Asked by: Dehenna Davison (Conservative - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has taken steps to amend NICE guidelines relating to potentially painful and unnecessary hysteroscopies for people requiring diagnostic testing for cancer.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is responsible for making decisions independently on whether its guidelines should be updated in light of new evidence or emerging issues not in the scope of the original guideline.
The NICE has published a number of guidelines that relate to the diagnosis of cancer or hysteroscopies, and is currently updating its guideline on the assessment of treatment of fertility problems. The NICE currently expects to publish final updated guidance in May 2025.
Asked by: Dehenna Davison (Conservative - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will have discussions with Forest Holidays UK on the potential impact of their developments on (a) ecology and (b) habitats.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Forest Holidays is a commercial undertaking that develops and provides overnight cabin accommodation in the nation’s forests, which are managed by Forestry England. The partnership between the Forestry Commission and Forest Holidays is managed on a commercial lease basis and the Forestry Commission acts as landlord of Forest Holidays sites. Forestry England is an Executive Agency of the Forestry Commission.
Forestry England carries out careful and systematic reviews of areas of the nation’s forests where any development might be considered, to assess whether environmental or other considerations should preclude the development. All Forest Holidays proposals adhere to the principles of ‘biodiversity net gain’. Forest Holidays completes a broad suite of ecological studies, including assessments for protected species at potential new cabin locations. Protection of flora and fauna both during construction and post operation is secured through adherence to method statements and management plans which are submitted with a full planning application. Forest Holidays developments are subject to the same local authority managed planning permission controls as any other recreational site developer. This will include environmental assessments and formal consultation as required by the respective local planning authority.
As an Executive Agency of the Forestry Commission (FC), Forestry England is discussed with Ministers in FC's bimonthly Ministerial Delivery Meetings and their six-monthly Ministerial Performance Review.
Asked by: Dehenna Davison (Conservative - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether her Department is taking steps to improve the access to funding for the installers of Great British Insulation Scheme Flex.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
The Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS) is not a Government grant or loan but funded by obligated energy suppliers who then recoup the costs from their domestic customers.
The Government sets the overall target and rules for GBIS but does not intervene in how energy suppliers deliver their individual targets.
Asked by: Dehenna Davison (Conservative - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to reduce net migration.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The Government remains completely committed to reducing levels of legal migration. Our points-based immigration system allows us to control who comes to the UK to work, study and visit.
In May 2023, we took decisive action to tackle the substantial rise in the number of students bringing dependants to the UK. These reforms have now been implemented.
On 4 December, the Home Secretary announced a new package of measures to further reduce legal net migration. These include: limitations on family dependants being brought in by care workers and senior care workers; increasing the salary threshold for the Skilled Worker route; commissioning the Migration Advisory Committee to review the Shortage Occupation List and raising the minimum income requirement progressively over the next few years.
This package of measures, taken together with the measures the Government announced in May 2023 to restrict the number of overseas students able to bring dependants, means that around 300,000 people who were eligible to come to the UK last year would not be able to do so in future.
We keep all our immigration policies under review to ensure they best serve the UK and reflect the public’s priorities, including filling skills gaps and growing the economy.
Asked by: Dehenna Davison (Conservative - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing mandatory microchipping for all (a) horses, (b) ponies and (c) donkeys.
Answered by Mark Spencer
The Equine Identification (England) Regulations 2018 brought in a mandatory requirement from October 2020 for all horses, ponies and donkeys to be microchipped, including those born prior to 30th June 2009, which were not required under previous legislation. The one exception to this regulation is a derogation for qualifying wild and semi-wild equines that do not leave the designated areas of Dartmoor, Exmoor, the New Forest and Wicken Fen. There is equivalent legislation in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Dehenna Davison (Conservative - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of updating the valuations upon which Council Tax bands are set.
Answered by Simon Hoare
As set out previously, the Government has no plans to conduct a revaluation of council tax bands.
The Government remains committed to improving the local government finance landscape in the next Parliament. The Government confirmed in the Policy Statement published ahead of the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement that in response to calls for stability the Government is prioritising stability in this Parliament and will work with local government and the wider sector on the new challenges and opportunities they face in the next Parliament.
Asked by: Dehenna Davison (Conservative - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to improve NHS care for people with migraines; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) increasing the availability of headache specialists in the NHS, (b) improving the provision of (i) training and resources for GPs and (ii) guidance for other health professionals on migraines and (c) increasing the role of pharmacies for providing primary care for people with migraines.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
To ensure that there are sufficient staffing levels right across the National Health Service, NHS England published the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP) in June 2023. The LTWP sets out the steps the NHS and its partners need to take to deliver an NHS workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next 15 years. It will put the workforce on a sustainable footing for the long term. The LTWP is a high-level plan to support the NHS workforce as a whole and is designed to identify the right supply of staff across all clinical pathways and specialisms rather than workforce plans for specific services.
General practitioners are responsible for ensuring that their own clinical knowledge remains up-to-date, and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development. This activity should include taking account of new research and developments in guidance, such as that produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, to ensure that they have the knowledge and skills relevant to their role as generalist community-based doctors. This includes understanding how to recognise migraine and headache disorders and instigate appropriate treatment.
Individual employers are responsible for investing in post-registration training, ensuring that staff are trained and competent to carry out their role and are adequately supported throughout their training. All training undertaken by post-registration qualified staff should be in line with national and local guidelines covering the training being undertaken.
In England, all community pharmacies delivering NHS services must provide support for self-care, for example giving people advice and support, and where appropriate, the sale of appropriate over the counter (OTC) medicines. Advice and OTC migraine treatments are part of a well-established pathway in this context, and pharmacy teams are able to advise patients of their options.
It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population. The RightCare Headache and Migraines Toolkit should be used by ICBs to ensure that people suffering from migraines are supported effectively. The toolkit sets out the key priorities for improvement, including correct identification and diagnosis of headache disorders, and long-term management of patients in primary or community care. The toolkit also provides an opportunity for commissioners to self-assess and benchmark current systems’ service delivery and to explore opportunities for improvement.
The toolkit is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/rightcare/products/pathways/headache-and-migraine-toolkit/
Asked by: Dehenna Davison (Conservative - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take steps to ensure that integrated care boards make an assessment of the adequacy of their (a) workforce planning and (b) other services for meeting the needs of their populations who are affected by migraines.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
To ensure that there are sufficient staffing levels right across the National Health Service, NHS England published the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP) in June 2023. The LTWP sets out the steps the NHS and its partners need to take to deliver an NHS workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next 15 years. It will put the workforce on a sustainable footing for the long term. The LTWP is a high-level plan to support the NHS workforce as a whole and is designed to identify the right supply of staff across all clinical pathways and specialisms rather than workforce plans for specific services.
General practitioners are responsible for ensuring that their own clinical knowledge remains up-to-date, and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development. This activity should include taking account of new research and developments in guidance, such as that produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, to ensure that they have the knowledge and skills relevant to their role as generalist community-based doctors. This includes understanding how to recognise migraine and headache disorders and instigate appropriate treatment.
Individual employers are responsible for investing in post-registration training, ensuring that staff are trained and competent to carry out their role and are adequately supported throughout their training. All training undertaken by post-registration qualified staff should be in line with national and local guidelines covering the training being undertaken.
In England, all community pharmacies delivering NHS services must provide support for self-care, for example giving people advice and support, and where appropriate, the sale of appropriate over the counter (OTC) medicines. Advice and OTC migraine treatments are part of a well-established pathway in this context, and pharmacy teams are able to advise patients of their options.
It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population. The RightCare Headache and Migraines Toolkit should be used by ICBs to ensure that people suffering from migraines are supported effectively. The toolkit sets out the key priorities for improvement, including correct identification and diagnosis of headache disorders, and long-term management of patients in primary or community care. The toolkit also provides an opportunity for commissioners to self-assess and benchmark current systems’ service delivery and to explore opportunities for improvement.
The toolkit is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/rightcare/products/pathways/headache-and-migraine-toolkit/
Asked by: Dehenna Davison (Conservative - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure consistency of support across regions for victims of domestic violence.
Answered by Laura Farris
The Violence Against Women and Girls National Statement of Expectations sets out how local areas should commission effective services. It also aims to increase understanding of the need for specialist services and the value of those designed, and delivered by and for the users and communities they aim to serve (for example victims and survivors from ethnic minority backgrounds, deaf and disabled victims and survivors, and LGBT victims and survivors).
The Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s report on meeting the needs of victims across England and Wales has been useful in highlighting the importance of nationwide provision and specialist support. We have and will continue to use her findings in commissioning and funding decisions.
The Domestic Abuse Act introduced a legal duty on Tier 1 local authorities to provide support for victims of domestic abuse and their children within safe accommodation, including refuges. Department of Levelling up, Housing and Communities have allocated £127.3 million in 2023/24 to LAs to discharge this duty.
Ministry of Justice is also this year (23/24) providing £21 million of ringfenced funding to Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCS) for community-based domestic abuse and sexual violence services. This is in addition to the ‘Core’ funding MoJ provides to PCCs to allocate at their discretion, based on their assessment of local need.
In November 2023, we renewed the commitment to support victims of domestic abuse with a further £2 million investment into the Flexible Fund until March 2025, announced in the Autumn Statement. The Home Office Fund will enable direct payments to victims across England and Wales to help them flee abuse and re-establish long-term safety and independence and builds on a trial of the scheme in 2023.
Asked by: Dehenna Davison (Conservative - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to support the long-term viability of high streets.
Answered by Jacob Young
This Government is fully committed to supporting our high-street businesses and communities.
Thanks to my Hon friend’s hard work, provisions in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act for High Street Rental Auctions (HSRA) give local authorities new powers to force landlords to rent out vacant units in high streets. HSRAs will be backed by £2 million funding announced as part of the Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan, to help communities and local businesses take control of empty properties, covering the cost of refurbishing properties, the auction process and council fees.
The High Street Accelerator pilot programme will incentivise and empower local people to work together to develop ambitious plans to tackle vacancy and anti-social behaviour, and work on long-term regeneration plans to future proof their high streets.
The Government’s Long-Term Plan for Towns has identified 55 towns to develop the first wave of Town Partnerships, backed by £1.1 billion overall, to drive ambitious plans to regenerate local towns across the UK over the next decade.
Long-term investment also includes £2.35 billion of Town Deals and over £830 million of Future High Streets Funding across 170 high streets, town centres and local communities in England.
At the last autumn statement, the Chancellor announced a business rates support package worth £4.3 billion over the next five years, freezing the small business multiplier and extending the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure scheme.
I want to thank my Hon friend for her work, and I look forward to continuing to work with her on levelling up projects in Bishop Auckland and our Long-Term Plan for Towns in Spennymoor.