Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what (a) funding her Department is providing and (b) steps her Department is taking to help prevent crime in (i) Ashford constituency and (ii) Kent.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

The 2024-25 police funding settlement provides funding of up to £18.5 billion for the policing system in England and Wales. Kent Police’s funding will be up to £431.5m in 2024-25. This is in addition to £4m provided for the 2024-25 pay award which has been allocated outside of the police funding settlement.

Across all rounds of the Safer Streets Fund, and the Safety of Women at Night Fund, the Kent police force area has received just under £3.5 million, supporting 12 projects. This includes just over £760,000 through the latest, fifth round of funding to deliver three projects across various locations, including in Folkestone, Chatham, Sittingbourne and Sheerness, which have a focus on preventing anti-social behaviour, violence against women and girls and neighbourhood crime.

The Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) in Kent has been allocated £1,568,614 to deliver the Hotspot Response programme in 24-25. This programme is a combination of additional, high visibility patrols targeted to the exact locations where they are needed most (‘hotspots’), and funding of problem-oriented policing tactics. Problem oriented policing aims to tackle the underlying drivers of crime using a comprehensive menu of policing interventions.

More broadly, this Government will treat tackling violence against women and girls as a national emergency and we will use every tool to target perpetrators and address the root causes of violence.

As part of the Government’s Safer Streets mission, the Home Secretary has made a clear commitment to strengthen neighbourhood policing through the introduction of a Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, which includes getting thousands of neighbourhood police personnel back on the beat, giving local people a names officer who they can turn to when things go wrong, and cracking down on the street crime, shop theft and anti-social behaviour which makes communities feel less safe.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of levels of neighbourhood policing in (a) Ashford constituency and (b) Kent.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

The 2024-25 police funding settlement provides funding of up to £18.5 billion for the policing system in England and Wales. Kent Police’s funding will be up to £431.5m in 2024-25. This is in addition to £4m provided for the 2024-25 pay award which has been allocated outside of the police funding settlement.

Across all rounds of the Safer Streets Fund, and the Safety of Women at Night Fund, the Kent police force area has received just under £3.5 million, supporting 12 projects. This includes just over £760,000 through the latest, fifth round of funding to deliver three projects across various locations, including in Folkestone, Chatham, Sittingbourne and Sheerness, which have a focus on preventing anti-social behaviour, violence against women and girls and neighbourhood crime.

The Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) in Kent has been allocated £1,568,614 to deliver the Hotspot Response programme in 24-25. This programme is a combination of additional, high visibility patrols targeted to the exact locations where they are needed most (‘hotspots’), and funding of problem-oriented policing tactics. Problem oriented policing aims to tackle the underlying drivers of crime using a comprehensive menu of policing interventions.

More broadly, this Government will treat tackling violence against women and girls as a national emergency and we will use every tool to target perpetrators and address the root causes of violence.

As part of the Government’s Safer Streets mission, the Home Secretary has made a clear commitment to strengthen neighbourhood policing through the introduction of a Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, which includes getting thousands of neighbourhood police personnel back on the beat, giving local people a names officer who they can turn to when things go wrong, and cracking down on the street crime, shop theft and anti-social behaviour which makes communities feel less safe.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions her Department has held with Natural England on the effect of nutrient neutrality rules on new housebuilding projects in the River Stour catchment area in Kent.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

I refer my Hon Friend to the answer given to Question UIN 3644 on 9 September 2024.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle street crime against women and girls in (a) Ashford constituency and (b) Kent.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

The 2024-25 police funding settlement provides funding of up to £18.5 billion for the policing system in England and Wales. Kent Police’s funding will be up to £431.5m in 2024-25. This is in addition to £4m provided for the 2024-25 pay award which has been allocated outside of the police funding settlement.

Across all rounds of the Safer Streets Fund, and the Safety of Women at Night Fund, the Kent police force area has received just under £3.5 million, supporting 12 projects. This includes just over £760,000 through the latest, fifth round of funding to deliver three projects across various locations, including in Folkestone, Chatham, Sittingbourne and Sheerness, which have a focus on preventing anti-social behaviour, violence against women and girls and neighbourhood crime.

The Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) in Kent has been allocated £1,568,614 to deliver the Hotspot Response programme in 24-25. This programme is a combination of additional, high visibility patrols targeted to the exact locations where they are needed most (‘hotspots’), and funding of problem-oriented policing tactics. Problem oriented policing aims to tackle the underlying drivers of crime using a comprehensive menu of policing interventions.

More broadly, this Government will treat tackling violence against women and girls as a national emergency and we will use every tool to target perpetrators and address the root causes of violence.

As part of the Government’s Safer Streets mission, the Home Secretary has made a clear commitment to strengthen neighbourhood policing through the introduction of a Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, which includes getting thousands of neighbourhood police personnel back on the beat, giving local people a names officer who they can turn to when things go wrong, and cracking down on the street crime, shop theft and anti-social behaviour which makes communities feel less safe.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of mental health specialists in the Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

To fix the chronic workforce shortages in the mental health workforce we plan to recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers, across both child and adult mental health services, to reduce waiting times and provide faster treatment across all areas of England, including Kent and Medway.

We are working to consider options to deliver this expansion of the mental health workforce, including where they should be deployed to achieve maximum effect. NHS England is also working to improve retention through clearer career progression pathways.

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 adequacy of social care capacity in Ashford constituency.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Local authorities are best placed to understand and plan for the needs of their population, which is why, under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are tasked with the duty to shape their care market to meet the diverse needs of all local people. In performing that duty, a local authority must have regard to current and likely future demand for such services and consider how providers might meet that demand.

The Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund includes grant conditions which require each local authority to submit an adult social care capacity plan. These were submitted to the Department in June 2024. The member’s local authority, Kent, submitted their 2024/25 capacity plan, which is currently undergoing processing and quality assurance.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to enable GP surgeries to provide additional services in Ashford constituency.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Practices are able to provide additional services by opting in and will receive payment for these services separately to global sum payments. As commissioners of primary care, Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning additional services locally, which are not agreed nationally and can vary in scope and funding to fit local needs.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve access to dental services in Ashford constituency.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term and increase access to NHS dental care, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.

The responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. ICBs are responsible for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local populations and to determine the priorities for investment. For the Ashford constituency, this is the NHS Kent and Medway ICB.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce GP waiting times in Ashford constituency.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We know that patients are finding it harder than ever to see a general practitioner (GP) and we are committed to fixing the the crisis in GPs to secure the long-term sustainability of the National Health Service.

Ashford sits within the Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB), where the percentage of appointments delivered within two weeks of booking, 79.4%, is 3.2% lower than the national average, which is 82.6%.

Our plan to restore GPs and improve the waiting times to see a GP will require both investment and reform. We have already invested £82 million to recruit over 1,000 newly qualified GPs through the Additional Roles Reimbursement scheme, which will continue to increase the capacity in GPs, as well as take pressure off those currently working in the system. We have committed to train thousands more GPs and finally end the 8:00am scramble for GP appointments by introducing a modern booking system.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support children diagnosed with dyslexia in Ashford constituency.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The department is committed to improving support for all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including those with dyslexia and other neurodiverse conditions.

Early identification of need and support is critical to improving outcomes for children and young people with SEND, including those with dyslexia. There is already a number of measures to help teachers do this, including the phonics screening check and statutory assessments at the end of key stage 2.

Measures have also been introduced to support the effective teaching of reading, including for those at risk of falling behind. This includes the English Hubs programme, the publication of the Reading Framework and an updated list of high quality phonics programmes for schools.

The English Hubs programme is dedicated to improving the teaching of reading, with a focus on supporting children making the slowest progress in reading. As part of the continuous professional development provided by the English Hubs, the Reading Ambition for All programme has been launched to improve outcomes for children who need additional support with reading, including those with SEND.

Ashford’s local English Hub is Kingsnorth. Further information is available here: https://www.kingsnorth.kent.sch.uk/english-hub.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the human rights situation in Balochistan.

Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK is deeply concerned about reports of human rights abuses and violations in Pakistan, including in Balochistan province. The British High Commission regularly raises these issues with the Government of Pakistan at a senior level. The UK will continue to urge the Government of Pakistan to guarantee the rights of all people as laid down in Pakistan's Constitution and in accordance with international standards.