Asked by: Lord Cashman (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment has been made of the impact of extended waiting times to access NHS-commissioned mental health and paediatric services on the ability for young people to access support at the specialist gender services.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In August, NHS England published a service specification for the National Referral Support Service for Specialist Services for Children and Young People with Gender Incongruence. Now referrals can only be made by a National Health Service-commissioned, secondary care-level paediatric service, or a Children and Young Person mental health service. This will ensure that healthcare professionals with the relevant expertise conduct the assessment and help determine any co-existing mental health or other health needs of these children and their onward care, ultimately ensuring a holistic approach to care for these children and young people.
The impacts of the new arrangements for referral into the NHS Children and Young People's Gender Services were considered in detail by NHS England through a process of public consultation, which included publication of an impact assessment. The impact assessment concluded that the new access arrangements are unlikely to increase the waiting time into the NHS Children and Young People's Gender Services for the majority of individuals, as the referral date from primary care to the secondary care service will be honoured for determining an individual’s place on the waiting list for the NHS Children and Young People's Gender Service, and waiting times for local mental health services and paediatric services are likely to be lower for the majority of individuals than the current waiting time for the first appointment with the NHS Children and Young People's Gender Service. NHS England expects waiting times into the NHS Children and Young People's Service to fall as clinical capacity is increased through the establishment of new regional providers, in line with the recommendations of the Cass Review. The consultation materials and the impact assessment are available at the following link:
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the percentage increase for Single Living Accommodation charges was for grades (a) 1, (b) 2, (c) 3 and (d) 4 in each year since 2010.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The requested information is provided in the following table:
| Percentage Increase (Single Living Accommodation) | |||
Year | Grade 1 | Grade 2 | Grade 3 | Grade 4 |
2010 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0 |
2011 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0 |
2012 | 2.9 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 0 |
2013 | 3.7 | 2.5 | 1.2 | 0 |
2014 | 2.2 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 0 |
2015 | 2.8 | 1.9 | 0.9 | 0 |
2016 | 3.2 | 2.1 | 1.1 | 0 |
2017 | 1 | 0.67 | 0.33 | 0 |
2018 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0 |
2019 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0 |
2020 | 0.8 | 0.53 | 0.27 | 0 |
2021 | 1.7 | 1.13 | 0.57 | 0 |
2022 | 1% cap and tiered/graduated uplift to these charges with smallest increase applied to lowest standard | |||
2023 | 4.5 | 3 | 1.5 | 0 |
2024 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
Note: all percentage increases were recommended by the independent Armed Forces Pay Review Body. The latest (2024) recommendation was accepted by the previous administration.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many claims for compensation under the Windrush Compensation Scheme remain outstanding; and when they expect to settle the remaining claims.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The requested information can be found on Tab WCS_05 of Windrush Compensation Scheme data: July 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) released on 29 August 2024. As at end of July 2024, 856 compensation claims were in the Work in Progress category.
We will ensure the victims of the appalling Windrush scandal have their voices heard and the compensation scheme is run effectively, with a new Windrush Commissioner.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much spending on the (a) Future Combat Air System and (b) Global Combat Air Programme he plans to defer from the current financial year.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The UK expects to invest over £1.3 billion in the Future Combat Air System/Global Combat Air Programme and the associated Team Tempest R&D programme, in the current financial year.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to publish a land use framework.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government will publish a Land Use Framework for England in due course in the form of a Green Paper, accompanied by a public consultation.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the annual loss of tax revenue from small businesses.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC is committed to tackling all forms of non-compliance, including evasion. Each year HMRC makes an annual assessment of the tax gap, which is the difference between the amount of tax that should, in theory, be paid, and the amount that is actually paid. The latest published tax gap is for 2022-23 and was 4.8% of theoretical liabilities, or £39.8bn. The element attributable to small businesses is 60% (£24.1bn) of that overall tax gap.
HMRC publishes these estimates in its annual ‘Measuring the Tax Gap’ report. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/measuring-tax-gaps
The tax gap derives from a wide range of non-compliant behaviours, from simple errors at one end of the spectrum to more deliberate behaviours at the other, requiring different approaches to tackle it. The Government is committed to ensuring that businesses and individuals pay the taxes they owe.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK-based jobs are (a) directly and (b) indirectly linked to the Global Combat Air Programme.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
There are over 3,500 personnel working directly on Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) in the UK across Ministry of Defence and our industry partners; BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, Leonardo UK and MBDA UK.
These partners are supported by hundreds of organisations, including SMEs and academic institutions, spread across the UK. Major combat air industrial hubs in the north-west and south-west of England, and Edinburgh are supporting the development of the advanced skills base and industrial technologies right across the country.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government which Ministers (1) requested, and (2) approved, the appointment of Ian Corfield as a civil servant in July 2024; and which Minister and/or senior official authorised the Recruitment Principles exception application to the Civil Service Commission.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Ian Corfield was appointed on a short-term basis to carry out urgent work in support of the government’s International Investment Summit in October. A full recruitment process could not have been completed in the time available. He has since been appointed, unpaid, as a direct ministerial appointment.
The Treasury does not comment on the individual contractual arrangements.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will confirm if Ian Corfield received any payments in relation to his initial appointment as a civil servant in July 2024, prior to his subsequent conversion to a direct Ministerial appointment.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Ian Corfield was appointed on a short-term basis to carry out urgent work in support of the government’s International Investment Summit in October. A full recruitment process could not have been completed in the time available. He has since been appointed, unpaid, as a direct ministerial appointment.
The Treasury does not comment on the individual contractual arrangements.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department plans to continue its support for the Minerva satellite project.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence's development of space-based Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance continues with Minerva providing game-changing innovation and technology for this programme. The Strategic Defence Review will guide future capability development priorities, to ensure the United Kingdom is both secure at home and strong abroad - now and for the years to come.