Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to reconvene the Hammersmith Bridge Taskforce prior to the Spring Statement.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government intends to convene a further meeting of the Hammersmith Bridge Taskforce in the near future to discuss next steps for the project. My Department’s officials will be in touch with key local stakeholders to arrange this in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many Stage 1 and Stage 2 complaints regarding Children’s Continuing Care were received in each ICB in the last three years, what percentage of those complaints were upheld or partially upheld and what the average time taken was to resolve these complaints.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to ensuring that all children, including those with complex health needs, receive appropriate care and support whenever and wherever they need it.
The National Framework for Children and Young People’s Continuing Care, published by the Department, provides guidance to support integrated care boards (ICBs) and local authorities to assess and agree support for children whose needs cannot be met through existing universal or specialist services.
The Department and NHS England do not centrally collect data on ICB complaints regarding children’s continuing care. We expect ICBs to commission appropriate services to meet the needs of their local populations, including children with complex health needs, and to provide high-quality care in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Hammersmith Bridge Taskforce will reconvene in 2026.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government intends to convene a further meeting of the Hammersmith Bridge Taskforce in the near future to discuss next steps for the project. My Department’s officials will be in touch with key local stakeholders to arrange this in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions her Department has had with Hammersmith and Fulham Council on engineering options relating to the repair of Hammersmith Bridge.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
My Department’s officials held regular discussions regarding the viable engineering options for the next stage of works on Hammersmith Bridge with their counterparts at both the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and Transport for London throughout 2025.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the results of the Aviation Nights Noise Effects study will be published.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We expect to publish the results of the Aviation Night Noise Effects study later this year.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department meet with representatives from Heathrow Airport prior to the Chancellor's announcement of the Government's support for a third runway at Heathrow in January 2025.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Heathrow Airport is a key stakeholder for a range of aviation and transport policy areas, and it is routine for officials to engage with airport operators and other industry stakeholders as part of the Department’s ongoing work. My officials continue to meet with representatives of Heathrow Airport regularly to discuss a range of issues.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to provide additional support to councils that receive less funding after the fair funding formula is implemented.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
By the end of the multi-year Settlement, we will have made available a 15.1% increase in Core Spending Power for councils in England, worth over £11 billion, compared to 2025-26. The vast majority of social care authorities will see a real terms increase across over the multi-year Settlement.
The government agrees with respondents to the December consultation and Fair Funding Review 2.0 that implementing funding reform in full in 2026-27 without transitional arrangements would be the wrong approach. We will support local authorities to manage their updated funding positions by introducing changes over the multi-year Settlement and protecting councils’ income, including locally retained business rates growth.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on the potential impact of a third runway at Heathrow on the Government's net zero targets.
Answered by Katie White - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Secretary of State regularly speaks to his Cabinet colleagues about these issues. On Heathrow, this Government is clear that expansion must be compatible with our legally binding carbon budgets and net zero. We are committed to ensuring that the economic benefits of airport expansions are delivered in line with our environmental and climate objectives.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many referrals have the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman received in each year since 2015 regarding Children’s Continuing Care.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to ensuring that all children, including those with complex health needs, receive appropriate care and support whenever and wherever they need it.
The National Framework for Children and Young People’s Continuing Care provides guidance to support integrated care boards and local authorities to assess and agree support for children whose needs cannot be met through existing universal or specialist services.
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) is an independent organisation. The PHSO publishes statistics on the referrals and complaints they receive categorised by organisation and not by type of service provided or age group. Therefore, the Department does not have access to the information requested.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of redundancy plans for civil servants working at grades (a) AA/AO, (b) EO, (c) HEO/SEO, (d) G6/G7 and (e) SCS in each Government department.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Each department will take a decision on its individual size and shape as per the financial settlements that have now been agreed with HMT in the Spending Review.