Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to reduce the number of National Archives documents misplaced while on loan to Departments.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Section 4(6) of the Public Records Act 1958 gives departments the right to recall records that they have transferred to The National Archives. In 2018, The National Archives put in place a framework for safeguarding public records that establishes firm controls around such recalls. Officials at The National Archives are unaware of any records going missing since the establishment of this framework.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce barriers to the sharing of medical records between NHS trusts in cases when those trusts are treating the same patients.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Appropriate information sharing is essential for the provision of safe and effective health care. Improving this will enable enhanced quality of care and safety for patients and better informed clinical and care decision-making, empowered by access to precise and comprehensive information.
The Connecting Care Records programme joins up information based on the individual rather than via one organisation. Through targeted investment, local Connecting Care Record systems have been established in all integrated commissioning board areas. 97% of trusts and 92% of primary care networks are now connected.
As you may also be aware, NHS England has been supporting National Health Service trusts and foundation trusts in acquiring and developing the effectiveness of their electronic patient records, and support is available to bring trusts to an optimum level of digital maturity, which will further reduce barriers to the information sharing needed to treat patients. Further information on data and clinical record sharing is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/data-and-clinical-record-sharing/
Going beyond this, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has announced the intention for there to be a single patient record, which would provide a comprehensive patient record and end the need for patients to have to repeat their medical history when interacting with the NHS. We have been engaging with the public to help shape our plans, including what information they would want to see included in a single record.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 12 May 2025 to Question 50727 on Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority: Standards, what proportion of the respondents to that paper survey selected (a) very good, (b) good, (c) average, (d) poor and (e) very poor in 2023-24.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Of the respondents to the paper survey in 2023-34, (a) 53.2% selected very good, (b) 31.0% selected good, (c) 10.0% selected average, (d) 3.3% poor and (e) 2.5% selected very poor.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to item 5.4.4 of the minutes of HS2 Limited's Board meeting of 25 September 2024, what the (a) membership and (b) remit is of the Tripartite Cooperation Board.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Tripartite Cooperation Board (TCB) was established in 2014 following a memorandum of understanding signed between the DfT, NR and HS2 Ltd. The TCB brings together the senior executives from the Department, acting on behalf of the Secretary of State, as sponsor for the programme, HS2 Ltd as delivery agent for the programme and Network Rail as owner and operator of the existing network. Its purpose is to provide strategic advice at the request of the Programme Senior Responsible Owner, Alan Over, or the Programme Board to ensure the successful integration of HS2 onto the conventional network in such a way that the whole network is enhanced.
The members at this time are:
Alan Over, Major Rail Projects Group DG, DfT - Chair
Alex Hynes, Rail Services Group DG, DfT
Sir Andrew Haines, Chief Executive, Network Rail Chief Exec
Mark Wild, CEO, HS2 Ltd
Richard Goodman, Rail Reform and Strategy DG, DfT
Clare Dixon, DfT – Secretariat.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the (a) process and (b) timetable will be for recruiting a new Chief Executive of Network Rail.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Network Rail Board via its Nomination and Remuneration Committee is responsible for the Chief Executive selection process. In line with the Network Rail Framework Agreement, the Secretary of State for Transport has the right to approve the Board’s suggested candidate for Chief Executive.
The timetable for appointing a new Chief Executive will be confirmed once the Secretary of State has considered the recommendations of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which Ministers have been members of the HS2 Ministerial Taskforce since its creation; and on which dates each Minister (a) joined and (b) left the taskforce.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Secretary of State for Transport, Minister for Rail and Chief Secretary to the Treasury have been members of the Ministerial Task Force for HS2 since its first meeting on 30 April 2020. Ministers from the Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (and its predecessors) are no longer members, with the former last attending the meeting held on 15 December 2021 and the latter on 27 January 2022.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what dates the HS2 ministerial taskforce has met since 25 October 2022.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Ministerial Task Force for HS2 has met on the following dates since 25 October 2022:
1 November 2023
31 January 2024
22 October 2024
18 March 2025.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 07 April 2025 to Question 43306 on Birmingham City Council: Finance, when the transparency publication referred to in that Answer will next be updated.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Commissioners’ fees and expenses up to and including March 2025 have now been published on Birmingham City Council’s website.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to item 24/132 of Network Rail's Board minutes of 05 December 2024, what the proposed (a) resourcing and (b) functions were of the Shadow Great British Railways Delivery Unit; and for what reason did the then Secretary of State decided not to establish it.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Shadow Great British Railways has been established to bring together the leaders responsible for the operational railway working with an independent Chair to start to realise the benefits of rail reform for passengers and freight ahead of the formal creation of Great British Railways.
To maximise collaboration, we are utilising cross-organisational project teams working together, with Shadow Great British Railways drawing on existing resources and capabilities from across the department, Network Rail and DfT Operator.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to her Department's press notice entitled Transport Secretary launches review of train company revenue protection practices, published on 13 November 2024, what progress the Office of Rail and Road has made on that review; and when she expects the conclusions of that review to be published.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) will provide a final report to the Secretary of State no later than 15 May 2025. The review is currently in progress, and regular updates have been provided to the Department for Transport throughout. The ORR will determine when to publish the report.