Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Home Office:
What steps her Department is taking to reduce levels of burglary and theft.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
This Government recognises the devastating impact crimes such as burglary and theft have on our communities and businesses.
That is why we are recruiting 20,000 extra police officers and why we have introduced the Safer Streets Fund to prevent these crimes from happening, supporting the deployment of solutions such as home security and increased street lighting in high crime areas.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the UK defence sector's contribution to the Government's objective to transition to net zero.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Ministry of Defence published its Climate Change and Sustainability Strategic Approach, on 30 March.
The Strategic Approach sets out the ambition, the principles and initial action plan to ensure that Defence has adapted to operate in a climate changed world and will make a strong contribution to reducing its net carbon emissions.
One of the key principles is the need to work collaboratively across the Defence sector with other Departments, industry, academia and our allies and partners to ensure that Defence reduces its emissions and, as a Department, contributes to the UK reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
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 reduce waiting times for cancer diagnostic tests at (a) Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and (b) Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust are part of the £160 million elective accelerator program, supporting them to increase activity levels to reduce waiting times.
Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is working to establish rapid diagnostic centres, to improve pathways and ensure more patients are seen sooner. The Trust has established a working group with local cancer alliances to improve waiting times for endoscopy. The Trust is also introducing new roles such as advanced clinical practitioners in upper gastrointestinal and colorectal services to triage and assess patients early on to reduce waiting times.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people awaiting a routine invitation for (a) bowel screening, (b) breast screening and (c) cervical screening in England.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
NHS England and NHS Improvement have advised that all National Health Service cancer screening programmes are operational and sending out screening invitations at, or above, pre-pandemic levels. There is no backlog for the cervical screening programme and NHS England and NHS Improvement continue to address backlogs in the breast and bowel screening programmes.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
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 work with supermarket retailers to help ensure that elderly or disabled residents remain able to access (a) home delivery slots and (b) good quality produce with a suitable shelf life.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Central and local government have worked in partnership with supermarkets to enable vulnerable individuals to access prioritised supermarket delivery slots until 21 June, which has facilitated millions of deliveries. Defra continues to hold regular conversations with major supermarkets to raise awareness of issues related to food access for elderly and disabled people, including the availability of supermarket deliveries.
There are a number of options open to elderly or disabled individuals who want support to access food. Vulnerable individuals can contact their local authority, or request support from an NHS volunteer responder in gaining access to food, prescriptions and other essential items by calling the phone line or visiting the Royal Voluntary Service website.
The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain, with a food industry that is well versed in dealing with scenarios that can impact food supply. We remain in regular contact with the food industry and suppliers, who hold the expertise, capability and levers to ensure that all consumers continue to have access to a wide range of food products when they shop.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the impact of the Integrated Review on employment in Lancashire.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
Our spending review settlement will increase our defence budget by over £24 billion over the next four years. This investment will modernise our Armed Forces and support jobs across the UK.
In North West England, the Ministry of Defence spent over £ 2.2 billion with industry and commerce in 2019-20. This includes in our truly world-leading combat air sector, which employs thousands of workers across the UK, including in Lancashire.
Lancashire has long been a key part of our defence industrial footprint, particularly for Combat Air. BAE Systems has a large presence in the area, as well as MBDA through their premises in Lostock, Bolton.
The Integrated Review and Defence Command Paper announced that the UK will invest more than £2 billion into the Future Combat Air System programme over the next four years. This major investment will take us a step closer to realising the benefits of Tempest to our nation's security and prosperity.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to create opportunities for young people in (a) the nuclear sector and (b) the wider green energy industry.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
BEIS is a member of the industry-led Nuclear Skills Strategic Group (NSSG), which brings together employers, government, regulators, and trades unions to address the skills challenge and drives major skills developments in the nuclear sector. The NSSG has developed a long-term Nuclear Skills Strategic Plan which incorporates a variety of activities, including those to recruit more young people in the nuclear sector. As part of the Strategic Plan, the following are expected to be delivered.
We continue to engage and support as the plan is delivered.
We are determined to seize the once-in-a-generation economic opportunities of the net zero transition, delivering a green industrial revolution, by creating new business opportunities and supporting up to 2 million green jobs by 2030 across all regions of the UK. In order to ensure we have the skilled workforce to deliver net zero and our Ten Point Plan, we have launched the Green Jobs Taskforce, working in partnership with business, skills providers, and unions to advise on how we can deliver the green jobs of the future.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to help businesses in the construction sector tackle (a) supply chain issues and (b) the resulting increased costs.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government is aware that a range of building materials are in short supply nationally. This is driven by demand and increased global competition to secure supplies.
In light of this, and in view of more local disruptions in the supply of some products, the Construction Leadership Council’s Coronavirus Task Force has established a Product Availability Working Group, comprised of product manufacturers, builders’ merchants and suppliers, contractors of all sizes, and housebuilders. The Task Force continues to monitor the supply and demand of products, and identify those in short supply.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of homes damaged by flooding issues in the last twelve months.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
MHCLG does not hold estimates of the number of homes damaged by flooding over the past twelve months.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that appropriate upgrades to (a) roads and (b) pedestrian access are made in areas with new housing developments.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Our National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that in assessing sites where development is proposed, that safe and suitable access to the site can be achieved for all users. The Framework is also clear that any significant implications of the development for the wider transport network, or on highway safety, can be cost effectively mitigated to an acceptable degree. Where appropriate, developer contributions may be sought to achieve improvements that help mitigate any implications.
Last year the Government consulted on the Planning for the Future White Paper, and the reforms will consider how more specific sustainable transport options can be delivered to reduce our reliance on carbon-intensive modes of transport, such as prioritising walking and cycling.