Asked by: Michael Dugher (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make assessments of projected installed generating capacity for non-domestic solar panel installations in each of the next five years, based on the (a) current rate of £8 per kilowatt and (b) Valuation Office Agency proposal for up to £61 per kilowatt.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The impact of the proposed changes will be highly sensitive to future ownership models that determine the rateable values to apply; it is therefore not possible to project this impact at present.
Asked by: Michael Dugher (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many people were employed in the solar energy sector in (a) Barnsley East constituency, (b) Barnsley, (c) Yorkshire and the Humber, (d) England and (e) the UK in the latest period for which figures are available.
Answered by Jesse Norman
In 2014, 9,500 FTE employees were estimated to have been directly employed in the solar photovoltaic sector in the UK, including 9,000 in England. BEIS does not hold data that is broken down by region, and data for the solar thermal sector is not available.
Further detail can be viewed online through the UK Environmental Accounts: UK Solar Photovoltaic Sector 2014, (part of Low carbon and renewable energy economy, final estimates: 2014) at:
https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/environmentalaccounts/datasets/lcreestimatesdataset.
Asked by: Michael Dugher (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, (a) on how many occasions during the most recent negotiation period Ministers and officials of his Department met with representatives from the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee and (b) when he plans to announce a funding package for community pharmacy for 2016-17.
Answered by David Mowat
Since 9 September 2016, when a revised package of measures was put to the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiation Committee (PSNC), the Department, supported by NHS England, has met the PSNC on four occasions. I have met PSNC three times since 30 August 2016, including on 6 October 2016.
Ministers are still in a process of considering a proposed package for the community pharmacy sector and are expecting to make an announcement shortly.
Asked by: Michael Dugher (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect of the reduction in the number of community pharmacies in England of (a) five, (b) 10, (c) 25 per cent on the number of patients (i) seeking a GP appointment and (ii) attending accident and emergency units.
Answered by David Mowat
The Government’s proposals for community pharmacy in 2016/17 and beyond, on which we have consulted, are being considered against the public sector equality duty, the family test and the relevant duties of my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health under the National Health Service Act 2006.
Our assessments include impacts on other NHS services. An impact assessment will be completed to inform final decisions and published in due course.
Our proposals are about improving services for patients and the public and securing efficiencies and savings. We believe these efficiencies can be made within community pharmacy without compromising the quality of services or public access to them.
Our aim is to ensure that those community pharmacies upon which people depend continue to thrive. We are consulting on the introduction of a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which will provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared with others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population.
Asked by: Michael Dugher (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when his officials last updated the Blue Badge Scheme local authority guidance; whether he plans to update that guidance; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The extent to which a specific condition affects people will vary. If we were to provide automatic eligibility without further assessment by virtue of having dementia it may not reflect genuine need.
However, the ‘subject to further assessment’ criteria do not preclude the issue of badges to people with mental/cognitive disabilities. Any permanent and substantial disability may qualify for a badge if it causes “very considerable difficulty in walking”. It is for the local authority to assess the degree of challenge on a case-by-case basis.
The guidance was last updated in October 2014. There are no plans to update it at this time.
Asked by: Michael Dugher (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to include having dementia and Alzheimer's Disease as criteria for (a) eligibility without further assessment or (b) eligibility subject to further assessment for the Blue Badge Scheme; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The extent to which a specific condition affects people will vary. If we were to provide automatic eligibility without further assessment by virtue of having dementia it may not reflect genuine need.
However, the ‘subject to further assessment’ criteria do not preclude the issue of badges to people with mental/cognitive disabilities. Any permanent and substantial disability may qualify for a badge if it causes “very considerable difficulty in walking”. It is for the local authority to assess the degree of challenge on a case-by-case basis.
The guidance was last updated in October 2014. There are no plans to update it at this time.
Asked by: Michael Dugher (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 21 July 2016 to Question 42983, when his Department plans to publish the impact assessment for changes to the budget for community pharmacy in 2016-17.
Answered by David Mowat
No publication date has yet been finalised. The Department remains committed to publishing the full and final impact assessment alongside any Drug Tariff determination.
Asked by: Michael Dugher (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the effect of the recent change in the value of the pound on the purchasing power of British steel companies.
Answered by Nick Hurd
My Department regularly reviews the impact of changing economic conditions on business including in specific sectors such as steel. We also talk regularly to companies to understand their view on market conditions including in formal meetings such as sector councils.
Steel companies are impacted differently by exchange rates depending on the balance of raw materials they import from outside the UK and the location of their export markets.
Asked by: Michael Dugher (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 14 July 2016 to Question 42405, on what date his Department commenced work on the impact assessment on changes to the budget for community pharmacy in 2016-17.
Answered by David Mowat
Officials have been undertaking impact analyses to inform the final impact assessment both prior to, and during, the consultation period which ran from 17 December 2015 to 24 May 2016. The Department remains committed to publishing the full and final impact assessment alongside any Drug Tariff determination.
Asked by: Michael Dugher (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the definition of statutory homelessness in preventing rough sleeping.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
The homelessness legislation (part 7 Housing Act 1996) provides a strong safety net for all those who are vulnerable and homeless through no fault of their own. Homelessness is defined at section 175 of the Act. Broadly speaking somebody is statutorily homeless if they do not have accommodation that they have a legal right to occupy, which is accessible and physically available to them (and their household) and which it would be reasonable for them to continue to live in. It would not be reasonable for someone to continue to live in their home, for example, if that was likely to lead to violence against them (or a member of their family).
We have protected homelessness prevention funding for local authorities, totalling £315 million by 2020. In doing so, we expect local authorities to meet their statutory duty to provide advice and assistance to all those that approach them for help. Since 2010, this funding has allowed local authorities to prevent more than a million households from becoming homeless. We are determined to ensure that we prevent more people from becoming homeless in the first place so we are working with local authorities, homelessness charities and across departments to consider options to prevent more people from becoming homeless.
We have also increased central funding to tackle homelessness to £139 million over the next four years, which will include targeted funding for rough sleeping. This includes a new £10 million fund to support and scale-up initiatives to prevent and reduce rough sleeping, and a £10 million Social Impact Bond to support the most entrenched rough sleepers off the streets.