Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to increase awareness of the health effects of switching from smoking to vaping.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The best thing a smoker can do for their health is to quit smoking. As shown in the recently published Nicotine Vaping in England Report there is clear evidence that vapes are substantially less harmful to health than smoking.
Last year, we published a vaping facts webpage that outlines the benefits of smokers switching to vaping, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/better-health/quit-smoking/vaping-to-quit-smoking.
On 11 April, the Department announced a new national swap to stop scheme offering a million smokers across England a free vaping starter kit alongside behavioural support. More details will be available in due course.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to help improve broadband infrastructure in Dartford constituency.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
I am pleased to share that more than 98% of premises in Dartford can already access a superfast broadband connection and almost 81% have access to a gigabit-capable connection. Both of these figures are above the national average. Across the UK, over 75% of UK premises now have access to a gigabit-capable broadband connection, which is a significant increase from just 6% in January 2019.
The Government is committed to working with broadband suppliers to ensure 85% of UK premises can access gigabit-capable broadband by 2025, and then for nationwide coverage by 2030. We are on track to achieve our target.
As part of Project Gigabit, the Government’s £5 billion mission to deliver lightning-fast, reliable broadband across the UK, we have begun launching procurements that give subsidies to broadband suppliers to build gigabit-capable infrastructure to premises that will not be reached by suppliers’ commercial plans alone.
In December 2022, we launched a procurement covering Kent, which will improve broadband connectivity for up to 72,000 premises, including many in Dartford. We currently aim to award a contract to the successful supplier later this year.
Constituents in Dartford have also made good use of the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme which provides a subsidy of up to £4,500 for residents and businesses towards the cost of installing gigabit-capable broadband. More than 85 premises in Dartford have received a fast, reliable connection through the voucher scheme, worth over £190,000.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to encourage GP's to refer patients to community pharmacies.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Under the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework five-year deal 2019-2024, the Community Pharmacist Consultation Service (CPCS) was introduced in October 2019 and extended to general practices (GPs) in November 2020. Under the CPCS, NHS 111 can refer patients to community pharmacies for urgent medicines supply and advice and treatment for minor illnesses. GPs can refer patients for advice and treatment for minor illnesses. Over two million referrals have been made to the CPCS since its launch. NHS England has provided practice level support to GPs to support implementation of the referral pathway. As of March 2023, 80% of all practices are connected and able to refer with 85% of those already actively referring.
In September last year we announced the agreement with the sector for the remainder of the five-year deal, which includes a further one-off investment in the sector of £100 million. Under this agreement, urgent and emergency care settings will shortly be able to refer patients to a community pharmacist for minor illness consultation or for urgent medicine supply.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Mayor of London has access to DVLA records for the implementation and enforcement of the expansion of the Ultra-Low Emission Zone.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) provides information about UK-registered vehicles to Transport for London in line with the Road Traffic (Vehicle Emissions) (Fixed Penalty) (England) Regulations 2002. The release of DVLA information for this purpose is governed by Regulation 27 of the Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 2002.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to help support charitable organisations with funding.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
With government support, charities and civil society organisations have shown significant resilience over the past few years, and will again be crucial in supporting communities and households through this challenging period.
Government is supporting all organisations, including those across the civil society sector, with their energy bills. This support has now been extended until March 2024 via the Energy Bills Discount Scheme. This scheme provides long term certainty for organisations and reflects how the scale of the challenge has changed since September last year.
Government’s support for energy bills sits alongside a range of existing funding that is delivered by central and local government in the form of grants and contracts. My Department will keep engaging constructively across the civil society sector to monitor the impact of rising costs, and signposting to other sources of funding where appropriate.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if her Department will take steps to provide support to the British Evacuees Association.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
With government support, charities and civil society organisations have shown significant resilience over the past few years.
Government is supporting all organisations, including charities such as the British Evacuees Association, with their energy bills. This support has now been extended until March 2024 via the Energy Bills Discount Scheme. This scheme provides long term certainty for organisations and reflects how the scale of the challenge has changed since September last year.
Whilst it is not usual for DCMS to provide direct funding to individual charities, the department will keep engaging constructively across the civil society sector to monitor the impact of rising costs, and signposting to other sources of funding where appropriate.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to commemorate Second World War evacuees.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Government supports the commemoration of Second World War evacuees through the work of public bodies of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, including the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Since 1994, the National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded 120 grants, totalling £1,088,450, to projects across 95 local authorities that are specifically related to Second World War Evacuee activities. The Heritage Fund also works with museums, libraries and archives across the UK, funding a range of history-related projects, some of which will also go towards commemorating Second World War evacuees.
The Department also directly sponsors Imperial War Museums, one of our national museums devoted to highlighting the stories and experiences of the Second World War, and evacuees.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if his Department will conduct a review of the adequacy of the regulatory system for the promotion and development of hydrogen technology.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Work is ongoing to ensure that the regulatory system supports the development of a UK hydrogen economy. This includes through the BEIS Hydrogen Regulators Forum and bilateral engagement. The Government will work with industry and regulators to identify, prioritise and implement any changes to the existing framework, including addressing any gaps, to support the growth of the hydrogen economy. BEIS recently consulted on existing regulatory arrangements through a consultation on hydrogen transport and storage infrastructure business models and regulation, and is currently reviewing the submitted responses.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to support and develop the hydrogen supply chain in the UK.
Answered by Graham Stuart
In July 2022, the Government published the Hydrogen Sector Development Action Plan which sets out actions the Government and industry are taking to support UK supply chains. Actions include improving project visibility and holding ‘Meet the Specifier’ events, designed to increase transparency of project timings and requirements for supply chain companies. Industry will also lead work voluntarily to set levels of ambition for supply chains in UK hydrogen projects.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to prevent protests from disrupting traffic on the M25.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 is already in force. This raised the maximum penalty for wilful obstruction of the highway, ensuring offenders can receive proportionate sentences for the disruption they cause.
The Public Order Bill is now passing through Parliament and will improve the police’s ability to respond to highly disruptive tactics. For example, lock-on offence and the associated stop and search power will allow the police to pro-actively prevent the selfish minority of protesters causing serious disruption on our roads.
The Government have tabled an amendment to the Bill which will allow the police to intervene before disruption occurs, enabling them to shut down protests before they descend into chaos. The amendment also allows the police to consider the total disruption caused by multiple events occurring at the same time or in close proximity, as well as long-running campaigns designed to cause repeat disruption over a period of days or weeks.