Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many pharmacies have closed in Worthing West constituency since 2019; and what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of these closures on NHS primary care services in Worthing West constituency.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There were 19 pharmacies in Worthing West constituency on 31 December 2023. Between 31 December 2019 and 31 December 2023, three pharmacies closed and no new pharmacies opened in Worthing West.
Access to pharmaceutical services remains good. 99 percent of the population in Worthing West live within a 20-minute walk from a pharmacy. This exceeds the national average of 80 percent. In addition, residents of Worthing West can access distance selling pharmacies that operate nationally.
It is the role of local authorities in England to undertake pharmaceutical needs assessments for their areas, every three years, to ensure provision continues to meet their population’s needs. Integrated care boards have regard to those assessments when commissioning services and where a pharmacy closure impacts on the access to services, a new contractor can apply to open a pharmacy in the area.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
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 community pharmacy closures on other NHS services.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There were 19 pharmacies in Worthing West constituency on 31 December 2023. Between 31 December 2019 and 31 December 2023, three pharmacies closed and no new pharmacies opened in Worthing West.
Access to pharmaceutical services remains good. 99 percent of the population in Worthing West live within a 20-minute walk from a pharmacy. This exceeds the national average of 80 percent. In addition, residents of Worthing West can access distance selling pharmacies that operate nationally.
It is the role of local authorities in England to undertake pharmaceutical needs assessments for their areas, every three years, to ensure provision continues to meet their population’s needs. Integrated care boards have regard to those assessments when commissioning services and where a pharmacy closure impacts on the access to services, a new contractor can apply to open a pharmacy in the area.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what funding her Department has allocated to support teachers through (a) subject knowledge enhancement courses for trainees, (b) Oak National Academy Resources (i) planned and (ii) existing, (c) subject hubs, (d) support for level 3 provision and (d) bursaries and other support for continuing professional development for (A) maths and numeracy, (B) English and literacy, (C) science, (D) music, (E) history and (F) Religious Education in the last five years.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Teachers are the foundation of the education system; there are no great schools without great teachers. The quality of teaching is the single most important in-school factor for improving pupil outcomes. This is particularly important for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The department is creating a world class teacher development system, which builds from Initial Teacher Training (ITT), through to early career support, specialisation, and onto school leadership. The funding breakdown requested over the last five years is included in the attached table. The department is providing support across a range of subjects via a network of hubs that help build teacher capability and pupil access to subjects. This focuses on support for teachers in schools and extends to sixth form provision in some schools.
In addition to this funding, in 2021, as part of the government’s long term recovery plan, £184 million of new funding was allocated to enable teachers employed at state-funded organisations to access fully funded training scholarships for National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) for three years until the end of the 2023/24 academic year. This includes two specialist NPQs in Leading Literacy (NPQLL) and the NPQ in Leading Primary Mathematics (NPQLPM). In March 2024, the government announced scholarship funding for NPQs for the October 2024 cohort. This includes a guarantee that the NPQLPM will be fully funded until October 2025 to further expand teaching of mathematics mastery approaches through primary education.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to publish additional non-statutory guidance on religious education syllabus content in schools.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Religious education (RE) is an important part of a school’s curriculum and can contribute to a young person’s personal, social, and academic development. When done well, it can develop children’s knowledge of British values and traditions, help them better understand those of other countries, and refine pupils’ ability to construct well-informed, balanced, and structured arguments. This is why RE remains a compulsory subject in all state-funded schools in England for each pupil up to the age of 18.
The department has no plans to publish additional non-statutory guidance on RE syllabus content in schools. The department’s policy is to allow RE curricula to be designed at a local level, whether this is through a locally agreed syllabus conference or by individual schools and academy trusts developing their own curricula. The department feels this is the most appropriate way for local demographics to be accounted for.
The department does however welcome the work that the Religious Education Council has done to assist curriculum developers by publishing its National Content Standard for RE in England.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make it her policy to make the approval of wood-burning power stations to be built after 2027 contingent on parliamentary approval.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Ensuring the electricity system is reliable, as well as net zero consistent, means variable renewables, such as wind and solar, need to be complemented by technologies which can provide dispatchable or baseload power.
Biomass electricity generation can provide this flexibility and plays a key role in delivering a more secure, clean energy sector in Britain.
Parliamentary approval was granted for the updated energy National Policy Statements on 17 January 2024. This covers the use of biomass in electricity generation at the scale of Nationally Significant Infrastructure under the Planning Act (which applies to projects in England and Wales).
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the oral evidence hearing of the Holocaust Memorial Bill Committee on the afternoon of 24 January 2024, whether he has had discussions with his Department's Counsel on the press release issued by the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation and the Cabinet Office entitled Adjaye Associates and Ron Arad Architects win UK Holocaust Memorial International Design Competition; for what reason his Counsel contradicted the assertion that Sir David Adjaye was the lead designer of the architecture for that memorial; and if will take steps to draw that press release to the Committee's attention.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Counsel for the Secretary of State correctly drew the Select Committee’s attention to the role of the late Asa Bruno in designing the Holocaust Memorial. Mr Bruno’s evidence to the planning inquiry summarised the position as follows:
“I am co-founder and Director of Ron Arad Architects Ltd, the architectural practice acting as Memorial Architect for the project, and I am leading the role of Memorial Architect on behalf of the practice.”
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which Ministers are responsible for reviewing the (a) law and (b) practice relating to the provision of support for children whose parents separate or divorce.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Ministers work closely across government to support children, including those going through parental separation or divorce.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is responsible for private family law, which includes child arrangements upon separation, marriage and divorce. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the MoJ responsible for this is Lord Bellamy KC.
David Johnston MP, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children, Families and Wellbeing at the Department for Education, works closely with Lord Bellamy KC at the MoJ, including through jointly chairing the national Family Justice Board, which is focused on providing the best possible outcomes for the children and families that come into contact with the family justice system.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she plans to seek approval from Parliament before taking a decision on burning of wood in UK power stations after 2027.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Government is currently consulting on potential arrangements to help facilitate the transition of large-scale biomass generation to power bioenergy with carbon capture and storage. Responses to the consultation will help to inform government policy on this matter. As set out in the consultation, a potential support mechanism is expected to require secondary legislation which would be brought to Parliament as part of the legislative process.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of taking the use case of large capacity L-Category vehicles into consideration when setting proposed phase-out dates for new non-zero emission (a) mopeds and (b) motorcycles.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The consultation on when to end the sale of new non-zero emission L-category vehicles was open to responses from 14 July to 21 September 2022 and supported by a thorough programme of stakeholder engagement, which is ongoing. The Department is now analysing the responses, including points raised on the use cases of these vehicles, and will bring forward the Government’s response in due course.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will (a) publish a list of the freedom of information requests relating to the proposed Holocaust Memorial and associated learning centre that (i) his Department has not yet responded to and (ii) are waiting for adjudication by the Information Commissioner and (b) order his Department to release all the information requested.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
No Freedom of Information requests relating to the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre are awaiting a response from the Department. A letter from the Information Commissioner about the Department’s handling of a previous request was received on 18 January 2024 and will receive a response shortly.
A great deal of information about the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre has been published as part of the planning application. When Freedom of Information requests have sought information which falls within statutory exemptions, careful consideration is given and the appropriate public interest tests are applied. Some material requested by Doran Gerhold in December 2018 was withheld on this basis: the Information Commissioner and the First Tier Tribunal have each, twice, upheld the Department’s approach.