Daily Report Tuesday, 14 May 2019 CONTENTS · 5/14/2019 · this has included allocating £1.2m to...

Daily Report Tuesday, 14 May 2019

This report shows written answers and statements provided on 14 May 2019 and the

information is correct at the time of publication (06:29 P.M., 14 May 2019). For the latest

information on written questions and answers, ministerial corrections, and written statements,

please visit: http://www.parliament.uk/writtenanswers/

CONTENTS

ANSWERS 5

BUSINESS, ENERGY AND

INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY 5

Business: Stevenage 5

Caravan Sites 5

Employment: Parents 5

Energy: Costs 6

Foreign Companies: Assets 6

Local Enterprise Partnerships:

Rural Areas 7

CABINET OFFICE 7

Brexit: Referendums 7

European Parliament:

Elections 7

Huawei: 5G 9

Politics and Government:

Scotland 9

DEFENCE 9

Armed Forces: Bullying 9

Armed Forces: Females 10

Armed Forces: Hexavalent

Chromium 10

Australia: Joint Exercises 11

Canada: Joint Exercises 11

EU Defence Policy 11

Ministry of Defence: Bullying 12

Netherlands: Military Alliances 13

Radioactive Waste: Dalgety

Bay 13

USA: Diego Garcia 14

Veterans: Criminal

Investigation 14

DIGITAL, CULTURE, MEDIA AND

SPORT 15

Mobile Broadband 15

PledgeMusic: Insolvency 15

EDUCATION 16

Academies: Land 16

Breakfast Clubs 17

Children in Care 17

Education: Rural Areas 19

English Language and

Mathematics: GCSE 19

Erasmus+ Programme 19

Graduates: Employment 20

Pre-school Education:

Disadvantaged 21

Pupils: Disadvantaged 21

Schools: Barnsley 22

Schools: Health Education 23

Schools: Inspections 23

http://www.parliament.uk/writtenanswers

http://www.parliament.uk/writtenanswers

Special Educational Needs:

Finance 24

ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND

RURAL AFFAIRS 24

Animal Welfare 24

Ash Dieback Disease 25

Coastal Areas: Flood Control 25

Dangerous Dogs 26

Dogs: Tagging 26

Flood Control 27

Foxes: Sites of Special

Scientific Interest 27

Hares: Rabbit Haemorrhagic

Disease 28

Health: Air Pollution 28

Horse Racing: Animal Welfare 28

Meteorology: 5G 29

Pheasants: Imports 29

Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease 30

Tree Planting 30

Wildlife: Smuggling 31

EXITING THE EUROPEAN

UNION 31

Department for Exiting the

European Union: Bullying 31

FOREIGN AND

COMMONWEALTH OFFICE 32

British Nationals Abroad:

Homophobia and Racial

Discrimination 32

Brunei: LGBT People 32

Mali: Peace Negotiations 33

Yemen: Military Intervention 33

Yemen: Peace Negotiations 34

Yemen: Politics and

Government 34

HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE 34

Abortion 34

Cannabis: Medical Treatments 35

General Practitioners 35

Health Education: Schools 36

Mental Health Act 1983

Independent Review 36

Mental Health Services:

Speech and Language

Disorders 36

NHS Injury Benefits Scheme 37

NHS Trusts: Rural Areas 39

NHS Walk-in Centres 39

NHS: Medical Equipment 39

NHS: Staff 40

Palliative Care 40

Police Custody: Death 41

Prescriptions: Fees and

Charges 41

Speech Therapy: Children 41

Speech Therapy: Children and

Young People 42

HOME OFFICE 42

Death Certificates: Digital

Technology 42

Immigration: Applications 42

Immigration: EU Nationals 43

Migration Advisory Committee:

Public Appointments 44

Police: Rural Areas 45

HOUSING, COMMUNITIES AND

LOCAL GOVERNMENT 45

Buildings: Insulation 45

Business Premises: Change of

Use 45

Housing: Construction 46

Ministry of Housing,

Communities and Local

Government: Bullying 46

Owner Occupation 47

UK Shared Prosperity Fund:

Disadvantaged 48

INTERNATIONAL

DEVELOPMENT 48

Developing Countries:

Abortion 48

INTERNATIONAL TRADE 49

Free Trade: Azerbaijan 49

JUSTICE 49

Criminal Injuries

Compensation Scheme 49

Funerals: Children 50

Landlord and Tenant 50

Magistrates: Recruitment 50

Prison Officers: Resignations 51

Prisoners: Hepatitis 51

Prisons: Education 52

Probation 55

TRANSPORT 55

High Speed 2 Railway Line 55

High Speed Two 56

Offical Cars: Exhaust

Emissions 56

Official Cars: Electric Vehicles 57

Roads: Repairs and

Maintenance 57

Taxis: Licensing 57

TREASURY 58

Cash Dispensing: Fees and

Charges 58

Child Rearing 59

Children: Maintenance 59

Mental Health Services:

Capital Investment 59

Pensions: Doctors 60

Transport: Capital Investment 61

UK Membership of EU 61

WORK AND PENSIONS 62

Department for Work and

Pensions: Immigration 62

Flexible Support Fund 62

Housing Benefit 62

Pensions 63

State Retirement Pensions:

British Nationals Abroad 64

State Retirement Pensions:

Reciprocal Arrangements 64

Television: Licensing 64

Universal Credit 65

Universal Credit: Cancer 66

MINISTERIAL CORRECTIONS 68

CABINET OFFICE 68

Brexit: Referendums 68

DIGITAL, CULTURE, MEDIA AND

SPORT 68

Culture: Finance 68

FOREIGN AND

COMMONWEALTH OFFICE 69

St Helena: Fisheries 69

HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE 69

Infant Foods 69

Tomography 71

WRITTEN STATEMENTS 72

ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND

RURAL AFFAIRS 72

May Agriculture and Fisheries

Council 72

HOUSING, COMMUNITIES AND

LOCAL GOVERNMENT 72

Local Government Update 72

Notes:

Questions marked thus [R] indicate that a relevant interest has been declared.

Questions with identification numbers of 900000 or greater indicate that the question was originally tabled as an

oral question and has since been unstarred.

ANSWERS

BUSINESS, ENERGY AND INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY

Business: Stevenage

Stephen McPartland: [249273]

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent

steps he has taken to increase support for businesses in Stevenage.

Kelly Tolhurst:

Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) are playing a vital role in driving forward

economic growth across the country, helping to build a country that works for

everyone. That’s why by 2021 Government will have invested over £12bn through the

Local Growth Fund, allowing LEPs to use their local knowledge to get all areas of the

country firing on all cylinders.

The Government will have invested £160m Growth Deal funding in Hertfordshire by

2021, and the LEP was allocated £16.2m Growing Places Funding. The LEP has

prioritised spending on science, research and innovation, developing skills, cultivating

world-leading sectors and supporting businesses to start up and grow. In Stevenage,

this has included allocating £1.2m to the Airbus Foundation Discovery Space.

Since 2012, the Start-Up Loans Programme has delivered 71 loans in Stevenage,

worth £487, 289 to small businesses.

Caravan Sites

Mr Laurence Robertson: [251894]

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what

assessment he has made of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals

to ban owners of caravan holiday home parks vetting potential purchasers of those

caravans; and if he will make a statement.

Kelly Tolhurst:

[Holding answer 13 May 2019]: The Government has made no such assessment.

Employment: Parents

Nigel Dodds: [251927]

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what

assessment he has made of the effectiveness of support available to parents who have to

return to work while their premature and sick babies remain in neonatal or intensive care.

Kelly Tolhurst:

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy recently conducted a

short, focussed internal review of the provisions for parents of premature, sick and

multiple babies for the purpose of providing advice to Minsters.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2019-04-30/249273



We are currently exploring a range of policy options for providing further support to

parents in this position, recognising that the UK entitlement to 52 weeks of Maternity

Leave among the most generous maternity rights in the world.

Energy: Costs

Stephen Morgan: [250517]

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference

to Scope’s report Disability Price Tag 2019, what assessment he has made of the effect

of the higher energy costs faced by families with disabled children on those families.

Kelly Tolhurst:

It is particularly important that those households with higher than average energy

consumption are on a good value tariff and that their homes are energy efficient.

Our work to increase switching and improve the switching process, alongside the

price caps on default tariffs and prepayment meters, is helping to ensure that all

households pay a fair price for their energy.

Households in receipt of Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence

Payment are eligible for energy efficiency measures under the Energy Company

Obligation.

Foreign Companies: Assets

Paul Farrelly: [252519]

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he

plans to require companies to disclose the proportion of their assets under management

originating from countries with a poor record of human rights.

Kelly Tolhurst:

Companies registered in the UK are required to report the value of their global assets

within their annual accounts but there are no plans to introduce requirements to

report on their assets in relation to human rights.

Government has introduced other requirements on companies in relation to human

rights Quoted companies are required to report on human rights issues, as they

relate to the company, within the narrative part of their annual report. Companies

must include a description of their business model and of their policies, in relation to

human rights, and the effectiveness of those policies. The information provided must

be to the extent necessary for an understanding of the development, performance or

position of the company’s business and the impact of its activities.

These requirements are enhanced by voluntary guidance and standards, including

the UN’s Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs) and the Guiding Principles on

Business and Human Rights (UNGPs).



Local Enterprise Partnerships: Rural Areas

Dr David Drew: [252507]

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many

and which Local Enterprise Partnerships have undertaken a rural proofing review for

policies adopted during 2018-19.

Kelly Tolhurst:

The Department does not collect information relating to rural proofing reviews.

In Strengthened Local Enterprise Partnerships, Government set out its expectation

that all LEPs should seek to be representative of their local economies and ensure

that through their development of economic strategy for their areas, LEPs prioritise

action needed to boost productivity, earning power and competitiveness across their

local economies, rural as well as urban.

In line with the Industrial Strategy, we have set Local Enterprise Partnerships a single

mission to deliver Local Industrial Strategies to promote productivity. This should

include a focus on the foundations of productivity and identify priorities across Ideas,

People, Infrastructure, Business Environment and Places.

For many LEP areas this will involve identifying weaknesses in productivity across

their local areas, such as in isolated rural or urban communities, promoting inclusive

growth by using existing national and local funding.

CABINET OFFICE

Brexit: Referendums

Tom Brake: [252473]

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 25 April to Written

Question 246007, if he will make an assessment of the shortest possible timeframe for

legislating for a confirmatory referendum on the EU Withdrawal Agreement, in

accordance with the process described in that Answer.

Mr David Lidington:

Primary Legislation would be necessary. The length of time a Bill would take to get

through Parliament would be a matter for Parliament. The government has no plans

to hold another referendum on EU membership.

European Parliament: Elections

Mike Gapes: [252484]

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will respond to (a) the letter sent to him on

28 April by the organisation New Europeans, (b) Early Day motion 2357, tabled on 1 May

and (c) the oral contribution of the hon. Member for Ilford South, of 9 May 2019 on EU

citizens voting in the European election on 23 May 2019.




Kevin Foster:

The latest date in which an EU citizen can submit a UC1 form to register as an

elector in the European Parliament elections is 12 working days before the date of

the election. This is based on regulations contained within Representation of the

People Act 1983, Representation of the People (England and Wales) Regulations

2001, Representation of the People (Scotland) Regulations 2001, and

Representation of the People (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2008.

The rules governing the conduct of European Parliament elections provide for poll

cards only to be sent to individuals who are registered to vote in the poll or an

individual who has been appointed to vote as proxy for an elector. There is no

provision for poll cards to be issued to any other individuals.

Council Directive 93/109/EC requires all Member States to send the details of any EU

citizens' declarations to their Home State to ensure an EU citizen does not vote twice,

both here and in another EU country. The Council Directive specifies that this has to

be done "sufficiently in advance of polling day"

Mike Gapes: [252485]

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will take steps to ensure that EU citizens

in the UK who wish to vote in the EU elections are able to do so by (a) making the UC1

form which EU citizens need to complete in order to declare they are not voting in another

EU member state available at all polling stations on 23 May 2019; (b) instructing all local

authorities to write by first-class mail to EU citizens to inform them they will be able to

vote by filling in a UC1 form which will be available at polling stations; and (c) directing

local authorities to send polling cards to all EU citizens and not just those who have

completed and returned the UC1 form.

Kevin Foster:

The latest date in which an EU citizen can submit a UC1 form to register as an

elector in the European Parliament elections is 12 working days before the date of

the election. This is based on regulations contained within Representation of the

People Act 1983, Representation of the People (England and Wales) Regulations

2001, Representation of the People (Scotland) Regulations 2001, and

Representation of the People (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2008.

The rules governing the conduct of European Parliament elections provide for poll

cards only to be sent to individuals who are registered to vote in the poll or an

individual who has been appointed to vote as proxy for an elector. There is no

provision for poll cards to be issued to any other individuals.

Council Directive 93/109/EC requires all Member States to send the details of any EU

citizens' declarations to their Home State to ensure an EU citizen does not vote twice,

both here and in another EU country. The Council Directive specifies that this has to

be done "sufficiently in advance of polling day.


Huawei: 5G

Jo Platt: [252605]

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 8 May 2019 to

Question 250002, how many and what proportion of UK 5G operators (a) use and (b) do

not use the Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre advice.

Mr David Lidington:

The annual report generated by the Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre

(HCSEC) Oversight Board which includes communication service provider

representatives is publicly available. We do not track how many operators use

Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre advice.

It remains the responsibility of operators to ensure the security and resilience of their

networks, based on all the available advice from both Government and the private

sector. Ofcom are the regulator for the telecoms industry and consider whether

operators are meeting their responsibilities and investigate as appropriate.

Politics and Government: Scotland

Deidre Brock: [252113]

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the results of the polling his

Department recently commissioned from Ipsos-Mori on Scottish opinion on the state of

the union.

Kevin Foster:

The Government considers publication of research in line with relevant guidelines.

DEFENCE

Armed Forces: Bullying

Mr Gregory Campbell: [252491]

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many instances of alleged bullying have

been made in Northern Ireland (a) in Army Cadet Force units and (b) where the

complainant at the time of the complaint held the rank of Lieutenant or above in each of

the last three years.

Mr Tobias Ellwood:

Allegations of this type are recorded under the category of bullying and harassment.

On average, 10 allegations of bullying and harassment have been made within each

of the three previous financial years by members of the Army Cadet Force units in

Northern Ireland, although this should not be taken to assume there were 10 in each

year; the numbers vary. This will include cadets and all Cadet Force Adult Volunteers

(officers, adult instructors and non-uniformed volunteers). To provide the number of

allegations made by those holding the rank of Lieutenant and above would be

disclosive given the very small number involved.




Armed Forces: Females

Stephen Gethins: [251341]

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress she has made towards the

target of 15 per cent female recruitment to the armed forces by 2020.

Stephen Gethins: [251342]

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion recruits to the armed forces in

2018 were female.

Mark Lancaster:

In the 12 months to 30 September 2018, 1,320 female personnel joined the UK

Regular Forces, which was 10.9 per cent of the total intake.

Data on female intake into the UK Regular Forces is published twice a year in the UK

Armed Forces Biannual Diversity Statistics publication. Figures up to 1 October 2018

were published on 13 December 2018 at:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachm

ent_data/file/763676/1_October_2018_Biannual_Diversity_Statistics.pdf

The Ministry of Defence is working to achieve a more diverse and inclusive workforce

at all levels, including through increased female representation. This work includes

better understanding and greater engagement with potential female recruits; targeting

recruitment campaigns; supporting candidates through the recruitment process;

opening all roles within the Armed Forces to women; and enabling Service personnel

to request fixed periods of part-time working, or varying their deployability, if

operational requirements allow it, to better fit their service career around family life.

Armed Forces: Hexavalent Chromium

Martin Docherty-Hughes: [250782]

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many armed forces personnel are trained

in the application of paints containing Hexavalent Chromium; and on how many

occasions such paint was applied to military vehicles and vessels in each year since

2013.

Martin Docherty-Hughes: [250783]

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate his Department has made of the

number of (a) current and (b) former serving armed forces personnel that may have been

exposed to paint containing Hexavalent Chromium.

Stuart Andrew:

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not have ready access to the information you

have requested as it is not centrally recorded. Hexavalent chromium paint is now only

used by the MOD on platforms where there is no suitable alternative and where it is

absolutely necessary to maintain defence capability and safety. The MOD is alert to

the health and safety risks associated with hexavalent chromate and provides

guidance, safety data sheets, training and working instructions for personnel known





to be working with the substance, together with personal protective equipment. The

MOD has a small number of exemptions in place for known instances of hexavalent

chromate application and is working hard to identify alternatives in these cases.

Australia: Joint Exercises

Andrew Rosindell: [251962]

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what joint military exercises the UK plans to

undertake with Australia.

Mark Lancaster:

The UK and Australia continue to exercise alongside each other regularly. Plans

include:

Exercise Pacific Kukri involving elements of British Forces Brunei in Australia enabled

by the Australian Army.

Exercise Talisman Sabre, primarily a US/Australian Exercise, but also involving Royal

Marine and RAF personnel.

Exercise Diamond Strike, a US/Australian air warfare exercise, also involving a small

number of RAF personnel.

Exercise Bersama Lima, the key annual exercise for the Five Powers Defence

Arrangements, including force elements from the RAF participating alongside the

RAAF in 2019

Canada: Joint Exercises


To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what joint military exercises the UK plans to

undertake with Canada.

Mark Lancaster:

As founding members of NATO, the UK and Canada regularly exercise together in

NATO exercises, such as the US-led Baltops this summer and the UK-led Joint

Warrior. Outside of NATO the UK and Canada plan to exercise together in a range of

different exercises, including Cutlass Fury in September 2019, Nanook-Tuugaalik in

2020 and Maple Flag in 2021 should it be reinstated by the Canadians.

EU Defence Policy

Tom Brake: [252467]

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which Common Security and Defence Policy

(a) missions and (b) operations the UK contributes to; and which other countries

participate in each of those missions.

Mark Lancaster:

The UK deploys personnel to two military Common Security and Defence Policy

(CSDP) operations (Operation ALTHEA and Operation SOPHIA), two military training




missions in Mali and Somalia, and three civilian missions in Georgia, Kosovo and

Ukraine. As an EU Member State, we also provide common funding for all CSDP

operations and missions, both military and civilian.

Other countries contribute personnel, equipment and funding to all of the CSDP

operations and missions in which we take part. We can provide a snapshot of

contributions by other states for the week ending 5 May 2019:

Operation ALTHEA: Austria; Bulgaria; Czech Republic; Greece; Spain; France;

Hungary; Ireland; Italy; Poland; Portugal; Romania; Slovenia; Slovakia; UK; Albania;

Switzerland; Chile; Northern Macedonia and Turkey.

Operation SOPHIA: Austria; Bulgaria; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Germany; Denmark;

Estonia; Greece; Spain; Finland; France; Croatia; Hungary; Ireland; Italy; Lithuania;

Luxembourg; Latvia; Malta; Netherlands; Poland; Portugal; Romania; Sweden;

Slovenia and UK.

EU Treaty Mission (EUTM) Mali: Austria; Belgium; Bulgaria; Czech Republic;

Germany; Estonia; Greece; Spain; Finland; France; Hungary; Ireland; Italy; Lithuania;

Luxembourg; Latvia; Netherlands; Portugal; Romania; Sweden; Slovenia; UK;

Albania; Georgia; Montenegro and Serbia.

EUTM Somalia: Spain; Finland; Italy; Portugal; Romania' Sweden; UK and Serbia.

EU Rule of Law Mission (EULEX) Kosovo: Austria; Belgium; Bulgaria; Croatia;

Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; Germany; Estonia; Greece; Spain; Finland;

France; Hungary; Ireland; Italy; Lithuania; Netherlands; Poland; Portugal' Romania;

Sweden; Slovakia; Slovenia; UK and Switzerland.

EU Monitoring Mission (EUMM) Georgia: Austria; Belgium; Bulgaria; Cyprus; Czech

Republic; Denmark; France; Germany; Estonia; Greece; Spain; Finland; Croatia;

Hungary; Ireland; Italy; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Latvia; Malta; Netherlands; Poland;

Portugal; Romania; Sweden; Slovakia; Slovenia and UK.

EU Advisory Mission (EUAM) Ukraine: Austria; Bulgaria; Czech Republic; Germany;

Denmark; Estonia; Greece; Spain; Finland; France; Croatia; Hungary; Ireland; Italy;

Lithuania; Latvia; Netherlands; Poland; Portugal; Romania; Sweden; Slovakia;

Slovenia; UK and Canada.

Ministry of Defence: Bullying

Dr Matthew Offord: [251303]

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate she has made of the number of

cases of bullying and harassment that have been recorded against managers in her

Department in each of the last five years.

Mr Tobias Ellwood:

The number of bullying and harassment cases recorded against managers is not

recorded centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.


The Ministry of Defence (MOD) takes bullying and harassment very seriously and will

not tolerate inappropriate behaviour of any nature. The Department is continually

assessing and identifying ways to improve the culture of the workplace, reduce

tolerance of inappropriate behaviour further, including bullying and harassment, and

making it easier for staff to report possible misconduct as well as providing more

support to staff who have experienced it, and providing more effective and quicker

routes to resolution.

The MOD has introduced a ‘SpeakSafe Helpline’ offering MOD employees a safe

space to discuss issues relating to bullying, harassment and discrimination in the

workplace with experienced practitioners, outside of their immediate workplace, who

will offer advice and support. The SpeakSafe service is impartial and confidential,

allowing callers to remain anonymous, if they wish.

Netherlands: Military Alliances


To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps she is taking to increase defence

and security cooperation with the Netherlands.

Mark Lancaster:

The Netherlands is one of the UK's closest defence and security partners and NATO

Ally, a relationship which we are enhancing further under the 2017 Joint Vision

Statement and annual Action Plan that underpins it, and through the UK-led Joint

Expeditionary Force and the Northern Group.

Radioactive Waste: Dalgety Bay

Deidre Brock: [252067]

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 15 April 2019 to

Question 241447 on Radioactive Waste: Dalgety Bay, what those works will entail; what

residents of Dalgety Bay and the surrounding area can expect in terms of disruption to

their lives; and what visual remediation will take place on site at the end of each period of

works.

Mr Tobias Ellwood:

The implementation of the agreed management strategy at Dalgety Bay involves the

removal of radium sources; the reinforcement, replacement and extension of coastal

armour stone and the construction of a replacement slipway at Dalgety Bay Sailing

Club.

It is not possible at this time to determine the amount of disruption that may be

caused by the work at Dalgety Bay as this has only recently gone to tender. Once a

contractor has been appointed, a construction plan will be developed by them in

consultation with the local council to minimise disruption.

Works on site will only be permitted between 1 April and 30 September each year. At

the end of the first season any incomplete works will be protected and made safe,

and will be completed in the following season.



USA: Diego Garcia

Nia Griffith: [252523]

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether her US counterparts have requested

to deploy US B-52 bombers to Diego Garcia.

Mark Lancaster:

I am withholding the information as its disclosure would, or would be likely to,

prejudice relations between the United Kingdom and another State.

Veterans: Criminal Investigation

Mr Marcus Jones: [252560]

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment she has made of the

adequacy of the pastoral support provided to veterans subject to historic investigations.

Mark Lancaster:

Within the Army's Personnel Services Group (APSG), the Operational Legacy team

coordinates welfare and pastoral support to Army veterans and serving personnel

who are subject to historical investigations. APSG has drawn together all

stakeholders (Including those in the Ministry of Defence, the appropriate Regimental

Headquarters and Associations, the Confederation of Service Charities and 'ABF -

The Soldiers' Charity') to ensure coherent pastoral support to veterans, under the

primacy of the MOD's Veterans UK. This is incorporated into the recently announced

UK-Wide Veterans' Strategy and is supported by £10 million of funding overall. I am

confident that this demonstrates that the Department has a clear strategy and is

meeting its obligations to veterans subject to historical investigations, whilst also

protecting the Army's reputation for future generations of soldiers.

Mr Marcus Jones: [252561]

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if her Department will ensure that all veterans

who are under investigation in relation to historic cases in Northern Ireland are made

aware of her Department's welfare and pastoral support.

Mark Lancaster:

It is a very high priority for Defence to ensure that all personnel involved in Northern

Ireland Legacy matters are offered, free, appropriate legal and pastoral support,

taking account of individual circumstances, including health and wellbeing. For both

inquests and criminal investigations, we contact every veteran as soon as we have

been made aware of their potential involvement. This contact will signpost points of

contact within the Ministry itself, (including the MOD's 'Veterans UK'); the Army,

including the Army Personnel Services Group and Regimental Associations or

equivalent organisations and relevant charities and third sector bodies. In addition,

MOD officials are in frequent contact with veterans' organisations and other

interested bodies and make every effort to publicise this support through appropriate

channels, to ensure that the wider veterans' community has a channel through which

they can contact the Department if appropriate. We also have appropriate points of




contact so that those of whom we are not initially aware, can initiate contact with the

right people.

DIGITAL, CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

Mobile Broadband

Chi Onwurah: [252675]

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the

findings of the report by Mobile UK on why there is little interoperability between vendors

in 4G and 5G, what assessment he has made of whether Ofcom should promote the

standarisation necessary for vendor interopability.

Margot James:

The Government supports the global standardisation system and works with major

standards bodies to understand and assist their work, as does Ofcom. The major

elements for 4G and 5G are generated through well respected standards

organisations with good industry and regulator involvement. Industry stakeholders

use these bodies to agree relevant interoperability definitions between all major

elements.

My Department is leading a cross-Government review into the supply chain

arrangements for the UK’s telecoms infrastructure. The Review is considering both

the technology and economic aspects of the supply chain & the development and

adoption of technology standards are relevant factors. The decisions of the Review

will be announced in due course.

PledgeMusic: Insolvency

Kevin Brennan: [252506]

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he has

taken to protect musicians and consumers after the announcement that Pledge Music

has been put into administration.

Margot James:

The Government takes the protection of consumers very seriously. It also supports

the UK music industry and fair remuneration for artists. In the event that a company is

unable to meet its contractual obligation when they fall into administration, consumers

who paid for goods using their credit card are protected under section 75 of the

Consumer Credit Act 1974 (CCA) and should contact their card issuing company. In

some circumstances, debit card payments can be refunded through the Chargeback

scheme and consumers should seek further information from their bank.

The Insolvency Agency, an executive agency of the Department for Business, Energy

and Industrial Strategy, acts as an impartial source of information for the public and

HMG on insolvency and redundancy matters.



EDUCATION

Academies: Land

Preet Kaur Gill: [252621]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of

the total loss of former public land to academy trusts.

Preet Kaur Gill: [252623]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the financial

value of public land which academy trusts own under contracts which do not contain the

right of his Department to acquire the land at no cost upon termination of the funding

agreement.

Nick Gibb:

When schools convert to academy status, in the vast majority of cases there is no

loss of publicly funded land. Most school sites are owned by a local authority (LA).

When such schools convert, the LA retains ownership of the land and leases it to the

academy trust. Only where a school already owns their own land prior to conversion,

and even then only in some instances, will the freehold transfer to the new academy

trust. Further information on these land arrangements are available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/academy-land-transfer-advice.

Where publicly funded land is legally held by an academy trust, it remains ‘publicly

funded’ and therefore protected by legislation. No one can dispose or change the use

of publicly funded school land without first getting consent from my right hon. Friend,

the Secretary of State for Education. Should an academy close, or part of the land

become surplus, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State has powers to return it

to the LA, to transfer it to another academy, or to return the proceeds of any sale to

the local authority.

As a further safeguard, all academy funding agreements since at least 2014 should

contain an option for my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State to acquire the

academy trust’s legal interest in its land for nil consideration on the termination of the

funding agreement. A version of this option was also in common use prior to 2014,

but we do not have any central record of the rare instances in which it may have been

absent.

The Department has not estimated the financial value of land without such an option

in place. This is because even where this may be the case, all publicly funded land at

academies remains subject to Schedule 1 of the Academies Act 2010. This allows

the Secretary of State to direct the transfer of the land back to the local authority, or

another academy trust, should the school cease to be an academy or seek to dispose

of the land.



https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/academy-land-transfer-advice

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/academy-land-transfer-advice

Breakfast Clubs

Sir David Evennett: [251244]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to Chapter 1 of the Childhood

Obesity Plan, what progress he has made on implementing the Government's

commitment to fund healthy breakfast clubs in schools.

Nadhim Zahawi:

A contract was awarded to Family Action in March 2018 and will run until March

2020. Family Action, in partnership with Magic Breakfast, have both been named as

the leading charities responsible for running the Breakfast Club programme. Family

Action are distributing the appropriate funding to participating schools who meet the

eligibility criteria.

Eligible schools receive a one off £500 grant payment which they are free to use as

they deem appropriate, such as purchasing a toaster, to help set up their breakfast

club. Schools also receive a dedicated programme of support from Family Action,

including assistance in the establishment of each breakfast club.

In March 2019 Family Action confirmed that they have reached their recruitment

target of 1,775 schools.

Children in Care

Vicky Foxcroft: [252096]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data his Department holds on the

number of children of offenders currently in the care system.

Vicky Foxcroft: [252107]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has made an

assessment of the cost to the public purse of children of offenders taken into care in the

latest period for which data is available.

Nadhim Zahawi:

The department does not collect information specifically on the number of children of

offenders taken into care and the costs associated with this.

Information is collected on the main category of need for which a child is looked-after,

including low income, family in acute stress or family dysfunction, but within those

categories offending by a parent is not identified separately as a reason for a child to

be looked-after. The main category of need is dependent on an individual child’s

circumstances; not solely a shared characteristic of parental offending. Children who

are in need simply because a parent has been imprisoned but the reason for

imprisonment bears no relation to the child being in need can be included as in need

under the category of absent parenting.

The cost of support and care placements varies across individual children. Local

authorities are required to submit their spending on children in care to my right hon.

Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, which is published annually. We also




publish information on the average weekly unit costs of looked after children, by local

authority, in the Local Authority Interactive Tool.

Tim Farron: [252568]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the

(a) number of and (b) reasons for children being taken into care.

Tim Farron: [252574]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he has taken to reduce the

number of children being taken into care; and what assessment he has made of the

effectiveness of measures implemented by his Department to support that aim.

Nadhim Zahawi:

Information on the number of children who started to be looked after during the year

by reason is published in Table C1 in the statistical release ‘Children Looked After in

England including Adoption’ at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-

looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2017-to-2018. Information for children

taken into care is shown in the attached tabled.

The government wants every child to be in a stable, loving home that is right for

them. One of the key principles of the legislation which underpins the UK’s child

protection system, is that children are best looked after within their families. However,

that is not always possible and, as a last resort, local authorities can apply to the

courts for a care or supervision order where the child is suffering, or is at risk of

suffering, significant harm. In making their decisions, the courts must be satisfied that

the threshold for significant harm has been met and that taking the child from his or

her family’s care will be in the child’s best interests.

Where a child cannot live at home, we must make sure they are safe and receive the

highest quality care, which is why we are working hard to improve the social care

support for children across England through our reform programme, Putting Children

First. We have also established the Children’s Social Care What Works Centre,

whose initial research priority focuses on ‘what works in safely reducing the need for

children to enter care’.

In the Autumn Budget, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer

announced an additional £410 million for adult and children’s social care in 2019-20.

A further £84 million is also being invested over the next 5 years through the

Strengthening Families, Protecting Children programme. This programme will support

up to 20 local authorities with high or rising demand for children’s social care services

to improve the support offered to vulnerable children and their families. Through this,

we aim to enable more children to stay at home thriving in stable family

environments, and safely reduce the number of children entering care.

Across the government, we are also tackling the problems that cause children to be

in need in the first place. This includes better supporting those with alcohol-

dependent parents, the introduction of landmark legislation for those affected by

domestic abuse, preventing young people being drawn into serious violence, and



unprecedented investment in early years education and support for children and

young people’s mental health.

Attachments:

1. 252568_252574_Table [252568_252574_Children_In_Care_Table.doc]

Education: Rural Areas


To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which (a) Local Education Authorities and (b)

Academy Chains undertook a rural proofing review of policies adopted in 2018-19.

Nick Gibb:

The information requested is not held centrally.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has published guidance on

rural proofing for which local authorities, and others, can apply if they wish. The

information is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rural-

proofing.

English Language and Mathematics: GCSE

David Simpson: [251989]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to introduce Essential skills

Maths and English for students with lower levels of attainment in respect of the GCSE

curriculum.

Anne Milton:

The government recognises the importance of English and maths both in work and

everyday life. In England, we want to ensure that pupils benefit from reformed

GCSEs, which are the gold standard qualification at 16. The new GCSEs are better

at equipping young people with the literacy and numeracy required for further study

and employment.

Students in England who leave school without a GCSE grade 4/C or above in English

and maths have to continue studying these subjects.

Post-16 students with prior attainment of a GCSE grade 2 or below have a choice of

which qualification to study including GCSEs and functional skills qualifications. We

are reforming functional skills qualifications to improve their rigour and relevance, as

well as improving their recognition amongst employers.

Erasmus+ Programme

Dr Lisa Cameron: [251375]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with

representatives of the devolved governments on the future of the Erasmus+ scheme.


https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rural-proofing





Chris Skidmore:

The UK as a whole participates in the Erasmus+ Programme and the department is

the national authority for the programme in the UK. The department oversees the

work of the UK National Agency, which is responsible for the management and

delivery of the programme across the UK, including in the devolved administrations.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education and I regularly discuss

matters relating to education and exiting the EU with the devolved administrations.

For example, last month I met with my counterparts from the devolved

administrations to discuss higher education in relation to our exit from the EU, which

included a discussion on Erasmus+.

Department officials also hold regular meetings on the topic of Erasmus+ with

officials from the devolved administrations to ensure close cooperation on this matter.

The department will continue to closely engage with the devolved administrations

going forward and ensure that their views are taken into account with regards to the

future of the Erasmus+ Programme.

Graduates: Employment


To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to data in the Office for

National Statistics's quarterly Economic Review published on 2 May 2019, what

assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the finding that 31 per cent

of graduates had more education than was required for the job they were doing in 2017;

and what steps the Government is taking to make more effective use of graduates' skills

and education.

Chris Skidmore:

Employment outcomes for graduates are strong. The recently published Graduate

Labour Market Statistics 2018 shows that the employment rate of working-age

graduates was 87.7% in 2018, which is 0.3% higher than 2017. This employment rate

is 16.1% higher than the rate for non-graduates (71.6%). 65.4% of working-age

graduates were employed in highly skilled roles, compared with 22.9% of non-

graduates.

The government’s Industrial Strategy sets out a long-term plan to boost productivity

by backing businesses to create good jobs and increase the earning power of people

throughout the UK by investing in skills, industries and infrastructure. Through this

plan, £120 million was provided to fund collaboration between businesses and

universities to stimulate local innovation through the Strength in Places Fund.

The primary aim of the Office for Students’ (OfS), the higher education regulator, is to

ensure that higher education delivers positive outcomes for students and that it has a

regulatory focus to ensure that students are able to progress into employment or

further study. The OfS supports graduate employment outcomes in a number of

ways. This includes a Challenge Competition, which aims to boost local employment


outcomes, and the Institute of Coding, which aims to boost UK digital skills and

graduate outcomes.

The government has been improving the information available to students to help

them make informed choices when making decisions on higher education providers

and subject choice. For example, Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes

Frameworks, Longitudinal Education Outcomes data and the Higher Education Open

Data Competition all provide information to prospective students.

Pre-school Education: Disadvantaged

Dan Carden: [250799]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data his Department collects to monitor

the effectiveness of money allocated from the public purse to early years early

intervention strategies in (a) Liverpool and (b) Merseyside.

Nadhim Zahawi:

The Public Health Outcomes Framework is a comprehensive source of data at local

authority unitary, county and district level on the extent to which local strategies are

successful and effective in improving outcomes for children in the early years. It is

available at the following link: https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/public-health-

outcomes-framework.

The framework includes data on outcomes for children aged 5 from the Early Years

Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP). Further information on the EYFSP is broken down

by local authority and available to view at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/early-years-foundation-stage-profile-results-

2017-to-2018.

We do not publish this data at constituency or combined authority level.

Pupils: Disadvantaged

Lucy Powell: [251400]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children classified as in scope for

the 16-18 English progress measure from (a) disadvantaged and (b) non-disadvantaged

backgrounds (i) achieved a grade 4 in English, (ii) made positive progress, (iii) did not

enter an approved English qualification by the end of 16-18 study in 2017-18 by each

prior attainment grade.



the 16-18 English progress measure from (a) disadvantaged and (b) non-disadvantaged

backgrounds by prior attainment achieved (i) a GCSE grade 3 or D and (ii) other level 2

qualification; and whether they (A) did not enter an approved qualification, (B) achieved a

grade 4 or above (or equivalent) and (C) made positive progress in 2017-18.


https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/early-years-foundation-stage-profile-results-2017-to-2018







the 16-18 English progress measure were from (a) disadvantaged and (b) non-

disadvantaged backgrounds in 2017-18 by each prior attainment grade.



the 16-18 maths progress measure from (a) disadvantaged and (b) non-disadvantaged

backgrounds achieved a grade 4 in maths by the end of 16-18 study in 2017-18 by each

prior attainment grade.


To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for a breakdown of the number of children

classified as in scope for the 16-18 maths progress measure from (a) disadvantaged and

(b) non-disadvantaged backgrounds by prior attainment qualification of (i) GCSE grade 3

or D (ii) other level 2 qualification; and whether they (A) did not enter an approved

qualification, (B) achieved a grade 4 or above (or equivalent) and (C) made positive

progress in 2017-18.



the 16-18 maths progress measure were from (a) disadvantaged and (b) non-

disadvantaged backgrounds in 2017-18 by each prior attainment grade.

Nick Gibb:

The number of state-funded students in scope for the 16-18 mathematics and English

measures and their attainment, split by disadvantage status[1] and prior attainment,

are provided in the attached tables. This expands on published data within the

Department’s statistical release[2].

[1] Disadvantage status is taken from the census recorded completed for that

student’s final year of key stage 4 study.

[2]https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/a-level-and-other-16-to-18-results-2017-

to-2018-revised. Main text, page 30-32.

Attachments:

1. 251400_251401_251402_251403_251405_251406_table

[251400_251401_251402_251403_251405_251406_table.pdf]

Schools: Barnsley

Stephanie Peacock: [251382]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the announcement entitled,

Schools backed to tackle bad behaviour, published on 4 May 2019, how much funding his

Department plans to allocated to schools in Barnsley.





https://educationgovuk.sharepoint.com/sites/cd/c/WorkplaceDocuments/Written%20PQ%20Team/Written%20PQ%20-%202017-19%20drafts/251400%20-%20241406%20QC%20090519.docx#_ftnref1




https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/a-level-and-other-16-to-18-results-2017-to-2018-revised




Stephanie Peacock: [251383]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the announcement entitled,

Schools backed to tackle bad behaviour, published on 4 May 2019, how many schools in

Barnsley will be allocated funding.

Nick Gibb:

The £10 million investment announced on 4 May 2019, will enable schools to share

best practice on behaviour and classroom management. Behaviour support networks

will be made up of schools that have exemplary behaviour management practices

and effective whole-school cultures. They will work with other schools offering advice

on ways to better manage behaviour using measures that have been effective in

successful schools.

Decisions on where these networks will be set up will be via an open application

process to recruit suitable lead schools who can demonstrate their behaviour

expertise and capacity to work with a small group of other schools to improve. The

Department will provide more detail on the application process in the autumn term to

enable the first behaviour support networks to be in place for September 2020.

Schools: Health Education

Fiona Bruce: [252525]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he has taken to ensure the new

Abortion and Abortion Care Fact Sheet for schools is balanced and objective in its use of

language.

Nick Gibb:

The Abortion and Abortion Care Factsheet was produced by the Royal College of

Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive

Healthcare.

Schools are free to determine which resources they use, including materials to

develop professional knowledge. Head teachers and subject specialists are best

placed to make those decisions. The Department does not prescribe what must and

must not be used.

Many schools work with specialist subject associations who help schools to access

high quality materials, including resources that they have quality assured.

The Department is clear that in teaching about sensitive issues such as abortion, any

teaching must be age-appropriate.

Schools: Inspections

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: [252627]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools in England that are due to

close have been inspected by Ofsted in the last 12 months; how much did each such

inspection cost; and what the outcomes were of each of those inspections.




Nick Gibb:

This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked

her to write to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries

of both Houses.

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: [252629]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much notice (a) schools and (b) local

authorities are given for Ofsted school inspections.

Nick Gibb:

This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked

her to write to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries

of both Houses.

Special Educational Needs: Finance

Geraint Davies: [250743]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the

implications for his Department's policies of the findings of the National Education Union,

published on 15 April 2019, that SEND provision in England has had a £1.2bn shortfall in

funding increases from Government since 2015.

Nadhim Zahawi:

High needs funding has risen by £1 billion since 2013 to £6.3 billion this year.

However, we recognise that local authorities and schools are continuing to face cost

pressures. Funding levels for future years will be determined by the next Spending

Review.

ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Animal Welfare

Grant Shapps: [252554]

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the

Government has plans to improve animal rights after the UK leaves the EU.

David Rutley:

We will maintain and enhance our high animal welfare standards as we leave the EU.

We recently laid legislation to ban travelling circuses from using wild animals and to

tackle puppy farming by ending third party sales. We have made CCTV mandatory in

slaughterhouses and are introducing one of the world’s toughest bans on ivory sales

to protect elephants from poaching. Each of these measures goes further than EU

rules require.




Ash Dieback Disease


To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support his

Department provides to local authorities to help safely dispose of trees felled as a result

of Ash dieback disease.

Mr Robert Goodwill:

Under the Occupiers Liability Act, individual landowners are responsible for the care

and management of trees on their land. We encourage all landowners to think

strategically about the management of their ash trees, and use the recently published

Forestry Commission guidance and the Tree Council’s ash dieback toolkit, to adopt

best practice and help reduce the impact of this disease on our landscape.

Onward spread of ash dieback via wood/timber is considered to be a low risk, so ash

wood may be moved without restriction within Great Britain (England, Scotland and

Wales), to help landowners recover some of the value from the timber.


To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he

has made on the cost to the public purse of Ash dieback disease.

Mr Robert Goodwill:

We do not collate costs relating to felling of diseased ash. Individual landowners,

including local authorities, are responsible for the care and management of ash trees

on their land. The cost of ash dieback will differ between local authorities, depending

on the prevalence of ash trees and the concentration of those trees that are affected

by the disease. Council budgets for the care and management of trees on their land

are determined by individual local authorities.

Defra funds work on horizon scanning, border biosecurity, disease surveillance,

contingency planning and research as part of an extensive programme of work on

plant health. For example, since 2012 the Government has invested over £6 million in

ash dieback research.

Coastal Areas: Flood Control

Chris Ruane: [252510]

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he

has made of the number of miles of English coastline which are deemed unbeneficial for

flood protection or adaption.

Dr Thérèse Coffey:

This is a devolved matter and the answer applies to England.

The Government has not made any such assessment. Shoreline management plans

prepared and approved by local authorities contain details of expected levels of

protection.




Dangerous Dogs

Mr Jim Cunningham: [252517]

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment

his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing behaviour testing of dogs

banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 in order to reduce the number of dogs

needlessly destroyed.

David Rutley:

A dangerous dogs exemption scheme already operates under the Dangerous Dogs

Act 1991 which allows the Courts to decide that individual dogs of types subject to

the general prohibition may be kept, subject to certain conditions, if they are

considered not to represent a risk to the general public based on the dog’s

temperament and behaviour and that the owner is a fit and proper person.



he has made of the effectiveness of breed specific legislation in reducing the number of

dog attacks.

David Rutley:

The Government considers that the general prohibition on certain types of dog bred

for fighting, or that share the characteristics of dogs bred for fighting, should remain in

place. Evidence shows that pitbull type dogs are responsible for a disproportionate

number of attacks on people and fatalities, and should not be kept without individual

dogs being subject to a public safety test including that the owner is a fit and proper

person. We have not seen any evidence that shows removing the general prohibition

would reduce the number of dog attacks.

Dogs: Tagging



he has made of the potential merits of bringing forward legislation for mandatory

microchip scanning for all pet dogs at routine visits to the veterinarian.

David Rutley:

The Government agrees with the British Veterinary Association (BVA) that it is good

practice for veterinary practices to scan dogs that are presented to them, and

particularly for the first time, but that it should not be compulsory for them to do so, as

in some circumstances this might deter some owners from presenting their dogs at

veterinary practices for much needed treatment.

On 23 April 2019, I understand representatives of the group Vets Get Scanning and

the BVA met to discuss this issue. The BVA has undertaken to remind veterinary

practices to scan dogs in line with best practice and help owners understand the

importance of keeping their microchipping records up to date.




Flood Control


To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is

taking to improve the resilience of (a) homes and (b) businesses against flooding.


This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England

only.

In England, we are working with the commercial and technical sectors through a

business led Property Flood Resilience Roundtable, to increase the uptake of flood

resilience approaches (recoverability and resistance), both by homes and

businesses, in areas at risk of flooding.

Flood Re was established in 2016 to help improve the affordability and availability of

Flood Insurance for homes at high risk of flooding across the whole of the UK

(including Wales). Flood Re is required to take action to help the flood insurance

market transition to one that is risk reflective by 2039. This includes exploring ways in

which Flood Re can help improve the uptake of flood resilience measures in homes

at risk of flooding.

Our investment programme will better protect at least 300,000 homes from the risk of

all flooding and coastal erosion by 2020/21. Up to 60,000 commercial properties have

also benefited from better protection thanks to these schemes.

Property Flood Resistance schemes are eligible for GIA and are used where it is

technically or financially difficult to use other mechanisms and for residual risk to

increase the level of protection from an asset.

Foxes: Sites of Special Scientific Interest

Mr Laurence Robertson: [249820]

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent

discussions he has had with Natural England on the provision of information on fox

numbers in each site of special scientific interest; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Robert Goodwill:

I have been well informed of the discussions that my officials are having with Natural

England (NE) on this issue. NE’s licencing process for badger control includes a

detailed assessment of effects on protected wildlife sites such as sites of special

scientific interest (SSSIs). In 2018, NE’s successful defence of judicial review

proceedings against these assessments included a commitment to review its

procedures on and within 2km of SSSIs, where they support bird species which may

be vulnerable to a potential increase in fox predation as a result of a reduction in

badger numbers. NE will collect information in order to make a judgement on whether

sufficient fox control is taking place to avoid this potential risk.



Hares: Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease

George Eustice: [251977]

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to

the confirmation of cases of type 2 rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus in hares in January

2019, what epidemiological modelling (a) his Department and (b) the Animal and Plant

Health Agency have conducted to assess the potential effect of that disease on the hare

population.

David Rutley:

There has not been any epidemiological modelling on rabbit haemorrhagic disease in

hares carried out by Defra or the Animal and Plant Health Agency. There is

insufficient evidence on rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus in hares to allow valid

modelling.

Health: Air Pollution

Angela Smith: [251249]

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural affairs, what steps his

Department took to alert (a) children, (b) older people, (c) people with health conditions

and (d) other vulnerable groups to the pollution episodes that occurred across England

between 4-26 April 2019.


During episodes of elevated air pollution (including the episodes between 4-26 April

2019), Defra works closely with Public Health England and a network of health

charities to ensure that key health messages are communicated to those who are

vulnerable to the effects of air pollution, in addition to communicating through our

normal digital channels.

Defra’s Daily Air Quality Index ( https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/air-pollution/daqi ) assists

in understanding air pollution levels and suggests recommended actions and health

advice. Such advice applies to anyone experiencing symptoms.

Horse Racing: Animal Welfare

Mr Roger Godsiff: [250745]

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions

he has had with the British Horseracing Authority on the death of the horse named Up

For Review during the Grand National race.


To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether autopsies

were carried out on racehorses Crucial Role and Up For Review after the Grand National

meeting.



https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/air-pollution/daqi

https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/air-pollution/daqi



David Rutley:

The Government is keen that the welfare needs of racehorses are well met, both

during their racing lives and afterwards and any racehorse fatality is one too many.

The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) is responsible for the safety of racehorses at

British racecourses, including the Grand National. The BHA works alongside the

RSPCA and World Horse Welfare to make horseracing as safe as possible. However,

both I and the BHA consider that more can be done to make horseracing safer which

is why I have been holding regular discussions with the BHA about this, including the

fatalities at the Grand National, Cheltenham Festival 2019 as well at any other

racetrack.

On 14 May, I am due to meet the BHA Chair and the new independent Chair of the

BHA’s newly appointed Horse Welfare Board when I will again press them on what

progress they are making to improve racehorse safety and what further lessons have

been learned from this year’s Grand National and Cheltenham Festival.

The Government understands that the BHA carried out post-mortem examinations on

all three horses which incurred fatal injuries at the Aintree Grand National meeting.

Meteorology: 5G

Sir Mark Hendrick: [251230]


his Department has made of the effect of the introduction 5G services on the accuracy of

weather forecast predictions.

Mr Robert Goodwill:

Defra Digital Data and Technology Services (DDTS) has been tracking, through its

emerging technology scanning activity, the recent news on the potential impact of the

introduction of 5G services on the accuracy of weather forecast predictions. Defra

DDTS has not undertaken any assessment of this potential impact, and is not aware

of any such assessment being undertaken within Defra.

The Environment Agency and the Met Office Flood Forecasting Service would be

expected to undertake such an assessment, but this service is not within core Defra.

Pheasants: Imports


To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many

pheasant (a) eggs for hatching and (b) live birds were imported into England from each

(a) EU country and (b) third country in the last year for which figures are available.

David Rutley:

The number of pheasant hatching eggs and live birds imported into England from the

EU in 2018 was:



COUNTRY OF ORIGIN TOTAL

Hatching Eggs France 13,070,875

Poland 1,211,480

Portugal 15,000

Spain 943,620

Hatching Eggs Total 15,240,975

Live Birds Belgium 12,000

France 5,943,220

Live Birds Total 5,955,220

The number of pheasant hatching eggs and live birds imported into the UK from third

countries in 2018 was:

Hatching eggs – 91,560

Live birds – 5,250

All imports were from the USA.

The Animal and Plant Health Agency is not able to determine how many of the above

imports from third countries were imported into England.

Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease


To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what research

projects (a) his Department and (b) his department's agencies have (i) commissioned and

(ii) plan to commission into type 2 rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus.

David Rutley:

There are diagnostic tests and vaccines for rabbit haemorrhagic disease available for

use in rabbits. We have no immediate plans for additional research, but will keep this

under review.

Tree Planting

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: [252670]

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress he

has made on the target to plant eleven million trees between 2015 and 2020.

David Rutley:

This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England

only.



The Government has planted 15 million trees since 2010, and remains committed to

planting 11 million trees in this Parliament, 2017-22. Woodland creation is a key

activity of our 25 Year Environment Plan.

The Forestry Commission routinely publishes statistics on planting rates as part of its

Corporate Performance Indicators. The latest figures show that from April 2017 to

end March 2019 at least 3.2 million trees have been planted, equivalent to

approximately 2,083 hectares of woodland creation.

The Government’s support for this woodland creation has predominantly been from

the Countryside Stewardship scheme. Further Government support has been through

the Environment Agency and National Forest Company.

In the Autumn Budget the Government announced an additional £60 million for tree

planting initiatives, comprising £10 million to fund urban tree planting and £50 million

for a Woodland Carbon Guarantee scheme. This will add to other new planting in the

pipeline, supported by the High Speed 2 Woodland Fund, the Woodland Carbon

Fund and the Government’s kick start investment in the Northern Forest.

Wildlife: Smuggling

John Lamont: [251333]

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the

Government is taking to tackle the illegal wildlife trade coming through Scottish ports and

airports.


The UK is a Party to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species

(CITES) which regulates the wildlife trade and protects endangered wildlife from

unsustainable trade. These obligations are effected in the UK through the EU Wildlife

Trade Regulations. The issuance of CITES import, export and re-export permits is

administered in the UK by the Animal and Plant Health Agency. Compliance with the

regulations and licensing requirements is enforced across all UK borders.

EXITING THE EUROPEAN UNION

Department for Exiting the European Union: Bullying


To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what estimate he has made

of the number of cases of bullying and harassment that have been recorded against

managers in his Department in each of the last five years.

Kwasi Kwarteng:

The Department for Exiting the European Union is committed to being an inclusive

workplace where people can bring their whole selves to work. We care about the

wellbeing of our staff and have committed to taking a zero tolerance approach to

bullying and harassment.



We fully investigate all claims of bullying and harassment and take action in line with

Departmental policies as appropriate. We have also introduced fair treatment

ambassadors to provide another avenue for staff to receive support and signposting,

as well as initiatives to help individuals, especially managers, recognise and resolve

instances of bullying and harassment.

As the Department was created within the last 5 years, we only have records from

2017:

2015: 0

2016: 0

2017:

2018:

2019: 0

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE

British Nationals Abroad: Homophobia and Racial Discrimination

Chi Onwurah: [252046]

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what advice his

Department has issued to UK citizens on the prevalence of (a) racism and (b)

homophobia when travelling abroad.

Harriett Baldwin:

We advise British people travelling abroad on LGBT+ issues in the Local laws and

customs section of the travel advice. This includes a dedicated guidance page on

travel advice for LGBT+. For countries where we have evidence to suggest racial

discrimination may occur, we include information in the Safety and security section of

the travel advice.

Brunei: LGBT People

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: [250501]

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the

Answer of 25 April 2019 to Question 245924 on Brunei: LGBT People, what meetings he

has had with his counterpart in Brunei on the implementation of anti-LGBT laws in that

country; and what the outcomes of those meetings has been.

Mark Field:

The Foreign Secretary spoke to Brunei’s Foreign Minister, Dato Erywan, on 4 April to

express the UK’s concerns about the impact of the Sharia Penal Code. On 11 April,

the Foreign Secretary and I met Dato Erywan and the Finance Minister, Dato Amin

Liew, in London. The Prime Minister wrote to His Majesty The Sultan on 1 May

encouraging the Sultan of Brunei to respond to international concerns.



We welcome the assurances thereafter provided by His Majesty the Sultan of Brunei

on 5 May; in particular, confirmation that the de facto moratorium on the death

penalty will apply to punishments under the Sharia Penal Code and that His Majesty

the Sultan will commit to ratifying the United Nations Convention Against Torture.

Following this announcement, I again met Dato Erywan and Dato Amin Liew on 7

May in London followed by a letter from the Foreign Secretary on 9 May.

The announcement by His Majesty demonstrates the importance of engaging in

respectful dialogue and diplomacy to address sensitive issues. The assurances

provided by His Majesty the Sultan are positive and go some way to addressing our

anxieties about the human rights situation in Brunei. However, we urge Brunei to

build on these assurances and formalise its commitment to respect individual

freedoms and minorities.

Mali: Peace Negotiations


To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is

taking to promote peace in Mali.

Harriett Baldwin:

The Government continues to be concerned about the situation in Mali. We reiterate

our previous calls on the parties to the 2015 Algiers Peace Agreement to take

immediate steps to advance the peace process. We are also deeply concerned by

the increase in terrorist and intercommunal attacks in the centre of Mali. We underline

the need for security efforts to be accompanied by inclusive political and institutional

reform, as well as initiatives to promote economic development.

Yemen: Military Intervention


To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his

Department has received confirmation that Saudi Arabia will investigate the bomb attack

that damaged a Save the Children-supported hospital in Kitaf, Yemen on 26 March 2019.

Dr Andrew Murrison:

We are deeply concerned of reports of an alleged airstrike on a petrol station at a

hospital facility on 26 March 2019. UK officials have been in contact with Save the

Children, who fund the hospital, about this alleged incident and have raised this

matter with the Saudi-led Coalition, who have announced an investigation.

Richard Burden: [251887]

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if his Department

will take steps to establish an independent investigation into the bombing of a de-

conflicted hospital in Kitaf, Yemen on 26 March 2019.




Dr Andrew Murrison:

We are deeply concerned of reports of an alleged airstrike on a petrol station at a

hospital facility on 26 March 2019. UK officials have been in contact with Save the

Children, who fund the hospital, about this alleged incident and have raised this

matter with the Saudi-led Coalition, who have announced an investigation.

Yemen: Peace Negotiations

Helen Whately: [910888]

What diplomatic steps he is taking to support a peace process in Yemen.

Dr Andrew Murrison:

The security situation in Yemen is of great concern. Working with partners and

agencies, we are monitoring developments and doing all we can to end the conflict.

The UK has played a leading role in diplomatic efforts and will continue to do so. My

Right Honourable Friend the Foreign Secretary visited Yemen in March. He also

hosted a ministerial Quad meeting last month to discuss implementation of the

Hodeidah agreement and next steps in the political process. I welcome reports over

the weekend that the Houthis have begun their withdrawal from Hodeidah.I look

forward to receiving independent verification from the UN and hearing the

assessment of the UN Special Envoy during his briefing to the Security Council.

Yemen: Politics and Government

Kevin Brennan: [910882]

What recent discussions he has had with international agencies on the security situation

in Yemen.

Dr Andrew Murrison:

The security situation in Yemen is of great concern. Working with partners and

agencies, we are monitoring developments and doing all we can to end the conflict.

The UK has played a leading role in diplomatic efforts and will continue to do so. My

Right Honourable Friend the Foreign Secretary visited Yemen in March. He also

hosted a ministerial Quad meeting last month to discuss implementation of the

Hodeidah agreement and next steps in the political process. I welcome reports over

the weekend that the Houthis have begun their withdrawal from Hodeidah. I look

forward to receiving independent verification from the UN and hearing the

assessment of the UN Special Envoy during his briefing to the Security Council.

HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE

Abortion


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has

carried out studies on the effect on men of a partner electing to have and having an

abortion, particularly in relation to men's mental health.




Jackie Doyle-Price:

The Department has not commissioned research on the effect on men of a partner

electing to have and having an abortion.

Cannabis: Medical Treatments

Tom Brake: [252465]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is

taking to (a) increase public consultation on the creation of interim guidance for medicinal

cannabis and (b) ensure patient and health professional organisations are engaged in the

Department’s working group on medicinal cannabis.

Seema Kennedy:

The Department does not have a standing working group on medicinal cannabis. It

has, however, held a number of engagement events with representatives of patients

and health professionals in relation to this policy.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has been

commissioned to update and replace interim clinical guidelines on the prescribing of

cannabis-based products for medicinal use by October 2019. NICE has consulted

with a wide range of stakeholders on the draft scope of the guidelines, including a

stakeholder workshop held on 6 November 2018, which was attended by patient and

health professional organisations. NICE is expected to issue a public consultation on

draft guidelines, which will commence in summer 2019. Anyone interested in this

topic, who wants to be involved in the consultation process, can register as a

stakeholder at www.nice.org.uk by searching “GID-NG10124”.

General Practitioners

Jo Stevens: [252606]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his

Department has made of trends in the number of GPs per 100,000 people in England

since 2010.

Seema Kennedy:

The number of general practitioners (GPs) and clinical staff per 100,000 registered

patients is available in the table attached for the years 2015-18 (headcount and full-

time-equivalent (FTE)). Data is not included prior to 2015. GP locums are excluded

as improvements have been made to GP locum recording methodology and figures

are not comparable prior to December 2017.

The recently published NHS Long Term Plan made a clear commitment to the future

of general practice, with primary and community care set to receive at least £4.5

billion more in real terms a year by 2023/24, meaning spending on these services will

grow faster than the rising NHS budget. Since the launch of the Long Term Plan,

NHS England and the British Medical Association’s General Practitioners Committee

have agreed a five-year GP (General Medical Services) contract framework from



2019/20. The new contract framework will be essential to deliver the ambitions set

out in the NHS Long Term Plan through strong general practice services.

Attachments:

1. Regular GP Table [PQ252606 Annex 1 GPs per 100000 patients table formatted.docx]

Health Education: Schools


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has

taken to check the scientific veracity of the new Abortion and Abortion Care Fact Sheet

for schools.

Jackie Doyle-Price:

The Department is aware that an Abortion and Abortion Care Fact Sheet has been

produced for schools to inform factually accurate, evidence-based education about

abortion. The factsheet is based on the latest research and is published by the Royal

College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the national medical authority on

abortion. It is for individual schools to determine whether they use the factsheet.

Mental Health Act 1983 Independent Review

Neil Coyle: [251344]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the

Independent Review of the Mental Health Act, published in December 2018, what

progress his Department, when his Department plans to respond to the recommendations

contained in that review.

Jackie Doyle-Price:

We are considering the report and its recommendations in detail and will respond in

due course. We remain committed to reforming mental health law and will develop

and bring forward legislation when Parliamentary time allows.

We have already accepted two important recommendations: the establishment of

new statutory advance choice documents, so that people’s wishes and preferences

carry far more legal weight, and the creation of a new role of ‘nominated person’, to

be chosen by the patient, to replace the current nearest relative provisions.

Mental Health Services: Speech and Language Disorders


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to improve

access to adult NHS mental health services for people with speech, language and

communication needs.

Jackie Doyle-Price:

The Department is working hard to improve mental health services for all adults,

including those with speech, language and communication needs, so that many more

people can access the high-quality, vital mental health support they need.




Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) commission local services, including mental

health services, on behalf of their local populations taking into account local needs

and priorities. CCGs and NHS England have a duty to have regard to the need to

reduce inequalities in access to health services and the outcomes achieved.

Under the NHS Long Term Plan, local areas will design and implement models of

care that are age appropriate, closer to home and bring together physical and mental

health services. These models will support health development by providing holistic

care across local authority and NHS services, including primary care, community

services, speech and language therapy, school nursing, oral health, acute and

specialised services.

The National Implementation Framework, to be published later this spring, will

provide further information on how the NHS Long Term Plan will drive improvements

in people’s mental health care.

NHS Injury Benefits Scheme

Hywel Williams: [250442]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many applications for

permanent injury benefit under the NHS Injury Benefits Scheme have been made in each

year since 2002; and what proportion of those applications have been successful.

Stephen Hammond:

The NHS Business Services Authority is responsible for the administration of the

NHS Injury Benefits Scheme on behalf of the Secretary of State. The following table

shows the number of applications for permanent injury benefit under the NHS Injury

Benefits Scheme received by the NHS Business Services Authority in each scheme

year since 2002.

YEAR NUMBER OF CASES RECEIVED

2002 678

2003 710

2004 765

2005 584

2006 465

2007 349

2008 524

2009 520

2010 381

2011 312


YEAR NUMBER OF CASES RECEIVED

2012 301

2013 208

2014 212

2015 176

2016 106

2017 77

2018 94

2019 18

Information is not held in the format requested on the number of successful

applications, and it would incur disproportionate cost to the NHS Business Services

Authority to interrogate individual member records to produce this data.


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made

of the potential merits of reviewing the permanent injury benefit system under the NHS

injury benefits scheme.

Stephen Hammond:

The Department has made no recent assessment of reviewing the NHS Injury

Benefits Scheme. A partnership review of the Scheme was conducted by NHS

Employers and Trade Unions of the NHS Injury Benefit provisions in 2013, and new

arrangements came into force from 1 April 2013.


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made

of the efficacy of the NHS Business Services Authority in processing applications for

permanent injury benefit under the NHS injury benefits scheme.

Stephen Hammond:

The NHS Business Services Authority is responsible for the administration of the

NHS Injury Benefits Scheme on behalf of the Secretary of State. The Injury Benefits

Scheme covers NHS workers with injuries or diseases contracted through their

employment before 31 March 2013.

The NHS Business Services Authority will process Injury Benefits applications

received up to and including 30 March 2018 but only in respect of injuries or diseases

occurring on or before 30 March 2013. An exception to this rule is that the NHS

Business Services Authority will process Injury Benefit applications received by 30

March 2038 for applicants who can provide evidence that there has been a delayed



onset of their symptoms, such that application was not possible before 30 March

2018.

The NHS Business Services Authority has always had a dedicated team to process

Injury Benefit applications, and the Department is content with the efficacy of their

administration.

NHS Trusts: Rural Areas


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which NHS Trusts undertook a

rural proofing review of policies adopted for 2018-2019.

Jackie Doyle-Price:

The information requested is not centrally held.

NHS Walk-in Centres

Gareth Thomas: [250425]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has for Clinical

Commissioning Groups to phase out the provision of walk-in centres.

Stephen Hammond:

NHS England is committed to providing the most appropriate out-of-hospital urgent

care, which is simple for patients to navigate. In response to the review of urgent

treatment services in the National Health Service (published in 2015), patients and

the public said that they felt confused by the mix of walk-in centres, minor injuries

units and urgent care centres, in addition to numerous general practitioner health

centres and surgeries offering varied levels of core and extended service.

The ‘Next Steps on the NHS Five Year Forward View’ set out plans for the roll-out of

urgent treatment centres. Following the publication of ‘Urgent Treatment Centres –

Principles and Standards’ in July 2017, systems have been developing their plans for

local service provision.

The NHS Long Term Plan has reiterated the intent to fully implement the Urgent

Treatment Centre model by autumn 2020, so that all localities have a consistent offer

for out-of-hospital urgent care.

NHS: Medical Equipment

Tom Brake: [252469]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 1

May to Question 246433, which products purchased in preparation for the UK leaving the

EU without a deal his Department had to dispose of as a result of expiry dates being

before 29 March 2019.




Stephen Hammond:

There are no products purchased by the Department in preparation for leaving the

European Union without a deal that have had to be disposed of as a result of expiry

dates before 29 March 2019.

NHS: Staff

Mr George Howarth: [250441]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the interim

recommendations of Baroness Dido Harding's Workforce Implementation Plan will be

published.

Stephen Hammond:

Following the publication of the NHS Long Term Plan in January this year, the

National Health Service has been working with a broad range of experts to lead the

development of a new People Plan. The aim of the plan is to provide clarity and detail

to the 10-year workforce vision set out in the Long Term Plan, including making sure

the NHS has the staff it needs.

The plan’s initial recommendations will be presented to the Department this spring,

with the final People Plan currently scheduled for publication following the Spending

Review.

Palliative Care


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the NHS Long

Term Plan, what funding his Department plans to allocate to end of life care.

Caroline Dinenage:

As with the vast majority of NHS services, the funding and commissioning of palliative

and end of life care is a local matter, over which individual National Health Service

commissioners have responsibility. Local commissioners are best placed to

understand the needs of local populations and commission services to meet those

needs accordingly.

The NHS Long Term Plan, sets out significant investment and activity to improve the

quality of patient care and health outcomes, including for end of life care. This

includes £4.5 billion of new investment to fund expanded community multidisciplinary

teams aligned with new primary care networks. Based on individual needs and

choices, people identified as having the greatest risks and needs will be offered

targeted support for both their physical and mental health needs, helping them to

maintain independence and avoid unnecessary hospital admissions. This includes

patients approaching the end of life.



Police Custody: Death


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the Ministerial Council on

Deaths in Custody last met; and whether it has has plans to consider the

recommendations of the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act relating to deaths

in custody.

Jackie Doyle-Price:

The Ministerial Board last met on 27 February 2019, and the Independent Advisory

Panel last met on 2 May 2019. The recommendations of the Independent Review of

the Mental Health Act relating to deaths in custody are included on the Board’s work

programme, and the Government welcomes views from the Council on them.

The Government will publish its response to the Independent Review in due course.

Prescriptions: Fees and Charges

Mr George Howarth: [250443]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 30

April 2019 to Question 245660 on Prescriptions: Fees and Charges, what the annual cost

is to the NHS Business Services Authority's Loss Recovery Service of (a) checking

prescription form exemption declarations, (b) issuing Penalty Charge Notices and (c)

managing associated customer contact.

Seema Kennedy:

In 2018-19 the cost to the NHS Business Services Authority for the running of the

Prescription Exemption Checking Service which includes, checking prescription form

exemption declarations, issuing Penalty Charge Notices and managing associated

customer contact was £8.41 million.

Speech Therapy: Children


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether Public Health England

has plans to issue guidance to (a) parents and (b) carers on (i) identifying need for and

(ii) access to speech, language and communication services for children .

Caroline Dinenage:

Public Health England (PHE) is working in partnership with the Department for

Education to produce evidence-based resources and tools to support health visitors,

early years practitioners and parents/carers in identifying and supporting children’s

early speech, language and communication (SLC) needs through training guidance

and an enhanced early language assessment tool. The assessment tool will

incorporate parent resources to support family understanding of SLC in their children

and will be rolled out from April 2020.

Alongside this work, PHE is developing a model SLC pathway for children under five.

This will ensure that professionals working with families are able to help them support




their child’s SLC and how to access support if needed. The pathway will be published

by September 2019.

Speech Therapy: Children and Young People


To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had

with NHS Clinical Commissioners on the importance of joint commissioning services for

children and young people with speech, language and communication needs.

Caroline Dinenage:

The Department has had no discussions with the organisation NHS Clinical

Commissioners on joint commissioning of services for children and young people with

speech, language and communication needs.

HOME OFFICE

Death Certificates: Digital Technology

Rosie Duffield: [252590]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment he has

made of the potential merits of developing a secure digital death certification service.

Caroline Nokes:

The Home Office is working with the Department of Health and Social Care on taking

forward the death certification reforms.

Immigration: Applications

Mohammad Yasin: [252622]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what is the average time taken

was for UK Visas & Immigration to process indefinite leave to remain applications in each

year since 2010; what proportion of those applications application were responded to

outside of the 20-day service standard; and what the average number of days was for

those response times that exceeded the service standard.

Caroline Nokes:

We do not publish this specific data for all applications for Indefinite Leave to Remain

(ILR), however the vast majority of such cases are dealt with within the service

standard of 6 months (which applies to straightforward applications, where the

customer has met all their obligations). Where an application is defined as non-

straightforward, due to complexity, the customer will be written to within the normal

processing time to explain why it will not be decided within the normal standard, and

to explain what will happen next).

The published statistics on leave to remain applications that have been processed

within service standard can be found in the migration transparency data release

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/in-country-migration-data-february-2019




at: InC_02: Percentage of In-Country visa applications, for each Route, processed

within Service Standards.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Afzal Khan: [250513]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is

taking to investigate the low take up of the private beta testing phase of the EU

Settlement Scheme.

Caroline Nokes:

The total number of applications received since the testing of the scheme began on

28 August 2018 is now over 600,000, and we received over 50,000 applications in

the first weekend the scheme was fully live. In total, over 230,000 people applied

during the three testing phases of the EU Settlement Scheme. Over 31,000 of these

people applied during the two private beta testing phases and we do not consider that

this was a low turnout or that it needs investigating. It was not our intention to process

high volumes during these phases, which were implemented gradually to bring the

systems up to scale in a controlled way. This gave us a valuable evidence base from

which to assess the application process and allowed for incremental improvements to

be made in response to applicant feedback

We have been clear that applying during the testing phases was voluntary and EU

citizens will have until 30 June 2021 to apply, in line with the draft Withdrawal

Agreement, or until 31 December 2020 in the event of no deal.

Paul Blomfield: [252534]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department

undertook an Equality Impact Assessment assessment of the EU Settlement Scheme.

Caroline Nokes:

In accordance with the public sector equality duty under section 149 of the Equality

Act 2010, the Government has had due regard to the impacts of the EU Settlement

Scheme on those who share a protected characteristic.


To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether applicants to the EU

Settlement Scheme whose automated residency check result is (a) wholly or (b) partially

unsuccessful will be informed of the reasons for that result.

Caroline Nokes:

The automated checks of employment and benefits records of applications to the EU

Settlement Scheme by those who choose to provide their National Insurance number

have enabled most adults so far granted status under the scheme to be so without

needing to provide any further evidence of their UK residence.

Where the automated checks do not provide sufficient evidence of UK residence for

the applicant to be granted the status for which they think they qualify, they can

upload a wide variety of documentary evidence.




Where this is necessary, the results of the checks will indicate to the applicant which

period(s) of residence they need to evidence. We will not be able to tell applicants

why the automated check is unable to cover all their UK residence because doing so

may introduce the risk of identity theft and abuse. We recognise that some applicants

may lack documentary evidence for various reasons, and we will work flexibly with

applicants to help them evidence their UK residence by the best means available to

them.

More information about the automated checks including why records may not be

found in full or in part is available at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/eu-settlement-

scheme-uk-tax-and-benefits-records-automated-check.

Migration Advisory Committee: Public Appointments


To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when his Department plans to

begin the recruitment process for a new chair of the Migration Advisory Committee.


To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the oral contribution

of the Minister for Immigration on 30 April 2019, Official Report, Col 85WH, how many

applicants for positions on the Migration Advisory Committee satisfied the criteria of

having had experience of business in recruitment processes that have taken place since

January 2013.


To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the oral contribution

of the Minister for Immigration on 30 April 2019, Official Report Columns 84-87WH, how

many applicants for positions on the Migration Advisory Committee who satisfied the

criteria of having had business experience were subsequently deemed unappointable by

the Selection Panel for recruitment processes that have taken place since 2013.

Caroline Nokes:

Any appointment to the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) will be made in line with

the Cabinet Office Governance Code for Public Appointments 2016. The Government

will consider the position of the MAC Chair shortly. Information about the business

experience of candidates is not collected in the form requested.

Following the publication of the Governance Code in 2016, candidates for public

appointments have been given the option to declare the sector of their principal

employment. In the recruitment campaign for MAC members in 2017, two candidates,

neither of whom was appointed, declared that their principal employment was in the

private sector. This does not mean that other candidates did not have business

experience which they chose to highlight in their application or, if appropriate, their

interview.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/eu-settlement-scheme-uk-tax-and-benefits-records-automated-check.






Police: Rural Areas


To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which police forces undertook a

rural proofing review of policies adopted in 2018-2019.

Mr Nick Hurd:

We recognise that certain crimes may disproportionately or predominantly affect rural

areas. That is why we welcome the Rural Affairs Strategy published by the National

Police Chiefs’ Council in July 2018. The Strategy sets out operational and

organisational policing priorities in respect of tackling rural crime and can be found at:

https://www.nwcu.police.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/NPCC-Rural-affairs-

Strategy-2018-2021.pdf.

Through the election of Police and Crime Commissioners we have ensured that

communities, including those in rural areas, have a strong voice in determining how

police resources are allocated to tackle the crimes that matter most to them.

HOUSING, COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Buildings: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: [251387]

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant

to the Answers of 3 May 2019 to Question 248691 and of 28 March 2019 to Question

236427 on Buildings: Insulation, how the construction industry was made aware before

June 2017 that the core of Aluminium Composite Material cladding was to be considered

filler material as the term is to be understood in Approved Document Part B Volume 2,

2006, 2010 and 2013 editions, paragraph 12.7.

Kit Malthouse:

[Holding answer 13 May 2019]: I refer the Hon Member to my answer of 9 April to

Question UIN 240560.

Business Premises: Change of Use


To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what

assessment he has made of the effect on the availability of business premises of

permitted development rules allowing offices to be converted into housing.

Kit Malthouse:

[Holding answer 13 May 2019]: The permitted development right for the change of

use from office to residential is making an important contribution to the delivery of

new homes across the country. In the three years to March 2018, over 42,000 homes

to buy or to rent have been delivered under the right.




Where it is felt that it is necessary to protect the local amenity or wellbeing of an area,

the local planning authority can consult the local community on removing a permitted

development right by making an Article 4 direction. This requires that a planning

application must be submitted which the local planning authority can determine in

accordance with its local plan.

Housing: Construction

Sir Desmond Swayne: [252466]


steps he is taking to (a) improve the quality of newly built houses and (b) ensure that

purchasers of newly built homes are able to have defects rectified swiftly; and if he will

make a statement.

Mrs Heather Wheeler:

I want to ensure we can be proud of the next generation of homes we build. We know

more needs to be done to protect consumers.

We have announced our intention for a New Homes Ombudsman to be established

and I am considering options for a shadow ombudsman. We will be bringing forward

legislation to require developers to belong to a New Homes Ombudsman, which will

treat home buyers fairly. We’ll soon be consulting on the details of how this will work -

to raise standards and ensure that problems encountered by consumers are resolved

faster and more effectively.

We will also establish the condition that housing developers must belong to a New

Homes Ombudsman to participate in the new Help to Buy Scheme in England, post

2021. In the meantime we expect industry to improve the quality of new build homes

in the first place, treat customers fairly and resolve problems swiftly.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Bullying



estimate he has made of the number of cases of bullying and harassment that have been

recorded against managers in his Department in each of the last five years.

Jake Berry:

The number of bullying or harassment cases recorded against managers in this

department in each of the last five years are as follows:

2014/15 – none recorded



2017/18 – three cases recorded against managers

2018/19 – three cases recorded against managers



Bullying and harassment has no place in any workplace, including the Civil Service.

The department is strengthening the routes for staff to report bullying and harassment

to ensure that all staff are fully supported throughout the process, and to ensure

cultures are positive and inclusive.

Owner Occupation



assessment he has made of trends in the level of home ownership in England in each

National Statistics socio-economic classification category in each year since 2012.

Kit Malthouse:

[Holding answer 13 May 2019]: The English Housing Survey has reported on NS-

SEC classification of home owners since 2015-16. The details of this are set out in a

table below. We have not published the socio-economic classification of home

owners prior to 2015-16. NS-SEC of Household Reference Person, Home owners,

2015-16 through 2016-17

NS-SEC CLASSIFICATION 2015-16 2016-17

thousands of households

higher managerial and

professional occupations

2,933 2,802

lower managerial and


4,248 4,148

intermediate occupations 1,531 1,664

small employers and own

account workers

1,456 1,512

lower supervisory and

technical occupations

1,067 1,130

semi-routine occupations 1,320 1,411

routine occupations 1,134 1,073

All households 13,689 13,740


percentages

higher managerial and


21.4 20.4



lower managerial and


31.0 30.2

intermediate occupations 11.2 12.1

small employers and own

account workers

10.6 11.0

lower supervisory and

technical occupations

7.8 8.2

semi-routine occupations 9.6 10.3

routine occupations 8.3 7.8

All households 100.0 100.0

UK Shared Prosperity Fund: Disadvantaged

Angela Crawley: [250520]


steps he is taking to ensure parity of access to the UK Shared Prosperity Fund for

disadvantaged groups.

Angela Crawley: [250521]


progress the Government has made on developing the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

Jake Berry:

Officials have made progress over the past year on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund,

holding 25 engagement events and meeting over 500 stakeholders from across the

UK, in order to aid policy development.

These initial conversations will be built upon in our forthcoming consultation. Final

decisions on the Fund are due to be made at Spending Review.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Developing Countries: Abortion


To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what surveys his

Department has commissioned in (a) the UK and (b) countries in receipt of Official

Development Assistance on his Department's policy of providing support to abortion

services overseas.




Harriett Baldwin:

DFID’s long-standing policy on safe abortion takes an evidence-based public health

approach that aims to reduce death and disability caused by unsafe abortion. The

evidence base for this, from World Health Organisation and other sources, is cited in

our published position.

INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Free Trade: Azerbaijan


To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps he is taking to promote

free trade with Azerbaijan after the UK leaves the EU.


To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps he is taking to promote

free trade with Armenia after the UK leaves the EU.

George Hollingbery:

The Department for International Trade is working to strengthen the UK’s trade and

investment relationships with countries such as Azerbaijan and Armenia as we

negotiate our exit from the EU. The UK is seeking continuity of existing trade

arrangements with Azerbaijan and Armenia by replicating the effects of the EU-

Azerbaijan Partnership & Cooperation Agreements and EU-Armenia Comprehensive

& Enhanced Partnership Agreement when we leave the EU.

On 3 April 2018, Judith Slater was appointed as Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner

for Eastern Europe and Central Asia to improve trade and collaboration with countries

in this region, including Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Prime Minister has also

appointed Trade Envoys to promote bilateral trade and investment in this region,

including my Honourable friend the Member for Wrekin for Armenia and Baroness

Nicholson of Winterbourne for Azerbaijan.

JUSTICE

Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme

Gloria De Piero: [252546]

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average time taken in days from

application submission to decision for compensation applications from the Criminal

Injuries Compensation Scheme was in each year since 2010.

Edward Argar:

The table below shows the average time taken in days from the date an application

for compensation was submitted to the date a first decision was made in each year

since 2010-11.




PERIOD

AVERAGE TIME TAKEN IN DAYS FROM THE DATE

AN APPLICATION WAS SUBMITTED TO THE DATE A

FIRST DECISION WAS MADE

2010-11 250

2011-12 269

2012-13 305

2013-14 329

2014-15 397

2015-16 425

2016-17 305

2017-18 192

Funerals: Children


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions he has had with (a)

Cabinet colleagues, (b) Welsh Government ministers and (c) Scottish Government

ministers on the implementation of the children's funeral fund in England.

Edward Argar:

I have had discussions on implementation of the Children’s Funeral Fund with the

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of

State for Family Support, Housing and Child Maintenance and the Minister of State

for Immigration. I have not had discussions with Welsh or Scottish Government

ministers. However, Ministry of Justice officials have had detailed discussions with

officials in these Administrations.

Landlord and Tenant

Emma Reynolds: [252630]

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many notices were granted by the courts

under Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 in each year since 2010.

Paul Maynard:

The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Magistrates: Recruitment


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to

encourage more young people to become magistrates.




Paul Maynard:

We are taking a number of steps to encourage younger people to join the magistracy,

including through the use of social media to advertise recruitment campaigns and

collaborative work with Universities and employers, providing talks and information to

raise the profile of the role amongst a younger audience.

Prison Officers: Resignations

Imran Hussain: [250496]

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 1 May 2019 to

Written Question 247090, Prison Officers: Resignations, for what reason private prison

operators are not required to supply data relating to the length of service of their

employees.

Robert Buckland:

Information on numbers of staff employed at privately-managed prisons is

commercially sensitive. The contracts between the Ministry of Justice and private

prison providers require the contractor to be responsible for all staffing matters,

including ensuring the availability of sufficiently trained and experienced staff to

maintain safe and decent prisons. There is no requirement in the contracts to inform

the Department of staffing levels in privately managed prisons, nor to agree those

levels with the Department.

Each privately managed prison has a full-time on-site Controller employed by HM

Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) whose role it is to monitor performance at the

prison across a range of indicators.

Prisoners: Hepatitis

Sir Peter Bottomley: [249814]

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to support

NHS England's plan to eliminate Hepatitis C in England by 2025, especially with regard to

the prison service.


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to address

the variation in (a) practice and (b) uptake of opt-out testing for blood borne viruses such

as hepatitis C and HIV in prisons.


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Government is taking to improve

continuity and cooperation between the courts, prisons and probation services to ensure

that offenders have their hepatitis C medication with them when transferred between

different settings.

Edward Argar:

We recognise the unique opportunity that custody offers to identify and encourage

individuals with Blood Borne Viruses (BBVs) to engage in treatment. NHS England





are responsible for commissioning and delivering health services in prisons and Her

Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) are responsible for enabling

access to healthcare services for those in custody. We are fully supportive of the

work being done by NHS England and Public Health England to meet the 2025 target

for the elimination of Hepatitis C in England.

An opt-out policy for BBV testing was introduced in 2013, under the previous National

Partnership Agreement for Prison Healthcare in England (NPA) between NHS

England (NHSE), Public Health England (PHE) and HMPPS (then NOMS). Full

implementation of the opt-out testing policy for BBVs in all adult prisons in England

was achieved in March 2018. Since opt-out testing was introduced, the uptake of

BBV testing in prisons has increased from a baseline of 4% to 29%. This figure is an

aggregate for all prisons, with some far exceeding the average uptake. This shared

commitment to tackling the spread of infectious diseases, including Hepatitis B,

Hepatitis C and HIV, in prisons was reaffirmed in the new NPA between NHSE, PHE,

HMPPS, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and MoJ, published in

April 2018.

We continue to work with our health partners to identify points of attrition and barriers

to testing uptake, as well as with organisations, such as the Hepatitis C Trust, to raise

awareness among prison staff and prisoners about the importance of testing for BBV.

We are currently reviewing the process by which defendants access essential

medication whilst in the custody of the Prisoner Escort and Custody Services to

ensure that it is fit for purpose and to consider further improvements. Additionally,

current processes for Discharge Planning will be enhanced as a part of the Hepatitis

C Pathways work being carried out by NHS England. This will ensure that individuals

diagnosed with Hepatitis C who leave prison, transfer between prisons and attend

court have their medication with them and have detailed instructions about accessing

treatment specialists in the community. Treatment for Hepatitis C uses high value

drugs, and ensuring that the full course follows the individual through the criminal

justice system is a high priority for NHS England. Current processes will also be

augmented by Hepatitis C Trust community peer workers engaging with people

leaving prison, and through enhanced continuity of care arrangements under

RECONNECT as outlined in the NHS Long Term Plan.

Prisons: Education

Liz Saville Roberts: [252593]

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which prisons had issued Dynamic Purchasing

System contracts for education provision by (a) 1 April 2019, and (b) 1 May 2019.


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total value is of all Dynamic

Purchasing System contracts for prison education issued in 2019.



Robert Buckland:

We want prisons to be places of hope and aspiration that propel offenders into

employment, and ultimately help to reduce the number of victims of crime in the

future. Our new education programme will improve the quality of prison education by

ensuring that it meets the needs of prisoners, making it more likely to lead them to a

positive employment outcome on release, and break the cycle of reoffending.

We issued the Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) contracts to the following prisons

below.

(A) HM PRISONS DPS CONTRACTS BY 1ST

APRIL 2019

(B) HM PRISONS DPS CONTRACTS BY 1ST MAY

2019

Gartree Gartree

Chelmsford Chelmsford

Highpoint Highpoint

Hollesley Bay Hollesley Bay

The Mount The Mount

Warren Hill Warren Hill

Stoke Heath Stoke Heath

Bedford Bedford

Littlehey Littlehey

Eastwood Park Eastwood Park

Ford Ford

Frankland Frankland

Garth Garth

Long Lartin Long Lartin

WhattonLong Lartin Whatton

Liverpool Liverpool

Buckley Hall Buckley Hall

Hindley Hindley

Risley Risley

Thorn Cross Thorn Cross

(A) HM PRISONS DPS CONTRACTS BY 1ST

APRIL 2019

(B) HM PRISONS DPS CONTRACTS BY 1ST MAY

2019

Full Sutton

Erlestoke

Northumberland

Rochester

Woodhill

North Sea Camp

Bristol

Bure

Norwich

Wayland

Stoke Heath

The total value of all DPS contracts for prison education issued from 1 January to 10

May 2019 is £3,731,294.


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish the educational courses on

offer to offenders at each prison (a) before and (b) after 1 April 2019.

Robert Buckland:

The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

The Department for Education publishes data on prison education participation and

completion rates and details on the academic years 2010/11 to 2017/18 can be found

at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachm

ent_data/file/761349/201718_Nov_MAIN_OLASS_Particpation_FINALv1.xlsx


To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many education staff have been placed at

risk of redundancy at each prison since the introduction of new commissioning

arrangements on 1 April 2019.

Robert Buckland:

It is for the new education providers to determine how many staff they need to deliver

the requirements of the contracts let under the Prison Education Framework and the

Dynamic Purchasing System.


https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/761349/201718_Nov_MAIN_OLASS_Particpation_FINALv1.xlsx





To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effect of

new prison education commissioning arrangements on the effectiveness of Through The

Gate services; and if he will make a statement.

Robert Buckland:

The new prison education commissioning arrangements are at a very early stage. It

is not possible to provide an assessment of progress at this point.

Probation

Richard Burgon: [250488]

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people are managed by (a)

community rehabilitation companies and (b) the National Probation Service in each

constituency.

Robert Buckland:

The information requested is not held centrally and could not be collated without

incurring disproportionate cost.

Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRC) and the National Probation Service

(NPS) work with offenders within contracted and divisional areas, and as such

statistics relating to parliamentary constituencies are not collated.

The number of offenders supervised in the community, broken down by CRC and

NPS regions, are included in the quarterly Offender Management statistics. This data

is included in the attached table, and is taken from the latest publication:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/offender-management-statistics-quarterly-

october-to-december-2018.

TRANSPORT

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Dame Cheryl Gillan: [252462]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 7 May 2019 to

Question 249174, how many non disclosure agreements have been signed with HS2 Ltd.

Ms Nusrat Ghani:

Pursuant to Question 249174, the Department for Transport does not hold non-

disclosure agreements with any individuals working on High Speed 2.

However, Confidentiality Agreements are used to protect both HS2 Ltd’s information

and the information of the other signatory party and are in accordance with typical

business practice. Confidentiality Agreements help to avoid placing homes and

businesses in unnecessary blight and protect commercially sensitive information and

the personal information of those potentially affected by any proposed changes.




According to HS2 Ltd’s Confidentiality Register, there are 320 Confidentiality

Agreements.

High Speed Two

Dame Cheryl Gillan: [252461]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, why the board minutes of HS2 Ltd have not

been made available since December 2018; and if he will publish those minutes

immediately.

Ms Nusrat Ghani:

The minutes have been published and can be found here

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/high-speed-two-limited/about/our-

governance#board-meeting-minutes

Offical Cars: Exhaust Emissions

Mary Creagh: [252570]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what comparative estimate he has made of

the number of vehicles (a) used, (b) owned and (c) rented by each Government

department and their agencies in London that comply with the Ultra Low Emission Zone

standards and the total number of vehicles (i) used, (ii) owned and (iii) rented by each

Government department.

Jesse Norman:

The information for each Government Department is not held centrally.

The information for the Government Car Service (GCS), a division of the Department

for Transport which operates in London, is below .

FLEET NO. OWNED LEASED ULEZ COMPLIANT

ULEZ NON-

COMPLIANT

86 85 1 68 18


To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ)

penalty charge notices that have been issued for non-compliant vehicles used by each

government department and their agencies in London since the ULEZ came into force on

8 April 2019.

Jesse Norman:

In London, transport is devolved to the Mayor and delivered by Transport for London

(TfL) – this includes the ULEZ.

Since it was introduced on April 8th, the Department does not yet expect TfL to hold

any complete data sets on penalty charge notices.


https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/high-speed-two-limited/about/our-governance#board-meeting-minutes





Official Cars: Electric Vehicles


To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made on increasing

the number of plug-in cars and vans in each government department’s fleet since 2014;

how many plug-in cars and vans were in each fleet as of April 2019; and what proportion

that is of the total number of vehicles owned and rented by each government department.

Jesse Norman:

This information is not currently held centrally. However, the Government has

committed to electrify 25% of central government cars by 2022, and 100% by 2030.

As part of delivering this commitment, from 2019/20 statistics on the share of electric

vehicles in each Department’s fleet will be included in the Greening Government

Commitments annual report.

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

Andy McDonald: [251397]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the merits

of Highways England's decision to reduce the number of road upgrades in the 2015-2020

Road Investment Strategy by 10 per cent.

Jesse Norman:

In delivering the road investment strategy, Highways England routinely reviews its

delivery plans to ensure that proposed road schemes will deliver value for money and

minimise disruption for motorists. Highways England publishes its annual Delivery

Plan each year to provide details of its planned work programme for the next 12

months and beyond. The next regular update of this is scheduled to be published this

summer.

Taxis: Licensing

Sir John Hayes: [251222]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential

merits of defining (a) pre-booked and (b) plying for hire in law in response to

recommendation made by the Task and Finish Group on Taxi and Private Hire Licensing.

Ms Nusrat Ghani:

Providing a statutory definition of plying for pre-booking and plying for hire was

considered as part of the Government response to the report by the Chair of the Task

and Finish Group. The response issued on 12 February explained that since the Law

Commission concluded in 2014 that a statutory definition of plying for hire would not

be a practical improvement on the current position and there being no change in the

legal situation, the Government would not take forward that recommendation.

Tom Brake: [252471]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 9 April 2019 to

Question 240585 on taxis: licensing, how his Department is planning to restrict cross-





border hiring by private hire drivers; and what the timescale is for bringing forward

legislative proposals.

Ms Nusrat Ghani:

Government is considering how any restriction of out-of-area journeys by taxis and

private hire vehicles proposed by the Chair of the Task and Finish Group might work

in practice, with a view to legislating.

Tom Brake: [252472]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to

provide statutory definitions of pre-booked and plying for hire, in order to maintain the

two-tier taxi and private hire regulation system, as recommended by the Task and Finish

Group on Taxi and Private Hire Licensing.

Ms Nusrat Ghani:

Providing a statutory definition of plying for pre-booking and plying for hire was

considered as part of the Government response to the report by the Chair of the Task

and Finish Group. The response issued on 12 February explained that since the Law

Commission concluded in 2014 that a statutory definition of plying for hire would not

be a practical improvement on the current position and there being no change in the

legal situation, the Government would not take forward that recommendation.

TREASURY

Cash Dispensing: Fees and Charges

Frank Field: [252493]

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will call a summit with industry

representatives, with the objective of ensuring the continued provision of free cash

withdrawals at ATMs in deprived communities.

John Glen:

Last year, the Government initiated a discussion on payment methods through a Call

for Evidence on Cash and Digital Payments in the New Economy. This sought to

gather evidence from industry and the public alike on how changing preferences for

cash and digital payments impact on different sectors, regions and demographics.

A formal Summary of Responses to this Call for Evidence was published in May

2019. This response set out the Government’s commitment to supporting digital

payments, whilst safeguarding access to cash for those who need it. It also

highlighted that the Treasury would set up and chair a Joint Authorities Cash Strategy

Group, made up of regulators and the Bank of England, to facilitate further co-

ordination between the authorities and provide comprehensive oversight of the

overall cash infrastructure.

The Government-established Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) is closely

monitoring developments in ATM provision, including those that are free-to-use. The

PSR regulates LINK, the scheme which runs the UK’s ATM network, and has used its



powers to hold LINK to account over LINK’s commitments to preserve the broad

geographic spread of free-to-use ATMs.

LINK has put in place specific arrangements to protect free-to-use ATMs more than 1

kilometre away from the next nearest free-to-use ATM. LINK has also enhanced its

Financial Inclusion Programme by tripling the funding available for free-to-use ATMs

in the most deprived areas of the UK.

Child Rearing


To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the merits of

rewarding parents for looking after their own children in their formative years.

Elizabeth Truss:

The Government is committed to supporting parents looking after children and does

so in a number of ways throughout their formative years.

For instance, every year the Government spends more than £11bn on Child Benefit

to support those families raising children. There is also a comprehensive crediting

system in place to support those who cannot work due to illness or if they are caring

for someone, including parents looking after a child under 12. These help maintain an

individual's National Insurance record and so protect their entitlement to the basic

State Pension and certain other state benefits.

Children: Maintenance

Luke Graham: [252011]

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps HMRC takes to verify the income of

people liable for child maintenance payments.

Elizabeth Truss:

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) are responsible for the assessment of

Child Maintenance payments, including the verification of the absent parent’s income.

Upon request from DWP, HMRC provide information held on their National Insurance

and PAYE Service, or their Self-Assessment Service. The information is made

available under a Memorandum of Understanding, and is for the latest completed tax

year.

Mental Health Services: Capital Investment


To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential

merits of allocating additional capital funding to the mental health estate in the

forthcoming Spending Review.

Elizabeth Truss:

Government has committed £3.9bn of new capital investment by 2022/23 to

transform and modernise NHS buildings.




Of this, £2.6bn of capital funding has been allocated to 153 STP transformation

schemes – the single biggest injection of its kind in the NHS in over a decade. This

includes about £300m for mental health and learning disability schemes.

In addition, the Department of Health and Social Care spent almost £25m capital last

year on central programmes to support mental health services. This includes

schemes to deliver Perinatal Mental Health Mother & Baby Units to deliver more

personalised care to expectant and new mums with serious mental ill health.

Improving mental health is at the heart of this government’s agenda and the STP

capital investment is another step in the government’s ambition to achieve greater

parity between physical and mental health care.

All future capital funding proposals will be assessed at the forthcoming Zero-Based

Capital Review at the Spending Review.

The government is increasing NHS spending by £33.9bn in cash terms by 2023/24 –

reflecting that the NHS is this government’s top spending priority.

Pensions: Doctors

Kirsty Blackman: [252656]

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he had had with the

Secretary of State for Health on the flexibility of pensions available to NHS (a) doctors

and (b) consultants.

Elizabeth Truss:

The Government is committed to public service pensions which are fair to workers

and fair to other taxpayers. The Government is aware of specific concerns raised by

NHS doctors who are impacted by annual allowance tax charges, and we are

currently discussing the issue with the Department of Health and Social Care. All

public sector pay and pensions policies are kept under constant review.

Kirsty Blackman: [252657]

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he had had with the

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on reviewing the annual allowance taper in

relation to NHS doctor and consultant pensions.

Elizabeth Truss:

The Government is committed to public service pensions which are fair to workers

and fair to other taxpayers. The Government is aware of specific concerns raised by

NHS doctors who are impacted by annual allowance tax charges, and we are

currently discussing the issue with the Department of Health and Social Care. All

public sector pay and pensions policies are kept under constant review.



Transport: Capital Investment

Priti Patel: [252544]

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what options are available to finance strategic

transport infrastructure schemes.

Elizabeth Truss:

The Government directly finances strategic transport infrastructure through various

funds. This includes Control Period 6 (which will invest almost £48bn in the railway

network over the period 2019-2024) and the second Road Investment Strategy

(which will invest £25.3bn in the strategic road network over the period 2020 - 2025).

The Chancellor announced at Budget 2018 that PFI and PF2 would no longer be

used for new government projects, and the Treasury will not be seeking a like-for-like

replacement for these models. The Treasury remains open to private finance for

government-funded projects, and is consulting on this as part of the Infrastructure

Finance Review, as announced in the Spring Statement.

UK Membership of EU

Priti Patel: [252543]

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the cost to the to

the public purse in (a) gross and (b) net terms of the UK's extended membership of the

EU to 31 October 2019; and what estimate he has made of the per diem cost of

membership of the EU post 31 October 2019.

Elizabeth Truss:

The settlement agreed with the EU represents a comprehensive settlement covering

all of the mutual commitments between the EU and the UK. The OBR’s latest

estimate is laid as part of the wider OBR Economic and Fiscal Outlook publication.

The most recent estimate, £37.8bn, was published in the March 2019 Economic and

Fiscal Outlook. This analysis assumes an exit date of 29 March 2019

The European Council has agreed an extension to Article 50 to the end of October.

During the extension, the UK will continue to be a member of the European Union.

While we remain in the EU we will uphold our commitments on the EU Budget,

adjusted for the rebate. Similarly, the EU continues to have legal obligations to us as

a member state, including in respect of receipts from the EU budget. We will provide

an updated estimate of the value of the financial settlement once the UK has left the

EU.

The UK makes two contributions per month to the EU Budget which will vary from

month to month. These payments are made on the first working day and the first

working day after the 19th of each month. As such, it would not be possible to

calculate a daily cost of an extension to Article 50 to the end of October.



WORK AND PENSIONS

Department for Work and Pensions: Immigration


To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will place in the Library, a

copy of the Memorandum of Understanding between her Department and HMRC in

relation to the EU Settlement Scheme.

Alok Sharma:

Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) regarding the EU Settlement Scheme have

set out the information sharing arrangements between the Home Office and DWP,

and separately, between the Home Office and HMRC. These are available at:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/eu-settlement-scheme-uk-tax-and-benefits-records-

automated-check. Each department has direct arrangements with the Home Office,

therefore there is no requirement for an MOU between DWP and HMRC.

Flexible Support Fund

Anneliese Dodds: [243572]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the overall levels of payment

were from the Flexible Support Fund (a) in each region, and (b) on (i) childcare, (ii)

training, (iii) clothing for work and (iv) other categories of activity in each of the last 24

months.

Alok Sharma:

[Holding answer 15 April 2019]: The information is not available in the format

requested. Such information as is available is in the tables attached.

Attachments:

1. Flexible Support Fund Expenditure by Region [Flexible Support Fund Expenditure by

Region.docx]

Housing Benefit

Rushanara Ali: [250474]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the

recommendation to exempt claimants in temporary accommodation from the benefit cap

on page 7 of the report of the Work and Pensions Committee, The Benefit Cap, published

on 12 March 2019, HC 1477, if she will ask local authorities to publish the number of

households that are currently affected by the cap in their area; and how much

Discretionary Housing Payment funding has been used to cover their rent shortfalls in the

most recent period for which figures are available.

Will Quince:

The latest official statistics for households capped under Housing Benefit and

Universal Credit were published on 2nd May 2019, and contain data on households

capped to February 2019, published here:




https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/benefit-cap-number-of-households-capped-

to-february-2019.

Statistics by Local Authority are available in Tables 2 and 9, respectively. The

number of households who have had their Housing Benefit award capped by local

authorities are also published on the DWP Stat Xplore portal ( https://stat-

xplore.dwp.gov.uk/ ).

Statistics on the use of Discretionary Housing Payments (for local authorities in

England and Wales) are provided by local authorities on a voluntary basis and as

such may not correspond exactly to the total Discretionary Housing Payment funds

allocated. In addition, Discretionary Housing Payment awards can be recorded

against a combination of welfare reform categories including households affected by

the benefit cap.

The latest statistics on spend by local authorities, covering the period April to

September 2018, are published here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/use-of-discretionary-housing-payments-

april-to-september-2018.

Statistics relating to the specific welfare reform category can be found in Table 7.

The latest full year of statistics available are for the 17/18 financial year and are

published here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/use-of-discretionary-housing-payments-

financial-year-2017-to-2018.

Pensions

Gill Furniss: [251381]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has plans to introduce

the Pensions Bill before summer 2019.

Guy Opperman:

[Holding answer 13 May 2019]: This Government has recently published responses

to a series of consultations, and have engaged extensively with key stakeholders and

the Pensions Regulator.

In these we have committed to strengthen the Pensions Regulator’s powers to both

enforce pension’s legislation and to punish those who have acted recklessly or failed

to comply with their obligations. We have committed to facilitate industry to make

pensions dashboards a reality. We are also compelling pension schemes to make

consumers data available to them and to facilitate collective defined contribution

schemes.

The Government will bring forward legislation to introduce these measures as soon

as parliamentary time permits.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/benefit-cap-number-of-households-capped-to-february-2019



https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/



https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/use-of-discretionary-housing-payments-april-to-september-2018



https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/use-of-discretionary-housing-payments-financial-year-2017-to-2018




State Retirement Pensions: British Nationals Abroad


To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Government has made

an (a) reciprocal or (b) unilateral agreement to maintain the annual increases to the

pensions of UK citizens residing in the Republic of Ireland if the UK leaves the EU without

a deal.

Guy Opperman:

The UK and Ireland signed on the 1 February 2019 a reciprocal agreement which will

protect the social security rights of UK and Irish nationals living and/or working in

each other’s state when the UK leaves the EU. It allows for the payment of each

country’s uprated state pensions to recipients living in the other.

State Retirement Pensions: Reciprocal Arrangements


To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what effect the UK leaving the EU

without a deal would have on reciprocal pension agreements with EU member states.


To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions the Government

have held with (a) the EU and (b) individual EU member states on reciprocal pension

agreements after the UK leaves the EU.

Guy Opperman:

The Government has consistently put citizens’ rights first in our negotiations with the

EU. The best way to guarantee those rights, which include social security, both for

UK nationals in the EU and EU citizens in the UK, is the deal that the Government

has secured. The Government supported the amendment put forward by Alberto

Costa MP which requires the Government to seek a joint UK/EU commitment to

preserve the citizens’ rights section of the Withdrawal Agreement whatever the

outcome of negotiations. The letter to the European Commission setting out the

Government’s position and the Commission’s reply is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/costa-amendment-letter-to-the-eu-

institutions

The current EU arrangements providing for reciprocity in social security would no

longer apply if the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Television: Licensing

Chris Stephens: [252116]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost to the public purse

was of providing free television licences to people over the age of 75 for qualifying

residents in (a) Glasgow South West constituency, (b) Glasgow City local authority area

and (c) Scotland in (i) 2017-18 and (ii) 2018-19.





Guy Opperman:

[Holding answer 13 May 2019]: The policy for free TV licences for those aged 75 and

over is the responsibility of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport until

the BBC takes responsibility in 2020.

The table below provides estimates of the costs for 2017/18 of providing free TV

licences to people aged 75 years and over in the geographical areas requested, in

nominal prices. The figures for 2018/19 will be available in September.

EXPENDITURE (£M) (NOMINAL)

2017-18

(a) Glasgow South West constituency £0.7

(b) Glasgow City local authority £4.0

(c) Scotland £51.7

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: [229075]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in the most recent month for which

data is available, in what proportion of universal credit assessments for working claimants

was income data taken from (a) RTI data provided by HMRC and (b) claimants' payslips.

Alok Sharma:

[Holding answer 11 March 2019]: The information requested is not held by the

Department. Adjustments to payments owing to RTI and self-reported earnings

cannot always be separated from other adjustments to a payment, such as a

repayment of advances.

From the information that is readily available for Universal Credit Full Service, in

January 2019, over 1 million households had payments processed, and of these

around 380,000 had an adjustment.

Of the 380,000 payments processed that had an adjustment:

• 88% of the records had earnings information from HMRC’s Real-Time Earnings

system.

• 2% of the records had Self-Reported Earnings - cases where there were no

available real time information feeds. Some of this information would have come

from payslips, however it is not possible to break this data down further.

• less than 0.5% of the records had both Real-Time and Self-Reported Earnings

information; and

• 9% of the records had earnings from other sources such as self employed earnings

and other income, which cannot readily be separated.


Notes:

• Figures are rounded to the nearest 1,000.

• Percentages are rounded to the nearest %.

Grahame Morris: [252567]

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much her Department has

spent on advertising universal credit in the Metro newspaper to date; and if she will make

a statement.

Alok Sharma:

The Department provides services to around 22 million people, and has a

responsibility to communicate policy and essential information to claimants and other

key audiences, in a similar way to other government departments. The ‘Opening Up

Work’ campaign aims to increase understanding of how Universal Credit removes

barriers to work and aids career progression, and to provide information to help

people make a claim.

The Department has spent the amounts shown in the table below with the Metro

newspaper.

FINANCIAL YEAR SPEND (£)

2017/18 20,918.16

2018/19 23,628.96

Source: DWP internal accounts

Universal Credit: Cancer


To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure

that universal credit phone-line staff are adequately trained to understand the complex

needs of claimants suffering with cancer.

Alok Sharma:

All DWP staff delivering Universal Credit undergo a comprehensive learning journey

designed to equip them with the tools, skills and behaviours required to provide a

high quality service to all claimants, including those who have cancer and other

serious health conditions. Colleagues receive on-going learning in their roles and

have access to Universal Credit guidance which is refreshed at regular intervals.

The Department takes seriously the need to support vulnerable claimants. We are

committed to ensuring that people who have cancer are treated with the upmost

sensitivity and care, when making a claim to Universal Credit.

We are continuously reviewing and improving the service for vulnerable people who

claim Universal Credit to ensure that it is accessible and responsive to their needs.



This includes how they are identified and supported, either from our own staff or via

referrals from local services. For instance, when a claimant is asked to attend a Work

Capability Assessment, they are required to complete a UC50 questionnaire which

incorporates a 'light touch' evidence gathering process for cancer patients; and

makes clear that Clinical Nurse Specialists and consultants can provide information

on the form.

MINISTERIAL CORRECTIONS

CABINET OFFICE

Brexit: Referendums

Tom Brake: [246007]

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what analysis did the Chancellor of the

Exchequer used for the statement that it is unlikely, at a technical level, whether there

would be enough time to legislate for a confirmatory referendum on the EU Withdrawal

Agreement before the UK leaves the EU reported in the Guardian on 12 April 2019.

An error has been identified in the written answer given on 25 April 2019. The

correct answer should have been:

Mr David Lidington:

The Government has no plans to hold another referendum on EU membership. The

Government remains committed to delivering on the result of the 2016 EU

referendum by leaving the EU.

An Act of Parliament is required before any UK-wide referendum can be held, the

terms of which are for Parliament to debate and agree, including provisions for setting

the data, franchise and the question as well as incorpating adequate time to prepare

for the poll and a minimum campaigning period.

The Government has no plans to hold another referendum on EU membership.

The Government remains committed to delivering on the result of the 2016 EU

referendum by leaving the EU.

An Act of Parliament is required before any UK-wide referendum can be held,

the terms of which are for Parliament to debate and agree, including provisions

for setting the date, franchise and the question as well as incorporating

adequate time to prepare for the poll and a minimum campaigning period.

DIGITAL, CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

Culture: Finance


To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the

Government is taking to (a) protect and (b) increase funding for arts and culture outside

London.

An error has been identified in the written answer given on 13 May 2019. The




Michael Ellis:

We are committed to promoting the Arts and culture outside London, and continue to

work closely with the Arts Council to ensure that the whole of the country has access

to funding for arts and cultural programmes.

Last year 70% of Arts Council's lottery total funding was awarded outside London.

Between 2018 and 2022 an additional £170 million of National Portfolio Organisation

funding will be invested outside London.

In addition, the recent Cultural Development Fund has seen £20 million of funding

shared between five towns and cities outside of the capital, while programmes such

as Creative People and Places and the City of Culture programme continue to focus

outside of the capital.

DCMS has also recently announced an additional £4 million of funding for the

DCMS/Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund. In 2019/20, 35 museums

and galleries will benefit from this funding which aims to improve audience

experience. Over 80% of regional museums outside London will receive money from

this Fund.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE

St Helena: Fisheries

Zac Goldsmith: [251370]

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will publish the

(a) permitted geographic catch locations and (b) permitted species and catch volumes

under licenses sold by the Saint Helena Government to the Argos Fishing Company in (i)

2016, (ii) 2017 and (iii) 2018.

An error has been identified in the written answer given on 13 May 2019. The


Sir Alan Duncan:

The sale of commercial fishing licenses, and conditions within the licenses such

as location and target species, areis the responsibility of the St Helena

Government.

HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE

Infant Foods

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: [247997]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the (a) dates,

(b) attendees and (c) topics of meetings his Department has had with representatives of

the formula milk industry in 2018 and 2019 to date.



An error has been identified in the written answer given on 7 May 2019. The correct

answer should have been:

Seema Kennedy:

The Department has provided details of meetings between Departmental officials with

representatives of the formula milk industry. Meetings organised by executive

agencies or the Food Standards Agency have not been included. We have not

disclosed details of staff attending as they were not Senior Civil Service grade. The

information is shown in the following table.

DATE ORGANISATION DISCUSSION

26 February 2018 Nestle Presentation on action on

sustainable diets

26 March 2018 Nestle Phone call

25 April 2018 Danone and Nutrica Early Years Nutrition

Partnership

6 June 2018 British Specialist Nutrition

Association (BSNA), Nestle,

Nutrica

Notifications for Foods for

Special Medical Purposes

22 June 2018 Nestle Planning for visit

4 July 2018 Nestle Visit

11 July 2018 Danone Aptamil

30 July 2018 Danone Childhood Obesity Chapter 2

14 August 2018 Nestle Childhood Obesity Chapter 2

22 August 2018 BSNA Phone meeting

10 September 2018 Danone and Nestle Advertising roundtable

14 November 2018 BSNA Nutrition legislation meeting

15 November 2018 Danone Reformulation, Brexit pressure,

and Chapter

22 November 2018 BSNA Forthcoming CODEX

CCNFSDU40

Tomography

Layla Moran: [230888]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what comparative estimate he

has made of the cost to the public purse of providing PET-CT scanning services through

a (a) private contractor and (b) a NHS trust.

An error has been identified in the written answer given on 14 March 2019. The


Steve Brine:

The estimated total cost to National Health Service trusts and NHS foundation trusts

of providing PET-CT scans is approximately £90 millionis £29.4 million, with an

average unit cost of approximately £900 £570 per examination (this includes the

cost of both the scan and a standard tracer). Costs are not collected nationally by

private contractors.


WRITTEN STATEMENTS

ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

May Agriculture and Fisheries Council

Minister of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Mr Robert Goodwill):

[HCWS1555]

Agriculture and Fisheries Council takes place in Brussels on 14 May.

As the provisional agenda stands, the primary focus for agriculture will be on the Post-

2020 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform package. Ministers will exchange views

on the new delivery model in the Regulation on CAP Strategic Plans.

Member States will also exchange views on the agricultural aspects of the Commission’s

communication titled ‘Clean Planet for all: strategic long-term vision for a climate neutral

economy’.

The Commission will then provide an update on the performance of EU agricultural trade

after which Ministers will hold an exchange of views.

There are currently three items scheduled for discussion under ‘any other business’:

• Information from the Netherlands delegation on the judgement of the Court of

Justice on organisms obtained by mutagenesis (case C-528/16).

• Information from the Spanish and French delegations on the Regulation on the

European Maritime and Fisheries Fund.

• Information by the Belgian delegation on the situation in the fruit sector for apples

and pears.

HOUSING, COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Local Government Update

Secretary of State for Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

(James Brokenshire): [HCWS1556]

On 29 November 2018 I told the House that I was launching a statutory consultation on

the proposal for reorganising local government in Northamptonshire which I had received

from seven of the area’s eight principal councils. The councils had submitted this

proposal in response to the invitation issued on 27 March 2018 following the

recommendations in the independent inspection report on Northamptonshire County

Council.

This locally-led proposal is to replace the existing eight councils across Northamptonshire

(the County Council and seven district councils) with two new unitary councils - one for

North Northamptonshire covering the existing districts of Kettering, Corby, East

Northamptonshire and Wellingborough, and the other for West Northamptonshire

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2019-05-14/HCWS1555/



covering the existing districts of Daventry, Northampton and South Northamptonshire.

The proposal envisaged the new councils being fully operational from 1 April 2020.

The statutory consultation closed on 25 January and invited views from councils

concerned, other public sector providers and representatives of business and the

voluntary sector and welcomed views from any interested persons.

I have received a total of 386 responses. The district and county councils – except for

Corby Borough Council – and councillors and public service providers including the

Police and Crime Commissioner and health partners, generally supported the proposal.

Responses from businesses, members of the public, parish councils and community

organisations were more mixed.

This consultation supplements the consultation exercise undertaken on behalf of the

Northamptonshire councils by the independent Opinion Research Services. This exercise

included face to face workshops, a representative telephone survey of Northamptonshire

residents and an open questionnaire.

90% of respondents to the telephone survey agreed that there was a need to make

changes to Northamptonshire local government and 74% agreed with the unitary

proposal. 83% of the over 6000 individuals who responded to the open questionnaire

agreed that there was a need for change, with 67% agreeing that a number of unitary

councils should be introduced and 44% supporting the proposal for two unitary councils.

I have now carefully considered the councils’ proposal, along with the results of the

consultation exercises, a report by the Northamptonshire Children’s Commissioner,

submitted to my Rt. Honourable Friend the Secretary of State for Education and me, on

how best to ensure continued improvement of the fragile children’s social care service in

Northamptonshire in the context of reorganisation, and all other relevant information and

material available to me. I have concluded that the proposal meets our publicly stated

criteria for local government reorganisation. That is if implemented I am satisfied that the

proposal would improve local government and service delivery in the area, has a good

deal of local support and the area of each new unitary represents a credible local

geography.

This is on the basis that there is a Children’s Trust covering the whole of

Northamptonshire, which with my support, my Rt Honourable Friend the Secretary of

State for Education is minded to establish, as recommended by the Children’s

Commissioner, if the unitary proposal is to be implemented. With such an arrangement

children’s social care would not be disaggregated with the Trust discharging functions on

behalf of both councils. My Rt. Honourable Friend will be publishing the Commissioner’s

report today. It is also on the basis that work continues to be taken forward in

Northamptonshire to do more to integrate adult social care and health services.

I have therefore decided, subject to the issuing of statutory directions requiring the

establishment of a Children’s Trust and to Parliamentary approval of the secondary

legislation, to use my powers under the Local Government and Public Involvement in

Health Act 2007 to implement the proposal. These powers enable me to implement a

unitary proposal with or without modification and in this case, having carefully considered

all the material available to me, I have decided to make one modification to the proposal.

This is to extend the period for fully implementing the new arrangements so that the new

councils are operational from 1 April 2021. Whilst I recognise that a delay in

implementation will mean potential savings estimated in the proposal will not be realised

for another year, I am clear that the extended implementation period means we can be

confident that there will be a safe and effective transition to all the new service delivery

arrangements across the whole of the area, including for those crucial services

supporting the most vulnerable. Throughout this extended period my Commissioners will

be able to continue to support the County Council.

To support the transition, I have decided to establish shadow authorities. I envisage the

May 2020 local elections in Northamptonshire will be elections to those shadow

authorities rather than to district councils, with the district elections currently due on that

date being cancelled. In line with the approach in the proposal for elections to the new

unitary councils, I also envisage the elections to the shadow authorities are held on the

basis of 3 member wards resulting in the North Northamptonshire Council having 78

members and West Northamptonshire Council having 93 members. Those so elected

would be members of the new councils when these go live in April 2021. Elections to

parish councils will proceed as scheduled in May 2020. I intend to confirm these electoral

arrangements shortly after hearing any views the district and county councils may have

on this.

I now intend to prepare and lay before Parliament drafts of the necessary secondary

legislation to give effect to my decisions. Establishing these new unitary councils will be a

significant step towards ensuring the people and businesses across Northamptonshire

can in future have the sustainable high-quality local services they deserve. I welcome the

commitment of all the existing councils and their partners to drive forward this process of

establishing new councils and transforming local service delivery. I am confident this will

continue.

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