Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help improve support for ex-footballers with chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The safety, wellbeing and welfare of everyone taking part in sport is absolutely paramount. I welcome work by the football industry to protect players from harm and provide practical support to former players who develop neurodegenerative conditions. One example of this is the Professional Footballers’ Association’s Football Brain Health Fund, supported by the Premier League and announced in September 2023, which aims to assist former players and their families who have been impacted by dementia and other neurodegenerative conditions.
The Government continues to take the issue of head injuries very seriously. In December 2021 DCMS published its Command Paper report on concussion in sport; outlining the steps the government is undertaking to help reduce risks associated with head injuries by improving understanding, awareness, prevention and treatment of concussion in sport. As part of this, in April 2023 the Government announced the first UK concussion guidelines for grassroots sport, in conjunction with the Sport and Recreation Alliance. This guidance is intended to be a helpful tool in reducing the risks associated with concussion and marks an important step in making sport safer for thousands of people who enjoy sport at a grassroots level, as well as an aid to professional sports.
Further research on the links between health, dementia and contact sport is needed to better understand the issue. To that end, DCMS established a Sports Concussion Research Forum in July 2022 to identify key research questions that need answering in this important area.
The government remains committed to working with sports to build on the positive work that is already taking place to mitigate the causes and effects of concussion in sport.
Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make it his policy to impose a legal cap on service charges for social housing.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government does not regulate levels of service charges in social housing. Our policy statement on social housing rents states that Registered Providers of social housing are expected to set reasonable and transparent service charges for tenants that reflect the service being provided. Levels of service charge may vary for each property based on a range of factors, including the cost of repairs, maintenance and management of the building.
The Government’s policy statement on rents also states that Registered Providers of social housing should endeavour to keep any service charge increases for tenants within the limit on annual permitted rent increases (7.7% in 2024-25).
Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what support is available for parish councillors who are abused while representing their communities.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
It is vital that councillors feel able to raise concerns about intimidation and abuse, and that those in leadership positions in councils take these seriously and deal with them appropriately.
The Local Government Association’s work on Civility in Public Life includes resources to support good standards of behaviour and advice on how to handle issues of abuse and intimidation.
I would be happy to pass on further details to my Rt Hon Friend.
Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - South Staffordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to support shop workers who are victims of retail crime.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government recognises the significant impact crime can have, not only on businesses but also the wider community and consumers. I have been clear I expect a zero-tolerance approach to retail crime and shoplifting and have recently taken significant steps to improve the police response.
In October 2023, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) published the Retail Crime Action Plan. Through this Plan, all forces across England and Wales have committed to prioritise police attendance at the scene where violence has been used towards shop staff, where an offender has been detained by store security, and where evidence needs to be secured and can only be done by police personnel. Additionally, where CCTV or other digital images are secured, the police will run this through the Police National Database to aid efforts to identify prolific offenders or potentially dangerous individuals.
This builds on the NPCC commitment that police forces across England and Wales will follow up all crimes where there is actionable evidence and the chance of identifying an offender.
In 2022, we introduced a statutory aggravating factor for assault against those who are serving the public. Section 156 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 means the public facing nature of a victim’s role will be considered an aggravating factor when it comes to sentencing for assault offences, allowing the court to give a longer sentence within the statutory maximum for the offence.
These legislative and operational changes will go a long way to provide a better response to victims. We are continuing to work closely with retail businesses, security representatives, trade associations and policing through the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG) to ensure the response to retail crime is as robust as it can be for the victims of this crime.
Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment his Department has made of the level of fire risk posed by battery storage facilities.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
I refer my Rt Hon Friend to the answer I gave to Question UIN 6137 on 18 December 2023.
Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing a restriction on battery storage facilities being built within 500 metres of residential areas.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
I refer my Rt Hon Friend to my answer to Question UIN 6137 on 18 December 2023.
Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - South Staffordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of presenting medallic recognition to the service personnel who served on HMS Diamond while it was stationed in the Red Sea.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Medallic recognition for operations is kept under continuous review by the Ministry of Defence. The case for a medal would be considered on the basis of a recommendation made by the Operational Commander to the Operations Recognition Board, which would in turn make recommendations to the Chiefs of Staff and Ministers.
Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the number of passengers that have passed through Stone, Staffordshire on trains since 2009.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department holds entry/exit data for passengers using Stone train station on a financial year basis. The number of passengers entering/exiting Stone station grew from 48,054 in 2009-10 to 214,040 in 2022-23. Whilst West Midlands Trains has been the operator since 2017, any data prior to this relates to London Midland.
Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what guidance his Department is providing to local authorities on the distribution of funding for high streets.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
There is a range of support options available to encourage regeneration of high streets and we advise local authorities on how to make the best use of these. This support includes provisions in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act for High Street Rental Auctions (HSRA) which give local authorities new powers to force landlords to rent out vacant units in high streets, as well as the High Street Accelerator pilot programme and the Government’s Long-Term Plan for Towns to drive ambitious plans for regeneration.
Long-term investment also includes £2.35 billion of Town Deals and over £830 million of Future High Streets Funding across 170 high streets, town centres and local communities in England.
Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether the Future High Streets Fund will be extended to smaller high streets.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
There is a range of support options available to encourage regeneration of high streets and we advise local authorities on how to make the best use of these. This support includes provisions in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act for High Street Rental Auctions (HSRA) which give local authorities new powers to force landlords to rent out vacant units in high streets, as well as the High Street Accelerator pilot programme and the Government’s Long-Term Plan for Towns to drive ambitious plans for regeneration.
Long-term investment also includes £2.35 billion of Town Deals and over £830 million of Future High Streets Funding across 170 high streets, town centres and local communities in England.