Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve safety on the A483 in Shropshire.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

As referenced in PMQs on October 25 2023, National Highways is conducting extensive study work to understand how the safety performance of the A483 in Shropshire can be improved through a detailed route optimisation study. These proposals will be considered alongside other potential small-scale future targeted safety enhancements to the route as part of RIS3 (2025-2030). At this stage, a more substantive upgrade of the A483 between Pant and Llanymynech remains in the RIS Pipeline of schemes being considered for possible delivery beyond 2030.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to ensure safety improvements are prioritised during decision making about road investments.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Government is investing £24 billion on the Strategic Road Network during the second Road Investment Strategy (RIS2 - 2020-2025) to fund the operation, maintenance, renewal and enhancement of the network. Safety is a key consideration National Highways takes into account across all its activity and much of this investment aims to improve safety across the network for all road users. A specific Safety and Congestion Fund is in place as part of National Highways’ Designated Funds programme, this delivers safety improvements on specific high-risk roads, accident-cluster locations and potential suicide-cluster areas.

National Highways also has a Key Performance Indicator for RIS2 with a target of reducing those killed or seriously injured on the Strategic Road Network by 50% compared to the 2005-2009 baseline average. The Department for Transport and the Office of Rail and Road, in its capacity of Highways Monitor, hold National Highways to account for delivery against this performance indicator and work collectively to ensure appropriate action plans are in place to maximise safety on the network.

Improving road safety is one of six key objectives in developing the third Road Investment Strategy (RIS3). The level of ambition within the Performance Specification and focus of the Investment Plan are the key levers through which this objective will be supported.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which integrated care boards have undertaken an oral health needs assessment.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

From 1 April 2023 responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry has been delegated to integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. ICBs are responsible for undertaking oral health needs assessments, to identify areas of oral health need, inform local commissioning intentions, and determine the local priorities for investment. Information on which ICBs have undertaken Joint Strategic Needs Assessments, including oral health needs assessments, is not held centrally.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the value attributed to a prevented fatality in his Department's Green Book.

Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

The Government uses a common value for the Value of a Prevented Fatality (VPF). The monetary valuation of VPF can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tag-data-book.

It is uprated annually in line with inflation and real income growth. It is reviewed by HM Treasury on an ongoing basis and updated when new evidence becomes available.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the value attributed to a prevented fatality in business cases for road investment.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

This assessment is already happening. The Department is part of a cross-government consortium that keeps values for life and health impacts, including the value of a prevented fatality, under review and is developing plans to take forward the recommendations in the 2020 scoping study Valuation of risks to life and health: Monetary Value of a Life Year.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of National Highways’ progress towards its target of reducing the number of people killed or seriously injured on the Strategic Road Network by 50% by the end of 2025.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

As of 2022, National Highways has achieved a 38% reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured (KSIs) on the Strategic Road Network (SRN) compared to a baseline of the 2005 to 2009 average.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an estimate of the average distance people travel to access an NHS dentist in (a) North Shropshire constituency and (b) the UK.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We want to make sure that everyone needing a National Health Service dentist can access one. Our plan to recover and reform NHS dentistry will make dental services faster, simpler, and fairer for patients, and will fund approximately 2.5 million additional appointments, or more than 1.5 million additional courses of dental treatment. This is especially important for those who live in rural or coastal communities, where we know access can be particularly challenging.

Our plan includes a new Golden Hello scheme for dentists who want to move to those areas which persistently struggle to attract dentists into NHS work. A Golden Hello of £20,000 will be offered per dentist, for a total of up to 240 dentists.

There are other measures in our Dentistry Recovery Plan which will help to improve access across all areas of the country. The new patient premium is designed to support dentists to see patients who may not have seen an NHS dentist for some time, and is offered in recognition of the additional time that may be needed for practices to assess, stabilise, and manage patients’ oral health needs. We will also raise the minimum Units of Dental Activity rate from £23 to £28, supporting practices across the country to deliver more NHS care. We do not hold data on the average distance people travel to access an NHS dentist.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that programmes for improving safety on the strategic road network receive adequate funding.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Government is investing £24 billion on the Strategic Road Network during the second Road Investment Strategy (RIS2 - 2020-2025) to fund the operation, maintenance, renewal and enhancement of the network. Safety is a key consideration National Highways takes into account across all its activity and much of this investment aims to improve safety across the network for all road users. A specific Safety and Congestion Fund, worth £140m in RIS2, is in place as part of National Highways’ Designated Funds programme and aims to deliver over 150 safety improvements on specific high-risk roads, accident-cluster locations and potential suicide-cluster areas, to help reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on the Strategic Road Network.

The Department for Transport and the Office of Rail and Road, in its capacity of Highways Monitor, hold National Highways to account for delivery against its performance indicators and work collectively to ensure appropriate action plans are in place to maximise safety on the network.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to help improve safety on the strategic road network.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Government is investing £24 billion on the Strategic Road Network during the second Road Investment Strategy (RIS2 - 2020-2025) to fund the operation, maintenance, renewal and enhancement of the network. Safety is a key consideration National Highways takes into account across all its activity and much of this investment aims to improve safety across the network for all road users. A specific Safety and Congestion Fund, worth £140m in RIS2, is in place as part of National Highways’ Designated Funds programme and aims to deliver over 150 safety improvements on specific high-risk roads, accident-cluster locations and potential suicide-cluster areas, to help reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on the Strategic Road Network.

The Department for Transport and the Office of Rail and Road, in its capacity of Highways Monitor, hold National Highways to account for delivery against its performance indicators and work collectively to ensure appropriate action plans are in place to maximise safety on the network.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to support National Highways in working to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on the Strategic Road Network.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Government is investing £24 billion on the Strategic Road Network during the second Road Investment Strategy (RIS2 - 2020-2025) to fund the operation, maintenance, renewal and enhancement of the network. Safety is a key consideration National Highways takes into account across all its activity and much of this investment aims to improve safety across the network for all road users. A specific Safety and Congestion Fund, worth £140m in RIS2, is in place as part of National Highways’ Designated Funds programme and aims to deliver over 150 safety improvements on specific high-risk roads, accident-cluster locations and potential suicide-cluster areas, to help reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on the Strategic Road Network.

The Department for Transport and the Office of Rail and Road, in its capacity of Highways Monitor, hold National Highways to account for delivery against its performance indicators and work collectively to ensure appropriate action plans are in place to maximise safety on the network.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she is taking steps to help ensure that healthcare providers inform the carers of children and young people with cancer of the financial support available to them.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England and the integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning and ensuring the healthcare needs of local communities in England are met. This includes taking steps to ensure that healthcare providers inform all patients and carers, including the carers of children and young people with cancer, of the financial support available to them.

The National Health Service in England runs schemes to provide financial assistance for travel to a hospital or other NHS premises, for specialist NHS treatment or diagnostics tests, when referred by a doctor or other primary healthcare professional.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the financial support for (a) travel costs, (b) energy bills, (c) accommodation and (d) dietary requirements available for carers of children and young people with cancer.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department has not made a specific assessment of the financial support available for travel costs, energy bills, accommodation, or dietary requirements for carers of children and young people with cancer.

The Department does not provide guidance on the financial support available to carers of children and young people with cancer. NHS England and the integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning and ensuring the healthcare needs of local communities in England are met, including ensuring that healthcare providers inform all patients and carers, and specifically the carers of children and young people with cancer, of the financial support available to them.

The National Health Service in England runs schemes to provide financial assistance for travel to a hospital or other NHS premises for specialist NHS treatment or diagnostics tests, when referred by a doctor or other primary healthcare professional.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance her Department provides to carers of children and young people with cancer on the financial support available to them from the UK government.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department has not made a specific assessment of the financial support available for travel costs, energy bills, accommodation, or dietary requirements for carers of children and young people with cancer.

The Department does not provide guidance on the financial support available to carers of children and young people with cancer. NHS England and the integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning and ensuring the healthcare needs of local communities in England are met, including ensuring that healthcare providers inform all patients and carers, and specifically the carers of children and young people with cancer, of the financial support available to them.

The National Health Service in England runs schemes to provide financial assistance for travel to a hospital or other NHS premises for specialist NHS treatment or diagnostics tests, when referred by a doctor or other primary healthcare professional.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of allowing carers of children and young people with cancer to apply for Carer’s Allowance prior to the child or young person being cared for receiving the associated disability benefit.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The information requested on the number of delayed applications is not collected and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

It is a long standing principle that Carer’s Allowance can only be awarded once a decision has been made to award the “trigger” disability benefit to the person being cared for, but the award of Carer’s Allowance can be backdated to the date that the disability benefit is payable from.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of applications for Carer's allowance that have been delayed for people caring for a child with cancer as a result of delayed (a) Personal Independence Payments and (b) Disability Living Allowance for the child or young person being cared for.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The information requested on the number of delayed applications is not collected and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

It is a long standing principle that Carer’s Allowance can only be awarded once a decision has been made to award the “trigger” disability benefit to the person being cared for, but the award of Carer’s Allowance can be backdated to the date that the disability benefit is payable from.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the change to annual income that families experience as a result of (a) a child or young person receiving a cancer diagnosis and (b) their associated caring responsibilities.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

No such estimate has been made.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of financial support available for carers of children and young people with cancer for (a) travel costs, (b) energy bills, (c) accommodation and (d) dietary requirements.

Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Government recognises and appreciates the vital role unpaid carers play in caring for, and supporting, members of their own family.

Providing they meet the entitlement conditions, unpaid carers of children and young people with cancer may be able to receive Carer’s Allowance and/or an extra amount in means tested benefits, including Universal Credit. Carer’s Allowance provides a measure of financial support and recognition for people who are not able to work full time because of their caring responsibilities. The extra amounts in means tested benefits at least partly recognise the additional costs associated with providing unpaid care.

Disability benefits, such as Disability Living Allowance for children and Personal Independence Payment, are available as a contribution towards the extra costs of being disabled and recipients are free to choose how they spend them.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will instruct Avanti West Coast to hold a public consultation on its planned withdrawal of the Shrewsbury to Euston service.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

The Department is required to make decisions as part of industry wide efforts to align timetables to changing demand patterns and restore the financial stability of the railway, the Government asked all operators to present cost saving options. Due to very low passenger numbers, the service between Shrewsbury and London is currently operating at a loss of £1.4 million per year. West Midlands Railway (WMR) and Transport for Wales provide sufficient capacity for passengers between Shrewsbury and Birmingham, and the Department has agreed that WMR will introduce a second hourly Birmingham to Shrewsbury semi-fast service in June 2024 to operate via the Stour Valley and provide quicker journey time between Shropshire towns and Birmingham.

Government support for the operational railway was almost £12 billion in the last financial year – equivalent to more than £420 per household. The Secretary of State’s decision to withdraw a service operating at a loss estimated at £1.4 million every year, was taken to help reduce public subsidy and restore the financial sustainability of the railway. No public consultation is planned as, given these clear financial constraints, meaningful consultation is not possible, as it would not alter the outcome.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his permission was required for Avanti West Coast to withdraw its direct Shrewsbury to Euston service.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

The Department is required to make decisions as part of industry wide efforts to align timetables to changing demand patterns and restore the financial stability of the railway, the Government asked all operators to present cost saving options. Due to very low passenger numbers, the service between Shrewsbury and London is currently operating at a loss of £1.4 million per year. West Midlands Railway (WMR) and Transport for Wales provide sufficient capacity for passengers between Shrewsbury and Birmingham, and the Department has agreed that WMR will introduce a second hourly Birmingham to Shrewsbury semi-fast service in June 2024 to operate via the Stour Valley and provide quicker journey time between Shropshire towns and Birmingham.

Government support for the operational railway was almost £12 billion in the last financial year – equivalent to more than £420 per household. The Secretary of State’s decision to withdraw a service operating at a loss estimated at £1.4 million every year, was taken to help reduce public subsidy and restore the financial sustainability of the railway. No public consultation is planned as, given these clear financial constraints, meaningful consultation is not possible, as it would not alter the outcome.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had recent discussions with Avanti West Coast on the withdrawal of the direct Euston to Shrewsbury service.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

Department officials routinely engage with Avanti and its Owning Group over many areas, including timetabling decisions.

The Department specifies the train services to be operated by train companies including Avanti West Coast through National Rail Contracts. As part of industry wide efforts to align timetables to changing demand patterns and restore the financial stability of the railway, the Government asked all operators to present cost saving options. Due to very low passenger numbers, the service between Shrewsbury and London is currently operating at a loss of £1.4 million per year. We cannot ask taxpayers to maintain the historically high level of financial support for the industry indefinitely, so the service will be withdrawn from June 2024. West Midlands Railway (WMR) and Transport for Wales provide sufficient capacity for passengers between Shrewsbury and Birmingham, and the Department has agreed that WMR will introduce a second hourly Birmingham to Shrewsbury semi-fast service in June 2024 to operate via the Stour Valley and provide quicker journey time between Shropshire towns and Birmingham.

Shrewsbury to London Euston Avanti West Coast service

Tenant farming commissioner

Food price inflation and the Easter festive period

Found: _1 Helen Morgan Clause 12, page 14, line 26, after “dwelling-house” insert “or the short-term

Found: _1 Helen Morgan Clause 12, page 14, line 26, after “dwelling-house” insert “or the short-term

Found: ” _11 Helen Morgan Clause 12, page 14, line 21, after “dwelling-house” insert “or the short-term