Asked by: Claire Young (Liberal Democrat - Thornbury and Yate)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps is she taking with Cabinet colleagues to help ensure the adequacy of support for children with special educational needs and disabilities.
Answered by Bridget Phillipson - Minister for Women and Equalities
We want all children and young people with SEND or in alternative provision to receive the support they need. This government will listen to and work with families and the sector to deliver reform, improving inclusivity in mainstream schools, and ensuring special schools help those with the most complex needs.
Asked by: Claire Young (Liberal Democrat - Thornbury and Yate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support the work of Air Ambulance charities.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department and the National Health Service continue to support the work of air ambulance charities, including through the NHS ambulance trusts’ provision of key clinical staff and medical equipment, which supports the operation of air ambulances.
Asked by: Claire Young (Liberal Democrat - Thornbury and Yate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will provide capital funding to Air Ambulance charities.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department and the National Health Service continue to support the work of air ambulance charities, including through the NHS ambulance trusts’ provision of key clinical staff and medical equipment, which supports the operation of air ambulances.
Asked by: Claire Young (Liberal Democrat - Thornbury and Yate)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure movement restrictions as a result of reported disease outbreaks are reviewed in a timely manner.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra recognises the impact that movement controls can have on animal keepers and other affected businesses and seeks to minimise burdens as far as practically possible, while maintaining the integrity of measures to mitigate risk of spread. To that end, movements from restricted zones to designated slaughterhouses are permitted under a general licence, and keepers can apply to move animals to live outside restricted zones under individual licences if pre/post movement tests indicate these moves are safe.
The situation, including the need for and size of movement controls, remains under continuous review.
Asked by: Claire Young (Liberal Democrat - Thornbury and Yate)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that incidents of bovine TB in livestock are properly (a) monitored and (b) dealt with.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We know that experiencing a TB incident (or breakdown) in a cattle herd can be particularly stressful. To help cattle keepers in this situation, comprehensive guidance on how TB breakdowns are monitored and dealt with can be found on the TB Hub website: (https://tbhub.co.uk/advice-during-a-tb-breakdown/).
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) follow well-established protocols in all herds affected by a TB breakdown, working closely with the affected herd keeper to contain and eradicate the infection, enabling the herd to regain its Officially TB Free (OTF) status. Several steps are taken, including:
Asked by: Claire Young (Liberal Democrat - Thornbury and Yate)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what changes his Department has made to the testing system for bovine TB since August 2021.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Since August 2023, cattle brought into herds in the annual testing part of the Edge Area from higher-risk areas in England (and from Wales) have been subject to post-movement TB testing. This measure has strengthened the mandatory TB post-movement testing regime for cattle in England, originally introduced in April 2016 for animals joining herds in the Low Risk Area (LRA) of England from other parts of England or Wales.
Between September 2020 and July 2021, the default frequency of mandatory TB surveillance testing throughout the High Risk Area (HRA) of England was increased from annual to every six-months, with some exceptions for lower-risk cattle herds (whose owners would have the option to remain on annual TB testing). In March 2024, the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) introduced two relatively minor changes to the process used to identify herds in the HRA that are eligible for annual TB testing:
Asked by: Claire Young (Liberal Democrat - Thornbury and Yate)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support farmers who experience outbreaks of bovine TB to recover.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We recognise the serious impacts that bovine TB (bTB) breakdowns can have on the affected farm businesses and on local rural communities. In addition to statutory payments to compensate farmers for the loss of any animals removed for TB control reasons, Defra provides support and help to affected livestock keepers (and their families) in different ways:
The Defra-funded TB Advisory Service (TBAS) (https://www.tbas.org.uk/) offers free, bespoke, practical and cost-effective advice to all livestock keepers in England. This can be provided by way of farm visits by qualified specialists, over-the phone advice and badger sett surveys to help reduce the risks associated with TB.
Grant funding for the Farming Community Network (FCN), which provides an on-demand support service for those impacted by a TB breakdown, with specially trained volunteers providing business as well as emotional and pastoral support.
ibTB (https://www.ibtb.co.uk/) is a free-to-access, online interactive mapping tool set up to help cattle farmers and their vets to understand the level of bTB in their area and to manage the risks when purchasing cattle. IbTB is updated on a regular basis to enhance its functionality and the quality of information it offers to users.
The TB Hub (https://tbhub.co.uk/) is a joint industry-government initiative, also provides cattle farmers with practical advice and information on dealing with bTB on their farm, covering everything from biosecurity measures to TB testing.
The Five Point Plan (https://tbhub.co.uk/preventing-tb-breakdowns/protect-your-herd-from-bovine-tb/), developed in partnership by industry and Defra, provides clear and practical guidance on good practice for bTB biosecurity.
Asked by: Claire Young (Liberal Democrat - Thornbury and Yate)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what (a) protections and (b) support mechanisms are in place for whistleblowers in prisons.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Ministry of Justice has a comprehensive whistleblowing policy which all staff can access via the intranet. The policy sets out the protections and support available to a whistleblower. Protections include protection under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA) and the assurance that the Department will take disciplinary action if a whistleblower is subject to detrimental treatment as a result of having raised a concern.
Sources of support include Nominated Officers, who can advise on how to raise a concern, and specialist teams including Counter Corruption, the HM Prison and Probation Service Tackling Unacceptable Behaviours Unit, and the Department’s employee assistance provider.
Asked by: Claire Young (Liberal Democrat - Thornbury and Yate)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that prisons are safe workplaces for staff.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Staff must be able to expect a safe and decent work environment. We will not tolerate any violence against prison officers and prisoners who are violent towards staff will face the full consequences of their actions.
The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 doubled the maximum penalty to up to two years’ imprisonment for those who assault emergency workers, including prison officers. There are higher maximum penalties in place for more serious offences, including ABH, GBH and sexual assault.
We are providing targeted support to adult male prisons with the highest assault rates to tackle local drivers of violence.
We are continuing with plans for a phased removal of wet-shave razors in up to 30 prisons in the adult male estate in 2024/25.
To protect staff from serious assaults, prison officers in the adult male estate are provided with PAVA, a synthetic pepper spray. Every prison officer across public sector prisons can wear a Body Worn Video Camera whilst on shift, providing high-quality evidence to support prosecutions against those who commit assaults against staff.
We are implementing measures to ease prison crowding as we know that crowded conditions can increase violent incidents in prisons.
Asked by: Claire Young (Liberal Democrat - Thornbury and Yate)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will take steps to introduce a minimum bus service frequency standard in rural areas.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The government knows that Britain needs a modern transport network to help kickstart economic growth. Good local bus services are an essential part of prosperous and sustainable communities. As announced in the King’s Speech, the government will introduce the Better Buses Bill to put the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders right across England, to ensure networks can meet the needs to the communities who rely on them, including in rural areas. We plan to empower local transport authorities through reforming bus funding and introducing local network safeguards, giving local transport authorities enhanced accountability over bus operators.