Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 12 December 2023 to Question 5802 on Department of Health and Social Care: Correspondence, for what reason has a response not been provided within the statutory timeframe; and what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department's policies of the Prevention of Future Deaths (PFD) report prepared by Coroner Andrew Cox on 23 November 2023.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We apologise for the delay in replying to the coroner. The Department is preparing its response to this Regulation 28 report as a matter of urgency. It is within the Chief Coroner’s discretion to publish the report, together with the Department’s response.
Prevention of Future Deaths reports are an important part of our broader system for learning from deaths, as they help to identify themes to inform improved guidance, regular learning, and the development of our policies more generally.
The Department ensures that relevant regulators and other bodies are aware of the matters of concern brought to its attention, so that the system can respond as appropriate. We are working closely with NHS England and other partners in the health system to support healthcare professionals.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is taking steps to reduce car practical driving test waiting times in Penzance; and if the DVSA will increase the number of available time slots for those tests in that area.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
To increase the number of available test slots, the DVSA is conducting tests outside of regular hours, including at weekends and on public holidays; they are also buying back annual leave from driving examiners. They have deployed all eligible managers and administrative staff back on the front line to do driving tests from the beginning of October until the end of March.
Since April 2021, measures put in place by the DVSA to reduce waiting times for its customers, together with the ongoing recruitment of driving examiners, is creating on average over 46,900 extra car test slots each month.
As of 29 January 2024, there were 533,785 car practical driving tests booked, and 130,965 driving tests available within the 24-week booking window.
As of 29 January 2024, there were 19 driving tests available to book within the 24-week booking window at Camborne driving test centre (DTC); the next nearest DTC to Penzance.
The DVSA continues to monitor the deployment of its driving examiner resource. Where it identifies DTCs that require additional resource, if possible, it will redeploy staff to meet that demand.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, when his Department plans to publish details of all departmental spending over £25,000 since May 2022.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Our target is to resume reporting of both Government Procurement Cards (GPC) and over £25,000 spend in Spring 2024.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps he is taking to help support (a) victims of violence, (b) protesters, (c) detainees and (d) missing persons in Syria.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK continues to draw international attention to Syria at the UN Security Council, condemning human rights violations, the deepening humanitarian crisis, and the use of violence and torture against peaceful protestors and detainees. The UK welcomes the 29 June 2023 UN General Assembly resolution, which established the Independent Institution on Missing Persons (IIMP). The IIMP will seek to clarify the fate and location of missing persons and support survivors. Since 2012, the UK has contributed over £14 million to support Syrian and international efforts to gather evidence of human rights abuses and violations and hold those responsible to account.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will respond to the letter from Andrew Cox, Senior Coroner for the coroner area of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, of 23 November 2023 on matters revealed by inquests giving rise to concern.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department will respond to the Regulation 28 report issued by Coroner Cox within the statutory timeframe.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of offering Retrograde Cricopharyngeus Dysfunction treatment on the NHS.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are currently no licensed medicines for use in the treatment of Retrograde Cricopharyngeus Dysfunction. Healthcare professionals are responsible for making decisions on the treatment of individual patients.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether his Department has made representations to the Government of Pakistan on the safety of Afghan refugees in that country who are eligible for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Department, including the Foreign Secretary and the British High Commissioner to Islamabad, has made such representations, and will continue to do so. We have received assurances from the Government of Pakistan that Afghans being supported in Pakistan under the Afghans Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) and Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) will remain safe in Pakistan while they await relocation to the UK. An MOD-led operation has relocated over 1,500 ARAP-eligible Afghans to the UK since September.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the average time taken for HMRC to provide an inheritance tax reference number for the start of a probate process.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC prioritises requests for inheritance tax reference numbers and the follow up IHT400 forms submitted to set up an inheritance tax account.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department’s proposals for caps on ground rents will apply to all types of properties.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Government launched a consultation on 9 November on options to limit the level of ground rent that leaseholders with a long lease can be required to pay in England and Wales.
The consultation also asks whether any exemptions from a proposed cap to ground rents are necessary. We want to hear views on the proposals and will use these responses to develop a final position. We do not want to pre-empt the outcome of this consultation.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his Department's timetable is for publishing an interim response to the report published by the Law Commission entitled Celebrating Marriage: A New Weddings Law.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Marriage will always be one of our most important institutions, and the Government has a duty to consider the implications of any changes to the law in this area very carefully.
The Government is considering the Law Commissions’ 57 recommendations for legislative reform and a response will be published in due course.