Asked by: Ian Levy (Conservative - Blyth Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department has made on the roll-out of electric vehicle charging points on the motorway network.
Answered by Anthony Browne
Around 96% of motorway service areas (MSAs) in England have charging available. There are now 260 ultra-rapid (150kw+) chargepoints, and more than 480 open-access (can be used with any electric vehicle) rapid (50kW) and ultra-rapid chargepoints at MSAs in total.
The Rapid Charging Fund (RCF) will help to future-proof electrical capacity at strategic locations where it is not currently commercially viable for industry to do so in order to enable a visible, functional and long-distance charging network, which is vital for mass EV adoption.
The RCF will also support the market to deliver and grow by subsidising the uncommercial costs of new or additional electricity connections. In addition, the RCF will ensure that the private sector can continue to expand the charging network and future-proof electricity network capacity 10 years ahead to a minimum of 2035, with a stretch target of 2050.
A pilot for the RCF is expected to open for applications soon.
Asked by: Ian Levy (Conservative - Blyth Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to publish the Government's response to the consultation on the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail.
Answered by Huw Merriman
The Government response to the rail reform legislation consultation will be published this summer. This consulted on elements of the Plan for Rail White Paper which require legislation to implement.
Asked by: Ian Levy (Conservative - Blyth Valley)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent assessment he has made of the strength of the Union.
Answered by Alister Jack
My assessment is that our United Kingdom, and support for it, is strong.
This Government is delivering on issues that actually matter to people - from Levelling Up investment to tackling the cost of living, and working with the Scottish Government on delivering Freeports, Investment Zones and City & Region Growth Deals.
Asked by: Ian Levy (Conservative - Blyth Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to improve access to early mental health care for children and young people who have not yet had a medical diagnosis; and what progress he has made on the provision of early support hubs in the North East.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
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 through National Health Service funded mental health services with at least one contact in the year up to July 2022 compared to 618,537 in the year up to July 2021.
We are continuing the roll-out of mental health support teams, offering early support to children experiencing mild to moderate mental health concerns in schools and colleges across England. These teams also support the school in adopting a Whole School/College Approach to Mental Health and Wellbeing and support the school to liaise with external specialists to help children get the right support to stay in education. There are currently 26 mental health support teams planned or operating within the North East and North Cumbria integrated care system area.
The Government is working with the sector to understand the role of early support hubs in supporting children and young people. There are currently around 60 locally designed and funded hubs in England, which often provide several different services, for example, early intervention and prevention services, sexual health clinics or careers advice. Integrated care boards and local authorities work with local partners to understand local needs and commission services on that basis.
Asked by: Ian Levy (Conservative - Blyth Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to ensure adequate provision of support services for 16 and 17 year olds with autism and sensory issues who have left full time education but do not yet have access to adult services.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
Through implementation of our national autism strategy, published on 21 July 2021, we are taking action to enable positive transitions into adulthood for autistic children and young people.
We are investing £121 million in 2023/24, including for Children and Young People’s keyworkers, to improve community support for autistic people and people with a learning disability as part of the NHS Long Term Plan. In addition, in 2023/2024, £4.2 million of funding is available to improve services for autistic children and young people aged 0 to 25 years old, including post-diagnostic support.
On 2 March 2023, the Department for Education published the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) and Alternative Provision Improvement plan in response to the Green Paper published in March last year. As part of this, the Department is currently exploring good practice on transitions, to provide consistent, timely, high-quality preparation for children and young people with SEND, including autistic children and young people, when they transition between different stages of their education, into employment, or adult social care services. Following this, the Department for Education will publish guidance to support effective transitions between all stages of education, and into employment and adult services by the end of 2025.
Asked by: Ian Levy (Conservative - Blyth Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what comparative data her Department collects on the standard of boys' (a) language and (b) literacy skills prior to commencing primary education.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework requires early years providers in England, ordinarily schools, to complete the EYFS profile assessment at the end of the academic year in which a child turns five. This is usually reception year.
Each child’s level of development is assessed against 17 early learning goals (ELGs) across all seven areas of learning in the EYFS. This includes communication and language and literacy. For each ELG, practitioners must assess whether a child is meeting the level of development expected at the end of the EYFS, or if they are not yet reaching this level and should be assessed as ‘emerging’.
The EYFS profile results for the 2021/22 academic year are available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/early-years-foundation-stage-profile-results/2021-22. These statistics include breakdowns by characteristics such as gender.
Asked by: Ian Levy (Conservative - Blyth Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will introduce a requirement for visual checks to be carried out on all dogs entering via the Pet Travel Scheme.
Answered by Mark Spencer
We already operate one of the most rigorous and robust pet travel checking regimes in Europe. All non-commercial dogs, cats and ferrets entering Great Britain on approved routes (every route other than Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and the Crown Dependencies) under the Pet Travel rules undergo 100% documentary and identity checks by authorised pet checkers. We have no plans to introduce further visual checks.
Asked by: Ian Levy (Conservative - Blyth Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department is taking steps to prevent exploitation of the Pet Travel Scheme by traders seeking to facilitate illegal importation of puppies.
Answered by Mark Spencer
We have some of the highest animal welfare standards in the world and the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill will bring in some of the world’s strongest protections for pets, livestock and kept wild animals including measures which tackle puppy smuggling.
Asked by: Ian Levy (Conservative - Blyth Valley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to increase funding in port infrastructure to help support the development of floating wind supply chains.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government understands the importance of ports for the development of floating offshore wind to support the opportunities that this new industry offers the UK. The Government is engaging with stakeholders and analysing feedback following the launch of the Floating Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Scheme Request for Information earlier this year, and the next steps on the Scheme will be set out soon.
Asked by: Ian Levy (Conservative - Blyth Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has to introduce a ban on the importation and sale of dogs with cropped ears and docked tails.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The practice of non-exempted mutilations such as cropping dogs' ears is abhorrent and has rightly been banned in the UK for 15 years. Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, it is already an offence in England and Wales to carry out a non-exempted mutilation (e.g., where it is not carried out for medical purposes) including the cropping of a dog's ears. Now that The Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021 has come into force, anyone convicted of such an offence face being sent to prison for up to five years, or receiving an unlimited fine, or both.
Now that we have left the EU, we are making some significant changes to domestic law through the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill, bringing in legislation to meet our manifesto commitment to crack down on puppy smuggling.
The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill introduces measures relating to the low welfare movements of pets into Great Britain and includes powers to introduce further restrictions on pet travel and on the commercial import of pets on welfare grounds, via secondary legislation.
In August 2021, the Government launched a consultation on how these powers should be used. We are currently analysing the replies to this consultation and will publish our response in due course.