Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding her Department has given to Stonewall since 2019.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Our financial records show a total sum of £6,000 paid to Stonewall between the years 2019 to 2020, as part of the Diversity Champions annual membership. This is broken down into £3,000 between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2019, and £3,000 between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2020. As of February 2021, the Department’s membership with Stonewall lapsed, with no further payments made from 2021 to date.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has had recent discussions with (a) BT and (b) Ofcom on the adequacy of provision of public phone boxes in rural areas.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Ofcom, the UK’s independent telecommunications regulator, is responsible for the regulation of public call boxes (PCBs). Under the telephony universal service obligation (USO), providers such as BT, are required to provide telephony services throughout the UK, including PCBs. BT is required to ensure the adequate provision, repair and maintenance of PCBs. Ofcom’s rules and regulations regarding PCBs can be found on Ofcom’s website.
As Ofcom is responsible for monitoring this requirement of telecoms companies, DSIT has not had recent discussions on this matter.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she will make an assessment of the potential merits of taking legislative steps to stop private clinics prescribing puberty-blockers to children.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Following the publication of Dr Cass’ Final Report, my Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has made a commitment to look closely at what can be done to curtail any loopholes in prescribing practices for children with gender dysphoria, including legislative options.
The Care Quality Commission will expect registered providers to take into account the recommendations of the Cass Review. If a private organisation registered with the Care Quality Commission fails to meet the conditions of its registration, then the regulator can take enforcement action.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many households have taken part in the Boiler Upgrade Scheme in South Holland and the Deepings constituency since January 2022.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme opened to applications in May 2022. Up to the end of February 2024, there were 65 grants paid for installations in properties in the constituency of South Holland and the Deepings.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help increase childcare provision in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In the government’s Spring Budget, the Chancellor of Exchequer announced transformative reforms to childcare for parents, children and the economy. By 2027/28, this government will expect to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year on free hours and early education, helping working families with their childcare costs.
A commitment has been made to ensure that 30 hours of funded childcare is available for every child over the age of nine months with working parents by September 2025.
More parents are going to be able to return to work while balancing childcare commitments, thanks to the government’s £4 billion per year expansion of childcare in England. This is the largest expansion of funded childcare ever and will remove barriers to work for nearly half a million parents with a child under three in England.
South Holland and the Deepings constituency is within the area covered by Lincolnshire County Council.
Local authorities have received £12 million of local authority delivery support funding for this financial year to support with meeting programme and delivery costs associated with rolling out the expanded early year entitlements, from which Lincolnshire County Council received £125,423.
Local authorities have also received a £100 million allocation for local areas to use to make sure childcare settings in their areas have enough physical space, which is anticipated to add thousands of new childcare places across the country. Lincolnshire County Council received £1,461,094 from this fund.
Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. Part B of the ‘Early education and childcare’ statutory guidance for local authorities highlights that local authorities are required to report annually to elected council members on how they are meeting their duty to secure sufficient childcare, and to make this report available and accessible to parents.
If Lincolnshire County Council report any sufficiency challenges, the department discusses what action the local authority is taking to address those issues, and where needed, supports them with any specific requirements through its childcare sufficiency support contract.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made an estimate of the number of asylum seekers presenting as homeless.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Asylum seekers are not eligible for statutory homelessness assistance. The Home Office has a statutory obligation to provide accommodation to asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute while their application for asylum is being considered.