Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
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 ensure that lung health is prioritised in the NHS 10-Year Health Plan.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan will deliver the three big shifts the National Health Service needs to be fit for the future: from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention. All of these are relevant to improving respiratory health in all parts of the county.
More tests and scans delivered in the community, better joint working between services, and greater use of apps and wearable technology will all help people manage their long-term conditions, including respiratory conditions, closer to home. Earlier diagnosis of conditions will help people manage their conditions, prevent deterioration and improve survival rates.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the Child Maintenance Service calculation formula for the (a) use of pre-tax earnings from the previous financial year for determining payments and (b) exemption from maintenance payments for non-resident parents on benefits; and whether she plans to review that formula.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information about the paying parent's gross income is taken directly from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for the most recent available full tax year. This allows calculations to be made quickly and accurately. Use of historic income ensures a stable calculation, which we know from customer feedback is valued as it enables parents to rely on maintenance for financial planning purposes.
Parents in receipt of benefits (including Jobseeker's Allowance and Universal Credit without earnings) or who have gross weekly income between £7 and £100, are required to pay the flat rate of £7 a week. This rate makes sure that parents contribute financially to their children's upbringing. It also protects the welfare of the paying parent and any children in their household.
The Department is currently reviewing the calculation to make sure it is fit for purpose. This has included updating the underlying research and considering how we ensure the calculation reflects current and future societal trends.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department plans to increase British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme pensions in line with the changes made to the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme (BCSSS) has some differences to the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme, but we will be working with the BCSSS Trustees to consider their proposals. Any outcome will need to be agreed with the Trustees and the Treasury following analysis of the potential impacts.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what weighting the Land Use Framework will have in planning decision making.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is currently consulting on land use in England, the outcome of which will inform the publication of a Land Use Framework, planned for later this year. The Government is committed to building 1.5 million homes and the new infrastructure needed to deliver resilient and sustainable growth and clean energy; the Land Use Framework will play in a key role in delivering these commitments.
The Land Use Framework will provide the principles, advanced data and tools required to support national and local government, landowners, businesses, farmers, and nature groups in making the right decisions to meet the demands on their land.
By law, planning applications are determined in accordance with the development plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise. What constitutes a material consideration is broadly defined and is for the decision-maker to determine based on the circumstances of the case, as is the weight to give to each material consideration.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the funding for early access programmes.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no current plans to increase funding for medicines supplied through early access programmes. The early access to medicines scheme (EAMS) was formed in 2014 and aims to give patients with life threatening or seriously debilitating conditions access to medicines that do not yet have a marketing authorisation when there is a clear unmet medical need. In 2022, EAMS was introduced into the Human Medicines Regulations 2012. EAMS products are classed as unlicensed medicines within the regulations. Additionally, within the regulations, there is no comment on the ability to charge for supply, however, it is stated in the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) guidance that there should be no charge for supply of these medicines under the EAMS programme.
Outside of EAMS, companies may put in place early access programmes (EAPs) to allow early access to new medicines that do not yet have a marketing authorisation. These are not approved by the MHRA and participation in such programmes is decided at an individual National Health Service trust level. Under these programmes, the cost of the drug is free to both patients taking part in it, and to the NHS, but NHS trusts must still cover administration costs.
NHS England has published guidance for integrated care systems (ICS) on free of charge medicines schemes such as EAPs, including providing advice on potential financial, administrative, and clinical risks. The guidance aims to support the NHS to drive value from medicines and ensure consistent and equitable access to medicines across England. ICSs should follow the recommendations to determine whether to implement any free of charge scheme, including assessing suitability and any risks in the short, medium, and long term. The guidance is available at the following link:
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what his Department's timetable is for publishing a consultation on the placement of solar canopies on outdoor carparks.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government will this year be publishing a Call for Evidence on the potential to drive solar canopies on carparks over a certain size, as announced in the Clean Power Action Plan.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has plans to increase the number of additional planning officers.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
MHCLG does not hold detailed data on the number of planning officers recruited by individual local authorities.
In 2023, the Department commissioned a nationwide survey to improve understanding of the capacity and capability issues reported in local planning authorities. The findings of the local authority planning capacity and skills survey have been used to guide support and monitor investment impacts. We are currently analysing the results of the 2025 pulse survey, which will update key metrics and compare them to the 2023 baseline.
Our manifesto committed us to appointing 300 new planning officers into local planning authorities. We are on track to meet that commitment through two routes, namely graduate recruitment through the Pathways to Planning scheme run by the Local Government Association and mid-career recruitment through Public Practice.
On 27 February, the government announced funding to support salaries and complement graduate bursaries. Further information can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 27 February 2025 (HCWS480).
The government has also increased planning fees for householder and other applications from 1 April 2025, which will provide much-needed additional resources for hard-pressed local planning authorities. The government is also taking forward measures in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill that will enable local planning authorities to set their own planning fees to cover their costs.
Through our funding of the Planning Advisory Service, support is also being provided to local planning authorities and their staff (including ecologists) in relation to the implementation of Biodiversity Net Gain.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of planning authorities’ access to ecological expertise.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
MHCLG does not hold detailed data on the number of planning officers recruited by individual local authorities.
In 2023, the Department commissioned a nationwide survey to improve understanding of the capacity and capability issues reported in local planning authorities. The findings of the local authority planning capacity and skills survey have been used to guide support and monitor investment impacts. We are currently analysing the results of the 2025 pulse survey, which will update key metrics and compare them to the 2023 baseline.
Our manifesto committed us to appointing 300 new planning officers into local planning authorities. We are on track to meet that commitment through two routes, namely graduate recruitment through the Pathways to Planning scheme run by the Local Government Association and mid-career recruitment through Public Practice.
On 27 February, the government announced funding to support salaries and complement graduate bursaries. Further information can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 27 February 2025 (HCWS480).
The government has also increased planning fees for householder and other applications from 1 April 2025, which will provide much-needed additional resources for hard-pressed local planning authorities. The government is also taking forward measures in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill that will enable local planning authorities to set their own planning fees to cover their costs.
Through our funding of the Planning Advisory Service, support is also being provided to local planning authorities and their staff (including ecologists) in relation to the implementation of Biodiversity Net Gain.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
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 take steps to increase data available on the number of planning officers per (a) authority and (b) region.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
MHCLG does not hold detailed data on the number of planning officers recruited by individual local authorities.
In 2023, the Department commissioned a nationwide survey to improve understanding of the capacity and capability issues reported in local planning authorities. The findings of the local authority planning capacity and skills survey have been used to guide support and monitor investment impacts. We are currently analysing the results of the 2025 pulse survey, which will update key metrics and compare them to the 2023 baseline.
Our manifesto committed us to appointing 300 new planning officers into local planning authorities. We are on track to meet that commitment through two routes, namely graduate recruitment through the Pathways to Planning scheme run by the Local Government Association and mid-career recruitment through Public Practice.
On 27 February, the government announced funding to support salaries and complement graduate bursaries. Further information can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 27 February 2025 (HCWS480).
The government has also increased planning fees for householder and other applications from 1 April 2025, which will provide much-needed additional resources for hard-pressed local planning authorities. The government is also taking forward measures in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill that will enable local planning authorities to set their own planning fees to cover their costs.
Through our funding of the Planning Advisory Service, support is also being provided to local planning authorities and their staff (including ecologists) in relation to the implementation of Biodiversity Net Gain.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department is taking steps to help reduce delays in Building Safety Regulator processes that relate to the construction of (a) social and (b) affordable homes.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
MHCLG and Building Safety Regulator (BSR) have taken significant steps towards reducing delays relating to the Gateways construction processes. We have put in place a range of mitigations including additional funding aimed at boosting BSR capacity for additional building control caseworkers, who are being trained and have started to make an impact on reducing processing times. This has already resulted in some green shoots of improvement including BSR reporting a reduction in processing times of newly submitted applications. BSR are now informing new applicants to plan on 16 weeks to clear Gateway 2.
Older and more complex applications which were transferred from private building control companies that ceased to trade present a particular challenge to the processing time of new applications, but please be assured that the BSR are focused on clearing this backlog as quickly as possible.
It is important to recognise that BSR is a newly established operational regulator which is critical to upholding the standard of building regulations to industry. We are working closely with BSR to support their plan for improved delivery and guidance to the sector whilst maintaining the building safety standards. If applications for buildings do not meet this standard and pose a risk to life BSR will not approve them.