Asked by: Fay Jones (Conservative - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of granting an extension to the expiry dates of driving theory certificates during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The maximum duration of two years between passing the theory test and a subsequent practical test is in place for road safety reasons; to ensure that a candidate’s knowledge is current. This validity period is set in legislation and the Government has no current plans to lay further legislation to extend it.
It is important that road safety knowledge and hazard perception skills are up to date at the critical point that they drive unsupervised for the first time. Those with theory test certificates expiring may have taken their test in early 2019. Since then, their lessons and practice sessions will have been significantly curtailed during recent lockdowns and it is likely that their knowledge base will have diminished. Research suggests that this would be particularly harmful for hazard perception skills, a key factor in road safety.
Ensuring new drivers have current relevant knowledge and skills is a vital part of the training of new drivers, who are disproportionality represented in casualty statistics. Taking all this into consideration, the decision has been made not to extend theory test certificates and learners will need to pass another theory test if their certificate expires.
Asked by: Fay Jones (Conservative - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to minimise the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on women’s sport.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
It is vital that we continue to strive for greater equality and opportunity in sport. I am keen that we maintain the focus on women’s sport and build on the fantastic progress made in recent years. In May I wrote to major sporting bodies setting out my expectation that momentum in women's and girl's sport would not be lost because of the pandemic. I followed this letter up with a meeting in June where the sporting bodies and Women in Sport (a charity whose aim is to campaign for increased representation and visibility of women and girls in all aspects of sport) detailed their plans to increase participation levels. I also met with Baroness Sue Campbell in November to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on women’s football. I am committed to helping women’s sport come out of the current crisis stronger than ever and we will continue to work closely with the sector to ensure that happens.
Asked by: Fay Jones (Conservative - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government has taken to provide financial support to the tourism sector in Wales during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
As tourism is devolved, the Welsh Government is responsible for any targeted financial initiatives to support the sector in Wales.
Welsh tourism businesses can continue to access the Government’s UK-wide support package, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Self-Employed Income Support Scheme, as well as various government-backed loans. We have also extended the UK-wide reduced VAT rate for tourism and hospitality activities until March 2021.
I remain in regular contact with my Devolved counterpart in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. We will continue to work together to assess how we can most effectively support the tourism sector’s recovery.
Asked by: Fay Jones (Conservative - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason (a) income from furnished holiday lets is not included in calculations for support under the Self Employed Income Support Scheme and (b) an individual must receive more than half of their income from self-employment in order to be eligible for support from that scheme.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The self-employed are very diverse and have a wide mix of turnover and profits, with monthly and annual variations even in normal times, and in some cases with substantial alternative forms of income too. The design of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), including the eligibility requirement that an individual’s trading profits must be no more than £50,000 and at least equal to their non-trading income, means it is targeted at those who need it the most, and who are most reliant on their self-employment income
Income from furnished holiday lets is classified as non-trading income and therefore it is not considered as part of a self-employed individual’s trading profits.
Beyond this, the SEISS continues to be just one element of a comprehensive package of support for the self-employed. The Universal Credit standard allowance has been temporarily increased for 2020-21 and the Minimum Income Floor relaxed for the duration of the crisis, so that where self-employed claimants' earnings have fallen significantly, their Universal Credit award will have increased to reflect their lower earnings. In addition to this, they may also have access to other elements of the package, including Bounce Back loans, tax deferrals, rental support, mortgage holidays, self-isolation support payments and other business support grants.
Asked by: Fay Jones (Conservative - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Office of Veteran Affairs is taking to ensure that veterans can access mental health support.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the answers given to PQ 906285 and 111603. The majority of veterans successfully access mental health support through mainstream services such as the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) in NHS England. For those who need more specialised support, they can access bespoke services through the NHS, such as the Transition, Intervention and Liaison Service (TILS) and the Complex Treatment Services (CTS). Most recently, the new NHS Veterans Mental Health High Intensity Service has started to be introduced across England, with services in London, the Midlands and the North now live.
The Office of Veteran Affairs works closely with NHS, the Department for Health and Social Care, and the Devolved Administrations, who deliver mental health support to veterans, including exploring making access to this growing range of high quality mental health services as easy as possible.
Asked by: Fay Jones (Conservative - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what financial support is available for the wedding venue industry during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Paul Scully
Wedding venues are able to access a wide package of support to help them through the current crisis. This includes the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, government-backed loans, and the Local Restrictions Support Grants.
Asked by: Fay Jones (Conservative - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether owners of self-catering holiday accommodation will be eligible for support from the Local Restrictions Support Grant scheme.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Local Restrictions Support Grant (Closed) of up to £3,000 per four-week period is available to all businesses in England that have been required to close due to local and national restrictions.
In order to qualify for this grant, businesses must be part of the business rate system. Therefore, businesses that manage accommodation remotely must be the eligible business rate payer for that hereditament in order to receive a grant through the Local Restrictions Support Grant (Closed) scheme.
The Local Restrictions Support Grant (Open) is a discretionary fund and local authorities are free to determine which businesses to support.
The Devolved Administrations are responsible for the administration of support schemes in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
Asked by: Fay Jones (Conservative - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to encourage landlords of privately rented homes to increase the energy efficiency of their properties.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
Since April 2020, all privately rented homes in England and Wales are required to meet a minimum energy efficiency standard of EPC band E. The Department is currently consulting on raising the minimum energy efficiency standards for privately rented homes in England and Wales to EPC band C. Under the Government’s recommended option, landlords would be required to reach EPC Band C for new tenancies from 1 April 2025 and all tenancies by 1 April 2028.
Landlords in England are encouraged to make use of the £2 billion Green Homes Grant funding scheme to improve their property stock to EPC Band C. Under this scheme, homeowners and landlords can receive at least two thirds of the cost of upgrading the energy performance of their homes up to a contribution of £5,000.
The consultation on improving the energy performance of privately rented homes can be accessed on GOV.UK?at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/improving-the-energy-performance-of-privately-rented-homes and will remain open until 30 December 2020.
Asked by: Fay Jones (Conservative - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to encourage television networks to increase their accessibility to people with visual or hearing impairments.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The government recognises that as part of a digitally inclusive society, television content should be accessible for all UK audiences. Under the Communications Act 2003 and Broadcasting Acts of 1990 and 1996, broadcasters are required to meet accessibility requirements for their linear TV services. Statutory targets on subtitling, sign language and audio description are also set by Ofcom, the UK’s independent broadcasting regulator.
The government also asked Ofcom to provide recommendations on how legislation could make on demand services more accessible. Ofcom published this report in December 2018, and has since completed a further targeted consultation looking at how a legislative framework should work in practice. This consultation closed on 16 September 2020. Once Ofcom has reported back to DCMS, we will review their recommendations and set out next steps.
Asked by: Fay Jones (Conservative - Brecon and Radnorshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that there is competition within the market for rural broadband.
Answered by Matt Warman
In 2018, the Government published the Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review (FTIR), which set out the Government’s strategy to deliver nationwide gigabit capable broadband
as soon as possible, including in rural areas, by encouraging greater network competition and commercial investment.
The strategy focuses on:
The Government has recognised that not all areas of the country, particularly those in the most rural and remote areas, are likely to benefit from network competition and receive
gigabit capable broadband through private investment alone, which is why we have committed to invest £5 billion in supporting deployment in these areas. The use of this funding will encourage a variety of rural broadband providers to deploy gigabit networks.