Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the ratification of the UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement, when mutual recognition of legal qualifications between those countries will be introduced.
Answered by Greg Hands
The UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will facilitate the recognition of professional qualifications in professional services, such as legal services, including through supporting regulators’ work towards mutual recognition arrangements.
Specifically in relation to legal services, the FTA sets up a legal services regulatory dialogue. The dialogue establishes structured engagement between the UK and Australian legal professions with the aim of addressing remaining barriers to practising law locally in each market such as those relating to requalification.
It is our intention to ratify the FTA at the earliest opportunity so that businesses can reap the benefits.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the reduced rate of potential cancer sufferers seeing a consultant within two weeks of an urgent GP referral.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department committed a further £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25, in addition to the £2 billion Elective Recovery Fund and £700 million Targeted Investment Fund in 2021/22 to increase capacity in elective services, including for cancer diagnosis and treatment.
The ‘Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care’, published in February 2022, contains two targets for cancer care to improve performance for the two-week waiting time. The plan aims to return the number of people waiting more than 62 days to start treatment following an urgent referral due to suspected cancer to pre-pandemic levels by March 2023. In addition, 75% of patients who have been urgently referred by their general practitioner for suspected cancer will be diagnosed or have cancer ruled out within 28 days by March 2024.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average monthly cost of accommodation for an asylum seeker was in (a) the UK and (b) Newcastle upon Tyne in the last 12 months.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Costs are subject to change depending on numbers being accommodated within the asylum system. Accommodation costs are considered to be commercially confidential; therefore, the Home Office does not publish this information. However, total expenditure on asylum is published in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ho-annual-reports-and-accounts(opens in a new tab).
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance (ACMI) leasing by airlines on the rights of UK-based airline staff.
Answered by Katherine Fletcher
UK based airlines use ACMI to provide additional capacity, often during peak periods, and have done so for many years. The flexibility to bring in additional capacity for limited periods is welcomed by the UK’s largest carriers to manage seasonal changes or when aircraft and crew are otherwise unavailable.
This summer has seen an increase in this type of activity for several reasons, including a shortage of aircraft and of cabin crew. The Government will keep the use of ACMI, from UK and foreign providers, under review as the market recovers and evolves following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many substantive interviews for asylum applications her Department has carried out in the last 12 months.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The Home Office is unable to state how many substantive interviews for asylum applications have been carried out in the last 12 months, because this data is not held in a reportable format, not routinely published and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
However, the Home Office does publish data on the number of asylum claims awaiting an initial decision by duration, for main claimant only. This data can be found at Asy_04 of the published Immigration Statistics:
List of tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The Home Office is committed to ensuring asylum claims are considered without unnecessary delay; that individuals who need protection are granted asylum as soon as possible, so that they can start to integrate and rebuild their lives.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if his Department will take steps to provide funding for computer programming courses in (a) Newcastle upon Tyne East constituency and (b) England.
Answered by Andrea Jenkyns
There are a range of just over 200 digital qualifications which are nationally available for funding both those 16 to 19 and adults, and this will include availability in Newcastle Upon Tyne.
These qualifications will be at a range of levels and will include broader qualifications covering a range of IT, digital and computing skills, as well as level 2 and level 3 qualifications in computing which will have a greater focus on aspects of programming.
Three T Levels in Digital are now available in a number of providers across the country, Digital Business Services, Digital Production, Design and Development, and Digital Support Services. They offer a prestigious, high-quality technical option at level 3, supporting progression to occupations such as software development technician. Colleges in Newcastle and its surrounding areas are now offering T Levels in the digital route.
Through the Level 3 Free Courses for Jobs offer, we have made more than 400 level 3 courses free for adults learning below the national living wage and those that haven’t previously obtained a level 3 qualification. Courses are available in a range of digital skills, including: cyber security, coding, network architecture, and systems support. We are also expanding Skills Bootcamps, which are free, flexible courses in job specific skills, including in digital areas such as software development, coding and data analytics. A large number of digital Skills Bootcamps are being delivered online and are available to learners across the country, however there are courses being delivered in person, which are available at Gateshead College, Tyne Coast College and Northumbria University.
Newcastle Upon Tyne is a devolved area for the purposes of the Adult Education Budget (AEB), which means that it is responsible for the provision of adult education and allocation of the AEB in the area including determining what adult provision to fund to meet learner and employer demand.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum applications have received a decision in each quarter of the last five years from applicants in (a) Newcastle upon Tyne East constituency, (b) the North East and (c) the UK.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Whilst we hold data on the current addresses of asylum claimants, the Home Office is unable to state how many asylum applications have received a substantive interview in each (a) of the last five years and (b) quarter of the last five years in (i) the UK, (ii) the North East and (iii) Newcastle upon Tyne East constituency, nor can we state the number of asylum applications which have received a decision in each quarter of the last five years from claimants in (a) Newcastle upon Tyne East constituency, (b) the North East and (c) the UK as this information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost as it is not held in a reportable format.
The Home Office does publish data on the number asylum applications awaiting an initial decision by duration and can be found at Asy_01 of the Transparency data: Q1 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and those processed within 6 months and initial decision outcomes, for main claimants only, found at Asy_D02 and Asy_04 of the published Immigration Statistics: List of tables - GOV.UK (List of tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum applications have received a substantive interview in each (a) of the last five years and (b) quarter of the last five years in (i) the UK, (ii) the North East and (iii) Newcastle upon Tyne East constituency.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Whilst we hold data on the current addresses of asylum claimants, the Home Office is unable to state how many asylum applications have received a substantive interview in each (a) of the last five years and (b) quarter of the last five years in (i) the UK, (ii) the North East and (iii) Newcastle upon Tyne East constituency, nor can we state the number of asylum applications which have received a decision in each quarter of the last five years from claimants in (a) Newcastle upon Tyne East constituency, (b) the North East and (c) the UK as this information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost as it is not held in a reportable format.
The Home Office does publish data on the number asylum applications awaiting an initial decision by duration and can be found at Asy_01 of the Transparency data: Q1 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and those processed within 6 months and initial decision outcomes, for main claimants only, found at Asy_D02 and Asy_04 of the published Immigration Statistics: List of tables - GOV.UK (List of tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
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 help deliver on the Prime Minister's call for G7 countries to help vaccinate the world against covid-19 by the end of 2022.
Answered by Amanda Milling
The UK is at the forefront of the international response to COVID-19. Our funding has enabled COVAX to deliver over 1.3 billion COVID vaccines to 87 developing countries. The UK has donated over 85 million doses, benefitting 42 countries, and offered a further 15 million doses.
The UK used its G7 Presidency in 2021 to mobilise G7 countries to donate vaccines that were surplus to domestic need, the majority channelled through COVAX. By May 2022, the G7 had donated 1.18 billion doses, more than the 870 million doses that G7 members agreed to make available by mid-2022. With supply no longer an issue, the UK is working with G7 and international partners such as COVAX Vaccine Delivery Partnership to tackle delivery bottlenecks and improve uptake in low coverage countries to meet national targets.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the NHS is taking to process the backlog of retirement applications of NHS workers, so that former NHS staff can access their retirement benefits as soon as possible.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
The NHS Business Services Authority, which administers the NHS Pension Scheme, received an increase in retirement applications for April 2022 compared to the previous year. While the majority of applications were processed within the timeframes expected, some delays were experienced due to the need for complex manual calculations. The volume of applications has returned to the levels usually received, although as the majority of staff currently retiring have benefits in both the 1995/2008 and the 2015 schemes, more manual calculations are still required.
The NHS Business Services Authority has increased the number of staff available to undertake these calculations and issued guidance to scheme employers to ensure that members are informed of the progress of their application prior to the employer submitting their application. Where manual calculations are required, as the member has the option of receiving the smaller 2015 Scheme pension as a lump sum, the NHS Business Services Authority is limiting any financial impact by ensuring 1995/2008 Scheme benefits are paid immediately, while options for payment of 2015 Scheme benefits are discussed with the member. This ensures the payment of the majority of a member’s benefits is not delayed.