Asked by: Rebecca Pow (Conservative - Taunton Deane)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
What his policy is on global ocean conservation.
Answered by Alan Duncan
A new International Ocean Strategy was announced in June this year. When published it will underpin the UK’s leading role on marine protection. It will also provide this Government with a blueprint for international action that will support the long-term prosperity of the UK and our long-term commitment to protect the health of the marine environment.
Asked by: Rebecca Pow (Conservative - Taunton Deane)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the 2018 report by ICAN, Bercow: Ten Years On, what plans he has to make sure that the special interest group convened by Public Health England to identify key mental health prevention evidence and its relevance to practice and to highlight gaps and make recommendations for these to be addressed through further research includes an expert in speech, language and communication and the links with mental health.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
Public Health England (PHE) welcomes the Bercow Ten Years On Report and is working towards the recommendations for PHE.
The Special Interest Group will meet for the first time on 25 July with representation from research/ academia, Government Departments, arm’s length bodies, local commissioners, public health professionals and young people. The aim of the Special Interest Group will be to identify the best evidence for improving public mental health and reducing inequalities in children and young people in England.
The terms of reference and membership will be discussed at the first meeting and PHE will draw on expertise from a speech, language and communications expert to inform this work.
Asked by: Rebecca Pow (Conservative - Taunton Deane)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Government response to the review of the experiences and outcomes of children in residential special schools and colleges, published in November 2017, what plans he has to ensure that the national leadership board will include people with expertise in speech, language and communication needs.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Membership of the national leadership board has yet to be determined. We will ensure that the board takes on board the views of those with expertise in speech, language and communication needs.
Asked by: Rebecca Pow (Conservative - Taunton Deane)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to implement the recommendations of the I CAN and Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists’ report of 20 March 2018, Bercow: Ten Years On, as part of the Government's long-term settlement for the NHS; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Department will consider the implications of this independent report with all the relevant organisations for which there are recommendations, and respond in due course.
Asked by: Rebecca Pow (Conservative - Taunton Deane)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with (a) the Education and Skills Funding Agency and (b) Ofsted on the recommendations of the I CAN and Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists’ report of 20 March 2018, Bercow: Ten Years On.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Officials from the Department for Education (DfE) and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) are in regular contact and are working together to implement the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reforms underpinned by the Children and Families Act 2014. Effective joint working between DHSC and DfE is at the heart of these reforms, at national and local level.
The recommendations of the ‘Bercow: Ten Years On’ report are very timely. They come at a time when we are considering the All Party Parliamentary Group on Autism’s report ‘Autism and education in England 2017’; and considering our response to Dame Christine Lenehan’s review of residential special schools, ‘Good Intentions, Good Enough?’
We shall consider all of these reports carefully and are committed to responding to Dame Christine Lenehan’s review. We will take that opportunity to set out how the government will continue working to achieve the vision of a reformed SEND system, underpinned by the Children and Families Act 2014.
As part of this we are engaging with the appropriate agencies including the Education and Skills Funding Agency and Ofsted.
Asked by: Rebecca Pow (Conservative - Taunton Deane)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with (a) NHS England, (b) NHS Improvement, (c) Health Education England and (d) the Care Quality Commission on the recommendations of I CAN and the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists’ report, Bercow: Ten Years On, published on 20 March 2018.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Officials from NHS England, the Department for Education and the Department for Health and Social Care, who are in regular contact on policy to support children with speech, language and communication needs, have been in discussion as to how best to respond to the recommendations of ‘Bercow: Ten Years On’, and will be engaging with all relevant organisations to develop a response.
Asked by: Rebecca Pow (Conservative - Taunton Deane)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to increase the use of energy recovery from waste.
Answered by Claire Perry
Energy from waste (EfW) plays an important role in diverting waste from landfill sites, however we are working across Government to ensure that it does not compete with greater recycling, reuse and prevention.
EfW technologies, including EfW with combined heat and power, and waste gasification, are eligible for support under the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme. To date the CfD scheme has supported two EfW projects and nine waste gasification projects.
The Clean Growth strategy announced that up to £557 million will be available for future CfDs and that the next CfD auction is planned for spring 2019.
Asked by: Rebecca Pow (Conservative - Taunton Deane)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the timetable is for delivery of the first T-levels.
Answered by Anne Milton
The Post-16 Skills Plan set out our plan to reform technical education including the introduction of 15 new technical routes to skilled employment, new college-based training programmes (T Levels) based on employer-designed standards, and high quality T Level work placements.
Delivering these reforms will be transformational; and we are determined to ensure they are a success and achieve their overall aims: to transform technical education and create a high quality system that delivers the skills, knowledge and behaviours that employers and the country need.
The only way to deliver this challenge successfully is through genuine partnership between government, business experts/leaders and education professionals.
My officials have now carried out extensive testing of the current delivery plans, including in relation to work placement provision, in discussion with employers, providers and awarding organisations. Following that assessment, we have concluded that we will deliver a small number of T levels from September 2020, with all routes available as planned in September 2022.
Over the summer, we will continue to refine and develop our plans working with business and the providers, and we will provide an update on progress in the autumn.
Asked by: Rebecca Pow (Conservative - Taunton Deane)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent cooperation his Department has had with Israel on agriscience and water science; and how the UK has benefited from Israeli innovation in that area.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The UK has a strong relationship with Israel with regards to science and innovation. Our Science and Innovation Team in our Embassy in Tel Aviv are aiming to hold two symposia on water and agri-sciences in the coming year, and are exploring fellowships and lectureships in these fields.
Asked by: Rebecca Pow (Conservative - Taunton Deane)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the implications for his policies on the identification and management of people with Lynch syndrome are of the findings of Bowel Cancer UK's report, entitled Lynch syndrome: Who's responsible, published in February 2017.
Answered by David Mowat
In current NHS England commissioning practice, testing for Lynch syndrome in people with colorectal cancer is targeted using criteria based on family history and age of cancer onset to determine people at high risk.
New National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance recommends extending this offer to all people with colorectal cancer when they are first diagnosed. Offering tests to all people with colorectal cancer will need to be considered by NHS England as part of its policy development process. Each year, a number of new drugs, medical devices, tests and treatments in specialised services are put forward to NHS England. The promising proposals are considered by experts in the field, including doctors, public health experts and lay people. These groups, established by NHS England, are known as Clinical Reference Groups (CRGs). The CRGs make detailed assessments of the new treatments, tests and devices through Policy Working Groups.
The NICE guidance has been sent to the Genetic Medicine CRG and they have been asked to submit a Preliminary Policy Proposal and to identify a Clinical Lead for progressing the proposal.
The commissioning of services for people already diagnosed with Lynch Syndrome, including surveillance, generally sits with clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). CCGs are best placed to commission services to meet the needs of local populations, taking into account the best available evidence.