Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to prioritise the administration of covid-19 vaccines to (a) paramedics and (b) ambulance staff in line with other health professionals.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) are the independent experts who advise the Government on which vaccines the United Kingdom should use and provide advice on prioritisation at a population level.
The JCVI considers frontline health and social care workers who provide care to vulnerable people a high priority for vaccination, which includes paramedics and ambulance drivers.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many covid-19 vaccinations per day are being undertaken by mass covid-19 vaccination centres.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
All vaccination services, including general practitioner and pharmacy local vaccination services, hospital hubs and vaccination centres, are delivering vaccinations in line with available supply. Across all services, over 8 million vaccinations have been delivered. We will continue to make more sites available to local communities.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to further extend deferral of VAT payments for businesses to help with their cashflow.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The VAT payments deferral scheme ended on 30 June 2020, as planned. There are no current plans to launch another VAT deferral scheme.
As part of the Winter Economy Plan, the Government announced further support for those with deferred VAT. Instead of paying the full deferred VAT outstanding by 31 March 2021, businesses can spread what they owe over up to 11 smaller monthly payments.
More information is available at www.gov.uk/hmrc/vat-deferral.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to allow cancer patients to choose where they access radiotherapy treatment.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Generally, patients can decide which National Health Service organisation they would like to receive care from as an outpatient and choose the clinical team who will be in charge of their care within an organisation at the point of referral. There are some exceptions that may limit a patient’s choice where speed of access to diagnosis and treatment is particularly important, such as cancer services, where they must be seen within the two-week maximum waiting time.
Once diagnosed with cancer, a team of health professionals work together as a multidisciplinary team (MDT) which includes surgeons, clinical and medical oncologists, pathologists and radiologists and other healthcare professionals. The role of the MDT is to ensure the co-ordination of the patients care throughout their cancer treatment. Cancer treatment plans are determined through MDT discussion.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of removing VAT from household energy bills.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Under the current VAT rules, domestic fuels such as gas and electricity are already subject to the reduced VAT rate of five per cent. Although the Government keeps all taxes under review, there are no plans to change the current VAT treatment of domestic energy.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to extend the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme to the end of April 2021.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government has already announced that a fourth grant for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme will be made available from February to April 2021. Details of the grant will be published in due course.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to waive Insurance Premium Tax on leaseholders' premiums that have increased as a result of the building's non-compliance with EWS1 tests.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Insurance Premium Tax is a tax paid by insurers on all general insurance premiums. Insurance pricing is a decision which is affected by a wide range of factors, and the taxes that insurers pay are just one part of this. It is hard to predict the impact of an exemption on insurance pricing for leaseholders, as this largely depends on how the insurers would react. In addition, any loss in tax revenue would have to be balanced by a reduction in public spending, increased borrowing or increased taxation elsewhere.
While there are no current plan to introduce an exemption on insurance pricing for leaseholders, all taxes are kept under review and the views expressed to us are carefully considered as part of the annual Budget process.
The Government is working closely with lenders and the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors to address problems faced by homeowners caught up in EWS1 processes.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of grid capacity in relation to electric vehicle charging; and what plans he has to increase grid capacity to accommodate the electric vehicle charging infrastructure needed ahead of Government plans to ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2030.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Electricity network operators at both the distribution and transmission levels are responsible for assessing the need for new investment to support electric vehicle charging as part of their business plans, which are then approved by Ofgem, the independent regulator. My officials regularly meet with network operators across Great Britain to discuss the impacts of the electric vehicle transition, including how the increasing demand will be managed whilst minimising the impact on businesses, workers and consumers.
‘Smart’ charging can help reduce constraints on the network by allowing electricity demand to be shifted throughout the day. In 2019 the Government consulted on mandating that all private charge points sold or installed in the UK must be smart enabled. We intend to lay the relevant legislation this year.
The UK electricity market is already set up to bring forward investment in generation to meet demand. For example, the Contracts for Difference scheme supports significant investment in low carbon generation. The Government is also investing more than £1.3bn to support new EV charging infrastructure, including £950m on future proofing electricity network capacity along the Strategic Road Network. The necessary investment in infrastructure and the adoption of smart charging will ensure that the electricity network is able to support the mass charging of electric vehicles.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to support private sector investment into electric vehicle charging infrastructure in advance of the proposed ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars in 2030.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Government is not proposing to ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars and vans, merely to phase out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030, this would not affect the second hand market in these vehicles. The Ten Point Plan confirmed £1.3 billion in funding to support the rapid expansion of the charging network in the 2020s, which includes £950 million in future proofing grid capacity along the Strategic Road Network. One of the aims of this funding is to support the growing private sector investment and expanding market opportunities in electric vehicle infrastructure. As set out in the National Infrastructure Strategy, we will produce an electric vehicle (EV) Infrastructure Strategy in 2021 to facilitate this further. We will be engaging with local authorities and stakeholders across the EV and energy sector to identify opportunities to harness private sector investment to deliver comprehensive UK EV charging infrastructure arrangements. This will ensure chargepoint infrastructure is rolled-out efficiently across all regions to deliver on the government’s levelling up agenda.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the financial incentives that will be required to support large fleet owners with the (a) cost of electric vehicle charging units and (b) infrastructure upgrades which will be needed to install rapid electric vehicle chargers.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Government recognises the scope for fleets to be at the vanguard of the transition to zero emission driving, including the recently announced 2030 phase out of new petrol and diesel cars and vans and the phasing out of the sale of new diesel heavy goods vehicles, which we will be consulting on. We will continue to work with fleet operators towards this. Fleet operators are able to take advantage of a range of grant funding schemes for cars and vans which are provided through the £1.5 billion the Government committed to support the early market.
To continue to accelerate the transition we have now pledged a further £2.8 billion package of measures to support industry and consumers to make the switch to cleaner vehicles. This includes £1.3 billion to accelerate the roll out of charging infrastructure over the next four years, targeting £950m support on rapid chargepoints on motorways and major roads to around long journeys, and £365m for installing more on-street chargepoints near homes and workplaces to make charging as easy as refuelling a petrol or diesel car. We will consider what additional support might be appropriate to support large fleet operators and publish a clear delivery plan in 2021.