Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make it his policy not to provide Official Development Assistance to countries that have a higher (a) gross domestic product and (b) purchasing parity power than the UK.

Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

In line with international rules, the UK provides Official Development Assistance (ODA) only to countries with a Gross National Income (GNI) per capita below $13,846. All recipients of our ODA have a lower GNI per capita than the UK, including when adjusted for purchasing power parity.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the implications for the UK's diplomatic relationship with India of reports of India holding talks on a strategic partnership with Russia.

Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

HMG recognises India's longstanding relationship with Russia. We regularly raise Russia's illegal war in Ukraine with the Government of India. The Foreign Secretary did so most recently with India's External Affairs Minister in September. More broadly, the UK and India are close bilateral partners, and we are exploring ways to enhance our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. When he visited India in July, the Foreign Secretary discussed with Prime Minster Modi, External Affairs Minister Jaishankar and NSA Doval how we might strengthen the UK-India relationship for economic growth as well as improve cooperation on defence, technology, climate and education.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many paediatric audiology departments there are in England; and how many of those meet the UK Accreditation Services Improving Quality in Physiological Services Accreditation standards.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

There are 140 providers of audiology services for children in England. Currently, 30 providers meet the UK Accreditation Services Improving Quality in Physiological Services Accreditation standards. Two providers are pending re-instatement of accreditation, and a further 16 have applied for accreditation.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential (a) merits of removing students from council tax and (b) impact of removing students from council tax on routine (i) services and (ii) maintenance.

Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Full-time students are generally disregarded for council tax purposes. Where all residents of a dwelling are disregarded, due to being full-time students, the dwelling will be exempt from council tax. Additionally, where a hall of residence is provided predominantly for the accommodation of students it will also be exempt for council tax purposes.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to require drivers to report cat killings under Section 170 of the Road Traffic Act 1988.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

There are no plans to amend section 170 of the Road Traffic Act to make it mandatory for drivers to report road collisions involving cats.

Although there is no obligation to report all collisions with animals on roads, Rule 286 of The Highway Code advises drivers to report any collisions involving an animal to the police, and if possible, they should make enquiries to ascertain the owner of domestic animals and advise them of the situation.

Since June this year, all cats in England over 20 weeks of age must be microchipped and registered on a compliant database, unless exempt or free-living. This will increase the likelihood that cats can be reunited with their owners.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress has been made by the NHS England National Paediatric Hearing Improvement Programme; and what the findings were of its review of data for new-born babies.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The NHS England Paediatric Hearing Services Improvement Programme, led by the National Health Services’ National Medical Director and Chief Scientific Officer, undertook a comprehensive review of all 140 paediatric audiology services across England to identify services not meeting the recommended standards of care.

NHS England is working with integrated care boards to ensure individual cases are reassessed and, where appropriate, that children are recalled for reassessment and onward referral to clinical services as necessary. NHS England aims to complete these reassessments by March 2025. In addition, NHS England has put in place workstreams to ensure high quality professional standards are adhered to in hospitals and in community services, and that the right workforce is in place to deliver these services. A national External Quality Assessment scheme is in development to improve diagnostic consistency and to highlight any areas for early intervention.

UN Special Rapporteur's report on atrocity crimes in Iran

Found: Griffiths Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst Alan Mak Wendy Morton Sir Alec Shelbrooke Chris Philp John Cooper Gregory

Found: Griffiths Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst Alan Mak Wendy Morton Sir Alec Shelbrooke Chris Philp John Cooper Gregory

Submit Evidence (by 11 Dec 2024)

Successive governments have presented reform ideas for adult social care, yet few of these have been implemented. This inquiry seeks to understand what this inaction is costing. We will investigate the cost of inaction to individuals, the NHS, local authorities and also to the wider economy and HM Treasury, focussing not only on the financial cost, but also on the personal costs and on potential benefits that are being missed. The inquiry will consider social care for both older and working age adults.

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