Every parliamentary written question tabled by Emma Lewell this session, with the full answer and department. Back to the MP page.
Showing 61–71 of 71 · this parliament
Pursuant to the Answer of 12 November 2024 to Question 12460 on AUKUS, whether he has received Sir Stephen Lovegrove’s report on AUKUS; and when he plans to publish that report.
An extension was provided to allow Sir Stephen Lovegrove to gather all the necessary information, and we are now awaiting his final report. An unclassified version of his report will be published in due course.
With reference to the Answer of 17 April 2024 to Question 21056 on Defence: Artificial Intelligence, whether the Capability Lead, AI Talent and Skills is now in post.
Yes, I can confirm that there is an incumbent in post as of June 2024. The individual has made some good early progress working collaboratively with Digital Skills for Defence (DS4D), the Defence Academy Shrivenham, and other relevant stakeholders.
If his Department will take steps to automatically enrol eligible families in the NHS Healthy Start programme.
The Healthy Start scheme was introduced in 2006 to encourage a healthy diet for pregnant women, babies and young children under four from very low-income households. It can be used to buy, or put towards the cost of, fruit, vegetables, pulses, milk and infant formula. Healthy Start beneficiaries have access to free Healthy Start Vitamins for pregnant women and children aged under four.Healthy Start now supports over 353,000 beneficiaries. This figure is higher than the previous paper voucher scheme.The NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA) operates the Healthy Start scheme on behalf of the Department. All applicants to the Healthy Start scheme, where they meet the eligibility criteria, must accept the terms and conditions of the prepaid card at the point of application. As the prepaid card is a financial product and cannot be issued without the applicant accepting these terms, NHS BSA is not able to automatically provide eligible families with a prepaid card. However, the Healthy Start scheme is kept under review we are exploring all viable routes to improve uptake.
How many and what proportion of claimants for Pension Credit were (a) initially turned down and (b) successful on appeal in each region in the latest period for which data is available.
The information requested on the proportion of Pension Credit claims which are initially turned down but are subsequently overturned at Tribunal is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. Information on appeals in the First-tier Tribunal, including Pension Credit appeals, is published at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics Specifically, information on the number of appeal receipts, disposals and outcomes of Pension Credit appeals can be found in the Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) tables: SSCS_1, SSCS_2 and SSCS_3 of the Main Tables.
When she plans to launch her Department's review of Universal Credit.
We are committed to reviewing Universal Credit, to make sure it is doing the job we want it to. We will set out the details of this in due course.
Whether her Department's review of Universal Credit will include the income threshold used to determine eligibility for (a) free school meals and (b) the NHS Healthy Start scheme.
Eligibility criteria, including earnings thresholds for passported benefits including Free School Meals and Healthy Start payments are owned by Department of Education and the Department of Health and Social care respectively.
What the average Pension Credit processing time is (a) per month in the latest three-month period for which data is available and (b) in each region.
Average actual clearance times are shown in the table below from 3 June 2024. Please note, the information is not available monthly. The table below shows the average (in working days) for each week.SourceRS PBi App / PC Claims AACT03/06/244510/06/244417/06/244324/06/244401/07/244408/07/244515/07/244822/07/244429/07/244505/08/244012/08/243919/08/243626/08/243102/09/242909/09/243016/09/242823/09/242630/09/243407/10/2439 Please note, the data shown is unpublished management information, collected and intended for internal departmental use and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. The information requested is not collected at regional level and to calculate it would incur disproportionate cost.
How many Pension Credit applications her Department received in each region in each of the last three months for which data is available.
We confirm that we do not hold the information you have requested as our systems do not breakdown Pension Credit applications by region.
Whether her Department collects data on the average time SEND pupils spend in isolation across England.
The department does not collect data on the average time pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) spend in isolation across England. In July 2022, the department published the updated ‘Behaviour in Schools’ guidance, which is the primary source of advice for schools on developing and implementing a behaviour policy. This updated guidance provides clarity and support to schools on removing pupils from the classroom, which includes advice that schools should collect, monitor and analyse data about this intervention. This information should help schools to make data-based decisions about any additional support individual pupils may require, and to identify whether the school’s removal policy is having a disproportionate impact on pupils sharing particular characteristics. Schools have a duty under the Equality Act 2010 to take such steps as is reasonable to avoid any substantial disadvantage to SEND pupils caused by the school’s policies or practices. Within these legal parameters, it is then for individual schools to develop their own policies. Any school behaviour policy must be lawful, proportionate and reasonable and comply with the school’s duties under the Equality Act 2010 and the Education and Inspections Act 2006. Account must be taken of a pupil’s age, any SEND they may have, and any religious requirements affecting them.
How many and what proportion of incapacity benefit claimants receiving (a) Universal Credit Limited Capability for Work-Related Activity element and (b) Employment and Support Allowance are parents of dependent children.
a) For UC, the Limited Capability for Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) and Disabled Child Entitlement breakdowns are currently temporarily unavailable on Stat-Xplore as part of the Households on Universal Credit dataset. Work is being carried out to resolve the issues and both affected measures are expected to be available in the next scheduled statistical release on 12 November 2024. Once re-instated it should be possible to produce the number of households receiving the LCWRA element by Family Type. Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required. A user guide to the Universal Credit Official Statistics on Stat-Xplore is also available. b) The table below shows the latest available number of claimants with Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) in payment who receive Child Benefit. The data is from February 2023. ESA ClaimantsPercentage of total ESA CaseloadReceives Child Benefit158,0289.7 To note: This will underestimate the number of dependent children as Child Benefit is not paid in respect of every child, for example due to them not being in full-time non-advanced education, or non-claiming due to high income.
How many referrals were made by Jobcentre Plus to employment support programmes that are (a) centrally contracted and (b) not centrally contracted by her Department to (i) voluntary and community sector providers, (ii) private sector providers, (iii) regional/local government providers and (iv) other in the last year.
The referral statistics for the centrally contacted employment support programmes are available on GOV.UK. Restart Scheme statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) Work and Health Programme statistics to May 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) Statistics on Intensive Personalised Employment Support are planned for future publication and will be formally released, adhering to the Official Statistics guidance. The information requested for employment support programmes not centrally contracted is not collated and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.