Asked by: Rachel Maclean (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of the Help to Build scheme; and whether he plans to improve that scheme.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Government has taken forward a number of interventions to support self and custom build in line with our response to the Bacon Review published in June 2022. This includes: continuing to make loan funding available to custom build developers through the £1.5 billion Levelling Up Home Building Fund; funding the release of plots for self and custom build through the Brownfield Land Release Fund; launching the Help to Build: Equity Loan scheme for people who want to build their own homes; amending the Self-build and Custom Housebuilding Act 2015 through the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023 to improve the implementation of the 2015 Act and increase the amount of land granted planning permission for self and custom build; and establishing the Self Commissioned Homes Delivery Unit within Homes England to accelerate and maximise the delivery of self-commissioned homes - which include self and custom build and community led homes - within existing programmes.
In December 2023, the Government updated the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) further to support self and custom build and we will consult shortly, on further regulations to ensure that only planning permission specifically for self and custom build housing will count against an authority’s duties under the 2015 Act. We are working to ensure that the Help to Build scheme serves its intended purpose to widen access to self and custom build for those without substantial cash reserves.
Asked by: Rachel Maclean (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the ONS release Rising ill-health and economic inactivity because of long-term sickness, UK: 2019 to 2023, dated 26 July 2023, what steps the ONS takes taken to help participants in the Labour Force Survey distinguish between (a) normal and (b) medical levels of (i) bad nerves and (ii) anxiety.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Questions of 5th January is attached.
Asked by: Rachel Maclean (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the ONS release Rising ill-health and economic inactivity because of long-term sickness, UK: 2019 to 2023, dated 26 July 2023, how his Department works with the Department for Work and Pensions to define (a) depression, (b) bad nerves and (c) anxiety.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Questions of 5th January is attached.
Asked by: Rachel Maclean (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the ONS release Rising ill-health and economic inactivity because of long-term sickness, UK: 2019 to 2023, dated 26 July 2023, when the self-reported conditions of (a) bad nerves and (b) anxiety were added to the Labour Force Survey.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Questions of 5th January is attached.
Asked by: Rachel Maclean (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the ONS release Rising ill-health and economic inactivity because of long-term sickness, UK: 2019 to 2023, dated 26 July 2023, what medical research supports the concept of bad nerves.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Questions of 5th January is attached.
Asked by: Rachel Maclean (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the ONS release Rising ill-health and economic inactivity because of long-term sickness, UK: 2019 to 2023, dated 26 July 2023, what the definition is of bad nerves.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Questions of 5th January is attached.
Asked by: Rachel Maclean (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has provided recent guidance to the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch on publishing information on the services that are provided at its site.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not recently provided such specific guidance. The Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust publishes information on services available at the Alexandra Hospital on its website.
Asked by: Rachel Maclean (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether (a) her Department, (b) NHS England and (c) NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire Integrated Care Board has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of returning (i) maternity and (ii) children's services to the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch in the context of population (A) trends and (B) needs in the local area.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The reconfiguration of services is a clinically led local decision following appropriate engagement with patients and stakeholders. There are no plans to change the current configuration of services.
There have been significant improvements to children’s and maternity services provided by the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust since the reconfiguration of services. The presence of consultants for children’s services has increased with reduced reliance on agency locums and the Care Quality Commission has improved the rating for maternity services from ‘requires improvement’ to ‘good’ at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital.
Asked by: Rachel Maclean (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether (a) her Department, (b) NHS England and (c) NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire Integrated Care Board has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of the local workforce to provide (i) maternity and (ii) children's services at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The reconfiguration of services is a clinically led local decision following appropriate engagement with patients and stakeholders. There are no plans to change the current configuration of services.
There have been significant improvements to children’s and maternity services provided by the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust since the reconfiguration of services. The presence of consultants for children’s services has increased with reduced reliance on agency locums and the Care Quality Commission has improved the rating for maternity services from ‘requires improvement’ to ‘good’ at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital.
Asked by: Rachel Maclean (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of returning (a) maternity and (b) children's services to the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The reconfiguration of services is a clinically led local decision following appropriate engagement with patients and stakeholders. There are no plans to change the current configuration of services.
There have been significant improvements to children’s and maternity services provided by the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust since the reconfiguration of services. The presence of consultants for children’s services has increased with reduced reliance on agency locums and the Care Quality Commission has improved the rating for maternity services from ‘requires improvement’ to ‘good’ at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital.