Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 9 December 2024 to Question 17936 on Electric Vehicles: Charging Points, if she will publish her assessment of the differences in the cost per kWh of public and home electric vehicle charging.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There are no current plans for the Department for Transport to publish an assessment of the differences in cost of public and home vehicle charging. A number of assessments are already publicly available such as this analysis by the RAC: Electric car public charging costs | RAC Charge Watch | RAC Drive
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make it his policy to retain the Acoustic Fish Deterrent aspect of the Development Consent Order to the Hinkley Point C (Nuclear Generating Station) Order 2013.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) Minister cannot enter into a discussion on this area. This will be a quasi-judicial decision to be taken by a DESNZ Minister under the Planning Act 2008, based only on the facts, evidence and arguments made in the case as presented to us once it has been through the formal planning process.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2024 to Question 16304 on Pension Credit: South Derbyshire, how many pensioner households in receipt of Housing Benefit and identified as potentially entitled to but not claiming Pension Credit her Department has targeted in Bristol Central constituency; and how many of those pensioner households have since claimed Pension Credit.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
102 pensioner households were targeted in the Bristol Central constituency as part of the Invitation to Claim initiative. The letters sent to these households encourage them to claim Pension Credit by 21 December which is the latest date for making a successful backdated claim and still receive a Winter Fuel payment.
Data on the number of claims received from the households targeted as part of the initiative, and the number of awards made will be established once the Department has completed processing all those applications and the necessary analysis is completed.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government’s independent adviser on political violence and disruption has had meetings with representatives of (a) Leonardo, (b) Glencore, (c) Enwell Energy, (d) BP and (e) Centrica since being appointed to that role.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
The work of the Independent Adviser on Political Violence and Disruption, including any engagement undertaken, is conducted independently from the Home Office.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer on 2 December 2024 to Question 15939 on Electric Vehicles: Charging Points, whether she is taking steps to analyse pricing data to compare the cost of using (a) public and (b) home electric vehicle charging points.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As set out in the Manifesto, the Government is committed to delivering an equitable transition to zero emission vehicles which works for all drivers. The Government regularly monitors the cost of public and home electric vehicle charging.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will take legislative steps to reinstate Council Tax Benefit.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government has no current plans to reinstate Council Tax Benefit.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2024 to Question 7946 on Sizewell C Power Station: Compensation, what (a) output in MWh his Department has assumed for Hinkley Point C and (b) discounting rate has been applied for sharing First-of-a-Kind costs with Hinkley Point C over the first 35 years of its lifetime; and whether the cost of the discounting rate is included in expenditure eligible for a Sizewell C Regulated Asset Base.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
EDF’s assumed maximum capacity of HPC is 3.2GW, overlaid with assumptions for planned and unplanned outages. There isn’t a specific discounting rate applied to the First-of-a-Kind cost sharing. Instead, the payment for this cost sharing is included in the forecast expenditure eligible for the SZC RAB, along with other eligible project costs; and the consumer costs, driven by the RAB, are discounted at the applicable Social Discount Rate used in the Government’s Value for Money assessment of the SZC project.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish details of meetings (a) held by the Government’s independent adviser on political violence and disruption since he was appointed to that role and (b) that he plans to hold in the next 12 months.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has no current plans to publish details of meetings held by the independent adviser on political violence and disruption.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the oral contribution by the Minister for Secondary Care of 19 November 2024, Official Report, column 146, whether she has sought commitments from the suppliers of medicines; and what the remaining issues are.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Following on from my answer to the question raised at health oral topical questions by the Hon. Member of Parliament for Gravesham, Dr Lauren Sullivan about the shortages of medications for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), I would like to confirm that the Department has been working hard with industry and NHS England to help resolve supply issues with some ADHD medicines, which are affecting the United Kingdom and other countries around the world. As a result of intensive work, some issues have been resolved and all strengths of lisdexamfetamine, atomoxetine capsules, and guanfacine prolonged-release tablets are now available.
We are continuing to work to resolve supply issues, where they remain, for methylphenidate prolonged-release tablets. We are engaging with all suppliers of methylphenidate prolonged-release tablets to assess the challenges faced and their actions to address them. We are also directing suppliers to secure additional stocks, expedite deliveries where possible, and review plans to further build capacity to support continued growth in demand for the short and long-term. We expect the supply to improve in the UK throughout the rest of 2024. However, we anticipate supply to be limited for some strengths and we continue to work with all suppliers to ensure the remaining issues are resolved as soon as possible. To improve supply chain resiliency, we are also working with prospective new suppliers of methylphenidate prolonged-release tablets to expand the UK supplier base.
We are supporting an ADHD taskforce that NHS England is establishing to examine ADHD service provision. The taskforce will bring together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the National Health Service, education, and justice, to help provide a joined-up approach in response to concerns around rising demand. In collaboration with NHS England’s national ADHD data improvement plan, we plan to combine modelling for future growth forecasts, which will be shared with industry to improve demand forecasting for ADHD medicines.
To minimise the impact of the shortages on patients, the Department has worked with specialist clinicians, including those within the NHS, to develop management advice for NHS clinicians to consider prescribing available alternative brands of methylphenidate prolonged release tablets or available alternative ADHD medicines. We would expect ADHD service providers and specialists to follow our guidance, which includes offering rapid response to primary care teams seeking urgent advice or opinion for the management of patients, including those known to be at a higher risk of adverse impact because of these shortages.
To aid ADHD service providers and prescribers further we have widely disseminated our communications, and continually update a list of currently available and unavailable ADHD products on the Specialist Pharmacy Service website, helping ensure that those involved in the prescribing and dispensing of ADHD medications can make informed decisions with patients.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
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 17 October 2024 to Question 8297 on Prisons: Food and Prescription Drugs, what steps he is taking to monitor the adequacy of (a) suicide prevention provision, (b) palliative care, (c) medical emergency care and (d) mental health care in prisons; and whether she has made an assessment of the adequacy of those steps.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England, via the regional health and justice teams, has regular meetings with prison healthcare providers to ensure the quality of the services that are provided. These are also supplemented with local partnership boards where governors, commissioners, and providers meet to discuss any issues, risks, and areas of concern. This could include the number of prisoners who are currently under an Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork approach where there is a risk of self-harm, and the overall healthcare provision, including any issues around enablement.
The Dying Well in Custody Framework and supporting self-assessment framework describes a set of national standards for local adoption, and provides a tool for a local multi-disciplinary approach to providing agreed standards of palliative and end of life care to people in prison.