Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps he has taken with relevant authorities to improve storm (a) resilience and (b) recovery efforts in (i) the North West and (ii) St Helens.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
(a) The Environment Agency (EA) is investing £748 million in the current capital programme (2021-27) to reduce the impact of flooding across the North West.
The EA has 850 assets in the Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire area which it operates and maintains, and staff available 24/7 to respond to incidents. The EA’s network of river telemetry informs its operation of the Flood Warning Service which helps at risk communities prepare for flooding. As part of the recovery from storms, the EA inspects its assets for damage and to confirm that they have operated as expected and meets with communities on the ground to determine the extent of flooding.
The EA attends regular operational meetings with St Helens Borough Council (BC) and United Utilities to review flood risk management issues and solutions. The EA is supporting St Helens BC on updating its multi-agency emergency flood plan and in the development of two new flood risk schemes – Black Brook and Rainford Brook. St Helens BC has an allocation of £769k towards flood defence schemes in the current capital programme
The EA conducts a routine maintenance programme in 13 locations in St Helens to reduce flood risk. It has completed removal of a silt island in Windle Brook, at the silt trap immediately upstream from Dilloway Street debris screen, in the previous 12 months to improve channel capacity and flow.
(b) The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities activated the Flood Recovery Framework on 6 January. For the Storm Henk Flood Recovery Framework activation, eligible areas are those upper and lower tier authority areas:
Local Authorities and LLFAs are responsible for distributing funding to affected people. They are able to do as soon as they notify the Government their area becomes eligible so the scheme can be extended. Government funding for eligible properties will be paid to Local Authorities retrospectively, based on the certified cost of providing relief.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate she has made of the rate of liver disease in (a) St Helens North constituency and (b) the North West.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) publishes Liver Disease profiles that compare local areas within England. Data for the prevalence of liver disease is not collected. The profiles provide liver disease mortality and hospital admissions rates for areas to assess their local level of disease.
The profiles do not publish data by constituency; however, the profile does publish data for local authorities. For St. Helens Metropolitan District Council, the rate of mortality during 2021 from liver disease was 31.3 (23.4 to 40.9) per 100,000 population aged under 75 years old. In 2021/22, the hospital admission rate due to liver disease was 196.8 (150.9 to 246.4) per 100,000 population across all ages.
For the North West region, the rate of mortality during 2021 from liver disease was 29.3 (28.0 to 30.7) per 100,000 population aged under 75 years old. The regional rate was significantly higher than the England mortality rate of 21.2 per 100,000 and was the highest regional rate in England. In 2021/22, the hospital admission rate due to liver disease was 160.6 (154.5 to 166.7) per 100,000 population across all ages in the North West region. The regional rate was significantly higher than the England hospital admission rate of 150.6 per 100,000 and was the fourth highest regional rate in England.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate her Department has made of the number of measles cases there are in (a) St Helens and (b) the North West.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The UK Health Security Agency publishes routine data on laboratory confirmed measles. As provided in the latest published data between 1 January 2023 and 30 November 2023 there have been eight laboratory confirmed cases in the North West.
Monthly cases by age and region are available at the following link:
This routine report does not include a breakdown of cases by local authority due to small numbers and the risk of deductive disclosure.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time was for child and adolescent mental health services in (a) St Helens North constituency and (b) the North West in the latest period for which data is available; and what steps she is taking to reduce those waiting times.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Since 2018, we have invested an extra £2.3 billion a year to expand mental health services in England, with the aim of enabling two million more people, including 345,000 more children and young people to access mental health support.
We’re rolling out mental health support teams to schools and colleges. These now cover approximately 35% of pupils and are expected to reach 50% of pupils by March 2025. NHS England is also developing a new waiting time standard for children and their families to receive community-based mental health care within four weeks of referral.
Whilst the relevant data is not available at a constituency level, the following table shows the number of referrals for children and young people aged under 18 years old, supported through National Health Service-funded mental health, and waiting times for first contact between September and November 2023 for NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board (ICB), North West Commissioning Region, and England:
Location | Number of referrals | Median waiting time between referral start date and first contact | 90th percentile waiting time between referral start date and first contact |
NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB | 8,550 | 21 days | 469 days |
North West Commissioning Region | 26,125 | 11 days | 250 days |
England | 179,295 | 13 days | 225 days |
Source: Mental Health Services Data Set, NHS England
Notes:
The 90th percentile waiting time was 469 days meaning 10% of children and young people who received a first contact in this period waited over 469 days.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to increase the availability of NHS dental treatment in St Helens North constituency.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Our plan for dentistry, to be published shortly, will build upon the first package of reforms agreed in July 2022, which included changes to banding and the introduction of a minimum Units of Dental Activity value. Our plan will include addressing how we continue to improve access, particularly for new patients; and how we make National Health Service work more attractive to ensure NHS dentists are incentivised to deliver more NHS care.
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, published on 30 June 2023, sets out the steps the NHS and its partners need to take to deliver an NHS workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next 15 years. These include a 40% increase to dentistry undergraduate training places by 2031/32. To support this ambition, we will expand places by 24% by 2028/29, taking the overall number that year to 1,000 places.
From 1 April 2023, responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to all integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. ICBs are responsible for having local processes in place to identify areas of need and determine the priorities for investment.
Patients who are struggling to find a local dentist can contact NHS England’s Customer Contact Centre for assistance or contact NHS 111 if seeking urgent care.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help increase capacity of NHS dentists in St Helens North constituency.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Our plan for dentistry, to be published shortly, will build upon the first package of reforms agreed in July 2022, which included changes to banding and the introduction of a minimum Units of Dental Activity value. Our plan will include addressing how we continue to improve access, particularly for new patients; and how we make National Health Service work more attractive to ensure NHS dentists are incentivised to deliver more NHS care.
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, published on 30 June 2023, sets out the steps the NHS and its partners need to take to deliver an NHS workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next 15 years. These include a 40% increase to dentistry undergraduate training places by 2031/32. To support this ambition, we will expand places by 24% by 2028/29, taking the overall number that year to 1,000 places.
From 1 April 2023, responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to all integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. ICBs are responsible for having local processes in place to identify areas of need and determine the priorities for investment.
Patients who are struggling to find a local dentist can contact NHS England’s Customer Contact Centre for assistance or contact NHS 111 if seeking urgent care.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Lifetime ISAs for helping first-time buyers in (a) Merseyside (b) St Helens.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to supporting people of all incomes and at all stages of life to save, and to making the aspiration of home ownership a reality for as many households as possible.
The Lifetime ISA is intended to support younger people saving for their first home or for later life by offering a generous government bonus of 25% on up to £4,000 of savings each year. These funds, including the government bonus, can be used to purchase a first home up to the value of £450,000.
The Government remains of the view that the property price cap is set at an appropriate level to support most first-time buyers across the UK while targeting households that may find it most difficult to get onto the property ladder. The withdrawal charge is needed to protect the LISA’s status as a long-term savings product. Reducing this and would encourage the use of LISAs in ways for which they were not intended.
The Government does not undertake an assessment of the effectiveness of the LISA by region, however the Government regularly publishes annual savings statistics, which includes information on the LISA. (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-savings-statistics-2022)
The Government will continue to keep all aspects of savings tax policy under review and considers all representations made carefully, with any changes made as part of the Budget process.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the impact of trends in the level of interest rates on homeowners in St Helens North constituency.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The pricing and availability of mortgages is a commercial decision for lenders in which the Government does not intervene. However, the Government recognises this is a concerning time for mortgage borrowers.
Rising interest rates are in part driven by Bank Rate. Monetary policy is the responsibility of the independent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England. The MPC continues to have the Government’s full support as it takes action to return inflation to target through its independent monetary policy decisions.
The average offered mortgage rates on 2-year and 5-year fixed rates have now fallen from their peak in the Summer.
The Government has taken steps to limit the impact of rising interest rates on mortgage holders, through the Mortgage Charter. This Charter sets out the standards that signatory lenders – who represent over 90% of the UK mortgage market – will adopt when helping their customers.
We have also taken a number of measures aimed at helping people to avoid repossession, including protection in the courts through the Pre-Action Protocol, the Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service (HLPAS), and Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) loans. Accordingly, arrears and repossessions remain low by historical standards, despite the rise in interest costs.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time was for a referral for each type of cancer in St Helens North constituency in each year since 2010.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This information is not held in the format requested.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to help support the (a) Liverpool City Region and (b) Metropolitan Borough of St Helens in the context of its status as a freeport.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) supports UK Freeports to attract new investment, boost trade and create thousands of jobs in their surrounding areas.
DBT provides tailored support to Liverpool City Region Freeport to develop and implement an ambitious trade and investment strategy, including to promote the advanced manufacturing and logistics opportunity at Parkside St Helens, as one of the Freeport’s strategic tax sites.
Support provided by DBT includes the creation of bespoke marketing collateral and engaging potential investors at international events through DBT’s global network. In November, DBT supported the Freeport’s presence at the Arab British Economic Summit to target investment from the Middle Eastern market.