Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what measures his Department has in place for helping to ensure that areas without parish or town councils are (a) serving demand for allotments and (b) ensuring adequate protection for currently designated allotment land.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Responsibility for the provision and management of allotments rests with local authorities. Section 23 of the Allotments and Smallholdings Act 1908 places a duty on councils (excluding London Boroughs) to provide allotments where they perceive there is a demand for them. This is a matter for each council bound by the duty to determine.
Local authorities are required under Section 8 of the Allotments Act 1925 to obtain consent from the Secretary of State to dispose of statutory allotments. Section 8 applications are considered against criteria set out by the Secretary of State. The department published guidance in January 2014 - Allotment Disposal Guidance: Safeguards and alternatives - which clarifies the legal and policy safeguards in place to ensure that disposal is properly and thoroughly handled. The guidance is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/allotment-disposal-guidance-safeguards-and-alternatives.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department and NHS England have had with the National Information Board on developing a digital maternity tool as recommended in the National Maternity Review.
Answered by Ben Gummer
To date there have been no formal discussions with the National Information Board (NIB) in relation to developing a maternity digital tool. Baroness Cumberlege, Chair of the National Maternity Review, has been a member of the NIB since December 2015. We understand that Baroness Cumberlege has had informal discussions with the NIB Chair regarding the Maternity Review.
The digital technology workstream for the implementation of the maternity review will support the rollout of patient-held digital maternity records and the development of a digital tool to support expectant parents with access to improved information to support their pregnancy, choice and connection to peers.
This work will embed the ambitions outlined by the NIB in relation to supporting greater self-care through digital services and tools, paper-free at the point of care.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how his Department defines a vulnerable and intimidated witness; and what processes are in place to support such witnesses when giving evidence.
Answered by Mike Penning
Vulnerable witnesses are defined under section 16 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 as all child witnesses (under 18 years), or any witness whose quality of evidence is likely to be diminished because they are suffering from a mental disorder (as defined by the Mental Health Act 1983), have a significant impairment of intelligence and social functioning, or a physical disability or disorder.
Under section 17 of the 1999 Act, a witness is considered ‘intimidated’ if they are giving evidence in a case involving a sexual, knife or gun, human trafficking or modern slavery offence, or if the court is satisfied that the quality of evidence given by the witness is likely to be diminished by reason of fear or distress on the part of the witness in connection with testifying in the proceedings.
Vulnerable and intimidated witnesses are eligible for special measures to support them to give their evidence. Measures include the use of intermediaries to help communication, allowing witnesses to give evidence by way of pre-recorded video and /or live video links from outside the courtroom, screening the witness from the accused, removing people from the public gallery whilst the witness gives evidence and the removal of gowns and wigs.
The full list of special measures available can be found in sections 23 to 30 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1999/23/part/II/chapter/I/crossheading/special-measures
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will ensure the adequacy of provision of screens for use as a special protection measure for vulnerable and intimidated witnesses.
Answered by Mike Penning
There are many provisions already in place to help victims and witnesses give evidence in court.
Children are automatically eligible to receive special measures – such as giving evidence from behind a screen or pre-recording their evidence or giving it via video link – and these are available to other vulnerable victims and witnesses at a court’s discretion.
We continue to work with criminal justice partners (particularly the police and the CPS) to further increase awareness and ensure the consistent use of special measures for vulnerable and intimidated victims and witnesses.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of guidance issued to councils on budget transparency.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
DCLG published a plain English guide to open and accountable local government in August 2014. Ultimately it is for local decision makers to decide what information should be recorded and publicly available on the basis of the national rules and for local electors to hold them to account for this.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking in schools to help young people spot the signs of mental illness.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
Good mental health and wellbeing is a key priority for this Department. Young people have told us they would like to have opportunities to support each other and help to do this effectively.
We recently launched a suite of peer support activities, which include a call for evidence for stakeholders and children and young people and funding of up to £1.5m including a new digital innovation fund, to develop reliable, engaging and trusted advice online to help them understand both their own, and their friends mental health.
We will also be working with a core steering group, and wider advisory group of sector experts, including headteachers, youth leaders and charities, to look at what works in peer support, and how young people can strengthen their own networks.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - Mid Sussex)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what progress she is making on raising the profile of International Women's Day.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
International Women’s Day has been marked for many years, and is an opportunity to celebrate the progress and achievements of women around the world.
I, and many other ministers, will be attending a series of events, workshops and meetings to celebrate the day. We will also be supporting some of the many events that will be held around the country in schools, workplaces and communities. We are all working together to promote International Women’s Day and each year I am amazed by the creativity and energy that is on display.
I hope that honourable members will also be supporting events to mark International Women’s Day.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2015 to Question 18753, whether the assessment of the FRANK website was based solely on preventing drug use.
Answered by Karen Bradley
The purpose of the Frank website survey 2013 was to assess: website users' experiences, the information they accessed, their general satisfaction with the website and their intended behaviour after visiting the website.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what incentives his Department provides to encourage local authorities to build retirement and adapted housing.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
We are committed to increasing the diversity and choice of housing for older people. We know that the right housing can help people to have the lifestyle they want in later life, and help people stay healthier for longer. The National Planning Policy Framework requires local authorities to plan for a mix of housing based on current and future demographic trends, and the needs of different groups in the area, including older people and disabled people. In March 2015 we strengthened our planning guidance further to encourage local authorities to recognise the importance for planning for older people’s housing.
Local authorities are eligible to bid for capital grant funding for specialised housing for older people, including adapted housing through the Government’s Affordable Homes Programme, which includes funding for supported housing and the Care and Support Specialised Housing Fund.
To help older people stay healthier for longer in their existing home the Government provides the Disabled Facilities Grant, which is part of the Better Care Fund. This capital grant for adaptations is paid to local authorities in England to fund the provision of home adaptations (including stair lifts, level access showers and, in some instances, home extensions) to help disabled people to live as comfortably, safely and independently as possible in their own homes for longer. In the Autumn Statement, the Chancellor announced that funding for the Grant will rise to over £500 million by 2020. Annual allocations for the Disabled Facilities Grant for each year until 2020 will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many fatalities were caused by traffic collisions involving persons under the influence of (a) cannabis and (b) illegal drugs in each of the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The statistical data that the police provide to the Department about personal-injury road traffic accidents does not include explicit information on the use of illegal drugs. The data do not attribute blame or responsibility for the cause of the accident either.
However, the records do include information on what factors police officers thought had contributed to the accident. The contributory factor ‘Impaired by drugs (illicit or medicinal)’ is recorded when a police officer thought that a driver or rider was affected by drugs. This factor not only includes the use of illegal drugs but also medicinal drugs, whether prescription or ‘over the counter’, which could have had an effect on someone’s driving. No split between illegal and medicinal drugs is available.
The number of fatalities in reported road accidents in Great Britain in which the contributory factor ‘Impaired by drugs (illicit or medicinal)’ was reported for 2010 to 2014 can be found in the table below.
2010 | 42 |
2011 | 54 |
2012 | 32 |
2013 | 36 |
2014 | 55 |
It should be noted that contributory factors are only recorded when police officers attended the scene of the accidents; this should be the case for the majority of fatal accidents. The factors are based on police officers’ judgements at the scene and may not include factors that were only discovered after a full investigation of the accident was carried out.
Drug driving is a menace which is why the Coalition government created a new offence of driving with a specified controlled drug in the body above the specified limit for that drug, with the aim of making it easier for the police to tackle those who drive after taking illegal drugs.