Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many Integrated Care Boards support prescriptions for gluten-free (a) foods and (b) other products for people diagnosed with coeliac disease in their area prescribing policies.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Decisions about prescribing rest with the general practitioner or other prescriber who has clinical responsibility for a patient’s care, taking into account relevant clinical guidance. It is not appropriate for Ministers to influence individual prescribing decisions.
The information on how many integrated care boards support prescriptions for gluten free and other products for people diagnosed with coeliac disease is not held centrally.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has made an estimate of the number of care home residents who have accessed the EBSS Alternative Funding as a proportion of the total number of care home residents.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
The Government do not at this stage have figures on the number of care home residents who have applied for the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding. The figures for the number of eligible households who have applied for the scheme will be available in May.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that people can access humanitarian aid in Sudan.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The humanitarian situation in Sudan is worsening dramatically. The UK's top humanitarian priority is to secure operational security guarantees and workable humanitarian access. There can be no international aid without safe and reliable access. We will work with international partners to support the UN to be able to scale-up delivery within Sudan so they can move quickly to respond if and when the access situation improves. The UK will support a well-coordinated and prioritised regional response.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has met with Daniel Kretinsky on the future of Royal Mail.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
I met representatives of Vesa Equity Investment, including Daniel Kretinsky, in January 2023 to discuss a wide range of issues across their current and potential future UK investments.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress the Government has made on the delivery of the veterans ID card scheme.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 23 March 2023 to Question 169383 to the hon. Member for Canterbury (Ms Duffield).
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of landlords not being able to issue two months' notice to tenants as a result of legislative change on (a) small student lets and (b) HMOs housing students.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The department will publish a full Impact Assessment alongside legislation.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help students to complete their coursers when an accredited provider of qualifications closes down.
Answered by Robert Halfon
When a provider of publicly-funded qualifications in England closes down, the department’s primary goal is to ensure that any students impacted are able to continue with their learning.
The department has specialist teams with specific processes in place (depending on provider type, qualification type and contract type) to effectively manage such closures, with a focus on continuity for the students concerned.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has taken recent steps to help support Palestinians affected by the evictions from Masafer Yatta.
Answered by David Rutley
The UK opposes these evictions. Demolitions and evictions of Palestinians from their homes cause unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians; call into question Israel's commitment to a viable two-state solution; and in all but the most exceptional of cases, demolitions by an occupying power are contrary to International Humanitarian Law. The Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, reiterated this position to Israeli Foreign Minister Cohen during his visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories in January, at which time he also visited a UK-donor funded school in Masafer Yatta. Lord Ahmad has also raised the issue of demolitions with Israeli Ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, in subsequent meetings. The UK continues to provide financial and political support for communities like those in Masafer Yatta through its contributions to the West Bank Political Consortium and staff at the British Consulate General in Jerusalem make regular working-level visits to Masafer Yatta, most recently on 16 April.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of the UK's accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership on the UK's greenhouse gas emissions.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston
The initial analysis published in the Government’s scoping assessment suggests that UK accession to CPTPP is not expected to have significant impacts on greenhouse gas emissions (CO2 and Non-CO2) and energy usage.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has taken recent steps to encourage the use of biochar as a (a) soil promoter, (b) substitute for imported fertiliser and (c) carbon capture method.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department through its Direct Air Capture and Greenhouse Gas Removal Innovation Programme is supporting five biochar pilot demonstrators for carbon capture, at a value of £18.7million, to be completed by March 2025. UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) is also funding a biochar demonstrator project that will investigate the stability of biochar, as well as its impacts on the environment and soil ecosystems, in different UK land management scenarios. Use of biochar as a technology is at an early stage of development and therefore deployment potential, costs and possible side-effects from use are uncertain. Results from the projects supported will help to inform future government policy on biochar as a greenhouse gas removal method.