Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when her Department plans to publish the first biennial free trade agreement monitoring report.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The department has previously set out its intention to publish a biennial FTA monitoring report. The department is currently considering the approach to these reports to ensure they are robust, useful, and proportionate.
Ongoing monitoring of our FTAs helps to deliver benefits to business and inform the approach to governments future trade policies.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what guidance his Department issues on (a) costs, (b) transparency and (c) enabling comments by people affected when Highways Authorities merge schemes which require the suspension of on-street parking bays into single Traffic Regulation Orders.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Government has not issued guidance to local authorities in relation to making Traffic Regulation Orders. They must follow the procedures set out in regulations: The Road Traffic (Temporary Restrictions) Procedure Regulations 1992 (SI 1992/1215) and The Local Authorities' Traffic Orders (Procedure) (England and Wales) Regulations 1996 (SI 1996/2489).
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what guidance his Department issues on when Traffic Regulation Orders are necessary for providing (a) amenities and (b) improvements on the carriageway.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Government has not issued guidance to local authorities in relation to making Traffic Regulation Orders. They must follow the procedures set out in regulations: The Road Traffic (Temporary Restrictions) Procedure Regulations 1992 (SI 1992/1215) and The Local Authorities' Traffic Orders (Procedure) (England and Wales) Regulations 1996 (SI 1996/2489).
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to s.142(8) of the Highways Act 1980, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to indemnify local authorities against claims for damages caused by planters and parklets placed in the carriageway by residents in agreement with the local authority as part of the forthcoming Transport Bill.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Government has no plans at present to bring forward such legislation.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impacts of temporarily closing the Self-Assessment hotline on individuals needing advice prior to submitting information relating to their tax returns.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
This quarter is the quietest for Self-Assessment (SA) queries. HMRC is piloting the temporary and time-limited closure of the SA helpline so that c.350 advisers can be moved to other work, including clearing post items, which experience heavier demand at this time of year.
The SA helpline will reopen on 4 September, five months prior to the SA filing deadline of 31 January.
Around two-thirds of all Self-Assessment calls can be resolved online by customers; piloting a seasonal Self-Assessment helpline is about positively encouraging people to use these services when they can.
This will free up HMRC advisors to help those with more urgent queries or who cannot access digital services, and to work on correspondence.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding his Department has allocated to understanding the (a) causes of, (b) symptoms of and (c) potential treatment for people's (i) injuries and (ii) other symptoms following the administration of covid-19 vaccinations.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Vaccines must be tested in a wide range of studies, including clinical trials to establish their efficacy and safety, and have a product licence, known as a ‘marketing authorisation’ before they can be made available for widespread use in humans. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NIHR has allocated over £110 million in funding for COVID-19 vaccine research that has included consideration of vaccine safety and robust monitoring of adverse reactions to COVID-19 vaccines. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including vaccine side effects.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what treatment options are available through the NHS to support individuals who have had (a) injuries, (b) side effects and (c) other symptoms separate to long Covid following their covid-19 vaccinations.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
In the very rare event where an individual may have suffered a severe adverse reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine, care is likely to be best managed by local National Health Service specialist services, augmented as appropriate by national specialist advice. Any continuing care would be met by local care services with expertise in the treatment of disease or disability, as appropriate.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, for what reason the Strategic Trade Advisory Group has not met since June 2022; and when the Group is next planned to meet.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department for Business and Trade is reforming its approach to external engagement to meet the needs of industry and match the priorities of the new Department. A new approach will be set out in due course, but in the meantime the Department continues to engage with a full range of interested parties on key issues.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason employees contracted by the NHS are not entitled to the Agenda for Change staff level pay increases; and whether he has made an estimate of the additional funding required to provide a pay increase on that basis to those employees.
Answered by Will Quince
Individuals employed directly by the National Health Service on Agenda for Change contract are entitled to the pay award agreed by the NHS Staff Council on 2 May. Where the NHS contracts out services to independent providers or other local public sector organisations, it is for those employers to determine pay, terms and conditions and eligibility for pay rises.
No assessment has been made of the full cost of passing on the non-consolidated awards for 2022/23 to all staff employed by NHS contractors. An assessment has been made of the cost of passing on the consolidated award for 2023/24, and additional funding for this will be provided in the normal way.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, for what reasons does the Renters Reform Bill not make reference to three-year fixed rental agreements.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
I refer the Hon. Member to my remarks during the debate titled Private Rented Sector: Regulation on 24 May 2023 (Official Report, Volume 733, Column 123WH).