Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether there are minimum notice period requirements for dentists to stop providing NHS dental services.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
In accordance with the National Health Service (General Dental Services Contracts) Regulations 2005, the Contractor must provide three months’ notice if they wish to terminate their contract with the National Health Service.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many gliding hours were made available to air cadets in each of the last three years.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
No 2 Flying School provide glider training to the Royal Air Force Air Cadets (RAFAC). The total number of flying hours completed since 2020 is shown in the table below:
Year | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
Total number of gliding hours | 568 | 1,890 | 2,457 | 2,504 |
Data has been produced by calendar year and is correct as at 10 September 2023 and includes both RAFAC cadets and adults who may be receiving instructor training. It is currently not possible to provide data for Air Cadets only. 2023 data is year to date and data for 2020 is significantly lower due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Gliding flight times for Air Cadets usually range from a minimum of 6 minutes to a maximum of 20 minutes, depending on thermals and the exercises being flown.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many referrals he has made to the Parole Board for eligible Imprisonment for Public Protection offenders; and how many such offenders have been released in the last 12 months.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
In the period between 1 April 2022 – 31 March 2023, which is the latest 12 months period with published information, the Secretary of State for Justice has made 1550 referrals to the Parole Board for offenders serving indeterminate sentences of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP). In that same period, a total of 610 IPP offenders were released (including those being re-released) from custody in accordance with a direction by the Parole Board.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate his Department has made of the potential impact of changes in the level of road closure fees on the number of Remembrance Service parades.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Road closure fees are not a Defence matter and are the responsibility of Local Authorities. It is for Local Authorities when setting the level of their fees to consider what impact this will have on requests by their communities for road closures, including for Remembrance parades.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, with reference to her Department's transparency data on Outcome of unduly lenient sentence referrals updated on 5 September 2023, for what reason ULS reference 461 2023 is listed as application withdrawn.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
Under the ULS scheme, the Law Officers may apply to the Court of Appeal to refer to it a sentence which appears unduly lenient. The decision to make such an application is kept under continual review.
Where an application to the Court has been made and further information changes their analysis as to whether the sentence should be referred, the application is withdrawn.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of fuel prices on the competitiveness of the haulage industry.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Department for Transport (DfT) does not hold a formal assessment of specific impacts on haulage industry competitiveness.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to section four of the White Paper entitled High stakes: gambling reform for the digital age, what progress her Department has made on establishing an ombudsman to rule on social responsibility complaints.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
As set out in the Gambling White Paper, the Government is working with industry and all stakeholders to establish an appropriate ombudsman that can adjudicate complaints relating to social responsibility or gambling harm where an operator is not able to resolve these.
We expect the ombudsman to be operational and accepting cases by summer 2024.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the Rail Delivery Group on the potential impact of proposed rail ticket office closures on the availability of ticket types; and whether he is taking steps to ensure the availability of all ticket types at train stations.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
We recognise there are a wide range of fares and tickets offered to passengers, and that not all products are offered consistently online or at ticket vending machines. However, an estimated 99% of all transactions made at ticket offices last year could be made at TVMs or online.
The rail industry is looking to expand digital ticketing options and make them even easier for passengers to use through upgrades to ticket vending machines and digitisation of more tickets and processes.
When proposing major changes to ticket office opening hours, including closures, operators are required to take into account the adequacy of the proposed alternatives in relation to the needs of all passengers. This includes ensuring that passengers can easily buy the right ticket for the journey they want to make, with consideration of the product range available at the station and what support is available to help with purchase.
Passengers will not be expected to travel out of their way to buy a ticket and will be able to buy en-route or at their destination.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the White Paper entitled High stakes: gambling reform for a digital age, what her planned timescale is for publishing a consultation on a stake limit for online slots.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
We will publish a consultation this summer on the level at which the maximum stake limit for online slot games should be set, and on other details necessary for secondary legislation.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing local authorities to determine property tenure types when allocating sites for housing development.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The National Planning Policy Framework already sets out that local authorities should assess the size, type and tenure of housing needed for different groups in the community and reflect this in planning policies, including through their site allocations.