There have been a number of assessments of the health harms of new psychoactive substances (NPS) in recent years. These include the following:

- a summary of the health harms of drugs published by the Department in August 2011 sets out an assessment of the health harms of novel psychoactive drugs among others. The report outlined acute and chronic problems associated these substances, but the date of the evidence review meant it was early to determine the actual harms of the NPS;

- the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) published its report ‘Consideration of the Novel Psychoactive Substances (‘Legal Highs’)’ in 2011. The report includes an assessment of the harms that these drugs cause;

- since 2010, the ACMD has published a number of reports on their assessment of different types of NPS, including the harms they cause. The drugs the ACMD have reported on include tryptamines, NBOMe compounds, benzofurans, O-desmethyltramadol, methoxetamine, synthetic cannabinoids, and 2-DPMP (Ivory Wave);

- on 30 October 2014, the Home Office published the report of an expert panel they appointed to look at the issue of NPS and provide recommendations to the Government. Alongside the report and the Government response, the Home Office also published an NPS evidence review. The evidence review found that that the available evidence suggests that the overall harms from NPS are low compared to the overall harms from traditional illicit drugs;

- the Government’s Drugs Early Warning System (DEWS) helps ensure that harmful new substances are rapidly identified. Local and national intelligence gathered by DEWS – including health harms – assists the ACMD in its assessment of harms of NPS. On a broader scale, national intelligence is fed into a Europe-wide early warning system for new substances;

- FRANK, the government’s drug information service, has information about the harms caused by NPS; and

- Public Health England (PHE) is supporting and contributing clinical expertise to the first set of clinical guidelines on the acute management and treatment of novel psychoactive substances (NPS). Project NEPTUNE will advise clinicians on how to assess and respond to NPS related harm and is currently being developed by the Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust. The guidelines are due to be published in 2015. PHE has committed to using its networks and other resources to support the dissemination of project NEPTUNE’s findings and advice.

I refer to the Written Ministerial Statement of 12 December 2013, Official Report, column 58WS, in which I announced that the Coalition Government would conduct a review into new psychoactive substances led by a panel of experts.

I have now considered the expert panel’s report on the new psychoactive substances review including consideration of possible responses to the existence of "head shops". The Government will respond to the expert panel’s report and its recommendations shortly.

The Coalition Government has already banned hundreds of new psychoactive substances. We have published guidance to support local authorities and continue to work closely with law enforcement to tackle this reckless trade.

The Crown Estate operates commercially at arm’s length from the Treasury. The Crown Estate makes commercial decisions in line with the Crown Estate Act 1961 and does not normally discuss them in detail with the Treasury.

The Crown Estate operates commercially at arm’s length from the Treasury. The Crown Estate makes commercial decisions in line with the Crown Estate Act 1961 and does not normally discuss them in detail with the Treasury.

The Crown Estate operates commercially at arm’s length from the Treasury. The Crown Estate makes commercial decisions in line with the Crown Estate Act 1961 and does not normally discuss them in detail with the Treasury.

Treasury Ministers meet the Crown Estate Board and staff several times a year.

The following table shows the number of children who were taken into care in each of the last five years. Children who were taken into care were children who started to be looked after under a care order, police protection, emergency protection order or child assessment order.

The information provided in the table is also published in table C2 of the statistical release, which is available online:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption

Parents should, in the first instance, complain to the service provider or the local authority’s complaints officer if they are unhappy about the way a local authority has handled a specific case. They may find it helpful to contact the local authority to obtain details of the authority’s own complaints procedure. Details of how to complain about a local authority service can be found online at:

https://www.gov.uk/understand-how-your-council-works/make-a-complaint

Parents may wish to complain to the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) if they feel dissatisfied with the handling of their complaint under the local authority procedure. More information on making a complaint to the LGO is available at www.lgo.org.uk or by calling the LGO advice line on 0300 061 0614 or 0845 602 1983.

In ‘Working Together 2013’, the Department for Education set out the expectations and requirements of all local authorities in relation to their statutory duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. A copy of ‘Working Together 2013’ can be found in the library of the House, or online at the following address:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/281368/Working_together_to_safeguard_children.pdf

This includes how children and families should be treated during any investigations. Should any parent be dissatisfied about the way a local authority has handled a specific case, they may find it helpful to obtain details of the authority’s own complaints procedure.

Parents may wish to complain to the Local Government Ombudsman if they feel dissatisfied with the handling of their complaint under the local authority procedures. It is the Ombudsman’s role to investigate complaints in a fair and independent manner.

Assessment of overall children’s services provision and safeguarding is undertaken independently by Ofsted under the new Single Inspection Framework.

Ofsted inspected Somerset county council’s arrangements for the protection of children between 24 June 2013 and 3 July 2013 and published their findings on 5 August 2013. Ofsted judged the authority’s performance as ‘inadequate’.

My officials met with representatives of Somerset county council on 20 August 2013 to discuss the Ofsted judgment, the Department's proposed course of action and the Council's immediate plans for improvement.

I wrote to the leader of Somerset county council, John Osman, on 13 September 2013 to underline my concern at the Ofsted judgment of performance and set out my intention to issue the council with an Improvement Notice.

I issued a 12-month Improvement Notice to Somerset county council on 22 November 2013, requiring the council to institute an improvement board headed by an independent chair to drive improvement and hold partners to account. The improvement board has sat monthly since October 2013 and I am represented at each board by my officials.

I plan to visit Somerset county council to assess improvements for myself. My officials will also undertake a review of progress in June 2014 and report findings to me. I will then assess progress against the Improvement Notice and Ofsted recommendations and decide whether to intervene further.

Clinicians or clinical teams, supported by the latest available evidence and drawing on experience and judgment, are responsible for ensuring that the patients in their care get the treatment that is right for them.

There is range of guidance on the NHS Clinical Evidence website to support clinicians in the management

of patients who have either chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) fibromyalgia, or dysphagia. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has also produced a clinical guideline on CFS/ME that sets out best practice in the diagnosis, treatment care and support of this group of patients. However, there is no known pharmacological treatment or cure for either CFS/ME or fibromyalgia, and approaches to the management of patients with these conditions will vary, depending on the severity and type of symptoms. Regarding dysphagia this is usually a complication or symptom of another condition, rather than one that arises in isolation.

In terms of help with the cost of treatment, an extensive range of exemptions, based on age, income and medical condition are already in place to support those who may struggle to pay for their prescriptions. Around 90% of prescription items are dispensed free of charge. Prescription Prepayment Certificates (PPCs) are also available for those who have to pay national health service prescription charges and need multiple prescriptions. This is the fifth year the annual certificate, and the third year the three-month certificate have been frozen. Both certificates will remain at £104 and £29.10 respectively this year and next. There is no limit to the number of items that can be obtained through a PPC. The annual certificate benefits anyone needing more than 12 items a year, and the three-month certificate anyone needing more than three items in that three-month period. Through the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme, those in receipt of qualifying benefits may also be eligible to claim assistance with travel to hospital or other NHS premises for NHS-funded treatment or diagnostic tests.

Regarding guidance on outstanding cases of maladministration surrounding the care of patients with CFS/ME, fibromyalgia or dysphagia, if a patient, carer or representative has concerns about the NHS care that they have received, they should first raise the matter with either the NHS organisation concerned or the NHS body that commissioned that care. The NHS Constitution makes it clear that patients have the legal right to:

make a complaint;

have that complaint investigated; and

be given a full and prompt reply.

Clinicians or clinical teams, supported by the latest available evidence and drawing on experience and judgment, are responsible for ensuring that the patients in their care get the treatment that is right for them.

There is range of guidance on the NHS Clinical Evidence website to support clinicians in the management

of patients who have either chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) fibromyalgia, or dysphagia. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has also produced a clinical guideline on CFS/ME that sets out best practice in the diagnosis, treatment care and support of this group of patients. However, there is no known pharmacological treatment or cure for either CFS/ME or fibromyalgia, and approaches to the management of patients with these conditions will vary, depending on the severity and type of symptoms. Regarding dysphagia this is usually a complication or symptom of another condition, rather than one that arises in isolation.

In terms of help with the cost of treatment, an extensive range of exemptions, based on age, income and medical condition are already in place to support those who may struggle to pay for their prescriptions. Around 90% of prescription items are dispensed free of charge. Prescription Prepayment Certificates (PPCs) are also available for those who have to pay national health service prescription charges and need multiple prescriptions. This is the fifth year the annual certificate, and the third year the three-month certificate have been frozen. Both certificates will remain at £104 and £29.10 respectively this year and next. There is no limit to the number of items that can be obtained through a PPC. The annual certificate benefits anyone needing more than 12 items a year, and the three-month certificate anyone needing more than three items in that three-month period. Through the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme, those in receipt of qualifying benefits may also be eligible to claim assistance with travel to hospital or other NHS premises for NHS-funded treatment or diagnostic tests.

Regarding guidance on outstanding cases of maladministration surrounding the care of patients with CFS/ME, fibromyalgia or dysphagia, if a patient, carer or representative has concerns about the NHS care that they have received, they should first raise the matter with either the NHS organisation concerned or the NHS body that commissioned that care. The NHS Constitution makes it clear that patients have the legal right to:

make a complaint;

have that complaint investigated; and

be given a full and prompt reply.

According to the latest public sector finances statistical bulletin:

Public sector net borrowing excluding the impact of large one-off transfers for Royal Mail pension assets and the Asset Purchase Facility (PSNBex (ex RM and APF)), was £5.8 billion in 1990-91 but rose to £157.3 billion in 2009-10. As a result of action by this Government net borrowing has fallen in each year since May 2010 and stood at £114.9 billion in 2012-13, the last full year for which information is available.

The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is responsible for producing the official economic and fiscal forecasts in the UK on which fiscal policy is based. According to OBR's December 2013 Economic and fiscal outlook, PSNBex (ex RM and APF) is forecast to fall in each year of the forecast period reaching a £2.2 billion surplus by 2018-19. The OBR forecasts are available here:

http://budgetresponsibility.org.uk/pubs/December-2013-EFO-Charts-and-Tables2.xls

The requested information is published in the “GCSE and equivalent results in England, 2012 to 2013 (revised)¹” statistical first release. It is available in table 2 in the “National tables: SFR01/2014” document.

40.1% of pupils at the end of key stage 4 did not achieve English and mathematics GCSEs at grade A*-C in 2012/13 academic year compared with 46.0% in 2009/10.¹

Available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/gcse-and-equivalent-results-in-england-2012-to-2013-revised

Detailed information about diagnosis conditions including for scurvy and rickets is available for hospital admissions but not specifically for accident and emergency attendances. The number of hospital admissions in England with a primary diagnosis of scurvy or rickets from 2008-09 to 2012-13 is shown in the following table.

The number of attendances at accident and emergency departments in England in each of the last five years is provided in the following table.

Detailed information about diagnosis conditions including for scurvy and rickets is available for hospital admissions but not specifically for accident and emergency attendances. The number of hospital admissions in England with a primary diagnosis of scurvy or rickets from 2008-09 to 2012-13 is shown in the following table.

The number of attendances at accident and emergency departments in England in each of the last five years is provided in the following table.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given on 3 February 2014, Official Report, column 48W.

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 3 February 2014, Official Report, column 48W.

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 5 February 2014, Official Report, column 284W.

Revenue per pupil funding for schools in England from financial years 1984-85 to 2012-13 is shown in tables 1 to 3, and total capital funding for schools is shown in table 4.

Per pupil figures are shown in real terms in 2012-13 prices, using December 2013 GDP deflators, and also in cash terms.

Table 1 shows revenue funding for financial years 1984-85 to 1993-94. Comparable funding per pupil figures for this period against more recent years are not available so expenditure in schools is shown instead.

Table 2 shows per pupil funding to local authorities for financial years 1994-95 to 2005-06, based on standard spending assessment (SSA)/education formula share (EFS) allocations for pupils aged 3 to 15.¹¹ The SSA is the name of the funding system prior to 2003, when it became the EFS.

Table 3 shows per pupil funding to local authorities for financial years 2006-07 to 2012-13. This includes Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) allocations, the pupil premium and other schools related grants, eg school standards grant, school standards grant (personalisation) and standards fund, for pupils aged 3 to 15. Most of the additional grants were mainstreamed into the DSG in 2011-12.

Because of changes to the funding mechanism following the introduction of the DSG in 2006-07, per pupil funding figures are not comparable with previous years. To provide a baseline comparison for 2006-07 DSG, we have isolated the equivalent funding from EFS allocations in 2005-06 and included this in the table.

The figures for 2011-12 and 2012-13 are consistent with the 2010 spending review which said that:

'Underlying per pupil funding [in the 5 to 16s school budget] will be maintained in cash terms'.

Table 4 shows the Department for Education's total schools capital allocations since financial year 1984-85. The figures are shown in real terms in 2012-13 prices, using December 2013 GDP deflators, and also in cash terms. They exclude PFI credit allocations.