Neil O'Brien MP: written questions
300 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Children: Personal RecordsDepartment for EducationTabled 21 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 32080More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Single Unique Identifier that the Government are piloting is the NHS number; what the (a) locations, (b) timing and (c) size of the pilot is; and how families have been informed.
Answer: The department is currently exploring the suitability of using the NHS number as a single unique identifier with Wigan local authority. This process will take several months. This first phase of work will explore whether success rates of linking children’...
Answered 7 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordSchools: StandardsDepartment for EducationTabled 21 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 32079More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 14 February 2025 to Question 28587 on Schools: Standards, how many and what proportion of the schools expected to experience mandatory intervention will be (a) academised and (b) rebro
Answer: The department expects twice as many mandatory interventions in schools, through both structural intervention and targeted regional improvement for standards and excellence (RISE) interventions. This is expected to total around 370 schools experiencing ma...
Answered 26 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordEmploymentCabinet OfficeTabled 13 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 31471More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the number of (a) employments and (b) employees was by (i) UK, (ii) EU and (iii) non-EU nationality in each month since July 2014.
Answer: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon gentleman Parliamentary Question of 13th of February is attached.
Answered 24 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordImmigration: DeportationHome OfficeTabled 12 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 31057More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many deportations through enforced return there have been since 4 July 2024.
Answer: Historic data on returns is available.The most recent data on the number of returns from the UK since 4th July 2024 was published on 10th February, covering the period up to to 31 January 2025.
Answered 24 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordMigrants: Deportation and RepatriationHome OfficeTabled 12 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 31056More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were deported through (a) enforced return, (b) voluntary return, (c) after being refused entry at port and subsequently departed and (d) in total in each quarter between Q1 1995 and Q4
Answer: Historic data on returns is available.The most recent data on the number of returns from the UK since 4th July 2024 was published on 10th February, covering the period up to to 31 January 2025.
Answered 24 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordGender Dysphoria: SurgeryDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 11 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 30704More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many referrals for masculinising chest surgery there were from the NHS Gender Dysphoria National Referral Support Service in each year for which data is available since 1997.
Answer: Referrals for masculinising chest surgery are made by the specialist clinical teams in the NHS Gender Dysphoria Clinics, not by the NHS Gender Dysphoria National Referral Support Service (GDNRSS). The non-clinical role of the GDNRSS is to process the refe...
Answered 25 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordGender Dysphoria: SurgeryDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 11 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 30703More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many gender (a) reassignment and (b) affirmation operations were carried out by the NHS in each year since 2000 for which data is available.
Answer: The Department does not hold this data centrally, as it is held at an individual National Health Service provider level.
Answered 3 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordPublic Sector: ApprenticesDepartment for EducationTabled 10 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 30240More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people started apprenticeships at level (a) 2, (b) 3, (c) 4, (d) 5, (e) 6 and (f) 7 in each public service in each year since 2015.
Answer: Apprenticeship level was not collected by the previous government as part of the public sector data return.The latest data on public sector apprenticeship new starts for the years it was collected can be found in the links below.2023/24 financial year: ht...
Answered 18 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordUndocumented Migrants: English ChannelHome OfficeTabled 10 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 30211More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of people who have arrived on small boats since 4 July 2024 have been deported.
Answer: The Home Office publishes data on small boat returns in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on quarterly enforced and voluntary returns of people who arrived by small boat, by return date, are published in table Irr_02e of the ‘Irr...
Answered 13 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordArmed Forces: RecruitmentMinistry of DefenceTabled 10 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 30185More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what was the average length of time taken between the point of application to join (a) the army, (b) the Royal Navy, (c) the RAF and attestation in each year since 1997.
Answer: The new Government inherited a crisis in recruitment. We have made it a priority to address this with a series of work streams designed to increase recruitment and renew the contract between the nation and those who serve to improve retention.Many factors...
Answered 18 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordArmed Forces: RecruitmentMinistry of DefenceTabled 10 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 30184More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department spent on Capita provided medical vetting for forces personnel in each of the last 10 years.
Answer: The requested information is provided in the following table, by Financial Year (FY): FY£ million2014-15175.7302015-16127.0582016-17134.4762017-18124.0622018-19115.4352019-20120.9612020-21132.1242021-22121.6572022-23121.0282023-24126.760
Answered 18 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordArmed Forces: RecruitmentMinistry of DefenceTabled 10 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 30179More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average length of time taken was between the point of application to join the (a) Army, (b) Royal Navy and (c) RAF and attestation in the latest period for which data is available.
Answer: The new Government inherited a crisis in recruitment. We have made it a priority to address this with a series of work streams designed to increase recruitment and renew the contract between the nation and those who serve to improve retention.Many factors...
Answered 18 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordBreakfast Clubs: Primary EducationDepartment for EducationTabled 6 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 29474More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools (a) initially applied to be part of the universal primary school breakfast clubs pilot and (b) subsequently pulled out.
Answer: The government is committed to offering a free breakfast club in every state-funded school with primary-aged pupils in England, beginning with the launch of an early adopter scheme in summer term 2025. Schools were invited to express their interest in tak...
Answered 20 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordChurches: Repairs and MaintenanceChurch CommissionersTabled 5 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 29047More
Question: To ask the Member for Battersea, representing the Church Commissioners, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the proposed Project Spire on (a) church parishes and (b) the maintenance of historic church buildings.
Answer: Project Spire is important missional activity. The anticipated impact on parishes is an increased understanding of historic links with enslavement, which exist in many parts of the Church of England, and possible ways to share, discuss and respond.Funding...
Answered 21 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordSchools: StandardsDepartment for EducationTabled 4 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 28587More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's consultation entitled School accountability reform - school profiles, improvement and intervention, page 18, published on 3 February 2025, what estimate she has made of the nu
Answer: The department’s consultation document explained that, overall, we expect twice as many mandatory interventions in schools, through both structural intervention and targeted regional improvement for standards and excellence (RISE) interventions. This is e...
Answered 14 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordDepartment for Education: StaffDepartment for EducationTabled 27 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 26502More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of staff in her Department are qualified teachers.
Answer: The information on staff teaching qualifications is not centrally held on the department’s HR system. Seeking the information across the department’s full workforce could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Answered 6 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordBreakfast ClubsDepartment for EducationTabled 27 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 26500More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the annual cost of providing free breakfast clubs in every primary school will be.
Answer: The department will fund schools to provide the new breakfast clubs. The department published its funding methodology alongside guidance for early adopters on 16 January, and it has worked closely with schools on these rates to ensure they were sufficient...
Answered 31 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordBreakfast ClubsDepartment for EducationTabled 27 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 26499More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the cost of providing free breakfast clubs in primary schools in each financial year to 2028-29.
Answer: The department will fund schools to provide the new breakfast clubs. The department published its funding methodology alongside guidance for early adopters on 16 January, and it has worked closely with schools on these rates to ensure they were sufficient...
Answered 31 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordLanguages: EducationDepartment for EducationTabled 27 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 26498More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the total number of pupils who (a) have participated in the National Consortium for Languages Education’s language hubs since they were established and (b) currently use
Answer: There are currently 15 language hubs across England, typically comprising one lead school, working with seven partner schools and feeder primary schools, in addition to supporting wider networks of schools within their region. The support offered by langu...
Answered 30 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordICT: EducationDepartment for EducationTabled 27 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 26497More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils are enrolled in a National Centre for Computing Education computing hub.
Answer: Computing hubs are embedded within individual schools which provide free computing continuing professional development (CPD), met a ministerially approved quality bar and are supported by the National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE). 28 schools in E...
Answered 30 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordOffenders: Foreign NationalsHome OfficeTabled 24 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 26338More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2025 to Question 23834 on Offenders: Foreign Nationals, what types of offences were committed by foreign national offenders who have completed their sentence and a
Answer: Under the UK Borders Act 2007, the Home Secretary has a statutory duty to make an automatic deportation order in respect of foreign national offenders sentenced to a prison term of at least twelve months, subject to certain exemptions, and specific rules ...
Answered 6 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordArmed Forces: Inheritance TaxTreasuryTabled 24 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 26337More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the consultation entitled Technical consultation - Inheritance Tax on pensions: liability, reporting and payment, published on 30 October 2024, if she will make an estimate of how much tax revenue
Answer: The costing for including inheritable pension wealth in the value of the estate for inheritance tax purposes from April 2027 was certified by the OBR at the 2024 Autumn Budget as ‘reasonable and central’. Additional information on the costing methodology ...
Answered 29 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordImmigration: Married PeopleHome OfficeTabled 20 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 24934More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were exempted from the spouse visa financial requirements on account of receiving benefits which exempted them in the latest period for which data is available.
Answer: Where an individual is applying on the 5-year partner route, their partner must be in receipt of one or more of the specified disability related benefits in order to be subject to the ‘adequate maintenance test’ rather than the Minimum Income Requirement ...
Answered 28 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordDepartment for Work and Pensions: Translation ServicesDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 20 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 24933More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many calls to her Department were translated in each month since January 2021 for which data is available by language code; and what the cost of that translation was.
Answer: The Contract value for the 3-year term (9th May 2022 - 8th May 2025) is £23.1m which is inclusive of all calls and face to face services. This includes interpretation translation, British Sign Language, video remote services and staff support (internal Br...
Answered 6 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordFurther Education and Schools: Employers' ContributionsDepartment for EducationTabled 20 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 24932More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 8 January 2025 to Question 21364 on Further Education and Schools: Employers' Contributions, in which month her Department plans to pay the grant for the cost of national insurance.
Answer: Payment dates will be confirmed in due course.
Answered 28 Jan 2025
Original Parliament record
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