Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason the Education and Skills Funding Agency has changed its policy on membership of academy trusts, meaning that employees of a school can no longer act as members of its academy trust.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Members play a limited but critical role in safeguarding the governance of academy trusts. They have the power to appoint and remove trustees, they can also direct trustees to take specific actions in some circumstances. As trustees are in turn ultimately responsible for the appointment and removal of employees, an employee also being a member risks undermining clear lines of accountability within the trust.
Given the importance of this clear accountability, the Academies Financial Handbook 2020 included a requirement that all trusts move to having no members employed by the trust by March 2021.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answers of 17 December 2020 to Question 128492 and of 20 January 2021 to Question 137326, whether he plans to extend the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme beyond 31 March 2021; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
I am pleased to be able to confirm that the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme will be renewed this year on the same terms as it operated previously.
This scheme will continue to benefit listed places of worship across the country during these difficult times. It will also help to ensure that they are able to reopen fully once it is safe to do so.
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 assessment his Department has made of the level of (a) public support for genome editing farm animals and (b) consumer interest in purchasing products made from such animals in the regulation of genetic technologies consultation, which closes on 17 March 2021.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
We recognise that there is a spectrum of opinions on these topics. We are consulting on genome editing to provide an opportunity for all views to be shared. No decisions on any legislative changes will be made before the results of the consultation are analysed. The UK has no intention of reducing its high standards of animal welfare. We are committed to proportionate, science-based regulation that protects people, animals and the environment, and ensuring that safe products reach the market. Our consultation opened on 7th January and closes on 17th March 2021.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps her Department is taking to establish equivalent trading agreements between Maldives and the UK as exist with similar Commonwealth countries.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
British agreements with similar Commonwealth countries were ‘rolled over’ from previous European Union (EU) agreements. My Hon. Friend will know that the Maldives did not have a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the EU.
HM Government has not been able to negotiate trade deals with our friends around the world for almost fifty years. Now that we have control of our independent trade policy, the Department for International Trade is actively pursuing agreements with our trading partners, under an ambitious programme of work – including with the United States, Australia and New Zealand – as well as seeking accession to the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
The United Kingdom and the Maldives already have a strong bilateral relationship. Trade in goods and services was worth £201m in 2019. In that context, we are working with the Maldivian Government to explore ways to increase trade and investment across a range of sectors of mutual interest, including food and drink, defence, education, fitness and health, and in environmental science and sustainable development.
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 steps his Department is taking to promote the Maldives fishing industry ahead of COP26.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
As President of the UNFCCC COP26 in partnership with Italy, the UK is committed to showcasing ambitious action on climate change and inspiring others to do the same. Through our COP26 Presidency the UK will champion and drive forward the protection of marine ecosystems and wider nature-based solutions to improve the ocean’s resilience to climate change and support the restoration of habitats critical for adaptation and resilience, alongside carbon sequestration.
As a newly independent coastal State the UK will expand and enhance our efforts to manage fisheries sustainably, protect ecosystems and combat illegal fishing at an international scale through our engagement in Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs), other international organisations such as the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, and directly with individual States. The UK has recently joined five RFMOs, including the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission, to which the Maldives is also a party. The UK looks forward to working with the Maldives in these fora.
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 weekly confirmed hospital admissions to hospital for influenza were recorded through the UK Severe Influenza Surveillance Systems sentinel scheme since January 2019.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Public Health England records cases of severe influenza with data from a sentinel network of National Health Service trusts.
The attached table shows the weekly number of hospital admissions including admission to Intensive Care Unit/High Dependency Unit for laboratory confirmed influenza cases reported through the sentinel surveillance network, in England by week between January 2019 to January 2021 (ending 24 January 2021) based on International Standardisation Organisation week number system.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the number of animals used in experiments relating to the covid-19 outbreak will be included in the statistics of scientific procedures on living animals in Great Britain for 2020.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The number of animals used in experiments relating to the Covid-19 outbreak will be reported in the annual statistics of scientific procedures on living animals in Great Britain for 2020.
However, data will not be collected that identifies the number of animals used in experiments specifically related to the Covid-19 outbreak. The use of animals for Covid-19 research falls within a range of purposes in the published data and may be recorded under the categories of basic research, translational research or regulatory research.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of animals that will be used in experiments relating to the covid-19 outbreak based on the details provided in the project licences that have so far been granted or amended for that purpose.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The number of animals used in experiments relating to the Covid-19 outbreak will be incorporated in the annual statistics of scientific procedures on living animals in Great Britain for 2020. However, data will not be collected that identifies the number of animals used in experiments specifically related to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Home Office project licences last for 5 years and set the maximum number of animals that are authorised for use during that licence period, making estimates very difficult to calculate accurately.
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 confirmed hospital admissions for influenza there have been in each year since January 2019.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information is not held in the format requested.
Public Health England records cases of severe influenza with data from a sentinel network of National Health Service trusts which report voluntarily on a weekly basis on hospitalisation to all levels of care for laboratory confirmed influenza. However, as this data comes from a sentinel network of trusts, a stable network of trusts that participate every season and commit to providing weekly data, it is therefore not designed to capture all hospitalisations of influenza in England.
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 confirmed hospital admissions for influenza there have been in each month since January 2019.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Data on confirmed hospital admissions for influenza is not collected on a monthly basis.