Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on steps to mitigate the levels of air pollution around regional airports in residential areas.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
There are regular discussions between DEFRA and DfT at ministerial and official levels regarding air pollution and the practical steps we can take towards reducing emissions.
The government is working to improve international standards on emissions from aircraft and to challenge airports to improve local air quality. Emissions from aircraft are strictly regulated by the International Civil Aviation Organization. The aviation industry is taking action to cut airport-related emissions by operating aircraft more efficiently, introducing new lower emission technologies and practices, reducing vehicle emissions within the airport boundary, and improving public transport links to airports.
Local authorities are responsible for assessing local air quality and to take action if local air quality standards and objectives are not met. This would include liaising with airports to manage the impact they are having including from vehicles accessing the airport.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle drug dealing and drug houses in local communities.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
This Government is committed to tackling the illicit drug trade, protecting the most vulnerable and helping those with a drug dependency to recover. That’s why the Government have invested £65m to tackle drug supply and county lines so far, including £40m this year as part of the wider £148m package announced in January to tackle drugs misuse, supply and county lines.
Through our County Lines Programme investment we have expanded the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre; established dedicated county lines task forces in London, Merseyside, the West Midlands and British Transport Police; invested in new technology including Automatic Number Plate Recognition; and increased specialist support for victims of county lines. Since November 2019, this has already resulted in more than 1,100 lines closed, over 6,300 arrests, over £2.9 million in cash and significant quantities of drugs seized, and more than 1,900 vulnerable people safeguarded.
We recognise that the use of cuckooed addresses remains a feature of county lines gangs’ activities which is why we work closely with law enforcement partners on this issue through the Home Office-funded county lines programme.
In addition, we have invested £59m until March 2023 on Project ADDER trail-blazing a whole-system response to combating drug misuse with the enforcement, diversion and treatment and recovery in areas hardest hit across England and Wales.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department is taking steps to prevent the members of Police Misconduct Panels being held personally liable for awards made in (a) Employment Tribunals and (b) County Courts for breaches of the Equality Act 2010 arising as a consequence of those misconduct proceedings.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Indemnity against such action is currently provided by Police and Crime Commissioners as part of the terms and conditions of Legally Qualified Chairs when they are appointed
The Home Office is currently considering a request to legislate for indemnity but a decision on how to proceed has not yet been made.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many nurses have been allocated to implementing policies introduced as a result of the Learning Disability Mortality Review programme.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
This information is not held centrally.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress is being made on providing indicative discharge dates or an action plan to people with learning disabilities detained under the Mental Health Act.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
Discharge planning should start as soon as possible after admission to a mental health inpatient setting through a Care and Treatment Review. Health commissioners are required to report whether there is a planned date of discharge or transfer via the Assuring Transformation dataset published by NHS Digital. As of May 2021, 43% of current inpatients had a date for discharge or transfer.
We set out our proposed reforms in the Mental Health Act White Paper published on 13 January 2021. A Government response to the consultation will be published in due course.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, from what date university students will be able to return to campus and resume in-person teaching.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
Following the review into when the remaining higher education students can return to in-person teaching and learning, the government has announced that the remaining students should return to in-person teaching no earlier than 17 May 2021, alongside Step 3 of the roadmap. Students and institutions will be given at least a week’s notice of any further return in accordance with the timing of Step 3 of the roadmap.
The government roadmap is designed to maintain a cautious approach to the easing of restrictions to reduce public health risks and ensure that we can maintain progress towards full reopening. However, the government recognises the difficulties and disruption that this may cause for many students and their families and that is why the government is making a further £15 million of additional student hardship funding available for this academic year 2020/21. In total we have made an additional £85 million of funding available for student hardship.
We are supporting universities to provide regular twice weekly asymptomatic testing for all students and staff on-site and, from May, at home. This will help break chains of transmission of the virus.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
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 ensure that social care needs are met (a) without people losing their family principal private residence when paying for dementia care and (b) when adjusting or supplementing Carer’s Allowance; and what steps he is taking to tackle the disparity between the fees charged by (i) private and (ii) local authority owned care homes.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
We are committed to bringing forward a plan for social care this year to ensure that everyone is treated with dignity and respect, and to find long term solutions for one of the biggest challenges we face as a society.
Carer’s Allowance is a weekly benefit and is not means-tested or contribution-based. This allowance provides a measure of financial support to people aged 16 years old or over, caring for a disabled person in receipt of a qualifying benefit for more than 35 hours a week, provided the carer is not in gainful employment.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the role sensible portion sizes play in helping to tackle obesity.
Answered by Jo Churchill
Public Health England (PHE) has not made a specific assessment.
The Government’s reduction and reformulation programme includes reducing portion size as one mechanism that can be used by all sectors of the food industry. Calorie-based portion size guidelines covering food and drink consumed in and out of the home have been included in the sugar and calorie reduction programmes that Public Health England oversees for the Government.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to take to promote awareness on healthy portion sizes for food and drink.
Answered by Jo Churchill
Public Health England’s (PHE) Better Health programme provides tips on what a healthy balanced diet looks like, including information on portions sizes. For those trying to lose weight, the website and NHS Weight Loss app include suggestions such as trying smaller plates and bowls to help reduce portion sizes at mealtimes, aiming for two or more portions of veg and ensuring wholegrain foods take up no more than a third of a plate.
PHE’s OneYou Easy Meals app provides recipes with suggested portions for each recipe in line with nutritional requirements for adults. All recipes carry front of pack information per portion. The OneYou website also directs to the Eatwell Guide to support people in achieving a balanced diet. The Change4Life website includes information and advice for parents when feeding their children including on ‘me size meals’ and guidance on calories when choosing packaged snacks.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with food and drink manufacturers on reducing portion sizes.
Answered by Jo Churchill
Public Health England (PHE) has discussed various approaches that can be taken to reduce portion sizes with industry sectors including retailers, manufacturers and the eating out of home sector. It is for individual businesses to consider and decide how best to apply this.
Reducing portion size is one mechanism for industry action that can be employed in reformulation programmes. Calorie-based portion size guidelines covering food and drink consumed in and out of the home have been set in the sugar and calorie reduction programmes PHE oversees for the Government. The salt reduction programme includes maximum salt targets for portions of food served out of the home. There will be continued engagement with stakeholders on all parts of the programme. Updates on engagement are published regularly at the following link: