Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GP practices were open in Blackburn in September 2022; and how many there were in September 2013.
Answered by Will Quince
In September 2013 there were 23 practices registered in Blackburn, with 18 practices registered in September 2022.
Practices close for a variety of reasons, including practice mergers or retirement. A reduction in practice numbers does not mean a reduction in the quality of care. When a practice does close, patients are informed and advised to register at another local practice of their choice. Practices and commissioners must put in place appropriate measures to ensure that the affected patients have access to general practice services.
Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many full time equivalent fully qualified GPs (excluding GPs in training grade) were practicing in Blackburn in September 2022; and how many there were in September 2013.
Answered by Will Quince
The information is not held in the format requested.
Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GP Speciality Trainees have been recruited in East Lancashire as part of Targeted Enhanced Recruitment Scheme 2021-2022 and what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the numbers recruited to that scheme to meet local demand.
Answered by Will Quince
No trainees were recruited as part of the Targeted Enhanced Recruitment Scheme in 2021/2022 in East Lancashire. In the 2022/2023 scheme, 38 training places have been offered in East Lancashire.
Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help support the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of GPs in Blackburn.
Answered by Will Quince
We are working with NHS England, Health Education England and the profession to increase the general practice workforce in England, including in Blackburn. This includes measures to improve recruitment, address the reasons why doctors leave the profession and encourage them to return to practice.
The updated GP Contract Framework announced a number of new schemes, alongside continued support for existing recruitment and retention schemes for the general practice workforce. This includes the GP Retention Scheme, the GP Retention Fund, the National GP Induction and Refresher, the Locum Support Scheme, the New to Partnership Payment and the Supporting Mentors Scheme. General practitioners in Lancashire and South Cumbria also have access to the national GP Career Support Hub. It provides information, guidance and support on career development, learning, mentoring, appraisals, career options and flexibility, wellbeing, pay and pensions.
Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) financial and (b) other steps her Department is taking to help tackle NHS workforce shortages in Blackburn constituency.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Department has commissioned NHS England to develop a long-term workforce plan. The plan will consider the number of staff and the roles required and will set out the actions and reforms needed to improve workforce supply and retention, including in Blackburn.
Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made on (a) podiatry vacancy rates in the NHS in Blackburn constituency and (b) the impact these vacancies will have on patient treatment for diabetic foot complications.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Afghan citizens have been referred to Pathway Two of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme as on 2 September 2022; and how many and what proportion of these have been admitted to the UK.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Operation PITTING took place in August 2021 – it was the largest UK military evacuation since the Second World War, during which we evacuated around 15,000 individuals to the UK. In the year since the evacuation, around 5,000 more individuals have arrived in the UK via neighbouring countries.
The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) launched in January, and this will provide up to 20,000 women, children, and others at risk with a safe and legal route to resettle and re-build their lives in the UK over the coming years.
The ACRS is not application-based. Instead, eligible individuals will be prioritised and referred for resettlement to the UK through one of three referral pathways.
Through ACRS Pathway 1, some of those already evacuated to the UK under Op PITTING are being granted a place on the scheme. Those eligible who were called forward during the evacuation, but were not able to board flights, will also be resettled through pathway 1 if they subsequently come to the UK.
Under ACRS Pathway 2, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will refer refugees - who have already fled Afghanistan - for resettlement to the UK. Those referred will be assessed for resettlement by the UNHCR, using their established processes.
We have now begun to receive the first referrals for resettlement under pathway 2 of the ACRS – which opened in June – from the UNHCR. It is anticipated we will receive referrals for up to 2,000 refugees during the first year of this pathway, although this number will be kept under review – and we look forward to welcoming the first new arrivals under this pathway in due course.
Further information on UNHCR referrals is available at:
UNHCR UK Information and Links on Afghanistan Situation - UNHCR United Kingdom
Under ACRS Pathway 3 eligible British Council and GardaWorld contractors as well as Chevening alumni will be considered for resettlement during the first year of this pathway.
The ACRS is in addition to individuals relocated through the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP). We have relocated around 10,000 eligible Afghan citizens and their family members under the ARAP scheme since it opened it April 2021 – and the scheme remains open.
Work is underway to assure information relating to all the individuals relocated under the ARAP and ACRS on case working systems. Once this work concludes, statistics on both schemes - including the number of people resettled under each - will be included in the published Immigration Statistics.
Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Afghan citizen refugees have entered the UK since August 2021; and through which schemes or pathways they have been admitted.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Operation PITTING took place in August 2021 – it was the largest UK military evacuation since the Second World War, during which we evacuated around 15,000 individuals to the UK. In the year since the evacuation, around 5,000 more individuals have arrived in the UK via neighbouring countries.
The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) launched in January, and this will provide up to 20,000 women, children, and others at risk with a safe and legal route to resettle and re-build their lives in the UK over the coming years.
The ACRS is not application-based. Instead, eligible individuals will be prioritised and referred for resettlement to the UK through one of three referral pathways.
Through ACRS Pathway 1, some of those already evacuated to the UK under Op PITTING are being granted a place on the scheme. Those eligible who were called forward during the evacuation, but were not able to board flights, will also be resettled through pathway 1 if they subsequently come to the UK.
Under ACRS Pathway 2, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will refer refugees - who have already fled Afghanistan - for resettlement to the UK. Those referred will be assessed for resettlement by the UNHCR, using their established processes.
We have now begun to receive the first referrals for resettlement under pathway 2 of the ACRS – which opened in June – from the UNHCR. It is anticipated we will receive referrals for up to 2,000 refugees during the first year of this pathway, although this number will be kept under review – and we look forward to welcoming the first new arrivals under this pathway in due course.
Further information on UNHCR referrals is available at:
UNHCR UK Information and Links on Afghanistan Situation - UNHCR United Kingdom
Under ACRS Pathway 3 eligible British Council and GardaWorld contractors as well as Chevening alumni will be considered for resettlement during the first year of this pathway.
The ACRS is in addition to individuals relocated through the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP). We have relocated around 10,000 eligible Afghan citizens and their family members under the ARAP scheme since it opened it April 2021 – and the scheme remains open.
Work is underway to assure information relating to all the individuals relocated under the ARAP and ACRS on case working systems. Once this work concludes, statistics on both schemes - including the number of people resettled under each - will be included in the published Immigration Statistics.
Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies on food prices of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report entitled, Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change, published in April 2022, which said that widespread use of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage could use up to 46 per cent of the world’s arable land; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government’s Biomass Strategy, which will be published later this year, will establish the role which Bioenergy with Carbon Capture & Storage (BECCS) can play in reducing carbon emissions across the economy and set out how the technology could be deployed. No decision has been made on future BECCS deployment.
Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the percentage change to Discretionary Housing Payments funding to local authorities in England and Wales will be as a result of the most recent flat rate reduction in allocation.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Overall Discretionary Housing Payments funding is £100m in 2022/23, which is 29% less than the £140m that was available in 2020/21.
In addition to the central government contribution, English and Welsh Local Authorities can top up DHP funding up to a maximum of two and a half times this figure using their own funds.
Since 2011, the Government has provided almost £1.5 billion in DHPs to LAs to help support claimants who require further financial assistance with housing costs. In addition, the Government has made a further £2 billion available over the next three years to tackle and help prevent homelessness and rough sleeping.