Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will establish a cross-departmental task force to tackle illegal motorcycling.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office has no current plans to establish a cross-departmental task force to tackle illegal motorcycling. Enforcement of road traffic law and how available resources are deployed is the responsibility of individual Chief Officers and Police and Crime Commissioners, taking into account the specific local problems and demands with which they are faced.

The Government has established a joint Home Office, Department for Transport and National Police Chiefs’ Council Roads Policing Review to understand what can be done better to tackle road crime and improve road safety.

In addition, last year the Government launched the Anti-social Behaviour Action Plan (Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) ensuring the police, local authorities and other relevant agencies have the powers they need to tackle the blight of anti-social behaviour, including motorcycle nuisance, facing communities across England and Wales.

The plan is backed by £160m of funding and includes supporting an increased police and other uniformed presence to target anti-social behaviour hotspots. Initially we worked with 10 police force areas, including Durham Constabulary, but from April we are providing funding of £66m to every police force in England and Wales to support a hotspot enforcement approach for both anti-social behaviour and serious violence. Hotspot patrols could be used in areas where anti-social behaviour involving motorcycles is an issue.

The Government will continue to support the police to ensure they have the tools needed to enforce road traffic legislation, including in relation to offences involving motorcycles.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the economic impact of (a) investment made and (b) financial support provided by her Department in Darlington constituency in the last four years.

Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

UK Research and Innovation spend in Darlington in financial year 2020-21 (the latest available data) was £0.55 million. The interactive innovation clusters map, available at https://www.innovationclusters.dsit.gov.uk/, provides further information about clusters in Darlington.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made on appointing a provider for the new 48 place Autism Spectrum Disorder special free school in Darlington.

Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The application process for potential providers to operate Darlington’s new special free school has been completed. Ministers are considering the outcome before confirming the successful applicant.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to help preserve the historic character of North Road Station during works to increase the stepping distance between the platform and the train.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

The station is still under consideration for Northern’s ongoing platform improvement programme, but all issues and aspects of the station are being assessed which will include the historic character.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact on the economy of investment in Darlington railway station.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

The decision to provide £105m of Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline (RNEP) funding to deliver the Darlington Station Enhancements scheme was taken not only due to the direct journey time and reliability improvements it will provide to rail users, but also the result of the wider economic benefits it will generate for Darlington and the region, resulting from increased productivity.

These benefits will be further enhanced through complementary investment from Tees Valley Combined Authority, who are utilising a number of funding streams – including the Active Travel England Fund – to improve the public realm surrounding the station.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much her Department spent in Darlington constituency in each financial year between 2019-20 and 2022-23.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Information on spending in the Darlington constituency is not available in the format requested. However, the following table shows the spend of the organisations that are the closest approximation to the Darlington constituency, each year from 2019/20 to 2022/23:

The number and commissioning responsibilities of the CCGs, now ICBs, have changed during the period requested, and expenditure levels set out in the table are not directly comparable year-on-year. On 1 July 2022, the NHS North East and North Cumbria ICB replaced and took on responsibility for eight CCGs, including Tees Valley, which is reflected in the higher level of spend in 2022/23.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress the cross-government bereavement working group has made on ensuring support is available to bereaved people.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The cross-Government bereavement group was established in preparation for publication of the UK Commission on Bereavement’s (UKCB), Bereavement is Everyone’s Business report, from October 2022. The group includes representatives from over 10 Government departments.

The cross-Government bereavement group enables Government departments to share the best practice about bereavement support in the sectors for which they are responsible. The UKCB Steering Group has presented to the cross-Government working group on several occasions, and last attended a meeting of the group in September 2023.

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 providers of NHS services are protecting the whereabouts of domestic abuse victims from perpetrators.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

There are security and legislative protections in place to protect patient data, and ensure data is used across the health and social care system in a safe, secure, and legal way. This includes data protection rules which prevent National Health Service employees from disclosing addresses of victims of domestic abuse.

Each organisation’s terms and conditions of employment include strict guidelines on how staff handle and protect patients’ information. Staff must also be regularly trained in information governance responsibilities. Professional bodies such as the General Medical Council also set out standards which their members must meet.

General practices have two options if they are worried that having access to their record might cause harm to a patient or another individual. They can either redact specific items on the record, or disable patient access entirely.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the challenges faced by local authorities to properly dispose of disposable vapes.

Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Earlier this year, Defra published a report outlining the environmental concerns of disposable vapes. These products are an inefficient use of resources, are frequently disposed of incorrectly, can be harmful when littered and are difficult and costly to recycle. That is why on 29 January the Government confirmed that we would introduce a ban on single-use vapes. Draft regulations for the ban were published on 11 March with a proposed coming into force date of 1 April 2025 pending parliamentary procedures.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if a Minister from her Department will visit Darlington to hold discussions with (a) the Police and (b) Trading Standards on the joint steps they are taking to help tackle the sale of illegal vapes and illicit tobacco.

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

Ministers in the department are always happy to consider meetings and visits to understand the impact of their policy areas, and we recommend reaching out to Ministers’ offices directly.

A strong approach to enforcement is vital if the smokefree generation policy is to have real impact. My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care recently visited a cargo warehouse at Heathrow Airport with Hillingdon Trading Standards to see first-hand the work they are doing to seize illicit vapes at the border, and prevent these products from being sold in the United Kingdom.

Underage and illicit sales of tobacco products, and more recently vaping products, is undermining the work the Government is doing to regulate the industry and protect public health. It also deprives the UK of vital money that could be used to fund essential public services, instead, putting it in the hands of criminals.

This is why alongside the measures in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, we are supporting enforcement agencies with up to £30 million a year, to scale up their existing activities. This increased investment will help to stamp out criminal activity by boosting enforcement capacity, and help local trading standards tackle underage sales at a local level. Of this funding, over £100 million over five years will support HM Revenue and Custom’s and Border Force’s new illicit tobacco strategy. As is the case with existing age of sale legislation, breaches of the new law will primarily be dealt with by local authority trading standards, rather than by local police forces.

Found: Questions 1-21 Representations made I: Yasmin Qureshi II: Peter Gibson III: Mr Alistair Carmichael IV