Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what plans his Department has to trial new accessible voting devices to ensure that all blind and partially sighted people can vote independently and in secret.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The Elections Act 2022 is improving the way support is provided to disabled voters and places a duty on Returning Officers to provide assistive equipment in polling stations, wherever reasonable, to support voters with a wide range of disabilities, taking account of people's varying needs. The Electoral Commission are producing statutory guidance to support Returning Officers to carry out this new duty, which is currently undergoing statutory consultation. This is an area the Government keeps under review and we are aware of some organisations developing devices aimed at supporting voters with sight loss. We will be interested to engage with suppliers, the elections community and representative organisations in considering the effectiveness of these, and any other products, to support disabled voters participate better in the democratic process.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had recent discussion with the Border Force on steps to tackle illegal puppy smuggling.
Answered by Mark Spencer
Defra meets regularly with Border Force to discuss various operational issues including the issues around illegal puppy smuggling. Defra's operational department, the Animal and Plant Health Agency, work collaboratively with Border Force and other operational partners at ports, airports and inland, sharing intelligence to enforce the Pet Travel rules, disrupt illegal imports, safeguard the welfare of animals and seize non-compliant animals.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to increase support for people living with (a) Down's Syndome and (b) other disabilities throughout all stages of life.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
To increase access to support for people with Down’s Syndrome and for disabled people we are developing guidance aimed at improving support for people with Down’s Syndrome, as required by the Down Syndrome Act which received Royal Assent in April 2022. This guidance will set out practical steps that organisations should take to meet the needs of people with Down’s Syndrome. It will also help to clarify the support and services people with Down’s Syndrome can expect to receive.
The Cabinet Office Disability Unit is developing a new Disability Action Plan, which will be consulted on and published this year. The Plan will set out the actions the Government will take in 2023 and 2024 to improve disabled people’s lives.
There will also be mandatory training for all health and social care staff on learning disability and autism and commissioning analysis on the health needs of children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) so these can be better met through effective workforce planning.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with the devolved administrations on the potential merits of banning snares.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Devolved Administrations are free to make their own laws regarding the use of snares.
Since coming into post in October 2022, I have not held any conversations with Devolved Administrations in relation to changing the UK Government's policy on using snares in England.
However, on Monday 9th January, in the adjournment debate "Make the use of free running-snares illegal for trapping wildlife", I set out my intention to such a discussion with the devolved administrations about their respective policies on snares. This will be set up by my officials at a mutually agreeable time.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the report of the National Anti Snaring Campaign entitled A Review of the Use of Snares in the UK published in April 2022, whether he has made an assessment if the implication for her Department's policies of that reports conclusions on (a) non-target capture, (b) animal welfare and (c) prohibiting the use of snares.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
No assessment has yet been made of the implications for my Department's policies of the conclusions of the publication of the National Anti Snaring Campaign's 2022 report: A Review of the Use of Snares.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Mental Health Bill will include provisions for every child to (a) have access to a (i) counsellor and (ii) play and creative arts therapist registered by a (A) Government and (B) Government-approved agency within school and (b) for all schools to have a mental health support team.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 December 2022 to Question 108084.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had the (a) World Health Organisation and (b) World Organisation for Animal Health on the risk of zoonotic diseases being spread to humans from fur farms globally, in the context of the H5N1 avian flu outbreak in winter 2022.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
Fur farming is banned in England. UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has not been involved in any discussions with the World Health Organization or the World Organisation for Animal Health specifically on the general risk of zoonotic disease spread from fur farms globally.
UKHSA continues to work closely with animal health colleagues at the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs and the Animal and Plant Health Agency as well as international partners to assess any specific risks that are identified globally which would have potential implications to the United Kingdom public health.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the findings of the study entitled Perfectionism Is Increasing Over Time: A Meta-Analysis of Birth Cohort Differences From 1989 to 2016, published in 2019 in the Psychological Bulletin, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of perfectionism on the mental health of (a) school, (b) college and (c) university students.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The department collects and assesses a range of data related to children and young people’s mental health to identify trends and better understand the issues adversely affecting mental wellbeing, and publishes an annual State of the Nation report to reflect this.
While the department does not plan to make a specific assessment of the impact of perfectionism on the mental health of students, it is taking a range of action to ensure schools, colleges and universities in the UK can support their pupils and students with these underlying issues.
Our statutory Relationships, Sex and Health Education curriculum covers a range of topics that help pupils identify and manage the issues in their lives, develop resilience, and seek support where necessary. This includes topics such as body image, dealing with social media expectations, curating a specific image of yourself online and understanding how online information can be targeted at them.
The department is also funding all schools and colleges in the UK to train senior mental health leads on how to put in place effective approaches to mental health and wellbeing. This includes developing a supportive culture where pupils feel able to speak openly about the pressures that they are under and deciding what pastoral support to provide to pupils and students based on that experience.
As autonomous institutions, higher education (HE) providers are responsible for supporting their students during their time at university, and this includes evaluating what services their students need and the effectiveness of support services. The department and the Office for Students continue to work closely with the HE sector to promote and fund effective practice to ensure students are well-supported to enable full participation in HE, leading to successful outcomes.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues and with veterans' charities to improve care pathways for veterans with complex rehabilitation needs.
Answered by Johnny Mercer
Veterans in England are able to receive specialised treatment on the NHS via the Veterans’ Trauma Network for physical health conditions, and Op COURAGE for mental health support. The Integrated Personal Commissioning for Veterans Framework (IPC4V) also offers a personalised care approach for the small number of Armed Forces personnel who have complex and enduring physical, neurological and mental health conditions that are attributable to injury whilst in Service. We will continue to work with colleagues across government, and the charity sector, to ensure that veterans are able to access the best healthcare possible, including via the commitments made in the Veterans’ Strategy Action Plan.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the annual review of benefits will take into account the real term reduction in benefits claimants’ incomes since April 2022 due to the gap between the rate at which benefits are paid and the accelerating rate of inflation.
Answered by Guy Opperman
CPI has been the default inflation measure for the Secretary or State’s statutory annual review of benefit rates since 2011. The relevant index for 2022 was 10.1%. This is the latest available figure confirmed by the Office for National Statistics prior to the annual review and allows sufficient time for the complex delivery process to take place.
Using the same benchmark every year ensures consistency over time, allowing Up-rating to balance out over a number of years.
The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living, which is why, in addition to the £37 billion of support we have provided for cost-of-living pressures in 2022/23, we are acting now to ensure support continues throughout 2023/24.
To ensure stability and certainty for households, in the Autumn Statement the Government has announced £26 billion in cost-of-living support for 2023/24. In 2023/24, households on eligible means-tested benefits will get up to a further £900 in Cost-of-Living Payments. A £300 payment will be made to pensioner households and individuals in receipt of eligible disability benefits will receive a £150 payment. Also included is the amended Energy Price Guarantee which will save the average UK household £500 in 2023/24 and raising the benefit cap by 10.1% in line with inflation.