Asked by: Nickie Aiken (Conservative - Cities of London and Westminster)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, in reference to the rising use of electrical vehicles on roads, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of increasing the use of (a) rumble strips and (b) other methods to make pedestrians aware of areas where pavements intersect roads.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Local highway authorities have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 to maintain the highways network in their area. It is for each highway authority to decide on the most suitable materials to be used for surfacing, as well as the standards that should be applied, based upon their local knowledge and circumstances. The Department for Transport’s guidance on rumble strips is set out in section 5 of our Local Transport Note (LTN) 1/07 ‘Traffic Calming’, the LTN is available at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-transport-notes.
Asked by: Nickie Aiken (Conservative - Cities of London and Westminster)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent progress her Department has made on the consultation on the introduction of a Tourist Accommodation Registration Scheme in England.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Prior to Covid-19, we had been planning to explore the merits and feasibility of introducing a Tourist Accomodation Registration Scheme.
The Government intends to publish a call for evidence on matters associated with short term holiday lettings in early 2022.
This will assist in developing proportionate, evidence-based policy options for a subsequent consultation.
The Government is committed to hearing the views of all interested parties as part of this call for evidence.
Asked by: Nickie Aiken (Conservative - Cities of London and Westminster)
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 allow vaccines administered in France to be recorded in the UK National Immunisation Management System to allow people vaccinated abroad to access an NHS Covid Pass.
Answered by Maggie Throup
Vaccines administered in France can already be recorded in vaccination records and displayed in the NHS COVID Pass. English residents vaccinated in France should contact their general practitioner or 119 to book an appointment at a regional vaccination centre to record their vaccinations through the National Immunisation Management Service. There are currently seven sites capable of reviewing vaccination evidence with an additional 13 pending. Further expansion of the service is planned in due course.
Asked by: Nickie Aiken (Conservative - Cities of London and Westminster)
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 (a) reduce inequalities in healthcare and (b) prevent the avoidable death of Asian and Asian British babies.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The NHS Long Term Plan (2019) sets out a systematic approach to reducing health inequalities and addressing unwarranted variation in care by targeting a higher share of funding towards geographies with high health inequalities than would have been allocated using solely the core needs formulae. As a condition of receiving Long Term Plan funding, all major national programmes and every local area across England is required to set out specific measurable goals and mechanisms by which they will contribute to narrowing health inequalities by 2029.
On 1 October, we launched the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities. Reducing health disparities is one of the core aims of the office and it will set out its plans for delivering on this objective in due course
To improve equity for mothers and babies from Black, Asian and Mixed ethnic groups, NHS England and NHS Improvement published ‘Equity and Equality: Guidance for Local Maternity Systems’ on 6 September, which can be found at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/equity-and-equality-guidance-for-local-maternity-systems/
This guidance asks Local Maternity Systems (LMS) to produce an equity and equality analysis (covering health outcomes, community assets and staff experience) by 30 November 2021; and to co-produce an action plan to improve equity for mothers and babies from minority ethnic and other backgrounds, and race equality for NHS maternity staff by 28 February 2022. The guidance is supported by a £6.8 million investment.
LMS are being asked to include four interventions to prevent avoidable deaths of babies in their action plans: (1) targeted and enhanced continuity of carer with 75% of women from Black, Asian and Mixed ethic groups receiving continuity of carer by 2024 and additional midwifery time to support women from the most deprived areas, (2) smoke-free pregnancy pathways for mothers and their partners, (3) breastfeeding strategies to improve breastfeeding rates for women living in the most deprived areas, and (4) culturally-sensitive genetics services for consanguineous couples. The guidance is supported by a £6.8 million investment, which will support Local Maternity Systems to implement Equity and Equality Action Plans and implement targeted and enhanced Continuity of Carer.
Asked by: Nickie Aiken (Conservative - Cities of London and Westminster)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of adopting British Summer Time permanently on road traffic accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government believes that the current daylight-saving arrangements represent the optimal use of the available daylight across the UK.
Asked by: Nickie Aiken (Conservative - Cities of London and Westminster)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of repealing Section 618 of the Housing Act 1985 which imposes an additional restriction on a City of London resident councillor when no equivalent restriction applies to a resident councillor of other local authorities.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The City of London has brought this matter to the Department's attention. The Committee on Standards in Public Life (CSPL)'s review of Local Government Ethical Standards made a number of recommendations that relate to disclosable pecuniary interests. Ministers are considering the CSPL's report and recommendations and will issue the government response in due course.
Asked by: Nickie Aiken (Conservative - Cities of London and Westminster)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of universities that are continuing to run classes remotely, rather than returning to in-person learning.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
We expect all universities to continue to deliver excellent learning, in line with guidance from the Office for Students (OfS), to provide students with a full experience. The OfS, as regulator of Higher Education in England, will be monitoring to ensure this is the case, and universities should be open about what students can expect.
As autonomous institutions, it is for HE providers to determine their own provision, taking account of government guidance. However, as we have now lifted restrictions on HE, providers should not be limiting access to face-to-face teaching based on COVID-19 controls.
Online learning should only be offered to enhance the student experience, not detract from it, by making learning more accessible for students, including those who cannot yet attend face-to-face lectures. It should not be used as a cost cutting measure.
Any policies and terms, or changes to existing policies and terms, must be clearly communicated to students. If students have concerns, they should first raise them with their HE provider. If their concerns remain unresolved, students at HE providers in England or Wales can ask the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education to consider their complaint.
Asked by: Nickie Aiken (Conservative - Cities of London and Westminster)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the update on international travel published by his Department on 24 June 2021 and official correspondence on covid-19 and Israel between 2020 and 2021, for what reason Jerusalem is referred to in addition to Israel rather than being considered included in the naming of that state.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The position of the UK Government has remained constant since April 1950, when the UK extended de jure recognition to the State of Israel, but withheld recognition of sovereignty over Jerusalem pending a final determination of its status. We recognise Israel's 'de facto authority' over West Jerusalem. But in line with Security Council Resolution 242 (1967) and subsequent Council resolutions, we regard East Jerusalem as under Israeli military occupation.
A final determination of the status of Jerusalem should be sought as part of a negotiated settlement between Israelis and Palestinians. It must ensure Jerusalem is a shared capital of the Israeli and Palestinian states, with access and religious rights of both peoples respected.
Asked by: Nickie Aiken (Conservative - Cities of London and Westminster)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will extend the deadline by which local authorities must publish audited accounts to 30 November 2021 following audit delays caused by the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The Government extended the accounts publication deadline to 30 November for accounting year 2019/20 to deal with delays caused by the Covid-19 outbreak
In line with the recommendations of the Redmond review, regulations extending the deadline from 31 July to 30 September for accounting years 2020/21 and 2021/22 came into force on 31 March
There is a balance to be struck in providing extra time for accounts to be completed and enabling the accounts to be published in a timely manner.
The Government will review these arrangement after 2 years.
Asked by: Nickie Aiken (Conservative - Cities of London and Westminster)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of providing (a) free or (b) low-cost NHS covid-19 tests to parents whose children live abroad, to allow such parents to visit their children under legally agreed custody agreements between the UK and other countries whilst incurring reduced costs for covid-19 testing.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made.
Since requirements were introduced for international travel testing, the costs of travel testing have fallen significantly. The Government is committed to working with the travel industry and private testing providers to reduce the cost of travel testing whilst also ensuring travel is as safe as possible. NHS Test and Trace tests are priced at the mid-market level. We offer deferred payment plans and hardship support for people who cannot afford to pay for the cost of managed quarantine and testing. In some circumstances this may be available to those who are not in receipt of income related benefits.