Asked by: Daniel Francis (Labour - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has made an assessment of trends in the level of inappropriate use of parent and child parking bays; and whether she plans to legislate in this area.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is aware of concerns regarding the abuse of valuable parking resources and is determined to raise standards.
For private land, the Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 places a duty on the government to prepare a Code of Practice containing guidance about the operation and management of private parking facilities. On 11 July, the government published a consultation document setting out its proposals for raising standards across the private parking industry.
On public land, Local Authorities are empowered to determine their parking arrangements through the Traffic Management Act 2004, which requires them to ensure that parking policies meet the requirements of their local area.
Asked by: Daniel Francis (Labour - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish a national service specification for adult cerebral palsy to be used to commission specialist services within integrated care system areas.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to ensuring that people with cerebral palsy have access to appropriate support and services at all stages of their lives, so that they can fulfil their potential and lead happy, healthy and productive lives. Later this year, NHS England’s service specification for neurology services is being updated. The specification defines standards and manages care pathways for neurological conditions like cerebral palsy.Asked by: Daniel Francis (Labour - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has considered the potential merits of increasing draft duty relief for (a) consumers (b pubs and (c breweries in Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Chancellor’s draught rate cut at Autumn Budget 2024 applied to approximately 60% of the alcoholic drinks sold in pubs.
Draught beer and cider now pay 13.9% less in duty than their packaged equivalents – a 50% increase on the previous draught discount of 9.2%. This took a penny of duty off a typical strength pint.
Draught beer and cider now pay 13.9% less in duty than their packaged equivalents – a 50% increase on the previous draught discount of 9.2%.
The Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events. The Government welcomes representations from the beer and pub sectors in advance of the Budget.
Asked by: Daniel Francis (Labour - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of online misinformation in the use of chlorine dioxide in treatments for autism on people with autism; and what steps he plans to take to help tackle this.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
This government recognises the damaging impact online misinformation can have. Autism is not a medical condition with treatments or a "cure". The NHS website highlights that products falsely claiming to be cures or treatments for autism are harmful, including chlorine dioxide.
The Online Safety Act requires platforms to tackle illegal health mis- and disinformation content on their services for all users – these requirements have been in place since March. Additionally from 25 July, services in-scope of the Act that children can easily access, will be required to protect them from legal but nonetheless harmful content, including that which encourages the ingestion, inhalation or exposure to harmful substances.
Asked by: Daniel Francis (Labour - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of making (a) court transcription services (i) cheaper and (ii) more accessible for the families of victims and (b) court recordings directly available to those families.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Bereaved families of victims of murder, manslaughter, and fatal road offences can request a free transcript of the judge’s sentencing remarks. Following the conclusion of a one-year pilot, on 22 May the Lord Chancellor announced that we are continuing the provision of free transcripts of sentencing remarks for victims of rape and other sexual offences on an ongoing basis.
More widely, we are actively considering how to make court transcripts more accessible, and we continue to explore the potential for using AI to produce transcripts more quickly and at a lower cost.
HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) does does not currently have the technical capability to share audio files. Addressing this or expanding the provision of free transcripts would have operational and resource implications for HMCTS and the judiciary at a time when the system is under considerable pressure.
Asked by: Daniel Francis (Labour - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether recordings of court proceedings from October 2023 onwards are available for transcription for a period of one year.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Crown Court transcripts are available for a minimum of one year dependent upon the nature of the disposal.
Asked by: Daniel Francis (Labour - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to help tackle the use of catapults to maim (a) animals and (b) wildlife in Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 protects all wild birds and some wild animals in England and Wales. While the Act does not specifically include catapults in the list of weapons that a person must not use to kill wildlife, it is still illegal under this Act to deliberately attempt to kill, injure, or harm protected species. There are a range of other offences found in further legislation to protect animals from cruelty such as the Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996 and the Animal Welfare Act 2006. Significant sanctions are available to judges to hand down to those convicted of crimes under these Acts. Aside from legislation, a national police-led group named Operation Lakeshot is working in partnership with organisations including the RSPCA and Nature Watch to address the catapulting of wildlife, focusing on education, prevention, detection and justice.
The Government takes crimes against animals seriously but there is already sufficient legislation in place which protects them from targeted use of catapults. Defra therefore has no current plans to take further steps to tackle the use of catapults and nor does the Home Office have any plans to change the law to make a catapult a specified prohibited weapon.
Asked by: Daniel Francis (Labour - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has had discussions with Cabinet colleague on developing a cross-departmental strategy to support (a) carers and (b) disabled people into work.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Get Britain Working White Paper sets out a cross-government strategy to address key labour market challenges, especially tackling the increase in economic inactivity over recent years. It is part of wider government action to spread opportunity and fix the foundations of our economy.
This White Paper focuses on support for people who are economically inactive, people who are looking for work or want to progress, and people who are at risk of economic inactivity despite having a desire to stay in work. This includes disabled people, people with a long-term health condition, older people, young people, and those with caring responsibilities.
Additionally, in the Pathways to Work green paper we announced that we will be introducing a new guarantee that anyone who is claiming out of work benefits and is disabled or has a health condition will be able to access specialist work, health and skills support. This will be underpinned by additional funding of £1 billion a year by 2029/30. Following the conclusion of the green paper consultation period we will publish more detail on how the government will deliver the guarantee of access to work, health and skills support. We are working closely with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and the Secretary of State for Education on this.
On 3 December 2024, International Day of Persons with Disabilities, I announced the appointment of Lead Ministers for Disability in every government department. The Lead Ministers for Disability will represent the interests of disabled people and champion disability inclusion and accessibility across each Department as they drive forward progress on the Government’s manifesto commitments and the five Missions.
Asked by: Daniel Francis (Labour - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to develop real time information on the availability of accessibility to public transport for disabled passengers.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Accessibility and inclusivity are key considerations for the government as we seek to deliver against our key missions, including removing barriers to opportunity and delivering safer streets. The government wants disabled people to be able to travel easily, confidently, and with dignity, and we recognise the role of accurate and up-to-date information in making this possible.
The rail industry provides both static and real-time information to customers through a variety of channels. For example, live lift information and the location of accessible toilet facilities can be accessed via the National Rail Accessibility Map, as well as via the information and live-updates pages on the National Rail Enquiries website. The government also supports programmes such as Smarter Information, Smart Journeys which is working to ensure more information is available for customers on things like where BSL is available at stations, whether there are toilets on board trains and the live location of rail replacement transport.
The Department is undertaking discovery work to capture accessibility assets at bus stops within the National Public Transport Access Nodes (NaPTAN). NaPTAN is also introducing rail replacement data as a priority to align with the expiration of coach operator exemptions from the Accessible Information Regulations which will expire on 31 July 2026.
The Department also launched the Aviation Accessibility Task and Finish Group in November 2024, bringing together industry and consumer representatives, to consider the barriers to air travel for disabled passengers and to develop practical and achievable actions to improve aviation accessibility across the consumer journey.
Asked by: Daniel Francis (Labour - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has had discussions with Network Rail on a timetable to install lighting on the footbridge at Slade Green Station.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Bexley London Borough Council approached Network Rail with a proposal to retrofit LED lighting to the underside of the footbridge handrails at Slade Green station. Network Rail has held meetings with Bexley Council representatives to discuss the proposal and has prepared and issued a Basic Asset Protection Agreement to the council.
Network Rail is working closely with Bexley Council to finalise the outstanding agreements required to move forward with the proposals and remains supportive. The timeframe for the works is influenced by several factors, including the scope of the project, track access, design reviews, and more. We anticipate being able to provide a clearer timeline once the outstanding agreements with the council have been finalised.