Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what changes she plans to make to the support her Department offers for cultural activities involving children and young people by the end of this Parliament.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
This government recognises the importance of access to cultural activities for children and young people. In summer, we will publish an ambitious new National Youth Strategy, co-produced with young people and the sector.
In 2025/26, DCMS Programmes will create thousands of opportunities for young people to access enriching activities, including in the culture sector. In addition, 79% of Arts Council England’s National Portfolio Organisations are delivering activity for children and young people
DCMS also supports the Department for Education’s expert-led, independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, launched in July last year, which seeks to deliver a broader curriculum so that children and young people do not miss out on subjects such as music, the arts and drama.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions her Department has had with representatives of people affected by proposed changes to (a) Personal Independence Payments, (b) Work Capability Assessments and (b) the Disability Living Allowance.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We believe there is a strong case to change the system of health and disability benefits across Great Britain so that it better enables people to enter and remain in work, to respond to the complex and fluctuating nature of the health conditions many people live with today. This government is committed to putting the views and voices of disabled people at the heart of all that we do, and with any reform, including the Health and Disability Green Paper we intend to publish in the Spring, we will consult with disabled people and representative organisations.
Ahead of the formal consultation for the Green Paper, we have already started to explore ways of engaging with disabled people and their representatives, including through stakeholder roundtables and public visits, and look forward to progressing these initiatives over the coming months.
About the PIP service specifically: the Health Transformation Programme is modernising health and disability benefit services, to improve people’s experience of applying for PIP. The Programme will transform the entire PIP service, from finding out about benefits through to decisions, eligibility, and payments
The Programme communicates and engages frequently with disabled people and external stakeholders – including national charities and other organisations that support people with disabilities – about proposed changes. Their opinions and suggestions are taken on board as we test new iterations of the transformed service.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of trends in the level of consumer credit debt relating to car purchases in the last five years.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government regularly engages with the Bank of England, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) to monitor personal finances and debt levels.
According to the FCA, 2 million cars were bought on finance in the 12 months to October 2024, with a total of £38.7 billion being borrowed. HMT does not hold data for the last 5 years.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many meetings of Intertrade UK he plans to attend in 2025.
Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Intertrade UK will serve as a non-statutory advisory body that supports the East-West Council (EWC) in promoting all internal UK trade.
We will be providing further details on the membership of the group and how the work of the group will be taken forward in due course.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing bowel screening for people aged over 74.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In the United Kingdom, national screening programmes are introduced based on the recommendations of the UK National Screening Committee, an independent scientific advisory committee which advises ministers and the National Health Service in all four countries on all aspects of population and targeted screening, as well as supporting implementation.
As screening programmes can cause harms as well as benefits, each of the adult screening programmes has both an upper and lower age range within which there is good scientific evidence that the benefits of screening outweigh the harms.
The UK National Screening Committee does not currently recommend routine bowel screening over the age of 74 years old, as there is a lack of evidence regarding the harms and benefits of screening above this age. Once people are 75 years old or over, they can ask for a bowel screening kit every two years by phoning the free bowel cancer screening helpline on 0800 707 60 60.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 29 July 2024 to Question 1466 on Sport: Public Appointments, what recent progress she has made on appointing people based in (a) Northern Ireland, (b) Scotland and (c) Wales to the boards of public bodies.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport remains committed to drawing upon the wealth of talent and experience across the whole of the United Kingdom when making appointments to the Boards of its Public Bodies. The Department is taking forward a number of new approaches to increase the awareness of Public Appointment opportunities and supporting candidates throughout the process.
All DCMS Public Appointments are advertised on the HM Government Public Appointments Website. We welcome applications from people across the country, including those based in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will have discussions with representatives of the engineering sector on the impact of the British Nationality (Irish Citizens) Act 2024.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department for Business and Trade works closely with businesses in a range of sectors, including manufacturing, construction, aerospace, and automotive sectors, and will continue to.
Each Government department engages with relevant sectors where appropriate.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of whether the first applications for UK passports under the British Nationality (Irish Citizens) Act 2024 will be available before the summer recess in 2025.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
We continue to work on the operational changes for implementation of the British Nationality (Irish Citizens) Act 2024. The Home Office will notify interested Members once a prospective timeline for commencement has been agreed. Once the Act has commenced, applications for registration will be considered within normal processing times, and successful applicants will be able to apply for a British citizen passport.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2024 to Question 16707 on Electric Vehicles, what assessment she has made of whether there will be sufficient charging points for the number of electric vehicles that are estimated to be on the road by 2027.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As of 1 January, there are over 73,000 public charging devices installed throughout the UK. In the past year, nearly 20,000 charging devices were added, making it a record-breaking year. This progress was recognised in a report published by the National Audit Office on 13th December 2024 which outlined that chargepoint roll out in the UK is on track to meet forecast demand out to 2030.
The fast pace of rollout is set to continue, with the Government’s £381m Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund alone delivering over 100,000 public chargepoints across England over the next few years.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2024 to Question 20149 on Torpedoes: Procurement, how much of the cost is the through life management of the programme.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The total funds allocated for the Spearfish torpedo programme are approximately £1154 million which includes the approximate cost of £626 million for the through life management of the programme.