Asked by: Lucy Allan (Conservative - Telford)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of business start-ups in (a) the Telford constituency, (b) Telford and Wrekin borough, (c) Shropshire and (d) the West Midlands in each year since 2010.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
The Office for National Statistics’ Business Demography survey details the change in number of UK businesses.
When looking at business start-ups we look at business births. The Office of National Statistics defines business births as new business registrations.
The following table gives the number of business births in the Telford Constituency, Telford and Wrekin Borough, Shropshire and the West Midlands from 2010 to 2016.
Business Births | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
Telford | 235 | 255 | 285 | 365 | 335 | 340 | 385 |
Telford and Wrekin Borough | 430 | 470 | 505 | 640 | 625 | 635 | 670 |
Shropshire | 1,020 | 1,105 | 1,060 | 1,380 | 1,315 | 1,350 | 1,290 |
West Midlands | 17,805 | 19,555 | 19,650 | 25,735 | 25,745 | 29,350 | 34,700 |
Asked by: Lucy Allan (Conservative - Telford)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many people have purchased a property through the Help to Buy scheme in (a) the Telford constituency, (b) Telford and Wrekin borough, (c) Shropshire, (d) the West Midlands and (e) the UK since the inception of that scheme.
Answered by Dominic Raab
The following data refers to Help to Buy: Equity Loan which operates in England only.
The number of households who have purchased a home through Help to Buy: Equity Loan from April 2013 to September 2017:
(a) the Telford constituency 659
(b) Telford and Wrekin borough 1,383
(c) Shropshire 887
(d) the West Midlands 15,965
(e) the UK since the inception of that scheme. England 144,826
There are other Help to Buy schemes, both closed and currently open: the Scottish and Welsh governments currently run Help to Buy schemes with equity shares in Scotland and Wales.
Help to Buy: mortgage guarantee was available across the UK and open to new mortgage offers from October 2013 to December 2016.
Help to Buy: ISA opened in December 2015 and is open for new accounts until November 2019.
Asked by: Lucy Allan (Conservative - Telford)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many properties purchased through the Help to Buy scheme in (a) Telford constituency, (b) Telford and Wrekin borough and (c) England were purchased by (i) leasehold and (ii) freehold in each year since the inception of that scheme.
Answered by Dominic Raab
Help to Buy: Equity Loan data is set out in the quarterly statistical release covering April 2013 to September 2017:
Asked by: Lucy Allan (Conservative - Telford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to improve mental health support for (a) veterans and (b) serving Military personnel in (i) Telford constituency, ii) Telford and Wrekin borough, (iii) Shropshire, and (iv) the West Midlands.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is absolutely committed to the mental health of our Service personnel, providing robust training, welfare support and development opportunities. When necessary, we ensure that both serving personnel and veterans are given the mental healthcare and treatment they need. We do this by working in close partnership with a variety of different organisations, including the NHS (which is responsible for the provision of healthcare, including mental healthcare, for veterans) and Service charities such as Combat Stress.
Recent initiatives include the new partnership, announced last October, with the Royal Foundation, aimed at helping maintain and develop good mental fitness. And in February 2018, the Secretary of State announced that we have built on our existing partnership with Combat Stress to provide a new MOD-funded Military Mental Health Helpline for serving personnel and their families, providing out-of-hours advice and assistance and running in conjunction with the charity's existing helpline for the veterans' community. We will also be providing an additional £2 million of annual funding for military mental health services, on top of the £20 million a year we already spend.
Mental health services are already provided for serving personnel through a network of 20 permanent locations, comprising 11 Departments of Community Mental Health (DCMHs); six Mental Health Teams (MHTs); and three locations with a permanent Community Mental Health Nurse. DCMH Donnington is located in Telford itself, and covers the regions of the West Midlands (including Shropshire) and Wales. It also provides a visiting clinic four times a week to Defence Medical Services (DMS) Whittington in South Staffordshire, to improve access for patients based in or around the West Midlands.
Personnel leaving the Armed Forces who have had mental health issues during their Service are eligible to access services at a local DCMH, including Donnington, for up to six months after discharge, to help them during the transition period. A Veterans' Transition Protocol ensures any Service person discharged with a diagnosed mental health disorder is handed over appropriately to the NHS in England. Where a Service person is leaving the Armed Forces but has enduring need for mental healthcare, we work in partnership with NHS England through the Veterans Mental Health Transition, Intervention and Liaison Service (VMH-TILS), to ensure continuity of care.
The VMH-TILS provider for the Midlands and East of England (which includes the Telford constituency, Telford and Wrekin Borough, Shropshire and the West Midlands) is the Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust. The service provides a range of treatment and support for veterans, as well as Armed Forces personnel approaching discharge. The VMH-TILS will arrange for veterans to be referred if necessary to the NHS England Veterans' Mental Health Complex Treatment Service (VMH-CTS) which will be launched on 1 April 2018; the Service Provider for the Telford constituency, Telford and Wrekin Borough, Shropshire and the West Midlands is Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust.
Other services available from MOD to veterans in the West Midlands and elsewhere include the Veterans and Reserves Mental Health Programme (VRMHP), for veterans that have served since 1982 and Reservists with operational service overseas since 2003 (also provided through DCMH Donnington), as well as the Veterans UK and Veterans Welfare Service.
Asked by: Lucy Allan (Conservative - Telford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what support networks are available for (a) armed services personnel and (b) veterans who experience mental ill health.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is absolutely committed to ensuring that both serving personnel and veterans are given the mental health treatment and support they need. We do this by working in close partnership with a variety of different organisations, including the NHS (which is responsible for the provision of healthcare, including mental healthcare, for veterans) and Service charities such as Combat Stress.
All three Services provide regular briefings on mental health issues, ranging from ways to maintain good mental health to recognising the signs of ill health and what to do if personnel have any concerns. To back up the extensive range of treatments that are provided, a wide range of associated support networks are also available for both personnel and their families, including welfare officers, padres, regimental organisations, online resources such as the 'Big White Wall', and various helplines that are available 24 hours a day.
We have also been looking at ways to develop innovative new partnerships with charities, such as that announced in October 2017 with the Royal Foundation, aimed at helping maintain and develop good mental fitness. Furthermore, in February the Secretary of State announced that we have built on our existing partnership with Combat Stress to provide a new MOD-funded Military Mental Health Helpline for serving personnel and their families, providing out-of-hours advice and assistance and running in conjunction with the charity's existing helpline for the veterans' community.
Personnel leaving the Armed Forces who have had mental health issues during their Service are able to access services at their nearest MOD Department of Community Mental Health (DCMH) for up to six months after discharge, to help them during the transition period. A Veterans' Transition Protocol ensures any Service person discharged with a diagnosed mental health disorder is handed over appropriately to the NHS in England. Where a Service person is leaving the Armed Forces but has enduring need for mental healthcare, we work in partnership with NHS England through the Veterans Mental Health Transition, Intervention and Liaison Service (VMH-TILS), to ensure continuity of care.
Service leavers receive a Service Leavers' Pack (compiled by Veterans UK) which contains information on support provision from charities such as the Royal British Legion and Soldiers', Sailors, Airmen and Families Association. These organisations have the facility to signpost to relevant mental health support agencies as required. Since October 2010, the Veterans' Information Service has contacted Service leavers by email or post 12 months after discharge to remind them of the range of mental health and other support available in the community. This includes the original Combat Stress 24-hour mental health helpline for veterans and their families, and the Veterans UK Veterans Welfare Service, which provides a national network of Welfare Managers to provide help and advice Service to veterans, their families and dependants.
The Veterans' Gateway (VG) also provides a single point of contact for veterans and their families to get the right information, advice and support, either through one telephone number or the fully transactional website. Their cases are owned by trained welfare officers, many of whom are veterans, and directed to relevant specialist organisations for assistance.
Asked by: Lucy Allan (Conservative - Telford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will commission an independent inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Telford.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government is committed to uncovering whether victims of child sexual abuse have been failed in the past. That is why we set up the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, to expose what has gone wrong and learn lessons for the future. The Inquiry has already announced that it is investigating institutional responses to child sexual exploitation by organised networks.
Officials from Telford and Wrekin Council wrote to the Home Office on 13 March 2018, requesting that the Government commission a separate inquiry into events in Telford. Home Office officials have, in subsequent discussions with Council officials, made clear that events in Telford are within the terms of reference set for the Independent Inquiry. It is for the Independent Inquiry to decide how it goes about its investigations. It is for the Council to decide if it wishes to commission a separate inquiry locally.
Asked by: Lucy Allan (Conservative - Telford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions her Department has had with Telford and Wrekin Council on commissioning an independent inquiry into child sexual exploitation in that borough.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government is committed to uncovering whether victims of child sexual abuse have been failed in the past. That is why we set up the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, to expose what has gone wrong and learn lessons for the future. The Inquiry has already announced that it is investigating institutional responses to child sexual exploitation by organised networks.
Officials from Telford and Wrekin Council wrote to the Home Office on 13 March 2018, requesting that the Government commission a separate inquiry into events in Telford. Home Office officials have, in subsequent discussions with Council officials, made clear that events in Telford are within the terms of reference set for the Independent Inquiry. It is for the Independent Inquiry to decide how it goes about its investigations. It is for the Council to decide if it wishes to commission a separate inquiry locally.
Asked by: Lucy Allan (Conservative - Telford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to prevent the grooming and sexual exploitation of vulnerable young women.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation: Progress Report, published in February 2017, announced a £40m package of measures to protect children and young people from sexual abuse, exploitation and trafficking, and to crack down on offenders, including: £7.5m for a new, ground-breaking Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse, which will develop evidence of what works to prevent child sexual abuse and exploitation; a £7m uplift in funding in each of the last two years for non statutory organisations which support the victims and survivors of sexual abuse; and £2.3m for the second phase of the successful Disrespect Nobody campaign, which raises young people’s awareness of healthy relationships.
On 28th February the Home Office launched the Trusted Relationships Fund, which will provide grant funding to local authorities who wish to run initiatives to protect young people in their area from different forms of exploitation and abuse, including child sexual exploitation, county lines, and peer abuse. The fund is currently open for applications and successful projects will be announced in the summer.
Asked by: Lucy Allan (Conservative - Telford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of (a) girls groomed for sexual exploitation and (b) perpetrators of child sexual exploitation in the latest period for which figures are available.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government does not currently hold such figures. We are working to build the national picture of the nature and scale of this sort of abuse.
We have introduced new requirements for the police to record information relating to these offences which, along with the establishment of a new national Centre of Expertise on child sexual abuse, will help us to build a more informed picture of the scale of these crimes and the best ways to tackle and prevent them in the future.
Asked by: Lucy Allan (Conservative - Telford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse plans to (a) visit and (b) consider Telford as part of its current investigation into child sexual exploitation in England and Wales.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Inquiry’s terms of reference require it to consider the extent to which institutions in England and Wales have failed in their duty of care to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation. Within the terms of reference, it is for the Inquiry to decide what it investigates and how it conducts its investigations.
The Inquiry also runs the Truth Project, which allows victims and survivors of child sexual abuse to share their experiences.