Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he had discussions with rail unions on taking steps to avoid the strikes that commenced on 7 May 2024.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Negotiations must take place between the employer, which the Rail Delivery Group has done on behalf of the train operators, and the trade union over its dispute. The Government has no role in these negotiations and discussions. We remain committed to supporting the parties in the resolution of industrial action and the Secretary of State and I have previously met with all the rail unions to help facilitate discussions with the rail industry.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to allow beneficiaries to claim two years of a deceased person's state pension contributions in the event that they die before state pension age.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Whilst recognising the emotive nature of this issue and having sympathy for people in this position, the Government does not have plans to make any changes in this area,
Where a spouse, civil partner or, where there is a dependent child, cohabiting partner, passes away, Bereavement Support Payment is available to help working age people through the difficult period following a bereavement. Bereavement Support Payment is a contributory benefit based on the National Insurance contributions of the deceased person.
Pension Credit provides a safety-net for those over the State Pension age on low-incomes.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make it her policy to abolish hospital car parking fees.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has no plans to abolish hospital car parking charges. We have delivered on our commitment of providing free hospital car parking for those in greatest need, including National Health Service staff working overnight. The NHS Car Parking guidance is clear that where hospital car parking charges are in force, they should be reasonable and not significantly more than other hospitals in the local area.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many troops were serving in the British Army as of 24 April (a) 2010 and (b) 2024.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The table below shows the Army Full Time Trained Strength as at 1 April 2010 and Army Full Time Trade Trained Strength as at 1 January 2024.
| 01 April 2010 | 01 January 2024 |
Strength | 102,260 | 73,190 |
Notes/Caveats:
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of continuing Place of Destination checks for plants at Border Control Posts until January 2025.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Place of Destination scheme will not be carried forward beyond 30 April 2024. It was only ever intended to be a temporary solution, and moving controls to BCPs and Control Points is vital to achieving the biosecurity aims of the BTOM, by increasing the percentage of consignments we are able to inspect.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Prime Minister’s speech on welfare of 19 April 2024, who the specialist work and health professionals are that will be responsible for issuing fit notes; and whether his Department plans to provide training to those professionals on the range of health conditions relevant to the issuing of fit notes.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The trailblazers announced at Autumn Statement 2023 will recruit clinical and non-clinical professionals into roles where they will be provided with additional training and support to conduct robust and in-depth work and health conversations with people, who in turn will be provided with advice and guidance on how they might be able to stay in, or return to, work with the support of their employer.
Our ambition is to co-develop a new fit note process delivered through multi-disciplinary teams, bringing together the issuing of fit notes with health and work advice to support people who are at risk of falling out of work or who have already fallen out of work due to ill health.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department held discussions with organisations representing disabled people on the announcements made in the Prime Minister’s speech on welfare of 19 April 2024.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Secretary of State, and ministers, regularly meet with organisations representing disabled people, regarding a range of issues, including welfare. Details of ministerial meetings are published quarterly on gov.uk in line with transparency data releases and can be found here: DWP ministerial gifts, hospitality, travel and meetings, - GOV.UK
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the provisions on knives in the Criminal Justice Bill will also extend to weapons used for historical re-enactments.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
In the Criminal Justice Bill 2023 we are introducing three measures to tackle knife crime:
These measures will apply to all pointed or bladed articles, including those used for historical re-enactment.
On 25 January we laid the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) (Amendment, Surrender and Compensation) Order 2024 in Parliament. The Order has now been approved by both Houses of Parliament and this will prohibit the manufacture, supply, sale and possession of zombie-style knives and machetes from 24 September 2024.
Zombie-style knives are defined in the Statutory Instrument and to fall under the legislation would need to be a bladed article with a plain cutting edge and a sharp pointed end, with a blade of over 8 inches in length, which also has one or more of, a serrated cutting edge, more than one hole in the blade, spikes or more than two sharp points in the blade.
Items which match this criteria will fall under the legislation including those used for historical re-enactment; however, there is a defence in the legislation for in scope items which are blunt.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she is taking steps to increase awareness of naloxone.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Naloxone is highly effective in reducing opioid overdose-related deaths, and the Government is working to widen access to, and increase the uptake of, this life saving drug. A prescription only medicine that is available across the United Kingdom, naloxone can be prescribed by a doctor or non-medical prescriber or provided, under a Patient Group Direction. It can also be supplied without prescription by drug services, which include specialist National Health Service and voluntary sector treatment services, as well as community pharmacies providing other substance misuse services across the UK.
Naloxone has been available for anyone to use in an emergency since 2005. There is good awareness of it, supported by earlier guidance by the Department and its agencies in 2015, 2018, 2019, and 2023. Drug treatment services and their suppliers also provide independent awareness-raising materials, targeting people who use opioids.
The Government launched a UK-wide public consultation to seek views on our proposal to amend the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 so that more professionals, services, and family members can give out take-home naloxone supplies. The consultation closed on 6 March 2024, and the responses are currently being analysed. The Government will publish its official response shortly.
The Government is working to increase naloxone carriage, and has provided additional investment in drug treatment services to support this work. In England, local authorities and their partners have been increasing naloxone supply in recent years. There are now three naloxone products available, and supply has been meeting demand. To enable the Government to respond to any future change in demand for naloxone, the Department is working with the Home Office to model scenarios where demand for naloxone may increase, and has conducted a commercial engagement exercise to better understand the naloxone market, and the market’s capacity to respond to changes in demand.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of creating a national naloxone programme.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Naloxone is highly effective in reducing opioid overdose-related deaths, and the Government is working to widen access to, and increase the uptake of, this life saving drug. A prescription only medicine that is available across the United Kingdom, naloxone can be prescribed by a doctor or non-medical prescriber or provided, under a Patient Group Direction. It can also be supplied without prescription by drug services, which include specialist National Health Service and voluntary sector treatment services, as well as community pharmacies providing other substance misuse services across the UK.
Naloxone has been available for anyone to use in an emergency since 2005. There is good awareness of it, supported by earlier guidance by the Department and its agencies in 2015, 2018, 2019, and 2023. Drug treatment services and their suppliers also provide independent awareness-raising materials, targeting people who use opioids.
The Government launched a UK-wide public consultation to seek views on our proposal to amend the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 so that more professionals, services, and family members can give out take-home naloxone supplies. The consultation closed on 6 March 2024, and the responses are currently being analysed. The Government will publish its official response shortly.
The Government is working to increase naloxone carriage, and has provided additional investment in drug treatment services to support this work. In England, local authorities and their partners have been increasing naloxone supply in recent years. There are now three naloxone products available, and supply has been meeting demand. To enable the Government to respond to any future change in demand for naloxone, the Department is working with the Home Office to model scenarios where demand for naloxone may increase, and has conducted a commercial engagement exercise to better understand the naloxone market, and the market’s capacity to respond to changes in demand.