Tag: Lord Warner

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2016-02-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether repeated underspending year on year by the Scottish Government of monies passed to them for NHS services under the Barnett formula could be subject (1) to challenge under the Dispute Resolution procedure as set out in paragraphs 98–104 of the agreement between the Scottish and UK Governments on the Scottish fiscal framework or (2) a 2021 review as set out in paragraphs 111–113 of that agreement.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The mechanical application of the Barnett Formula ensures that the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and Northern Ireland Assembly receive a population share of changes in UK government funding on the services for which they have devolved responsibility. In accordance with the principles of devolution and the devolution Acts themselves, it is for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their funding (from the block grant or taxes/borrowing) to public services in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; and it is for the devolved legislatures to hold them to account. The Scottish Government’s new fiscal framework does not alter this.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2016-06-15.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the current Commissioner for Birmingham City Council’s children’s social care services started work; how long his appointment is for; what progress reports he has provided to the Secretary of State; and whether those reports are in the public domain.

Lord Nash

Andrew Christie was appointed Commissioner for children’s social care services in Birmingham in December 2015. The statutory Direction that appointed him lasts until September 2016. He reports regularly to the Secretary of State. These reports are not in the public domain.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2015-12-15.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of their commitment to consult on 100 per cent retention of business rates by local authorities by the end of this Parliament, what additional resources would be available to each local authority with adult social care functions if they had been able to keep all the business rates collected in their area in 2014–15, and what proportion of their total expenditure that business rate retention amounted to.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The Government intends to move to 100 percent business rates retention in England by the end of this Parliament. We have confirmed that as part of the new system there will continue to be redistribution of local tax revenue between authorities and protections in place for authorities that see their business rates income fall significantly. Over the coming months we will be working with local government on the details of the scheme. Ahead of final decisions, it is too early to assess what the impact will be on individual areas or authorities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2016-02-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why they have changed their policy regarding allowing anyone or any organisation to object to a school’s admissions arrangements.

Lord Nash

These changes, which the Secretary of State announced on 25 January 2016, are intended to ensure that the adjudication process is focused on dealing with the concerns of those who have a direct interest in the fairness of the admission arrangements of their local school. This Government does not want Adjudications to be held up by objections referred by interest groups from outside the area. These changes will ensure that schools are free to focus on providing high quality education.

These changes will be subject to a full public consultation and parliamentary approval.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2016-02-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Smith Commission’s recommendation that there should be no detriment as a result of UK Government or Scottish Government policy decisions after devolution would be breached if the Scottish Government repeatedly spent monies passed to them for NHS services in accordance with the Barnett formula on other unrelated services.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The mechanical application of the Barnett Formula ensures that the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and Northern Ireland Assembly receive a population share of changes in UK government funding on the services for which they have devolved responsibility. In accordance with the principles of devolution and the devolution Acts themselves, it is for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their funding (from the block grant or taxes/borrowing) to public services in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; and it is for the devolved legislatures to hold them to account. The Scottish Government’s new fiscal framework does not alter this.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2015-12-15.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the other sources of local government income cited in the first bullet point of paragraph 2.123 on page 100 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The other sources of local government income referred to in paragraph 2.123 includes business rates and council tax, both of which are forecast to increase over the course of the spending period. It is based on the English local authority current expenditure in supplementary fiscal table 2.31 to the OBR’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook publication (November 2015), excluding grants from central government.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2016-02-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the findings of the report by the Fair Admissions Campaign and British Humanist Association, An Unholy Mess, and in particular that report’s recommendations that guidance be produced for schools to help them to ensure that they comply fully with the School Admissions Code.

Lord Nash

Admission authorities for all state-funded schools, including schools with a religious designation, are required to comply with the mandatory provisions of the School Admissions Code and other admissions law.

Where an objection is made to the Schools Adjudicator, if the arrangements are found to be unfair or fail to comply with the Code, the admission authority must make changes to ensure their arrangements are compliant without undue delay. Where an admission authority fails to implement decisions of the adjudicator, the Secretary of State may direct the admission authority to do so.

We continue to keep the Code under review, and, where we consider any changes are necessary to make the admissions system work more effectively for parents, these will be subject to a full public consultation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2016-03-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of recent public concerns, they will ask NHS England to review the number and distribution of specialised secure facilities for adolescents with autism to ensure a better balance between total and geographical clinical demand and supply.

Lord Prior of Brampton

NHS England requires that regular Care and Treatment Reviews are undertaken for children and young people with learning disabilities with challenging behaviour in inpatient settings commissioned by NHS England or clinical commissioning groups (CCGs).

These Care and Treatment Reviews also help to inform the appropriate provision of treatment and care settings. CCGs are currently also developing learning disability transformation plans to ensure the appropriate balance of capacity between in-patient settings and community settings. The plans are due for submission in April 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2015-11-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the real-term expenditure on local authority-brokered social care in each of the last five years for which information is available.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Based on existing data, the last five years of adult social care spend (including transfers from the National Health Service) in real terms (2014-15 prices) are as follows:

2010-11 £17.19 billion

2011-12 £16.35 billion

2012-13 £15.89 billion

2013-14 £15.72 billion

2014-15 £15.51 billion

This information is based upon Department for Communities and Local Government budget data.

The real terms figures (2014-15 prices) for gross spend on children and young people’s services (including capital expenditure from revenue), calculated from the Department for Education section 251 data returns, are:

2010-11 £9.92 billion

2011-12 £9.12 billion

2012-13 £9.20 billion

2013-14 £9.12 billion

2014-15 data will be available later in this financial year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2015-12-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 19 November (HL3563), what provision was made in the 2015 Spending Review in the Department for Communities and Local Government allocation for local authorities in 2016–17, and in each subsequent year, for the introduction of the National Living Wage.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

Spending Review decisions took the National Living Wage into account along with a range of other financial and economic factors. I refer the noble Lord to the provisional local government finance settlement, published on 17 December, which builds on the Spending Review outcome and also took account of pressures on adult social care. Policies to provide funding for social care include:

• The social care precept in council tax, which puts money raising powers into the hands of local areas who understand the need in their area and who are best placed to respond. This could raise up to £2 billion a year for social care by 2019/20;

• Making an extra £1.5 billion available for social care by 2019-20 in an improved Better Care Fund – with funding going direct to councils to ensure health and social care services work together to support older and vulnerable people;

• More than doubling the Disabled Facilities Grant to over £500 million a year by 2019/20.