Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and The Weald)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to reduce the tax on draught (a) beer and (b) cider.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At Spring Budget 2024, the Chancellor announced that alcohol duty would be frozen until 1 February 2025 to support alcohol producers, pubs, and consumers with cost of living pressures.
This extends the six months freeze the Government announced at Autumn Statement 2023, providing businesses time to adapt to the new duty system introduced on 1 August 2023.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and The Weald)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of making mental health first aid a compulsory component of teacher training.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department is committed to ensuring that all pupils can reach their potential and receive excellent support from their teachers. The Teachers’ Standards set clear expectations that teachers must understand the needs of all pupils, including those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). To be awarded qualified teacher status trainees must demonstrate that they have met all the Teachers’ Standards at the appropriate level. This includes the requirement that all teachers must have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils. Early career teachers (ECTs) are also assessed against the Teachers’ Standards to pass their induction.
Both the Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Core Content Framework (CCF) and Early Career Framework (ECF) set out the core body of knowledge, skills and behaviours that define great teaching for new teachers and must be incorporated into ITT courses and ECF-based programmes, which includes content on SEND and adaptive teaching. Courses and programmes should be appropriate for the context in which the teacher is or will be working; for some, this will already include content on mental health. It is incumbent on providers to determine the full curriculum, including how to ensure coverage of everything necessary within limited training time.
Following a review of the CCF and ECF in 2023, the updated and combined ITT and ECF (ITTECF) was published on 30 January 2024, for delivery from September 2025. The review paid particular attention to the needs of new teachers when supporting pupils with SEND. There is now significantly more content related to adaptive teaching and supporting pupils with SEND. The department has included new content on teachers knowing who to contact to provide support with any pupil mental health concerns.
The department has also committed to offer all state schools and colleges in England a grant to train a senior mental health lead (SMHL) by 2025, enabling them to introduce effective whole school or college approaches to mental health and wellbeing. This training covers the range of mental health issues likely to be encountered in schools and colleges and the risk factors associated with specific groups. Over 15,100 settings that have claimed a grant so far, including more than 7 in 10 state-funded secondary schools. More information on the grant can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/promoting-children-and-young-peoples-emotional-health-and-wellbeing.
To expand access to early mental health support, the department is continuing to roll out Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) to schools and colleges. These teams deliver evidence-based interventions for mild-to-moderate mental health issues and support SMHLs with their whole school approach. As of April 2023, MHSTs covered 35% of pupils in schools and learners in further education in England, with coverage planned to extend to at least 50% by the end of March 2025.
Mental wellbeing is also part of the statutory Health Education curriculum. For example, pupils are taught to recognise and talk about their emotions, and how to seek support. The department has published a support package on GOV.UK, including content specifically on teaching about mental health and wellbeing.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and The Weald)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department is taking steps to support the separated parents of children who are not the parent in receipt of (a) child benefit and (b) carers allowance.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The government has a range of policies which support children and families across the tax and benefits system and public services. Independent, free and anonymous benefit calculators are available to help individuals understand what benefits they may be entitled to. Benefits calculators - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and The Weald)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to have discussions with the General Dental Council on (a) reforms to the overseas registration exam and (b) steps the Council can take to (i) make use of the new powers granted to it by the Government and (ii) increase capacity of the dentistry workforce.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department meets regularly with the General Dental Council (GDC) to discuss registration processes for dentists with overseas qualifications. We welcome the GDC’s recent announcements that it is increasing the number of places available to sit the Overseas Registration Exam (ORE). The GDC has tripled the number of places on sittings of ORE Part 1 for all sittings from August 2023 to the end of 2024. The GDC has also added an additional sitting of ORE Part 2 in 2024, bringing the total number of sittings up to four.
Earlier this year, the GDC carried out a public consultation on its proposals for international registration routes for dentists which include further increasing the capacity of the ORE while developing broader policy on international registration. The consultation also called for evidence to inform longer term plans for the assessment of international qualifications and registration, including the potential future structure of the ORE, and alternative routes to recognition that may enable overseas-qualified dentists to join the GDC’s register more quickly. The GDC will be publishing the outcome of its consultation shortly.
The Department will continue to work with the GDC to ensure overseas registration processes are optimised.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and The Weald)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to improve patient access to GP appointments.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
We recognise that despite the hard work of general practice (GP) teams, some patients are still struggling to access care in a timely way. That is why we have published our Delivery Plan for Recovering Access to Primary Care. The plan has two central ambitions: to tackle the 8am rush and reduce the number of people struggling to contact their practice, and for patients to know on the day they contact their practice how their request will be managed.
We will achieve this by rolling out new digital tools and telephone systems which can help practices to better match their capacity to patient demand, backed by £240 million in retargeted funding. The plan also includes further measures to empower patients to do more themselves, cut bureaucracy for GPs and build capacity to deliver more appointments; and we are investing at least £1.5 billion to create an additional 50 million general practice appointments by 2024 by increasing and diversifying the workforce.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and The Weald)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to reallocate funds allocated to HS2 in the South East to projects in Maidstone and the Weald constituency.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
We are investing in transport across the country, with £6.5bn of reallocated HS2 funds being invested outside of the North and Midlands. This includes the extension of the £2 bus fare cap until the end of 2024 and billions to fix potholes in our roads, as well as road and rail upgrades and improvements.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and The Weald)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that local authority contracts are (a) awarded following fair processes and (b) represent value for money.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Local authorities are independent statutory bodies accountable to their electorate.
As public bodies, councils are subject to Procurement Contract Regulations (2015), which, subject to the will of Parliament, will be replaced as set out in the Transforming Public Procurement Bill.
The overarching aim of procurement regulations is to ensure open, fair, proportionate and transparent processes are adhered to. At the heart of procurement regulations is achieving value for money. Local authorities contract within these legal frameworks and are themselves responsible for evaluating and delivering value for money on behalf of their local residents.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and The Weald)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take with Cabinet colleagues to help support people with obsessive compulsive disorder in (a) the workplace and (b) other public settings.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We are continuing to work across Government to address the social, economic and environmental causes of mental ill health. We are currently working with stakeholders to develop a tool which will potentially better support policymakers across Whitehall to examine the impact of their proposals on mental health, including obsessive compulsive disorder.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and The Weald)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether it remains her policy to ban the use of electric shock collars on cats and dogs in England.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
We remain committed to introducing a ban on electronic collars controlled by hand-held devices that deliver an electric shock to cats or dogs. Parliamentary business will be scheduled and announced in the usual way.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and The Weald)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Responsible Dog Ownership working group has made recommendations on additional measures to reduce dog attacks.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
We are currently working in partnership with the police, local authorities and animal welfare organisations to address all aspects of tackling irresponsible dog ownership effectively, from prevention to robust, consistent enforcement, focussing on owners as well as on their dogs. Conclusions from this work are expected later this year.