Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of services provided by Chiltern Rail from Haddenham and Thame Parkway station.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department monitors the adequacy of train services from all train stations, including Haddenham and Thame Parkway.
Chiltern Railway provide a frequent service with three trains per hour during peak times and two trains per hour during the off-peak service from Haddenham and Thame Parkway to other stations along the Chiltern Mainline route between London Marylebone and Birmingham Moor Street. When planning the timetable, operators look at several factors including passenger demand and infrastructure constraints, as well as operational considerations, such as, fleet or driver availability. The goal is to provide an efficient and reliable service for all passengers and the Department regularly reviews operational performance across the rail network.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with the trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, on the potential impact of moving the Kew herbarium to Thames Valley Science Park on the study of (a) biodiversity and (b) extinction.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra officials are engaged with Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew on development of the New Herbarium Project proposal.
Kew’s Herbarium collections are some of the largest and most important in the world, holding over seven million vascular plant specimens, collected globally over the last 170 years. The New Herbarium Project aims to deliver a world-leading scientific research and collections facility, both to preserve those collections in appropriately controlled conditions and to ensure the specimens are accessible to Kew’s researchers and the wider international scientific community.
Science is the largest and fastest-growing department at Kew and exploring options for future science research infrastructure is important in anticipation of future changes to global biodiversity.
Defra fully recognise the importance of the Herbarium collections, which Kew maintains both for the nation and as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is supporting Kew’s Digitisation initiatives, which will ensure that 8.25 million plant and fungi specimens are digitised and made free for the public to access by 2026.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to (a) increase (i) capacity and (ii) coordination among mental health services to ensure people receive treatment close to home, (b) provide free prescriptions to people with chronic mental health conditions and (c) introduce a statutory independent mental health commissioner to advocate for patients, families, and carers.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As part of our mission to build a National Health Service fit for the future, we are committed to shifting care out of hospitals and into the community, close to people’s homes. NHS England is currently piloting neighbourhood based, open access community mental health centres in six areas to support people experiencing mental ill health.
Whilst there are no current plans to review or amend the list of medical conditions that entitle a patient to receive free prescriptions, extensive arrangements are in place to ensure that prescriptions are affordable for everyone. For example, people who are: in receipt of certain qualifying benefits or tax credits; are pregnant or have recently given birth; or are aged 60 years old and over, all qualify for free prescriptions. Additionally, income-based support is available under the NHS Low Income Scheme, and Pre-Payment Certificates are available to anyone, allowing people to claim as many prescriptions as they need for a set cost.
We have no plans to appoint a statutory mental health commissioner as it would not add significant value within the framework provided by existing bodies.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking with HMRC to help ensure taxpayers receive prompt responses to queries.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC recognise that their service levels have been below published standards, and they are committed to improving customer service performance.
To improve their services and meet published standards, HMRC are deploying additional customer service advisers this year. They expect to meet their post and telephone service standards in the second half of 2024-25.
HMRC are investing in digital services and the HMRC. These can often provide customers with faster resolutions for straightforward matters.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to the letter of 22 July 2024 from the hon. member for Henley and Thame about step down beds at Chiltern Court, Henley on Thames.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I received the hon. Member’s letter and replied on 6 November 2024.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, If she will bring forward legislative proposals to allow (a) police forces and (b) local councils to keep speeding fines from fixed point cameras to fund further safety measures on the highway network.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There are no plans to bring forward legislative proposals to allow (a) police forces and (b) local councils to keep speeding fines from fixed point cameras to fund further safety measures on the highway network. Money from fines and penalty receipts, including for speeding, goes to the Treasury into the Consolidated Fund. It does not go to police forces or local authorities.
Money from the Consolidated Fund supports general expenditure on public services, and that would include services that motorists will benefit from, such as healthcare, policing, local government grants and transport.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to include retirement property leaseholders as a separate category in planned leasehold and commonhold reform.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Over the course of this Parliament, the Government will honour its manifesto commitment to finally bring the feudal leasehold system to an end.
We will enact remaining Law Commission recommendations relating to enfranchisement and the Right to Manage, tackle unregulated and unaffordable ground rents, reinvigorate commonhold through a comprehensive new legal framework, and ban the sale of new leasehold flats so commonhold becomes the default tenure.
We have made clear that we intend to publish draft legislation on leasehold and commonhold reform in this session so that it may be subject to broad consultation and additional parliamentary scrutiny. We will announce further details in due course.
The Government intends to act quickly to provide homeowners with greater rights, powers, and protections over their homes by implementing the provisions of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024. As part of the King’s Speech, we committed to consulting on the best way of restricting the sale of new leasehold flats. This consultation will provide an opportunity for interested stakeholders to make their views known.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will include greater protection of the Oxford Green Belt in the National Planning Policy Framework.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government has no plans to include in the National Planning Policy Framework additional protections for Oxford Green Belt beyond those that apply to all green belts in England.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
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 meet the UK’s commitment under the Global Biodiversity Framework to reduce excess nutrients lost to the environment by at least half by 2030.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Policy in this area is a devolved matter.
The UK Government recognises the need to go further on addressing nutrient pollution and supporting nature to recover.
We have already committed to a rapid review of the Environmental Improvement Plan which will set out how the Government will deliver our legally binding targets, including for reducing nutrient pollution.
We are taking action to work with partners to tackle the main sources of pollution. For example, we are taking action to tackle agricultural pollution and deliver the Environment Act target through a suite of proportionate and effective regulations, advice and incentives.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
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 make an assessment of the potential merits of the implementation of further protections for (a) nature and (b) biodiversity in National Landscapes.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The new Government is committed to making Protected Landscapes (National Parks and National Landscapes) greener, wilder, and more accessible. We are currently considering the best way to do this. To support this, Defra is working with Protected Landscapes organisations to improve data on the state of nature in Protected Landscapes.