Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department has made on establishing the Great British Railways headquarters in Derby.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Great British Railways Transition Team (GBRTT) are currently working with a specialist property agent to identify a suitable location to house GBR’s HQ. GBRTT have collaborated closely with Derby-based partners including the City Council to create a shared vision for the HQ which includes creating value for customers and supporting local communities in and around the city. On 15 April, GBRTT opened its second office in Derby to host innovation, collaboration, and engagement sessions with partners in the rail industry. The office will serve to establish a footprint in Derby before the launch of GBR.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his Department's planned timetable is for consultation on activity regulations under the Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023 provides a framework for the introduction of future bans on the advertising and offering for sale, in England and Northern Ireland, of low-welfare animal activities abroad.
Future decisions on which specific animal activities will fall in scope of the advertising ban will be evidence-based and subject to Parliamentary scrutiny. Sufficient, compelling evidence will be required to demonstrate why any specific advertising ban is needed.
This Government continues to make animal welfare a priority and we are currently exploring a number of options to ensure progress as soon as is practicable.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she expects a funding decision for the Early Aortic Repair in patients Needing Endovascular/Open Surgery for Type B Aortic Dissection (EARNEST) randomised trial, following a favourable opinion from the National Institute for Health Research in February 2023.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Research commissioned the Early Aortic Repair in patients Needing Endovascular/Open Surgery for Type B Aortic Dissection (EARNEST) trial to test the effectiveness of a surgical treatment for aortic dissection. NHS England received an Excess Treatment Cost funding request for this trial, and at the end of February 2024 they confirmed this funding in principle with the trial team. This will now enable the trial team to continue to progress the set-up phase for the study, and to subsequently begin recruitment.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
Whether he has had discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive on the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act 2022.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
I understand my Hon. Friend’s keen interest in this matter and was pleased to meet with her to discuss this in October. As she is aware, this is a devolved matter. Following the restoration of the institutions, I would recommend that she engage with the Finance Minister in Northern Ireland to ask what consideration she has given to this issue.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an estimate of the lifecycle carbon emissions per MWh for generating electricity by (a) burning (i) wood, (ii) coal and (iii) gas and (d) using nuclear energy.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The lifecycle emissions of individual plants depend strongly upon the efficiency of generation, supply chains, production techniques, agricultural practices, and transport distances. Typical values in CO2 equivalents for the UK are Wood: 96 kg/MWh, Coal: 968 kg/MWh, Natural gas: 411 kg/MWh and Nuclear: 12 kg/MWh.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what support the Commissioners provide to churches in Mid Derbyshire constituency on Historic England's Heritage at Risk.
Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner
In the Mid Derbyshire constituency the Church of the Holy Trinity in Belper, and All Saints Church in Ockbrook and Borrowash, are on the 'At Risk Register'. Support and advice for parishes about the management of their building is available from their local Archdeacon, the Diocesan Advisory Committee and from the national ChurchCare website, including on available grants: https://www.churchofengland.org/resources/churchcare
Around 2,500 Church of England buildings are listed by Historic England, with 45% of all England's Grade I listed buildings being cathedrals and churches. The average annual cost for the maintenance and repairs to parish churches is estimated at £150 million, and the maintenance of churches across the country is mostly financed by generous local donors and volunteers.
The Church remains grateful for the continuation of the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme. Money invested in church buildings brings positive benefits to the wider community: the 2021 House of Good report by the National Churches Trust (https://www.houseofgood.nationalchurchestrust.org/) found that "the annual social and economic value of church buildings to the UK is worth around £55 billion. This sum, calculated using the latest HM Treasury Green Book guidance, includes the contribution churches make to wellbeing and to local economies."
The Government commissioned an independent review of the sustainability of English Churches and Cathedrals in 2017, known as the 'Taylor Review'. The Church is still awaiting the formal response from the Government to this report; however, the National Church Institutions have started to implement several of the recommendations. The Taylor Review can be read here: The Taylor Review: Sustainability of English Churches and Cathedrals - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
In November 2023 the Church of England awarded £9 million to dioceses for repairs and specialist advice to parishes. This will fund 30 support officers across the country to give specialist advice on the management, conservation, repair and development of church buildings, including community use alongside worship. A further £6.2 million has been allocated across 41 dioceses for making grants of up to £12,000 for repairs to churches. The grants will focus on small-scale but urgent works and projects that could save larger sums in the long term. The fund will also be able to help cover the cost of essential improvements for the mission and ministry of a church. More information can be found here: https://www.churchofengland.org/media-and-news/press-releases/church-england-announces-ps9-million-help-parishes-repairs-and
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to publish strategic guidance on Regional Expert Partnerships engaging with local partners when refining proposals in the SEND Improvement plan.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Strategic guidance was issued to all 32 local authorities within the Change Programme Partnerships (CPPs) (formerly Regional Expert Partnerships) on 5 October 2023. The strategic guidance supports the set-up phase of the Change Programme. CPPs will be required to set up a CPP Steering Group which will have representation from all partners including school leaders, Parent Carer Forums, and health leads. Each local authority participating in the Change Programme will also establish a Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Partnership and produce a local area inclusion plan. Both SEND and AP Partnerships and local area inclusion plans will be tested and refined through working with the local authorities in the CPPs.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has (a) provided training for police officers on and (b) taken steps to monitor enforcement by police of the new crime of arranging for a child to marry since the introduction of the Marriage and Civil Partnerships (Minimum Age) Act 2022; whether her Department has published guidance for police officers on (i) preventing and (ii) intervening in suspected child marriage cases; what data her Department holds on safeguarding measures introduced by police forces to help ensure that suspected child marriage cases are managed adequately; and whether she has had discussions with the Secretaries of State for Health and for Education on (A) training on, (B) monitoring of, (C) guidance on and (D) safeguarding measures for the management of such cases by (1) social workers and (2) teachers.
Answered by Sarah Dines
The Government is committed to tackling forced marriage. On 27 February 2023, we brought into force legislation which raised the minimum age of marriage and civil partnership in England and Wales to 18, and expanded the offence of forced marriage so it is illegal to do anything to cause a child to marry before they turn 18, even if coercion is not used.
The joint Home Office and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) has been actively raising awareness of the new forced marriage legislation in all its presentations and across its social media platforms since January 2023.
The FMU runs regular workshops and presentations for police officers, social workers, local authorities, registrars and others. In 2022, the FMU delivered training to 1,537 professionals and the unit has reached over 3,000 professionals by the end of September 2023. This includes bespoke training sessions on request to police forces. Over 650 police officers have been given this training since the legislation changed in February 2023. The Home Office also worked with the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead on HBA to ensure that forces were prepared for the commencement of the legislation. This included a joint national meeting with relevant force leads and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) before the legislation came into force.
While the Home Office does not directly hold data on safeguarding measures introduced by police forces to help ensure that suspected child marriage cases are managed adequately, we do work closely with the dedicated NPCC lead for Honour Based Abuse to ensure forces have the support they need. In addition, the College of Policing published authorised professional practice guidance for officers on ‘honour’-based abuse (HBA) which has been updated together with domestic abuse training and the Police Education Qualifications Framework to incorporate material about the new legislation.
Whilst there have not been dedicated meetings on this subject with Home Office Ministers and the DHSC and DfE Secretaries of State, Ministers do meet regularly to discuss matters of crime and safeguarding, with a dedicated VAWG Ministerial Steering Group taking place later this month.
The FMU is jointly funded by the Home Office and FCDO. It currently has six full time staff, two joint heads (one from each department) and four case workers. The Unit’s operating costs including staff time, outreach activity and casework are funded through the departmental budgets of its parent organisations.
Statistics on prosecutions and convictions for the new offence of arranging for a child to marry as part of the Marriage and Civil Partnerships (Minimum Age) Act 2022 are the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and are not currently available as the offence only came into force in February 2023. Statistics on the offence will be available in future publications of MoJ’s Criminal Justice System Statistics. The Government does not hold data on arrests or investigations for the offence. The FMU publishes annual statistics, including on the total number of cases per year, online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/forced-marriage-unit-statistics.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what funding and how many full-time equivalent staff have been allocated to the Forced Marriage Unit in each financial year since its foundation; and how many cases have been reported to that unit in each of those years.
Answered by Sarah Dines
The Government is committed to tackling forced marriage. On 27 February 2023, we brought into force legislation which raised the minimum age of marriage and civil partnership in England and Wales to 18, and expanded the offence of forced marriage so it is illegal to do anything to cause a child to marry before they turn 18, even if coercion is not used.
The joint Home Office and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) has been actively raising awareness of the new forced marriage legislation in all its presentations and across its social media platforms since January 2023.
The FMU runs regular workshops and presentations for police officers, social workers, local authorities, registrars and others. In 2022, the FMU delivered training to 1,537 professionals and the unit has reached over 3,000 professionals by the end of September 2023. This includes bespoke training sessions on request to police forces. Over 650 police officers have been given this training since the legislation changed in February 2023. The Home Office also worked with the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead on HBA to ensure that forces were prepared for the commencement of the legislation. This included a joint national meeting with relevant force leads and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) before the legislation came into force.
While the Home Office does not directly hold data on safeguarding measures introduced by police forces to help ensure that suspected child marriage cases are managed adequately, we do work closely with the dedicated NPCC lead for Honour Based Abuse to ensure forces have the support they need. In addition, the College of Policing published authorised professional practice guidance for officers on ‘honour’-based abuse (HBA) which has been updated together with domestic abuse training and the Police Education Qualifications Framework to incorporate material about the new legislation.
Whilst there have not been dedicated meetings on this subject with Home Office Ministers and the DHSC and DfE Secretaries of State, Ministers do meet regularly to discuss matters of crime and safeguarding, with a dedicated VAWG Ministerial Steering Group taking place later this month.
The FMU is jointly funded by the Home Office and FCDO. It currently has six full time staff, two joint heads (one from each department) and four case workers. The Unit’s operating costs including staff time, outreach activity and casework are funded through the departmental budgets of its parent organisations.
Statistics on prosecutions and convictions for the new offence of arranging for a child to marry as part of the Marriage and Civil Partnerships (Minimum Age) Act 2022 are the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and are not currently available as the offence only came into force in February 2023. Statistics on the offence will be available in future publications of MoJ’s Criminal Justice System Statistics. The Government does not hold data on arrests or investigations for the offence. The FMU publishes annual statistics, including on the total number of cases per year, online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/forced-marriage-unit-statistics.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how (a) much funding and (b) many full-time equivalent staff have been allocated to the Forced Marriage Unit in each financial year since its was founded; and how many cases have been reported to that unit in each of those years.
Answered by Sarah Dines
The Government is committed to tackling forced marriage. On 27 February 2023, we brought into force legislation which raised the minimum age of marriage and civil partnership in England and Wales to 18, and expanded the offence of forced marriage so it is illegal to do anything to cause a child to marry before they turn 18, even if coercion is not used.
The joint Home Office and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) has been actively raising awareness of the new forced marriage legislation in all its presentations and across its social media platforms since January 2023.
The FMU runs regular workshops and presentations for police officers, social workers, local authorities, registrars and others. In 2022, the FMU delivered training to 1,537 professionals and the unit has reached over 3,000 professionals by the end of September 2023. This includes bespoke training sessions on request to police forces. Over 650 police officers have been given this training since the legislation changed in February 2023. The Home Office also worked with the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead on HBA to ensure that forces were prepared for the commencement of the legislation. This included a joint national meeting with relevant force leads and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) before the legislation came into force.
While the Home Office does not directly hold data on safeguarding measures introduced by police forces to help ensure that suspected child marriage cases are managed adequately, we do work closely with the dedicated NPCC lead for Honour Based Abuse to ensure forces have the support they need. In addition, the College of Policing published authorised professional practice guidance for officers on ‘honour’-based abuse (HBA) which has been updated together with domestic abuse training and the Police Education Qualifications Framework to incorporate material about the new legislation.
Whilst there have not been dedicated meetings on this subject with Home Office Ministers and the DHSC and DfE Secretaries of State, Ministers do meet regularly to discuss matters of crime and safeguarding, with a dedicated VAWG Ministerial Steering Group taking place later this month.
The FMU is jointly funded by the Home Office and FCDO. It currently has six full time staff, two joint heads (one from each department) and four case workers. The Unit’s operating costs including staff time, outreach activity and casework are funded through the departmental budgets of its parent organisations.
Statistics on prosecutions and convictions for the new offence of arranging for a child to marry as part of the Marriage and Civil Partnerships (Minimum Age) Act 2022 are the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and are not currently available as the offence only came into force in February 2023. Statistics on the offence will be available in future publications of MoJ’s Criminal Justice System Statistics. The Government does not hold data on arrests or investigations for the offence. The FMU publishes annual statistics, including on the total number of cases per year, online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/forced-marriage-unit-statistics.