Asked by: Paul Bristow (Conservative - Peterborough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the (a) relevance and (b) applicability of the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement to railway services in 2022.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Ticketing and Settlement Agreement sets out industry rules and practices relating to fares, ticketing, retail and the carriage of passengers. We are committed to modernising working practices, simplifing and improving passengers’ experience of buying tickets, and to ensure passengers get the support they need from staff when using the railways. Part of this will involve working with industry to consider how these practices should be governed in future.
Asked by: Paul Bristow (Conservative - Peterborough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department is taking steps to replace the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Ticketing and Settlement Agreement sets out industry rules and practices relating to fares, ticketing, retail and the carriage of passengers. We are committed to modernising working practices, simplifing and improving passengers’ experience of buying tickets, and to ensure passengers get the support they need from staff when using the railways. Part of this will involve working with industry to consider how these practices should be governed in future.
Asked by: Paul Bristow (Conservative - Peterborough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that the consolidated online retail solution will (a) retain competition in the digital rail retail and ticketing markets and (b) not lead to a retail monopoly.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Under any rail reform proposals, independent retailers will continue to play an important role and we value their expertise and innovation and engage with them on these issues.
Asked by: Paul Bristow (Conservative - Peterborough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the new Consolidated Online Retail System for new rail retail provision will be procured by the Rail Delivery Group.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
We are continuing to work with the sector, including the Rail Delivery Group, to tackle the challenges required by rail reform, including improving online retail for the benefit of passengers. This work will include further engagement with suppliers, and we will provide an update in due course.
Asked by: Paul Bristow (Conservative - Peterborough)
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 reduce the time taken to diagnosis people with bipolar disorder.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The NHS Long Term Plan commits to investing approximately £1 billion by 2023/24 to increase access to high quality care in the community for people with severe mental illness, including bipolar disorder. Through the new models of care provided by integrated care systems, services will be based on the needs of individuals, rather than solely on diagnoses. This follows feedback received from those with severe mental illnesses, such as bipolar disorder, during the development of the community mental health framework.
Information on National Health Service expenditure on services and treatments specifically for people with bipolar disorder is not held in the format requested.
Asked by: Paul Bristow (Conservative - Peterborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of the health spend is on services and treatments for people with bipolar disorder.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The NHS Long Term Plan commits to investing approximately £1 billion by 2023/24 to increase access to high quality care in the community for people with severe mental illness, including bipolar disorder. Through the new models of care provided by integrated care systems, services will be based on the needs of individuals, rather than solely on diagnoses. This follows feedback received from those with severe mental illnesses, such as bipolar disorder, during the development of the community mental health framework.
Information on National Health Service expenditure on services and treatments specifically for people with bipolar disorder is not held in the format requested.
Asked by: Paul Bristow (Conservative - Peterborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what specialist services are available for people with Bipolar disorder.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The NHS Long Term Plan commits to investing approximately £1 billion by 2023/24 to increase access to high quality care in the community for people with severe mental illness, including bipolar disorder. Through the new models of care provided by integrated care systems, services will be based on the needs of individuals, rather than solely on diagnoses. This follows feedback received from those with severe mental illnesses, such as bipolar disorder, during the development of the community mental health framework.
Information on National Health Service expenditure on services and treatments specifically for people with bipolar disorder is not held in the format requested.
Asked by: Paul Bristow (Conservative - Peterborough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Government is taking steps to support the Hazara community in Afghanistan.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
FCDO officials regularly press the Taliban to protect religious and ethnic minorities and we engage with Hazara representatives who provide vital insight on the situation. We are working with international partners to ensure credible monitoring to hold those responsible for human rights abuses to account. On 7 October, we co-sponsored a Human Rights Council resolution to extend the UN Special Rapporteur's mandate for another year. His recent report to the Human Rights Council included an assessment of the situation for Hazara communities and we are working with the international community on how best to respond to his recommendations.
Asked by: Paul Bristow (Conservative - Peterborough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what consideration has been given to using (a) Ascension Island and (b) the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia for the offshore processing of asylum seekers.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
While individuals are endangering lives making perilous journeys, every possible option must be considered to reduce the draw of the UK.
We are in constant dialogue with a range of partners about how we can work together. We will not get drawn into speculation on potential options for offshoring of asylum processing or other outsourcing arrangements.
Asked by: Paul Bristow (Conservative - Peterborough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to help improve educational attainment by Romani children.
Answered by Robin Walker
The department recognises the issues faced by Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children and young people and understands how schools can make a difference. While some Gypsy, Roma and Traveller pupils perform very well at school, as a group, their attainment and attendance at school is particularly low at every key stage of education.
The department understands that the most significant factor affecting pupil attainment, which cuts across all ethnicities, is economic disadvantage. That is why the department has continued to provide pupil premium funding and has increased the funding to over £2.5 billion in the 2021/22 financial year. The department has also reformed its funding system so that funding is distributed based on schools’ and pupils’ needs and characteristics. We have focused our education recovery funding on pupils most in need.
Schools serving pupils from Gypsy, Roma and Traveller backgrounds are likely to attract funding through additional needs factors in the schools national funding formula (NFF). This specifically includes the mobility factor, English as an additional language (EAL), and deprivation factors.
The NFF allocates 17%, or £6.7 billion of all funding in the 2022/23 financial year through additional needs factors based on deprivation, low prior attainment, EAL, and mobility. The total amount allocated through the deprivation factors in the NFF is increasing by £225 million, or 6.7%, in 2022/23. In addition, the 2022/23 schools supplementary grant will provide significant additional funding for deprivation.
The department wants to ensure all children and young people are able to reach their potential and experience the transformative effect of a high-quality education. We continue to support schools and leaders to respond to the needs of their schools and communities, including Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children.