Gerald Jones

Helen Tomlinson, the Government’s Menopause Employment Champion, is working with businesses to raise awareness of the menopause in the workplace and support women to have the fulfilling careers they deserve.

On World Menopause Day, we published ‘No time to step back’, a progress report from Helen, and launched new content on the DBT ‘Help to Grow’ website outlining guidance to support women experiencing menopause and its impact at work.

The CPS is working closely with partner agencies across the criminal justice system to reduce the current backlog of cases created by the Covid-19 outbreak. This includes both internal measures to deal with larger live caseloads in CPS Areas and working closely with partners to ensure maximum throughput of cases at court.

Considerable progress is being made. In the honourable member’s constituency, Merthyr Magistrates’ Court has now reduced its backlog to pre-COVID levels.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.

I wrote to the hon. Member on 1 March about the constituent’s eligibility for the Warm Home Discount scheme.

I wrote to the hon. Member on 9th March regarding changes to the Warm Home Discount scheme.

During the review of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, a large number of contributions from the private sector, trade associations, the voluntary sector and other types of organisations were assessed. These included leisure centres and swimming pools. The Government has taken a consistent approach to identifying the most energy and trade intensive sectors. All sectors that meet agreed thresholds for energy and trade intensity will be eligible for Energy and Trade Intensive Industries support. These thresholds have been set at sectors falling above the 80th percentile for energy intensity and 60th percentile for trade intensity, plus any sectors eligible for the existing energy compensation and exemption schemes.

The official fuel poverty statistics, including the impact of high energy prices on fuel poor households, are due to be published next month.

My Rt. Hon. Friend the Minister of State for Climate wrote to the hon. Member on 15 November about the Energy Bill Relief Scheme.

Suppliers are reporting to the Department on scheme delivery, including the redemption of prepayment meter vouchers. These figures will be published in due course.

The Government recognises that whilst the growth of eCommerce has brought benefits for consumers and businesses, it has also brought new challenges, including the sale of non-compliant and unsafe products via online marketplaces, often by third-party sellers.

This is one of the reasons the Government is conducting a review of the Product Safety framework. The Government Response to the Call for Evidence published in November 2021 is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/uk-product-safety-review-call-for-evidence. A consultation, including proposals to take further steps to address unsafe products sold online, is currently being finalised.

DCMS has been working with representatives from the sports sector, including sports governing bodies, to agree a new code of conduct for socially responsible gambling sponsorship. We hope to make further announcements once the code is finalised and agreed early next year.

Sport operates independently of the government, therefore direct representations to FIFA on their processes for awarding future events would be a matter for Home Nation football governing bodies to raise.

The Government has frank conversations at an international level with counterparts around the world on issues such as human rights, and we will continue to have those conversations.

Disinformation is one of a range of tools used by hostile actors from foreign states to attempt to achieve their wider objectives. DCMS leads the operational and policy response for countering disinformation across HMG. This includes responding to acute information incidents, such as Russian information operations during the war in Ukraine, disinformation relating to COVID-19, and electoral events.

The Government has amended the National Security Bill which strengthens our legislative response to state-linked disinformation aimed at the UK. The new Foreign Interference Offence brought forward in the National Security Bill will be named as a priority offence in the Online Safety Bill, forcing companies to proactively take action against a wide range of state-sponsored disinformation and state-linked online interference.

The UK, along with our G7 and NATO partners, is working hard to protect our democracies against disinformation. We work together with our allies on gaining a better understanding of the threat of mis and disinformation, and collaborating on our collective response.

My Department has not provided funding to the British Boxing Board of Control, which has been overseeing British professional boxing independently of the government since 1929.

This government recognises the importance of the UK’s creative and cultural industries, not only to the economy and international reputation of the United Kingdom, but also to the wellbeing and enrichment of its people. We want musicians and performers to be able to tour abroad easily.

We have worked with the sector and directly with Member States, to provide clarity on what creative workers need to do. We have confirmed that, in many areas, arrangements are much more workable than has at times been reported. For example, the vast majority of Member States offer visa and work permit free routes for musicians and creative performers, including most of the UK’s biggest touring markets such as France, Germany, and the Netherlands. This also includes Spain, who in November 2021, following engagement by the UK Government and the sector, introduced 90 day visa and work permit free touring for artists. We continue to work with the few remaining EU Member States that do not allow visa and permit free touring, such as Greece and Portugal, to encourage them to make touring easier.

We have also confirmed that portable musical instruments, carried or in a vehicle, can be transported cost-free and should not require ATA Carnets, and that small ‘splitter vans’ are not subject to the Trade and Cooperation Agreement limits around cabotage and cross trade for the creative sectors. We have also launched an Export Support Service (ESS), where UK businesses, including touring professionals, can get answers to practical questions online and by telephone.

A reply will be sent to the hon. Member in due course.

The UK has a high degree of food security. Last year, we published the Food Security Report which includes a section on food security at a household level. The latest statistics point to an increase in household food security between 2019 and 2020. There are undoubtedly going to be pressures on food prices as a result of increased input costs – including gas, fuel and fertiliser. That will have to be passed through the system, but the Government is providing an additional £500 million to help provide targeted cost of living support for households most in need.

The Government recognises the importance of maintaining flood defence assets. Investment in Environment Agency asset management in England will be £178 million in 2021-22, an increase on the previous year. The Government will continue to review the future requirements for flood defence maintenance investment as part of future Spending Reviews.

We have set out the potential impacts of Free Trade Agreements in our published Scoping Assessments for the US, Australia, New Zealand and CPTPP. An Impact Assessment has also been published on the recently signed agreement with Japan, which shows that it goes beyond the existing EU deal, providing a long-run boost to the UK economy of around £1.5bn, compared to a situation without the deal. Output in the North West and Wales could increase by £64 million and £34 million respectively.

The Motability scheme enables disabled people, their families and carers to lease a car using their disability benefit. The scheme is overseen by the independent charity Motability, and is not the responsibility of the Department for Transport.

The Department provides funding for the mobility centres across England which provide driving, passenger and wheelchair and scooter assessments. Driving Mobility, the charity which manages and accredits the centres, has a service level agreement in place with Motability for the provision of these assessments, and has reported no current issues with their availability.

We have taken decisive action to address the acute HGV driver shortage, with 30 specific measures taken by the Government already. These include providing support and training for new HGV drivers, expanding HGV driver testing capacity and improving licencing processes. We are also investing £32.5 million in improving roadside facilities for hauliers. We will continue to encourage the road haulage industry to make employment as an HGV driver more attractive.

The exchange of HGV licences for a UK equivalent is dependent on training, testing and licensing standards in the issuing country being equivalent to those in the UK. Applications for recognition are subject to assessment of testing and licensing standards, public consultation, introduction of legislation and agreement of reciprocity. Currently only EU/EEA, Swiss, Crown Dependency and Gibraltar HGV licences are recognised for exchange in the UK.

Our points-based immigration system makes clear that employers should focus on investing in our domestic workforce, rather than relying on labour from abroad.

The Department for Transport does not hold this information.

The maximum duration of two years between passing the theory test and a subsequent practical test is in place to ensure a candidate’s road safety knowledge and ability to identify developing hazards 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 road safety knowledge and hazard perception skills are up to date at the critical point a person drives unsupervised for the first time. Those with theory test certificates expiring now will have taken their test in early 2019. Since then, they have been unable to take lessons and practice for long periods of time, and not at all during recent lockdowns. It is difficult to maintain knowledge and understanding of driving theory at the level required during that time without being able to put it into practice. 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 preparation of new drivers, who are disproportionality represented in casualty statistics. Learners will therefore need to pass another theory test if their certificate expires.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s (DVLA) online services, including renewals for drivers over 70 are available and have continued to operate as normal throughout the pandemic.

DVLA is currently working with reduced staff on its site in Swansea to meet social distancing requirements. Paper applications are therefore taking longer to process as they must be dealt with in person.

As healthcare professionals are rightly focused on their response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the DVLA is experiencing delays where information is needed from medical professionals in order to make a licensing decision where a driver has declared a medical condition.

DWP plans resourcing according to forecasted telephony demand in an effort to keep wait times down. Wait time performance and forecasted demand is frequently reviewed, and where DWP’s telephony is delivered by an outsourced provider we use the Key Performance Indicator of percentage of calls answered which are published quarterly on gov.uk.

The technical issues referenced were identified, and DWP have taken the steps to correct them.

DWP provided a telephone response to the office of Gerald Jones MP on 5 September 2022 in relation to his constituent’s enquiry and a full written response has also been issued today.

The Department works closely with Motability, and is responsible for the disability benefits that provide a passport to the Motability Scheme. Motability is an independent charitable organisation that is wholly responsible for the terms and the administration of the Scheme, along with oversight of Motability Operations. Motability benefits from government support through tax concessions and the direct payment of mobility allowances.

There have been several external reports, including one by the National Audit Office (NAO) in December 2018, on the Motability Scheme. The Department agrees with the NAO’s finding that the Motability scheme provides an excellent service and that the Scheme is focused on delivering value for money. The Department continues to work with Motability the charity, who set the strategic policies and direction of the Scheme, to ensure that disabled people receive a value for money service with high standards for customer service.

The Department is unable to comment on waiting times for licence renewal as this is outside our remit.

The Department aims to respond to Hon. Member’s correspondence within 20 working days where possible, although complex issues may mean it will take longer.

All complaints and enquiries are investigated fully. A member of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Complaints team contacted your constituency office on 14^th July 2022 to provide an update and details of their investigations. They aim to provide a full response by Friday 22^nd July.