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Written Question
Hedges and Ditches: Conservation
Friday 15th March 2024

Asked by: Holly Mumby-Croft (Conservative - Scunthorpe)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made on plans to (a) regulate and (b) maintain hedgerow protection.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Hedgerows Regulations 1997 set legal protections for hedgerows in England and Wales. These existing regulations prohibit the removal of most countryside hedgerows (or parts of them) without first seeking approval from the local planning authority.

In June 2023, the Government launched a consultation on how hedgerows should be further protected in England. The responses to the consultation supported bringing hedgerow management rules into regulation and this is what the Government will do as soon as parliamentary time allows. The regulations will require a 2-metre buffer strip, measured from the centre of the hedge, where no cultivation or application of pesticides or fertilisers must take place, and will ban the cutting of hedges between 1 March and 31 August. The regulations will support other Government actions and incentives, including over 90,000 km of hedgerows being managed through 16,000 agreements in the Government’s Countryside Stewardship and Sustainable Farming Incentive schemes.

Defra is also working with stakeholders and other Government departments to understand how to support the creation and maintenance of hedgerows in non-agricultural contexts, to maximise the benefits they provide.


Written Question
Special Educational Needs
Thursday 8th February 2024

Asked by: Holly Mumby-Croft (Conservative - Scunthorpe)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent progress her Department has made on implementing the policies in the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan, CP 800, published on 31 March 2023.

Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Backed by over £10.5 billion in 2024/25, which is an increase in the high needs budget of 60% over five years, the department’s Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan will ensure children and young people across England with SEND or in AP get high-quality, early support wherever they live in the country.

The department has a clear plan to ensure children and young people enjoy their childhood and achieve good outcomes. The department is delivering on this plan. The department has completed the following:

  • In this academic year alone, the department has opened 15 new special schools and one AP free school, which creates over 1,500 new places for children and young people. The department has also approved a further 76 special free schools to create additional specialist school places for those with the greatest needs.

  • In September 2023, the department launched a £70 million Change Programme made up of 32 local authorities to test and refine the department’s reforms. The programme is working with local authorities, integrated care boards, school representatives, parent group representatives and professionals to benefit every region in England.
  • In November 2023, the department announced the £13 million ‘Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools’ programme to support up to 1680 primary schools to better meet the needs of neurodiverse children

  • Since May 2022, over 5,000 online training modules have been completed and over 100,000 professionals have undertaken autism awareness training provided by the Autism Education Trust through the Universal training offer.
  • In January 2024, the department announced a new initial teacher training and early career framework which includes new and updated content on SEND to ensure teachers have the skills and confidence to support all children.
  • The department has registered over 5000 practitioners for early years Special Educational Needs Coordinator training to boost their understanding of SEND in the early years, early identification and collaborative working with parents, carers and other professionals.
  • Through grant funding, the department has supported all local authorities in England to strengthen the quality of their Supported Internship offers to improve the transition into sustained, paid employment for interns. In the Spring Budget 2023, the department announced up to £3 million to pilot extending Supported Internships to young people with learning difficulties and disabilities but without an Education, Health and Care plan until March 2025

  • In August 2023, the department confirmed that it is introducing a leadership level new National Professional Qualification for Special Educational Needs Coordinators, to replace the existing qualification, from Autumn 2024 and ensure special educational needs coordinators receive consistent high-quality, evidence-based training

  • The department has provided a further £21 million to train 400 more education psychologists across the academic years 2024 and 2025

  • The department has extended the AP Specialist Taskforce programme to March 2025 which has reached over 4000 children to date.
  • The department has introduced a strengthened local authority inspection regime between Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission to drive better outcomes and standards in line with the department’s ambitious programme of reform, with 23 inspection reports published so far.

Written Question
Diabetes: Health Services
Monday 29th January 2024

Asked by: Holly Mumby-Croft (Conservative - Scunthorpe)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that diabetes patients in (a) Scunthorpe and (b) England receive the eight health checks recommended by Diabetes UK.

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

Recovery of routine diabetes care following the pandemic is a key priority for the NHS England Diabetes Programme. Transformation funding between 2020/21 and 2022/23 has supported recovery, as such that rates of routine care delivery are now almost back to the pre-pandemic level. Services in the National Health Service are asked to continue this upward trajectory, with a particular focus on ensuring that people from socio-economically deprived areas receive their annual reviews.

Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) is responsible for commissioning diabetes clinical services for the Scunthorpe area and has an established Diabetes Clinical Network. This network operates across the entirety of the Humber and North Yorkshire geographical area.

The latest National Diabetes Audit 2023-24 Quarterly Report, January 2023 to September 2023 was published on 11 January 2024. The proportion of patients with type 1 diabetes completing all eight care processes at Humber and North Yorkshire ICB is 27.0%, above the England average of 25.3%. The proportion of patients with type 2 diabetes completing all eight care processes at Humber and North Yorkshire ICB is 37% above the England average of 30.5%.


Written Question
Diseases: Health Services
Monday 22nd January 2024

Asked by: Holly Mumby-Croft (Conservative - Scunthorpe)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress her Department has made on the publication of the final Major Conditions Strategy.

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

Following publication of our initial report, Major Conditions Strategy: Case for change and our strategic framework, in August 2023, we have continued to develop the strategy, informed by the call for evidence and ongoing engagement. Our intention is to publish the Major Conditions Strategy early this year.


Written Question
Hepatitis and HIV Infection: Screening
Monday 20th November 2023

Asked by: Holly Mumby-Croft (Conservative - Scunthorpe)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 17 October 2023 to Question 200545 on Hepatitis and HIV Infection and to the Emergency department bloodborne virus opt-out testing: 12-month interim report 2023, published by the UK Health Security Agency on 9 November 2023, what recent progress she has made on expanding the programme to all areas with a high prevalence of HIV.

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

On 9 November, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) published an evaluation of the first year of the bloodborne virus (BBV) opt-out testing in emergency departments in local areas with extremely high HIV prevalence. Findings show that the programme has made a significant contribution to BBV testing in England with more than half the number of tests done in the programme compared to BBV tests in other settings.

We continue to assess available evidence alongside data on progress towards our ambitions to end new HIV transmissions, AIDS- and HIV-related deaths within England by 2030 to decide on further expansion of the programme.


Written Question
Cystic Fibrosis: Medical Treatments
Friday 20th October 2023

Asked by: Holly Mumby-Croft (Conservative - Scunthorpe)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of adding cystic fibrosis medication to the prescription charge exemption list.

Answered by Will Quince

There are no current plans to review or extend the prescription charge medical exemptions list to include cystic fibrosis. Almost 89% of prescription items are dispensed free of charge in England and there are arrangements in place to help those with the greatest need.

Eligibility depends on the patient’s age, whether they are in qualifying full-time education, whether they are pregnant or have recently given birth, or whether they are in receipt of certain benefits or a war pension. Those with cystic fibrosis or another long-term condition may therefore meet the eligibility criteria for prescription charge exemptions and be in receipt of free prescriptions.

To support those who do not qualify for an exemption of prescription charges, the cost of prescriptions can be capped by purchasing a prescription pre-payment certificate, which can be paid for in instalments. A holder of a 12-month certificate can get all the prescriptions they need for just over £2 per week.

Additionally, people on a low income who do not qualify for an exemption from prescription charges can also seek help under the NHS Low Income Service, which provides help with health costs on an income-related basis.


Written Question
Hepatitis and HIV Infection: Screening
Tuesday 17th October 2023

Asked by: Holly Mumby-Croft (Conservative - Scunthorpe)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the opt-out (a) HIV and (b) hepatitis testing programme.

Answered by Neil O'Brien

Provisional data from NHS England indicates that the opt-out testing programme has helped find more than 550 cases of undiagnosed or untreated human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and more than 1,900 cases of undiagnosed or untreated hepatitis during its first year. A 12-month public health evaluation report will be published by the UK Health Security Agency in October.

We will be assessing all this evidence alongside the data on progress towards our ambitions to end new HIV transmissions and AIDS- and HIV-related deaths within England by 2030 to decide whether we further expand the programme. We will be sharing evidence as it emerges to support other areas of the country to make the case for implementing the same approach locally.


Written Question
Money
Thursday 7th September 2023

Asked by: Holly Mumby-Croft (Conservative - Scunthorpe)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to facilitate the acceptance of cash across the UK.

Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The government recognises that, to support people’s ability to continue to transact using cash, businesses need reasonable access to cash deposit facilities to support them to keep accepting cash.

The government therefore legislated through the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 to establish the Financial Conduct Authority as the lead regulator for access to cash and provide it with responsibility and powers to seek to ensure reasonable provision of cash withdrawal and deposit facilities.

The government considers that this legislation will support organisations, including local businesses, to continue accepting cash by ensuring that they have reasonable access to cash deposit facilities.


Written Question
Companies: EU Law
Monday 7th August 2023

Asked by: Holly Mumby-Croft (Conservative - Scunthorpe)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to support UK companies in adapting to EU laws on (a) carbon border taxes, (b) plastic waste management, and (c) supply chain monitoring which differ from UK equivalent laws.

Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)

The UK Government was appointed an observer of one of the EU’s informal expert group on monitoring, reporting, quantification and verification related to the CBAM implementation, and is engaging with the EU about their draft Implementing Act, which was published last month. As we gain further clarity on the implication of the CBAM, we will continue to engage UK businesses to offer the support that they need. HM Treasury are leading work to consider whether or not the UK will establish its own CBAM.

The Government published a Border Operating Model which provides guidance on the rules exporters must follow to import and export waste, including plastic waste, from the EU.

We have published and shared guidance material to help businesses strengthen their supply chains resilience. A supply chains resilience framework was published in November 2022 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supply-chain-resilience and, Working with the National Protective Security Authority and the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply, we have developed tools to help businesses improve their understanding of supply chains and manage risks and future shocks. https://www.npsa.gov.uk/supply-chain-resilience.


Written Question
Refugees: Ukraine
Tuesday 25th July 2023

Asked by: Holly Mumby-Croft (Conservative - Scunthorpe)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to support Ukrainian families to find accommodation.

Answered by Rachel Maclean

We have provided councils with extensive tariff funding, including an additional £150 million to support Ukrainian guests to move into their own homes. Funding is un-ringfenced, which allows councils to use the funding as best suits their area, including measures to support guests to access the private rented sector.

The Local Authority Housing Fund provides capital funding directly to councils in England to obtain housing for Ukrainian and Afghan families and in the longer term will provide a new and permanent supply of accommodation for local communities.

We have published guidance on renting to help households who wish to move on from sponsorship by accessing private accommodation.