Asked by: Jared O'Mara (Independent - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to support prisoners who have mental health issues; and whether his Department has plans to expand the provision of such support.
Answered by Rory Stewart
We take mental health issues very seriously and are committed to working closely with health partners to ensure that offenders are able to access the treatment and support required for their mental health needs. Providing the right interventions at the right time is vital to improving outcomes. Liaison & Diversion services place clinical staff at police stations and courts, to provide assessments and referrals to treatment and support. They also provide critical information to decision-makers in the justice system, so that decisions and sentences can be tailored to meet their needs. Liaison and Diversion services continue to be rolled out across England, and were at 82% at the end of March 2018. Full roll out is expected by 2020-21. For those in custody, NHS England are responsible for commissioning and delivering health services in prisons in England. In Wales, healthcare is devolved to the Welsh Government. However, we recognise the importance of the prison environment on enabling better health outcomes. To June 2018, we have recruited an additional 3,653 frontline prison officers who will help improve prison regimes and access to healthcare. This will also enable us to implement the key worker role, giving staff dedicated time to provide one-to-one support to individual prisoners and, for example, identify where mental health support may be needed. We are also working to improve prison staff training around mental health, including providing revised suicide and self-harm prevention training. Over 17,000 prison staff have completed at least one module of the revised suicide and self-harm prevention training. We are currently reviewing the mental health element of the Prison Officer Entry Level Training (POELT) to ensure it provides staff with the knowledge and confidence to recognise and respond appropriately to new or unreported mental health problems, or to recognise when existing problems are deteriorating. We have awarded grant of £500k a year, for the next three years, to the Samaritans to enable the continuation of their excellent Listeners Scheme. |
Asked by: Jared O'Mara (Independent - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans his Department has to ensure that there is a secure supply of gas for residents of (a) England and (b) Sheffield Hallam in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by Claire Perry
Maintaining security of supply is a top priority. The Government has been implementing a significant programme of work to ensure the UK will be ready for EU Exit in all scenarios, including in the unlikely event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal. Even with an unlikely ‘no deal’ outcome, the mechanisms of cross-border gas trading are not expected to fundamentally change for the UK and so we expect no material impact on security of supply. Government has set out in a technical notice how cross-border gas trading may be impacted in the unlikely event of a no deal Brexit.
Asked by: Jared O'Mara (Independent - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans his Department has to ensure that there is a secure supply of electricity for residents of (a) England and (b) Sheffield Hallam in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by Claire Perry
Maintaining security of supply is a top priority. The Government has been implementing a significant programme of work to ensure the UK will be ready for EU Exit in all scenarios, including in the unlikely event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal. The Government is working with Ofgem and National Grid to ensure security of supply following EU Exit utilising existing measures such as the Capacity Market. Government has set out in a technical notice how cross-border trade and supply of electricity may be impacted in the unlikely event of a No Deal.
Asked by: Jared O'Mara (Independent - Sheffield, Hallam)
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 ensure that there is a secure medicine supply for hospitals in (a) England and (b) Sheffield in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
On 23 August 2018, the Department wrote to a number of pharmaceutical companies that supply the United Kingdom with medicines from, or via, the European Union/European Economic Area, asking them to ensure they have a minimum of six weeks’ additional supply in the United Kingdom, over and above their business as usual operational buffer stocks, by 29 March 2019 in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Since writing to pharmaceutical companies, we have received good engagement from the industry who share our aims in ensuring continuity of medicines supply is maintained for patients across the UK. The Department continues to work closely with these companies to ensure that their UK stockpiles of medicines are sufficient to cope with any potential delays at the border that may arise in the short term in a no-deal Brexit scenario.
Asked by: Jared O'Mara (Independent - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his Department has to ensure that there is a secure supply of food for residents of (a) England and (b) Sheffield Hallam in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We firmly believe it is in the interests of both the EU and the UK to strike a deal. That remains the goal on both sides and we are confident that this will be achieved. But it is the job of a responsible Government to prepare for all scenarios, including the unlikely event that we reach March 2019 without agreeing a deal. We have already carried out very significant ‘no deal’ preparations and we are now stepping up the pace, including publishing a series of technical notices so that businesses and citizens have time to prepare.
The government has well established ways of working with the food industry to mitigate possible disruption and we will be using these to support preparations for leaving the EU.
The UK has a high degree of food security, built on access to a range of sources including strong domestic production and imports from third countries. Consumers will continue to have access to a range of different products when we leave the EU.
Asked by: Jared O'Mara (Independent - Sheffield, Hallam)
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 ensure that there is a secure medicine supply for hospitals in (a) England and (b) Sheffield in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
On 23 August 2018, the Department wrote to a number of pharmaceutical companies that supply the United Kingdom with medicines from, or via, the European Union/European Economic Area, asking them to ensure they have a minimum of six weeks’ additional supply in the United Kingdom, over and above their business as usual operational buffer stocks, by 29 March 2019 in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Since writing to pharmaceutical companies, we have received good engagement from the industry who share our aims in ensuring continuity of medicines supply is maintained for patients across the UK. The Department continues to work closely with these companies to ensure that their UK stockpiles of medicines are sufficient to cope with any potential delays at the border that may arise in the short term in a no-deal Brexit scenario.
Asked by: Jared O'Mara (Independent - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what plans his Department has to support businesses that export to the EU in the event that that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department for International Trade has carried out significant preparations for a ‘no deal’ scenario, and alongside other Departments has published technical notices to guide businesses on preparing for this eventuality. Our technical notices cover trade remedies, export control regulation, and trade agreement continuity, as well as a further technical notice on tariffs which we published jointly with HMRC and HMT. We are also preparing the Department to provide business-friendly answers to EU Exit enquiries on areas within our competence. Together with other Departments we are ensuring that businesses can access Government information on EU Exit online.
Businesses, including current exporters to the EU, will benefit from the Department for International Trade’s strong offer regardless of the outcome of Brexit negotiations. This offer includes impartial export advice from International Trade Advisors, our overseas network with a presence in 108 countries, and access to digital services that sit on our great.gov.uk platform.
Asked by: Jared O'Mara (Independent - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what plans his Department has to support businesses that export to the EU in the event that that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department for International Trade has carried out significant preparations for a ‘no deal’ scenario, and alongside other Departments has published technical notices to guide businesses on preparing for this eventuality. Our technical notices cover trade remedies, export control regulation, and trade agreement continuity, as well as a further technical notice on tariffs which we published jointly with HMRC and HMT. We are also preparing the Department to provide business-friendly answers to EU Exit enquiries on areas within our competence. Together with other Departments we are ensuring that businesses can access Government information on EU Exit online.
Businesses, including current exporters to the EU, will benefit from the Department for International Trade’s strong offer regardless of the outcome of Brexit negotiations. This offer includes impartial export advice from International Trade Advisors, our overseas network with a presence in 108 countries, and access to digital services that sit on our great.gov.uk platform.
Asked by: Jared O'Mara (Independent - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to replace potential lost funding for universities as a result of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
We remain confident that we will agree a mutually advantageous deal with the EU – we do not want or expect a no deal scenario. It is, however, the duty of a responsible government to continue to prepare for a range of potential outcomes, including the unlikely event of no deal. Extensive work to prepare for this scenario has been under way for almost two years and we are taking the necessary steps to ensure the country continues to operate smoothly from the day we leave. We have now published 106 specific technical notices – including on Horizon 2020 and Erasmus+ – to help businesses, universities, citizens and consumers prepare for a no deal scenario.
In the event of a no deal scenario the government’s underwrite guarantee will cover funding for successful competitive bids to Horizon 2020 submitted before exit day. In July 2018, we extended this guarantee to cover all successful competitive bids by UK entities to Horizon 2020 calls open to third country participation submitted between exit day and the end of 2020. The guarantee will apply for the lifetime of qualifying projects, even where this extends beyond 2020.
The government will cover funding for successful Erasmus+ bids from UK organisations that are submitted while the UK is still a Member State, even if they are not approved until after we leave. The government will need to reach agreement with the EU for UK organisations to continue participating in Erasmus+ projects and is seeking to hold these discussions with the EU. The government has also extended the underwrite guarantee to cover the payment of awards under successful Erasmus+ bids submitted post-March 2019 until the end of 2020. The eligibility of UK organisations to participate in calls for bids once the UK is no longer a Member State is subject to agreement between the EU and the UK.
Asked by: Jared O'Mara (Independent - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Hope Valley Capacity Scheme, whether Network Rail has plans to make available increased capacity to provide additional diversionary routes during the TransPennine upgrade.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The use of the additional capacity created by the Hope Valley Capacity scheme will be determined by the franchise specifier, the Rail North Partnership. Diversionary routes for the proposed Transpennine Route Upgrade will be part of the next phase of planning once the scope is agreed.