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Written Question
Heathrow Airport: Construction
Thursday 30th January 2025

Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has carried out analysis of the potential impact of Heathrow expansion since October 2017.

Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

The Government supports and is inviting proposals for a third runway, to be brought forward by the summer.

We will then take forward a full assessment of these proposals through the Airport National Policy Statement. This will ensure that the project delivers value for money and that it is delivered in line with legal, environmental and climate obligations.


Written Question
Psychology: Apprentices
Tuesday 28th January 2025

Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to funding for Level 7 apprenticeships from the Growth and Skills Levy on the availability of Clinical Associates in Psychology in the NHS.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The government is committed to spreading opportunities and economic growth with the support of a strong skills system.

This government has made tough choices to fix the foundations of our economy in order to generate opportunities for young people that enable them to make a start in good, fulfilling careers. The department will therefore be asking more employers to step forward and fund Level 7 apprenticeships, outside of the levy-funded growth and skills offer.

The department will take advice from Skills England, who have been engaging with employers on this, and expects to make a final decision on affected apprenticeships soon.

Learners who have started these apprenticeships will be funded through to completion.


Written Question
Cancer: Diagnosis
Tuesday 21st January 2025

Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to NHS England's news entitled Early cancer diagnosis in England reaches highest ever level, published on 2 January 2025, if he will publish data on the number of cancers diagnosed at (a) Stage 1 and (b) Stage 2 by cancer type for each of the last five years for which data is available.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Data on the number of all stageable cancers diagnosed at both stage 1 and stage 2 are collected by cancer type. This data is compiled by the National Disease Registration Service and published by NHS England, with more information available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/cancer-registration-statistics


Written Question
Cancer: Diagnosis
Tuesday 21st January 2025

Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to NHS England's news entitled Early cancer diagnosis in England reaches highest ever level, published on 2 January 2025, whether data on the number of cancers diagnosed at (a) Stage 1 and (b) Stage 2 is collected by cancer type.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Data on the number of all stageable cancers diagnosed at both stage 1 and stage 2 are collected by cancer type. This data is compiled by the National Disease Registration Service and published by NHS England, with more information available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/cancer-registration-statistics


Written Question
Trade Agreements: India
Tuesday 17th December 2024

Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will take steps ensure that the intellectual property chapter in a free trade agreement with India includes commitments to the (a) UN Sustainable Development Goals, (b) International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and (c) UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas.

Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Following a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister on 18 November, the Prime Minister announced that UK-India trade talks will relaunch in the new year.

While we do not comment on the details of negotiations, work is underway across government to prepare for negotiations with India and to seek a deal that delivers for the UK and supports economic growth.

Our trade programme, including talks with India, is driven by stakeholder engagement and seeks to support the high existing standards within our own domestic Intellectual Property Regime and as agreed in international fora.


Written Question
Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage
Tuesday 3rd December 2024

Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of adding carbon capture, utilisation and storage costs onto household bills.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

We have created several business models to fund CCUS projects, designed to ensure value for money whilst providing long term sight of revenue streams for investors. CCUS will be funded by a mixture of exchequer and levy sources, the exact split to be determined in due course. Negotiations with projects are ongoing and therefore commercially confidential. Final awards will be published on the UK subsidy database. We will continue to learn from the first clusters as they approach Final Investment Decisions and apply these lessons to further development of CCUS to ensure that it delivers value for money.


Written Question
Heating: Finance
Tuesday 3rd December 2024

Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what plans he has for increased (a) funding for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme and (b) support for additional low-carbon heating technologies.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

On 21 November the Government announced £30 million of additional budget for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme for this financial year in response to increased uptake to the scheme. It was also confirmed that the scheme budget for the next financial year will be almost doubled to £295 million. Budgets for subsequent years will be confirmed in the second phase of the Spending Review.

The Government has also announced support for social housing and lower income households through the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund and Warm Homes: Local Grant which includes support for low carbon heating.


Written Question
Social Services and Health Services: Employers' Contributions
Tuesday 3rd December 2024

Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)

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 changes to National Insurance contributions in the Autumn Budget 2024 on (a) social care and (b) NHS services.

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

We have taken tough decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at the Autumn Budget. This enabled the Spending Review settlement of a £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department from 2023/24 outturn to 2025/26. The employer National Insurance rise will be implemented April 2025. The Department will set out further details on the allocation of funding for next year in due course, including through NHS Planning Guidance and the usual consultations.

The Government considered the cost pressures facing adult social care as part of the wider consideration of local government spending within the Spending Review process. This assessment took into account a wide range of factors, including changes to employer National Insurance contributions, and the National Living Wage increases.

In response to the range of pressures facing local authorities, the Government is providing a real-terms uplift to core local government spending power of approximately 3.2%, which includes £1.3 billion of new grant funding in 2025/26.


Written Question
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: Staff
Thursday 28th November 2024

Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many civil servants in his Department are working on (a) demand flexibility, (b) Great British Energy, (c) hydrogen, (d) carbon capture and storage, (e) nuclear energy, (f) the review of electricity market arrangements, (g) heat electrification and (h) biomass.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Department has around 4500 full time equivalents (FTE) working across multiple policy areas and programmes. These include demand flexibility, Great British Energy, Carbon capture, utilisation and storage, hydrogen, nuclear, the review of electricity market arrangements, heat electrification and biomass, amongst others. The Department’s resourcing is recorded and aligned to its organisation structure, rather than to portfolios. This means we are unable to provide a detailed breakdown for each of the areas mentioned.


Written Question
Solar Power: Development Consent Orders
Wednesday 27th November 2024

Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department plans to allow large-scale development consent order solar projects to bid for future Contracts for Difference auctions.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Solar projects over 5MW were eligible to apply for Allocation Round 6. The Government is committed to accelerating solar deployment to meet clean power 2030 and reviews the Contracts for Difference scheme before every round to ensure it continues to deliver this and other objectives. We will confirm details for Allocation Round 7, including eligibility, in due course.