Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department plans to undertake a review of vision rehabilitation provision across England.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department is not planning to undertake a review of vision rehabilitation provision across England. Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are responsible for commissioning social care services, including reablement.
Guidance to support the implementation of the Care Act 2014 says local authorities should consider securing specialist qualified rehabilitation and assessment provision, whether in-house, or contracted through a third party, to ensure that the needs of people with sight loss are correctly identified and their independence maximised. Certain aspects of independence training with sight impaired and severely sight impaired people require careful risk management, and should only be undertaken by professionals with relevant experience and training.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
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 improve access to mental health services.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have been expanding and transforming mental healthcare
In 2022/23 3.6 million people received secondary mental healthcare, and 1.2 million people accessed NHS talking therapies
This is an increase in the number of people receiving NHS mental health support of around 30% in just three years.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data her Department (a) collects and (b) holds on waiting times for accessing vision rehabilitation support in England.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department does not collect or hold this information.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers have retired due to ill health in the last five years.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office collects and publishes data annually on the number of police officers leaving the police service and their reasons for leaving, including medical retirements, as at 31 March each year, in the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales.
Information on the number of police officers leaving the police service by reason for leaving, including medical retirements, between the years ending 31 March 2007 and 2023 can be found in the ‘Leavers Open Data Table’ here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64ba76662059dc000d5d27c0/open-data-table-police-workforce-leavers-260723.ods
The Home Office does not hold data on the number of police officers taking medical retirement in Scotland or Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he plans to support a third term for the Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
FCDO Ministers will consider the UK position in advance of the upcoming election for the Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority. The question of mineral-resources related activities in the seabed beyond the limits of national jurisdiction for the benefit of humankind is a critical one, and the outcome of this election will have wide significance.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of his Department’s (a) advertising and (b) marketing expenditure was on (i) local newspapers in print and online, (ii) national newspapers in print and online, (iii) social media, (iv) search engines, (v) broadcast and on-demand television and (vi) other channels in the most recent year for which data is available.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not hold the information broken down in this way internally.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will list the companies that are licensed to supply tasers to police forces in the UK.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office approves less lethal weapons for police use following extensive technical and medical assessments. Decisions about the selection and purchase of approved less lethal weapons are primarily for chief officers.
The only company currently approved to supply Conductive Energy Devices (CEDs) to UK police forces is Axon Enterprise.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what information her Department holds on how many homes were retrofitted for energy efficiency in the (a) social and (b) private sector in each of the last five years.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Department publishes information on the number of homes retrofitted for energy efficiency in the last five years through the following government schemes: Energy Company Obligation (ECO), Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS), Green Homes Grant Vouchers Scheme, Local Authority Delivery, Home Upgrade Grant, and Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF).
SHDF retrofits social housing only. A breakdown of the number of homes retrofitted in the social and private sector can be found in the ECO and GBIS statistical releases.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
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 homes owned by private landlords achieve an energy performance certificate rating of C or above.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government will not raise Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) to EPC Band C for privately rented homes, but continues to encourage homeowners to improve the energy performance of their homes where they can.
We are spending £6bn this Parliament on making buildings cleaner and warmer. That is in addition to the £5bn that will be delivered through the Energy Company Obligation (ECO4) and the Great British Insulation Scheme up to March 2026. We have also announced a further £6bn worth of support up to 2028 to help around a million families cut their energy use.
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the potential impact of the level of statutory sick pay on public health.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The government keeps Statutory Sick Pay policy under review.
I am clear that good work is good for you and our focus is on how we can keep people in work or get them back to work more quickly. That is why we are reforming the fit note process.
This is alongside our investment in Universal Support and Access to Work focussed on helping disabled people and those with health conditions return to and remain in work.