Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to reopen HMP Dartmoor, and if so when.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Dartmoor has been temporarily closed since August 2024 after radon monitoring results were higher than expected. We are working with specialist radon experts to investigate whether we can re-open the prison safely.
A decision on re-opening will be made based on the viability of the site, cost and efficiency of works to reduce levels of radon and value for the public purse.
The health and safety of prisoners and staff continues to be our top priority.
Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people are currently registered on the EU Settlement Scheme as (1) settled, and (2) pre-settled.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The latest available statistics for the EU Settlement Scheme are for the period up to 31 March 2025 and can be found on GOV.UK here: How many grants of settlement are made via the EU Settlement Scheme? - GOV.UK.
They show that there have been just under 4.2 million grants of settled status and just under 2.9 million grants of pre-settled status since the Scheme's inception. Of these, some applicants have since progressed to settled status meaning that, as of 31 March 2025, there were approximately 1.6 million remaining people holding pre-settled status.
Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people with EU Settlement Scheme status are currently living in the UK.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information requested is not currently available from published statistics, and could only be collected and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the target time for a patient to obtain a GP appointment.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is determined to work with the National Health Service to fix the front door of our health service and ensure that everyone can access general practice (GP) appointments and services, including in Eastbourne. Through our 10-Year Health Plan, it will be easier and faster to see a GP. The 8:00am scramble will end, we will train more doctors, and we will guarantee digital consultations within 24 hours.
The GP Contract requires practices to offer patients an assessment of need, or to signpost them to an appropriate service, on the day they contact the practice, so that patients are not asked to call back another day. An appointment may not always be clinically necessary but where this is appropriate, we expect practices to offer one within two weeks, with urgent needs seen on the same day.