Asked by: Anthony Browne (Conservative - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which categories of NHS staff in administrative areas that qualify for the Fringe High Cost Area Supplement receive an uplift.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
High cost area supplements are included in Section 4 of the NHS Terms and Conditions, jointly agreed by employers and the National Health Service trade unions. Royston, Basildon, Harlow, Watford, Brentwood and Thurrock are all defined as fringe areas, therefore NHS staff working in these areas receive the fringe high cost area supplement at 5% of basic salary. Cambridgeshire is not defined as a zone for high cost area payments.
The high cost area zones are based on 2005 primary care trust geographical boundaries. It is open to the NHS Pay Review Body to make recommendations on the future geographic coverage of high-cost area supplements and on the value of such supplements. NHS employers or staff organisations in a specified geographic area can propose an increase in the level of high cost area supplement for staff in that area, or in the case of areas where no supplement exists, to introduce a supplement.
Asked by: Anthony Browne (Conservative - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will confirm that NHS staff in Cambridgeshire do not receive any level of the High Cost Area Supplement.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
High cost area supplements are included in Section 4 of the NHS Terms and Conditions, jointly agreed by employers and the National Health Service trade unions. Royston, Basildon, Harlow, Watford, Brentwood and Thurrock are all defined as fringe areas, therefore NHS staff working in these areas receive the fringe high cost area supplement at 5% of basic salary. Cambridgeshire is not defined as a zone for high cost area payments.
The high cost area zones are based on 2005 primary care trust geographical boundaries. It is open to the NHS Pay Review Body to make recommendations on the future geographic coverage of high-cost area supplements and on the value of such supplements. NHS employers or staff organisations in a specified geographic area can propose an increase in the level of high cost area supplement for staff in that area, or in the case of areas where no supplement exists, to introduce a supplement.
Asked by: Anthony Browne (Conservative - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS staff in (a) Royston, (b) Basildon, (c) Harlow, (d) Watford, (e) Brentwood and (f) Thurrock receive the Fringe High Cost Area Supplement at 5 per cent of basic salary.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
High cost area supplements are included in Section 4 of the NHS Terms and Conditions, jointly agreed by employers and the National Health Service trade unions. Royston, Basildon, Harlow, Watford, Brentwood and Thurrock are all defined as fringe areas, therefore NHS staff working in these areas receive the fringe high cost area supplement at 5% of basic salary. Cambridgeshire is not defined as a zone for high cost area payments.
The high cost area zones are based on 2005 primary care trust geographical boundaries. It is open to the NHS Pay Review Body to make recommendations on the future geographic coverage of high-cost area supplements and on the value of such supplements. NHS employers or staff organisations in a specified geographic area can propose an increase in the level of high cost area supplement for staff in that area, or in the case of areas where no supplement exists, to introduce a supplement.
Asked by: Anthony Browne (Conservative - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to update the UK's Nationally Determined Contribution in advance of COP27.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK is encouraging all countries to revisit and strengthen their 2030 targets as necessary to align with the Paris Agreement temperature goal by the end of 2022, following the agreement reached in the Glasgow Climate Pact.
Asked by: Anthony Browne (Conservative - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has a process for hon Members to forward cases for consideration by her Department under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) commenced on 6th January and will provide up to 20,000 women, children and others at risk with a safe and legal route to resettle in the UK.
The scheme will prioritise those who have assisted UK efforts in Afghanistan and stood up for UK values such as democracy, women’s rights, freedom of speech and rule of law; and vulnerable people such as women and girls at risk, and members of minority groups (including ethnic / religious minorities and LGBT+).
Representations from Members of Parliament have raised the plight of a great number of people from Afghanistan who would wish to relocate to the UK.
These representations have helped to inform the design of the ACRS as a scheme that will help those in need who are particularly vulnerable, including women and children at risk, and minority groups; as well as those who have supported the UK mission in Afghanistan.
All referrals onto the ACRS will be through the three pathways set out in the statement to Parliament of 6 January, which is a fair and equitable way to identify those most in need.
As an additional verification step, we shall check names of eligible British Council and GardaWorld contractors, and Chevening alumni against the names of people referred to us by MPs during the evacuation.
Further detail on the three referral pathways can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/afghan-citizens-resettlement-scheme.
Asked by: Anthony Browne (Conservative - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the process is for notifying her Department of people who are at risk of political persecution in Afghanistan and who are seeking support from the UK Government.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) commenced on 6th January and will provide up to 20,000 women, children and others at risk with a safe and legal route to resettle in the UK.
The scheme will prioritise those who have assisted UK efforts in Afghanistan and stood up for UK values such as democracy, women’s rights, freedom of speech and rule of law; and vulnerable people such as women and girls at risk, and members of minority groups (including ethnic / religious minorities and LGBT+).
Representations from Members of Parliament have raised the plight of a great number of people from Afghanistan who would wish to relocate to the UK.
These representations have helped to inform the design of the ACRS as a scheme that will help those in need who are particularly vulnerable, including women and children at risk, and minority groups; as well as those who have supported the UK mission in Afghanistan.
All referrals onto the ACRS will be through the three pathways set out in the statement to Parliament of 6 January, which is a fair and equitable way to identify those most in need.
As an additional verification step, we shall check names of eligible British Council and GardaWorld contractors, and Chevening alumni against the names of people referred to us by MPs during the evacuation.
Further detail on the three referral pathways can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/afghan-citizens-resettlement-scheme.
Asked by: Anthony Browne (Conservative - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans for a process for hon Members to forward cases for consideration under the third referral pathway of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme when eligibility widens after the first year of operation.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The third referral pathway will focus on those most at risk who supported the UK and international community effort in Afghanistan.
In the first year of this third referral pathway, the Government will offer ACRS places to the most at risk British Council and GardaWorld contractors and Chevening alumni. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office will be in touch with those eligible to support them through the next steps. Beyond the first year of the ACRS, we will work with international partners and NGOs to welcome wider groups of Afghans most at risk.
Representations from Members of Parliament have raised the plight of a great number of people from Afghanistan who would wish to relocate to the UK.
These representations have helped to inform the design of the ACRS as a scheme that will help those in need who are particularly vulnerable, including women and children at risk, and minority groups; as well as those who have supported the UK mission in Afghanistan.
All referrals onto the ACRS will be through the three pathways set out in the statement to Parliament of 6 January, which is a fair and equitable way to identify those most in need. As an additional verification step, we shall check names of eligible British Council and GardaWorld contractors, and Chevening alumni against the names of people referred to us by MPs during the evacuation.
Further detail on the three referral pathways can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/afghan-citizens-resettlement-scheme.
Asked by: Anthony Browne (Conservative - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the sunset clause stipulated in s. 261(3) (za) of the Income Tax Act 2007 (as amended by the Finance (No. 2) Act 2015 (c. 33), Sch. 6 para. 2(2)), whether his Department plans to extend income tax relief through venture capital trusts to subscriptions made on or after 6 April 2025.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Venture Capital Trusts, which were introduced in 1995, are designed to encourage individuals to invest indirectly in a range of unquoted smaller, higher-risk, trading companies.
The Government keeps this scheme under review to ensure that it continues to meet its policy objectives in a way that is fair and effective.
Asked by: Anthony Browne (Conservative - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his Department's financial investment in (a) cancer research and (b) dementia research has been per year since 2015.
Answered by George Freeman
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), a partner organisation of BEIS, funds research relating to cancer and dementia across all UKRI councils.
Spend data is presented instead of commitment data to avoid misrepresenting grants that are subject to multi-year funding that are allocated in a single year but spent across several years. This results in uneven distribution of the funding allocations data with apparent spikes and certain years followed by no funding allocation being recorded in subsequent years.
Cancer research
Year | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 |
UKRI spend £m | 1.9 | 120.7 | 113.1 | 116.0 | 121.3 | 3.7 |
Dementia research
Year | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 |
UKRI spend £m | 65.5 | 44.0 | 39.8 | 53.2 | 47.4 | 7.3 |
Notes on cancer research figures
Notes on dementia research figures
Asked by: Anthony Browne (Conservative - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to increase the competitiveness of the financial services sector.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
In his Mansion House statement last July, the Chancellor set out the Government’s vision an open, competitive, green, and technologically advanced financial services.
A sweeping set of reforms to sharpen the UK’s competitive advantage in financial services is already underway; and in November the Government published the second consultation in its Future Regulatory Framework review, which provides a once in a generation opportunity to ensure that the UK maintains a coherent, agile, and internationally respected approach to financial services regulation.