Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help the veterinary sector process confirmation of neutering forms for XL bully breed owners before 1 February.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Since 31 January 2024, owners are required to apply for a Certificate of Exemption if they wish to keep their XL Bully dog. Owners must provide evidence of neutering to Defra to ensure that the Certificate of Exemption remains valid, and we have provided an extended period for this to be arranged. We have produced guidance for vets on this process and are continuing to engage with the veterinary sector to monitor veterinary capacity.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timescale for publishing (a) the UK National Screening Committee's review of evidence for screening and (b) updated guidance on treatment pathways for prostate cancer is.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) will consider the evidence for six possible approaches to targeted prostate screening when the review, commissioned by the Department, has been completed. The UK NSC will publish its recommendations.
Guidance on testing and treatment of prostate cancer was updated in October 2022. There are no current plans to update the guidance again.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps she is taking to help reduce the price of fuel at petrol stations.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Road fuel prices are down for the second consecutive month. Petrol prices are now at a level not seen since early October 2021 following our work to bring transparency to the market.
Today, we have launched a consultation which will require petrol stations to report real-time prices. This will mean drivers can compare prices, get the best deal, and prices will fall through greater competition.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the European Court of Justice ruling on the European Super League on the future of English domestic football.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The attempt to create a breakaway European Super League was a defining moment in English football and was universally condemned by fans, clubs, and the Government.
We took decisive action at the time by triggering the fan-led review of football governance, which called for the creation of a new independent regulator for English football.
We will shortly be bringing forward legislation that makes this a reality, establishing an independent regulator that can stop clubs from joining any similar breakaway competitions in the future.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department's policies of the European Court of Justice ruling on the European Super League.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The attempt to create a breakaway European Super League was a defining moment in English football and was universally condemned by fans, clubs, and the Government.
We took decisive action at the time by triggering the fan-led review of football governance, which called for the creation of a new independent regulator for English football.
We will shortly be bringing forward legislation that makes this a reality, establishing an independent regulator that can stop clubs from joining any similar breakaway competitions in the future.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
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 with Cabinet colleagues to support disabled access to venues.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is committed to improving the accessibility of cultural and heritage venues across the UK for everyone.
In June 2021, the Government Disability Unit launched an enhanced programme of Disability and Access Ambassadors. As part of this, David Stanley BEM was appointed as the Arts and Culture Disability and Access Ambassador. The Department is working closely with him to improve accessibility to the sector and its venues for people with disabilities.
DCMS investment is enabling important accessibility upgrades in cultural venues across the country, including via infrastructure grants to DCMS-sponsored cultural bodies. The joint DCMS/Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund also has improvements to access and/or interpretation for visitors with disabilities as a core criterion, with recent awards including new accessible doors, lifts, ramps, and signage at the People’s History Museum in Manchester, amongst other projects.
Arts Councils across the UK are also working together with the British Film Institute to launch a free, UK-wide arts access scheme, called ‘All-In’. The pilot of this scheme is set to launch in Spring 2024. This scheme will operate across the UK in arts and cultural venues, for seamless, barrier-free booking which is responsive to individual circumstances and needs.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to engage with the disability community when developing transport policy.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Department for Transport (DfT) officials engage regularly with disabled people and disability groups throughout policy development.
Guidance is provided to the whole department on how stakeholder engagement can be an effective way of identifying potential impacts and opportunities to improve inclusion and help us to meet the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED). This includes engagement with the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC). Involving DPTAC from the earliest stages of policy development helps us to ensure our policies deliver for disabled people.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had recent discussions with HMRC on improving customer service in response to queries on self-assessment paperwork.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Chancellor of the Exchequer and Treasury Ministers meet with HMRC officials on a regular basis to discuss HMRC’s performance.
HMRC publishes its performance on a monthly and quarterly basis:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-monthly-performance-reports
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-quarterly-performance-updates
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps he has taken to (a) implement the Future of Transport Rural Strategy and (b) consult on reforming grant funding for bus operators.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Department for Transport published its ‘Future of Transport: supporting rural transport innovation’ guidance in early October, and will now work to implement its pledges, such as working closer with local leadership to help deploy and scale innovative new technologies in rural communities. As part of this guide, the Department is making up to £3 million of funding available for rural innovation. This will help explore innovative solutions to long-standing issues, such as loneliness and isolation, poor access to services and economically challenging business cases for rural transport services.
The Government committed to reforming the Bus Service Operator Grant (BSOG) in the National Bus Strategy and intends to publish a consultation later this year. The consultation will seek views from bus operators and local authorities on several measures to modernise and future-proof the BSOG. We intend to include proposals for distance-based payments that may help rural operators and simplify the administration of the grant.
Our support for buses includes community transport too. We have just announced that the Government will continue to provide increased financial support to these community transport operators to help protect these key services by uplifting their bus service operator grant claims by 60%. This significant support will be available to operators for claims from 1 July 2023 to the end of March 2025.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 12 July 2023 to Question 192201 on Dogs: Smuggling, what actions points her Department has recorded in the context of her Department's discussion with (a) Cabinet colleagues and (b) third-party stakeholders on policy formation to tackle puppy smuggling.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues about a wide range of issues, and Cabinet discussions are considered confidential.
The Department continues to engage with third party stakeholders on the issue of tackling puppy smuggling to gather views on this subject as part of routine engagement.
The Government is committed to delivering its manifesto commitment to crack down on puppy smuggling when parliamentary time allows.