Asked by: Greg Clark (Conservative - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many meetings he had with his Department's Chief Scientific Adviser from (a) 1 March to 31 May 2021, (b) 1 June to 31 August 2021 and (c) 1 September to 30 November 2021.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Scotland Office does not have its own departmental Chief Scientific Adviser. Ministers of the Department regularly meet with a wide range of officials across Whitehall on a variety of issues.
Asked by: Greg Clark (Conservative - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many meetings she had with her Department's Chief Scientific Adviser from (a) 1 March to 31 May 2021, (b) 1 June to 31 August 2021 and (c) 1 September to 30 November 2021.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Ministers meet with Professor Jennifer Rubin, the Home Office Chief Scientific Adviser, as necessary during the process of policy development and delivery.
Asked by: Greg Clark (Conservative - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2021 to Question 43418, on Passports: Applications, what measures she has introduced to reduce processing times for applications.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Since the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 5 million people have chosen to delay applying for a passport. With the potential demand for passports higher than ever before, since April 2021 passport applicants have been advised to plan to wait up to 10 weeks before they receive their passport.
Her Majesty’s Passport Office has a range of tried and tested contingency arrangements available to help passport applications to be processed as quickly as possible during the periods of very highest demand, including the flexing of resources from across the Home Office and other government departments. However, there are no current plans to change the advice about how long to allow when applying for a passport until the level of potential demand returns closer to normal levels.
Asked by: Greg Clark (Conservative - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to help tackle the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s delays in dealing with applications arising from working from home, industrial action and recent increases in demand.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing staff who are working from home are mainly from support areas. These staff are fully productive and are not contributing to delays. Staff working from home is in line with Welsh Government guidance and allows the DVLA to maximise office space for operational staff processing paper applications as these roles cannot be carried out remotely.
The quickest and easiest way to make an application to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is by using its extensive suite of online services. There are no delays in successful online applications and customers should receive their documents within a few days.
However, many people still choose or have to make a paper application. The DVLA receives around 60,000 items of mail every day and industrial action by members of the Public and Commercial Services union has led to delays for customers. The DVLA has also been working with a significantly reduced number of staff on site to ensure social distancing in line with Welsh Government requirements.
The DVLA has introduced additional online services and is urgently securing extra office space to house more staff. This will help reduce waiting times while providing future resilience and business continuity.
The DVLA understands the impact that delays can have on people’s everyday lives and is working to process paper applications as quickly as possible.
Asked by: Greg Clark (Conservative - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to help improve communication between the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency and its customers.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has added new ways and updated existing methods to ensure clear communication for customers. A guidance is in place to advise customers of the latest processing times. To date, this page has had almost two million unique views. The information contained in this page is based on customer feedback and designed to help customers with their most common queries.
The DVLA regularly posts information on its social media channels signposting followers to different sources of information designed to help customers transact quickly and easily with DVLA. Since September 2020, the DVLA has run two communication campaigns targeted at encouraging customers to use the DVLA’s extensive suite of online services instead of a paper alternative as online services are not subject to delays. Content is regularly updated on GOV.UK and incorporates customer feedback.
Asked by: Greg Clark (Conservative - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 22 September 2021 to Question 50953 on Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency: Standards, what progress his Department has made in helping to improve the efficiency of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing staff who are working from home are mainly from support areas. These staff are fully productive and are not contributing to delays. Staff working from home is in line with Welsh Government guidance and allows the DVLA to maximise office space for operational staff processing paper applications as these roles cannot be carried out remotely.
The quickest and easiest way to make an application to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is by using its extensive suite of online services. There are no delays in successful online applications and customers should receive their documents within a few days.
However, many people still choose or have to make a paper application. The DVLA receives around 60,000 items of mail every day and industrial action by members of the Public and Commercial Services union has led to delays for customers. The DVLA has also been working with a significantly reduced number of staff on site to ensure social distancing in line with Welsh Government requirements.
The DVLA has introduced additional online services and is urgently securing extra office space to house more staff. This will help reduce waiting times while providing future resilience and business continuity.
The DVLA understands the impact that delays can have on people’s everyday lives and is working to process paper applications as quickly as possible.
Asked by: Greg Clark (Conservative - Tunbridge Wells)
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 unmet demand for NHS dentistry in Tunbridge Wells constituency.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department has not made an assessment of unmet need for Dentistry in Tunbridge Wells. NHS England has a duty to assess and commission services to meet the need for National Health Service dentistry in all areas of England.
Asked by: Greg Clark (Conservative - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to his oral response to the Urgent Question from the hon. Member for Barnsley East of 8 February 2021, Official Report, column 37, on UK Shellfish Exports, what progress his Department has made on that matter; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
In 2019 correspondence between the UK CVO and the EU Commission, the Commission assured us that aquaculture Live Bivalve Molluscs (LBMs) for purification could be exported to the EU after the end of the Transition period. We understood that there would be a temporary export ban on wild harvested LBMs only, pending the introduction of new European Health Certificates (EHCs) in April 2021. The relevant correspondence was placed in the House of Commons library on 17 February. Following the end of the transition period, the Commission stated that LBMs from GB class B waters cannot be imported to the EU for purification. It is unacceptable that the Commission has changed its position regarding the export of live bivalve molluscs from Class B waters. There is no scientific or technical justification for this, and it is already impacting businesses on both sides of the channel. Defra intends to raise this issue through the SPS Committee under the TCA, now that the agreement has been ratified.
Defra officials have continued to engage with the Shellfish Association of Great Britain and individual businesses to understand the impacts of this issue and adaptation options. The number of businesses experiencing significant direct impacts is small, but those impacts are extensive. The UK Government provided up to £23m in early 2021 through the Seafood Response Scheme (SRF) and Seafood Disruption Support Scheme. The SRF provided fixed cost support for eligible seafood business across the UK. Some LBM businesses benefitted from grants of up to £10k. In addition, £32.7m was committed to replace previous European seafood funding across the UK. In England the Fisheries and Seafood Scheme launched in April 2021. This scheme is open to shellfish fishers, cultivators, and processors, including those wishing to invest in infrastructure to help them adapt to new markets.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has considered proposals from industry for changes to the process for classifying shellfish harvesting areas. The FSA agreed there was scope for improvement and, as a first step has reviewed its approach for Class A beds. The FSA is extending the criteria for excluding E. coli testing results that are uncharacteristically higher than those usually seen in an area. These changes will help ensure decisions affecting classification of harvesting areas are proportionate, provide appropriate levels of public health protection, and remain compliant with the legislation in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The FSA advises that there is no added risk to consumers from the changes. It has applied rigorous scientific evidence so public health will continue to be protected. In addition, the FSA has reviewed monitoring data for borderline Class B areas and, to date, 20 shellfish harvesting areas in England and Wales have been awarded Class A status for all or part of the year. These changes and updated classifications have the potential to impact a small number of individual harvesting areas and exports to the EU, illustrating the Government's commitment to support businesses while maintaining the existing high standards of consumer protection.
Asked by: Greg Clark (Conservative - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to publish a response to the consultation on carer's leave, which closed on 3 August 2020.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government is committed to delivering the manifesto commitment to introduce a new right of an additional week of leave for unpaid carers.
The consultation on Carer’s Leave ran from March to August 2020, setting out detailed policy proposals to create a new employment right for one week’s unpaid leave. The consultation received a significant number of responses, demonstrating the importance of this issue.
The Government response to the consultation will be published in due course, setting out the way forward.
Asked by: Greg Clark (Conservative - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the performance of Urbaser Ltd in respect of (a) local authority refuse and recycling collections and (b) street cleaning.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has made no assessment of the performance of Urbaser Ltd or any other waste company in respect of local authority refuse and recycling collections or street cleaning.
Local councils are responsible for keeping their public land clear of litter and refuse. It is up to councils to decide how best to meet their statutory duty to keep their relevant land clear of litter and refuse.