Asked by: Sojan Joseph (Labour - Ashford)
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 ensure that all integrated care boards meet the mental health investment standard.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Operational and Planning Guidance for 2024/25 makes clear that integrated care boards are expected to continue to meet the Mental Health Investment Standard by increasing their investment in mental health services in line with their overall increase in funding for the year.
Asked by: Sojan Joseph (Labour - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to clear up water ways in Ashford constituency.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government’s Water (Special Measures) Bill will the first important step in enabling wider, transformative change across the water sector, reducing pollution and cleaning up our waterways. The Government has also launched an Independent Commission into the water sector regulatory system, anticipated to form the largest review of the industry since privatisation.
With respect to the Ashford constituency, this year Environment Agency (EA) officers have inspected four permitted water company assets, with more planned in the coming months as part an increased programme of regulatory visits. No significant issues have been found so far. Where significant permit breaches or issues are identified, the appropriate enforcement response will be pursued according to the EA’s enforcement policy.
EA Agricultural Officers have been focusing their regulatory efforts in the Great Stour catchment this year. These inspections ensure farmers are operating in ways that reduce polluting inputs into watercourses.
The EA is also an active participant of the Kentish Stour Catchment partnership which identifies and commissions projects to improve water quality and river habitats across the catchment.
Asked by: Sojan Joseph (Labour - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will take steps to ensure that (a) tenants and (b) leaseholders are not adversely financially impacted by communal heating schemes.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department is introducing heat network regulation in January 2026 which aims to provide consumers with comparable protections to existing gas and electricity regulations.
Ofgem is being appointed as heat network regulator and will have powers to investigate and intervene where prices appear disproportionate or unfair.
We are exploring options on further price protections including potentially capping connection costs within heat network zones.
We are also working with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to ensure heat network regulation works alongside existing leaseholder and tenant protections.
Asked by: Sojan Joseph (Labour - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of including lessons on death and bereavement in the National Curriculum.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department wants to support all young people to be happy, healthy and safe, and to equip them for adult life so they achieve and thrive.
The statutory relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) statutory guidance makes clear that teachers should be aware of common adverse childhood experiences, including bereavement, and understand when and how these may be affecting of their pupils. This will help teachers to tailor their lessons accordingly, taking decisions on appropriate resources and support to enable them to teach the curriculum effectively. Teachers are free to draw on the support and expertise of subject associations and other providers of curriculum support.
The RSHE statutory guidance, which sets out the specific topics pupils should be taught, is currently under review. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has been clear that children's wellbeing will be the government's priority, in light of which the department is looking carefully at the responses from the period of public consultation which ended on 11 July, engage with stakeholders and consider the relevant evidence before setting out next steps. As part of this process, the department will explore whether any more or amended content is required, including on death and bereavement.
Asked by: Sojan Joseph (Labour - Ashford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding levels for Kent Police.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government is committed to ensuring that the police have the resources they need to tackle crime effectively.
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.
As announced at the Autumn Budget 2024, the settlement will increase the core government grant for police forces and help support frontline policing levels across the country.
Force level funding allocations for the financial year 2025-26 will be confirmed at the forthcoming police funding settlement. Funding for future years beyond 2025-26 will be set out in phase 2 of the Spending Review.
Asked by: Sojan Joseph (Labour - Ashford)
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.
Asked by: Sojan Joseph (Labour - Ashford)
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.
Asked by: Sojan Joseph (Labour - Ashford)
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.
Asked by: Sojan Joseph (Labour - Ashford)
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.
Asked by: Sojan Joseph (Labour - Ashford)
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.