Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding her Department has provided to youth groups in Tiverton and Minehead constituency in the two latest periods for which data is available; and if she will take steps to increase that funding.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
This government recognises the vital role that youth services and activities play in improving young people’s life chances and wellbeing. As set out in section 507B of the Education Act 1996, local authorities have a statutory duty to secure, so far as is reasonably practicable, sufficient provision of educational and recreational leisure-time activities for young people in their area. This is funded through the Local Government Settlement which amounts to over £60 billion this year.
This is in addition to the DCMS investment of over £500 million in youth services to ensure every young person has access to regular clubs and activities, adventures away from home and opportunities to volunteer. Within the Tiverton and Minehead constituency, DCMS has directly provided funding for Duke of Edinburgh to be run within schools, encouraging young people to develop skills, build confidence, and make a difference in their communities through volunteering, access to the outdoors, and skills development.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to (a) review the planned changes to alcohol duty rates before their implementation in February 2025, notwithstanding an extension of the current duty freeze and (b) publish an impact assessment of the planned changes (i) on the (A) hospitality and (B) wine production sectors and (ii) more broadly.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
As with all taxes, the Government keeps alcohol duty rates under review during its Budget process. Any substantive tax changes would be accompanied by a relevant Tax Information and Impact Note.
The current temporary duty easement for wine is due to end on 31 January 2025.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will restore the license for ASOLUX; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the restoration of that license on the growth of bracken in (a) the Quantocks and (b) Exmoor within the Tiverton and Minehead Constituency.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Asulox is a herbicide containing the active substance asulam, which is not approved for use in the UK. For some years, use of Asulox to control bracken has been allowed under strictly controlled conditions under emergency authorisation arrangements. In 2023 the company behind asulam decided to cease supporting further applications for emergency authorisation and has not applied for UK approval of asulam. There are therefore no plans to restore the licence for Asulox or assess the potential impact of its restoration.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the level of funding for waterways.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Canal and River Trust is the largest inland waterway navigation authority in England and Wales, responsible for the 2,000 miles of canals and rivers it owns. The Government is currently providing the Trust with a 15-year grant (2012-2027) totalling about £740 million to support maintenance of the canal network infrastructure. A review of the grant funding concluded that the Trust is providing value for money and there was a good case for continued grant funding. A further substantial 10-year grant from 2027 of £401 million was announced in July 2023, reconfirmed by the Government in August 2024, reflecting the importance of the country’s inland waterways and supporting the Trust in the long-standing objective of reducing reliance on public funding while developing alternative funding sources.
The Government also provides grant-in-aid funding to the Environment Agency to support its 630 miles of navigations. This totalled around £70 million over the last three years. Future funding will be determined as part of the current spending review.
There is no other general Government funding available for inland waterways, and the other navigation authorities responsible for smaller waterway networks raise funds through their boat licensing regimes and other activities working with local communities.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will hold discussions with the Exmoor National Park Authority on change of use for rural pubs in Tiverton and Minehead constituency.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Planning permission is always required to change use of a pub, ensuring that local consideration can be given to any such proposals through the planning application process, in consultation with the local community. Defra cannot comment on individual planning cases.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make representations to NICE on their decision to no longer offer Enertu for women suffering from metastatic HER2-LOW breast cancer.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Decisions on whether new medicines should be routinely funded by the National Health Service in England are taken by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) on the basis of an evaluation of a treatment’s costs and benefits. NICE’s methods are internationally respected, and have been developed through extensive work with industry, academics and the public to ensure they appropriately capture the costs and benefits, and best reflect social values. These are very difficult decisions to make, and it is important that they are made independently and based on the available evidence.
We understand that despite NICE instigating an exceptional pause in the process to allow for commercial negotiations to take place with the companies, Daiichi Sankyo and AstraZeneca, a deal to enable patient access to this treatment on the NHS in England has not been reached.
We know NICE’s announcement has come as a blow to many women and their families. We understand that NICE and NHS England have already sought to apply as much flexibility as they can in their considerations of Enhertu and have made it clear to the companies that their pricing of the drug remains the main obstacle to access.
Within 16 weeks of the publication of final guidance, companies can also request a rapid review to consider new patient access scheme proposals, with the aim of establishing a pricing agreement that would improve cost-effectiveness and enable patient access to high-cost medicines. The Government wants to see a deal reached to make Enhertu available. NICE and NHS England remain open to considering an improved offer from the companies through the rapid review process, and we strongly encourage the companies to come back to the table.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment she has made of the levels of overcrowding on Great Western Railway trains from Tiverton Parkway; and whether she plans to take steps to reduce overcrowding on those trains.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Officials continually monitor the performance of Great Western Railway services, including instances of overcrowding, and actively hold operators to account through their contracts when they run less capacity than agreed. The Rail Minister additionally meets with Train Operating Companies to review their performance. We work closely with Great Western Railway to match supply to demand within operational and financial constraints including the provision of additional summer services. Great Western Railway is also exploring opportunities to increase the capacity of its rolling stock fleet.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to provide covid-19 vaccinations to the (a) families and (b) carers of patients with immunosuppressant diseases.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The primary aim of the autumn 2024 COVID-19 vaccination programme remains the prevention of severe illness, hospitalisations, and deaths, arising from COVID-19. On 2 August 2024 the Government accepted the advice of the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to offer a COVID-19 vaccination to those aged 65 years old or over, those living in care homes for older adults, and those aged between six months and 64 years old who are in a clinical risk group in England this autumn. Additionally, vaccination will be offered to all frontline health and social care workers, as well as staff in care homes for older adults.
There are no plans to offer a COVID-19 vaccination to unpaid carers, including young carers, or the families and household contacts of people with immunosuppression, during the autumn 2024 campaign in England. Unpaid carers and household contacts of those with immunosuppression have previously been offered vaccination on the basis that it indirectly protected those more vulnerable with whom they are in contact. The JCVI advice for autumn 2024 is that in the era of highly transmissible Omicron sub-variants, any protection offered by the vaccines against transmission of infection from one person to another is expected to be extremely limited. The indirect benefits of vaccination in these groups, vaccinating an individual to reduce the risk of severe disease in other people, are therefore less evident than in previous years.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of funding community shuttle bus services in Tiverton and MInehead constituency.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Good local bus services are an essential part of prosperous and sustainable communities. As announced in the King’s Speech, the government will pass the Better Buses Bill to put the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders right across England. The government knows that every community will have its own unique needs from its public transport network and wants to empower local leaders to work with operators to design networks that meet these needs, including considering the use of different types of services, such as community transport and demand responsive transport services, alongside regular stopping services to deliver comprehensive coverage.