Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to expand the eligibility criteria of the Green Homes Grant Scheme to include people who have double glazed windows with a gap smaller than the recommended 16mm.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The list of measures currently included reflects our assessment of the best balance between economic stimulus and maximising value for householders and taxpayers, in terms of bill and carbon savings.
We are listening to feedback on the scheme and will keep eligibility, including eligible measures, under review.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
What recent steps he has taken to improve the Armed Forces Covenant; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
Supporting the Armed Forces Covenant is a key priority and the Government has introduced legislation, as part of the Armed Forces Bill, further incorporating the Armed Forces Covenant into law. The legislation introduces a duty of due regard to the Covenant principles on local public bodies, in key areas of health, housing, and education.
The Armed Forces Covenant Annual Report, published each December, outlines progress we have made as a nation to strengthen the Covenant across the UK.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he and his Department plans to take to (a) secure details and an explanation for the arrest of Meihong Wang in Heilongjiang Province and (b) help secure the release of Meihong Wang and (c) promote freedom of religious belief in China.
Answered by Nigel Adams
We are aware of the reported abduction of Meihong Wang in Harbin, China. We remain deeply concerned about the persecution of Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Falun Gong practitioners and others on the grounds of their religion or belief in China. The freedom to practise, change or share ones faith or belief without discrimination or violent opposition is a human right that all people should enjoy. We regularly raise our concerns about the human rights situation with the Chinese authorities, and will continue to do so.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps is she taking to speed up the approval process for (a) St Helens Chamber, which is already an approved provider for her Department and (b) other kickstarter gateways.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
All applications for funding from the Department for Work & Pensions’ Kickstart Scheme are assessed according to the same criteria and are subject to the same tests of due diligence. We anticipate applications to take 4 weeks although they can take longer. We anticipate that the time taken to process applications will reduce as the scheme is rolled out.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure funding announced for hospices as part of the £750 million funding package for the voluntary and charitable sector announced on 8 April 2020 is disbursed to Willowbrook Hospice in St Helens, Knowsley.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England and NHS Improvement have confirmed that Willowbrook Hospice received a total of £610,016 as part of the national funding package to purchase additional capacity from hospices between April and July 2020. This was in addition to any local funding received via clinical commissioning groups for business as usual activity.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of trends in the number of veterans who have died from suicide in the last five years; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
I refer the hon. Members to the answer given to PQ 88289 on 21 September 2020.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will provide additional bespoke support to the leisure coach industry in response to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
HM Treasury has made several measures available to UK businesses, including the leisure coach industry to financially support them through this time.
We are encouraging all operators to make use of the wide range of support measures which have been announced by the Chancellor, including £330 billion of Government support through loans and guarantees, designed to reach as many businesses as possible. The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (JRS), part of this package, has been extended until the end of October.
We are continuing to engage with the coach sector to understand what the ongoing risks and issues are, and how these could be addressed in light of the coronavirus outbreak.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to prevent the exploitation by county lines drug gangs of looked-after children placed out-of-borough.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
County lines have a devastating impact on our communities, and we are determined to crack down on these gangs and put an end to the exploitation of vulnerable children.
The National County Lines Co-ordination Centre (NCLCC), established with £3.6m of Home Office funding, has been vital to strengthening our response to this issue by enhancing the intelligence picture and enabling police forces to work together to tackle this complex, cross border threat. Since it became operational in September 2018 the NCLCC has coordinated four weeks of intensive law enforcement action resulting in over 2,500 arrests and over 3,000 individuals engaged for safeguarding.
The Home Office has also announced £25m of targeted investment across 2019/20 and 2020/21 to uplift the law enforcement response to county lines and increase the support available to children, young people and families that are affected.
In addition, the Government provides a range of support for county lines victims including: funding Young People’s Advocates in Birmingham, Manchester and London to provide help and support for young people exploited through county lines, and funding through the £13m Trusted Relationships fund to help foster relationships between frontline professionals and young people at risk of exploitation including county lines.
The needs of the child are paramount when deciding the right care placement and Local Authorities have a statutory duty to ensure that there is sufficient provision for their looked after children.
Lack of sufficient placements to meet young people’s needs can lead to children being placed out of area. The Government is helping to improve commissioning of placements, including providing funding through the Department for Education’s £200 million children’s social care Innovation Programme.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to allocate additional (a) powers and (b) resources to councils for the purchase of brownfield sites to help those councils meet housing targets.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Local authorities already have compulsory purchase powers which they can use to acquire land, including for the delivery of new housing. In recent years, we have taken forward wide ranging reforms to improve the compulsory purchase process. We are keen to encourage local authorities to make more effective use of these powers and we will continue to explore ways of supporting them in doing so.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) the re-opening of so-called Beeching lines is implemented equitably throughout the regions according to need and (b) local authorities are (i) fully engaged with and (ii) consulted on that programme.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
I have invited my fellow MPs to work with local authorities and community groups to come forward with proposals for re-opening rail passenger services axed in the 1960s and 1970s. The support and engagement of the local authorities will be an important consideration in deciding which ideas to fund. I am expecting ideas to be put forward from across our regions and we will take forward the best of these for development.