Asked by: Jessica Toale (Labour - Bournemouth West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle county lines drug trafficking in (a) coastal communities and (b) Dorset.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
County lines is the most violent and exploitative model of drug distribution nationally, and a harmful form of Child Criminal Exploitation. We committed in our manifesto to go after the gangs who lure young people into violence and crime, and we will deliver a new offence of Child Criminal Exploitation in the forthcoming Crime and Policing Bill.
While the the majority of lines originate from the areas covered by the Metropolitan Police Service, West Midlands Police, Merseyside Police, and Greater Manchester Police, county lines is a national issue which affects all forces. This is why, through the Home Office-funded County Lines Programme, we fund the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre to monitor the intelligence picture and co-ordinate the national law enforcement response.
The County Lines Programme taskforces regularly conduct joint operations with other forces, and we have established a dedicated fund which provides local forces with additional funding to tackle county lines, including Dorset Police.
Between July and September 2024, policing activity delivered through the County Lines Programme has resulted in over 400 deal lines being closed, 500 arrests (including the arrest and charge of over 260 deal line holders) and 800 safeguarding referrals for children and vulnerable people. Over 220 children and young people have also received dedicated specialist support through our county lines support service since July.
Asked by: Jessica Toale (Labour - Bournemouth West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of providing taxi companies and drivers with autism awareness training.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government keeps all policies under review and is aware that neurodiverse people can face inadequate or discriminatory treatment when using taxis and private hire vehicles. We recognise the role of effective training in equipping drivers and operator staff with the knowledge, skills and confidence to support passengers appropriately. The latest best practice guidance for licensing authorities in England confirms our expectation that all drivers undergo training which should include, among other topics, how to engage with people with different communication needs.
The Government continues to consider how to improve the regulation of the sector to enable the provision of safe and accessible services that meet a wide range of passenger needs.
Asked by: Jessica Toale (Labour - Bournemouth West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to ensure public transport is accessible for adults and children who are neurodiverse.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This Government wants everyone to have access to public transport and is committed to improving services, so they are more inclusive and enable people to travel safely, confidently and with dignity. This includes making sure that all passengers, whether adults or children, can make the journeys that they want and need to make.
As we bring forward bus reform, Great British Railways and a new Passenger Standards Authority, as well producing our vision for the future of transport through the Integrated National Transport Strategy, we will listen carefully to all people and their representatives as we make transport safe, inclusive and accessible for all.
Asked by: Jessica Toale (Labour - Bournemouth West)
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 the adequacy of maternity services in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The maternity services at University Hospitals Dorset (UHD) have made many improvements since the most recent Care Quality Commission inspection in 2022. Maternity is moving from St Mary’s in Poole to the Beach building at Royal Bournemouth Hospital in April. This is part of the £500 million investment across UHD’s hospitals to help improve healthcare for the residents of Bournemouth, Christchurch, Poole, and beyond.
Since September 2024, the service has become Maternity and Neonatal, working as one department to ensure families in Dorset have the most joined up care. UHD has recruited all obstetric and neonatal consultant posts and continues to have excellent retention rates for midwives and neonatal nurses. UHD have also introduced more senior midwifery posts in the last two years, to ensure more senior support on the labour ward and within its audit and practice development team.
Nationally, we continue to work with the National Health Service as it delivers its three-year maternity and neonatal plan to grow our maternity workforce, develop a culture of safety, and ensure women receive safe, compassionate care. We are also looking at how we better support trusts failing on maternity care to make rapid improvements, and we are already training thousands more midwives to better support women throughout their pregnancy and beyond.
Asked by: Jessica Toale (Labour - Bournemouth West)
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 improve NHS maternity services (a) nationally and (b) in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The maternity services at University Hospitals Dorset (UHD) have made many improvements since the most recent Care Quality Commission inspection in 2022. Maternity is moving from St Mary’s in Poole to the Beach building at Royal Bournemouth Hospital in April. This is part of the £500 million investment across UHD’s hospitals to help improve healthcare for the residents of Bournemouth, Christchurch, Poole, and beyond.
Since September 2024, the service has become Maternity and Neonatal, working as one department to ensure families in Dorset have the most joined up care. UHD has recruited all obstetric and neonatal consultant posts and continues to have excellent retention rates for midwives and neonatal nurses. UHD have also introduced more senior midwifery posts in the last two years, to ensure more senior support on the labour ward and within its audit and practice development team.
Nationally, we continue to work with the National Health Service as it delivers its three-year maternity and neonatal plan to grow our maternity workforce, develop a culture of safety, and ensure women receive safe, compassionate care. We are also looking at how we better support trusts failing on maternity care to make rapid improvements, and we are already training thousands more midwives to better support women throughout their pregnancy and beyond.
Asked by: Jessica Toale (Labour - Bournemouth West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the uplift will be to general dental service contracts for 2024-25; and what his planned timetable is to apply such uplift.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The independent pay review body for doctors and dentists recommended a 6% pay uplift for 2024/25. The Government accepted the recommendation and has proposed that National Health Service primary care dentistry contract values be uplifted by 4.64%, net of pay (6%) and expenses (1.68%) elements.
The Government is acting to consider and implement the overall uplift to contract values as soon as possible.
Asked by: Jessica Toale (Labour - Bournemouth West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of equalising the (a) basic and (b) new State Pension.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
We are absolutely committed to supporting pensioners and giving them the dignity and security they deserve in retirement.
We have made no such assessment. It is not possible to make direct, like for like comparisons between State Pension amounts received under the pre 2016 State Pension system and the new State Pension. Under both systems, the amount people are entitled to varies according to their National Insurance record. It is not the case that everyone in the new system receives more than everyone in the pre 2016 system.
Asked by: Jessica Toale (Labour - Bournemouth West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason her Department has set a limit for the amount of income that someone in receipt of carer's allowance can earn.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The primary purpose of Carer’s Allowance is to provide a measure of financial support to those who’s ability to work is constrained by providing care for someone else for at least thirty-five hours per week. The eligibility conditions for the benefit use income as a proxy for ability to work.
We know that some carers are keen to maintain contact with the labour market, so we want to encourage carers to combine some paid work with their caring duties wherever possible.
This is why the Government has announced that from April 2025 the weekly Carer’s Allowance earnings limit will be pegged to the level of 16 hours work at the National Living Wage (NLW) and in future it will increase when the NLW increases. This means that unpaid carers will be able to earn up to £196 per week net earnings and still receive Carer’s Allowance compared to £151 now.
Asked by: Jessica Toale (Labour - Bournemouth West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure local plans are in line with national housing targets.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government have implemented a new mandatory standard method for assessing housing needs which aligns with our ambition to build 1.5 million new homes in this parliament.
Delivering on that ambitious milestone requires local planning authorities to plan for sufficient homes, as well as commercial development and wider infrastructure, through their local development plans.
Local plans clearly spell out to developers and communities where development will and will not take place, bringing certainty to all parties. They are also the mechanism through which local communities can have their say in how homes are built.
The government inherited a planning system in which only 31% of local planning authorities have adopted plans in the last five years. That is not sustainable, and I am clear that it is unacceptable for local planning authorities to not make a local plan.
We are determined to drive local plans to adoption as quickly as possible, to progress towards our ambition of achieving universal plan coverage and ensure plans contribute positively to our ambition of delivering 1.5 million homes. To that end, we have implemented transitional arrangements and have committed to providing funding to authorities that are at advanced stages of plan making but who will need to revise their draft plans.
We want to work in partnership with local planning authorities to deliver for their communities, but where they fail to do so the Deputy Prime Minister will make use of the intervention powers available to her to get local plans in place.
Asked by: Jessica Toale (Labour - Bournemouth West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what training her Department provides to its staff on supporting people who have experienced trauma.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The DWP has a dedicated Trauma Informed Approach Integration Programme and we are at the start of an ambitious journey. Our integration programme applies the six core pillars of the approach; safety, trustworthiness, choice, empowerment, collaboration and cultural consideration within the framework of, our colleagues, our customers, our culture and the context of our interactions (whether that is physical, telephony, digital or postal). Alongside internal and external experts, we have established an eight-stage roadmap for implementation. We anticipate we will have completed the eight stages of design by 2030, making trauma informed approaches fundamental to our business-as-usual approach.
With response to the query around what training is provided, as part of a wider trauma informed training framework we have piloted an introductory module for all colleagues to develop awareness of the pervasive impacts of trauma and to develop the skills required for trauma informed interactions with customers. This product is currently in iteration to align with the wider trauma informed framework of learning that becomes more intensive depending on the colleague’s role. This module is part of a wider roll out within the framework which will be coproduced with customers, colleagues and experts. Supplementary learning products will also be made available to support embedding trauma informed principles into our business-as-usual approach.