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Written Question
Dentistry: Migrant Workers
Tuesday 19th March 2024

Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Eastleigh)

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 support the General Dental Council increase the number of exam places for dentistry graduates who received their qualifications overseas to achieve an equivalent certification to permit them to practice in the UK.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department works closely with the General Dental Council (GDC) to support the efficient delivery of the Overseas Registration Exam (ORE). The Department welcomed the GDC’s announcements on increasing the number of places available to sit the ORE. The GDC tripled the number of places available to sit the ORE Part 1, for all sittings from August 2023 to the end of 2024. The GDC also added an additional sitting of the ORE Part 2 in 2024, bringing the total number of sittings up to four. Together, these steps have created more than 1300 additional places across the two parts. These increases to capacity will enable individuals with overseas qualifications to more quickly have the opportunity to become registered dentists in the United Kingdom.

In March 2024, the GDC implemented new rules relating to the ORE which will allow it to introduce new exam fees, with a view to making the ORE self-funding. The GDC’s procurement process for new ORE providers is also underway. We anticipate that these combined measures will allow the GDC to further increase ORE exam capacity in due course.


Written Question
Liver Diseases: Transplant Surgery
Wednesday 6th March 2024

Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Eastleigh)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to reduce waiting lists for liver transplants.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department works with NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) as it continues to focus on saving the lives of those on the waiting list, and supporting safe organ transplantation from living and deceased donors. NHSBT has made changes to organ offering and allocation to maximise liver transplant opportunities for waiting list patients. They have also developed a United Kingdom wide living donor liver transplant programme to increase opportunities for patients on the waiting list to receive a living donor option. Additionally, NHSBT supports the use of liver perfusion devices across all transplant units to allow livers to be kept alive outside the body, to allow more patients to benefit. NHSBT’s marketing strategy also focuses on increasing transplantation through increased organ donor registrations. The strategy works to change the public’s perception and awareness of organ donation and inform how to register a donation preference.


Written Question
District Heating
Monday 11th September 2023

Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Eastleigh)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether her Department is taking steps to support people with communal boilers who are not eligible for domestic tariffs with their energy bills.

Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

Heat network customers receive reductions in their heat price through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, between 1 October 2022 and 31 March 2023, and the Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS), from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. All eligible heat networks receive the baseline level of support under the EBDS, with a higher level of support available to heat networks with domestic end consumers. This higher level of support aims to ensure that domestic customers on heat networks do not face disproportionately higher bills when compared to customers in equivalent households who are supported by the Energy Price Guarantee.


Written Question
Evictions
Thursday 18th May 2023

Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Eastleigh)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department is taking steps to help strengthen alternative grounds for landlords to regain possession of properties once no-fault eviction notices are abolished.

Answered by Rachel Maclean

The Renters (Reform) Bill, introduced into Parliament on 17 May 2023, will deliver a fairer, more secure, and higher quality private rented sector for both tenants and landlords.

Good landlords play a vital role in providing homes for millions of people across the country. While we will deliver the manifesto commitment to end Section 21 'no fault' evictions, we will introduce comprehensive, fair and efficient grounds for possession to ensure landlords have confidence they can regain possession when it is reasonable.

We will reform possession grounds to expedite landlords' ability to evict those who disrupt neighbourhoods through anti-social behaviour and introduce a new ground for persistent rent arrears. We will also ensure landlords are able to sell or move back into their property if needed.

These improvements strike the right balance between ensuring landlords can gain possession of their property when it is right for them to do so, and improving security for tenants.


Written Question
Courts
Thursday 18th May 2023

Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Eastleigh)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to increase the capacity of the courts.

Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The outstanding Crown Court caseload has been falling since October. We have invested a significant amount of funding for the Criminal Justice System to help improve waiting times for victims of crime and reduce the outstanding Crown Court caseload.

We are recruiting up to 1,000 judges across all jurisdictions in 2023/24, last year removed the limit on sitting days in the Crown Court for the second financial year in a row, and recently announced the continued use of 24 Nightingale courtrooms into the 2023/24 financial year.

We have also significantly increased funding to improve waiting times in the civil and family courts and tribunals. This includes increasing funding to Cafcass by £8.4 million last financial year to deal with more open active cases.

To help maximise our available judicial capacity, we also introduced a virtual region pilot scheme in July to support civil and family courts in London and the South East. This allows deputy district judges from outside these regions to sit virtually in London and the South East so we can hear as many cases as possible.


Written Question
NATO
Tuesday 2nd May 2023

Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Eastleigh)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent diplomatic steps he has taken to help strengthen NATO unity.

Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)

The Foreign Secretary regularly engages with NATO Allies, including most recently at the NATO Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on 3-4 April, where Finland acceded to NATO and Allies demonstrated our continued solidarity with Ukraine. The Foreign Secretary and I [Minister Docherty] will continue engaging extensively with Turkey, Hungary and Allies to ensure swift ratification of Sweden so we can meet at the Vilnius Summit at 32.


Written Question
Business: Energy
Friday 3rd February 2023

Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Eastleigh)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps the Government has taken to ensure that businesses, including hospices, are supported with their energy costs.

Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) provides a discount on the wholesale element of gas and electricity bills to ensure that all eligible businesses, including hospices, who receive their energy from licensed suppliers, are protected from high energy costs over the winter period. Following a HMT-led review into the EBRS, the new Energy Bill Discount Scheme will run from April until March 2024 and continue to provide a discount to all eligible non-domestic customers, including hospices.


Written Question
Cars: Hire Services
Friday 3rd February 2023

Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Eastleigh)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to tackle the fraudulent and criminal behaviour of car-hire companies which operate in tandem with organised crime to (a) use and (b) steal motor vehicles of customers.

Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)

The Government takes the issue of fraud very seriously and is dedicated to protecting the public from this devastating crime, including those perpetrated by organised criminals.

We will shortly publish a new strategy to address the threat of fraud.


Written Question
Pharmacy
Wednesday 25th January 2023

Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Eastleigh)

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 help prevent the closure of pharmacies.

Answered by Neil O'Brien

Pharmacies provide vital and easily accessible healthcare in the heart of our communities. The Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework 2019-24 five-year deal commits £2.592 billion annually to community pharmacy and in September we announced a further one-off investment in the sector of £100 million.

Access remains good with 80% of the population living within 20 minutes walking from a pharmacy and the Pharmacy Access Scheme financially supports pharmacies in areas where there are fewer pharmacies. `


Written Question
Palestinians: Detainees
Monday 16th January 2023

Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Eastleigh)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Joint Submission by Human Rights Watch and Lawyers for Justice to the Committee Against Torture on Palestine, published July 2022, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in the Palestinian Authority on arbitrary arrest and torture in detention.

Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Human Rights is a crucial element underpinning the UK's foreign policy. We continue to urge the Palestinian Authority (PA) to respect human rights, to ensure complaints of mistreatment or arbitrary detention are properly investigated and to continue to improve the performance of the security sector. The UK remains committed to a two state-solution, as Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, the Minister of State for the Middle East, made clear on his visit to the Occupied Palestinian Territories from 11-13 January. And an essential aspect of our efforts to prepare the ground for a two state-solution is to support a stable PA that can deliver services to its people and act as an effective partner for peace with Israel. The UK will continue to monitor these areas closely and raise with the highest levels of the PA.