Asked by: James Davies (Conservative - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the 10 Year Cancer Plan will include provisions on expanding system infrastructure to deliver innovative cancer treatment such as radioligand therapy.
Answered by James Morris
I refer the hon. Members to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for St Albans (Daisy Cooper MP) on 19 July 2022 to Question 33937.
Asked by: James Davies (Conservative - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to increase public access to (a) first aid kits and (b) defibrillators in public locations.
Answered by James Morris
With St John Ambulance, NHS England is co-ordinating skills development to increase the use of automated external defibrillators by individuals in community settings, supported by confident cardiopulmonary resuscitation skills. This will include a national network of community advocates to champion the importance of first aid and training 60,000 people to save up to 4,000 lives each year by 2028.
The Government encourages organisations in England to consider purchasing a defibrillator as part of first-aid equipment, in particular for locations where there are high concentrations of people. Many community defibrillators have since been provided through national lottery funding, community fundraising schemes, workplace funding or by charities in public locations, such as shopping centres.
Asked by: James Davies (Conservative - Vale of Clwyd)
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 make its policy to introduce a Great British rainforests strategy.
Answered by Steve Double
The international importance of temperate rainforests (also termed Atlantic woodland) in supporting rare and threatened species has been recognised in domestic biodiversity policy for many decades. Many temperate rainforests are protected by existing policy. Many are ancient woodlands, which are protected from development in all but wholly exceptional circumstances. We have also committed in the England Trees Action Plan to increase protections in the planning system for long established woodland in situ since 1840. Many of our temperate rainforests support rich assemblages of species and are in our series of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). SSSI selection guidelines for woodlands are focused on securing a representative series rather than protecting every example.
This government has made a world-leading commitment to halt the decline in nature by 2030, which will rely on the restoration and creation of habitats across the country. This will be supported by funding from the Nature for Climate Fund, future farming schemes including Landscape Recovery, and new funds such as the Big Nature Impact Fund. We will consider, while designing and rolling out these schemes, how they might support the protection and restoration of certain types of woodlands including ‘temperate rainforest’. We also provide financial support to the buffering and expansion of valuable woodlands such as temperate rainforests through the England Woodland Creation Offer, and funding for the improvement and restoration of temperate rainforest sites through the Regional Restoration Funds.
We are currently working on the revision of the 25 Year Environment Plan, the next Environmental Improvement Plan, due January 2023. This is the overarching strategy for the environment, as set out in the Environment Act, and where relevant we will consider the role of temperate rainforest in helping to meet our substantial environmental commitments.
Forestry policy is devolved, so the protection and restoration of temperate rainforests outside England is a matter for the devolved authorities.
Asked by: James Davies (Conservative - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to include temperate rainforest restoration in its Landscape Recovery pilot projects.
Answered by Steve Double
Landscape Recovery will provide funding for long-term, large-scale projects to enhance habitats and deliver land-use change with a focus on biodiversity, water quality and net zero. This could include projects that plan to restore woodland or temperate rainforest.
Applications for the first round of Landscape Recovery pilots closed on 24 May. We are currently assessing the 51 bids received and will confirm which projects have been selected later this summer.
We intend to launch a second round of pilot projects next year and will confirm the proposed focus for that round later this year.
Asked by: James Davies (Conservative - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much and what proportion of the £30 million Big Nature Impact Fund his Department plans to use to protect and restore Britain’s temperate rainforests.
Answered by Steve Double
The Government is working to design a new Big Nature Impact Fund, which we propose should focus investments on the creation or restoration of carbon-rich biodiverse habitats, primarily native woodlands and restored peatlands. This could include projects involving temperate rainforest should they apply. In line with the Fund's aims to develop environmental markets, investments will only be made in projects capable of generating revenue from ecosystem services.
Asked by: James Davies (Conservative - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress her Department has made on delivering the Beating Crime Plan.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
We are making great strides in delivering our plan to drive down crime.
We have recruited over 13,500 additional police officers, expanded our network of violence reduction units and hotspot policing to target those areas worst-affected by serious violence, and continued our relentless effort to degrade and dismantle the county lines drug-dealing model.
Asked by: James Davies (Conservative - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to maximise UK content in its future vessel orders.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh set out the 30-year cross-Government shipbuilding pipeline. It is a substantial opportunity to create a baseline of volume to encourage industry investment in facilities, infrastructure, innovation and skills. The National Shipbuilding Office will seek to maximise the opportunity for UK industry in this pipeline, wherever our procurement law and international obligations allow, by championing UK shipbuilding, ensuring that our procurements deliver on the policy objectives set out in the National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh and creating opportunity for UK shipbuilders wherever possible.
In addition, for Ministry of Defence (MOD) vessels a minimum of 20% weighting for Social Value will be applied to ensure our investments leave a lasting legacy. MOD retains the right, subject to National security needs, to commission ships to be built in UK yards as we have done with type 26 and type 31.
The Refresh also recognises that the value of the shipbuilding sector goes well beyond just building hulls and is spread throughout the entire supporting supply chain. The National Shipbuilding Office will therefore work to encourage UK content for all parts of the shipbuilding enterprise, including: refit and repair, the through-life support to sustain our ships; the battle-winning technologies, systems and sub-systems which underpin our capability; and across the supply chain.
Asked by: James Davies (Conservative - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has for the National Shipbuilding Office to work in partnership with industry.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The National Shipbuilding Office (NSO) is already working closely with industry and will continue to do so through the implementation of the National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh. The key forum to do this will be through the Shipbuilding Enterprise for Growth (SEG), an integrated and collaborative community with membership from across the UK shipbuilding enterprise. The SEG will be co-chaired by the NSO's Chief Executive Officer and the Director of the Society of Maritime Industries. It will identify opportunities for members to work together, outside of any competitive procurement processes, to take action which will deliver tangible improvements to the shipbuilding enterprise. In addition, the first industry secondee has recently joined the NSO, with further secondees expected to join in the near future.
Asked by: James Davies (Conservative - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to support victims of domestic abuse.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
We are building on the landmark Domestic Abuse Act to improve victims services, to ensure that victims can secure justice in our courts and to pursue perpetrators ruthlessly.
Victim support funding is rising to £185 million by 2024/25, including increasing the number of Independent Sexual and Domestic Abuse Advisors to more than 1000 and we are extending the time limit for prosecuting domestic abuse-related common assaults to help victims secure justice.
The government’s focus on this most hidden and pernicious of crimes will continue with the publication of our Domestic Abuse Strategy in the coming months.
Asked by: James Davies (Conservative - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to help ensure that people who have their driving tests cancelled can re-book an appointment in a timely manner.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) recognises the high demand for learners wanting to take their practical driving test following the suspension of routine driver training and testing during the pandemic.
The DVSA understands how disappointing it is when driving tests are cancelled and therefore will only cancel appointments as an absolute last resort. Those affected by cancellations will automatically be offered a new appointment at the original test centre on the next earliest date available.
The DVSA is working hard to provide as many practical driving test appointments as possible and has a number of measures in place to do this. These include offering a national recovery allowance and annual leave buy back to examiners, asking all those qualified to conduct tests, but who do not do so as part of their current day job, to return to conducting tests, and conducting out of hours testing (such as on public holidays and weekends).
The DVSA is also continuing with its campaign to recruit more driving examiners across Great Britain and further increase availability of driving test appointments.