Asked by: Dave Robertson (Labour - Lichfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of standardising the process by which ICBs commission palliative care, in the context of administrative pressures on hospices.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications. ICBs are responsible for the commissioning of palliative and end of life care services to meet the needs of their local populations.
Whilst the majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in providing support to people at the end of life and their loved ones.
Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing NHS services. The amount of funding each charitable hospice receives varies both within and between ICB areas. This will vary depending on demand in that ICB area but will also be dependent on the totality and type of palliative and end of life care provision from both NHS and non-NHS services, including charitable hospices, within each ICB area.
Due to the way the hospice movement organically grew, hospice locations were largely not planned with a view to providing even access across the country or to prioritise areas of greatest need based on demographics.
We are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care.
We are pleased to confirm that the Government has released the first £25 million tranche of the £100 million of capital funding, with Hospice UK allocating and distributing the money to hospices throughout England.
Asked by: Dave Robertson (Labour - Lichfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the publication entitled Approved Document B: Fire safety - frequently asked questions, published on 23 August 2022, on economic growth.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Approved Document B: Fire Safety - Frequently Asked Questions do not introduce any new guidance beyond what is included in Approved Document B but simply offer helpful clarifications where appropriate. When Approved Documents are updated, they undergo a public consultation and are subject to a comprehensive economic impact assessment.
Asked by: Dave Robertson (Labour - Lichfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the steps taken to improve the provision of care in the period in the period since the publication of the Independent review into the death of Clive Treacey, published in December 2021.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Following publication of the independent review, organisations directly involved in Clive’s care were invited to reflect on their practice and went on to develop high-level actions in response to its findings. There was an overwhelming commitment from all organisations engaged to address the systemic issues raised in the report. NHS England Midlands set up a group which became known as the Clive Treacey Conscience Group, including Elaine, Clive’s sister, to drive meaningful improvement. In July 2024, the Midlands region published Clive’s Way: A Conscience Manual, which outlines in detail the progress in taking forward the learning from Clive’s review, and which is available at the following link:
Significant time and resources have been invested in this process, designing the programme and following up on the recommendations in the review, and Clive’s Way remains a thread through the work of the National Health Service regional team. The report was shared with all Learning Disability and Autism Programmes nationwide and integrated care systems were encouraged to draw on its recommendations to appraise the effectiveness of their improvement programmes and look at areas needing further attention.
Asked by: Dave Robertson (Labour - Lichfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of making water and sewerage undertakers statutory consultees on applications for planning permission.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As part of the Chancellor’s planning reform announcement on 26 January 2025, the government declared a moratorium on new statutory consultees and a review of the existing arrangements for statutory consultees to ensure they align with the government’s ambitions for growth.
Any further announcements will be subject to this review.
Asked by: Dave Robertson (Labour - Lichfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of regulation of the private car parking sector.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government recognises the need for high standards in the private parking industry and is committed to working with both consumers and the two parking trade associations to raise standards and deliver better outcomes for motorists.
The Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 places a duty on the government to prepare a code of practice containing guidance about the operation and management of private parking facilities.
We will announce our plans regarding the government code in due course.
Asked by: Dave Robertson (Labour - Lichfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of making integrated care boards statutory consultees on applications for planning permission.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government recently declared a moratorium on any new statutory consultees, along with a review of the existing statutory consultee arrangements to ensure they align with the government’s ambitions for growth. Any further announcements will be subject to this review.
Asked by: Dave Robertson (Labour - Lichfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of classing trainee teachers as being in work for the purpose of claiming free childcare.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is committed to delivering the expansion of the 30 hours free childcare offer, so that from September 2025 eligible working parents in England will be able to access 30 hours of free childcare per week, over 38 weeks of the year, from when the term after their child turns nine months old to when they start school. Accessible and high quality early education and childcare is a crucial part of giving every child the best start in life, boosting children’s life chances and giving parents work choices.
Students who work in addition to their studies and earn the equivalent of at least 16 hours a week at National Minimum Wage (equivalent to £183 per week or £9,518 per year in 2024/2025), and under £100,000 adjusted net income per year, may be eligible for this offer. If they are unable to meet this threshold, they will remain eligible for the universal 15 hours of free early education, which is available to all 3 and 4 year-olds regardless of family circumstances.
The department recognises the value of parents continuing in education and provides a range of support for students in further or higher education to support them with childcare. Support available to full-time students with dependent children includes the Childcare Grant and Parents’ Learning Allowance. Entitlement to these grants is based on a student’s household income.
There are multiple routes into teaching to suit the needs of different candidates. There are postgraduate pathways that can be undertaken as a student, funded through a student loan and, in some subjects, bursaries, or employment-based training where trainees will earn a salary while they train. In September last year, the department launched a new salaried teacher degree apprenticeship which, upon completion, is itself equivalent to a degree.
Get Into Teaching, which is a free information service from the department, supports anyone considering teaching with their journey to entering the classroom. The service can be found here: https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/.
Further information on the childcare offers available to parents can be found here: https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk.
Asked by: Dave Robertson (Labour - Lichfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of police-support staffing levels in England and Wales; and whether her Department has been made aware of instances where police officers have been required to carry out the duties of support staff.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The government expects that police officers will be used in tackling crime and protecting the public.
It is for Chief Constables and directly elected PCCs, and Mayors with PCC functions to make operational decisions based on their local knowledge and experience, including how best to allocate resources.
Asked by: Dave Robertson (Labour - Lichfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent progress her Department has made on increasing international cooperation to tackle organised immigration crime.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
Mr Speaker, the criminal smuggling gangs are international operations and it will require international cooperation from governments and law enforcement agencies to dismantle their networks, and disrupt their supply chains.
Our new Border Security Command is already building and strengthening partnerships across the world to tackle this evil trade in human lives, signing new agreements from Germany to Iraq, and using every opportunity we have on the global stage to put this issue on the agenda, and drive collective action.
Asked by: Dave Robertson (Labour - Lichfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the budget allocation for the Animal and Plant Health Agency in Weybridge for the financial year 2025-26 is included within the £500 million uplift for agricultural spending for the same period; and how much was spent from the agricultural budget for farms in Lichfield constituency in the last three years.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Spending Review confirmed Defra’s budget for 2024-25 and 2025-26. The settlement provides £5 billion total departmental expenditure limit over two years (2024-25 and 2025-26) to support the transition towards a more productive and environmentally sustainable agricultural sector in England, ensuring food security. It also confirms £208 million funding across 2024-25 and 2025-26 to support the transformation of the Government’s biosecurity facilities at Weybridge. More detailed budgets will be set following the department’s business planning exercise. The department does not hold constituency level spending information for the farming budget.