Asked by: Maria Caulfield (Conservative - Lewes)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
What steps the Government is taking to support high street businesses.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
High streets are changing, and the Government is committed to helping communities adapt.
In Budget 2018, we set out Our Plan for the High Street, a £1.6bn package to support the sustainable transformation of our high streets.
This includes a £675m Future High Streets Fund, support for local leadership with a High Streets Task Force, and a one third cut to the business rates bills of eligible small retailers for two years from April this year.
Asked by: Maria Caulfield (Conservative - Lewes)
Question to the Department for Education:
What recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on additional funding for rural schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State meets Her Majesty's Treasury Ministers regularly to discuss matters of shared interest, including funding for schools.
The Department provides additional support aimed at rural schools. For example, the sparsity factor in the National Funding Formula allocates £25 million specifically to schools that are both small and remote.
Asked by: Maria Caulfield (Conservative - Lewes)
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 his Turkish counterpart on preventing the planned (a) invasion of Rojava and (b) attacks against the Kurds in northern Syria.
Answered by Alan Duncan
I have had a number of recent conversations with my Turkish counterparts over the conflict in Syria, as have my ministerial colleagues and the Prime Minister. While we recognise Turkey's security interests, we are closely monitoring the situation in North East Syria and are concerned about the humanitarian impact of a potential Turkish military operation, as well as the impact on the campaign against Daesh.
Our priority is to end the conflict in Syria through a negotiated political settlement: we believe only an inclusive, non-sectarian government can unite the country and protect the rights of all Syrians.
Asked by: Maria Caulfield (Conservative - Lewes)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of trains that were supposed to stop at Plumpton but did not do so between 1 January and May 1 2018.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The Department for Transport does not keep information on the details of number of ‘station skipping’ incidents on the Southern network.
Asked by: Maria Caulfield (Conservative - Lewes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on what date the Health Service Investigation Branch took responsibility for investigating avoidable baby deaths; and what estimate he has made of the annual caseload in each of the next three years.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) began work in April 2017 to conduct high-level investigations of serious patient safety incidents in the National Health Service in England with a specific focus on system-wide learning and improvement.
In November 2017, my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced that, from April 2018, HSIB would investigate all cases of early neonatal deaths, term intrapartum stillbirths and cases of severe brain injury in babies, as well as all cases of maternal death in England. HSIB did not conduct investigations in these areas in 2017.
The new investigative approach will begin in a single region from April 2018 and rollout to all areas of England will be completed by the end of March 2019. It is estimated that there are approximately 1,000 cases of birth-related deaths or serious brain injuries in babies in England every year. The expectation is that the learning from investigations will spur system improvements leading to fewer deaths and injuries in the future.
The Secretary of State has been clear that the HSIB maternity investigations will involve patients and families in investigations. In carrying out the maternity investigations, the HSIB will consult and seek evidence or information from the patient, family members and staff involved in the care. In addition, the HSIB will share draft reports with family members, inviting comment, and provide family members with the final report.
Asked by: Maria Caulfield (Conservative - Lewes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what services and Government funding are available for women (a) in need of support throughout a crisis pregnancy and (b) after experiencing an abortion.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
Impartial National Health Service or local authority funded information and support for women who are uncertain whether to continue with a pregnancy is available from general practice, sexual and reproductive health services and abortion clinics. All women requesting an abortion should be offered the opportunity to discuss their options and choices with, and receive support from, a trained pregnancy counsellor. Following an abortion all women should be able to access post-abortion support or counselling.
Asked by: Maria Caulfield (Conservative - Lewes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether parents will be involved in Health Service Investigation Branch investigations of avoidable baby deaths; and whether evidence collected during such investigations will be shared with parents.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) began work in April 2017 to conduct high-level investigations of serious patient safety incidents in the National Health Service in England with a specific focus on system-wide learning and improvement.
In November 2017, my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced that, from April 2018, HSIB would investigate all cases of early neonatal deaths, term intrapartum stillbirths and cases of severe brain injury in babies, as well as all cases of maternal death in England. HSIB did not conduct investigations in these areas in 2017.
The new investigative approach will begin in a single region from April 2018 and rollout to all areas of England will be completed by the end of March 2019. It is estimated that there are approximately 1,000 cases of birth-related deaths or serious brain injuries in babies in England every year. The expectation is that the learning from investigations will spur system improvements leading to fewer deaths and injuries in the future.
The Secretary of State has been clear that the HSIB maternity investigations will involve patients and families in investigations. In carrying out the maternity investigations, the HSIB will consult and seek evidence or information from the patient, family members and staff involved in the care. In addition, the HSIB will share draft reports with family members, inviting comment, and provide family members with the final report.
Asked by: Maria Caulfield (Conservative - Lewes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many Health Service Investigation Branch investigations into late-term stillbirths were (a) undertaken and (b) completed in 2017.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) began work in April 2017 to conduct high-level investigations of serious patient safety incidents in the National Health Service in England with a specific focus on system-wide learning and improvement.
In November 2017, my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced that, from April 2018, HSIB would investigate all cases of early neonatal deaths, term intrapartum stillbirths and cases of severe brain injury in babies, as well as all cases of maternal death in England. HSIB did not conduct investigations in these areas in 2017.
The new investigative approach will begin in a single region from April 2018 and rollout to all areas of England will be completed by the end of March 2019. It is estimated that there are approximately 1,000 cases of birth-related deaths or serious brain injuries in babies in England every year. The expectation is that the learning from investigations will spur system improvements leading to fewer deaths and injuries in the future.
The Secretary of State has been clear that the HSIB maternity investigations will involve patients and families in investigations. In carrying out the maternity investigations, the HSIB will consult and seek evidence or information from the patient, family members and staff involved in the care. In addition, the HSIB will share draft reports with family members, inviting comment, and provide family members with the final report.
Asked by: Maria Caulfield (Conservative - Lewes)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many of the responses it received to its consultation on the use of air weapons raised concerns about the shooting of animals.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Government received over 50,000 representations from members of the public about the review of the regulations of air weapons, a significant proportion of which were concerned about the use of these weapons against animals such as cats. We are considering the representations that we received and will publish our findings in due course.
Asked by: Maria Caulfield (Conservative - Lewes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
What steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of deaths of young people from cardiac arrest.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Government has provided £2 million to make Public Access Defibrillators more widely available and to increase the number of people trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
In addition, the Fetal Anomaly and the Newborn and Infant Physical Examination screening programmes offer heart screening to detect abnormalities early.
The Department’s National Institute for Health Research welcomes funding applications for research in this area.