Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will match NHS staff pay awards for 2022 with the rate of inflation.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has committed to increasing National Health Service workers’ pay this year, in addition to 3% last year, when pay was frozen in the public sector.
The Government is looking to the independent Pay Review Bodies (PRBs) for a pay recommendation for the NHS. The PRBs consist of industry experts and make recommendations based on an assessment of evidence from a range of stakeholders, including NHS system partners, trades unions and the Government. The PRBs consider a range of factors including the cost of living and inflation, recruitment and retention, affordability, and value for the taxpayer. The Government will consider these recommendations before responding.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to help ensure step-free access at Davenport station.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Davenport station will receive Access for All funding as part of a 23 station package of works across Greater Manchester with a £1m contribution towards minor accessibility improvements. This work is anticipated to be completed by July 2023.
I am committed to improving access at all stations and have recently launched the next round of nominations for the Access for All programme. I welcome nominations for any station in Great Britain currently without step-free access.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when primary schools will be informed of the (a) outcome of their application to and (b) funding allocation from the PE and Sport Premium Fund.
Answered by Will Quince - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, announced on 25 June that the £320 million PE and sport premium will continue for the 2022/23 academic year.
The PE and sport premium is paid to all eligible schools and there is no application process. Funding allocations for individual schools will be published in September.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the level of racism in cricket in England.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is clear that racism has no place in cricket, sport, or wider society. The Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket issued a call for evidence following the Azeem Rafiq incident at Yorkshire County Cricket Club last year. This received over 4000 responses which indicates that the level of racism in cricket is currently far too high.
The Commission also opened a second call for evidence in March 2022 to seek more detailed views on a number of areas and is currently reviewing the evidence to form an independent report with suggested recommendations to tackle racism and discrimination in cricket.
We welcome the steps taken so far by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) but expect to see clear and sustained evidence of cultural change across the sport resulting from these actions. A recent update indicates tangible progress on a number of commitments; including the county cricket network having achieved significant progress to increase Board diversity in line with the targets of 30% female representation and locally representative ethnicity.
It has been made clear to the ECB, who have responded positively and constructively, that public funding is explicitly linked to the development and implementation of robust diversity and inclusion policies and plans.
The Government and our arm’s length bodies will continue to liaise with the cricket authorities on tackling racism and hold them to account on this.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether Support for Mortgage Interest payments are in line with the increase in interest rates made by mortgage providers.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Support for Mortgage Interest is calculated using a standard interest rate which is set at a level equal to the Bank of England's published monthly average mortgage interest rate. The rate is currently 2.09%, changes to that rate will occur when the Bank of England’s average mortgage rate changes by at least 0.5%. In this way, help provided increases when mortgage interest rates rise.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with officials in his Department on the potential merits of introducing maximum time limits on medication waiting lists.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) evaluates all new licensed medicines and licence extensions for existing medicines and aims to issue draft guidance on use around the time of licensing, with final guidance within 90 days of licensing wherever possible. The National Health Service is legally required to fund medicines recommended by NICE within 90 days of the publication of its final guidance. Recent initiatives such as the Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway, Project Orbis and the Innovative Medicines Fund will further support the rapid introduction of effective new medicines for the benefit of NHS patients.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what additional support his Department has made available to (a) Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council and (b) local authorities in Greater Manchester to help with the increased cost of energy.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (jointly with Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Local Government Finance Settlement 2022/23 makes available an additional £3.7 billion to councils in England
Full details of all local authorities’ settlement allocations are published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/final-local-government-finance-settlement-england-2022-to-2023 .
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department will take to ensure that there are adequate numbers of NHS staff in (a) Stockport and (b) Greater Manchester.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Local National Health Service trusts are responsible for managing staffing levels and recruiting the appropriate number of health professionals required.
As of February 2022, there were 5,029 full time equivalent (FTE) staff working at Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, an increase of 4.1% from February 2021. This includes a 5.8% increase in the number of FTE doctors and a 9% increase in the number of nurses. As of February 2022, there were 186,214 staff working in NHS trusts in the North West, an increase 2.3% from February 2021. This includes a 3.2% increase in the number of FTE doctors and a 4.9% increase in the number of nurses.
We have funded an additional 1,500 undergraduate medical school places for domestic students in England to provide a 25% increase over three years. We are also on schedule to meet the target of employing 50,000 more nurses in the NHS by March 2024.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support the Kenyan Government with the global grain shortages caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Answered by James Cleverly - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
Countries across East Africa including Kenya are experiencing sharp food price inflation linked to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. A region-wide drought is compounding the impacts of Russia's illegal war. Since January the UK has provided £1 million in humanitarian support to Kenya in response to the drought. We are urgently working with the UN, the G7 and the international community to unlock the export of Ukrainian grain and find practical ways to open up commercial shipping routes.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, whether the Commission has made a comparative assessment of the cost of booking rail tickets for MPs and their staff from (a) rail operators and (b) booking agents.
Answered by Charles Walker
The Parliamentary Travel Office (PTO) books train tickets through Evolvi. Rail tickets sold in the UK are regulated and the cost of booking tickets is the same irrespective of where the ticket is purchased. Parliament, however, receives commission from individual rail operators, where partnership agreements are in place – which effectively makes the overall cost to Parliament of booking rail tickets cheaper than purchasing elsewhere.