Asked by: Charlie Maynard (Liberal Democrat - Witney)
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 that Carbon Capture and Storage plans are assessed under principle H of schedule B of the Subsidy Control Act 2022.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Where a subsidy relates to the decarbonisation of emissions linked to industrial activities in the United Kingdom, My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State is required by the Subsidy Control Act 2022 to consider Principle H – it is not a question of policy - and he will continue to comply with his statutory duties in this regard.
Asked by: Charlie Maynard (Liberal Democrat - Witney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of (a) trends in the level of congestion on the Witney-Oxfordshire section of the A40 and (b) the potential impact of increased housebuilding in West Oxfordshire on congestion on that road.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Any assessment on congestion levels on this section of the A40 would be a matter for the local highway authority, in this case Oxfordshire County Council. Government has committed over £160 million of investment to the A40 West of Oxford, this would allow the County Council to take forward their housebuilding ambitions in the area with better infrastructure, including improved public transport priority measures.
Asked by: Charlie Maynard (Liberal Democrat - Witney)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with Ofwat on trends in the level of water bills.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Minister and officials speak regularly with Ofwat on a range of issues. Under the Conservatives, our sewerage system crumbled. They irresponsibly let water companies divert customers' money to line the pockets of their bosses and shareholders.
The public are right to be angry after they have been left t pay the price of Conservative failure.
This Labour Government will ringfence money earmarked for investment so it can never be diverted for bonuses and shareholder payouts. We will clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good.
Asked by: Charlie Maynard (Liberal Democrat - Witney)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have had with representatives of water and sewerage companies since July 2024.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Details of ministerial meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK. Data for the period of July to September 2024 will be published in due course.
Officials meet a variety of external stakeholders, including representatives of water and sewerage companies, and regulators; however, we do not hold this information centrally and obtaining it would be disproportionate.
Asked by: Charlie Maynard (Liberal Democrat - Witney)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have had with campaigners on water regulation since July 2024.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Details of ministerial meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK. Data for the period of July to September 2024 will be published in due course.
Officials meet a variety of external stakeholders, including representatives of water and sewerage companies, and regulators; however, we do not hold this information centrally and obtaining it would be disproportionate.
Asked by: Charlie Maynard (Liberal Democrat - Witney)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have had with representatives of Ofwat since July 2024.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Details of ministerial meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK. Data for the period of July to September 2024 will be published in due course.
Officials meet a variety of external stakeholders, including representatives of water and sewerage companies, and regulators; however, we do not hold this information centrally and obtaining it would be disproportionate.
Asked by: Charlie Maynard (Liberal Democrat - Witney)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will meet with the hon. Member for Witney to discuss (a) the condition of Carterton Community College and (b) SEND further education provision in West Oxfordshire.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As the Minister responsible for school and college capital funding, the hon. Member for Witney can contact my office to arrange a meeting to discuss these matters.
Asked by: Charlie Maynard (Liberal Democrat - Witney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will meet the hon. Member for Witney to discuss the availability of (a) NHS dentistry and (b) diagnostic testing in Witney constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.
Recovering diagnostic services, including in Witney, is a priority for the Government, as part of our ambition to return NHS waiting lists to meeting constitutional standards. It is unacceptable that some patients are waiting more than six weeks for a diagnostic test.
Our Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, builds on the investments already made with an ambitious vision for the future of diagnostic testing. This will include more straight-to-test pathways, increasing and expanding Community Diagnostic Centres, and better use of technology.
The responsibility for commissioning primary care, including dentistry and diagnostic activity, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to all integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the Witney constituency, this is the NHS Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West ICB.
I will write to the hon. Member to provide further detail.
Asked by: Charlie Maynard (Liberal Democrat - Witney)
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 NHS dental services in (a) Witney constituency and (b) West Oxfordshire.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Dental Statistics - England 2023-24, published by NHS Business Services Authority on 22 August 2024, is available from the following link:
https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/statistical-collections/dental-england/dental-statistics-england-202324
The data for Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board, which includes the Witney constituency and West Oxfordshire, shows that 36% of adults were seen by a National Health Service dentist in the previous 24 months up to June 2024, compared to 40% in England; and 57% of children were seen by an NHS dentist in the previous 12 months up to June 2024, compared to 56% in England.
The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access NHS dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.
Asked by: Charlie Maynard (Liberal Democrat - Witney)
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 impact of adding a QR code to the NHS App on the (a) speed and (b) safety of the processing of patients (i) in vaccination clinics and (ii) generally.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no firm plans to incorporate Quick Response (QR) codes into the vaccination user experience, for example, in invitations, booking confirmations, at the point of care more generally, or in the NHS App specifically.
Work for the QR code feature is still in the research and development phase, however, it is not planned for use in the NHS App roadmap between now and the end of quarter four in March 2025.