Jo Churchill

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my noble Friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State to the noble Lord Allen of Kensington on 5 July 2022 to Question HL1128.

The Government does not hold this information, but as part of the planning process for new infrastructure National Grid Electricity Transmission will identify preferred options considering a range of factors, including impacts on land and local communities. This will need to be balanced against other considerations, such as cost and environmental impacts. National Grid Electricity Transmission are required to undertake an Environmental Impact Assessment for projects such as East Anglia GREEN, and this includes an assessment of community impacts.

The Department is considering proposals for performance enhancements at Haughley Junction. While I cannot discuss individual projects at present, I remain committed to providing clarity in the upcoming update to the Rail Network Enhancement Portfolio (RNEP).

The Government recognises the need to ensure hauliers have access to appropriate services and facilities.

We will be investing £52.5 million in roadside facilities for HGV drivers on the road. The funding will go towards supporting operators to make improvements such as improving security and eating facilities as well as possibly increasing spaces for lorry drivers.

We have commissioned a ‘National Lorry Parking Survey’ which commenced in January 2022 and will be used as our primary evidence base to understand what improvements are most needed and where they are needed. The A14 in Suffolk is included in this survey and its output will be used, both to set criteria for government funding and will be available to support planning applications for new lorry parking.

The Department continues to engage with key stakeholders to encourage the development of more safe, secure, and high-quality lorry parking to improve driver welfare.

The responsibility for clearing highway litter and sweeping carriageways is governed by the Environmental Protection Act (1990). National Highways’ responsibility for clearing litter is limited to motorways, with a small number of exceptions. Litter picking on most trunk roads, including the A14, lies with the relevant local authority.

National Highways has committed to keep the Strategic Road Network predominantly free from litter, without compromising safety and delivered in an affordable way. To continuously improve collaboration with local authorities and partnership working, National Highways shares forward maintenance and traffic management plans with local authorities to allow for litter collection to be carried out safely and simultaneously to maintenance.

NHS England’s recovery programme is working directly with Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust. In addition, the Care Quality Commission is currently proceeding with the enforcement process of the Section 29A Warning Notice and has scheduled an unannounced follow up inspection. The CQC’s engagement with and visits to the Trust will continue, with further visits planned in August 2022.

We have committed to deploy mental health support teams to approximately 35% of schools and colleges by 2023. The role of education mental health practitioner has recently been added to mental health support teams. Since 2019, 1,164 practitioners have completed the one-year training. A further 503 are in training, with 221 due to complete training in September 2022 and the remaining 282 in January 2023. A further 456 training places have been commissioned, with 245 starting in September 2022 and the remaining 211 in January 2023. These cohorts will be available to join services in schools in September 2023 and January 2024 respectively.

NHS England has agreed short-term funding for dentistry in the Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care System to increase access to urgent dental care in Suffolk until 31 March 2023. The National Health Service in the East of England has developed a transformational dental strategy to deliver universal access to urgent dental care and preventative care.

Since April 2021, people have been advised to allow up to ten weeks to get their passport. Across the first 6 months of 2022 HMPO processed 97.7% of UK standard applications within 10 weeks.

Her Majesty’s Passport Office has added 850 staff since April 2021. This has helped to ensure that more passport applications are being processed than ever before.

Processing capacity will increase further, with an additional 350 staff arriving within the summer.