Asked by: Louise Ellman (Independent - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, pursuant to the Answer of 19 June 2019 to Question 261477 on Equality Act 2010, when she plans to start the consultation with local authorities; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Question 261477 refers to the commencement of Section 36 of the Equality Act 2010. Some parts of Section 36 of the Equality Act 2010 were commenced following Royal Assent to that Act. In March 2018, the Government announced its intention to commence the remaining parts of Section 36, which will enable disabled tenants to require that landlords and building owners to make reasonable adjustments to the common parts of dwellings, such as entry points, landings and stairs.
The Government is already consulting with local authorities to help identify and quantify any additional burdens this may have. A commencement date will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Louise Ellman (Independent - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will conduct an investigation on the delays in the completion of the new Royal Liverpool University Hospital; and will he make a statement.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
Following the collapse of Carillion, the Government agreed to support both the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospital Trust’s decision to end its private finance initiative deal, and also the Trust’s activities to arrange for the completion of the construction of the new hospital.
The Trust is currently working closely with the replacement contractor Laing O’Rourke and external advisers in undertaking a fully costed assessment of all the works needed to complete the new Royal Liverpool hospital. This assessment will be set out in a business case, which the trust intends to submit to NHS Improvement and the Department for approval soon. In the meantime, preparation work is already underway by Laing O’Rourke.
NHS Improvement and the Department are liaising closely with the trust to ensure that the hospital is completed as soon as is possible.
Asked by: Louise Ellman (Independent - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, when she plans to implement section 36 of the Equality Act 2010; and will she make a statement.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Some parts of Section 36 of the Equality Act 2010 were commenced following Royal Assent to that Act. In March 2018, the Government announced its intention to commence the remaining parts of Section 36 in its response to the Women and Equalities Select Committee report on disability and the built environment. A commencement date will be announced in due course, after further work to identify and assess any additional burdens on local authorities.
Asked by: Louise Ellman (Independent - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the Sudanese authorities on its response to pro-democracy protesters in that country; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
As we made clear alongside Troika partners (US and Norway) on 4 June, we condemn the violent attacks by Sudanese security forces against peaceful protestors in Sudan last week, which left many civilians dead or injured. The Foreign Secretary reiterated this in his statement on 6 June, which also called for the full restoration of the internet and freedom of the media. The UK has called for the human rights of all Sudanese people to be respected and for the resumption of the political process with the protestors and the opposition, and an agreed transfer of power to a civilian-led government, as demanded by the Sudanese people, in a swift, orderly and peaceful manner. On 6 June, I summoned the Sudanese Ambassador to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to express the grave concerns of the United Kingdom at the use of violence against civilians by the Sudanese authorities.Asked by: Louise Ellman (Independent - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment he has made of the role of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in helping to curb the spread of antimicrobial resistance globally; and will he make a statement.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Global Fund continues to play a critical role in addressing the spread of antimicrobial resistance, a major global health threat. The Global Fund works to roll out new antimicrobials and diagnostic tools for example, helping to treat 102,000 people for drug-resistant tuberculosis in 2017. It also reduces the need for antimicrobials by: supporting and strengthening health systems; preventing infection (for example helping to distribute 197 million bed nets in 2017 to prevent malaria); and by supporting prompt diagnosis and treatment of disease.
Asked by: Louise Ellman (Independent - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to suspend charging of migrants using NHS services and to repeal Section 38 and 39 of the Immigration Act 2014; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
The Government believes it is only right that people who are not ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom contribute to the costs of National Health Service care they may need whilst visiting or staying here. The Department has no plans to suspend The National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations or repeal Section 38 and 39 of the 2014 Immigration Act.
Asked by: Louise Ellman (Independent - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the UK's contribution to global TB research and role in advancing the further development of diagnostics, improved treatments and a TB vaccine; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The UK Government is a major investor in tuberculosis (TB) research, for the development of diagnostics, improved treatments and TB vaccines. The UK also supports applied health research, to strengthen health systems, to ensure effective delivery of health services so that new products, once available, can be used appropriately.
To date, DFID support has been instrumental in the development of five new diagnostics for TB, including GeneXpert, which is used routinely in the UK NHS, has reduced the time taken to diagnose drug-sensitive and drug resistant TB from several weeks to a few hours. DFID support also enabled the development of the first paediatric TB medicine, which is now available in 80 countries across the globe.
Asked by: Louise Ellman (Independent - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to appoint a new Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
Executive appointments are made by a committee of the Board of the NHS Trust in accordance with Schedule 4 to the NHS Act 2006 and the National Health Service Trusts (Membership and Procedure) Regulations 1990. The committee consists of the chair, the non-executive directors and, in the case of an appointment other than the chief executive, the chief executive.
Aintree University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has proposed an acquisition of the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust, which is planned to take place on 1 October 2019. The chief executive of The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust is due to leave the post at the end of March 2019 and the Trust is currently undertaking a recruitment process for an interim chief executive for a period of six months from 1 April 2019 to 30 September 2019.
Asked by: Louise Ellman (Independent - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to increase funding for children's services in Liverpool; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
We have confirmed our settlement for local government for 2019-20, which sees a real-terms increase in local government spending power next year. Core spending power increases from £45.1 billion in 2018-19 to £46.4 billion in 2019-20. For Liverpool, core spending power will rise from £449 million in 2018-19 to £458 million in 2019-20.
All long-term spending decisions are for this year’s Spending Review, when the government will set out its approach for the future.
Asked by: Louise Ellman (Independent - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to his Answer of 2 July 2018 to Question 158171, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the response of Abacus Land 4 Ltd to tenants of Heysmoor Heights, Liverpool who have been charged in relation to replacement of cladding following the Grenfell Tower disaster; and if will he make a statement.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
We understand that leaseholders in Heysmoor Heights have been protected from a substantial proportion of the overall remediation costs due to a warranty claim being accepted. However, we continue to set our strong expectation that leaseholders should be protected from all remediation costs. We have written to, and continue to engage with, individual building owners to reiterate this expectation.