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.
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 is implementing a trauma-informed approach across all its services.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Trauma Informed Approach recognises the pervasive impacts that trauma may have on an individual’s life; these impacts can span social, emotional, physiological, neurological and spiritual functioning. The impacts of trauma can make interacting with services a difficult and potentially retraumatising experience, the trauma informed approach is a way of trying to avoid and mitigate this risk whilst creating a safe and empowering environment for all colleagues and customers. The approach has six core pillars: safety, trustworthiness, choice, empowerment, collaboration and cultural consideration (Office for Health Improvements and Disparities, 2022).
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 within the framework of, our colleagues, our customers, our culture and the context of our interactions (whether that is physical, telephony, digital or postal). The design of the programme has been informed by close working with operational teams across the department and is being tested in our Trauma Informed ‘Pulse points’ and innovation hubs. Alongside internal and external experts, we have established an eight-stage roadmap for implementation across the DWP with a core focus on co-production with colleagues, customers and stakeholders. We anticipate we will have completed the eight stages of design by 2030, making trauma informed approaches fundamental to our business-as-usual approach.
Asked by: Jessica Toale (Labour - Bournemouth West)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to help protect young people from the potential dangers of social media.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Our priority is the effective implementation of the Online Safety Act so that children benefit from its wide-reaching protections.
The Act requires all services in scope to take steps to protect users, including children, from illegal content and criminal behaviour. In addition, services likely to be accessed by children are required to risk assess their service and provide safety measures, including the use of highly effective age assurance, to protect children from harmful content.
Ofcom has duty to promote media literacy to help the public understand the nature and impact of where harmful content and online behaviour affects certain groups.
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 assessment she has made of the potential impact of the assessment process for Personal Independent Payment on the mental health of those assessed; and if she will reform that process.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP and our assessment providers are committed to providing a quality, sensitive and respectful service, with an approach aimed at continual improvement.
We recognise that attending a consultation can be a stressful experience for some people, which is why where there is sufficient available evidence, Personal Independence Payment assessments are carried out via a paper-based review. Where an assessment is required, claimants are encouraged to include another person where they would find this helpful, for example, by reassuring them or helping them during the consultation. The person chosen is at the discretion of the claimant and might be, but is not limited to, a parent, family member, friend, carer or advocate.
The Department’s Health Transformation Programme (HTP) is modernising benefit services to improve customer experience, build trust in our services and the decisions we make, and create a more efficient service.
The Government believes there is a strong case to change the system of health and disability benefits across Great Britain so that it better enables people to enter and remain in work, and to respond to the complex and fluctuating nature of the health conditions many people live with today.
We will bring forward a Green Paper in spring 2025. We will listen to and engage with disabled people as we develop proposals for reform in this area and across the employment support 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, what progress she has made on reforming the welfare system for people with mental ill-health.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government believes there is a strong case to change the system of health and disability benefits across Great Britain so that it better enables people to enter and remain in work, and to respond to the complex and fluctuating nature of the health conditions many people live with today.
We will be working to develop proposals for reform in the months ahead and will set them out for consultation and engagement in a Green Paper in spring 2025.
This Government is committed to putting the views and voices of disabled people at the heart of all that we do, so we will consult on these proposals with disabled people and representative organisations.
Asked by: Jessica Toale (Labour - Bournemouth West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reducing impact risk zones around (a) sites of special scientific interest and (b) special areas of conservation to support appropriate development.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Impact Risk Zones (IRZs) are a digital geographical information tool developed by Natural England to help Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) assess the potential risks to Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) from development proposals. They also cover Habitat Sites that are underpinned by a terrestrial SSSI designation, including Special Areas of Conservation.
Natural England supports the delivery of sustainable development by providing advice to LPAs on how to protect and enhance the natural environment. The IRZ tool helps LPAs know when to consult Natural England for advice and is designed to aid better spatial planning and early consideration of the risks to SSSIs to reduce delays in the planning process.
Natural England is satisfied that the zones provide appropriate advice to LPAs but continues to review the evidence that underpins the IRZs to ensure it reflects the latest understanding of SSSI sensitivities.
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 recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the Personal Independence Payment assessment process for people with recognised long-term mental health conditions.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Research is in progress seeking to understand more about the experience of claiming Personal Independence Payment (PIP) for those with a mental health condition or neurodiversity.
Entitlement to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) depends on the effects that severe disability has on an individual with a long-term health condition or disability and not on a particular disability or diagnosis. The needs arising from mental health conditions are assessed in the same way as for all other health conditions or disabilities.
Asked by: Jessica Toale (Labour - Bournemouth West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what data his Department holds on a) public sector and b) private investment in Bournemouth town centre in each of the last 14 years.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon Lady’s Parliamentary Question of 30/09/24 is attached.
Asked by: Jessica Toale (Labour - Bournemouth West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) sexual assaults and (b) rapes were reported in (i) Bournemouth and (ii) the South West in each of the last three years.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This Government will treat tackling violence against women and girls as a national emergency and that includes improving the criminal justice system response to sexual assault and rape.
The Home Office publishes information on the number of sexual offences and rapes reported to and recorded by the police in England and Wales at Community Safety Partnership Area, Police Force Area and Region in our police recorded crime and open data tables which can be found here: Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
The data requested is also summarised in the tables below:
Avon and Somerset | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
Sexual Offences | 5,572 | 5,265 | 6,266 |
Rape | 2,128 | 1,984 | 2,717 |
Devon and Cornwall | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
Sexual Offences | 5,285 | 5,381 | 5,613 |
Rape | 1,881 | 1,948 | 2,015 |
Dorset | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
Sexual Offences | 2,353 | 2,358 | 2,175 |
Rape | 851 | 837 | 810 |
Gloucestershire | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
Sexual Offences | 1,907 | 2,203 | 2,079 |
Rape | 640 | 736 | 718 |
Wiltshire | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
Sexual Offences | 1,812 | 1,937 | 1,880 |
Rape | 588 | 632 | 640 |
Bournemouth | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
Sexual Offences | 844 | 795 | 754 |
Rape | 346 | 310 | 259 |