Asked by: Fay Jones (Conservative - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how park home residents will receive their Energy Bills Support Scheme-Alternative Fund allowance.
Answered by Graham Stuart
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave the my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch on 8th November 2022 to Question 78634.
Asked by: Fay Jones (Conservative - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department is taking steps to help tackle noise pollution generated by heat pumps.
Answered by Greg Hands
The UK has strict standards governing noise emissions from heat pumps. Any heat pump must be installed in compliance with the Microgeneration Certification Scheme Planning Standard MCS-020 which considers noise emissions.
Asked by: Fay Jones (Conservative - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will review the level of the mileage allowance relief granted to care workers.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Approved Mileage Allowance Payment (AMAP) rates aim to reflect running costs including fuel, servicing and depreciation.
Most domiciliary care staff are employed by private providers who decide their mileage reimbursement rate. Employers, including those of care staff, are not required to use AMAPs. Instead, they can agree to reimburse the actual cost incurred, where individuals can provide evidence of the expenditure, without an Income Tax or National Insurance charge arising.
If an employee is paid less than the approved amount, they are entitled to claim tax relief (Mileage Allowance Relief) on the shortfall. The maximum MAR claim is set to the same level as the AMAP rates.
As with all taxes and allowances, the Government keeps AMAP rates under review and any changes are considered by the Chancellor.
Asked by: Fay Jones (Conservative - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to improve accessibility of the Passport Office for people seeking to renew passports.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Ahead of unrestricted international travel returning, HM Passport Office prepared extensively to serve an unprecedented number of customers, with 9.5 million British passport applications forecasted throughout 2022.
These preparations, which include the recruitment of 500 additional staff since April 2021 and with plans in place to recruit a further 700 by this summer, have ensured that passport applications can be processed in higher numbers than ever before. This was demonstrated in March and April 2022 when HM Passport Office achieved a record monthly high by completing the processing of approximately two million applications.
Ministers continue to meet regularly with officials to monitor performance, and to explore further options that will help to ensure that people receive their passports in good time.
Asked by: Fay Jones (Conservative - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve accessibility of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to people seeking to use its services.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) places a strong focus on accessibility when developing its services, ensuring that they work for those who have specific needs or use assistive technology. The DVLA’s user research team conducts usability testing of new services and ensures that 20 per cent of participants with an accessibility need or a medical condition take part in the usability testing to ensure the service meets the needs of all users.
The DVLA also uses a third-party supplier to provide independent usability/user testing and technology audits of live and prototype DVLA web services against the relevant accessibility guidelines. The DVLA aims for each service to be tested at least once during the development cycle to ensure recommendations can be assessed and implemented.
Asked by: Fay Jones (Conservative - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish details of the grants provided to Health and Care Professions Council; and whether it is his Department's policy that grants can be made to individuals registering with Health and Care Professions Council.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Department has not awarded grant funding to the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). In 2018, the Department for Education agreed grant funding for the HCPC to support the transfer of regulatory functions for social workers in England from the HCPC to Social Work England. A total of £3.3 million was paid in 2018/19 and 2019/20. The Department does not have legal powers to award grant funding to individuals registering with the HCPC.
Asked by: Fay Jones (Conservative - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps his Department is taking to support the peace process in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Government continues to implement the New Decade New Approach agreement and is united around the ambition for a strong functioning Executive delivering a more prosperous, shared future for Northern Ireland. The people of Northern Ireland are going to the polls on 5 May. It is vital that we give people the space to make that choice in an atmosphere of tolerance and respect, to ensure that fully functioning devolved institutions are restored at the earliest possible moment.
Asked by: Fay Jones (Conservative - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking to help ensure equality and freedom from discrimination for people with autism.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
In July 2021, we published a new all-age autism strategy that set out our commitments to address the inequalities autistic people experience. These include poorer health outcomes and a 16 year life expectancy gap. As part of this, we have provided over £13 million to improve access to diagnosis, including through testing ways to reduce waiting times and expanding a pilot that is identifying autistic children and young people earlier on in life. To improve inclusion of autistic people, we have also provided £600,000 to train many more educational staff across England, and we will launch an autism public understanding initiative this year.
Asked by: Fay Jones (Conservative - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what percentage of the annual funding for the NHS is allocated to cover the costs associated with negligent medical treatment.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The total cost of clinical negligence claims in England managed by NHS Resolution in 2020/21 was £2.2 billion, which represents approximately 1.5% of the National Health Service resource budget.
In January 2022, the Department published a consultation on the introduction of fixed recoverable costs for lower value clinical negligence claims. The proposals aim to address high legal costs and streamline the claims-handling process. The consultation closes on 24 April 2022.
Asked by: Fay Jones (Conservative - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to prevent fraudulent registration of addresses with Companies House.
Answered by Paul Scully
At present the Registrar has the power to remove certain information from the register, but she must follow a statutory process before doing so. Upon receipt of supporting evidence, showing rights to an address the Registrar can assist by replacing an erroneous registered office address with a Companies House default address on the public register.
On 28 February 2022 Government published a detailed White Paper (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/corporate-transparency-and-register-reform) setting out far-reaching reforms to Companies House. It is intended that, following enactment, the Registrar will have new powers to challenge information that appears dubious, and will be empowered to inform security agencies of potential wrongdoing.