I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN HL2677 on 6 March 2024 and the answer to Question UIN 22233 on 22 April 2024. We are abolishing Section 21 evictions as part of the Renters (Reform) Bill.

No information is held centrally on the average rental costs of houses in multiple occupation in Lewisham East.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN HL2677 on 6 March 2024 and the answer to Question UIN 22233 on 22 April 2024. We are abolishing Section 21 evictions as part of the Renters (Reform) Bill.

No information is held centrally on the average rental costs of houses in multiple occupation in Lewisham East.

The information requested is not held centrally, but may be held by individual providers or integrated care boards (ICBs). Some relevant information is available on autism assessment waiting times for the NHS South East London ICB. In December 2023, the NHS South East London ICB’s Autism Waiting Time Statistics show that there were a total of 1,425 patients with an open suspected autism referral. 100 of these patients were aged between 0 and 17 years old, and 1,325 of these patients were aged 18 years old and over.

The median waiting time of all patients in this ICB, with an open suspected autism referral, where their first care contact was in the quarter, was 545 days. For 0 to 17 year olds, the median number of days patients waited was 149 days, compared to 606 days for over 18 year olds.

Data on children and young people in this dataset is expected to be an underestimate, and caution should be used when interpreting these statistics, since they are experimental rather than official statistics. The majority of children assessed for autism in the United Kingdom are seen in child development services, which are out of the scope of this dataset. This means the published figures will underestimate the volume of referrals or diagnoses, and the associated impact on health services. NHS England continues to conduct exploratory analysis into the Community Services Dataset, with a view to including autism waiting times data from that dataset.

The Government is committed to delivering nationwide gigabit connectivity as soon as possible. By 2025, the Government is targeting a minimum of 85% gigabit-capable coverage. As per Ofcom’s “Connected Nations” data from May 2023, Lewisham East had 84% gigabit-capable coverage and 99% superfast coverage, as compared to the national average of 74% and 97%, respectively

We have introduced several pro-competition policies to encourage the market to connect urban areas such as Lewisham East. For example, we are removing barriers to rollout and working with Ofcom to promote competition and investment. As a result, there is now a thriving market of over 100 providers investing c.£40 billion rolling out gigabit broadband all over the UK. This approach is the fastest and best value for the taxpayer as it allows us to focus government funding on the areas that would not otherwise be connected.

In order to further improve connectivity in constituencies like Lewisham East, we have published the Digital Connectivity Portal - extensive guidance to help local authorities facilitate broadband deployment. This includes technical information on the application of telecoms legislation, as well as practical examples of best practice (such as the Street Works Toolkit for working in the country’s highways, and wayleave templates for telecoms operators to gain access to public sector land).

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology officials regularly facilitate meetings and workshops between local government and the broadband industry, to build relationships that foster more frictionless deployment. The four sub-regional partnerships across London have been vital in coordinating this work.

The most recent caseload statistics for Carer’s Allowance refer to August 2022 and are available on DWP Stat-Xplore. In August 2022, the Carer’s Allowance in payment caseload in Lewisham East constituency was 1,481 claimants.

The link to access Stat-Xplore is https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk

Guidance for using Stat-Xplore is available at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html

The NHS Long Term Plan committed to increase the delivery of mechanical thrombectomy for suitable ischaemic stroke patients by 10%. Thrombectomy is available in 24 centres in England, with two non-neuroscience centres currently under development to improve access. The latest data shows that 2.8% of patients are receiving a thrombectomy following a stroke.

Information on stroke patients requiring thrombectomy treatment in Lewisham East is not held in the format requested. In 2020/21, no stroke patients treated by the Greenwich and Lewisham NHS Trust received thrombectomy treatment.

The Department publishes annual figures based on school census data on the number of pupils who are eligible for free school meals. The most recently published figures are for January 2022. The full collection of publications can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-and-pupil-numbers.

The attached table provides detail for Lewisham East from the 2018/19 to 2021/22 academic years.

In September we announced ‘Our plan for patients’, which outlines how we will increase access to National Health Service mental health and eating disorder services, including in Lewisham East. Through the NHS Long Term Plan, we are investing an additional £2.3 billion a year by 2023/24 to expand NHS mental health and eating disorder services for adults, children and young people in England, including in Lewisham East.

We will invest approximately £1 billion in community mental health care for adults with severe mental illness. including eating disorders, by 2023/24 and an additional £53 million per year in children and young people's community eating disorder services to increase capacity in the 70 community eating disorder teams.

The Microgeneration Certification Scheme Installations Database shows that between 01 January 2018 and 31 October 2022, eight air source heat pump and no ground source heat pump installations were registered in the Lewisham East constituency.

The database does not include all heat pump installations. Those installed without Government funding support, such as in new buildings, are not typically recorded in the Microgeneration Certification Scheme Installations Database.

The department continues to monitor the sufficiency of childcare. The key measure of sufficiency is whether the supply of available places is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents and children. Ofsted data currently shows that the number of places offered by providers on the Early Years Register has remained broadly stable at 1.3 million places since August 2015.

Officials from the department also discuss sufficiency of provision in regular conversations with local authorities. Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring sufficient childcare places in their area. The department has not been made aware by local authorities of any current sufficiency problem in Lewisham East Council, which holds the statutory duty to secure sufficient childcare in this borough.

No specific assessment has been made. In September, we announced ‘Our plan for patients’, which outlines how we will meet oral health needs and increase access to dental care, including in Lewisham East.

The plan includes improvements to ensure dentists are renumerated fairly for more complex work, allowing greater flexibility to reallocate resources and to utilise dentists with greater capacity to deliver National Health Service treatment, whilst enabling full use of the dental team. The plan also includes streamlining processes for overseas dentists and holding the local NHS to account for dentistry provision. In addition, Health Education England is also reforming dental education to improve the recruitment and retention of dental professionals.

The department is committed to improving the cost, choice, and availability of childcare. We continue to look at ways to make childcare more affordable and to encourage families to use government-funded support they are entitled to.

The department collects data on the main characteristics of childcare and early years provision in England and fees data can be broken down to local authority level.

Lewisham East constituency falls within the London Borough of Lewisham, where the latest data shows the average hourly fee band for childcare to be £6.50 for two-year-old children, and £6.50 for three and four-year-old children.

No specific assessment has been made. In September, we announced ‘Our plan for patients’, which outlines how we will meet oral health needs and increase access to dental care, including in Lewisham East.

The plan includes improvements to ensure dentists are renumerated fairly for more complex work, allowing greater flexibility to reallocate resources and to utilise dentists with greater capacity to deliver National Health Service treatment, whilst enabling full use of the dental team. The plan also includes streamlining processes for overseas dentists and holding the local NHS to account for dentistry provision. In addition, Health Education England is also reforming dental education to improve the recruitment and retention of dental professionals.

The Further Education Capital Transformation Programme is delivering the £1.5 billion manifesto commitment to upgrade further education (FE) college estates.

Through this programme, £200 million was allocated to all FE colleges and designated institutions to undertake immediate remedial work and upgrade the condition of their estates. Lewisham College, which supports learners from the Lewisham East Constituency, is part of Newcastle College Group (NCG). Overall, the NCG group received an allocation of £4,597,902 of capital funding to improve their estate in August 2020. College groups were able to prioritise how and at which sites they could use this funding to tackle immediate condition improvement projects.

The next stage of the programme of investment to upgrade the FE estate is due to be announced later this year.

As I have acknowledged on a number of occasions, I know the strains on school budgets and how difficult it can be to manage them. The hon. Lady specifically raised the question of teaching assistants: there has been an increase of over 40,000 teaching assistants since 2010.

Primary schools in my constituency are facing reorganisation due to the financial pressures placed on them by this Government, even though the Government claim that funding for schools has never been higher. Due to this I am aware of several schools making cuts to their classroom teaching assistants. What has the Minister to say to parents, children and teachers in my constituency who know that that will have a detrimental effect on learning in the classroom?