Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers have been recruited in Wiltshire since 2019; and what steps she has taken to reduce crime in (a) rural areas and (b) Wiltshire.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
We are recruiting an additional 20,000 police officers in England and Wales by March 2023, the biggest recruitment drive in decades.
As at 31 March 2022, Wiltshire Police had a total headcount of 1,152 police officers. 261 new officers have been recruited in total in Wiltshire since November 2019, equating to 111 additional officers, after replacing officers who retire or leave the force.
We are also taking steps to address issues that we know affect rural communities, including Wiltshire. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act empowers and equips the police and courts with the powers they need to combat hare coursing. The Government is also providing funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit.
Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to take further steps to tackle the backlog in practical driving tests.
Answered by Karl McCartney
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) operates a 24-week booking window for car tests and there are test slots available within this window.
The DVSA recognises the high demand for learners wanting to take their practical driving test and is working hard to provide as many practical driving test appointments as possible and has a number of measures in place to do this. These include offering a national recovery allowance and annual leave buy back to examiners, asking all those qualified to conduct tests, but who do not do so as part of their current day job, to return to conducting tests, and conducting out of hours testing (such as on public holidays and weekends).
The DVSA is also recruiting more than 300 driving examiners across Great Britain to help meet the increasing demand for driving tests.
Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the average waiting time for an operation in Wiltshire; and what steps he is taking to tackle healthcare backlogs caused by the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No specific estimate has been made as average waiting times for operations is not collected at county level. The Department and NHS England meet regularly with National Health Service trusts to discuss waiting lists for planned treatment. This includes assessing current progress on addressing waiting times and sharing advice to deliver on the targets in the ‘Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care’.
Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what funding the Government is providing to help regenerate town centres in Wiltshire; and what steps the Government is taking to incentivise private investment in town centres.
Answered by Lia Nici
The Government is investing £2.4 billion through the Towns Fund and £830 million through the Future High Streets Fund. This will help to renew and reshape town centres and high streets and incentivise further private investment. It includes £16.3 million for Trowbridge town centre and £9.3 million for Salisbury city centre through the Future High Street Fund which will leverage £456,000 of private sector investment.
The Government is also investing in local areas through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and has allocated £7.8 million to Wiltshire over the next three years. The Fund will seek to build pride in place and increase life chances across the UK. Proposed interventions include funding for improvements to town centres and high streets.
Investment in regeneration and town centres is also one of the three investment themes for the £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund which is currently open for round two bids and the £1.5 billion Levelling Up Home Building Fund is designed to support investment in housebuilding including infrastructure, enabling and bringing properties back into use. The Fund is now open for applications and private and public sector local partners will be supported by Homes England, the Government's housing accelerator.
Other measures to support private investment in town centres include proposed new legislation in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill which the Government announced on 11 May and will support bringing vacant units on the high street back into use by requiring landlords to rent out long-term vacant properties to prospective tenants such as local businesses.
Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to clear the passport application backlog.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Her Majesty’s Passport Office has added 850 staff since April 2021. This has helped to ensure that more passport applications are being processed than ever before. Between March and May, 98.5% of UK applications processed were completed within ten weeks.
Processing capacity will increase further, with an additional 350 staff arriving within the summer.
Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department is taking steps to (a) prepare for reductions in the supply of Russian gas to Europe and (b) support German industries to become less reliant on Russian gas.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK has a resilient energy market with diverse supply. The Government is committed to phasing out Russian coal and oil by the end of the year and LNG as soon as possible thereafter.
The Government is working to maximise the effectiveness of European gas networks, including the UK’s LNG terminals and interconnectors, which are playing a role in reducing in European reliance on Russian gas.
The Government is working closely with partners across the G7, including Germany, Italy, France and the European Commission, IEA, OPEC+ and others to stabilise energy prices and to reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels to starve Putin’s war machine.
Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent steps her Department has taken to provide funding for community-run projects with cultural significance; and how organisations can access this funding.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
DCMS provides funding to community arts projects in England through a number of our arm’s-length bodies.
Arts Council England is committed to supporting community arts projects, and has identified "Cultural Communities" as a key focus of its 10 year strategy “Let’s Create”.
One example of Arts Council's investment in communities is through their Lottery-funded Creative People and Places programme. There are 41 CPP programmes covering 58 local authority districts across the country. This programme targets the least engaged places in England and has recently joined the national portfolio. Arts Council have invested over £38 million for the period 2022-25.
As the largest dedicated funder of the UK’s heritage, the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) is equally committed to making a lasting difference to heritage, people and communities. NLHF provides National Lottery grants from £3,000 up to £5million for projects that connect people and communities to the national, regional and local heritage of the UK. The relevant regional office should be contacted for further information on how to apply for this funding.
The DCMS arm's-length body Historic England have successfully launched their Working-class grants, receiving over 200 applications and doubling their funding pot. The grants recognise and celebrate Working Class Histories that link people to overlooked historic places.
The National Lottery Community Fund is the arm’s-length body of DCMS which gives grants to organisations in the UK to help improve their communities. In 2021-22, as part of the National Lottery Community Fund Awards For All programme, 12,000 awards were made, reaching 90% of all UK wards, and includes support for a range of arts and cultural activities.
The National Lottery Community Fund also made available £22 million towards the Platinum Jubilee to fund impactful community projects and to help people celebrate the Jubilee.
Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve access to NHS Dental Care Services in Wiltshire.
Answered by James Morris
From July 2022, NHS England and NHS Improvement have asked practices to deliver 100% of contracted units of dental activity and 100% of units of orthodontic activity to improve access for patients safely. An additional £50 million for National Health Service dentistry was allocated for the final quarter of 2021/22 to support the provision of urgent care to patients. Of this funding, £4,726,000 was made available to the South West region, including Wiltshire.
The Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement are working with stakeholders, including the British Dental Association, on improvements to the NHS dental system to improve access, including in Wiltshire.
Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the NHS England blueprint in respect of improving access to GP appointments; and what guidance his Department has issued on the steps that patients can take in the event they are dissatisfied with the quality of the service that they receive from their GP.
Answered by James Morris
The Department is working with NHS England and NHS Improvement and others to improve access to general practitioner (GP) appointments for patients. In May 2022, there were on average 1.31 million general practice appointments per working day, excluding COVID-19 vaccinations - a 9% increase from May 2019. NHS England and NHS Improvement are continuing to provide structured support to practices working in the most challenging circumstances via the Access Improvement Programme.
Practices can provide patients with details of the complaints process. Patients can also raise concerns with the local commissioner, NHS England and NHS Improvement or with the local Healthwatch, the independent consumer champion for health and social care.
Asked by: Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps his Department has taken to help tackle the effects of inflation on (a) consumers and (b) the price of goods.
Answered by Richard Fuller
The Government understands that people across the UK are worried about the rising cost of living and are seeing their disposable incomes decrease as they spend more on the essentials.
Monetary policy is the responsibility of the independent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England. Since independence Consumer Prices Index inflation has averaged around the MPC’s 2% target.
In May, the Government announced over £15bn of additional cost of living support, targeted at those with the greatest need. As a result, millions of vulnerable households will receive at least £1,200 of support this financial year, with the vast majority of households receiving at least £550. This package builds on the over £22bn announced previously, with government support for the cost of living now totalling over £37bn this year, equivalent to 1.5% of GDP.