Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when the London Energy Security Conference will take place.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Government now intends to hold the Energy Security Conference in 2025. The Secretary of State will discuss energy security with her international counterparts at events including the International Energy Agency meeting in Paris, the G7 in Turin, and bilateral meetings.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether Annexes (a) C and (b) G of the statement of requirements at schedule 2 of the Asylum Accommodation and Support contracts have been incorporated into the allocation of asylum accommodation policy.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Allocation of Accommodation policy provides guidance on room sharing across all accommodation sites, including Napier, ex-MoD sites and vessels. The policy includes a suitability criteria which is applied when allocating accommodation to individuals. Accommodation providers are required to consider the suitability criteria, in addition to the Statement of Requirements, when considering whether room sharing is suitable and/or where an individual has any specific needs which have been raised.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many rule 35 reports were issued in detention centres in 2023.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
We regularly publish the data you have requested and it can be found at Immigration Enforcement data: Q3 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
The data is placed under the link entitled the same. Please note that quarter 4 (which will contain information from 1 October to 31 December 2023) is due to be published February 2024.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether the Government plans to seek UK membership of the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance.
Answered by Graham Stuart
I refer the hon Member to the answer I gave to the hon Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas) today to Question UIN 11295.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether it is her policy to advocate for the phase-out of fossil fuels at COP29.
Answered by Graham Stuart
At COP28 the Government championed the need to phase out unabated fossil fuels, and the Global Stocktake set a clear direction, with countries agreeing to transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems to achieve net zero in keeping with the science. However, there is still a considerable way to go, and we will continue to push for further ambition in 2024 and to persuade other countries to join the UK on a Net Zero pathway.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what discussions she has had with her international counterparts on the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill.
Answered by Graham Stuart
My Rt Hon Friend, the Secretary of State, and I regularly meet with a wide range of stakeholders to discuss issues relating to energy security and net zero. This includes numerous recent discussions on the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill, including with international counterparts.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the lack of a Special Representative on Climate Change on his Department's policies.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Senior representation on climate and environment has grown significantly since the creation of the FCDO, and expanded further since the UK's COP Presidency including two dedicated directors leading on climate and environment, and on energy security respectively.
Since 2011 we have directly supported over 100 million people in coping with the effects of climate change, provided just under 70 million people with improved access to clean energy, and reduced or avoided greenhouse gas emissions by 86 million tonnes.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department plans to take to help support workers affected by the transition away from oil and gas towards renewable energy sources.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The oil and gas sector supports over 200,000 jobs and is critical to a successful energy transition. That is why the Government is providing certainty to industry through the introduction of the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill as well as agreeing the North Sea Transition Deal with industry. This includes the development of an industry-led skills passport to enable workers to move between sectors, protecting jobs and ensuring their skills, which are vital for the transition, are not lost.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of maternity and neonatal safety improvement schemes on mitigating the effects of inequalities in perinatal deaths.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
In March 2023, NHS England published its three-year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services. This sets out how the National Health Service will make maternity and neonatal care more equitable, as well as safer and more personalised.
The three-year delivery plan is based on evidence, including the impact on inequalities where available, and wide consultation. NHS England is tracking the impact on maternity and neonatal outcomes based on ethnicity and deprivation.
A central ambition of the delivery plan is to reduce inequalities in access, experience and outcomes for women and babies. This is being delivered through the implementation of Local Maternity and Neonatal Systems equity and equality action plans and advocating a proportionate universalism approach, alongside targeted service models designed to reduce inequalities, including enhanced midwifery continuity of carer and culturally sensitive genetics services for high need areas.
NHS England is also providing training and resources for all maternity and neonatal staff, so they can deliver culturally competent and sensitive care. This includes access to cultural competence training, developed in partnership with the Royal College of Midwives, and provision of clinical training aids to support care for women and babies with black or dark skin. In November 2023, NHS England offered £50,000 funding to each NHS England regional team in England to implement ethnic minority workforce training to upskill staff and promote more equitable experience for service users.
In January 2024, the NHS Race and Health Observatory launched the Learning and Action Network in partnership with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and the Health Foundation. The Learning and Action Network will utilise an anti-racism approach to quality improvement to drive clinical transformation and enable system-wide change. It will work with nine healthcare systems to improve maternal and neonatal health outcomes.
Additionally, the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC’s) national maternity inspection programme, which completed in December 2023, looked at how services are addressing inequalities in maternity care through a safety and leadership lens. The CQC will be reporting on their findings from the inspection programme later this year and will include findings relating to inequalities.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that maternity and neonatal safety improvement schemes include a focus on mitigating the effects of inequalities.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
In March 2023, NHS England published its three-year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services. This sets out how the National Health Service will make maternity and neonatal care more equitable, as well as safer and more personalised.
The three-year delivery plan is based on evidence, including the impact on inequalities where available, and wide consultation. NHS England is tracking the impact on maternity and neonatal outcomes based on ethnicity and deprivation.
A central ambition of the delivery plan is to reduce inequalities in access, experience and outcomes for women and babies. This is being delivered through the implementation of Local Maternity and Neonatal Systems equity and equality action plans and advocating a proportionate universalism approach, alongside targeted service models designed to reduce inequalities, including enhanced midwifery continuity of carer and culturally sensitive genetics services for high need areas.
NHS England is also providing training and resources for all maternity and neonatal staff, so they can deliver culturally competent and sensitive care. This includes access to cultural competence training, developed in partnership with the Royal College of Midwives, and provision of clinical training aids to support care for women and babies with black or dark skin. In November 2023, NHS England offered £50,000 funding to each NHS England regional team in England to implement ethnic minority workforce training to upskill staff and promote more equitable experience for service users.
In January 2024, the NHS Race and Health Observatory launched the Learning and Action Network in partnership with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and the Health Foundation. The Learning and Action Network will utilise an anti-racism approach to quality improvement to drive clinical transformation and enable system-wide change. It will work with nine healthcare systems to improve maternal and neonatal health outcomes.
Additionally, the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC’s) national maternity inspection programme, which completed in December 2023, looked at how services are addressing inequalities in maternity care through a safety and leadership lens. The CQC will be reporting on their findings from the inspection programme later this year and will include findings relating to inequalities.