Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Autumn Budget 2024 on the timeline for announcing the phase-out of direct payments under the Basic Payment Scheme.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There is no change to the timeline for phasing out delinked payments. We plan to pay delinked payments each year from 2024 to 2027.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent discussions he has had with international partners on the future of the JET fusion project.
Answered by Kerry McCarthy - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
JET has been at the forefront of fusion research and innovation, and its final experiments produced a world record in energy output. However, JET is now 40 years old. An evaluation undertaken by EUROfusion in 2016 concluded that upgrades to JET did not provide value for money and it was decided to plan for the end of scientific operations. JET decommissioning will generate valuable knowledge for future fusion endeavours, alongside UK investment in new facilities. We are not aware of any instances where the decommissioning of JET has been raised by the EU Commission in discussion with UK ministers.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will provide additional funding for Westmorland and Furness Council to maintain cycleways.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government takes the condition of local highway assets, including roads and cycleways, very seriously and is committed to maintaining and renewing the local highway network. As a local highway authority, Westmorland and Furness Council is responsible for the condition of all parts of its local highway network, including cycleways and footways.
In the current financial year, the Department has provided over £20.7 million of highway maintenance funding to Westmorland and Furness Council to enable it to maintain all parts of its local highway network. Highways maintenance funding allocations for 2025/26 will be announced shortly. Active travel capital funding allocations for local authorities in 2024/25, will also be announced in due course.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what tailored support she plans to provide to refugees to access (a) training and (b) employment after the closure of the Refugee Employment Programme in June 2025.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Refugee Employability Programme (REP) was designed as a time-bound programme. It will come to a natural end in June 2025 in line with the contract delivery timelines.
All refugees will continue to have access to mainstream services to support their transition into work, including employment support from DWP work coaches.
Newly granted refugees are also able to access support through Migrant Help, which includes advice on how to access the labour market.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department has on the average waiting time for young people to receive a first appointment for child and adolescent mental health services in (a) South Cumbria, (b) Lancashire and (c) North Cumbria in the last six months.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the mean and median average waiting times between referral and first contact for children and young people aged under 18 years old, in the nearest equivalent local authority areas, for April to September 2024:
Local authority area | Mean average number of days between referral and first contact | Median average number of days between referral and first contact |
Lancashire | 76.4 | 12 |
Cumberland | 90.3 | 28 |
Westmorland and Furness | 53.6 | 9 |
Source: Mental Health Services Dataset, NHS England.
This is based on referrals that have a contact and does not include those that are still waiting.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
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 potential impact of the closure of ward 6 at Westmorland General Hospital on (a) social care provision and (b) hospital bed availability throughout the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Responsibility for decisions about the delivery, funding, and implementation of services ultimately rests with the National Health Service commissioner, and it is important that integrated care systems operate with a high degree of autonomy in making decisions in the interests of their populations.
The University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust has reviewed how beds are configured across their three main hospitals, the Furness General Hospital, the Westmorland General Hospital, and the Royal Lancaster Infirmary. This review has shown that there are opportunities to improve how beds are used within these hospitals, which would lead to:
All the services will continue to be offered, but from different areas in the same hospital, or more appropriate settings within the community. Adult social care services within Westmorland and Furness Council have confirmed that they are currently able to offer support to appropriate patients.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the level of funding available to farmers in the next two years.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In the Budget announced last month, the Government committed £5 billion to the farming budget over two years, including more money than ever for sustainable food production: £1.8 billion for environmental land management schemes in 2025/26. This enables us to keep momentum on the path to a more resilient and sustainable farming sector.
We’re also optimising our farming schemes, so they work efficiently for all farmers, food security and the environment, especially for those that are too often ignored such as small, grassland, upland and tenanted farms.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Employment Rights Bill on the prevention of exploitation of migrant workers by employers that threaten to cancel visas.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Employment Rights Bill will provide a new baseline of security for all workers, including those working on a visa. These protections include day one protection from unfair dismissal, increasing protection from harassment, strengthening Statutory Sick Pay and ending exploitative zero hours contacts.
The new Fair Work Agency will help ensure new minimum standards are being upheld across the country, by increasing awareness and accessibility of workers’ rights by providing a single point of contact, as well as supporting businesses to access clearer rules, information and advice to comply with the law.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Employment Rights Bill on the employment rights of migrant workers.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Employment Rights Bill will provide a new baseline of security for all workers, including those working on a visa. These protections include day one protection from unfair dismissal, increasing protection from harassment, strengthening Statutory Sick Pay and ending exploitative zero hours contacts.
The new Fair Work Agency will help ensure new minimum standards are being upheld across the country, by increasing awareness and accessibility of workers’ rights by providing a single point of contact, as well as supporting businesses to access clearer rules, information and advice to comply with the law.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people in Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency received radiotherapy treatment at the Rosemere Cancer Centre Royal Preston Hospital in each month in each of the last four years.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold information regarding how many patients from a particular constituency are treated in a specific hospital. Data regarding radiotherapy treatment is published monthly by NHS England.