Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many covid-19 vaccinations have been administered by parliamentary constituency in the North West region as of 20 January 2021.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
In England, Public Health England publish daily data on the total first and second doses given to date by region of residence. NHS England and NHS Improvement release a weekly publication of vaccination data across additional cohorts, which from 25 February 2021 includes data by parliamentary constituency and by Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships / Integrated Care Systems area.
This data is available via the following links:
https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/vaccinations
www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-vaccinations/
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the total amount of funding (a) allocated, (b) earmarked for disbursement and (c) disbursed by the Zoo Animals Fund was as of 7 March 2021.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Zoo Animals Fund has been extended to continue to provide support until 30 June, with application open until 28 May. To date, just over £5.5 million has been paid to 45 applicants from the Zoo Animals Fund. The Zoo Support Fund awarded 56 grants to successful applicants.
Under both zoo support schemes we have so far awarded over £7.5 million to the zoo sector. This money has provided for animal care costs and essential maintenance costs for those zoos experiencing severe financial difficulties due to COVID-19.
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has plans to relax the qualification requirements for applicants to the Zoo Animals Fund.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Defra has already made the Zoo Animals Fund more accessible than the previous fund, the Zoo Support Fund. We have expanded the eligibility criteria so that grant payments to zoos begin when zoos reach their final 12 weeks of financial reserves, rather than 6 weeks. We also lifted the payment cap from £100k to £700k and then removed this cap at the end of the implementation period when we were no longer subject to EU state aid rules.
Defra has also expanded the range of costs that are eligible under the Zoo Animals Fund so zoos can now claim costs relating to pre-planned essential maintenance and repair works as well as animal care costs. The fund has also been extended in response to the current lockdown, with applications open until 28 May and support provided until 30 June.
We will continue to monitor the fund to ensure that it achieves its aims. We will continue to engage with the sector to fully understand the ongoing impact of Covid-19 on the sector and provide updates as situations change.
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has plans to extend qualification for the Zoo Animals Fund to groups involved in zoos conservation and scientific work.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Organisations are eligible to apply for support under the Zoo Animals fund if they hold a zoo licence (full or section 14(2) dispensation) under the Zoo Licensing Act 1981 or have been granted an exemption under the Zoo Licensing Act 1981 and hold a licence under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) Regulations 2018.
The Zoo Animals Fund was set up in recognition of the fact that zoos need to continue caring for the animals during the pandemic. The fund supports zoos and aquariums with their animal welfare costs, as well as essential maintenance.
As announced in the recent Budget, the fund has been extended in response to the current lockdown, with applications open until 28 May and support provided until 30 June.
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what representations he has received on the proposed merger of Southern Housing and Sanctuary Housing.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Housing associations are independent organisations and Government does not control the way in which they run their businesses. It is for the Board of individual housing associations to carefully consider the merits of such a merger, in consultation with tenants.
Registered providers of social housing are required to comply with the regulatory standards set by the Regulator of Social Housing. These include a requirement that private registered providers deliver their aims, objectives and intended outcomes for their tenants in an effective and transparent manner.
The Department has received no representations on the proposed merger.
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect on housing provision of the proposed merger of Southern Housing and Sanctuary Housing.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Housing associations are independent organisations and Government does not control the way in which they run their businesses. It is for the Board of individual housing associations to carefully consider the merits of such a merger, in consultation with tenants.
Registered providers of social housing are required to comply with the regulatory standards set by the Regulator of Social Housing. These include a requirement that private registered providers deliver their aims, objectives and intended outcomes for their tenants in an effective and transparent manner.
The Department has received no representations on the proposed merger.
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of adults with learning disabilities who are not identified as having that disability on the GP register.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have not made a formal estimate.
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
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 identify and invite for covid-19 vaccinations those adults with learning disabilities who are not identified as such on their GP's register.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
NHS England and NHS Improvement are asking stakeholders and voluntary and third sector partners to encourage people who have a severe and profound learning disability to come forward to their local general practitioner (GP). GPs should then assess the individual and if appropriate, add them to the list to be offered a vaccine.
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many candidates (a) applied for and (b) were interviewed for the position of BBC Chair.
Answered by John Whittingdale
In line with the Governance Code on Public Appointments, due diligence checks were conducted on all candidates shortlisted for the BBC Chair role.
As part of these checks, we considered anything in the public domain related to the applicant’s conduct or professional capacity. This included us undertaking searches of previous public statements and social media, blogs or any other publicly available information, as well as checks on relevant registers including the Disqualified Director and Insolvency Registers.
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that due diligence is undertaken in all public appointments.
Answered by John Whittingdale
In line with the Governance Code on Public Appointments, due diligence checks were conducted on all candidates shortlisted for the BBC Chair role.
As part of these checks, we considered anything in the public domain related to the applicant’s conduct or professional capacity. This included us undertaking searches of previous public statements and social media, blogs or any other publicly available information, as well as checks on relevant registers including the Disqualified Director and Insolvency Registers.