Asked by: Richard Tice (Reform UK - Boston and Skegness)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the reasons for delays in emergency service response times in Boston and Skegness constituency; and what steps are being taken to improve response times.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ambulance services in Boston and Skegness are provided by the East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust, with responsibility for commissioning the services a matter for the local Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board. Any assessment of the specific local actions needed to improve response times should be undertaken and agreed locally by National Health Service organisations in the best interests of the local population and patients.
At a national level, the Government and NHS England are committed to improving ambulance response times. The NHS 2025/26 priorities and operational planning guidance sets national priorities, which include improving accident and emergency waiting times and ambulance response times compared to 2024/25.
Asked by: Richard Tice (Reform UK - Boston and Skegness)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the impact of the difference between the rates of the (a) basic state pension and (b) new state pension on pensioners; and whether the Department has considered the potential merits of equalising these rates.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has made a commitment to the Triple Lock for the entirety of this Parliament which will mean spending on people’s State Pensions is forecast to rise by over £31 billion.
It is not possible to make direct, like for like comparisons between State Pension amounts under the new State Pension and the pre 2016 State Pension systems. While the headline full basic State Pension is £169.50 per week (2024/25 rates), people under the pre 2016 system may also receive Additional State Pension. If instead they had been contracted-out of the Additional State Pension, they will also have a workplace or private pension
It is also the case that not everyone under the new State Pension system will receive the full headline amount of £221.20 per week. Although the systems are different, they both reflect the National Insurance contributions an individual has made. This is reflected in the average amounts that people receive.
Asked by: Richard Tice (Reform UK - Boston and Skegness)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to prioritise the use of agrivoltaics in approved solar farms on agricultural land classified as best and most versatile.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Solar energy can be an important way for farmers to increase their revenue from land less suited to higher-value crop production. For example, a number of solar farms have combined solar with livestock grazing. The emerging science of agrivoltaics is developing innovative ways for solar to be integrated with arable farming. The Solar Taskforce has been looking at the use of innovative technologies, and findings will be published in the Solar Roadmap soon.
Asked by: Richard Tice (Reform UK - Boston and Skegness)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if her Department will take steps to increase the use of swift bricks to provide cavity nesting habitat for birds reliant on buildings.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 22080 on 15 January 2025.
Asked by: Richard Tice (Reform UK - Boston and Skegness)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff in her Department are responsible for (a) processing and (b) responding to Freedom of Information Act requests; and if she will make an estimate of the annual cost to the public purse of this work.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has a central team consisting of 13.7 FTEs managing FOI requests and related appeals work. The annual salaries paid to this group of staff were approximately £663K in the year ending September 2024.
To determine precisely how many staff are responsible for processing and responding to FOI requests across the entire department and to provide an estimate of the resulting costs, is not feasible for the purposes of answering this question, in particular because the majority of these staff will carry out such work as part of their overall responsibilities.
However, if we consider that the Home Office dealt with 6115 resolvable FOI requests in the year ending September 2024 (the most recent data available) and that each resolvable request cost a maximum of £600 to process (the current FOI cost limit), then we can conclude that the cost of processing FOI requests over that twelve month period was a maximum of £3,669,000.
Asked by: Richard Tice (Reform UK - Boston and Skegness)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will commission an independent investigation into the mortality rates of paying parents using the Child Maintenance Service.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
There are currently no plans to commission an independent investigation into the mortality rates of paying parents using the Child Maintenance Service.
The Child Maintenance Service is committed to delivering a safe service that is sensitive to the needs of all parents who use it. We recognise that some parents may face difficult circumstances, particularly during separation.
The Child Maintenance Service is well-prepared to respond quickly and effectively if it becomes aware that any customer's safety is at risk. All caseworkers receive extensive training and follow a well-managed process with clear steps to support vulnerable clients, including those at risk of suicide, self-harm, or domestic abuse. Our priority is to handle these cases sensitively and ensure vulnerable customers get the help and support they need to use the service safely. This may include signposting to support organizations or reporting to the police if necessary.
Asked by: Richard Tice (Reform UK - Boston and Skegness)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether a review has been undertaken of the Metropolitan Police’s involvement in the case of Ali Kololo.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has not undertaken a review of the Metropolitan Police’s involvement in the case of Ali Kololo.
Asked by: Richard Tice (Reform UK - Boston and Skegness)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many staff in his Department are responsible for (a) processing and (b) responding to Freedom of Information Act requests; and if he will make an estimate of the annual cost to the public purse of this work.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has a central team with a headcount of 13.8 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff who are responsible for managing Freedom of Information (FOI) requests and related appeals work. FOIs can be requested for any part of the Department's work. As such, various members of staff in the Department may at some point be involved with responding to an FOI request.
Most of these staff will carry out such work as part of their overall responsibilities. As such it is not feasible to determine, for the purposes of answering this question, precisely how many staff are responsible for processing and responding to FOI requests across the entire Department, or to provide estimates of the resulting costs.
Information on FOI volume and performance by department is published by the Cabinet Office, and is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics
Asked by: Richard Tice (Reform UK - Boston and Skegness)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with (a) local authority officers and (b) local authority elected representatives on the cancellation of the local elections in Surrey; and if she will publish those conversations.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Secretary of State has not had discussions with these local authorities on the cancellation of the local elections. Discussions on the applications to the Devolution Priority Programme have been had with all upper tier and unitary councils in the preparation of the programme, and those discussions covered all matters related to the timetable and process by both officials and ministers, as you would expect.
Asked by: Richard Tice (Reform UK - Boston and Skegness)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with (a) local authority officers and (b) local authority elected representatives on the cancellation of the local elections in the Isle of Wight; and if she will publish those discussions.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Secretary of State has not had discussions with these local authorities on the cancellation of the local elections. Discussions on the applications to the Devolution Priority Programme have been had with all upper tier and unitary councils in the preparation of the programme, and those discussions covered all matters related to the timetable and process by both officials and ministers, as you would expect.