Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent progress his Department has made to meet the commitment to protect 30% of (a) land and (b) seas by 2030.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In July, the Secretary of State confirmed the Government’s intention to launch a rapid review of the Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP). Our review will make sure that the EIP is fit for purpose to deliver on our ambitious targets, including 30by30, and we will communicate updates in the usual way.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his Department's policies of the recommendations of Blood Cancer UK's Action Plan.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not made a formal assessment of the potential implications of its policies based on the recommendations of Blood Cancer UK’s Action Plan.
However, we will get the National Health Service diagnosing cancer earlier and treating it faster. This is supported by NHS England’s key ambition on cancer to meet the Faster Diagnosis Standard, which sets a target of 28 days from urgent referral by a general practitioner or screening programme to patients being told that they have cancer, or that cancer is ruled out.
The Department is committed to implementing the recommendations of the Lord O'Shaughnessy review into commercial clinical trials, making sure that the United Kingdom leads the world in clinical trials, and to ensure that innovative, lifesaving treatments are accessible to NHS patients, including those with blood cancer.
Professor Lord Darzi has undertaken an independent investigation into the state of the NHS, the findings of which will feed into the Government’s 10-year plan to build a health service that is fit for the future. The Government will therefore set out any further priorities on cancer and health in due course.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her Department's policies of the report by Kinship entitled Forgotten: Support for kinship children’s education and mental health, published August 2024.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is determined to give every child the opportunities they deserve. It knows that many children in kinship care need extra support, including in school. The department is working to ensure their needs are met, and that they have the best possible opportunity to succeed.
Children in kinship care can currently access pupil premium funding if they have been entitled to free school meals within the last six years and can receive pupil premium plus funding if they have left local authority care through a Special Guardianship or Child Arrangements Order. Children cared for under one of these orders are also eligible for school admissions through the Fair Access Protocol.
From September 2024, the role of Virtual School Heads has been expanded to include championing the education, attendance and attainment of children in kinship care, ensuring that more children in kinship care receive the help they need to thrive at school.
The Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund, helps adoptive and Special Guardianship Order children, and their families, access therapeutic interventions related to trauma and attachment. Since the fund was established in 2015, it has provided over £400 million in funding to support more than 50,000 children.
This government is considering how to most effectively transform the children’s social care system to deliver better outcomes for children and families, including how best to support kinship children and families.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of potential implications for his policies of the human rights situation in Bangladesh.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has a long-standing commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights. In July, the UK government expressed concern about the situation in Bangladesh and called for all sides to work together to end the violence. We were clear that a full and independent UN-led investigation is important. The Interim Government in Bangladesh has the UK's full support as it works to restore peace and order including investigating alleged human rights violations. The UK supports the work of the UN as it works to conduct an impartial and independent fact-finding mission to identify human rights violations.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of Ofgem’s decision to increase the energy price cap from October 2024.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Ofgem’s price cap increased for the period 1 October 2024 to 31 December 2024 due to the increase in global wholesale energy prices. The Government believes that the only way to protect billpayers permanently from price shocks, is to speed up the transition away from fossil fuels and towards homegrown clean energy. The creation of Great British Energy will help us to harness clean energy and have less reliance on foreign, volatile energy markets, and help in our commitment to produce all of the UK's energy from clean power sources by 2030.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the Institute of Alcohol Studies' article entitled £27.4 billion cost of alcohol harm in England every year, published on 20 May 2024.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Following the recent alcohol duty reforms, all alcoholic products are now taxed by strength. This reflects public health priorities and helps to address potentially harmful products like ‘white’ ciders and strong fortified wines, which are often cited by health groups as being abused.
The Chancellor has confirmed that she will set out plans for tax – as well as spending and borrowing – in the usual way at the Budget on 30 October.
HM Treasury welcomes representations as part of this policy making process and Budget submissions will be received through the online portal until 10 September.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to tackle online (a) disinformation and (b) misinformation.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Online Safety Act (OSA) will be the Governments key tool in combatting online mis- and disinformation. It sets out a clear regulatory framework to tackle both mis- and disinformation where it constitutes illegal content or harmful content to children.
In addition, we are educating and empowering users through our work on media literacy to increase society’s resilience to mis- and disinformation.
Officials also regularly meet with major platforms, about disinformation activity, emerging risks and platforms’ responses.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to extend contracts for Early Years Stronger Practice Hubs in (a) the Liverpool City Region and (b) across England.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is committed to ensuring that every child in an early years setting receives high quality education and care. Evidence shows that this has a positive impact on outcomes in both the short and long term, particularly for the most disadvantaged children.
The Stronger Practice Hubs Programme was launched in 2022 to address the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the youngest children, with a focus on the most disadvantaged areas. The Hubs support early years settings and childminders by sharing effective practice, learning from the best available evidence, and building lasting local networks.
The department is pleased to confirm that all Stronger Practice Hubs in England, including the Hub in the Liverpool City Region, have been offered the opportunity to extend their grants until 31 March 2025.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
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 help improve pancreatic cancer outcomes.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is working with NHS England to deliver interventions to improve outcomes for those with pancreatic cancer across England. Early diagnosis is imperative to improving outcomes for all types of cancer, especially pancreatic due to the non-specific nature of its symptoms. As the first step to ensuring faster diagnosis and treatment, we will deliver an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week.
For pancreatic cancer specifically, NHS England is providing a route into pancreatic cancer surveillance for those at inherited high-risk, to identify lesions before they develop into cancer. NHS England is additionally creating pathways to support faster referral routes for people with non-specific symptoms, and is increasing direct access for general practitioners to diagnostic tests.
Additionally, the Getting it Right First-Time team in NHS England is undertaking a deep dive into pancreatic cancer, which will highlight good practice and actions National Health Service providers need to take to improve services. NHS England is also funding a new audit into pancreatic cancer, aiming to provide regular and timely evidence to cancer service providers of where patterns of care in England may vary, to increase the consistency of access to treatments and to stimulate improvements in cancer treatment and outcomes for patients.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of increasing the amount of time teachers are allocated to undertake (a) planning, (b) preparation and (c) assessment.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
All teachers who participate in the teaching of pupils are entitled to reasonable periods of planning, preparation and assessment (PPA) time, which is a minimum of 10% of their timetable.
This government is committed to resetting the relationship between the government and education profession in order to improve the experience of being a teacher. In July, alongside delivering a fully-funded 5.5% pay award, we clarified that teachers can use PPA time at home, to provide greater flexibility for teachers.
The department knows that improving workload will play a key role in recruiting and retaining excellent teachers and leaders, which will support the government’s mission to transform the education system so that all children and young people get the skills, care and opportunities they deserve.
The department is now considering all options for future policy interventions to improve teacher workload and wellbeing to help deliver on the government’s ambition to recruit 6,500 additional new teachers, and is working with partners across the sector to achieve this.