Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with her counterpart in the Welsh Government on differences between compensation payments in England and Wales for farmers whose cattle have been culled as a result of tuberculosis; and whether she plans to take steps with her counterpart to align compensation payment levels.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Bovine TB is the most significant animal health problem facing cattle keepers in England and Wales and so my Department works closely with Welsh Government to support the development of more effective disease eradication policies. However, responsibility for animal health matters, including approaches to compensation, is fully devolved.
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of cancer patients received radiotherapy cancer treatments in Loughborough in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This data is not held centrally in the format requested.
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure there is no regional variation in access to radiotherapy.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is responsible for setting evidence-based national service standards for radiotherapy and for ensuring that these, as well as any applicable Technology Appraisal Guidance published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, are implemented within local systems. These arrangements will be further strengthened by the establishment of nine specialised commissioning joint statutory committees, which will bring regional specialised commissioning expertise and integrated care systems together.
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle the theft of tools from vans.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is working with Combined Industries Theft Solutions (CITS) and the police-led National Business Crime Centre to explore ways to prevent the theft of tools including theft from vans.
We are working closely with police and motor manufacturers through the National Vehicle Crime Working Group, chaired by the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for vehicle crime, taking forward a programme of work to prevent and reduce theft of and from vehicles, which includes training police officers on methods used to steal vehicles, encouraging vehicle owners to secure their vehicles and working with industry to address vulnerability in vehicles.
The Government is tackling acquisitive crime as a priority and is committed to reducing the ability for criminals to profit from crime, making it less attractive for offenders to commit thefts of goods, including tools. We have established a group of expert policing and academic partners who are taking forward work across a number of themes. These include actions to identify where and how stolen goods are sold; examining ways to ensure property is marked, identifiable and traceable; and encouraging due diligence checks by second-hand traders and increased enforcement from police.
We are looking at adding this by SI to the matters covered by Greg Smith's PMB once it has passed.
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help ensure that businesses separate recyclable waste from general waste.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We want to increase the recycling of packaging material, food and other recyclable material in the ‘non-household’ municipal sector, which includes businesses, public organisations (e.g. schools, universities, hospitals and government buildings) and other organisations. This will help us to increase the amount of material that we recycle and reduce the amount of waste that we send to landfill.
Following support in response to initial consultation, the Environment Act 2021 stipulates that all businesses will be required to arrange for the collection of a core set of materials (glass; paper and card; plastic; metal; and food waste) for recycling in England
In 2021 we published a second consultation on recycling consistency. This consultation sought views on increasing consistency in recycling, including on the materials in scope of collection; exemptions; statutory guidance for waste collectors and cost reduction options for micro firms.
We are finalising our policy positions and analysis for impact assessment – we aim to publish the consultation response soon.
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the data available on the trends in the levels of practitioners in the dental workforce.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Department and it’s arms length bodies utilise data collected by NHS Digital on the dental workforce, including on levels of practitioners in the dental workforce, which are available via the following links:
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-dental-statistics
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/dental-working-hours
This data is adequate for the role of informing policy in relation to National Health Service dentistry.
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
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 train new dentists; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Approximately 800 dentists are trained each year. However, the cap on dental school places was temporarily lifted for students who completed A-Levels in 2020 and in 2021 and who had an offer from a university in England to study dentistry, subject to their grades. As a result, 895 dental students entered training in 2020 and 980 dental students entered training in 2021.
The Government has committed to publishing a workforce plan next year, which will include independently verified forecasts for the number of healthcare professionals required in future years, taking account of improvements in retention and productivity. This will include dental care professionals.
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the potential development of (a) facilities and (b) technologies that could result from funding in hydrogen in (i) regions across the UK and (ii) the East Midlands.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Energy Security Strategy doubled its ambition from 5GW to 10GW for low carbon production capacity by 2030 and will drive significant private sector investment across the value chain via the Hydrogen Business Model. The UK Hydrogen Strategy supports multiple production technologies with low carbon hydrogen providing opportunities for UK companies and workers across the UK. The Government analysis suggests that the sector could support over 12,000 jobs and unlock over £9 billion in private investment by 2030. The Net Zero Innovation Portfolio, a UK-wide £1 billion fund, will accelerate the commercialisation of innovative low-carbon technologies, systems and business models through the 2020s.
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to implement the recommendations in the report by the Children's Commissioner entitled Beyond the Labels: A SEND system which works for every child, every time, published on 14 November 2022.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The department welcomes the Children's Commissioner's report, a response to the department’s consultation, which provided a range of recommendations for the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system. This includes improving the education, health and care (EHC) plan process and the support that is available for through alternative provision (AP) providers. The SEND and AP Green Paper set out the department’s proposals for how the SEND system can be improved, so that it delivers improved outcomes, experiences and financial sustainability. The department will publish a SEND and AP Improvement Plan that will set out the consultation feedback and our next steps in due course.
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made of when the full electrification of the Midland Mainline will be complete.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Integrated Rail Plan published in November 2021, set out the electrification of the Midland Mainline is planned to be completed around 2030 (subject to business case approvals).