Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the forthcoming National Vision for Facilities report will include a strategy for the long-term funding of community swimming pools.
Answered by Stuart Andrew
Our new strategy, ‘Get Active: A strategy for the future of sport and physical activity’, committed to the development of a National Vision for Facilities. This vision will set out the role of facilities and wider spaces for participation, including the importance of the public and private leisure sector, to anticipate future fiscal events.
The Government has confirmed significant funding for facilities, including a £63 million support package for swimming pools announced at the Budget. This package will help provide investment in energy efficiency measures to reduce future operating costs and make facilities sustainable in the long-term.
Government is also investing nearly £400 million directly into grassroots sports facilities across the country up to 2025.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of keeping the UK on British Summer Time.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake
The Government believes the current daylight-saving arrangements represent the optimal use of the available daylight across the UK.
While there is the potential for some benefits from a change in the current arrangements, there is also a real risk of negative impacts. A change to permanent summertime or double summertime may also have significant impacts on certain sectors and businesses.
Given the potential scale of impacts involved, an exceptionally wide-ranging cost benefit analysis would need to be performed to inform a decision on changing the current system.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that temperamental smart meters are not given as reasons by energy providers to prevent customers from switching suppliers.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
The energy supplier switching process will work as intended whether smart meters are operating in smart mode or not at the time of the switch request.
When consumers do request to switch they are protected through Ofgem’s Guaranteed Standards. Ofgem are responsible for regulating energy suppliers against these obligations in this area.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 18 July 2023 to Question 194110 on Locums: Nurses, for what reasons locum junior doctors are able to contribute to existing NHS pension funds but nurse practitioners cannot.
Answered by Will Quince
The NHS Pension Scheme is an occupational scheme, and both locum junior doctors and locum nurse practitioners cannot access the scheme if they are employed via an agency or are self-employed.
Junior doctors who perform additional work via a National Health Service staff bank can access the scheme, as they have a NHS contract of employment for this work. It would be possible for longer-term locum nurse practitioners to become substantively employed on fixed term contracts as a flexible resource, for instance by primary care organisations. In doing so, they would then hold a contract of employment which would allow them to access the NHS Pension Scheme.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 6 July 2023 to Question 192241 on Cancer: Research, what steps the Government plans to take to ensure an adequate (a) level and (b) coordination of cancer research, in the context of the closure of the National Cancer Research Institute.
Answered by Will Quince
The Government is monitoring the situation through the National Institute for Health and Care Research and the Medical Research Council to ensure that the National Cancer Research Institute’s (NCRI) valuable assets, such as data, and activities, such as research groups, are not lost to the community.
The Government will also take necessary steps to support the cancer research ecosystem, in discussion with NCRI partners, if additional support is needed.
Funders will continue to work with the research community to deliver cancer research that meets the needs of patients and the public.
We recognise the leadership role that Cancer Research UK has in this area and will work in partnership with them and the patient community to improve care and outcomes for all.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to share with universities the number of dependents linked to an individual's study visa.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Information related to applications and dependants is contained across multiple systems and we do not publish data relating to the number of dependants per student by institution.
Universities have a direct relationship with their students during the academic application and enrolment process and the Home Office encourages institutions to use these mechanisms if they wish to gather data regarding family members of students.
We keep our immigration policies under constant review to ensure they serve the UK’s best interests and reflect our priorities.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department is taking steps to help ensure that men with bowel and bladder incontinence have access to public sanitary disposal bins.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Government encourages local authorities to consider such provision in public toilets to support those with this need but does not have powers to compel the provision of sanitary bins in public toilets. I would encourage the hon. Member to raise the issue locally.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of allowing locum nurse practitioners to contribute to existing NHS pension funds.
Answered by Will Quince
The NHS Pension Scheme is an occupational scheme, and locum nurse practitioners cannot access the scheme if they are employed via an agency or are self-employed.
No assessment has been made of the impact of allowing locum nurse practitioners to join the scheme.
It would be possible for longer-term locum staff to become substantively employed on fixed-term contracts as a flexible resource, for instance by primary care organisations. In doing so, they would have access to the scheme.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the report by the National Audit Office entitled Active Travel in England, published on 7 June 2023; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Department welcomes the report and will consider its recommendations carefully. The Department will provide its formal response following the scheduled Public Accounts Committee hearing.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on ensuring that active travel schemes funded through the Levelling Up Fund meet national guidelines.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Officials in the Department for Transport and Active Travel England continue to work closely with officials in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to ensure that active travel schemes funded in this way meet the standards outlined in cycle infrastructure design guidance. This is also included as a requirement in local authority grant awards. Active Travel England provides design assurance of Levelling Up Fund bids and will play a role in reviewing all scheme proposals as they develop. It will also work with successful local authorities to accelerate delivery, ensuring high quality, safe active travel infrastructure is built.