Asked by: Dan Poulter (Conservative - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to help the owners of listed buildings improve home energy efficiency.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Making historic buildings more energy efficient is an important part of meeting Government ambitions with regard to Net Zero and energy efficiency. There are approximately 350,000 listed domestic properties, which make up 2% of our housing stock.
In the Government’s British Energy Security Strategy, published earlier this year, we committed to reviewing the practical planning barriers which households can face when installing energy efficiency measures, including in conservation areas and listed buildings. My Department has been working on the review jointly with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and will make an announcement on the outcomes in due course.
Historic England has recently updated its guidance for homeowners of historic buildings on how to adapt older buildings sympathetically to be more energy efficient. Historic England are making changes to their website that will make it easier for people to find detailed advice on how best to retro-fit their older homes.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Conservative - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help owners of listed homes improve energy efficiency.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Making historic buildings more energy efficient is an important part of meeting Government ambitions with regard to Net Zero and energy efficiency. There are approximately 350,000 listed domestic properties, which make up 2% of our housing stock.
In the Government’s British Energy Security Strategy, published earlier this year, we committed to reviewing the practical planning barriers which households can face when installing energy efficiency measures, including in conservation areas and listed buildings. My Department has been working on the review jointly with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and will make an announcement on the outcomes in due course.
Historic England has recently updated its guidance for homeowners of historic buildings on how to adapt older buildings sympathetically to be more energy efficient. Historic England are making changes to their website that will make it easier for people to find detailed advice on how best to retro-fit their older homes.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Conservative - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding settlement will support the forthcoming NHS workforce plan.
Answered by Will Quince
The Government has committed to publishing a workforce plan next year, which will include independently verified forecasts for the number of healthcare professionals required in future years. Funding plans beyond the current Spending Review period will be subject to the outcome of future Spending Reviews.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Conservative - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential economic effect on the UK university sector of restricting the number of (a) international students and (b) their dependants permitted into the UK.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Government’s International Education Strategy set out a target of attracting 600,000 international Higher Education students to the UK by 2030, which we have achieved almost a decade early.
The public rightly expects us to control immigration and ensure we have a system that works in the UK’s best interests. We keep our immigration policies under constant review to ensure they reflect our priorities.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Conservative - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has plans to publish a White Paper on health disparities.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Bootle (Peter Dowd MP) on 7 November to Question 74729.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Conservative - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department plans to provide assistance to Pakistan on the lack of clean drinking water after recent flooding in that country.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK's humanitarian response to the flooding in Pakistan has prioritised clean water, sanitation and hygiene in response to the high risk of water-borne diseases. This aid is being targeted at the most vulnerable in the hardest hit areas of Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces. Alongside these efforts, we are continuing to monitor access to safe drinking water across the country and are working with the donor community and the Government of Pakistan to assess what further support is needed.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Conservative - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department plans to take to support the response to flooding in Pakistan.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK has pledged £26.5 million to support the response to the flooding in Pakistan. £5 million of the total £26.5 million amount will go to the DEC appeal as match funding. £11.5 million will support aid agencies to respond to people's immediate needs, including the provision of water, sanitation, shelter, and protecting women and girls. The further £10 million will focus on the health and nutrition implications of the crisis including tackling the rise in water-borne disease. The UK is also working with our international partners and multilateral organisations to advocate for Pakistan's economic recovery and reconstruction.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Conservative - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of women waiting to access essential gynaecological care.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The ‘Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care’ sets out how the National Health Service will recover and expand elective services over the next three years, including in gynaecological services. We have allocated more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25, in addition to the £2 billion Elective Recovery Fund and £700 million Targeted Investment Fund already made available in 2021/2022 to increase elective activity. This funding aims to deliver the equivalent of approximately nine million additional checks and procedures and 30% further elective activity by 2024/25 than pre-pandemic levels. A proportion of this funding will be invested in workforce capacity and training and we have committed to invest £5.9 billion for new beds, equipment and technology.
Community diagnostic centres and surgical hubs will deliver additional activity, including gynaecological services. The Getting it Right First Time high-volume low-complexity programme aims to accelerate access to care and reduce waiting times, including endometriosis related surgery.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Conservative - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps his Department has taken to ensure that VAT registrations for trusts are processed in a (a) time-considerate and (b) effective manner.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Trusts are not treated differently from any other customer when they apply to register for VAT, and therefore the response will need to be ascribed to all VAT Registration applications.
HMRC continues to deal with most VAT Registrations applications within their usual 40 working days, however they have seen more applications requiring additional checks.
HMRC are dedicating extra resource to this and they expect service levels to improve quickly. Businesses including Trusts can continue trading while they register.
HMRC expect to have improved the on-hand position in VAT Registration significantly and to have reduced those cases that are older than 40 working days, by end of December 2022.
HMRC has also targeted the resource to their VAT Registration telephone helpline to help genuine customers to expedite their applications.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Conservative - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the HMRC system for registering VAT for trusts was operating correctly as of 28 November 2022.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The VAT Registration Service has been operating correctly from the 28th of November 2022, and has progressed applications for Trusts normally during this time.