Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has had recent discussions with NHS England on improving awareness of inequalities in black and Asian maternal health outcomes amongst clinicians.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Government is committed to tackling and reducing disparities in health outcomes. My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, has not had specific discussions with NHS England about improving clinician awareness. However, the Maternity Disparities Taskforce, of which I am a co-chair, was established in February 2022 to tackle disparities for mothers and babies and reduce maternal and neonatal deaths.
The taskforce brings together experts from across the health system, governmental departments, and the voluntary sector to explore and consider evidence-based interventions to tackle maternal disparities. One of the key priorities of the taskforce at present is focusing on improving access to effective pre-conception and maternity care for women from ethnic minorities, and those living in the most deprived areas.
NHS England has also published their Equity and Equality guidance for Local Maternity Systems, supported by a £6.8 million investment, which focuses on actions to reduce disparities for women and babies from ethnic minorities and those living in the most deprived areas.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will provide additional funding for research into the development of effective interventions to help tackle disparities in maternal health outcomes for black and Asian women.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department funds research in maternal and neonatal health through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including disparities in maternal health outcomes for black and Asian women.
In January my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care announced the first ever NIHR Challenge, backed by £50 million, to task researchers and policymakers with finding new ways to tackle maternity disparities. We expect the funding call to launch in spring 2024.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending rights to access (a) Remediation Contribution Orders through the First-tier Tribunal and (b) other lower-cost legal action to buildings under 11 metres where leaseholders need to pursue legal action to recover cladding remediation costs.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
It is generally accepted that the life safety risk is proportional to the height of buildings. The risk to life from historical fire safety defects is lower in buildings under 11m, therefore building safety related remediation works are required in a very small number of buildings under 11m.
In rare cases where remediation work is required in buildings under 11 metres, the government has retrospectively extended the limitation period under Section 1 of the Defective Premises Act 1972 enabling legal action against developers and contractors where works completed in the last 30 years made a dwelling not “fit for habitation”.
We would welcome examples of any specific cases under 11m where there are concerns to be raised with the Department for further review.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has had discussions with the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police on the use of posters in UK airports requesting information on alleged war crimes in Gaza.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Police are operationally independent and should remain so.
The Home Secretary meets with the Met Police Commander to discuss a range of issues.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to help ensure that local communities can participate in decisions on what is built in their neighbourhood.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Our reforms to planning put local communities – and local plans – at the heart of decision making. The Government recognises the time and commitment communities put into their neighbourhood plans. Our recent updates to the National Planning Policy Framework mean that neighbourhood plans that meet their identified housing requirement are now better protected from speculative development.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of awarding a pay rise to interpreters working for the Home Office.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Interpreters are not Home Office employees and undertake freelance work commissioned by the Home Office through contracts for services.
As with other requirements, the Home Office works with specialist suppliers to ensure contracted services are cost effective, and delivered to a high standard, with in-built quality measures. These contracts are regularly reviewed.
The Home Office keeps our costs under constant review, working alongside other government departments, suppliers and representation bodies to promote sustainable and affordable rates.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the impact that the new National Planning Policy Framework will have on decisions on planning (a) applications and (b) appeals already underway at the point when it was introduced.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Except where transitional arrangements are set out in Annex 1 of the Framework, the policies in the new National Planning Policy Framework are material considerations which should be taken into account in dealing with applications and appeals from the day of its publication on 19 December 2023, including those submitted prior to this date but still under consideration.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether the Government is taking steps to help mitigate the potential impact of its policies on encouraging a modal shift in transport choices on disabled people who are dependent on cars.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Government wants disabled people to travel easily and confidently
The October ‘Plan for Drivers’ outlined how government is working to improve the driving experience for everyone
DfT’s strategic priorities for improving access for disabled people were set out in the 2018 Inclusive Transport Strategy
In the PM’s ‘Network North’ announcement, £350m was made available for Access for All rail schemes in the five years from 2024/25, in addition to the £900m committed since 2006.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to her Department's press release Earlier mental health support announced for thousands nationwide, published on 25 October 2023, how much of the £2.3 billion of additional funding for mental health services in England will be spent on mental health services for residents of Chipping Barnet constituency.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
It is for individual local commissioners to allocate funding to mental health services to meet the needs of their local populations and this information is not collected centrally or at constituency level. Integrated care boards are expected to continue to meet the Mental Health Investment Standard by increasing their investment in mental health services in line with their overall increase in funding for the year.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of benefit applications involved a face-to-face interview in each of the last five years.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs.