Asked by: Gagan Mohindra (Conservative - South West Hertfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to prevent mistaken prisoner releases.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Releases in error are never acceptable, and we are bearing down on those errors that do occur.
On 11 November, the Deputy Prime Minister announced a five-point action plan. This includes strengthening prison release checks, investment in new technology, and an independent review, which will report its recommendations in spring next year.
Asked by: Gagan Mohindra (Conservative - South West Hertfordshire)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to build large nuclear sites in Wales.
Answered by Anna McMorrin - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Wales Office)
This Government has chosen Wylfa as the best site to host Britain’s first ever three Small Modular Reactors.
Great British Energy-Nuclear has confirmed it could host up to eight SMR units in the future, bringing in even more jobs, investment and benefits for Wales.
Asked by: Gagan Mohindra (Conservative - South West Hertfordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will list each meeting her Department has had with Wealden District Council as a planning authority in relation to placing asylum seekers at the Crowborough Training Camp.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office continues to engage regularly with representatives from the local authority, the NHS, the Police, and local partners, including via Multi Agency Forums pre-delivery and post-Go Live of the proposed site to address the concerns of those most impacted and to identify ways to keep them informed. We will ensure that any development is safe, appropriate and compliant with planning regulations.
Asked by: Gagan Mohindra (Conservative - South West Hertfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to help support victims of crime through the criminal justice system.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice provides funding for services that support victims and witnesses as they engage with the criminal justice system.
The Victims’ Code also sets out the minimum level of service that victims of crime should receive.
We will consult on a new Code to make sure we get the foundations for victims right.
We are supporting victims through the introduction of the Victims and Courts Bill. The Bill will help victims get the justice they deserve.
Asked by: Gagan Mohindra (Conservative - South West Hertfordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to preserve the protections afforded to victims of fraud through the Financial Ombudsman Service's fair and reasonable remit during the current review into that service.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
On 15 July the government set out the conclusions and next steps of the Economic Secretary’s review of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/fs-sector-strategy-review-of-the-financial-ombudsman-service
The review concluded that in the majority of cases, the FOS fulfils its role as a simple, impartial dispute resolution service. However, in a small but significant minority of cases, the FOS is acting as a quasi-regulator. To stop this the government is now consulting on a package of reforms to the FOS, to improve the regulatory coherence between the FOS and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and provide greater certainty and predictability for firms and consumers.
The review also concluded that the FOS should retain the ‘Fair and Reasonable’ test for determining cases. The government is proposing to adapt the test to align it more closely to the FCA’s rules where, as the UK’s dedicated conduct regulator for financial services, the FCA has an objective to ensure an appropriate degree of protection for consumers and continues to prioritise fighting financial crime.
The government is committed to ensuring the FOS continues to provide customers with a cost-free route to easily resolve disputes with firms, including in cases relating to fraud.
Asked by: Gagan Mohindra (Conservative - South West Hertfordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when she plans to conclude the review into the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
On 15 July the government set out the conclusions and next steps of the Economic Secretary’s review of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/fs-sector-strategy-review-of-the-financial-ombudsman-service
The review concluded that in the majority of cases, the FOS fulfils its role as a simple, impartial dispute resolution service. However, in a small but significant minority of cases, the FOS is acting as a quasi-regulator. To stop this the government is now consulting on a package of reforms to the FOS, to improve the regulatory coherence between the FOS and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and provide greater certainty and predictability for firms and consumers.
The review also concluded that the FOS should retain the ‘Fair and Reasonable’ test for determining cases. The government is proposing to adapt the test to align it more closely to the FCA’s rules where, as the UK’s dedicated conduct regulator for financial services, the FCA has an objective to ensure an appropriate degree of protection for consumers and continues to prioritise fighting financial crime.
The government is committed to ensuring the FOS continues to provide customers with a cost-free route to easily resolve disputes with firms, including in cases relating to fraud.
Asked by: Gagan Mohindra (Conservative - South West Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how he plans to allocate the additional funding for the NHS announced in the Autumn Budget 2024.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Thanks to the choices the Chancellor made at the Budget, we are investing an additional £25.7 billion in health and care.
That includes funding that has already helped us to:
Asked by: Gagan Mohindra (Conservative - South West Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of infrastructure developments on agricultural land.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The Government has launched a national conversation on land use in England. This includes the commitment to protect land with the greatest long-term potential for food production, whilst delivering on the potential of our landscapes to produce more energy and build 1.5 million homes. This will inform a Land Use Framework that is a win-win for development and nature.
Asked by: Gagan Mohindra (Conservative - South West Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce ambulance handover times.
Answered by Steve Barclay
Reducing handover delays and improving ambulance response times for patients is one of my top priorities. We are increasing hospital capacity by 7,000 beds and providing £500 million to increase patient discharges. NHS England is providing targeted support to hospitals facing the greatest delays to help get ambulances back on the road quickly.
Asked by: Gagan Mohindra (Conservative - South West Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking to tackle noise pollution from vehicles.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The police and local authorities have powers to enforce against vehicles that have been modified, or are driven in a way, to create excessive noise. However, barriers exist to effective enforcement. Following encouraging initial research, the Department is conducting further trials of the latest “noise camera” technology to understand if it can be used to automatically detect excessively noisy vehicles.
As the research develops, the Government will keep under review the way “noise cameras” can be used to tackle noise pollution from vehicles.