Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of electricity supply disruption on households with fibre broadband.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
DSIT engages regularly with Communication Providers and Ofcom regulate how telecoms companies should fulfil their regulatory obligations in the event of a power cut. Communication Providers are required to meet standards and specifications set out in the General Conditions of Entitlement, under obligations imposed by the Communications Act 2003, to ensure continuity of service. Ofcom guidance states that communications providers should have at least one solution that enables access to emergency organisations, for a minimum of one hour in the event of a power outage.
DSIT works closely on a range of resilience issues in partnership with industry, through the Electronic Communications Resilience & Response Group (EC-RRG), who engage in regular dialogue with the Energy Networks Association across a range of issues to help strengthen resilience between the two sectors. Ofcom recently closed a consultation on proposing a set of revised resilience guidance for communications providers with a statement on the resilience guidance expected in summer 2024.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport during the Second Reading of the Pedicabs (London) Bill [Lords] of 28 February 2024, Official Report, column 398, if he will publish the outline of a potential licencing framework for pedicabs provided by Transport for London in January 2022.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Subject to its parliamentary passage, the Pedicabs (London) Bill will confer powers onto Transport for London (TfL) to regulate London’s pedicab industry.
It will be the responsibility of TfL to design and implement a regulatory regime. However, TfL will be required to conduct a consultation prior to bringing regulations forward, and Government expects this consultation would include details of the proposed licensing framework.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate he has made of the number of serious child abuse offences committed in the last 12 months.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The term child abuse covers a broad range of offences including, but not limited to, sexual offences, violence against the person and cruelty and neglect. It is not possible to identify all child abuse offences recorded in official data.
In January 2020, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published experimental analysis which looked at a range of indicators from different data sources to enable understanding of child abuse. This report can be found here:
Child abuse in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk).
As the Home Secretary stated in his written statement of 10 January 2024, we are working with the ONS to explore whether a new survey could more effectively measure the current scale and nature of child abuse and neglect, including child sexual abuse. The ONS is currently developing the questionnaire and safeguarding procedures for the proposed survey, which will then be piloted.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when work on the Christchurch Hospital Macmillan Unit building project included in the New Hospital programme will begin.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the Trust's Full Business Case, it has been agreed that works at Christchurch Hospital, including those to enable the MacMillan palliative unit, are being funded and taken forward by the trust directly, in collaboration with the Macmillan Caring Locally Charity.
The New Hospital Programme will be building a new hospital for Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust at Alumhurst Road as supported by the local and regional health system.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many beds were occupied by patients ready to be discharged in NHS hospitals in Dorset; and how many of these patients had been awaiting discharge for more than (a) three days, (b) seven days and (c) a month on the most recent date for which data is available.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 31 January 2024, there were 308 patients with No Criteria To Reside (NCTR) in acute hospitals in Dorset, 77 patients in Dorset County Hospital Foundation Trust and 231 patients in University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust.
NHS England publishes data on the proportion of patients discharged on their discharge-ready date and the lengths of delay for those discharged after this date, up to a delay of 21 days or more. The latest published figures are for December 2023.
For Dorset County Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, 91% of patients were discharged on their discharge-ready date. Of the 9% of patients who were discharged after this date, 47.6% were delayed four or more days, 32% were delayed seven or more days, and 10.7% were delayed 21 or more days.
For University Hospitals Dorset Foundation Trust, 84.2% of patients were discharged on their discharge-ready date. Of the 15.8% of patients discharged after this date, 50.4% were delayed four or more days, 33.5% were delayed seven or more days, and 9% were delayed 21 or more days.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 6 February 2024 to Question 12498 on Public Sector: Redundancy Pay, and having regard to the fact that the Whole of Government accounts for the financial years ending 2022 and 2023 will not be published until July 2024 and July 2025, if he will provide the information requested for those years.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Whole of Government Accounts provide the most complete overview of exit payments in any given year. In advance of them, reference can be made to individual departments’ Annual Report and Accounts, where information on the usage of exit payments for the financial years 2021/22 and 2022/23 is available. These can be found online using the following link:
Annual Report and Accounts for Central Government Departments
Data on exit payments made by Local Authorities between 2014 and 2023 is available under the heading ‘exit payments’ using the following link: Statistical Data Sets Local Government Finance
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what NHS England's policy is on hybrid working arrangements for (a) medical and (b) non-medical staff; and whether NHS England has made an assessment of the potential impact of working from home for up to (i) one, (ii) two, (iii) three and (iv) four days a week on levels of work productivity.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England’s working from home policy, as of April 2024, will ask all colleagues with a contractual office base to spend, on average, at least 40% of their time working in-person. This will apply to both medical and non-medical staff.
A flexible work model will help the National Health Service to recruit and retain people more effectively, and is an important aspect of both the NHS People Promise and the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan. NHS England will continue to shape their ways of working based on what allows them to deliver high-quality services for all.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to bring forward revised Animal Welfare (Electronic Collars) England Regulations 2023; and for what reason those regulations were not brought forward for approval before their proposed commencement date.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government remains committed to introducing a ban on the use of e-collars. We will pursue new regulations to deliver this commitment on a revised timeline.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February 2024 to Question 1418 on the Energy Charter Treaty, if she will set a deadline for the receipt of views from stakeholders on membership of the Energy Charter Treaty; and if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the decision by other countries to withdraw from the charter.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government is considering the views of stakeholders in business, civil society, and Parliament and will inform Parliament of the outcome in due course.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on what date the Oxford–AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccine Vaxzevria was withdrawn from general public administration in the UK; and for what reason.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
AstraZeneca completed its COVID-19 vaccine supply agreement with the Government in 2022. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 vaccine booster programme in September 2021, in line with advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, the vaccines deployed in the national programme have primarily been mRNA vaccines that were considered to provide a strong booster response.