Every parliamentary written question tabled by Julia Lopez this session, with the full answer and department. Back to the MP page.
Showing 81–100 of 124 · this parliament
Whether her Department has commissioned the use of hotel accommodation in the London Borough of Havering for the purpose of housing asylum seekers since 10 February 2025.
I refer the Hon Member to the Answer I gave to Question 71421 on 4 September.
Innovation and Technology, with reference to Annex A of his Department's FOI release entitled FOI2024-00250: Correspondence about the appointment of Emily Middleton, published on 30 September 2024, if he will publish the document entitled Senior Civil Servant (SCS) Resourcing and Handling of Future SCS Recruitment Exceptions.
The Honourable Member can consult FOI2024-00289, Annex F.
What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Employment Rights Bill on the number of retail jobs.
On Monday 21 October, the Government published a comprehensive package of analysis on the impact of the Employment Rights Bill. This is available at: http://www.gov.uk/guidance/employment-rights-bill-impact-assessments and provides analysis of the potential sectoral impacts of the Bill, including the retail sector.
Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 18 October 2024 to Question HL1281 on Emily Middleton, on what date the declaration of interests was made.
The Propriety and Ethics team were contacted about Ms Middleton’s previous employment on 10 July 2024, this is shown in FOI2024-00289, Annex D.
Innovation and Technology, when the temporary role of the Director General, Digital Centre Design expires.
As per released documentation, in FOI2024-00256-Annex E Ms Middleton’s appointment was approved for two years, until 15 July 2026.
Innovation and Technology, if he will amend the gov.uk biography page for the Director General, Digital Centre Design to include previous employment by the (a) Labour Party and (b) Rt hon. Member for Hove and Portslade.
The biography is in line with GDS guidance and contains an appropriate level of detail, similar to others in similar roles in government. Emily’s appointment is well documented and in the public domain.
Innovation and Technology, whether Public Digital provided advice on the transfer of the Government’s digital and data function to his Department.
Public Digital did not provide any advice to DSIT on the merits of the Machinery of Government (MoG) change.
Innovation and Technology, whether individual contracts to Public Digital have been awarded through open competition since July 2024 .
Details of central government contracts above £12,000 for procurements commenced before 24 February 2025 are published on Contracts Finder (https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder).Contracts procured under the Procurement Act 2023 above £12,000 inc VAT are published on the Central Digital Platform Find a Tender service. This includes a note of the winning supplier. (https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Search).
Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2024 to Question 6107 on Emily Middleton, what the business need was for appointing the Director General, Digital Centre Design under recruitment principles Exemption 1.
Ms Middleton was appointed under Exemption 1 of the recruitment principles on the basis of immediate need and with the required specialist skills to meet government priorities. The priority role was required off the back of Machinery of Government changes, with a key requirement to develop the scope and design of the new digital centre of government, including its overall strategy and blueprint for delivering a modern digital government. This case for exceptional appointment was set out in the request for Civil Service Commission approval, which was released on 24 September 2024 (FOI 2024/00289) as Annex A and agreement for this to be pursued under exception 1 can be found in annex C.
With reference to contract reference Contract_17123 for the Public Sector Reform Test, Learn and Grow Strategic Delivery Partner, how many suppliers were invited to bid for the contract through Bloom Procurement Services Ltd; and whether Public Digital Ltd was directly nominated.
8 Suppliers were invited to bid for the work order through Bloom Procurement Services Ltd and all 8 of the suppliers were directly nominated.
If he will commission an investigation by the Government Internal Audit Agency into contracts awarded to Public Digital since 4 July 2024.
The Government Internal Audit Agency sits within HM Treasury. The Procurement Review Unit (PRU) sits within Cabinet Office and is responsible for the new oversight powers introduced by the Procurement Act 2023 (PA23) (which commenced on 24 February 2025) which governs the award of public contracts. The PRU has not received a referral to investigate contracts awarded to Public Digital.
How many private nurseries there were in (a) July 2024, (b) November 2024 and (c) June 2025.
The government’s Plan for Change sets out a commitment to give children the best start in life, breaking the link between background and opportunity.The department estimates the number of private group-based providers in England via its annual survey of providers. In 2024, the number of private group-based providers was estimated at 21,200 as of July 2024. Full information can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/childcare-and-early-years-provider-survey/2024.The department does not hold the information requested for the other date in question.
What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of education, health and care plans.
Under the education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment process, local authorities must seek information and advice from a range of partners, including the child or young person and their parents, their school or college (if any), health and social care partners, an educational psychologist and other relevant professionals.If it is determined necessary for special educational provision to be made for the child or young person, the local authority must prepare an EHC plan which will say clearly what the child or young person’s needs are and what help they will be entitled to.We know that families face issues with EHC plans and that it can sometimes take a long time for support to be delivered.This government believes that in a well-functioning system, that is why we are committed to addressing the systemic issues that make special educational needs and disabilities support so hard to access for many families.We are thinking about how to protect support for the children that will always need specialist placements, and make accessing that support less bureaucratic and adversarial, and how we can intervene earlier so support can be provided regardless of whether a legal plan is in place.
What her planned timeline is for publishing the planned White Paper on Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.
I refer the hon. Member for Hornchurch and Upminster to the answer of 2 June 2025 to Question 53641.
Whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the abolition of NHS England on Type 1 Diabetes with Disordered Eating pilots.
As we work to bring NHS England and the Department together, we will ensure that we continue to evaluate impacts of all kinds and will put plans in place to ensure continuity of care. For 2025/26, national funding has been made available to support delivery of Type 1 Disordered Eating (T1DE) services up to 31 March 2026 in the five current pilot site areas based in Coventry and Warwickshire, Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, Humber and North Yorkshire, Cheshire and Mersey, and Norfolk and Waveney.The funding allocated to the relevant integrated care boards (ICBs) has been ring fenced which means that the funding should be protected for T1DE in 2025/26 rather than reallocated to cover other costs.Funding for the T1DE pilot programme has been provided to sites on a pump prime basis, to allow the services to establish, feed into the national evaluation and generate the evidence that would be required to attract longer term sustainable local funding, following this initial period of national investment.NHS England is undertaking a national evaluation of the five pilot services and to support local teams to make the case to the relevant ICB for longer term continuation of services, will provide an evaluation report in summer 2025. This will include data on patient outcomes, insight into staff and patient experience and analysis of National Health Service costs and savings to run the services, alongside supportive resources such as a model business case and commissioning support tool.
What steps he is taking to help ensure the continuation of the Type 2 Diabetes in the Young programme following the abolition of NHS England.
As we work to bring NHS England and the Department together, we will ensure that we continue to evaluate impacts of all kinds, and will put plans in place to ensure continuity of care.The abolition of NHS England will strip out the unnecessary bureaucracy and cut the duplication that comes from having two organisations doing the same job. We will empower staff to focus on delivering better care for patients, driving productivity up, and getting waiting times down.A central mission of the Government is to build a health and care system that is fit for the future. Tackling preventable ill health such as type 2 diabetes is crucial. Shifting the focus from treatment to prevention is one of three shifts for the Government’s mission for a National Health Service that is fit for the future, and is a cornerstone of supporting people to live healthier lives.
What steps he is taking to help ensure the continuation of the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme following the abolition of NHS England.
A central mission of the Government is to build a health and care system fit for the future. To achieve this, it is crucial that we tackle preventable ill health, such as type 2 diabetes.The highly effective NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme continues to be delivered. Ministers and senior Department officials will work with the new executive team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir Jim Mackey, to lead the formation of a new joint centre. As we work to bring the two organisations together, we will ensure that we continue to evaluate impacts of all kinds and put plans in place to ensure continuity of care.
Pursuant to the Answer of 8 January 2025 to Question 21326 on Personal Independence Payment Mandatory Reconsiderations, what the average clearance time is for mandatory reconsiderations of Personal Independence Payment decisions; and what progress her Department has made on reducing the backlog of cases.
The PIP Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) backlog has reduced by around 6,900 since July 2024. Intakes in March were higher than anticipated so there is still a backlog of 6,400. We are increasing resources available for PIP MRs by recruiting decision makers. The most recent PIP official statistics release, which was published in March 2025, has data up to January 2025. The median PIP MR clearance time in January was 71 calendar days. Personal Independence Payment statistics to January 2025 - GOV.UK
Pursuant to the Answer of 23 April 2025 to Question 45093 on Alan Milburn, whether Mr Milburn has initiated the process outlined in that Answer.
Any updates to a declaration of interest will be published in the Register of Interests in the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts, and on the GOV.UK website, in alignment with Government policy.
What plans he has to consolidate estates following the closure of NHS England.
Ministers and senior Department officials will work with the new executive team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir Jim Mackey, to jointly lead this transformation.Whilst this transformation takes place, we will ensure that we continue to evaluate impacts of all kinds.