Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with his EU counterparts on UK legislation on gene-editing.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is a devolved matter, and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
The Government is introducing legislation to enact the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023 for plants and food and feed before the end of March.
The European Commission has published a proposal that is similar in aim to the Precision Breeding Act. The department is monitoring progress on the EU’s regulatory proposal closely and engaging with the European Commission when appropriate.
Officials have met with EU counterparts several times to discuss England’s approach to precision breeding and the EU’s proposal on new genomic techniques, including through the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Committee and through the UK-EU Joint Consultative Working Group Agri-food structured group.
Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his policy is on aligning gene-editing legislation with that of the European Union.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is a devolved matter, and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
The Government is introducing legislation to enact the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023 for plants and food and feed before the end of March.
The European Commission has published a proposal that is similar in aim to the Precision Breeding Act. The department is monitoring progress on the EU’s regulatory proposal closely and engaging with the European Commission when appropriate.
Officials have met with EU counterparts several times to discuss England’s approach to precision breeding and the EU’s proposal on new genomic techniques, including through the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Committee and through the UK-EU Joint Consultative Working Group Agri-food structured group.
Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason there is a surcharge on vehicle tax payments on periods shorter than a year.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) can be paid annually, or in monthly or 6-monthly instalments. Revenue from motoring taxes helps to fund vital public services and infrastructure, including investment in roads and transport.
The cost to the exchequer is higher when VED is paid monthly or six-monthly, rather than annually, because of lost interest. To reflect this impact on the public finances, monthly and six-monthly payments for vehicle licences include an extra charge to make up for the lost interest.
A six-monthly vehicle licence paid by direct debit is set at 52.5 per cent of the annual rate, and a six-monthly vehicle licence paid by non-direct debit is set at 55 per cent of the annual rate. A monthly vehicle licence paid by direct debit is set at 105 per cent of the annual rate.
As with all taxes, the Government welcomes representations on how the tax system can be improved. The Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events in the context of public finances.
Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an estimate of the additional unit cost of processing vehicle tax payments on periods shorter than one year.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) can be paid annually, or in monthly or 6-monthly instalments. Revenue from motoring taxes helps to fund vital public services and infrastructure, including investment in roads and transport.
The cost to the exchequer is higher when VED is paid monthly or six-monthly, rather than annually, because of lost interest. To reflect this impact on the public finances, monthly and six-monthly payments for vehicle licences include an extra charge to make up for the lost interest.
A six-monthly vehicle licence paid by direct debit is set at 52.5 per cent of the annual rate, and a six-monthly vehicle licence paid by non-direct debit is set at 55 per cent of the annual rate. A monthly vehicle licence paid by direct debit is set at 105 per cent of the annual rate.
As with all taxes, the Government welcomes representations on how the tax system can be improved. The Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events in the context of public finances.
Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to prevent cost overruns during the transition to Great British Railways.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Rail Sector Transformation Programme, which includes the establishment of Great British Railways, is part of the Government Major Projects Portfolio, with Departmental governance overseeing delivery.
Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has conducted a study of the (a) financial and (b) operational impact of rail nationalisation in Scotland.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Decisions regarding ScotRail and Caledonian Sleeper services are a devolved matter for the Scottish Government. My officials engage closely with devolved counterparts on their experiences of nationalisation.
Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients were (a) held informally under the Mental Health Act 1983 and (b) otherwise detained in assessment and treatment units in December (i) 2024, (ii) 2023, (iii) 2022 and (iv) 2021.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Assuring Transformation data set records information about people with a learning disability and autistic people who are receiving treatment or care as inpatients in a mental health hospital. Patients in assessment and treatment units (ATUs) in England are recorded in the Assuring Transformation data set under the bed type Acute Mental Health Unit for Adults with a Learning Disability and/or Autism.
We are only able to identify ATUs in Assuring Transformation from April 2024. Therefore, we are unable to determine the how many patients were in ATUs, including those detained under the Mental Health Act and informal patients, for the requested periods of December 2023, 2022, and 2021.
In December 2024 there were 160 inpatients detained in Acute Mental Health Units for Adults with a Learning Disability and/or Autism under the Mental Health Act. In addition to this, there were 15 informal patients in such settings at this time. These figures include patients in in ATUs, but may also include some patients who were in other inpatient mental health settings.
Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients were detained in assessment and treatment units in England in December (a) 2023, (b) 2022 and (c) 2021.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Assuring Transformation data set records information about people with a learning disability and autistic people who are receiving treatment or care as inpatients in a mental health hospital.
Patients in assessment and treatment units (ATUs) in England are recorded in the Assuring Transformation data set under the bed type Acute Mental Health Unit for Adults with a Learning Disability and/or Autism.
We are only able to identify ATUs in Assuring Transformation from April 2024. Therefore, we are unable to determine the how many patients were in ATUs, including those detained under the Mental Health Act and informal patients, for the requested periods of December 2023, 2022, and 2021.
Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients are detained in assessment and treatment units in England.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Patients in assessment and treatment units in England are recorded in the Assuring Transformation data set, under the bed type Acute Mental Health Unit for Adults with a Learning Disability and/or Autism.
In December 2024, there were 160 inpatients detained in Acute Mental Health Units for Adults with a Learning Disability and/or Autism. This figure includes patients detained in assessment and treatment units, but may also include some patients who are held in other inpatient mental health settings. Patients held informally under the Mental Health Act, those that are not detained, have been excluded from the count.
Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many full-time equivalent staff are working on the transfer of South Western Railways into a directly operated railway.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
A new Public Ownership Programme Directorate has been established in the Department to deliver the programme to transition passenger services into public ownership over the next three years. The Directorate currently has 34 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees who work across the entire public ownership programme, not just South Western Railway. Other capabilities from across the Department, as well as external expertise, will be drawn upon as required to support the transfer of all ten operators transferring to public ownership, starting with South Western Railway in May 2025.