Asked by: Dehenna Davison (Conservative - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if the Government will take steps to ensure that British citizens wishing to sponsor Ukrainian refugees are able to do so.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
I refer the Hon Member to the Secretary of State's Oral Statement to Parliament of 14 March 2022.
Asked by: Dehenna Davison (Conservative - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government has taken to help ensure that people undergoing vocational training have sufficient access to childcare.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Care to Learn (C2L) scheme is available to help young parents, defined as those aged under 20, to continue in education after the birth of a child. The scheme provides funding towards childcare whilst the young parent is engaged in a study programme and is not able to provide care for their child. C2L can also help with travel costs involved in taking the child to the childcare provider. During the 2020/2021 academic year, payments totalling over £5 million were made through the scheme.
Learner Support funds childcare for students aged 19 and over in further education. Learning providers decide how much a student receives, depending on their scheme and the individual circumstances of the student.
30 hours free childcare and Tax-Free Childcare are entitlements for working parents of three and four-year-olds. These aim to help working parents with the costs of childcare so they are able to take up paid work or work additional hours. The Childcare Bill policy statement, published in December 2015, is clear that students are not eligible for 30 hours free childcare. However, parents who undertake paid work in addition to their studies and meet the income requirements will be eligible for additional hours.
To qualify for 30 hours free childcare and Tax-Free Childcare, students do not have to physically work 16 hours a week. However, they do need to earn the equivalent of a weekly minimum of 16 hours at National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage. Currently, this is just over £7,400 a year.
Parents undertaking vocational training remain entitled to the universal 15 hour free entitlement for three and four-year-olds. They may also be eligible for 15 hours free early education for disadvantaged two-year-olds. More information on the eligibility criteria can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/help-with-childcare-costs/free-childcare-2-year-olds.
Further information on the full range of childcare support available can be found at: https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/. Constituents can also access the government’s childcare calculator, available here: https://www.gov.uk/childcare-calculator.
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, when the Government plans to end compulsory covid-19 restrictions in care homes.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The Department is reviewing the remaining measures in place in adult social care settings. We will publish updated infection prevention control guidance by 1 April 2022 on the next phase of the response in adult social care.
While most care recipients in adult social care are vaccinated, care home residents remain at a greater risk of hospitalisation and death from COVID-19 relative to the general population. The transmission risk remains high in vulnerable settings due to the kind of close contact care individuals receive. Therefore, some protections need to remain in place for those in adult social care settings.
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 the Government has taken to help ensure the long-term sustainability of funding for dementia research.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We have committed £375 million for research into neurodegenerative disease over the next five years, including dementia. Funding is provided through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). The NIHR and UKRI welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including dementia. All applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition. The forthcoming dementia strategy will set out our plans for dementia in England in future years, included increasing further research. The strategy will be published later this year.
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 the Government is taking to help ensure GPs have the (a) knowledge and (b) resources to adequately diagnose and arrange treatment for rare health conditions.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Increasing awareness of rare diseases among health care professionals is one of the four priorities of the 2021 UK Rare Diseases Framework. England’s Rare Diseases Action Plan was published on 28 February 2022 and includes specific actions to increase knowledge and improve the resources available to health care professionals, including general practitioners, to diagnose and arrange treatment for rare diseases.
This includes determining how to include rare diseases in health professional education and training programmes and developing an innovative digital resource, integrated into existing digital platforms or websites to provide easily accessible information on rare diseases. Action plans from the devolved administrations will follow later in 2022.
Asked by: Dehenna Davison (Conservative - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that there is an adequate supply of rest areas for HGV drivers.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government recognises the need to ensure hauliers have access to appropriate services and facilities.
We are aware of the concerns expressed by many HGV drivers about the provision, quality and value of lorry parking in the UK. We have announced £32.5 million in new funding to improve roadside facilities for hauliers and are undertaking a new National Lorry Parking Survey supported by direct industry engagement to help identify where improvements are most needed. We continue to engage with key stakeholders to encourage the development of safe, secure and high-quality lorry parking.
The National Planning Policy Framework already sets out that local planning policies and decisions should recognise the importance of providing overnight lorry parking facilities, taking into account any local shortages, to reduce the risk of parking in locations that lack proper facilities or could cause a nuisance.
The Government recently published a Written Ministerial Statement to reinforce the importance of providing hauliers with access to parking and services.
The Department for Transport continues to work with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUCH) to highlight the criteria and consideration for lorry parking with Local Authorities.
Asked by: Dehenna Davison (Conservative - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that rural communities have the infrastructure necessary to enable the use of electric vehicles.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
We want people across the country to have the opportunity to make the move to electric vehicles (EVs). Most EV drivers choose to charge their cars at home, overnight (and 85% of dwellings in rural areas have off-street parking) or increasingly at the workplace. For those without access or undertaking longer journeys, public charging is important.
The Department has committed over £1.3 billion to accelerate the roll out of charging infrastructure on motorways and major A roads, in homes and businesses and on-street. Government will publish its forthcoming EV Infrastructure Strategy soon. This will define our vision for the continued roll-out of a world-leading charging infrastructure network across the whole of the UK, including rural areas. It will also set out roles and responsibilities for ensuring charging infrastructure rollout is delivered at the pace needed to transition to a zero-emission car and van fleet. We will continue to monitor this situation and consider the case for direct central government support in rural areas if required.
The On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS) is available to all UK local authorities, including those with rural areas, to apply to and provide public chargepoints for their residents without access to private parking. £20 million is available in the 2021-22 financial year. To support local authorities in accessing this funding, DfT funds Energy Saving Trust to offer expert advice on EV charging and support on developing EV strategies. Energy Saving Trust, in partnership with DfT, also hosts a library of webinars and guidance for local authorities on installing charging points. This includes webinars specifically for rural local authorities.
Government will also launch a Local EV infrastructure Fund, which will be available to English local authorities in 2022-23. This fund will facilitate the roll-out of larger scale charging infrastructure projects across the country.
In addition, this year, we will expand the Workplace Charging Scheme to support small accommodation businesses and charities to install chargepoints for their guests and visitors. This should help provision of more chargepoints in rural areas, for example it should support places like village halls provide chargepoints for their communities.
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 the Government is taking to ensure that NHS dental services are widely available.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
National Health Service dental practices have been asked to meet as many prioritised needs as safely as possible through urgent care, care for vulnerable groups and children, followed by delayed planned care. An additional £50 million for NHS dentistry has been made available for the remainder of 2021/22 to allow more patients to obtain an NHS dental appointment. The Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement are developing proposals for the reform of the NHS dental contract, working with the British Dental Association. One of the main aims is to improve patient access to NHS care.
Asked by: Dehenna Davison (Conservative - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Government will take steps to ensure that Afghans brought to the UK through the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy are found permanent accommodation as soon as possible.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
We currently have over 12,000 people in bridging hotel accommodation.
We do not want to keep people in temporary accommodation any longer than they need to be, we are eager for them to be moved into more permanent settled accommodation so that they can begin to rebuild their lives here in the UK.
Due to an unprecedented cross-government effort, and in partnership with local authorities and the private rented sector, we have already matched or are matching approximately 4,000 evacuees to homes.
We strive to allocate the right families into the right accommodation to ensure that their integration into their new communities in the UK is as smooth as possible. We are exploring all options to ensure families who move out of bridging hotels into self-arranged accommodation receive the appropriate support
To achieve this, we triage and prioritise families to ensure the settled accommodation provides the best possible match.
We would like to encourage Local Authorities who have not yet pledged support to consider offering to do so. People are encouraged to submit housing offers via the DLUHC Housing portal where offers can be signposted to the appropriate LA to consider if they could support a family under the scheme using that property - https://gov.uk/government/publications/afghanistan-housing-portal-offers-of-support…
In addition to the work we are doing with local authorities, the Government has extended the Community Sponsorship Scheme so that local community groups will be able to directly support an Afghan family resettled through the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme which will commence soon.
Afghans recognised as having a legal right to reside in the UK are immediately entitled to access essential services including education, NHS healthcare, employment opportunities and universal credit.
Asked by: Dehenna Davison (Conservative - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that social housing providers are accountable to local authorities and residents.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Government is committed to ensuring that social housing providers are accountable to their tenants and residents. The Charter for Social Housing Residents: Social Housing White Paper set out a range of commitments on how we will improve the experiences of social housing residents, including strengthening the transparency and accountability of social housing providers
Registered providers of social housing are formally held to account by the Regulator of Social Housing. The Government set out in the Charter for Social Housing Residents our plan to reform the regulation of social housing, creating a strong, proactive consumer regulatory regime within the Regulator of Social Housing, reviewing the formal standards against which landlords are regulated and requiring them to be transparent about their performance so they can be held to account. The new regime will include regular inspections of the largest landlords, the creation of new Tenant Satisfaction Measures against which all social landlords will need to report, and the introduction of a new Access to Information Scheme for tenants of private registered providers of social housing.
We will legislate as soon as practicable to bring forward these changes.