Asked by: Karen Lumley (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many charitable trusts that specialise in supporting people who have received contaminated blood are solely funded by Government grants.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
There are currently three charities that support those infected with HIV and hepatitis C infection through National Health Service supplied blood and blood products, namely; the Eileen Trust, the Caxton Foundation and the McFarlane Trust. However, these trusts are funded through allocations directed by annual letters from the Department rather than Government grants.
Asked by: Karen Lumley (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has had discussions with the Department for Education on making schools hubs for sport in the community.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
Schools play an important role in the community, and ensuring that both school and community facilities are available and accessible is of mutual benefit to all.
Sport England’s Use Our Schools resource encourages more schools to open up their facilities for community use and to help those already open to stay open. To develop its insight into the way schools use the resource and share it with other schools, Sport England is measuring levels of take up and engagement and will publish these in an impact report. DCMS and Sport England are working with the Department for Education to ensure that schools are aware of the relevant guidance.
Asked by: Karen Lumley (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of new housing being developed in Worcestershire in the next three years which will be specifically reserved for first-time buyers.
Answered by Lord Barwell
We do not hold such information. Through the National Planning Policy Framework we ask local councils to use their Local Plans to meet the full, objectively assessed needs for all types of housing in their areas.
We have consulted on a 20% Starter Homes requirement for suitable housing sites of 10 units or more (or 0.5 hectares or more) for the regulations under the Housing and Planning Act 2016. We are considering the responses and will set out our future plans for housing in the forthcoming White Paper.
Asked by: Karen Lumley (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that new housing developments support economic growth and increase job creation in Worcestershire.
Answered by Lord Barwell
An extra £5.3 billion of funding for housing was announced at Autumn Statement, taking total planned investment to over £25 billion for the Spending Review period. This funding will support construction jobs, but also wider economic growth. Building more of the right homes, in the right places, is central to our vision of a country that works for everyone. Further details will be set out in the government’s forthcoming Housing White Paper.
Asked by: Karen Lumley (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if his Department will take steps to ensure that (a) financially vulnerable and (b) less mobile members of society are not disadvantaged by any increase in journey times between points of (i) primary and (ii) acute health care services.
Answered by Philip Dunne
Determining the location of services is a matter for clinical commissioning groups based on their clinical expertise and the providers in their local health economy.
Patient transport services are available to meet an individual’s transport needs where this is clinically appropriate and the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme supports those on low incomes or in receipt of qualifying benefits.
Asked by: Karen Lumley (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of High Speed 2 on the (a) speed and (b) efficiency of travel for people travelling within the Midlands; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Andrew Jones
HS2 will transform connectivity between the Midlands, London and the North. Within the Midlands it will deliver journey times of 20 minutes between Birmingham and the new East Midlands Hub; and of 37 minutes between Birmingham and Nottingham (a 32 minute reduction).
HS2 will also: improve rail service reliability; enable a higher frequency of services; improve capacity (including by enabling more commuter services into Birmingham) and improve access to Birmingham airport.
Asked by: Karen Lumley (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that young adults from rural communities have the digital skills and experience required to enter the modern workforce.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The Government recognises the increasing importance of basic digital skills to get on in life and in work. Digital skills training forms part of the provision funded by the Government through the £1.5billion-a-year Adult Education Budget. Colleges and other providers have the flexibility to use funding from that budget to respond to local need. Study towards a qualification in a digital-related subject can form part of the fee-free training available to young adults aged 19-23 who do not yet have a full Level 2 or Level 3 qualification. Digital skills training up to Level 2 may also be provided free of charge to unemployed adults aged 19 and over, where it is needed to improve their prospects of gaining employment. The Digital Economy Bill, currently before Parliament, contains a measure that would introduce a statutory duty on the Secretary of State to ensure that study for specified digital basic skills is free of charge for adults who do not have an equivalent qualification.
Asked by: Karen Lumley (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the level of reoffending by former prisoners (a) who have had mental health treatments and (b) in general.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
We know that people with mental health problems are disproportionately represented in the Criminal Justice System, and these conditions require treatment. In our Prison Safety and Reform White Paper published earlier this month, we set out how we will also work with NHS England, Public Health England and the Welsh Government to improve measurement of mental health outcomes. We are committed to meeting the mental health needs of prisoners. All prisons have procedures in place to identify, manage and support people with mental health issues.
Too many prisoners currently go on to reoffend - almost half of all prisoners are reconvicted within a year of release. The cost of reoffending by former prisoners is estimated to be up to £15 billion a year. To tackle this, we are embarking on the most far-reaching prison reforms for a generation. Reforms that will transform how our prisons are run and give prisoners the skills they need to become law-abiding citizens when they are released.
General rates of reoffending are available at www.gov.uk.
Asked by: Karen Lumley (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to her speech of 3 November 2016, on prison reform, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the new 2,500 prison officers are from diverse backgrounds.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
We are determined to attract a diversity of applicants when recruiting to operational and other roles and have put in place a range of measures to increase the potential for this. These include: anonymised selection of candidates for interview, a drive to have diverse interview panels and for all interviewers to undertake training to identify and avoid unconscious bias in the selection of candidates.
Asked by: Karen Lumley (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of body-worn cameras in preventing harassment and abuse of police officers.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Whilst the Home Office fully supports the police exploiting technology to help cut crime wherever possible, the assessment of the effectiveness of body-worn cameras in preventing harassment and abuse of police officers is an operational consideration for policing.