointments, and individual Service boarding procedures to ensure career progression and suitably qualified individuals.
wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_139
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_139

Dr Andrew Murrison:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Gurkhas will be recruited in each of the next five years. \p Luke Pollard: Gurkhas have made an outstanding contribution to the UK through their years of dedicated service to the Crown and are held in high esteem by the British Army and public alike.

The number of recruits required for the Brigade of Gurkhas is managed on an annual basis and depends on factors such as retirements, transfers and any changes in unit Order of Battles. Therefore, the Army cannot provide confirmation on the likely number of Gurkha recruits for each of the next five years.

The British Army’s wish to recruit women has been communicated to the Government of Nepal and we will continue to engage them on this subject.
wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_140
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_140

James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 28 April 2025 to Question 44502 on Puma Helicopters: Decommissioning, whether the Brunei Jungle Warfare Skills meet will occur in 2025 if a replacement for the Puma capability is not in place. \p Luke Pollard: The Jungle Warfare Skills Meet (JWSM) will not occur in 2025 but will run again in 2026 on a biennial cadence, in line with the intention of The Royal Brunei Land Force.
wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_141
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_141

Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to help prevent Russian forces increasing the use of banned gas weapons in Ukraine. \p Luke Pollard: Russia’s use of chemical weapons on the front lines in Ukraine is wholly unacceptable. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has published two reports confirming the presence of CS gas in samples collected by Ukraine from the battlefield. In October, the UK sanctioned Russian troops and laboratories for their involvement in the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine. The UK will not allow such blatant violations of the Chemical Weapons Convention and rules-based order to go unpunished.

The UK continues to work closely with our international partners, both bilaterally and in multilateral forums, to coordinate our response to Russia’s use of Chemical Weapons. This includes ensuring the coordinated provision of Counter-CBRN support and assistance to Ukraine and coordinating our response in international fora. The UK has consistently called out Russian use of chemical weapons in Ukraine at the UN and the OPCW.

The UK has been at the forefront of international support and assistance to Ukraine. In the first few months of Russia’s illegal invasion, UK MOD provided respirators and decontamination kits to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as other protective measures to enhance Ukraine’s protective capabilities against chemical weapons. In December 2024, following a direct request for UK Assistance by Ukraine, the Ministry of Defence announced a further funding of £3million for the procurement of respirators to protect Ukraine's forces. This is being procured jointly with Canada with through the G7 led Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons of Mass Destruction. The UK has also provided funding to the OPCW’s Assistance to Ukraine trust fund to procure assistance and detection equipment to Ukraine, including equipment to help assist Ukraine detect the use of chemicals on the battlefield.
wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_142
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_142

Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has made an estimate of expenditure by the armed forces on equality, diversity and inclusion. \p Al Carns: Ministry of Defence accounts are published annually and made public; there are no plans to provide a further breakdown of the data to include, among other things, an estimate of expenditure relating to equality, diversity and inclusion.
wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_143
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_143

Jamie Stone:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of recognising the Royal Observation Corps as having served as a (a) regular and (b) reserve for the armed forces. \p Al Carns: The Royal Observer Corps (ROC) was formed by a Royal Warrant on 21 May 1947; this Warrant was re-issued by Her Late Majesty The Queen several times, most recently in July 1966. The Warrant laid down that, while the Defence Council would be responsible for the ROC’s organisation, training, financing and conditions of service, amongst other elements, for operational control it came under the Home Office.

This was reflected in the ROC’s own Regulations which stated that it was a uniformed civilian organisation, subject to the provision of the Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) civilian pay, staff and travel regulations. In addition, the regulations stated that the Commandant ROC was responsible to the Home Office for its operations, and to the MOD for administrative matters with direct access to the Assistant Under-Secretary Civilian Management (Administrators).

From this, it is very clear the ROC was a civilian, and not a military, organisation, which, even when interacting with the MOD, was treated on the same terms as Civil Servants rather than Service Personnel. For that reason, the MOD does not believe there is any rationale which would justify the retrospective recategorisation of past members of the ROC (or any other civilian defence organisation) as having been Regular or Reserve members of the Armed Forces. However, this in no way diminishes the Government’s admiration of those who performed such a vital role during the Cold War.
wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_144
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_144

James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 29 April to Question 47759 on Ukraine: Puma Helicopters, whether his Department has received any requests for rotary capability from the Ukrainian Government. \p Luke Pollard: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 29 April 2025 to Question 47759.

We continue to liaise closely with Ukraine to deliver the capabilities they require to resist Russian aggression. This includes all relevant capabilities on Land, Sea and in the Air.

Ukraine: Puma Helicopters (docx, 29.3KB)
wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_145
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_145

Mr Peter Bedford:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 5 March to Question 33788 on Ministry of Defence: Written Questions, whether AI is used at any stage in the drafting of responses to parliamentary questions. \p Luke Pollard: The Ministry of Defence is exploring various applications of AI to enhance corporate services and drive efficiency. Officials may use approved AI tools (such as large language models) when developing responses to parliamentary questions, but responsibility for finalising and approving drafts rest with officials.

All parliamentary questions remain reviewed and signed off by a Minister.
wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_146
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_146

Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to take steps to encourage households to have sufficient access to (a) food and (b) other essential supplies for use in emergencies. \p Georgia Gould: Advice for the general public on how to prepare for emergencies is published on GOV.UK. GOV.UK/Prepare provides simple and effective steps that individuals, households and communities can take to be more prepared for a range of emergencies. This advice includes a suggested list of supplies that individuals can consider keeping at home, if they are able, to make it easier for them to manage during an emergency. The list includes items such as bottled water, non-perishable food, baby formula, essential medication, battery or wind up torches and radios and portable powerbanks.
wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_147
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_147

Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill on the Salisbury-Addison Convention in the House of Lords. \p Nick Thomas-Symonds: The conventions concerning the relationship between the House of Commons and the House of Lords are unaffected by the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill. The Bill fulfills a manifesto commitment to remove the right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords. As such, the Bill clearly engages the Salisbury-Addison convention.
wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_148
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_148

Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance he has issued on efficiency savings through reducing spending on public opinion research. \p Georgia Gould: The Prime Minister has set out his ambition to deliver long-term, impactful changes to reshape the British state and the Government is taking forward a number of measures to deliver greater efficiency and transformation in the Civil Service. The Government has announced the first zero-based review of government spending in 17 years, with departments expected to go line-by-line to find savings and efficiencies, including in bodies and agencies that they sponsor.

While spending on public opinion research to support evidence-based policy is a matter for individual departments, the Government regularly evaluates the effectiveness of all communication activities to ensure they are delivering and providing the best value for money for taxpayers. An example of this is the recent comprehensive communications Spending Review that delivered savings of £85 million in 2024-25 and up to £96 million in 2025-26.
wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_149
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_149

Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2025 to Question 32970 on Government Departments: Consultants, how the baseline for the communication and marketing spending reductions were calculated; and what the baseline aggregate figure is. \p Georgia Gould: The baseline for communication and marketing spending reductions was calculated using the planned spend figures submitted by departments to the Cabinet Office as part of the advertising, marketing and communications spending control process.

As a result, Autumn Budget 2024 confirmed an £85 million saving from reducing unnecessary communications spend in 2024-25 and up to £96m in 2025-26 – exceeding the £50 million target set out in the Chancellor's July 2024 Inheritance speech.
wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_150
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_150

Kirsty Blackman:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans he has to update guidance for Government statistics on working age to reflect changes in the State Pension age. \p Georgia Gould: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

PQ 46725 (pdf, 95.7KB)
wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_151
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_151

Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether there is a framework agreement in place for the Senior Salaries Review Body. \p Georgia Gould: The Cabinet Office is actively working to finalise a Framework Agreement for the Senior Salaries Review Body. This will be agreed in due course.
wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_152
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_152

Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will take steps to publish a frequently asked questions section as part of the Civil Service Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Expenditure Guidance, published on 14 May 2024. \p Georgia Gould: There are no plans to publish a frequently asked questions section for this guidance.
wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_153
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_153

Tom Morrison:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of trends in levels of (a) customer service and (b) phone call response times across Government departments on people seeking to engage with Government departments. \p Georgia Gould: Departmental contact lines are not managed or run centrally. Therefore, each department is responsible for their own contact line, as well as customer service and response times.
wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_154
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_154

Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 17 April 2025 to Question 41271 on Government Departments: Equality, whether trade union diversity networks are eligible for trade union facility time. \p Georgia Gould: Departments are responsible for deciding whether to grant facility time for individual trade union members or trade union representatives. Departments should refer to the Facility Time Framework to inform their decision.
wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_155
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_155

Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's publication entitled PPN 006: Taking account of Carbon Reduction Plans, updated on 17 April 2025, what estimate he has made of the cost to government procurement of requiring suppliers to deliver Net Zero Carbon Reduction Plans. \p Georgia Gould: The update of 17th April provided no material change to the policy of the PPN, which was published under the previous administration. No assessment was made when the PPN was published in 2021.
wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_156
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_156

Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 3 April 2025 to Question 41252 on 10 Downing Street: Libraries, whether any Ministers have been asked to donate a book to the Prime Minister's Library since 5 July 2024. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: No ministers have been asked to donate a book to the Prime Minister’s library. Ministers are focused on delivering on the Government’s Plan for Change.
wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_157
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_157

Dr Scott Arthur:To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, when she plans to bring into force the legislative provisions of the Equality Act 2010 relating to the socio-economic duty. \p Dame Nia Griffith: The Government is committed to commencing the socio-economic duty in the Equality Act2010. The duty will require public bodies, when making strategic decisions, to consideractively how their decisions might help to reduce the inequalities associated with socio-economic disadvantage.

We will work in partnership with public authorities, civil society and others in order to ensure that the implementation of the duty is as effective as possible.

As part of this, we have included questions in relation to the socio-economic duty in a call for evidence on equality law, which was launched on 7 April and will be open until 30 June. This will enable public authorities and others to input into plans in relation to the socio-economic duty at an early stage. We will update further on our work to commence the duty once the call for evidence has closed and responses have been analysed.
wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_158
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_158

Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of judicial reviews by Client Earth to (a) her Department and (b) its agencies. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: There have been no judicial reviews by Client Earth against the Ministry of Justice or its agencies.

While Client Earth has brought judicial review cases against several other Government Departments, there is no centrally held data on the total cost of these cases.
wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_159
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_159

Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of judicial reviews in (a) 2020-21, (b) 2021-22, (c) 2022-23, (d) 2023-24 and (e) 2024-25. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: A judicial review challenge may be made against a wide range of public bodies, including Government Separtments, local authorities, police, NHS trusts, regulatory bodies, and certain courts and tribunals.

There is no centrally held data on the total cost of judicial reviews across these different bodies.
wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_160
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_160

Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she plans to take to reduce court backlogs affecting residents of Great Yarmouth constituency. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: This Government inherited a record and rising courts backlog. We have funded a record-high allocation of 110,000 Crown Court sitting days this financial year to tackle the outstanding caseload. As part of our commitment to bearing down on the caseload we have increased magistrates’ court sentencing powers from 6 months to 12 months’ imprisonment for single triable-either way offences. This will free up capacity in the Crown Court, ensuring it is reserved for the more serious and complex cases.

However, the scale of the challenge is beyond what increasing sitting days alone can achieve. This is why we have commissioned an Independent Review of the Criminal Courts, led by Sir Brian Leveson, to consider the merits of longer-term reform and the efficiency of processes in the criminal courts.

In Great Yarmouth, we continue to maximise the use of our Crown court estate to increase the number of cases we sit, by utilising a room in Whitefriars for video hearings and an additional room in King’s Lynn Magistrates’ Court (in addition to Norwich Combined). For the Magistrates’ Court, recruitment of legal advisors has taken place, resulting in increased hearings in the autumn, following training.
wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_161
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_161

Kirsty Blackman:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many posts there are for (a) press, (b) media and (c) other communications staff in her Department; and what the salary band is for each post. \p Alex Davies-Jones: In the central Ministry of Justice communications team, there are a total of 96.2 Full Time Equivalent Government Communication Service professionals.

Of this total, 38.4 work in the media discipline which covers press and media responsibilities.

This is the latest available data from June 2024.

The salary bands for Ministry of Justice roles following the pay award in July 2024 are:

Grade

Minimum (£)

Maximum (£)

AO

24,202

28,485

EO

28,312

34,361

HEO

34,140

42,019

SEO

41,463

52,040

G7

56,532

69,338

G6

68,967

83,585

SCS1

76,000

117,800

SCS2

98,000

162,500
wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_162
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_162

Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many staff in her Department have been issued with a (a) laptop, (b) phone and (c) both. \p Alex Davies-Jones: Please find the figures for the number of phones, laptops and both issued by the Department. Please note this data does not include missing devices:

Laptop

Phone

Both

MOJ

9995

12009

7338

HMCTS

15763

6320

5435

HMPPS

34707

31485

23759

ALBs

6296

3405

2535

The Ministry of Justice is a large operational department with over 90,000 employees. The laptops and phones issued are always encrypted.
wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_163
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-06 conversation_163

Sarah Gibson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the number of schools in Wiltshire that stock spare adrenaline auto-injectors for emergency use. \p Catherine McKinnell: Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions. The accompanying statutory guidance ‘Supporting pupils with medical conditions at school’ makes clear to schools what is expected of them in taking reasonable steps to fulfil their legal obligations and to meet the individual needs of pupils with medical conditions, including allergies. The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions--3.

The department has alerted schools to external resources from trusted allergy organisations. This includes the Schools Allergy Code, developed by The Allergy Team, Independent Schools’ Bursars Association and the Benedict Blythe Foundation, and Allergy School created by the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation.

In 2017, the Department of Health published non-statutory guidance confirming that schools can purchase spare adrenaline auto-injectors (AAIs) from a pharmacy without a prescription and for use in an emergency situation. The department does not hold information on the number of schools which stock spare AAIs.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

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Ian Sollom:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department plans to take to (a) monitor and (b) evaluate the potential impact of changes to the level of funding for the Adult Skills Fund in (i) devolved and (ii) non-devolved areas in the 2025-26 (a) financial and (b) academic years. \p Janet Daby: The department will provide approximately £1.4 billion in funding for the adult skills fund (ASF) in the 2025/26 academic year to ensure that adult learners can access the education and training they need to get into employment or progress in work.

As of August 2025, the department will have devolved 68% of the ASF to mayoral strategic authorities, who are responsible for adult skills provision in their areas. These authorities have autonomy in deciding how to use their funding and are responsible for the allocation of the ASF to learning providers. The department is responsible for managing non-devolved ASF.

In non-devolved areas, adults earning less than £25,000 annual gross salary are eligible for full funding through the ASF. This directly supports social mobility by enabling those moving from unemployment to progress in work. The ASF also funds Learner Support and Learning Support which enables learning providers to help learners facing specific financial hardship, learning difficulties and/or disabilities to overcome barriers which prevent them from taking part in learning.

The department’s allocation methodology for the 2025/26 academic year recognises priority courses, as well as providers with a strong track record of delivering above their allocations and providing for more learners. As a result, there will be a significant number of providers who will see their allocations increase in the 2025/26 academic year.

The department considered the impact of all its funding decisions and, as part of managing the ASF in non-devolved areas, the department considers the impacts of any previous changes when making policy decisions.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

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James Naish:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that the availability of apprenticeships in the education sector meets demand in (a) Nottingham and (b) Nottinghamshire; and whether she is taking steps to (i) increase the range of apprenticeship opportunities in this area, (ii) improve access for young people and (iii) support schools in recruiting apprentices. \p Janet Daby: There are a number of apprenticeship standards available in the education and early years sector including level 3 Teaching assistant, level 5 Early years lead practitioner and level 6 Teacher.

To support employers to access apprenticeships, the government pays £1,000 to employers when they take on apprentices aged 16 to 18, and for apprentices aged 19 to 24 who have an education, health and care (EHC) plan or have been in local authority care. Non-levy paying employers can also benefit from the government paying the full training costs for young apprentices aged 16 to 21, and for apprentices aged 22 to 24 who have an EHC plan or have been in local authority care.

The department continues to promote apprenticeships to young people, adults and employers through the ‘Skills for Life’ campaign.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

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Vikki Slade:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the savings to her Department from the withdrawal of funding for non-specialist assistive software through the Disabled Students' Allowance. \p Janet Daby: Funding under the Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) is in general not available for goods and services that may be needed by the general student population, whether disabled or not. The department has withdrawn funding for non-specialist software as this falls outside the scope of the DSA. We will monitor the savings from the implementation of this policy.

This policy change relates to non-specialist spelling and grammar software only. The decision to remove non-specialist spelling and grammar software from DSA funding was made on the grounds that there are now free to access versions available with the required functionality to meet students’ disability-related support needs, and it is therefore not an effective use of public money to continue to fund this type of software through the DSA.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the level of funding from Chinese firms into the UK education sector in the next ten years. \p Janet Daby: HM Government carefully considers the security implications of proposed investments, to reach a balanced decision between UK economic growth and national security.

As an open economy, the UK benefits from foreign trade and investment where it supports growth and jobs in the UK, meets our stringent legal and regulatory requirements and does not compromise our national security. No accurate estimates of future investments can be made for specific sectors.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many apprenticeships were started by young people aged 16–24 in Great Yarmouth constituency in each of the past five years. \p Janet Daby: The number of apprenticeship starts in the Great Yarmouth constituency by age group are published in the ‘Apprenticeships’ accredited official statistics publication, which can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/a9552480-ccf9-421e-95ad-08dd85738b16. These were last published in March 2025. They include full year figures covering the 2019/20 to 2023/24 academic years, and year-to-date figures for 2024/25 (August 2024 to January 2025).
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

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James MacCleary:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of schools being directed to admit pupils with high levels of need without the provision of additional (a) funding and (b) support staff on (i) children’s safety and (ii) educational outcomes. \p Catherine McKinnell: Local authorities must consult with settings before naming them in an education, health and care (EHC) plan. The setting can express concerns about being named and the local authority must consider these concerns carefully. However, if named in the plan, the setting is under a statutory duty to admit the child or young person.

Teachers have a key role to play in supporting learners with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and there are numerous development opportunities available to help ensure that a focus on SEND is embedded across schools.

All mainstream schools must also have a special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO), who plays an important role in helping the development and implementation of an effective special educational needs policy and provision in the school. The school should ensure that the SENCO has sufficient time and resources to carry out these functions.

Headteachers are responsible for employment in their schools, as they are best placed to understand the needs of their pupils and can make staffing decisions accordingly.

When an EHC plan is issued, the local authority is statutorily required to secure the provision specified in the plan. This usually involves providing top-up funding to the setting from its high needs budget. High needs budgets will total over £12 billion in the 2025/26 financial year, following the additional £1 billion announced at the Autumn Budget 2024.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

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Mrs Elsie Blundell:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of making the (a) installation and (b) use of CCTV recordings in private nurseries a formal requirement for Ofsted inspections. \p Stephen Morgan: The department’s priority is to grow high-quality, affordable and flexible education and care for children whilst ensuring their safety, giving every child the best start to life and delivering on our Plan for Change. For this reason, we continually monitor and review safeguarding requirements for early years settings to make sure children are kept as safe as possible.

The department is responsible for setting the standards which early years settings such as nurseries must follow. These are set out in the early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework. The department has responsibility for policy on inspection and registration, but how it is implemented is for Ofsted to decide whilst also remaining accountable to Parliament.

The decision to install and use camera surveillance equipment in a nursery is a matter for individual providers to determine based on their own risk assessment and policies.

If a nursery uses camera surveillance equipment, they must comply with the regulations in the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation and should follow the guidance published by the Information Commissioner’s Office.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

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Damian Hinds:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her Department’s policy that public examinations are handwritten other than (a) for candidates with (i) special educational needs and (ii) disabilities and (b) for practical skills. \p Catherine McKinnell: The majority of GCSE and A level examinations are handwritten in England. The department has been working closely with Ofqual, the independent regulator of qualifications and assessments, to consider the potential benefits and risks of greater use of onscreen assessment in high stakes qualifications and to carry out research to understand the implications for schools and colleges, students and other stakeholders. The ongoing Curriculum and Assessment Review will also continue to consider evidence on this topic. Any final decisions about the future of onscreen examinations over the long term will be informed by evidence and the views of stakeholders.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

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Munira Wilson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with Ofsted on (a) SEN information reports and (b) changes to the inspection framework for (i) schools and (ii) colleges. \p Catherine McKinnell: Ministers and departmental officials have regular discussions with Ofsted on a wide range of matters, including special educational needs and the proposed reforms to the inspection of schools and colleges.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

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James MacCleary:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to review the process by which councils allocate funding to mainstream schools to support children with EHCPs. \p Catherine McKinnell: This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.

The department is providing an increase of £1 billion for high needs budgets in England in the 2025/26 financial year, following the Autumn Budget 2024. This brings total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND to over £12 billion. Local authorities allocate this funding to schools, including for the costs of special provision in excess of £6,000 per annum for mainstream school pupils with education, health and care plans. The department provides operational guidance for local authorities to support their allocation of high needs funding, and this is reviewed prior to each financial year to which it applies. The full guidance for 2025/26 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-needs-funding-arrangements-2025-to-2026.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-06)

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James MacCleary:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with East Sussex County Council on its ability to meet pupils' EHCP needs in mainstream primary schools. \p Catherine McKinnell: The department is providing support and challenge to East Sussex to improve delivery of its special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) services following the most recent local area SEND inspection by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission in November 2024.

This inspection found that the local area partnership’s arrangements lead to inconsistent experiences and outcomes for children and young people with SEND. Specifically, one of the four areas for improvement was that the local area partnership should develop and embed its work with education settings on improving inclusion, so that the proportion of children and young people achieving strong outcomes increases.

East Sussex are developing a strategic plan with specific actions to address all four areas for improvement. The department and NHS England will be tracking the progress that the local area makes against this plan, including through regular engagement, and will offer support as the local area’s improvement journey continues.