Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 12 December 2023 to Question 5003 on Motor Vehicles: Exhaust Emissions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact on the UK L-Category sector of the creation of a new vehicle category as a result of regulatory misalignment with international markets.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
L-category vehicles must be type approved to technical standards that primarily flow from international regulations. These are constantly monitored to ensure they remain fit for purpose with respect to evolving technology.
We expect to consult on introducing a new GB type approval scheme in the future which will provide an opportunity to reflect on the potential for new categories and technical requirements.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
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 ensure free movement of cultivated plant biodiversity.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
UK plant health controls take a risk-based approach informed by the evidence and balance ensuring robust biosecurity with the facilitation of trade. The threat from plant pests and diseases is significant and growing due to globalisation and climate change.
High plant health and biosecurity standards keep harmful pests and diseases, like Xylella fastidiosa, out of the UK, benefiting both the horticultural trade and the environment in the long term. The UK has some of the highest plant health and biosecurity standards in the world, and we have been clear we will not compromise on these standards. They are integral to supporting and protecting the horticultural industry as well as sustaining our food supply and natural environment.
The UK Plant Health Risk Group is continuously reviewing risks to plant biosecurity and identifying actions needed to mitigate the most significant threats. These include keeping our regulatory regime up to date, carrying out focused surveillance and inspections, contingency planning, research, and awareness raising, as well as identifying areas where intervention would not be helpful or justified.
Further, the UK is a member of both:
The EU has granted equivalence to the UK for agricultural seed (excluding production of vegetable seed), fruit and vegetable propagating material, and FRM, ensuring these commodities may be marketed in the EU.
The UK Plant Health Information Portal has published Defra guidance to importers and exporters of plant material to support trade facilitation.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will take steps to extend eligibility for business improvement funding provided by her Department to the environmental horticulture sector.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Government offers extensive business support, with over 40 accessible offers to businesses, including in the horticulture industry.
Our Business Support Helpline and Growth Hubs provide advice, guidance, and signposting. Help to Grow: Management offers practical support to improve leadership and management capability. Businesses can access government-backed financial support from the British Business Bank.
Support for the edible and ornamental (environmental) horticulture sectors is provided through Defra’s Farming Innovation Programme; all but one of its thematic competitions are in scope for these sectors. The Tree Production Capital Grant funds domestic tree seed and sapling production by supporting expansion, automation, and mechanization.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the (a) funding and (b) guidance provided to public bodies delivering menstrual (i) products and (ii) services.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No specific assessment has been made.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the time taken to diagnose migraines.
Answered by Will Quince
To reduce the time taken to diagnose conditions such as migraines, NHS England has published a delivery plan for recovering access to primary care. As part of this plan, the National Health Service will deliver on the commitment of 26,000 more direct patient care staff and 50 million more appointments in general practice by March 2024.
NHS England’s national programme of neurology service improvement is led by the National Neuro Advisory Group (NNAG), which convenes public bodies, expert bodies, clinicians, academics, and patient voice organisations. NNAG is not a decision-making body, but it does make formal recommendations to NHS England about how neurology services should be commissioned and improved.
One of the bodies that advises the NNAG is the NHS Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme for neurology. In September 2021, GIRFT published its National Specialty Report for Neurology, which describes the delivery of neurology services in England and makes recommendations for their improvement. The report is available at the following link:
https://gettingitrightfirsttime.co.uk/medical_specialties/neurology/
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of offering migraine specialist services at women’s health hubs.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No specific assessment is planned.
In July we announced that the £25 million investment in women’s health hubs is being distributed to every integrated care board (ICB), with each ICB receiving £595,000 in total over 2023/24 and 2024/25. ICBs have been asked to use the funding to establish or expand one women’s health hub within their system.
It is important that services are provided in a way that best meets population needs and reduces health inequalities, and ICBs will determine which specific services their hub will offer. To support ICBs to establish women’s health hubs, we have published a cost-benefit analysis, and a core specification. The core specification sets out which services ICBs could consider incorporating into their hub model, either in terms of provision or signposting. Specialist services for migraines are not listed in the core specification, but this does not prevent women’s health hubs from providing or signposting to migraine services.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of access to (a) cash and (b) banking services in (a) Gosport constituency and (b) England; and what steps he is taking to ensure adequate access to (i) cash and (ii) banking services in those areas in the next five years.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government believes that all customers, wherever they live, should have appropriate access to banking services. Nonetheless, decisions on opening and closing branches are a commercial issue for banks and building societies. The Government does not intervene in these decisions or make direct assessments of these branch networks.
Guidance from the Financial Conduct Authority sets out its expectation of firms when they are deciding to reduce their physical branches or the number of free-to-use ATMs. Firms are expected to carefully consider the impact of planned branch closures on the everyday banking and cash access needs of their customers and consider possible alternative access arrangements. This ensures that the implementation of closure decisions is undertaken in a way that treats customers fairly.
Alternative options for access to banking can be via telephone banking, through digital means such as mobile or online banking, and the Post Office. The Post Office Banking Framework allows 99% of personal banking and 95% of business banking customers to deposit cheques, check their balance and withdraw and deposit cash at 11,500 Post Office branches in the UK.
New shared banking hubs are also being introduced, providing basic banking services and dedicated space where community bankers from major banks can meet customers of that bank. Following successful pilots Cash Access UK Ltd is rolling out shared banking hubs and other new shared facilities in communities across the UK. To date, industry has committed to deliver Banking Hubs in 80 locations. Further information on Banking Hubs is available at: https://www.cashaccess.co.uk/
Regarding access to cash, LINK (the scheme that runs the UK's largest ATM network) has commitments to protect the broad geographic spread of free-to-use ATMs and is held to account against these commitments by the Payment Systems Regulator. LINK has committed to protect free-to-use ATMs more than one kilometre away from the next nearest free ATM or Post Office, and free access to cash on high streets that do not have a free-to-use ATM or a Post Office counter within one kilometre. Furthermore, LINK operates a scheme to enable communities with poor access to cash to request an ATM.
LINK publishes the total number of free-to-use and pay-to-use ATMs across the UK on a regular basis. LINK’s Monthly ATM Footprint Report also publishes information on the break down by constituency. Further information is available on LINK’s website: https://www.link.co.uk/
The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 provides the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) with responsibility and powers to seek to ensure reasonable provision of cash access services. The FCA is currently developing its approach and will consult in due course.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the impact of high street bank branch closures on people in Gosport constituency.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government believes that all customers, wherever they live, should have appropriate access to banking services. Nonetheless, decisions on opening and closing branches are a commercial issue for banks and building societies. The Government does not intervene in these decisions or make direct assessments of these branch networks.
Guidance from the Financial Conduct Authority sets out its expectation of firms when they are deciding to reduce their physical branches or the number of free-to-use ATMs. Firms are expected to carefully consider the impact of planned branch closures on the everyday banking and cash access needs of their customers and consider possible alternative access arrangements. This ensures that the implementation of closure decisions is undertaken in a way that treats customers fairly.
Alternative options for access to banking can be via telephone banking, through digital means such as mobile or online banking, and the Post Office. The Post Office Banking Framework allows 99% of personal banking and 95% of business banking customers to deposit cheques, check their balance and withdraw and deposit cash at 11,500 Post Office branches in the UK.
New shared banking hubs are also being introduced, providing basic banking services and dedicated space where community bankers from major banks can meet customers of that bank. Following successful pilots Cash Access UK Ltd is rolling out shared banking hubs and other new shared facilities in communities across the UK. To date, industry has committed to deliver Banking Hubs in 80 locations. Further information on Banking Hubs is available at: https://www.cashaccess.co.uk/
Regarding access to cash, LINK (the scheme that runs the UK's largest ATM network) has commitments to protect the broad geographic spread of free-to-use ATMs and is held to account against these commitments by the Payment Systems Regulator. LINK has committed to protect free-to-use ATMs more than one kilometre away from the next nearest free ATM or Post Office, and free access to cash on high streets that do not have a free-to-use ATM or a Post Office counter within one kilometre. Furthermore, LINK operates a scheme to enable communities with poor access to cash to request an ATM.
LINK publishes the total number of free-to-use and pay-to-use ATMs across the UK on a regular basis. LINK’s Monthly ATM Footprint Report also publishes information on the break down by constituency. Further information is available on LINK’s website: https://www.link.co.uk/
The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 provides the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) with responsibility and powers to seek to ensure reasonable provision of cash access services. The FCA is currently developing its approach and will consult in due course.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take with NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care System to increase the delivery of endoscopy procedures for patients in Gosport constituency.
Answered by Will Quince
£2.3 billion was awarded at the 2021 Spending Review to transform diagnostic services over the next three years to increase diagnostic capacity, including for endoscopy services. This funding will also increase the number of Community Diagnostic Centres up to 160 by March 2025, including a number delivering endoscopy services.
Cutting National Health Service waiting lists, including for endoscopy services, is one of this government’s top priorities. This is a shared ambition amongst integrated care systems (ICSs), including the NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICS. Priorities are set locally through joint strategic needs assessments as part of joint forward plans across the ICS and partnering NHS trusts.
There are currently nine sites delivering diagnostics for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. This includes the provision of endoscopy services at some sites.
In the South East Hampshire Locality which includes Portsmouth, Fareham and Gosport, 1,908 additional endoscopy tests have been delivered closer to people’s homes, increasing earlier access to endoscopy procedures.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much and what proportion of funding provided to the NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight integrated care system for diagnostic funding was spent on diagnostic endoscopy procedures in NHS Portsmouth in the 2022-23 financial year.
Answered by Will Quince
This information is not held in the format requested.
£2.3 billion was awarded at the 2021 Spending Review to transform diagnostic services over the next three years to increase diagnostic capacity, including for endoscopy services. This funding will also increase the number of Community Diagnostic Centres to 160 by March 2025, including a number delivering endoscopy services.