Asked by: Holly Mumby-Croft (Conservative - Scunthorpe)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to help ensure that members of the British Steel Pension Scheme receive equal compensation.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is responsible for the regulation of the financial advice market and has looked closely at the advice provided to British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS) members who transferred from the scheme.
Following this, the FCA has put in place a consumer redress scheme to ensure that the advice given to former BSPS members from the relevant period is reviewed and that redress is paid to those who lost out financially as a result of the poor advice they received.
Asked by: Holly Mumby-Croft (Conservative - Scunthorpe)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish any (a) internal reviews and (b) audits conducted by the Financial Conduct Authority on the consistency of the redress scheme for British Steel Pension Scheme members.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Treasury does not hold internal reviews or audits conducted by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) concerning its redress scheme for former British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS) members.
Asked by: Holly Mumby-Croft (Conservative - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made on the roll out of the Championing Kinship Care strategy; and what her planned timetable is for deploying it nationally.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In December 2023, the department published 'Championing Kinship Care', which is the first ever national kinship care strategy. The department is investing £20 million of funding in the 2024/25 financial year for Championing Kinship Care to help move towards a children’s social care system with kinship at its heart.
Since the publication of Championing Kinship Care, the department has:
The department will provide an update on the financial allowance pathfinder programme in the coming months.
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.
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:
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%.
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.
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.
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.
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.