Asked by: Cat Eccles (Labour - Stourbridge)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to encourage (a) private car park operators and (b) retailers to ensure that parent and child parking bays are properly (i) monitored and (ii) enforced.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Provision of parking spaces and management of parking facilities on private land is a matter for private landowners and parking operators, where those are employed. Whilst private landowners and parking operators can provide dedicated parking bays for parents with children, any rules about their use will be enforced by the retailers themselves or private parking firms contracted to manage these spaces.
Where such bays exist, their misuse can attract a notice of a parking charge of up to £100. However, to issue a notice of parking charge private landowners or parking operators have to be a member of the DVLA accredited parking trade association and adhere to the industry Code of Practice. Among other things, this Code of Practice requires to clearly set out parking terms and conditions on signage within car parks.
Asked by: Cat Eccles (Labour - Stourbridge)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish the agreement signed between the British Armed Forces and the Israeli Defence Forces in December 2020 on strengthening military cooperation.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The UK-Israel military cooperation agreement, which was signed in December 2020, incorporates a range of defence engagement activity, including defence education. I hope that the hon. Member will understand that it is not possible to release this agreement as it is held at a higher classification.
Asked by: Cat Eccles (Labour - Stourbridge)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to replace the provision of upfront childcare costs with Universal Credit with advance payments.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There are currently no plans to change the way upfront childcare costs are paid. Claimants of the Universal Credit childcare element can claim upfront childcare costs through the Flexible Support Fund, to help ease them into the Universal Credit childcare costs payment cycle.
There is also help with upfront childcare costs for eligible Universal Credit customers through Budgeting Advances.
Asked by: Cat Eccles (Labour - Stourbridge)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average cost to her Department was of a Personal Independence Payment mandatory reconsideration in 2024-25; and how much and what proportion of this cost was spent on successful appeals.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
PIP Unit Costs | 2024-25 |
Mandatory Reconsideration | £82 |
Cost figures are rounded to the nearest pound.
Data Source: ABM
The cost figures quoted are estimated DWP level 1 operating costs, including both direct delivery staff and non-staff costs. Non-staff costs are only those costs incurred in local cost centres, relating to direct delivery staff. They show the average Unit Cost of processing one PIP Mandatory Reconsideration.
Please note that the data supplied is from the Departmental Activity Based Models. This data is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal
Departmental use only and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standards. It should therefore be treated with caution. The Departmental Activity Based staffing models are a snapshot of how many people were identified as undertaking specified activities as assigned by line managers.
24/25 model is in a process of sign off therefore the numbers may be a subject to change
We do not hold information on the unit cost of successful appeals.
Asked by: Cat Eccles (Labour - Stourbridge)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what retention rates were for educators of T-Level studies in the latest period for which data is available; and what steps she is taking to ensure the quality of these educators meets a minimum standard.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not hold information on retention rates specifically for teachers of T Levels. All teachers can access a free of charge continuing professional development programme, offered by the Education Training Foundation, to help update their knowledge and skills to successfully deliver T Levels. We recently updated this support, with more teacher resources, and shorter, more accessible online courses. More information about this support is available here: https://www.et-foundation.co.uk/professional-development/t-levels/.
Ofsted inspects further education and skills providers in England under part 8 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 and must state whether education or training inspected is of adequate quality. Inspections will encompass T Level provision where offered.
Asked by: Cat Eccles (Labour - Stourbridge)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve the waiting times for diagnoses of endometriosis.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to prioritising women’s health, and we are taking action to ensure that individuals with endometriosis receive a timely diagnosis and effective treatment. That is why, alongside committing to return to the National Health Service constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment (RTT) by March 2029, our Elective Reform Plan, published January 2025, sets out a range of efforts to reduce the time patients wait for gynaecological care. This includes rolling out innovative models of care that offer care closer to home and in the community. We also provided additional investment in the Autumn Budget that has enabled us to exceed our pledge to deliver an extra two million operations, scans, and appointments, having now delivered over three million more appointments across elective services, as a first step to achieving the 18-week RTT standard.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has also updated its guidelines on the diagnosis and management of endometriosis, which will help women receive more timely care. This updated version in November 2024 includes updated recommendations that for women with symptoms of endometriosis, initial pharmacological treatment should take place in primary care, and that this can take place in parallel with additional investigations and referral to secondary care if needed. The guideline is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng73
Asked by: Cat Eccles (Labour - Stourbridge)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made recent representations to his Israeli counterpart on its military strategy in Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign Secretary continues to engage regularly with his Israeli counterparts. Following the release of US-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander on 12 May, the Foreign Secretary urged Israeli Foreign Minister Sa'ar of the need for an end to the aid blockade and for all parties to push towards an immediate ceasefire and the release of all hostages who remain in Gaza. The UK Government totally opposes an expansion of Israel's military operations in Gaza and have consistently urged the Israeli Government that a permanent ceasefire remains the only way to return all the remaining hostages and ensure Hamas has no future role in Gaza. On 20 May, the Foreign Secretary announced that we have suspended negotiations with the Israeli government on a new free trade agreement, decided to review cooperation with them under the 2030 Bilateral Roadmap, and imposed further sanctions on settlers.
Asked by: Cat Eccles (Labour - Stourbridge)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the proposed reforms in the Pathways to Work Green Paper on the number of appeals that will be made by people who will lose their eligibility for the personal independence payment; and whether she plans to allocate additional funding for the administration of such appeals.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP will work with the Ministry of Justice as normal and plan for any impacts.
Asked by: Cat Eccles (Labour - Stourbridge)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to help prevent rogue energy brokers from targeting small businesses.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government wants to provide all businesses with better protection from being locked into unfair and expensive energy contracts, and more redress when they have a complaint.
Last year, the Government launched a consultation on introducing regulation of Third-Party Intermediaries (TPIs), such as energy brokers. This is aimed at enhancing consumer protections, particularly for non-domestic consumers. The consultation has now closed, and a Government response will follow in due course once all feedback has been reviewed.
Asked by: Cat Eccles (Labour - Stourbridge)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact the UK-US trade deal on meat products sold in the UK.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
On 8th May, the UK Government announced a landmark economic deal with the United States.
We have agreed new reciprocal market access on beef – with UK farmers given a guaranteed quota for 13,000 metric tonnes of beef exports at a very low tariff rate.
Imports of hormone treated beef remain illegal. Our approach to this trade deal has ensured that any agricultural imports coming into the UK will meet the highest food standards.