Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of appointing cross-government leadership on the issue of missing persons.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government recognises the need for an effective multi-agency response to missing person investigations and we are clear in our ambition to reduce missing incidents and safeguard those vulnerable to going missing. Missing children and adults represent a concern which spans many cross-Governmental priorities and policy areas. The Home Office is committed to working with the Department for Education and Department for Health and Social Care and other relevant departments; sending a clear message that missing needs a whole-system response.
Repeat missing incidents are often a red flag for a number of the harms, such as child sexual or criminal exploitation. The Home Office is heavily invested in supporting and protecting vulnerable people, particularly children and young people from all forms of harm.
The Home Office and Department for Education have been supporting the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) lead for Missing Persons in the development of a 'Missing Children from Care' framework, which has been piloted in West Yorkshire. This framework outlines good practice that can be adopted by local areas when setting up their own multi-agency protocols for the strategic and operational response to a missing incident, with an aim to ensure that the appropriate safeguarding partner responds in the best interest of the missing person.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department plans to take to reduce the number of repeat missing incidents amongst children.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government recognises the need for an effective multi-agency response to missing person investigations and we are clear in our ambition to reduce missing incidents and safeguard those vulnerable to going missing. Missing children and adults represent a concern which spans many cross-Governmental priorities and policy areas. The Home Office is committed to working with the Department for Education and Department for Health and Social Care and other relevant departments; sending a clear message that missing needs a whole-system response.
Repeat missing incidents are often a red flag for a number of the harms, such as child sexual or criminal exploitation. The Home Office is heavily invested in supporting and protecting vulnerable people, particularly children and young people from all forms of harm.
The Home Office and Department for Education have been supporting the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) lead for Missing Persons in the development of a 'Missing Children from Care' framework, which has been piloted in West Yorkshire. This framework outlines good practice that can be adopted by local areas when setting up their own multi-agency protocols for the strategic and operational response to a missing incident, with an aim to ensure that the appropriate safeguarding partner responds in the best interest of the missing person.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent discussions he has had with EU-based businesses on UK-EU trade relations.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Government regularly engages with UK and EU businesses as we strengthen the UK-EU relationship. This includes engagement through formal channels such as the UK TCA Domestic Advisory Group and the Trade Strategy’s open call for input, as well as Ministerial roundtables.
As part of my visit to Brussels on 26 February, I held a roundtable with EU industry representatives on improving UK-EU trade relations. On 6 March, Minister Gustafsson led a business roundtable with Irish businesses regarding bilateral trade and investment opportunities. We will continue to engage businesses ahead of the UK-EU Summit.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to consult UK businesses ahead of the UK-EU May Summit.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Government regularly engages with UK and EU businesses as we strengthen the UK-EU relationship. This includes engagement through formal channels such as the UK TCA Domestic Advisory Group and the Trade Strategy’s open call for input, as well as Ministerial roundtables.
As part of my visit to Brussels on 26 February, I held a roundtable with EU industry representatives on improving UK-EU trade relations. On 6 March, Minister Gustafsson led a business roundtable with Irish businesses regarding bilateral trade and investment opportunities. We will continue to engage businesses ahead of the UK-EU Summit.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will have discussions with Cabinet colleagues on how to support individuals who develop temporomandibular disorder as a result of orthodontic treatment.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Information is not held centrally on the number of people with temporomandibular disorder linked to orthodontic treatment.
More widely, the Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of people diagnosed with temporomandibular disorder linked to orthodontic malpractice.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Information is not held centrally on the number of people with temporomandibular disorder linked to orthodontic treatment.
More widely, the Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking through the Product Safety and Metrology Bill to improve safety standards in relation to the (a) use and (b) sale of lithium-ion batteries.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK has some of the strongest consumer product safety laws in the world, that already requires businesses to only make safe products available on the market, including lithium-ion batteries. The powers in the Product Regulation and Metrology Bill will allow us to update the regulatory framework, if we determine that is necessary to ensure the best protections for consumers.
In the meantime, the Office for Product Safety and Standards, as the national regulator, is taking action to prevent unsafe products, including lithium-ion batteries, from being sold in the UK.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of Gatwick Airport expansion on the (a) capacity and (b) reliability of the rail network serving that airport; and what steps she is taking to mitigate potential disruption to (i) passengers and (ii) local communities.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In her letter of 27 February 2025, my Right Honourable Friend, the Secretary of State for Transport indicated that she was minded to approve the proposed development of the Gatwick Airport Northern Runway Project based on the principles of the requirements set out by the Examining Authority in its report. It is now for the applicant to respond. Both the letter and the report are published on The Planning Inspectorate’s website - https://national-infrastructure-consenting.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/projects/TR020005 .
The effects of the proposed development on the rail network, its users and local communities will be taken into account in the final decision, though my Right Honourable friend will note both Network Rail and rail operators were consulted as part of the application and have not objected to the proposals. However as this remains a live planning application with the Department, I cannot comment further on those issues at the current time.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of the cost of railcards; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure rail travel remains affordable for (a) young people, (b) older passengers and (c) people on lower incomes.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The price of most railcards increased by £5 from 2 March 2025, except the Disabled Persons Railcard. Railcards still offer significant savings on rail fares with the average railcard holder saving up to £158 annually. In many cases, the price of railcards has not increased in a decade, during which time the cost of running the railway and the subsidy provided to the railway by the taxpayer has increased significantly. This small price increase helps to balance the funding for the railway between passengers and taxpayers.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the (a) effectiveness and (b) adequacy of the pace of the existing system for identifying and remediating dangerous cladding and fire safety issues; and what steps she is taking to accelerate the process.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
This government has been clear that the pace on remediation has been too slow. Seven years on from the Grenfell Tower tragedy, it is unacceptable that so many buildings still have unsafe cladding.
We have announced a step change towards addressing the building safety crisis through the publication of our ambitious Remediation Acceleration Plan (RAP). Our plan will drive the pace of remediation through new proposed legal duties and powers, new funding, new resources and new partnerships.
In December 2024, the Remediation Acceleration Plan was launched. We recognise that the scale and importance of the challenge is so significant that we expect to publish a further update on this plan in summer 2025 to report on progress and to reflect the second phase of the spending review.
Through this plan, we aim that by the end of 2029 all 18m+ (high-rise) buildings with unsafe cladding in a government funded scheme will have been remediated. Furthermore, by the end of 2029, every 11m+ building with unsafe cladding will either have been remediated, have a date for completion, or the landlords will be liable for severe penalties.
We are also driving pace and effectiveness through existing funding schemes. The Cladding Safety Scheme (CSS) was launched in 2023 to help fund work to address unsafe cladding for buildings between 11-18 metres, as well as those over 18 metres outside London, but has since been expanded to include all government funded remediation projects outside London. The benefits of transferring buildings to this scheme include increased pace through the use of automated processes, better experience for residents, and greater cost effectiveness. We are continuing to seek opportunities to exploit the benefits of the CSS further.