Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
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 adequacy of the use of Gillick competence for vaccinations in schools.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Gillick competence is a guideline used to determine whether children can provide informed consent based on their level of intelligence, knowledge, and competence. In schools, where requests for parental consent haven’t been responded to, vaccinators may ask for the child’s parents’ contact details to seek oral consent over the phone. For young people, and children in secondary school settings who may be offered the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine alongside other school aged vaccinations, after every attempt to gain parental consent has been exhausted, the School Aged Immunisation Service team may make a clinical decision to give the vaccination using the Gillick competence framework. This allows a child to consent to their own treatment where appropriate, and when they are competent to do so.
The Green Book Chapter two, Information for public health professionals on immunisation, provides guidance on seeking consent for vaccination, including the use of the Gillick competence. Obtaining consent to treatment and assessing the adequacy of the use of the Gillick competence in schools is the responsibility of each service provider.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of levels of parental (a) choice and (b) responsibility to decide the medical care their child receives.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No assessment has been made of the adequacy of levels of parental choice and responsibility to decide the medical care their child receives. Those with parental responsibilities are entitled to give consent for medical treatment on behalf of their children. However, they are not entitled to inappropriate treatment for their children, or to refuse treatment which is in the child’s best interests.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to increase access to shared ownership properties for potential buyers who have inherited a property or part of a property that they cannot or are unable to sell, but which is not suitable for them to live in.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The provision of affordable housing is part of the Government’s plan to build more homes and provide aspiring homeowners with a step onto the property ladder. Our £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme will deliver thousands of affordable homes for both rent and to buy right across the country, including new shared ownership homes.
If a beneficiary inherits a shared ownership home that it is not suitable for them to live in, we advise that they discuss their sale options with the home’s landlord, including how best to market the home and if the landlord can help to identify eligible buyers.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to reduce crime in Hampshire.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government is committed to cutting crime, keeping our streets safe, and restoring confidence in the criminal justice system. Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) are responsible for policing in their area and are focused on the local priorities for policing, to help cut crime.
The Government is funding a range of initiatives in Hampshire to reduce crime. This includes the Safer Streets Fund, the Government’s flagship crime prevention programme, where Hampshire has received over £4 million of investment. Hampshire has received almost £1.5 million for 2024/2025 to increase uniformed police hotspot response, and since 2019 the Home Office has invested over £5.1m to develop and run the Hampshire Violence Reduction Unit.
These initiatives are in addition to the investment we have made available to increase officer numbers. Hampshire and Isle of Wight recruited 582 additional uplift officers against a total three-year allocation of 518 officers. As at 30 September 2023, there were 3,422 police officers in Hampshire and Isle of Wight, a total growth of 631 additional officers against the baseline (2,791) at the start of the Police Uplift Programme.
Hampshire Police’s funding will be up to 464.2 million in 2024/25, an increase of up to 29.2 million when compared to 2023/24.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans she has to help improve breast screening uptake.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has developed an internal national plan in collaboration with key stakeholders, to improve uptake within the breast screening programme from 2023 and beyond. This plan will encompass a series of evaluative projects, which are expected to report by April 2024. It is available on the NHS Futures Platform. This is a collaboration platform that empowers everyone working in health and social care to safely connect, share, and learn across boundaries.
The Government has invested £10 million of funding for the breast screening programme, which provided 28 new breast screening units and nearly 60 upgrades, to be targeted at areas with the greatest challenges of uptake and coverage. This will provide extra capacity for services to recover from the impact of the pandemic, boost uptake of screening in areas where attendance is low, tackle health disparities, and contribute towards higher early diagnosis rates in line with the NHS Long Term Plan.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what criteria were used to determine the location of water fluoridation schemes.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Decisions on existing water fluoridation schemes in England were determined by the relevant National Health Service or local authorities responsible at the time they were introduced, in agreement with the water undertaker and focussed on reducing tooth decay. The Government’s proposal to expand water fluoridation in the North East, subject to a public consultation to begin early this year, is based on large inequalities in oral health, existing feasibility studies, and water company experience operating such schemes.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will review the Levelised Cost of Electricity to take account of the (a) full cost of energy and (b) energy return on energy invested.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department will soon be publishing updated analysis comparing the cost of electricity generation across renewable and selected non-renewable technologies, reflecting the latest evidence. This will be published by the end of March 2024. The Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE) is a widely used metric which provides a simple way to compare costs across technologies. There are alternative metrics, such as the Energy Return on Investment but all metrics have limitations. Some additional factors than for LCOEs, such as timing and location of generation can be considered by enhanced LCOE analysis. Full system costs are evaluated by the Department’s power modelling.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to recover tax avoided through disguised remuneration tax avoidance schemes from people who (a) recommended, (b) promoted and (c) operated those schemes.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC has taken action to tackle the promoters of avoidance schemes, implementing a wide range of actions to disrupt their activities and supply chains, including publishing the details of promoters.
However, liability for the tax is always that of the individual and there is no legal mechanism to transfer disguised remuneration liabilities from the scheme users to the promoters.
As of 31 December, HMRC has published the details of 59 promoters, 23 directors and details of 64 tax avoidance schemes.
HMRC has also issued over 20 stop notices to promoters and published details of 16 of these arrangements. Publishing this information supports taxpayers in identifying tax avoidance schemes so they can steer clear of or exit them.
The current Finance Bill is introducing tougher consequences for promoters of tax avoidance. This includes a new criminal offence to strengthen the deterrent to promoting tax avoidance, making it clear promoters must stop promoting these schemes, and a power enabling HMRC to act more quickly to disqualify directors of companies involved in tax avoidance.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will have discussions with HMRC on ending actions on the loan charge.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Loan Charge was introduced to ensure that people who had not had tax deducted from their incomes paid their fair share.
The Government has already had an independent review. In 2019 Lord Morse led an independent review of the Loan Charge and its implementation. Lord Morse had full discretion over how the review was run, whom he consulted, and the recommendations made. The Government accepted 19 of his 20 recommendations, which benefited more than 30,000 people, including around 9,500 who were removed from the scope of the Loan Charge entirely.
As well as recommending changes to the policy, Lord Morse was clear that the Loan Charge was necessary, in the public interest and should remain in force.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will commission an independent review into the loan charge.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Loan Charge was introduced to ensure that people who had not had tax deducted from their incomes paid their fair share.
The Government has already had an independent review. In 2019 Lord Morse led an independent review of the Loan Charge and its implementation. Lord Morse had full discretion over how the review was run, whom he consulted, and the recommendations made. The Government accepted 19 of his 20 recommendations, which benefited more than 30,000 people, including around 9,500 who were removed from the scope of the Loan Charge entirely.
As well as recommending changes to the policy, Lord Morse was clear that the Loan Charge was necessary, in the public interest and should remain in force.