Asked by: Rachel Taylor (Labour - North Warwickshire and Bedworth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help enforce the Common Organisation of the Markets in Agricultural Products (Fruit and Vegetable Producer Organisations, Tariff Quotas and Wine) (Amendment etc.) Regulations 2021.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to resetting our EU relationship, including by seeking to negotiate an SPS agreement. We have been clear that an SPS agreement could boost trade and deliver significant benefits on both sides. It’s too early to discuss any specific areas in detail and we will not be providing a running commentary on discussions with the EU.
A public consultation on proposals to improve and extend current mandatory method of production labelling was undertaken last year by the previous Government. We are now carefully considering all responses before deciding on next steps and will respond to this consultation in due course
Asked by: Rachel Taylor (Labour - North Warwickshire and Bedworth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to support sugar beet farmers on the negotiations with British Sugar.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises the importance of sugar beet farmers who are vital to UK sugar production. Also, that sugar beet itself, used in crop rotations, is beneficial to soil and crop health and allows arable farms a season of “rest” from cereal production.
We are committed to promoting fairness across the food supply chain. That includes seeing a price agreed for sugar beet that benefits both growers and processors, in the context of the global market. There is a well-established process in place to agree the sugar beet price; designed to be independent between both parties. An Inter Professional Agreement is agreed each year between both parties and sets out the process for negotiating and agreeing price, terms and conditions for the upcoming crop year, as well as any dispute resolution process.
Asked by: Rachel Taylor (Labour - North Warwickshire and Bedworth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with sugar beet farmers on negotiations with British Sugar.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises the importance of sugar beet farmers who are vital to UK sugar production. Also, that sugar beet itself, used in crop rotations, is beneficial to soil and crop health and allows arable farms a season of “rest” from cereal production.
We are committed to promoting fairness across the food supply chain. That includes seeing a price agreed for sugar beet that benefits both growers and processors, in the context of the global market. There is a well-established process in place to agree the sugar beet price; designed to be independent between both parties. An Inter Professional Agreement is agreed each year between both parties and sets out the process for negotiating and agreeing price, terms and conditions for the upcoming crop year, as well as any dispute resolution process.
Asked by: Rachel Taylor (Labour - North Warwickshire and Bedworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when she expects cases impacted by the McCloud remedy to be resolved.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The McCloud remedy took effect from October 2023 and will deliver a full remedy to all affected public service pension scheme members. Schemes and responsible departments are making progress to ensure the remedy is delivered as quickly as possible. All affected members will receive a remediable service statement setting out the details of their pension entitlements and there are a range of other communication resources available to members. Pensioner members can make their remedy choice on receipt of this statement and active and deferred members will make their choice at retirement. The remedy has been estimated to increase pension entitlements by around £17bn. This will be paid out over many decades and in September 2024 the OBR forecast that spending on public service pensions will fall from 1.9 per cent of GDP at present to 1.4 per cent over the long term (50 years).
Asked by: Rachel Taylor (Labour - North Warwickshire and Bedworth)
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 to help support the families of patients with aplastic anaemia; why aplastic anaemia does not have a page detailing its symptoms on the NHS website; and if he will have discussions with NHS England on the potential merits of adding such a page to its website.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to improving the lives of those living with rare diseases, such as aplastic anaemia. The UK Rare Diseases Framework sets out four priorities collaboratively developed with the rare disease community. These include: helping patients get a final diagnosis faster; increasing awareness of rare diseases among healthcare professionals; better coordination of care; and improving access to specialist care, treatments, and drugs. We remain committed to delivering under the framework and will publish an annual England action plan in 2025.
There are over 7,000 rare diseases often needing highly specialised input, and so the National Health Service’s website is not always the most appropriate platform to disseminate such information. At this stage there are no plans to add aplastic anaemia to the NHS website, but we will re-review the position in the future, should things change.
The majority of the treatment pathway for aplastic anaemia is an integrated care board commissioning responsibility. Hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) is an NHS England specialised commissioned service that covers aplastic anaemia, and NHS England has published two national service specifications, one for adults and one for children. The HSCT specifications set out the standards that providers of the service must meet, which includes access to a range of multidisciplinary staff, including psychological support and nurse specialists trained in communication and counselling. Specifically for children, there should be access to appropriately trained paediatric dieticians, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, psychologists, social workers, and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, within nationally defined access standards.
Asked by: Rachel Taylor (Labour - North Warwickshire and Bedworth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what her planned timetable is for publishing revised guidance for the Long-Term Plans for Town programme.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Chancellor confirmed at the Budget on 30 October that the Long-Term Plan for Towns will be retained and reformed as part of a new regeneration programme.
A revised prospectus for the programme will be published in due course, confirming the associated timelines and a new set of strategic objectives aligned to this government’s missions.
Asked by: Rachel Taylor (Labour - North Warwickshire and Bedworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what her planned timetable is for implementing the McCloud remedy for (a) those who have retired before 23 October 2024 and (b) all outstanding cases.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The McCloud remedy took effect from 1 October 2023 and schemes are currently in the process of sending remediable service statements (RSSs) to affected members. Under the remedy, members who have already retired can make a remedy election when they receive an RSS, while active and deferred members can make that election when they retire.
Asked by: Rachel Taylor (Labour - North Warwickshire and Bedworth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what her planned timetable is for (a) issuing updated guidance and (b) releasing funding for consultation with local communities on the Long-Term Plan for Towns.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Chancellor confirmed at the Budget on 30 October that the Long-Term Plan for Towns will be retained and reformed as part of a new regeneration programme.
A revised prospectus for the programme will be published in due course, confirming the associated timelines and a new set of strategic objectives aligned to this government’s missions.
All 75 towns have now received an initial £250,000 of capacity funding. A further £200,000 of capacity funding will be issued in the 2025/26 financial year, to support the development of plans in line with our new objectives.
Asked by: Rachel Taylor (Labour - North Warwickshire and Bedworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she plans to issue an official apology on behalf of the Government to lesbian mothers who had their custody rights affected between the 1970s and 1990s because of their sexuality.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
I have been very saddened to hear accounts from lesbian mothers who have said that their custody rights in earlier decades were affected by their sexuality.
The government is committed to ensuring equality and fairness in today’s justice system.
The legal framework has changed in many ways over the past decades. Following the implementation of the Children Act 1989, where decisions are made about a child or their upbringing, the court’s primary consideration must be the welfare of that child and what will be in their best interests.
The UK has also developed an expansive legal framework to help ensure that LGBT+ people and families are safe, included and protected from discrimination. This includes the introduction of the Equality Act 2010, which protects people from discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Asked by: Rachel Taylor (Labour - North Warwickshire and Bedworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2024 to Question 15335 on High Speed 2 Line: Complaints, how HS2 Ltd differentiates between enquiries and complaints; and how enquiries are escalated to complaints.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There is a dedicated HS2 Helpdesk which is available 24 hours a day, every day of the year, to help with any questions or concerns anyone may have about HS2 or work being carried out. It is available via freephone, email, minicom and through the HS2 website. HS2’s Helpdesk team receive, log and track enquiries and complaints through to resolution.
HS2 Ltd defines an enquiry as a question or a request for information about the project, whereas a complaint is where a stakeholder is unhappy about anything HS2 Ltd does, or about anything another company does on their behalf. If a stakeholder makes an enquiry but is unhappy with the outcome, they can request that it is treated as a complaint by contacting the HS2 Helpdesk. If the complaint needs immediate attention (for instance, if it involves a risk to safety, HS2 will always deal with it straight away. In any case, an acknowledgement of the complaint will be issued within two working days of receiving it and HS2 Ltd aim to provide a substantive response within 20 working days.
HS2 Ltd’s complaints process which includes independent reviews from the HS2 Construction Commissioner, DfT Independent Complaints Assessors and the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO). The full details of the HS2 complaints process are publicly available at https://www.hs2.org.uk/contact-us/how-to-complain/.