Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to create national guidelines for preventing adult grooming.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government is taking a range of actions to prevent the grooming and exploitation of vulnerable adults.
To tackle criminal exploitation, we are introducing a new cuckooing offence in the Crime and Policing Bill to target criminals who groom and exploit vulnerable people in order to take over their homes for criminal purposes. We are also introducing a new offence of coerced internal concealment to address the appalling practice whereby criminals exploit children and vulnerable adults to cause them to internally conceal items such as drugs for criminal purposes. Both offences will be supported by statutory guidance for police as well as non-statutory multi-agency guidance which will include information on preventative action to protect those at risk of these terrible forms of adult grooming and exploitation.
In terms of adult grooming for sexual exploitation, we are working closely with police and others to tackle the drivers of trafficking for sexual exploitation, including through law enforcement operational intensifications aimed at tackling modern slavery threats and targeting prolific perpetrators.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make it her policy to publish her Department's assessment of the potential impact of the expansion of Gatwick Airport on the area within a 50 mile radius before a decision on whether to expand that airport is made.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As this is live planning application that is yet to be decided, unfortunately I cannot comment in detail at this time. The Secretary of State will assess all evidence provided to her by the applicant, the Examining Authority, and any parties who chose to make written representations regarding relevant Government policy, and once the decision is made, the decision letter will set out the full rationale.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure the Circular Economy Taskforce helps to encourage people to repair and reuse.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to transitioning to a circular economy. We have convened the Circular Economy Taskforce, comprising experts from industry, academia, and civil society, to help develop a Circular Economy Strategy for England. The strategy will be accompanied by a series of roadmaps detailing the interventions that the government and others will make on a sector-by-sector basis.
Defra recognises that repair and reuse are fundamental tenets of any circular economy, and a successful transition aims to eliminate waste and promote sustainability through reuse and resource efficiency. The Circular Economy Taskforce will consider the evidence for appropriate action right across the economy throughout the development of the Strategy.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of Gatwick airport expansion on local house prices.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
MHCLG Ministers cannot comment on live planning applications due to their quasi-judicial role in the planning system.
All information provided to the Secretary of State for Transport by the applicant, the Examining Authority, and any parties who chose to make written representations in relation to the application in question is available on the Planning Inspectorate website.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made of the potential impact of airspace modernisation on the number of people experiencing noise above (a) the lowest observed adverse effect level and (b) the significant adverse observed effect level.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
One of the key benefits of Airspace Modernisation is the potential to reduce the overall noise experienced by individuals and communities, through the introduction of new airspace structures and procedures which are more efficient and more environmentally friendly.
The precise level of noise experienced by individuals and communities will always depend on the specific airspace change proposals for each airport. The Civil Aviation Authority’s airspace change process (CAP1616) sets out the detailed process airport sponsors must follow in relation to noise implications, including the requirement to consult with communities who could be directly affected by any change.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will create standardised national aviation noise metrics for use in planning processes.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government expects airports to explain their noise impacts through the use of appropriate metrics.
Average noise exposure contours for day and night are the most established measure which show noise impacts around airports. The Government also encourages airport operators to use alternative measures which better reflect how aircraft noise is experienced in different localities.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his planned timetable is for completion of the TRANSFORM trial into prostate cancer screening.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The TRANSFORM study, funded in partnership with Prostate Cancer UK, will look at new ways of screening for prostate cancer, and will include a national randomised control trial that will provide the definitive data for policymakers to decide on whether screening for prostate cancer should be recommended. The study is broken down into three phases: Phase 1, between 2025 and 2027; Phase 2, between 2028 and 2033; and Phase 3, between 2034 and 2043.
Phase 1 is focusing on making the trial run smoothly, testing a number of different possible screening approaches, and also determining the best way to engage men in the community to take part in the study. Critically, it is also determining the best form of randomisation to carry out. Recruitment for phase one is currently open.
Phase 2 will take forward the most robust randomisation strategy and the most promising screening approach or approaches with tens of thousands of consenting participants, in order to prove that these new screening strategies are beneficial.
Phase 3 will involve monitoring the trial participants over the following 10 years to determine the long-term impact of screening on rates of disease progression and survival.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
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 potential merits of (a) collating and (b) publishing NHS tribunal data.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This information is not held centrally by the Department or NHS England. There are currently no plans for an analysis of the potential merits of collating and publishing National Health Service tribunal data.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of gathering data on time taken between immigration appeals tribunal decisions and the receipt of resulting deportation notices to appellants.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile statistics, as well as quality and availability of data.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
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 producing a national strategy to help improve (a) access to and (b) the quality of eating disorder services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is currently refreshing guidance on children and young people's eating disorders. The refreshed guidance will highlight the importance of awareness and early recognition of eating disorders within schools, colleges, primary care, and broader children and young peoples’ mental health services.
The Government is currently developing the 10-Year Health Plan, which will consider the views of a wide range of stakeholders, including those with lived experience of eating disorders. The consultation process has provided invaluable feedback, and we are in the process of exploring how we best take this forward.