Asked by: Christopher Pincher (Independent - Tamworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability of qualified healthcare scientists in areas where there is a backlog in fitting hearing aids to patients; and whether he plans to take steps to increase the level of recruitment of those qualified healthcare scientists.
Answered by Will Quince
No assessment has been made. It is the responsibility of individual National Health Service employers to ensure appropriate staffing levels and recruit the number of staff required to meet service need.
To support the workforce as a whole we have commissioned NHS England to develop a long term workforce plan, including projections for the numbers of doctors, nurses, and other key professionals required over the next five, ten and fifteen years. The plan is for the whole of the NHS workforce; it will not provide detailed workforce assessments for individual services or for every staff group.
Asked by: Christopher Pincher (Independent - Tamworth)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will take steps to reduce council tax for people whose estate management and litter cleaning services reside with a management company rather than with the local council.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The information on planning applications that is collected and published by the department does not contain the level of detail required to answer this question.
Decisions on the level of council tax are for local councils who have powers to offer discretionary discounts where they consider that appropriate.
Asked by: Christopher Pincher (Independent - Tamworth)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an estimate of the number of planning applications in England since January 2020 where responsibility for services such as public space management and litter collection and the charges for them reside with a management company rather than with the local council.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The information on planning applications that is collected and published by the department does not contain the level of detail required to answer this question.
Decisions on the level of council tax are for local councils who have powers to offer discretionary discounts where they consider that appropriate.
Asked by: Christopher Pincher (Independent - Tamworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of (a) the incidence and (b) rate of misdiagnosis of Hereditary Angioedema in England; and if he will make a statement on boosting awareness of the condition in the medical profession.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Information on the incidence and rate of misdiagnosis of hereditary angioedema (HAE) is not held by the National Health Service at a national level.
A survey of centres providing care for people with HAE in the last three years conducted by the HAE community found that there are approximately 1150 patients with identified HAE in England, with 90% of centres responding.
Raising awareness of rare diseases, including HAE, among healthcare professionals is one of the four priorities of the 2021 UK Rare Diseases Framework. Significant progress was made in 2022 against commitments in England’s first Rare Diseases Action Plan to increase awareness of rare diseases. This includes the development and expansion of innovative digital resources on genomics and rare diseases, specifically aimed at healthcare professionals.
A new action in England’s second action plan, published in February 2023, will see rare diseases incorporated in the educational strategies for the nursing and midwifery, pharmacy and primary care workforce. Progress made over the year ahead will be detailed in England’s 2024 Rare Diseases Action Plan.
Asked by: Christopher Pincher (Independent - Tamworth)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of Birmingham City Council's decision to use of bed and breakfast facilities at significant distances from that city to accommodate homeless families; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Legislation is clear that local authorities must ensure temporary accommodation is suitable in relation to the applicant and all members of their household. This requires an assessment of all aspects of the accommodation, including location.
We are clear that local authorities should, as far as possible, avoid placing households out of their borough. Placing households in temporary accommodation outside of the local area should be a last resort.
Applicants may request a review of their TA if they feel it is unsuitable. If an applicant is not satisfied with how the council has handled their case, they may complain to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman or take legal action in the courts.
Asked by: Christopher Pincher (Independent - Tamworth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what provision he has made for the enforcement of child maintenance payment orders where the subject of the order is a director of a private limited company and receives their income payments in dividends.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Where a paying parent becomes the Director of their limited liability company, they are legally an employee of that company and are treated the same as any other employee for child maintenance purposes. If the receiving parent believes that the paying parent has additional income as a result of their employment status, for example, dividends they can apply for a variation.
The Financial Investigation Unit (FIU) will look into suspected fraudulent behaviour and check the accuracy of information the CMS is given. There are some paying parents who are determined to avoid their responsibility to pay for their children. These are difficult cases to pursue, however, the CMS will continue to use all available powers and tools to collect what is owed.
Asked by: Christopher Pincher (Independent - Tamworth)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 23 March 2023 to Question 166199 on Private Rented Housing: Sales, if he will make an estimate of the proportion of properties sold by small landlords that are purchased by (a) private buyers for personal residential use, (b) renters, (c) other UK-based landlords for rental purposes, (d) overseas-based landlords for rental purposes, (e) domestic buyers for development purposes and (f) overseas buyers for development purposes; and if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of each of these types of the buyers buying properties.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The department does not hold the data requested
The department's main source of data on private landlords is the English Private Landlord Survey. As part of the English Private Landlord Survey, we collect data on landlords' plans for their portfolio.
It is important we have a housing market that works for everyone. The Government is driving up the supply of new homes by diversifying the market; investing in affordable housing; and increasing land supply for new homes by investing in infrastructure.
Asked by: Christopher Pincher (Independent - Tamworth)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the MMC Definition Framework, published March 2019, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Modern Methods of Construction Categories (a) 5, (b) 6, and (c) 7 on the production of new homes in England.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Government is committed to supporting the development and use of modern methods of construction (MMC) which has the capability of unlocking a range of benefits including increased energy efficiency, quicker delivery of new homes and improving the diversity of the housing sector.
Asked by: Christopher Pincher (Independent - Tamworth)
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 consequences for his policies of the use of Modern Methods of Construction categories (a) 1, (b) 2, (c) 3 and (d) 4 in the production of new homes in England since March 2019.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Government is committed to supporting the development and use of modern methods of construction (MMC) which has the capability of unlocking a range of benefits including increased energy efficiency, quicker delivery of new homes and improving the diversity of the housing sector.
Asked by: Christopher Pincher (Independent - Tamworth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what (a) guidelines and (b) service level targets her Department has issued to Registrars of Births, Deaths and Marriages on issuing a (a) death certificate and (b) certificate for burial to a deceased person's next of kin once the death has been registered.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The General Register Office for England and Wales provides written guidance to registrars that details the procedures to follow on the registration of a death.
The statutory timescale to register a death that is not subject to coronial investigation, is five days. Death certificates are available as soon as a death has been registered and, in most cases, they are requested by informants at the time of registration. Similarly, the certificate for burial is normally issued immediately following a registration.