Asked by: Kate Kniveton (Conservative - Burton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure the rollout of gigabit broadband to (a) Croxden, (b) Marchington, (c) Denstone and (d) other rural areas of Burton constituency.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
We are investing £5 billion through Project Gigabit so people in hard-to-reach areas can get gigabit broadband. As part of Project Gigabit, we will be launching a regional supplier procurement in Staffordshire, covering Croxden, Marchington, Denstone, and other rural areas in Burton. The procurement will target premises that would not otherwise get gigabit broadband through suppliers’ commercial plans.
In preparation, we have conducted an Open Market Review and a Public Review across Staffordshire to survey suppliers’ delivery plans and shape the areas that require intervention. The procurement is scheduled to begin between September and November 2022, with a contract expected to be awarded between July and September 2023.
Eligible premises that are not included in the chosen supplier’s plans will be able to apply for subsidy via the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme, which provides a micro-grant of up to £1,500 for residents and up to £3,500 for businesses towards the cost of installing gigabit-capable broadband.
Constituents in Burton have made good use of the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme; to date, approximately 80 premises in the constituency have claimed and received payment for a voucher through the scheme, with approximately 200 further premises awaiting completion, for a combined value of over £550,000.
Asked by: Kate Kniveton (Conservative - Burton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department will take to ensure that the planned Deposit Return Scheme will be interoperable with schemes in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Defra officials continue to work closely with colleagues in devolved administrations to promote joint working wherever possible. However, as this is a devolved area of policy, the devolved administrations are in no way required to take the same approach we do.
Asked by: Kate Kniveton (Conservative - Burton)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when his Department plans to publish further details on how community groups and organisations will be able to sponsor refugees through the Homes for Ukraine scheme.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
At present, members of community groups and organisations can apply to be individual sponsors through the Homes for Ukraine scheme.
Asked by: Kate Kniveton (Conservative - Burton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when his Department plans to respond to the Criminal Injury Compensation Scheme Review 2020.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
I am grateful to all who took the time to contribute views to our consultation following a review of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme. Our proposals aim to make claiming compensation simpler and more accessible for victims of violent crime.
We are carefully reviewing responses and will aim to publish the Government’s response in due course.
Asked by: Kate Kniveton (Conservative - Burton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to review the proposals by Rights for Residents to introduce Gloria's Law on guaranteeing a legal right to a care supporter across health and care settings.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The Department is considering options to legislate for visiting in adult social care settings. The guidance states that visiting in care homes should not normally be restricted and during outbreaks all care home residents should be permitted one visitor inside the care home. Where residents and relatives have concerns that this guidance is not being followed, this should be raised with the care home in the first instance. The Care Quality Commission can also investigate such complaints. Any such legislation would have the same effect as these arrangements.
The Department does not currently intend to legislate on hospital visiting. Unlike in the care sector, NHS England’s national guidance sets expectations for hospital visiting. Where any issues relating to visiting arise, the Department can resolve with National Health Service colleagues to safely facilitate visiting.
Asked by: Kate Kniveton (Conservative - Burton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that schools are a safe environment for pupils.
Answered by Will Quince
Education is a powerful protective factor for young people. It plays a vital role in early intervention and prevention of the worst possible outcomes for young people, including involvement in county lines and serious violence.
The department’s statutory safeguarding guidance Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) contains extensive safeguarding advice, which all schools and colleges must have regard to when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. It contains advice about all forms of abuse and neglect including the indicators of these harms. KCSIE is clear that all staff should have an awareness of safeguarding issues that can put children at risk of harm.
The new statutory relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) curriculum was introduced in September 2020 with a focus on building respectful, healthy relationships, including ways of resolving conflict. Schools have the freedom to ensure the curriculum meets the need of their pupils which allows them to respond to local issues such as violence and exploitation, with high quality materials available to support teaching.
In addition to this wider work, we are investing £45 million in two new programmes, which are funding specialist support in both mainstream and alternative provision (AP) schools in the areas where serious violence is most damaging to local communities. The first of these are the Alternative Provision Specialist Taskforces, launched in November 2021, which involves specialists being drawn from across health, education, social care, youth services and youth justice to work directly with young people in AP settings.
The second programme is the SAFE (‘Support, Attend, Fulfil, Exceed’) Taskforces programme, launched earlier this year. SAFE Taskforces are being led by partnerships of local secondary schools in 10 serious violence hotspots with the aim of re-engaging young people in their education through intensive support, informed by the research on what works to prevent serious violence.
Asked by: Kate Kniveton (Conservative - Burton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle potential concerns about short-term food shortages resulting from decreasing global stocks and the war in Ukraine.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Kate Kniveton (Conservative - Burton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the recent increase in fertiliser prices on farming over the next five years.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Kate Kniveton (Conservative - Burton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to tackle worker shortages in the pig sector.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Defra continues to work closely with industry and other Government departments to understand labour supply and demand, including both permanent and seasonal workforce requirements, and to ensure there is a long-term strategy for the food and farming workforce, including for the pig sector. This includes a series of roundtable meetings hosted by Minister Prentis with stakeholders from across the pig sector supply chain.
Since January 2021 the Skilled Worker visa route has been open to all nationals who wish to come to the UK for the purpose of working in a skilled role – including those in butchery.
Last autumn the pig sector faced some specific challenges due to a combination of the COVID-19 pandemic, the loss of the Chinese export market for some processors, and access to labour issues. This included a shortage of skilled butchers which impacted the capacity of processors to kill and process pigs. In recognition of this, the Government announced in November 2021 that additional, temporary visas would be available for pork butchers to work in the UK for up to 6 months in addition to the existing Skilled Worker visa route. While applications for these temporary visas are now closed, pork butchers can remain in the UK for six months from the date their visa was granted.
In February 2022, the Home Office announced a series of visa concessions for temporary workers of Ukrainian nationality. Ukrainian nationals in temporary pork butcher jobs will have their leave in the UK extended to 31 December 2022 and will also be allowed to apply to the skilled worker route.
In addition, food and farming businesses can continue to rely on EU nationals living in the UK with settled or pre-settled status. Over 5.7 million EU citizens and their families have been granted status under the EU Settlement Scheme. EU nationals who have settled status can continue to travel to the UK for work in 2022 and beyond.
The Government also encourages the meat processing sector to pursue improvements to training offers, career options and wages to ensure that the sector draws on the large domestic labour pool in the UK, as well as investing in new technology across the industry.
To support these efforts Defra is working with industry and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to raise awareness of career opportunities within the food and farming sectors among UK workers.
Asked by: Kate Kniveton (Conservative - Burton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that food production (a) is maintained at and (b) exceeds its current 60 per cent self-sufficiency level.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain, as demonstrated throughout the COVID-19 response. It is well equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption. Our high degree of food security is built upon supply from diverse sources and strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. This provides us with the resilience we need in the face of risks such as adverse weather, animal or crop disease, or transport and border disruption.
Our production to supply ratio remains high in comparison with historical levels. We produce 60% of all the food we need, and 74% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year, and these figures have changed little over the last 20 years. The UK's year-round production includes cereals, meats, milk and some fresh produce. We have very high production to supply ratios in poultry, turnips, carrots, swedes, eggs and beef.
Additionally, Defra has well established ways of working with the industry and across Government to monitor risks that may arise. This includes extensive, regular and ongoing engagement in preparedness for, and response to, issues with the potential to cause disruption to food supply chains. We are also working closely with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, and the Secretaries of State have regular discussions about a range of issues including land use, planning and food production.
Recognising the importance of food production and security of supply, in the Agriculture Act 2020, the Government made a commitment to produce an assessment of our food security at least once every three years. The first UK Food Security Report, published in December 2021, considers the UK's food supply sources overall, noting that domestic production and diversity of supply are both important to our food security. The Report does not contain policy recommendations but will serve as an evidence base for future policy work.
Looking forward, the Food Strategy White Paper will set out Government's ambition for the food system.