Asked by: Mark Jenkinson (Conservative - Workington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answers of 9 November 2022 to Questions 79339 and 79340 on Schools: Gender Recognition, if she will provide a separate Answer to Question 79339.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department knows that issues around gender can be sensitive for schools. The Department expects schools to prioritise individual pupils’ wellbeing in these matters. Schools are responsible for making decisions in line with their legal duties, but the circumstances of each case will differ, and the Department cannot comment on individual cases.
The current service specification for the Gender Identity Development Service states that referrals can be made by staff in schools and colleges. NHSE are currently consulting on a new interim service specification, and one of the proposed changes is that referrals may be made by GPs and NHS professionals only.
The Department is currently engaging with a range of stakeholders to develop guidance for schools, including the Department of Health and Social Care and NHSE. The Department will also consider the outcomes of Dr Cass’s independent review, so that its guidance is aligned with policy across Government to ensure children and young people get the best possible support. The Department will be undertaking a full public consultation on the draft guidance before publishing in 2023.
Asked by: Mark Jenkinson (Conservative - Workington)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has held discussions with his counterpart in Iran on the potential supply of ballistic missiles to Russia for use in Ukraine.
Answered by David Rutley
The UK condemns Iranian support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine and has made this directly clear to Iran. Iran's supply of drones is in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2231. The supply of ballistic missiles to Russia would be a significant escalation. On 20 October new UK sanctions targeted Iranian individuals and businesses responsible for supplying Russia with drones. We are working with France and Germany to support a UN investigation into the Iranian transfers, and we will continue to work with the international community to hold Iran and Russia to account.
Asked by: Mark Jenkinson (Conservative - Workington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers are housed in (a) hotels, (b) houses in multiple occupation and (c) other temporary accommodation in each constituency as of 14 November 2022.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The significant increase in dangerous journeys across the Channel is placing unprecedented strain on our asylum system and it has made it necessary to continue to use hotels to accommodate some asylum seekers. The use of hotels is a short-term solution and we are working hard with local authorities to find appropriate accommodation.
Statistics relating to supported asylum seekers temporarily residing in contingency accommodation are published as Immigration Statistics under the S98 population tables. The latest publication (March 2022) can be found here Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk), under the document Asylum seekers in receipt of support (second edition). The data published at the end of June have been recently removed and are being investigated. An update will be provided in the next Immigration Statistics release.
The Home Office does not publish a breakdown of these statistics which disaggregates the number of asylum seekers accommodated in specific accommodation. These figures are not available in a reportable format and to provide the information could only be done at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Mark Jenkinson (Conservative - Workington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department provides to schools on supporting transgender children; what her Department's policy is on support for social transition within the school and other forms of affirming support for those children; and if she will make an assessment of the potential liability to which a school could be subject to in the event that a child who has received such support later decides to detransition and seek redress.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Currently, National Health Service England’s (NHSE’s) policy permits the Gender Identity Development Service to accept referrals from education professionals, as well as health and social care professionals. It is for schools to make decisions on these matters on a case-by-case basis, within the NHSE's guidelines.
NHSE is currently consulting on a new interim service specification for children’s gender identity services, which proposes to change the referral pathway so only GPs and healthcare professionals can make referrals to these specialist services. The consultation closes on 4 December 2022. Further details are available here: https://www.engage.england.nhs.uk/specialised-commissioning/gender-dysphoria-services/.
The Department knows that issues around gender can be sensitive and complex for schools to navigate, which is why we are developing guidance to help schools to support pupils.
To develop the content of the guidance, Departmental officials are engaging with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHSE and will be undertaking a public consultation on the draft guidance before publishing in 2023.
Asked by: Mark Jenkinson (Conservative - Workington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her Department's policy is on the referral by schools of children identifying as transgender to third party agencies, including those which offer assistance with medical transition; what guidance her Department offers to schools on such referrals; and if she will make an assessment of the potential liabilities to which a school that makes such a referral could be subject to in the event that those children subsequently decide to detransition.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Currently, National Health Service England’s (NHSE’s) policy permits the Gender Identity Development Service to accept referrals from education professionals, as well as health and social care professionals. It is for schools to make decisions on these matters on a case-by-case basis, within the NHSE's guidelines.
NHSE is currently consulting on a new interim service specification for children’s gender identity services, which proposes to change the referral pathway so only GPs and healthcare professionals can make referrals to these specialist services. The consultation closes on 4 December 2022. Further details are available here: https://www.engage.england.nhs.uk/specialised-commissioning/gender-dysphoria-services/.
The Department knows that issues around gender can be sensitive and complex for schools to navigate, which is why we are developing guidance to help schools to support pupils.
To develop the content of the guidance, Departmental officials are engaging with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHSE and will be undertaking a public consultation on the draft guidance before publishing in 2023.
Asked by: Mark Jenkinson (Conservative - Workington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to (a) reduce the number of (i) lower-skilled migrants and (ii) migrants in general coming to the UK and (b) provide updates on progress in meeting those goals.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
We committed to the public we would deliver a new points-based system to bring highly-skilled workers to the UK whilst meeting our clear manifesto commitment to control immigration numbers. I will provide further policy updates to the House in due course.
Asked by: Mark Jenkinson (Conservative - Workington)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he will take to ensure that new GP and school places are delivered ahead of people moving into new housing developments in Workington.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
The provision of the right infrastructure at the right time is very important to new and existing communities.
To this end, the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill provides powers to introduce an Infrastructure Levy largely to replace the complex and discretionary Section 106 regime and the Community Infrastructure Levy. The new Levy will be a mandatory, non-negotiable charge, set and collected locally. It will give a greater say to local councils on what their infrastructure priorities are and give greater transparency to local people about how funds will be spent.
Local authorities will be able to borrow against their infrastructure levy receipts to ensure that infrastructure is provided when it is needed.
To strengthen infrastructure delivery further, the Bill introduces a requirement for local authorities to prepare infrastructure delivery strategies. These will set out a strategy for delivering local infrastructure, including education and GP surgeries, and spending infrastructure levy proceeds.
Asked by: Mark Jenkinson (Conservative - Workington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress the Government has made on meeting the target to deliver 50 million extra general practice appointments a year; and what steps he is taking to increase access to a GP in Workington.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
In the 12 months to September 2022, there were an estimated 325.2 million appointments in general practice in England, excluding COVID-19 vaccinations. This is an increase of 7.3% compared to the 12 months to September 2021. On 22 September 2022, we announced ‘Our plan for patients’, which sets out how we will deliver an addition one million appointments this winter and the expectation that patients who need an appointment within two weeks will receive one, with urgent cases being seen on the same day, including in Workington.
We have committed to publishing practice-level appointment data to assist patients to make an informed choice on the appropriate practice for their needs. We have also set out measures to help patients book appointments more easily and benefit from more options for care, such as community pharmacy. NHS England has offered a short-term telephony solution to all general practitioner (GP) practices, to increase capacity for incoming calls. From December, NHS England will accelerate the delivery of a framework to support all practices to secure cloud-based telephony systems. We will also assist general practices to recruit a range of health professionals to increase appointment capacity, such as GP assistants and advanced practitioners.
Asked by: Mark Jenkinson (Conservative - Workington)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what impact a presumption against issuing any further Hydraulic Fracturing Consents on the basis of potential seismic events may have on (a) sourcing geothermal energy, (b) exploration for lithium and other minerals and (c) other planning consents that may result in seismic activity.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Infrastructure Act 2015 set out provisions for ‘associated hydraulic fracturing’ where it is defined as hydraulic fracturing of shale or strata encased in shale for the purposes of searching for or extracting petroleum or natural gas. The presumption against issuing any further Hydraulic Fracturing Consents on the basis of potential seismic events should therefore have no impact on sourcing geothermal energy or the exploration for lithium and other minerals.
The control and mitigation of induced seismicity for deep geothermal projects is based on the British Standard BS 6472-2 (BSI, 2008), which defines limits for acceptable levels of ground vibrations caused by blasting and quarrying, and other local planning authority guidelines for blasting, quarrying, and mining. These thresholds are defined in terms of measured ground velocity rather than seismicity.
Asked by: Mark Jenkinson (Conservative - Workington)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what impact a presumption against issuing any further Hydraulic Fracturing Consents on the basis of potential seismic events may have on (a) sourcing geothermal energy and (b) exploration for lithium and other minerals.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Infrastructure Act 2015 set out provisions for ‘associated hydraulic fracturing’ where it is defined as hydraulic fracturing of shale or strata encased in shale for the purposes of searching for or extracting petroleum or natural gas. The presumption against issuing any further Hydraulic Fracturing Consents on the basis of potential seismic events should therefore have no impact on sourcing geothermal energy or the exploration for lithium and other minerals.
The control and mitigation of induced seismicity for deep geothermal projects is based on the British Standard BS 6472-2 (BSI, 2008), which defines limits for acceptable levels of ground vibrations caused by blasting and quarrying, and other local planning authority guidelines for blasting, quarrying, and mining. These thresholds are defined in terms of measured ground velocity rather than seismicity.