Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to support the work of the British Council.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The British Council plays a crucial role supporting the UK’s interests around the world, including helping people to learn English, and promoting British arts, culture and education. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is providing over £160 million Grant-in-Aid to the Council this year, which underlines our continued support for their important work.Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department will take steps to help ensure that health (a) boards and (b) trusts (i) collect and (ii) publish data on the provision of respiratory diagnostics.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Activity and waiting times for the main respiratory tests, for instance spirometry and lung function tests, are not included in the National Diagnostic Activity and Waiting Times Collection.
However, NHS England undertakes a number of internal assurance data collection exercises on activity and waiting times. The National Diagnostic Programme undertakes an annual snap-shot data collection on respiratory diagnostics to understand the levels of activity and waiting times for a range of respiratory tests within trusts across England.
NHS England’s Respiratory Programme, in collaboration with national stakeholders, has also developed a standardised spirometry data capture template. This tool is designed to support integrated care boards in consistently recording and reporting spirometry activity, enabling improved oversight, service planning, and equitable access to respiratory diagnostics.
There are no current plans to publish these collections.
Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of removing the requirement for landlords to apply for at least five parking spaces to qualify for the electric vehicle infrastructure grant.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The requirement for landlords to apply for at least five parking spaces applies to the Staff and Fleets and Residential Landlords infrastructure grants within the Electric Vehicle Chargepoint Grant (EVCG). The requirement is in place to encourage landlords to consider future needs when installing charging infrastructure in commercial and residential car parks.
The Office for Zero Emission Vehicles continually monitors and reviews grants to optimise delivery and value for money.