Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the readiness of the construction industry to help meet her housing targets.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 28369 on 13 February 2025.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
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 reduce the gap in healthy life expectancy between regions in England.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that health inequalities in the United Kingdom are stark, with life expectancy differing dramatically between and within communities. At the heart of our Health Mission is a focus on addressing the social determinants of health, with the goal of halving the gap in healthy life expectancy between regions of England, so more people live longer and in good health.
Work is currently underway across the Department and with NHS England and the regional Directors of Public Health to develop approaches to address regional health inequalities. In line with the Government’s Health Mission, the Department’s goal is to create a more equitable healthcare system that leaves no person or community behind.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to make the process of tending for his Department's contracts is more accessible to SMEs.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) hold a crucial place in UK defence. They are the backbone of the UK economy and vital to delivering the innovation, expertise and agility we need now and in the future. Consideration of SMEs is a key element in our development of the forthcoming Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS). Through this we will consider how we better support SMEs, reduce barriers and set the conditions that unlock the full potential of SMEs to innovate at pace and seize future opportunities. A revised SME Action Plan will follow the DIS with the aim to improve engagement and increase Ministry of Defence (MOD) direct spend with SMEs.
In the meantime, the Procurement at MOD page on the gov.uk website contains detailed information for SMEs looking to become a supplier or contractor in defence. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-defence/about/procurement
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions her Department has had with Skills England on potential changes to the funding of apprenticeships.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Apprenticeships and skills will play a critical part in the government’s mission to drive growth across the country, supporting people to get better jobs and improve their standard of living.
The government has established Skills England to form a coherent national picture of skills gaps and help shape the technical education system so that it is responsive to skills needs. This will include advising on priorities for the new growth and skills offer.
Skills England engaged with employers and other key partners regarding early priorities for the new growth and skills offer, including proposals to ask more employers to step forward and fund more level 7 apprenticeships themselves.
Skills England spoke to over 700 stakeholders before Christmas as part of their engagement exercise, and have shared their findings with the department. Its findings from this engagement process will be published in early 2025.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has had discussions with the TV Licensing Agency on (a) discounts and (b) exemptions from the TV licence for armed forces personnel in service accommodation.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The Ministry of Defence has neither held discussions, nor has any current plan to hold discussions, with the TV Licencing Agency regarding an Armed Forces discount to the TV Licence or an exemption for personnel living in Service accommodation.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many armed forces personnel live in service accommodation.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
As of 6 February 2025, there was a total of 113,461 Armed Forces personnel living in Service accommodation. This figure includes both Single Living Accommodation occupancy and Service Family Accommodation occupancy.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of potential increased maintenance costs for NHS Hospitals whose construction projects have been delayed under(a) wave 2 and (b) wave 3 of the New Hospital Programme review.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The safety of National Health Service staff and patients is of vital importance to the Government. That is why repairing and rebuilding our hospital estate is a key part of our ambition to create an NHS that is fit for the future through our 10-Year Health Plan. The New Hospital Programme review considered the clinical impacts of the quality of the estate as part of the prioritisation exercise involving a multi-criteria decision support analysis tool.
Integrated care boards will collectively receive over £4 billion in annual capital allocations in 2025/26. These allocations are managed at a local level, with funds allocated according to local priorities, including estate maintenance works. In addition, my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer also committed over £1 billion to make inroads into the backlog of critical maintenance and to tackle dangerous reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete. Further detail on funding will follow at the earliest opportunity, including local capital allocations and national capital programmes for 2025 to 2026, as part of NHS planning guidance. Capital funding levels for future years will be determined through the current Spending Review which concludes in June 2025. Future Spending Reviews will consider needs across the NHS estate, including hospitals whose constructions have been delayed.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many death-in-service payments are paid to the families of deceased armed forces personnel each year.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The Ministry of Defence administer three schemes which compensate for those whose death was caused by service.
War Pension Scheme (WPS)
The WPS is a provision for individuals whose spouse's demise was either caused or expedited due to their service. It is essential to note that the fatal injury or the death itself must have transpired before 6 April 2005. This data includes payments made to widows or widowers of service members who perished not only during service but also post-service, if their death was a direct result of their service.
As of 31 March 2024, the WPS accounted for 9,884 widows or widowers receiving payments.
For a comprehensive overview of these figures over the past five years, as of 31 March each year, please refer to the WPS Accredited Official Statistic Supplementary Tables (Table 9) via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/war-pensions-scheme-statistics-2024
Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS)
The AFCS was established to support personnel whose injury or death was a direct consequence of their service on or after 6 April 2005. It's important to clarify that these figures encompass payments made to the families of those who not only died while in service, but also those who passed away post-service due to service-related causes.
As of 31 March 2024, the AFCS reported that 322 spouses and 232 children were receiving a Survivor's Guaranteed Income Payment.
For a detailed breakdown of these figures from 2006 to 2024, as of 31 March each year, please refer to the AFCS Accredited Official Statistic Supplementary Tables (Table 15) available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/armed-forces-compensation-scheme-statistics-index
Armed Forces Pension Scheme (AFPS)
Under this scheme, since January 2020 until December 2024, 161 Death-in-Service (DIS) payments have been made to the Next-of-Kin/Executors /Solicitors. This is broken down in the table below:
Calendar Year | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
DIS Payments made | 35 | 25 | 33 | 44 | 24 |
The total amounts of the DIS lump sum, paid per annum, is made up of individual payments each month to the estates of deceased Service Personnel (Officers and Other Ranks) from the Army, Navy and RAF who died whilst still in Service.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
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 (a) planned and (b) preventative maintenance at NHS hospitals impacted by delays to the New Hospital Programme.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Repairing and rebuilding our hospital estate is a key part of our ambition to create a National Health Service that is fit for the future through our 10-Year Health Plan.
Integrated care boards will continue to receive annual capital allocations. These allocations are managed at a local level, with funds allocated according to local priorities, including for estate maintenance works. In addition, my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer also announced over £1 billion to make inroads into the backlog of critical maintenance and to tackle dangerous reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete. Further details on funding will follow at the earliest opportunity, including local capital allocations and national capital programmes for 2025 to 2026, as part of NHS planning guidance. Capital funding levels for future years will be determined through the current Spending Review, which concludes in June 2025.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his department is taking to maintain UK shipbuilding (a) capacity and (b) skills, in the context of Harland & Wolff entering administration.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Government remains fully committed to delivering a thriving UK shipbuilding sector and recognises the vital role shipbuilding and its skilled workforce plays in the economic prosperity and growth of the UK.
Navantia's purchase of Harland and Wolff is a significant investment into the UK's industrial base and demonstrates Navantia UK's continuing commitment to the UK. The Government is confident that this market-led solution is positive for Harland and Wolff and the shipbuilding industry more broadly, and provides the best opportunity to sustain essential sovereign shipbuilding capacity and capability for future Naval work.
This Government is committed to working with the whole shipbuilding industry, Navantia UK included, in supporting jobs and sustaining and growing our shipbuilding sector across the UK.