Asked by: Andrew Jones (Conservative - Harrogate and Knaresborough)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to tackle violence against women and girls through the criminal justice system.
Answered by Laura Farris
This Government has introduced a comprehensive legislative framework to prevent violence against women, including our landmark Domestic Abuse Act 2021.
We have pioneered the creation of new offences including coercive control, non-fatal strangulation and intimate image abuse; more than doubled the number of adult rape cases reaching court compared to when we commissioned our End-to-End Rape Review; and made sure that sentences for adult rape are almost 40% longer than they were in 2010.
And through our Sentencing Bill, we will ensure that rapists and serious sexual offenders spend the entirety of their custodial sentence behind bars, without possibility of parole.
Asked by: Andrew Jones (Conservative - Harrogate and Knaresborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress she has made on increasing levels of GP recruitment and retention.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
Firstly, I would like to express my gratitude for the fantastic work of general practice. We are committed to increasing the number of doctors in general practice and I can tell my honourable friend that there were nearly 2,800 more full-time equivalent doctors in general practice in December 2023 compared to December 2019, and that in 2022 we saw a record 4,032 trainees accept a place on GP training, up from 2,671 in 2014. Finally, training places will rise to 6,000 by 2031/32, with the first 500 new places available from September 2025.
Asked by: Andrew Jones (Conservative - Harrogate and Knaresborough)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to increase tree planting.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The England Trees Action Plan, funded by over £675 million of the Nature for Climate Fund, is transforming England’s tree planting and woodland management. We have set a statutory target to increase tree canopy and woodland cover of England to 16.5% by 2050. Last year, over 3,600 hectares of trees were planted (4.7 million trees) - the highest planting rate for nearly a decade – a massive boost to a sector that employs over 33,000 people across the UK. The framework is now in place with the plan to further increase tree planting and treble planting rates in England by the end of this parliament. We’re also securing and growing nursery capacity to boost the supply of healthy seeds and trees.
Asked by: Andrew Jones (Conservative - Harrogate and Knaresborough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress he has made on reducing the level of national debt.
Answered by John Glen
Reducing the national debt is one the Prime Minister’s five priorities and will provide the foundations for sustainable growth. The independent Office for Budget Responsibility confirmed in March that the government is on track to deliver this, meeting our fiscal rules with underlying debt falling as a percentage of GDP in 2027-28. We have shown we will take the difficult but necessary decisions to ensure that debt is falling.
Asked by: Andrew Jones (Conservative - Harrogate and Knaresborough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent progress his Department has made on increasing processing times for access to work applications made by disabled people.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Access to Work have recruited more people and redeployed existing colleagues to support the processing of applications. We have also reviewed our processes and looked to streamline, where we can, to speed up decision making. Alongside that, we are continuing to transform the service through digitalisation and aim to introduce an online claims portal and an improved application process in the Spring. Whilst we still have a number of newer colleagues in training, these activities are showing positive results with an improvement in processing times and increases in clearances.
Asked by: Andrew Jones (Conservative - Harrogate and Knaresborough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help disabled people find employment.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
There are a range of Government initiatives supporting disabled people, and people with health conditions, to start, stay and succeed in work. These include:
Asked by: Andrew Jones (Conservative - Harrogate and Knaresborough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
What steps she is taking to help support women and girls in Afghanistan.
Answered by James Cleverly
Last month we co-hosted a donor conference with the UN, Qatar and Germany. This raised over $2.4 billion for the UN’s humanitarian appeal.
Ahead of the summit, the Foreign Secretary announced the UK’s pledge of £286 million for Afghanistan this financial year.
The Foreign Secretary has committed to prioritising funding for women and girls. In Afghanistan, we will ensure at least 50% of those we reach with our aid should be women and girls.
Asked by: Andrew Jones (Conservative - Harrogate and Knaresborough)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
What recent progress her Department has made on tackling fraudulent online advertisements.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Government introduced the Online Safety Bill to Parliament on 17 March. Through the Bill, the largest social media companies will need to take robust action to tackle fraud, including fraudulent online advertisements. This will ensure that people using the largest platforms are protected from scams, and ensure these services do not profit from illegal activity.
We have also launched a consultation on proposals for wider reform of online advertising regulations, including in relation to fraud.
Asked by: Andrew Jones (Conservative - Harrogate and Knaresborough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to invest in technology and skills relevant to the armed forces throughout the UK.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Ministry of Defence is investing more than £6.6 billion in research and development over the next four years to ensure our Armed Forces have the technologies and skills they need to meet new and emerging threats.
In addition, the Defence and Security Industrial Strategy includes commitments to work with industry to nurture and develop relevant skills in the sectors.
Asked by: Andrew Jones (Conservative - Harrogate and Knaresborough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
What assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on employment of the defence settlement.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The Ministry of Defence already supports over 390,000 jobs in the UK and in 2019, the UK won £11billion worth of export orders. The multi-year defence settlement will protect this important contribution and build on it by investing in cutting edge capabilities, research and development.