Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether his Department has made representations to the Government of Pakistan on the safety of Afghan refugees in that country who are eligible for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Department, including the Foreign Secretary and the British High Commissioner to Islamabad, has made such representations, and will continue to do so. We have received assurances from the Government of Pakistan that Afghans being supported in Pakistan under the Afghans Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) and Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) will remain safe in Pakistan while they await relocation to the UK. An MOD-led operation has relocated over 1,500 ARAP-eligible Afghans to the UK since September.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the average time taken for HMRC to provide an inheritance tax reference number for the start of a probate process.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC prioritises requests for inheritance tax reference numbers and the follow up IHT400 forms submitted to set up an inheritance tax account.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department’s proposals for caps on ground rents will apply to all types of properties.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Government launched a consultation on 9 November on options to limit the level of ground rent that leaseholders with a long lease can be required to pay in England and Wales.
The consultation also asks whether any exemptions from a proposed cap to ground rents are necessary. We want to hear views on the proposals and will use these responses to develop a final position. We do not want to pre-empt the outcome of this consultation.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his Department's timetable is for publishing an interim response to the report published by the Law Commission entitled Celebrating Marriage: A New Weddings Law.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Marriage will always be one of our most important institutions, and the Government has a duty to consider the implications of any changes to the law in this area very carefully.
The Government is considering the Law Commissions’ 57 recommendations for legislative reform and a response will be published in due course.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of NHS dental provision in Cornwall.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We acknowledge that there are additional pressures facing National Health Service dental services in certain parts of the country, including in the South-West of England.
From 1 April 2023, responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to all integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. ICBs are responsible for having local processes in place to involve patient groups, and for undertaking oral health needs assessments, to identify areas of need and determine the priorities for investment. NHS England has been working with ICB partners on the South-West Dental Reform Programme and have commissioned additional urgent dental care appointments that people can access via NHS 111.
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, published on 30 June 2023, sets out the steps the National Health Service and its partners need to take to deliver an NHS workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next 15 years. These include a 40% increase to dentistry undergraduate training places by 2031/32.
In July 2022, we announced a package of reforms to improve access to NHS dentistry, which outlined the steps we are taking to meet oral health needs and increase access to dental care. But we know we need to do more, including in some areas where access is particularly problematic. We are working on our Dentistry Recovery Plan which will be published shortly.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 25 October 2023 to Question 203372 on Natural England, for what reason Natural England have not published the declaration of interests made at and (b) minutes of the board meeting of 28 June 2023.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Natural England will publish a record of the meeting which will include details of how to request a transcript on GOV.UK in due course.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 25 October 2023 to Question 203372 on Natural England, if Natural England will publish the register of board members’ interests as a separate document on gov.uk.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Natural England will publish the Board register of interests on GOV.UK in due course.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will hold discussions with Ofgem on the potential merits of including standing charges for the non-domestic sector in its review of standing charges on energy bills, announced on 16 November 2023.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Ofgem issued a Call for Input on standing charges on 16 November 2023. It includes an invitation to submit views by 19 January 2024 on the issues affecting standing charges in the non-domestic retail sector that Ofgem should consider further.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her Department's planned timescale is for publishing its consultation on relationship, health, and sex education in schools.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department has brought forward the review of the relationships, sex and health education statutory guidance, including an independent expert advisory panel, which will advise my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, on the introduction of minimum ages for certain subjects. More information about the panel is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/terms-of-reference-for-review-panel-on-rshe.
The work of the expert panel will inform the public consultation, which will be published at the earliest opportunity, prior to publishing revised guidance in 2024.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what progress the Government has made on ratifying the Biodiversity beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK was pleased to be among the first signatories to the Biodiversity beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement when it opened for signature at the UN on 20 September 2023 and the Agreement was laid before Parliament for scrutiny on 16 October 2023. Work is in hand on the legislation and other measures needed to translate the detailed and complex provisions of the Agreement into UK law before we can ratify the Agreement, which will be taken forward when parliamentary time allows.