Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 12 of the Fifth Special Report of Session 2022–23 of the Women and Equalities Committee entitled Black maternal health: Government Response to the Committee’s Third Report, published on 30 June 2023, HC 1611, what the outcome was of the scoping exercise undertaking by NHS England on (a) the implications of co-ordinating the Maternal Health Disparities review and (b) assessing how to bring relevant stakeholders together.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The scoping work, to fully understand the implications of co-ordinating this review and determining the best way to bring the relevant stakeholders together, has not yet started.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average turnaround time is for access codes to be checked when dealing with enquiries where a claimant is subject to Power of Attorney.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
When a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) application is registered and dispatched, the donor and attorneys also receive information containing an activation key. This activation key enables the donor and attorneys to create a gov.uk account for the ‘Use my LPA’ service. Using the service, donors and attorneys can create an access code and share it with third parties (e.g. banks, hospitals, other government departments). Third parties can then use the access code to view the LPA online and check if the LPA is valid or not.
The access code is valid for 30 days, after which point the donor or attorneys can request a new access code if the third party has not viewed the LPA during that period. The donor and/or attorneys can see online if the third party has viewed the LPA.
The ‘Use my LPA’ service which donors or attorneys use to create access codes is a live digital service. Third parties then using the code to view LPAs is also a live digital service. There are therefore no average turnaround times for needing to check access codes.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the impact delays in change of circumstance requests for Disability Living Allowance claims have on the welfare of those children and their families.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In certain cases, delays may occur due to the gathering of evidence from the NHS or Schools but, where possible, we are aiming to gather this from the parent/guardian of the child to expedite this. We have seen a significant increase in claims, which results in us deploying our people accordingly to ensure we manage service across the entire business.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2023 to Question 6204, what his planned timetable is for the 2024 review of the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund progress tracking takes place regularly. This includes reporting from local authorities who receive LEVI funding, which they are required to provide to the Department.
Alongside this regular monitoring, the first evaluation activities relating to the LEVI Fund commenced in late 2023, in the form of engagement with Capital Fund applicants. Upcoming evaluation activities include interviews with stakeholders and a follow up survey with Capital Fund applicants, Pilot and Capability Fund recipients. A final report later this year will summarise findings and will be published in accordance with the GSR Publication Protocol.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her planned timetable is for the completion of the long-term removal of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete in school buildings in cases where a (a) capital grant is provided and (b) rebuilding project is agreed.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The government is funding the removal of RAAC present in school and colleges either through grants, or through the School Rebuilding Programme. A list of education settings with confirmed RAAC and the funding route to remove RAAC was published on 8 February 2024, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reinforced-autoclaved-aerated-concrete-raac-management-information.
The longer-term requirements of each school or college will vary depending on the extent of the issue and nature and design of the buildings. Permanently removing RAAC may involve refurbishment of existing buildings such as replacing the roof or rebuilding affected buildings. For schools joining the School Rebuilding Programme, schools are prioritised for delivery according to the condition need of their buildings, readiness to proceed, and efficiency of delivery. For schools and colleges receiving grants, the department will work with the responsible bodies to support them through the grants process as they undertake the buildings works to remove RAAC permanently. The department is working with responsible bodies to take forward this work as quickly as possible.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of page four of the National Audit Office’s report entitled, Resilience to flooding, published on 15 November 2023; and for what reasons the Environment Agency has reduced its forecast of the number of additional properties that will be protected from flooding due to the capital programme.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra’s Permanent Secretary and the Environment Agency’s Chief Executive provided oral evidence at the Public Accounts Committee hearing on 27 November 2023, discussing the National Audit Office’s findings and recommendations. The Committee will publish a report in the new year, to which the Government will formally respond.
The investment programme has faced delivery challenges which the Government is taking action to mitigate. The effects of inflation have increased the cost of materials and labour to build flood defences, and impacts from Covid-19 delayed mobilisation of construction activity. These events were unforeseen when the programme was developed ahead of the funding being announced in March 2020. These issues have been felt across the entire construction sector. The Environment Agency therefore now forecasts the number of properties to be better protected by 2027 will reduce from 336,000 to 200,000, with the number of new flood defence projects reducing from approximately 2,000 to around 1,500. Ministers are considering this new forecast with the Environment Agency.
Despite challenges, at the end of March 2023, the Environment Agency estimated that approximately £1.5 billion of the current £5.2 billion programme for flood reduction has been invested. Over 67,000 properties have already been better protected from flooding since the start of the programme and projects are being delivered in every region, providing flooding protection across the country.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an estimate of the average length of time it takes for a person with Dementia to receive a completed care and support plan.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Information on the average length of time it takes for a person with dementia to receive a completed care and support plan is not collected centrally.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding for the roll out of fibre broadband.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As of January 2024, ThinkBroadband reports that over 80% of premises in the UK can now access a gigabit capable connection. To date, most of this rollout has been achieved by the commercial market.
Government acknowledges that there are premises that remain outside of the scope of the commercial build plans despite the commercial market going further than originally expected. These premises are some of the hardest and most expensive to reach in the UK and therefore require government subsidy if we are to achieve our ambition of nationwide gigabit coverage by 2030.
Project Gigabit is the government’s £5 billion investment in ensuring the premises which would otherwise be left out of commercial plans, get access to a gigabit capable connection. As of December 2023, we have 16 Project Gigabit contracts in place worth approximately £667 million of government subsidy. This, combined with the ongoing procurements equals more than £2 billion of investment to support the deployment of gigabit-capable broadband. We expect more procurements to go live and further contracts to be awarded and signed within the coming months.
For further updates on progress, including information on Project Gigabit procurements, Building Digital UK (BDUK) releases a quarterly update on progress towards our mission of nationwide coverage by 2030 with the latest being published in December 2023.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the waiting time is for replacement driving licences.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The average waiting time to process digital applications is typically around one day, if the transaction is successful, and casework or medical enquiries are not required. The average waiting time to process a straightforward paper application is around a week. For example, in December 2023, a replacement driving licence was issued within five working days.
Driving licence applications where a medical condition must be investigated before a licence can be issued can take longer because the DVLA is often reliant on receiving information from third parties, for example doctors or other healthcare professionals, before a decision can be made on whether to issue a licence.
It is important to note that the majority of applicants renewing an existing licence will be able to continue driving while their application is being processed, providing they have not been told not to drive by a doctor or optician.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of funding for Admiral Nurses.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No specific assessment has been made of the adequacy of funding for Admiral Nurses, who are developed and supported by Dementia UK as an independent charitable organisation. Provision of dementia health services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs). NHS England would expect ICBs to commission services, which may include Admiral Nurses, based on local population needs.