Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to invest in cycling infrastructure in the next five years.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government is investing more than £3 billion into active travel up to 2025. This includes existing funding for active travel schemes delivered through funding streams such as the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS) and National Highways to level up access to active travel across the country. The Department will invest at least £100 million of dedicated capital funding across the remainder of the Spending Review period up to 2024/25. Funding for 2025/26 onwards is subject to the next Spending Review.
Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many defibrillators have been delivered to state-funded schools in (a) Medway and (B) Kent in 2023 as part of her Department's work with the Oliver King foundation.
Answered by Nick Gibb
On 20 January 2023, the Department announced that the first deliveries of defibrillators had taken place. More information on the announcement can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/defibrillator-deliveries-begin-for-all-schools-that-need-one.
Since this announcement, as part of the ongoing rollout, the Department has delivered over 3,500 defibrillators to state funded schools.
As of 12 April 2023, 98 defibrillators have been delivered to state funded schools in Kent and 31 to schools in Medway Local Authorities. All eligible schools in Kent and Medway are expected to receive a defibrillator by the end of the 2022/23 academic year. Schools will be contacted by the supplier, Lyreco, once their defibrillator has been dispatched.
The Department would again like to express thanks to Mark King and the Oliver King Foundation.
Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Department's White Paper entitled A Fairer Private Rented Sector, published in March 2023, whether his Department plans to issue guidance to landlords on when they can reasonably withhold consent for pets.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Further to my answer to Question UIN 136842 on 9 February 2023, the Government will publish guidance for tenants and landlords in the private rented sector (PRS) on what would constitute an unreasonable refusal of a pet before the new rules come into effect.
The new legal 'right to request a pet' will apply to the PRS. Many social landlords set out their pet policies in their tenancy agreements and allow tenants to keep pets where it is appropriate to do so, provided they are well looked after and do not adversely affect the lives of neighbours and those living nearby.
In the Social Housing White Paper we encourage all social landlords to adopt similar policies.
Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what discussions he has had with representatives of the social housing sector on pet-friendly tenancies.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Further to my answer to Question UIN 136842 on 9 February 2023, the Government will publish guidance for tenants and landlords in the private rented sector (PRS) on what would constitute an unreasonable refusal of a pet before the new rules come into effect.
The new legal 'right to request a pet' will apply to the PRS. Many social landlords set out their pet policies in their tenancy agreements and allow tenants to keep pets where it is appropriate to do so, provided they are well looked after and do not adversely affect the lives of neighbours and those living nearby.
In the Social Housing White Paper we encourage all social landlords to adopt similar policies.
Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether the Renters Reform Bill will include a ban on no pet clauses.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Further to my answer to Question UIN 136842 on 9 February 2023, the Government will publish guidance for tenants and landlords in the private rented sector (PRS) on what would constitute an unreasonable refusal of a pet before the new rules come into effect.
The new legal 'right to request a pet' will apply to the PRS. Many social landlords set out their pet policies in their tenancy agreements and allow tenants to keep pets where it is appropriate to do so, provided they are well looked after and do not adversely affect the lives of neighbours and those living nearby.
In the Social Housing White Paper we encourage all social landlords to adopt similar policies.
Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to work with Southern Water and the Environment Agency on addressing sewage discharges into the River Medway.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In February 2023, the Secretary of State asked water and sewerage companies to set an action plan on every storm overflow in England.
The Environment Agency is working closely with Southern Water to identify improvement schemes required to improve the water quality of the Medway. These schemes will reduce excess nutrients in rivers and the frequency of storm overflow discharges. This work is ongoing and part of the WINEP Price Review 2024.
Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to tackle inequalities in access to cancer treatment across (a) socio-economic, (b) regional and (c) ethnic groups.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Major Conditions Strategy will look at the treatment and prevention of cancer, covering the patient pathway. It will look at a wide range of interventions and enablers to improve outcomes for cancer patients.
The strategy will support health and care services to diagnose individuals earlier and help them to manage their conditions better. The strategy will include a focus on multi-morbidity and improve the National Health Service’s co-ordination of the treatment and care of people with multiple major conditions.
We will look at the health of people at all stages of life, from prevention through to living well with one or more major conditions. We will also include a focus on geographical and other differences in health that contribute to variations in health outcomes.
Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to include a strategy for increasing the rate of cancer diagnosis in the Major Conditions Strategy.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Major Conditions Strategy will look at the treatment and prevention of cancer, covering the patient pathway. It will look at a wide range of interventions and enablers to improve outcomes for cancer patients.
The strategy will support health and care services to diagnose individuals earlier and help them to manage their conditions better. The strategy will include a focus on multi-morbidity and improve the National Health Service’s co-ordination of the treatment and care of people with multiple major conditions.
We will look at the health of people at all stages of life, from prevention through to living well with one or more major conditions. We will also include a focus on geographical and other differences in health that contribute to variations in health outcomes.
Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Major Conditions Strategy will include preventative measures to decrease the number of cancer cases.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Major Conditions Strategy will look at the treatment and prevention of cancer, covering the patient pathway. It will look at a wide range of interventions and enablers to improve outcomes for cancer patients.
The strategy will support health and care services to diagnose individuals earlier and help them to manage their conditions better. The strategy will include a focus on multi-morbidity and improve the National Health Service’s co-ordination of the treatment and care of people with multiple major conditions.
We will look at the health of people at all stages of life, from prevention through to living well with one or more major conditions. We will also include a focus on geographical and other differences in health that contribute to variations in health outcomes.
Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking steps to accelerate the adoption of innovative oncology treatments, including precision medicines.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) evaluates all new cancer medicines and aims to publish guidance on new medicines close to the point of licensing wherever possible. The NHS in England is legally required to fund all medicines NICE recommends, and cancer drugs are funded through the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) immediately after NICE issues positive draft guidance. The CDF also supports early patient access to the most promising new cancer medicines where there is too much uncertainty for NICE to be able to recommend routine funding. Since 2016, the CDF has supported over 88,000 patients to benefit from cancer medicines that otherwise would not have been available.