Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of requiring all (a) e-bikes and (b) e-scooters to be registered to an owner.
Answered by Guy Opperman
There is already legislation in place that governs the use of e-scooters on public land. E-scooters meet the definition of a ‘motor vehicle’ under the Road Traffic Act 1988. Therefore, as well as having to be registered, taxed, and insured, they must meet all other legal requirements of a motor vehicle to be used on the road. By their design, e-scooters complying with the wide range of requirements is difficult to achieve. Consequentially, most private e-scooters are illegal to use on the road, cycle lanes or pavements (i.e. otherwise than on private land), and rental e-scooters can only be used in rental e-scooter trial area.
The Department considered the potential advantages and disadvantages of a mandatory registration and licensing system for cycle ownership as part of a comprehensive cycling and walking safety review in 2018. This found that the cost and complexity of such a system would outweigh the benefits, and that restricting people’s ability to cycle in this way would mean that many would be likely to choose other modes of transport instead, with negative impacts for congestion, pollution, and health. However all policies are kept under review.
If e-cycles exceed the criteria in the Electrically Pedal Assisted Cycles Regulations (1983), then, among other criteria limits power and speed, they are also classed as motor vehicles, requiring tax, insurance, and similar requirements.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he plans to issue his Department's guidance on the circumstances in which exceptions will be made for asylum seekers from countries on the safe list.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Section 80A(5) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 and section 6(5) of the Illegal Migration Act 2023 set out some examples of what may constitute exceptional circumstances, relevant to the substantive consideration of asylum claims and to removal under the Illegal Migration Act to s.80AA(1) listed states (respectively). These examples are neither exhaustive nor relevant to all cases, and do not purport to be.
Exceptional circumstances are not defined or limited in legislation, but will be considered and applied on a case-by-case basis where it is appropriate.
When we commence and implement the wider measures as set out in section 59 of the Illegal Migration Act 2023, we will provide updated guidance to assist caseworkers in their consideration of exceptional circumstances, and the wider provisions.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many allegations of bullying have been made against Ministers by staff in her Department in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Alan Mak - Shadow Economic Secretary (Treasury)
None.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to reduce (a) single-use and (b) other plastic waste.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In December 2018, the UK Government published its Resources and Waste Strategy. This sets out how we will achieve a circular economy for plastic and achieve our ambition to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste by 2042.
Our goal is to maximise resource efficiency and minimise waste to keep plastic in circulation for longer by following the principles of the waste hierarchy: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. One way will do this is by making producers more responsible for the plastic they make with our incoming Collection and Packaging Reforms.
Single-use plastics are a particularly problematic type of plastic that makes up much of our waste. We have introduced bans, including most recently in October 2023, on the supply of many unnecessary single-use plastic items. To tackle the use of virgin plastics, the Government brought in the Plastic Packaging Tax in April 2022.
Internationally, the UK is a founding member of the High Ambition Coalition, a group of over 60 countries calling for an ambitious and effective UN Treaty to end plastic pollution. At the current round of negotiations in Canada, we are continuing to support a treaty that will address the full lifecycle of plastic to tackle the problem of plastic pollution globally, including through designing out waste and supporting a circular economy for plastic.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to ensure that people eligible for NHS continuing healthcare funding have access to services.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care sets out in paragraph 185 that, where an individual is eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC), the integrated care board (ICB) is responsible for care planning, commissioning services, and case management. The ICB is responsible for planning strategically, specifying outcomes, procuring services, and managing demand and provider performance in relation to CHC. The services commissioned must include ongoing case management, including review or reassessment of the individual’s needs.
NHS England holds ICBs accountable, and engages with them to ensure that they discharge their functions via timely and well-established assurance mechanisms. The national framework also sets out that those in receipt of CHC continue to be entitled to access to the full range of primary, community, secondary, and other health services.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that people operating as (a) hypnotherapists and (b) psychotherapists are (i) registered and (ii) regulated.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Hypnotherapists and Psychotherapists are not statutorily regulated, and there are no current plans to introduce statutory regulation for either profession. The Professional Standards Authority for health and social care operates an accredited voluntary registers programme, providing a proportionate means of assurance for unregulated professions, by setting standards for organisations holding voluntary registers. There are currently two accredited registers related to hypnotherapy, and twelve accredited registers related to psychotherapy.
The Government keeps the professions subject to statutory regulation under review, and in 2022, published the consultation Healthcare regulation: deciding when statutory regulation is appropriate, which sought views on the criteria used to decide when regulation is necessary, and whether there are any unregulated professions that should be brought into statutory regulation. The Government will publish its response to the consultation in due course.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of Pancreatic Cancer UK's Optimal Care Pathway recommendations.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
NHS England is delivering a range of interventions that are expected to increase early diagnosis, and improve outcomes for those with pancreatic cancer. This includes providing a route into pancreatic cancer surveillance for those at inherited high-risk, to identify lesions before they develop into cancer and diagnose cancers sooner, creating new pathways to support faster referral routes for people with non-specific symptoms that could be linked to a range of cancer types, and increasing general practice direct access to diagnostic tests. NHS England has also formed an expert group to consider a pathway for hepato-pancreato-biliary cancers, including pancreatic cancer.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that children with autism are adequately supported at school.
Answered by David Johnston
In the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and alternative provision Improvement Plan, the department set out a vision to improve mainstream education by setting standards for the early and accurate identification of need and the timely provision of access to support. The standards will clarify the types of support that should be ordinarily available in mainstream settings and who is responsible for securing the support. This will give parents confidence and clarity on how their child’s needs will be met.
As part of this, the department has committed to developing practitioner standards, which were known as practice guides in the Improvement Plan, to provide advice to education professionals. At least three practitioner standards will be published by the end of 2025, one of which will be focused on autism. The department will build on existing best practice and will include guidance on how an education environment may be adapted to better support the needs of autistic pupils.
The department's Universal Services contract brings together SEND-specific continuous professional development and support for the school and further education workforce to improve outcomes for children and young people, including those who are autistic.
The contract offers autism awareness training and resources delivered by the Autism Education Trust (AET). Over 135,000 education professionals have undertaken autism awareness training as part of AET's ‘train the trainer’ model since the Universal Services programme commenced in May 2022.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps she is taking to ensure that the Government meets its heat pump installation targets.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
The Government is committed to growing the market to 600,000 heat pump installations a year by 2028. We are supporting installations through schemes like the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, Social Housing Decarbonisation Scheme and Energy Company Obligation. From 2025, we expect the Future Homes Standard and the Clean Heat Market Mechanism to support further market growth.
The Government is supporting the supply chain, through Heat Pump Investment Accelerator Competition for manufacturers and the Heat Training Grant. We are also consulting on changes to Permitted Development Rights to make it easier for people who want a heat pump to install one.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many allegations of bullying have been made against Ministers by staff in his Department in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Mark Spencer
No formal complaints of bullying have been raised through Defra’s dispute resolution process.