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.
Asked by: Holly Mumby-Croft (Conservative - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department plans to take steps to ensure that supermarkets reflect falls in wholesale prices in consumer fuel costs.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government expects retailers to pass on savings to consumers and strongly believes rigorous competition is the best way of delivering low fuel prices for consumers. The Government has therefore accepted the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) recommendations to create a statutory open data scheme for road fuel prices and an ongoing monitoring function for the UK market, and will consult on this in the autumn.
In the interim, the CMA will create a voluntary scheme, by end of August, encouraging fuel retailers to share accurate, up-to-date fuel prices for publication, and continue to monitor prices using its existing powers.
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 steps her Department is taking to help large scale manufacturers reduce air pollution.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Pollution from industrial sources in England and Wales is controlled through the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2016. All large industrial facilities, including large-scale industrial manufacturing, must comply with their environmental permits and use best available techniques (BAT) to reduce emissions to air, water and land. Through the UK BAT standard-setting process, regulators and industry collaborate to identify the most effective technologies and processes for reducing emissions. This process provides stability for industry through predictable review cycles and implementation timelines.
Through the permitting process the Environment Agency works closely with operators of large industrial sites to determine the most appropriate pollution control options for each site.
If a site is not compliant with the conditions in their permit, the Environment Agency works with the operator to agree measures to bring the site back into compliance.
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 his Department is taking to increase the survival rate for pancreatic cancer; and whether policies on increasing the survival rate will be included in the Major Conditions Strategy.
Answered by Will Quince
Early diagnosis is key to improving survival rates for pancreatic cancer. The Department is working with the National Health Service to improve diagnosis and treatment for those with cancer. The Elective Recovery Plan, published on 8 February 2022, set out the ambition that 75% of patients who have been urgently referred by their general practitioner for suspected cancer will be diagnosed or have cancer ruled out within 28 days by March 2024.
The pancreatic cancer clinical audit, led by the Royal College of Surgeons, began in 2021, with the first outcomes expected in 2023/24. A key aim of the audit is to support NHS services to stimulate improvements in cancer detection, treatment and outcomes for patients, including improving survival rates.
In addition, the NHS has allocated £10 million to innovations to support earlier and more efficient diagnosis, including the PinPoint blood test and a new genetic test that can be used as a ‘liquid biopsy’ for those with suspected pancreatic cancer.
The Major Conditions Strategy will look at the treatment and prevention of cancer, covering the patient pathway. The strategy will consider a wide range of interventions and enablers to improve outcomes and experience for cancer patients.
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 his Department are taking to (a) tackle shortages of glucagon-like peptide receptor agonists and (b) ensure an adequate long-term supply.
Answered by Will Quince
There are global supply issues with glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs). The Department has issued two Medicine Supply Notifications (MSNs), the first in September 2022 advising healthcare professionals not to initiate new patients on semaglutide (Ozempic) and to only use semaglutide for its licensed indications. The second was issued in June 2023 addressing all GLP-1 RA’s including Victoza (liraglutide injection) and Rybelsus (semaglutide tablets) advising healthcare professionals on how to manage patients requiring these medicines.
The Department’s guidance is clear that medicines which are solely licensed to treat type 2 diabetes, such as Ozempic, should not be routinely prescribed for weight loss. These medicines should only be prescribed for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.
GLP-1 RAs have also been added to the list of medicines that are subject to export and hoarding restrictions, to protect United Kingdom supply for UK patients.
The Department has well-established processes to manage supply issues and continues to work closely with national diabetes specialists, the suppliers, wholesalers, all manufacturers of these medicines and the relevant regulatory bodies and agencies to address and resolve these issues as soon as possible.
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 his Department is taking to improve (a) diagnosis times and (b) cancer treatment pathways; and whether he plans to include this in the 10-year Cancer Plan.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government worked with NHS England to publish the delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlogs in elective care in February 2022. The Government plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to help drive up and protect elective activity, including cancer diagnosis and treatment activity.
This will further be supported by the additional £3.3 billion of funding in each of the next two years announced at the Autumn Statement to support the NHS, enabling rapid action to improve emergency, elective and primary care performance towards pre-pandemic levels.
NHS England’s recent letter ‘Elective care 2023/24 Priorities’ set out the progress to date in reducing the number of patients with urgent suspected cancer waiting longer than 62 days and meeting the faster diagnosis standard for the first time in February. It also confirmed the ongoing priorities to make further progress to improve performance and long waits, prioritise diagnostic capacity and focus on cancer pathway redesign
The Government announced on 24 January that it will publish a Major Conditions Strategy. Cancer will be a significant element of the new Strategy, and we will ensure that all the learning from the over 5,000 submissions to the call for evidence will be considered. This will replace the suggested 10-year cancer plan.
Asked by: Holly Mumby-Croft (Conservative - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the extension to the Household Support Fund to March 2024, what other steps his Department is taking to help reduce child poverty in (a) North Lincolnshire and (b) the UK.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is committed to reducing child poverty and supporting low-income families. We will spend around £276bn through the welfare system in Great Britain in 2023/24 including around £124bn on people of working age and their children.
From April, we uprated benefit rates by 10.1%. In order to increase the number of households who can benefit from these uprating decisions the benefit cap levels have also increased by the same amount.
With 1.05 million job vacancies across the UK, our focus remains firmly on supporting individuals, including parents, to move into, and progress in work, an approach which is based on clear evidence about the importance of employment - particularly where it is full-time - in substantially reducing the risks of child poverty and in improving long-term outcomes for families and children. The latest statistics show that in 2021/22 children living in workless households were around 5 times more likely to be in absolute poverty after housing costs than those where all adults work.
To support those who are in work, from 1 April 2023, the National Living Wage (NLW) increased by 9.7% to £10.42 an hour for workers aged 23 and over - the largest ever cash increase for the NLW.
At the Spring Budget, the Chancellor announced an ambitious package of measures designed to support people wherever they live in the UK to enter work, increase their working hours and extend their working lives.
We are investing billions in additional childcare support for parents of toddlers, investing in wraparound childcare in schools, and increasing financial support for, and expectations of, parents claiming Universal Credit.
This government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living which is why we are providing total support of over £94bn over 2022-23 and 2023-24 to help households and individuals with the rising bills.
For people who require additional support, the Household Support Fund has been extended until March 2024. This year long extension allows Local Authorities in England to continue to provide discretionary support to those most in need in response to the significantly rising cost of living. The Devolved Administrations will receive consequential Barnett funding, as with all England-only investment, to spend at their discretion.
For the period April 2023 to March 2024, the total Household Support Fund allocation for North Lincolnshire is £2,647,785.53.
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 she has made on the Action Plan for Animal Welfare; and when she plans to publish a consultation on the keeping of caged farmed animals.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have delivered an ambitious legislative programme since the publication of the Action Plan, which will deliver significant improvements for animals in the UK and abroad. We are firmly committed to maintaining our strong track record on animal welfare and to delivering continued improvements, both in the course of this Parliament and beyond.
Our recent announcement on delivering the measures in the Kept Animals Bill through single measure Bills will help us to deliver two further commitments in the plan, including the ban on live exports. These are our key priorities. We do not consider the time is right to consult on cage reforms, being mindful of the challenges the sectors are facing. The market is already driving the move away from using cages for laying hen production. The proportion of eggs that come from caged hens has steadily decreased from 47% of total throughput in Q4 2017, to 21% in Q1 2023.
We continue to work with the sector to maintain and enhance our high standards. The Government’s animal welfare priorities for its Animal Health and Welfare Pathway include supporting producers to transition away from confinement systems.
Asked by: Holly Mumby-Croft (Conservative - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of working with North Lincolnshire Council to use its buildings as driving theory test centres.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Although the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has recently increased the number of theory test centres by over 10%, this specific proposal is not currently under consideration.
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 his Department is taking to increase the number of children and adolescent mental health services appointments.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The NHS Long Term Plan commits to increasing investment into National Health Service mental health services by at least £2.3 billion a year by March 2024. Part of this increased investment will enable an additional 345,000 children and young people to be able to access NHS funded mental health support, including through appointments with children and adolescent mental health services by March 2024.
To support this, our aim is to grow the mental health workforce by an additional 27,000 staff by March 2024. December 2022 figures show an increase of over 8,900, full-time equivalent staff in the mental health workforce compared to December 2021 and over 20,700 more compared to December 2010.
We are making good progress on expanding access to mental health care for children and young people year on year. 689,621 children and young people in England aged under 18 years old were supported with at least one contact in the year up to July 2022 compared to 618,537 in the year up to July 2021.