Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to support the tourism sector.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Visitor Economy is a key sector in all of our constituencies.
DCMS continues to deliver a generational change in how we develop visitor destinations in England through the Local Visitor Economy Partnership Programme.
VisitBritain’s upcoming ‘Starring GREAT Britain’ campaign will invite the world to come to visit the UK’s iconic film and TV locations.
I am chairing the inaugural meeting of the Government’s new Visitor Economy Advisory Council next week, which will play a pivotal role in co-creating and delivering a growth strategy which I hope to publish later this year.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people convicted of causing a death have been granted parole before the halfway point in their original sentences in the last year.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
No prisoners are eligible to be considered for release by the Parole Board before the half-way point in their sentence.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to decrease the amount of time it takes for a repurposed medicine to be granted an MHRA licence.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines and products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) reviews the efficacy, safety and quality of a repurposed medicine in a similar way to other medicinal applications.
This review is part of the activities which MHRA contributes to under the Medicines Repurposing Programme. Once sufficient evidence is available, MHRA will consider the applications within the statutory timelines which can be expedited if company dossiers contain all required information. Timelines for assessment vary and depend on the nature of the application.
MHRA continuously reviews processes for the assessment of applications to determine whether any efficiencies and improved timelines are feasible.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average length of time has been for a repurposed medicine to be granted an MHRA licence from the point of application in the last two years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In the last two years, there has been one medicine to date, namely Anastrozole, coming through the Repurposed Medicines Programme, with more information available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/medicines-2/medicines-repurposing-programme/
As only one medicine has been through the Repurposed Medicines programme so far, there is no meaningful 'average time' at this point, but the review times are being monitored.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many repurposed medicines have successfully been granted MHRA licences in the last two years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In the last two years, there has been one medicine to date, namely Anastrozole, coming through the Repurposed Medicines Programme, with more information available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/medicines-2/medicines-repurposing-programme/
As only one medicine has been through the Repurposed Medicines programme so far, there is no meaningful 'average time' at this point, but the review times are being monitored.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2024 to Question 12890 on Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: Ministers’ Private Offices, what items were purchased to equip the office of the additional Minister.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
All furniture and AV equipment has been, and must be, sourced from the GPA's Approved Supplier's catalogue.
An itemised breakdown of spending is as follows (all costs are excluding VAT unless otherwise specified):
Furniture for existing Ministerial Offices:
Two of the chairs are in use within the Secretary of State's office and the other four are used in other areas of the office.
Furniture for new Ministerial Offices:
The number of Ministers in DESNZ increased by one following the general election, the result of which was a higher than usual spend to facilitate the creation of an additional office.
Cost of Other Refurbishment of Ministerial Offices including moves:
Porterage was carried out between 5-15 July. All other work was commissioned on, or after, 15 July and completed by, or before, 19 October.
The Floor Power Alterations were to install additional power boxes within the floor due to the increased space utilisation. Please note this item was not correctly identified and included in the response to PQ UIN 12890.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2024 to Question 12890 on Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: Ministers’ Private Offices, if she will published an itemised breakdown of that spending.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
All furniture and AV equipment has been, and must be, sourced from the GPA's Approved Supplier's catalogue.
An itemised breakdown of spending is as follows (all costs are excluding VAT unless otherwise specified):
Furniture for existing Ministerial Offices:
Two of the chairs are in use within the Secretary of State's office and the other four are used in other areas of the office.
Furniture for new Ministerial Offices:
The number of Ministers in DESNZ increased by one following the general election, the result of which was a higher than usual spend to facilitate the creation of an additional office.
Cost of Other Refurbishment of Ministerial Offices including moves:
Porterage was carried out between 5-15 July. All other work was commissioned on, or after, 15 July and completed by, or before, 19 October.
The Floor Power Alterations were to install additional power boxes within the floor due to the increased space utilisation. Please note this item was not correctly identified and included in the response to PQ UIN 12890.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 15 November 2024, to Question 12889 on Ministry of Justice: Ministers’ Private Offices, if he will provide a breakdown of the (a) goods and services purchased and (b) cost of each.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
As outlined in PQ 9269, the Ministry of Justice’s total cost spent on refurbishments to Ministerial Private Offices, including new furniture and fittings, was £13,314.73, during the period requested.
The following table provides details of furniture purchased as part of the refurbishment of Ministerial offices:
Item purchased | Cost (£) |
3 x large mirrors installed in the offices of the Minister of State and Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State | 212.26 |
1 x freezer for kitchen area | 193.32 |
2 x wooden bookcases for Minister’s office | 64.86 |
The following table provides a breakdown of refurbishment and redecoration works to Ministerial offices and surrounding areas. “Miscellaneous renovation works” refers to multiple works that cannot be disclosed individually, due to commercial sensitivity around pricing, but includes works such as hanging pictures on walls, and affixing blanking plates to where wires were removed from the wall.
Goods or services provided | Cost (£) |
Electrical works and cabling | 4,107.52 |
Addressing wear and tear to Ministerial offices | 7,240.66 |
Reconfiguring furniture on the Ministerial floor | 651.02 |
Miscellaneous renovation works | 579.11 |
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has agreed to meet with the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme Trustees.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Details of Ministers’ and Permanent Secretaries' meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.
Published declarations include the purpose of the meeting and the names of any additional external organisations or individuals in attendance.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many departmental staff, expressed as a numeric headcount, assigned to 102 Petty France, occupied a desk in 102 Petty France, on average, in the last week for which figures are available.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The new Government has recently committed to keep to the current guidance on civil service office attendance. Office occupancy data for the period July - September has been published, with further publications to now happen on a quarterly basis. The data is published at: Civil Service HQ occupancy data - GOV.UK.