Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of banning disposable BBQs in public places, given the impact on emergency service resources in having to deal with fires on moors and outdoor spaces.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Government is looking at the impact of disposable barbecues, as part of a research project led by Defra. Depending on the evidence, we will of course examine appropriate responses.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will remove VAT on (a) suntan lotion and (b) other similar products in the context of the rising cost of living.
Answered by Richard Fuller
The Government keeps all taxes under review, however, there are currently no plans to reduce or remove VAT on sunscreen products.
Although sun protection products are subject to the standard rate of VAT, high-factor sunscreen is provided VAT free when dispensed by a pharmacist.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what (a) safeguards and (b) reporting mechanisms are in place to monitor the spending of UK Overseas Development Assistance in relation to tackling hunger in Northern Uganda.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The UK provides humanitarian assistance in the Karamoja region and to refugee and refugee-hosting populations throughout Uganda through the 'Building Resilience and an Effective Emergency Refugee Response' (BRAER) programme. In financial year 2021-22, the programme helped to provide 1.3 million people with humanitarian assistance, including relieving hunger and treating malnutrition among women and children. The programme's effectiveness is assessed, and its spending monitored, through regular field visits, feedback from beneficiaries, FCDO scrutiny of implementing partners' financial reports, annual audits and annual programme reviews - the latter are published online at https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/projects/GB-1-205206/documents.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of UK funded aid projects to help relieve hunger in Uganda.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The UK provides humanitarian assistance in the Karamoja region and to refugee and refugee-hosting populations throughout Uganda through the 'Building Resilience and an Effective Emergency Refugee Response' (BRAER) programme. In financial year 2021-22, the programme helped to provide 1.3 million people with humanitarian assistance, including relieving hunger and treating malnutrition among women and children. The programme's effectiveness is assessed, and its spending monitored, through regular field visits, feedback from beneficiaries, FCDO scrutiny of implementing partners' financial reports, annual audits and annual programme reviews - the latter are published online at https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/projects/GB-1-205206/documents.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the implementation of the Expanding Social Protection Programme Phase II project.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The UK has supported the development of Uganda's social protection system for the last ten years, working closely with the Government of the Republic of Ireland and the Government of Uganda, most recently through the Expanding Social Protection Programme Phase II (ESP II). This has established a Senior Citizens' Grant (SCG) which is currently benefitting over 350,000 Ugandans over 80 (60% of whom are women). The Government of Uganda has been fully funding the SCG since July 2021, and the ESP II programme will close later this year. The programme's effectiveness is assessed through annual programme reviews, which are published at https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/projects/GB-1-204861/documents.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of provision of core funding to community arts organisations through (a) local authorities and (b) private charities.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
DCMS provides funding to community arts projects in England through a number of our arm’s-length bodies. Arts Council England, for example, invests in communities through their Lottery-funded Creative People and Places (CPP) programme. There are 41 CPP programmes covering 58 local authority districts across the country targeting the least engaged places in England. Arts Council England will invest over £38 million of Lottery funds into this programme for the period 2022-25.
Local authorities also need to continue to recognise the huge benefits that investing in arts and culture can bring and many already do, building successful partnerships to deliver arts and culture to their communities. The Local Government Finance Settlement made available £54.1 billion in 2022/23 for local government in England, an increase of up to £3.7 billion in 2021/22. The majority of this funding is not ringfenced, in recognition of local authorities being best placed to understand local priorities, such as their community arts offer.
While we are unable to quantify the total provision of core funding to community arts organisations by private foundations at this time, DCMS continues to work with key actors across the civil society sector to improve the data and evidence available.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce the maternal mortality rate in Uganda.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Support for reducing maternal mortality in Uganda is provided through the World Bank's Uganda Reproductive Maternal and Child Health Services Improvement Project (URMCHIP). The project is co-financed by the International Development Association, to which the UK has been contributing over £1 billion annually. The project aims to increase the availability of reproductive, maternal, neonatal, child and adolescent health care services countrywide. The UK is also helping to provide access to family planning commodities and building health systems capacity to deliver family planning services.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help reduce waiting times at emergency departments for (a) patients and (b) ambulances with patients in (i) England and (ii) the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
NHS England’s Urgent and Emergency Care Recovery 10 Point Action Plan includes an increased role for NHS 111 as the first point of triage, measures to improve patient flow through hospitals and reduce pressure on emergency departments and ensuring medically fit patients can be discharged as soon as possible.
University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust is extending its same day emergency care service to seven days a week and reducing demand on accident and emergency through expanding community rapid intervention services and collaborating with the local health and care system to increase primary care capacity. The Trust plans to develop its medical workforce, establish a frailty assessment area for elderly patients and maximise the use of its urgent treatment centre.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will take steps to provide further support and flexible funding to local NGOs in East Africa whose recipients have been affected by drought in that region.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The UK is a major humanitarian donor to countries in East Africa. We will provide at least £156 million in emergency humanitarian assistance to the Horn of Africa in financial year 2022/2023. to help support communities affected by conflict, drought, flooding and other pressures. We will continue to work with NGOs. In Ethiopia in 2021 the UK provided US$18 million to the UN's Ethiopia Humanitarian Fund (EHF). The EHF mechanism supported a range of international and Ethiopian NGOs, disbursing US$23 million to the latter. Similarly, the UK-funded 'Building Resilient Communities in Somalia' programme has supported a number of Somali NGOs alongside international civil society organisations.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will take steps to promote collaboration between local planning authorities on planning applications that have implications for (a) school places and (b) other public services in neighbouring local authorities.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The provision of the right infrastructure at the right time is very important to new and existing communities. It allows infrastructure like schools, GP surgeries and new roads to be provided in a more effective, transparent and efficient manner. While I agree that there should be collaboration between local authorities and key infrastructure providers to ensure these matters are properly planned for, we believe this is best done as part of the plan-making process.
To this end, we will be introducing an Infrastructure Levy to replace the complex and discretionary Section 106 regime. The levy will be a mandatory, non-negotiable charge, set and collected locally. It will give a greater say to local councils on what their infrastructure priorities are and give greater transparency to local people about how funds will be spent and what infrastructure will be delivered.
To strengthen infrastructure delivery further, we will be introducing a requirement for local authorities to prepare infrastructure delivery strategies. These will set out a strategy for delivering local infrastructure, including education and other types of community facilities, and spending Infrastructure Levy proceeds. We are also introducing a new requirement for infrastructure providers and other bodies to provide assistance to local authorities in drafting their local plans. This will ensure local authorities get the information they need in a timely manner so that they can identify how infrastructure and new housing development should be sited and provided
I agree that it is vital for local planning authorities to work together to make sure that cross-boundary issues are properly addressed, and we expect them to plan for and deliver the housing and infrastructure our communities need.