Asked by: Tom Randall (Conservative - Gedling)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of prison places.
Answered by Rob Butler
We have a significant prison build programme, delivering safe, secure and modern prison places across the country. More than 3,100 places have already been delivered.
As part of this, we are building brand new prisons with a design focused on security and rehabilitation, supporting family ties and resettlement into the community. These include HMP Five Wells which opened earlier this year and was the first of its design to be built; HMP Fosse Way near Leicester which is due to open next year; and a new prison next to the existing HMP Full Sutton where construction has started, and the prison is due to open in 2025.
Asked by: Tom Randall (Conservative - Gedling)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to increase provision of paediatric neurology treatment in Nottinghamshire.
Answered by Will Quince
The majority of paediatric neurology services are recognised as specialised or ‘tertiary level’. Paediatric neurology services in Nottinghamshire are provided by Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, with clinics delivered across several sites. To assist with increased activity and meet the requirement of its service specification for tertiary centres, NHS England has awarded additional funding to the Nottingham paediatric neurology service to recruit a full complement of multi-disciplinary staff. This funding will support increased activity and reduce wating times for new and follow-up appointments.
Asked by: Tom Randall (Conservative - Gedling)
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 for the implications of his policy on the commitment in the Life Sciences Vision to have an ambitious National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Methods Review.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
As reflected in the Life Sciences Vision, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is introducing a number of changes to ensure that its methods and processes are fairer, more consistent and accelerate the introduction of emerging technologies.
Asked by: Tom Randall (Conservative - Gedling)
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 proposed changes to NICE’s Methods and Process on patients with very rare diseases.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
A number of changes adopted by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) following its updated methods and processes manual for health technology assessments, will support access to innovative medicines for patients with rare diseases. NICE has introduced a new modifier to consider the severity of the disease or condition under consideration when making recommendations. As many rare conditions are also severe, its committees can give additional weight to the treatment benefits for these conditions.
Where there is uncertain evidence in relation to a medicine, which can affect patients with rare diseases where the population is small, NICE will now adopt a more flexible and proportional attitude towards evidence uncertainty within its decision making.
Asked by: Tom Randall (Conservative - Gedling)
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 on end of life patients of NICE’s proposed severity modifier being introduced in a opportunity cost neutral package.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Analysis carried out by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in the development of the modifier indicates that the vast majority of medicines previously eligible for the end of life modifier, will also be eligible for a weighting under the severity modifier.
A severity modifier reflects evidence that society values health benefits for severe conditions more highly and will apply to a broad range of conditions, including end of life.
Asked by: Tom Randall (Conservative - Gedling)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made by the DVLA in reducing the number of vocational driving licence applications being processed.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is prioritising applications for vocational driving licences, including those for HGV entitlement, and has moved additional staff into this area.
On 24 October 2021, there were 29,545 applications for vocational driving licences awaiting processing, this is a significant reduction from the more than 55,000 held in mid-September. The main reason for the backlog was delays due to Coronavirus and ongoing industrial action at the DVLA.
There is no backlog for provisional vocational licences and these are being processed within the normal turnaround time of five working days, reduced from 10 working days.
It is important to note that the large majority of those applying to renew a vocational licence will be able to continue driving while their application is being processed. The DVLA continues to prioritise applications to renew vocational licences and expects to be back to normal turnaround times by early November.
Asked by: Tom Randall (Conservative - Gedling)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which local authorities in Nottinghamshire have applied for the latest round of grant funding for Additional Restrictions Grants.
Answered by Paul Scully
All data on Government allocations and Local Authority payments of the ARG is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-grant-funding-local-authority-payments-to-small-and-medium-businesses.
The flexibility of the ARG allows Local Authorities to provide support that suits their local area, to determine how much funding to provide to businesses and exactly which businesses to target. The scheme aims to support businesses when most needed, and Local Authorities should use this funding as quickly as possible.
We are working closely with Local Authorities to ensure that grants are delivered swiftly to businesses in scope of this funding. In light of the delay to Step 4 of the Roadmap, we have extended our deadline for Local Authorities to access the top-up payment (part of the £425m) from 30 June to 30 July, 2021. We have also doubled the frequency of our payment rounds of ARG in order that funding can reach businesses as soon as possible.
Asked by: Tom Randall (Conservative - Gedling)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which local authorities in Nottinghamshire are accepting applications for the latest round of grant funding for Additional Restrictions Grants.
Answered by Paul Scully
All data on Government allocations and Local Authority payments of the ARG is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-grant-funding-local-authority-payments-to-small-and-medium-businesses.
The flexibility of the ARG allows Local Authorities to provide support that suits their local area, to determine how much funding to provide to businesses and exactly which businesses to target. The scheme aims to support businesses when most needed, and Local Authorities should use this funding as quickly as possible.
We are working closely with Local Authorities to ensure that grants are delivered swiftly to businesses in scope of this funding. In light of the delay to Step 4 of the Roadmap, we have extended our deadline for Local Authorities to access the top-up payment (part of the £425m) from 30 June to 30 July, 2021. We have also doubled the frequency of our payment rounds of ARG in order that funding can reach businesses as soon as possible.
Asked by: Tom Randall (Conservative - Gedling)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the average time taken is to process a claim for Additional Restrictions Grants from application to payment for each grant period in Nottinghamshire, by local authority.
Answered by Paul Scully
All data on Government allocations and Local Authority payments of the ARG is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-grant-funding-local-authority-payments-to-small-and-medium-businesses.
The flexibility of the ARG allows Local Authorities to provide support that suits their local area, to determine how much funding to provide to businesses and exactly which businesses to target. The scheme aims to support businesses when most needed, and Local Authorities should use this funding as quickly as possible.
We are working closely with Local Authorities to ensure that grants are delivered swiftly to businesses in scope of this funding. In light of the delay to Step 4 of the Roadmap, we have extended our deadline for Local Authorities to access the top-up payment (part of the £425m) from 30 June to 30 July, 2021. We have also doubled the frequency of our payment rounds of ARG in order that funding can reach businesses as soon as possible.
Asked by: Tom Randall (Conservative - Gedling)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many applications have been received for Additional Restrictions Grants during each grant period in Nottinghamshire, by local authority.
Answered by Paul Scully
All data on Government allocations and Local Authority payments of the ARG is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-grant-funding-local-authority-payments-to-small-and-medium-businesses.
The flexibility of the ARG allows Local Authorities to provide support that suits their local area, to determine how much funding to provide to businesses and exactly which businesses to target. The scheme aims to support businesses when most needed, and Local Authorities should use this funding as quickly as possible.
We are working closely with Local Authorities to ensure that grants are delivered swiftly to businesses in scope of this funding. In light of the delay to Step 4 of the Roadmap, we have extended our deadline for Local Authorities to access the top-up payment (part of the £425m) from 30 June to 30 July, 2021. We have also doubled the frequency of our payment rounds of ARG in order that funding can reach businesses as soon as possible.