Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, if she will take steps with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to ensure that written Parliamentary questions are answered on time.
Answered by Lucy Powell - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Parliament has a right to hold Ministers to account. I have written to all members of Cabinet to remind Ministers of their responsibilities to provide helpful and timely responses to Members' PQs.
The Procedure Committee monitors individual department’s PQ performance and it recently published a report into performance in the 2023–24 Session (available at: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/8673/written-parliamentary-questions-departmental-performance-in-session-202324/publications/). I look forward to working with the Committee on this and other matters.
I encourage hon. Members to raise any specific issues they may have with myself and my office.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the oral contribution by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport in response to the question from the hon. Member for Wokingham of 17 December 2024, Official Report, column 87WH, when she intends to write regarding Twyford car park.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Network Rail is intending to resurface the station car park at Twyford as part of its renewals programme. This will be done in accordance with current standards, which will likely result in fewer parking spaces in the car park. Great Western Railway is working with Network Rail and local stakeholders on options to provide additional car parking spaces at Twyford.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 14 February to Question 29747 on AstraZeneca, if he will place a copy of the requested letter in the House of Commons Library.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Due to commercial confidentiality considerations, we are unable to place the requested letter in the House of Commons Library. As with any application for Government grant funding of this nature, all cases undergo rigorous due diligence, which assesses whether the investment represents good value for money for the taxpayer.
The Government remains committed to improving the business environment for Life Sciences companies. We continue to engage positively with AstraZeneca on the new Industrial Strategy and Life Sciences Sector Plan, due to be published in late Spring. This will set out a comprehensive plan of how the Government intends to drive growth in the sector.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an estimate of the number of eligible pensioners who were not claiming Pension Credit in Wokingham constituency on 31 January 2025.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Published DWP Pension Credit Take-up statistics estimate that up to 760,000 households who were entitled to receive Pension Credit did not claim the benefit. These statistics are only available at Great Britain level and cannot be broken down to smaller geographical areas. The latest available Pension Credit take-up statistics for Great Britain cover the financial year 2022 to 2023 and are available at: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2023 - GOV.UK
Latest caseload statistics show that as of August 2024, there were 1,359,773 people in receipt of Pension Credit in Great Britain, of which 798 were in Wokingham constituency. This data is available via DWP Stat-Xplore.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to improve the reliability of signalling on the Great Western Main Line out of Twyford.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Ministers have met with both Great Western Railway and Network Rail on operational performance which is the Secretary of State’s key focus for improvement. Recent performance for Network Rail has improved including the infrastructure on the mainline around Twyford. Improving signalling is part of an ongoing project between Network Rail western region and Great Western Railway.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate the UK Statistics Authority has made of the number of small businesses in Wokingham constituency in January (a) 2021, (b) 2022, (c) 2023, (d) 2024 and (e) 2025.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 21st February is attached.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to extend the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund beyond March 2025.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Wokingham to the answer of 29 January 2025 to Question 26025.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to provide GPs with training to diagnose brain tumours.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The standard of medical training is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC), which is an independent statutory body. The GMC has the general function of promoting high standards of education and co-ordinating all stages of education to ensure that medical students and newly qualified doctors are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes essential for professional practice
The curriculum for general practitioner (GP) specialty training is set by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), and has to meet the standards set by the GMC and be formally approved by them. Whilst the curriculum may not necessarily highlight a specific condition, it instead emphasises the skills and approaches a GP must develop to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients. This is assessed by the Membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners Examination.
The RCGP provides several resources on cancer prevention, diagnosis and care for GPs, relevant for the primary care setting.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the frequency of rail services for commuters between Wokingham and London.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Department officials are in regular conversation with South-Western Railway regarding its service provision in response to demand. When reviewing train services, the Department needs to assess business cases and balance demand with value for the taxpayer in its considerations. The Department believe this balance to be appropriate.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking with Wokingham Borough Council to promote the uptake of pension credit.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
As part of our nationwide Pension Credit campaign, the Department has engaged with all councils in Great Britain, including Wokingham Borough Council, via the regular Local Authority Welfare Direct bulletins. In response to our call to action, 200 councils across Great Britain have supported our Pension Credit campaign either on social media, or by distributing the promotional material we have provided.
Wokingham Borough Council requested printed materials to share locally and has shared our messages through their social media channels, successfully signposting local people to Pension Credit information and resources. DWP has developed an ongoing relationship with their Communications Team and engaged with them recently, including in January as part of the Energy Savers Week Pension Credit campaign.