Asked by: Ben Howlett (Conservative - Bath)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 3.22 of the Spring Budget 2017, what his proposals are on the redesign of rent-a-room relief; and when he plans to consult of those proposals.
Answered by David Gauke
Rent-a-room relief was first introduced to increase the quantity and variety of low-cost rented housing, giving more choice to tenants and making it easier for people to move jobs.
The consultation, which will be published in due course, will explore the most effective changes to better align the relief with its original purpose.
Asked by: Ben Howlett (Conservative - Bath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department makes available to teachers on supporting children who display behavioural problems resulting from phenylketonuria.
Answered by Edward Timpson
We know how important it is that children with medical conditions are supported to enjoy a full education. That is why we introduced a new duty to require governing bodies to make arrangements to support pupils with medical conditions and have provided statutory guidance outlining schools’ responsibilities in this area.
The Department has also issued advice on behaviour and discipline for schools. This advice is clear that schools should assess the needs of pupils who present with persistently difficult behaviour. We make clear that schools should consider whether the continuing disruptive behaviour is a result of unmet educational or other needs. At this point, the school should consider whether a multi-agency assessment is necessary.
Asked by: Ben Howlett (Conservative - Bath)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has received a request from the Press Recognition Panel for additional funding under the terms of the Royal Charter on Self-Regulation of the Press.
Answered by David Gauke
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has not received a request from the Press Recognition Panel for additional funding.
Asked by: Ben Howlett (Conservative - Bath)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will take steps to ensure that judges in family courts receive training on preventing gender bias.
Answered by Oliver Heald
The Ministry of Justice does not oversee judicial training; the Lord Chief Justice does through the Judicial College.
The Judicial College provides awareness training of unconscious bias and the subject has been included in family law training. The Judicial College publishes the Equal Treatment Bench Book, which contains information about protected and other characteristics and includes a section on gender equality. This is publicly available at: https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/publications/equal-treatment-bench-book/ and enables judges to be sensitive to all issues of equal treatment, and to treat people fairly in proceedings.
Asked by: Ben Howlett (Conservative - Bath)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to promote development across the Commonwealth.
Answered by Rory Stewart
Our commitment to the Commonwealth is unwavering. Many of DFID’s largest bilateral programmes are with Commonwealth countries across Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. In 2015, six of the ten largest recipients of bilateral UK ODA were Commonwealth countries, with £2.11 billion allocated to 39 members.
Asked by: Ben Howlett (Conservative - Bath)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to enable regulation of short-term holiday lets in line with the regulation of bed and breakfast properties.
Answered by Lord Barwell
The Government currently has no plans to introduce legislation to bring short term holiday lets in line with bed and breakfast property regulations.
Local authorities have powers to inspect residential properties where they consider action would be appropriate under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS).
Asked by: Ben Howlett (Conservative - Bath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the recent trends in the number of women in employment.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The number of women in employment has increased by 229,000 over the past year. The female employment rate, at 69.8%, is at a record high.
Asked by: Ben Howlett (Conservative - Bath)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to support economic growth outside London and the South East.
Answered by Simon Kirby
Creating an economy that works for everyone is a key priority of this Government. At the Autumn Statement, the government announced allocations worth £1.8bn from the Local Growth Fund to all English regions, including £191 million for the South West. This is on top of the £230.7 million the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership have already received. We are investing more than £100 billion in infrastructure across the UK over the course of this Parliament, whilst devolution deals are giving areas the tools they need to make the right economic decisions. This includes the government’s deal with the West of England.
Asked by: Ben Howlett (Conservative - Bath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many referrals to the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme were classified as ended by problem descriptor in each clinical commissioning group area in each year since 2010.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The number of referrals to the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme who finished a course of treatment is reported by NHS Digital at clinical commissioning group (CCG) level and by problem descriptor in 2014/15 and 2015/16. For 2015/16, data on referrals received, entering treatment, and finishing a course of treatment by problem descriptor and CCG area are reported in Table 1. For 2014/15, referrals who finished a course of treatment reported by problem descriptor and CCG are in Table 2.
The number of referrals entering treatment (rather than those finishing treatment) reported by problem descriptor and CCG is available for 2013/14 in Table 3. The above tables are attached.
Data by CCG is not available prior to 2013/14 as CCGs replaced primary care trusts on 1 April 2013.
As 2016/17 has not yet completed there is no Annual Report. However monthly data can be found in the “Monthly Activity Data Files” which can be accessed via the links under “Monthly Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Dataset Reports” at:
http://content.digital.nhs.uk/iaptreports
Asked by: Ben Howlett (Conservative - Bath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many referrals to the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme started each type of therapy offered by the programme in each clinical commissioning group area in each year since 2010.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
Data on the number of referrals to the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme are published by NHS Digital. Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) replaced primary care trusts on 1 April, 2013 and data related to this Parliamentary Question started to be reported by CCG from 2014/15.
The dataset does not report on referrals starting a type of therapy. It reports on the number of referrals finishing a course of treatment by type of therapy (this is the last therapy the service users received and does not mean that other therapies were not used earlier in the course of treatment). These data are only available at CCG level for 2014/15 and 2015/16.
In 2014/15 and 2015/16 the number of referrals who finished a course of treatment were reported by CCG and problem descriptor in Table 1 and Table 2 which are attached.
As 2016/17 has not yet completed there is no Annual Report. However monthly data can be found in the “Monthly Activity Data Files” which can be accessed via the links under “Monthly Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Dataset Reports” at:
http://content.digital.nhs.uk/iaptreports