Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an estimate of the (a) duration and (b) cost of holding a competition for designing a Holocaust memorial in (i) Parliament Square, (ii) Abingdon Gardens and (iii) at the north end of Victoria Tower Gardens that would be opened within two years.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Minister with responsibility for the Holocaust Memorial, Baroness Scott of Bybrook, has visited the Holocaust Galleries and been briefed about the Imperial War Museum's work.
The Government has spent £17.8 million on the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre. Details of any future spend will be set out in the usual way.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much has been (a) spent and (b) committed by (i) the Government and (ii) Government agencies to the proposal for a National Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Minister with responsibility for the Holocaust Memorial, Baroness Scott of Bybrook, has visited the Holocaust Galleries and been briefed about the Imperial War Museum's work.
The Government has spent £17.8 million on the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre. Details of any future spend will be set out in the usual way.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if she will publish a list of official sources of advice for groups of residential leaseholders wanting to add solar heating to an existing or replacement roof.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Individual residences can find tailored and impartial information on how to improve the energy performance of their homes on gov.uk. This is part of the Government's three-tiered consumer advice and information offer, consisting of the 'find ways to save energy in your home' website, launched in July 2022, a new phoneline service launched March 2023 and the local in-person advice which will launch in due course.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is responsible for solar panels and heating.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of health commissioners for (a) identifying local demand and (b) implementing the right services and support for people with autism in (i) West Sussex, (ii) Hampshire and (iii) Surrey.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
There are no current plans to make this specific assessment. NHS England publish quarterly data on how many people are waiting for an autism assessment, and for how long, by local area. The data provides useful information to support local areas to identify local demand.
It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population in line with relevant guidance, including assessments and services of support for autistic people.
In 2021, Surrey Heartlands Health and Care Partnership published the Autism Strategy for Surrey (2021-26). Sussex Health and Care Integrated Care System have been implementing the Sussex All Age Learning Disability and Autism Strategy (2021-2024) since 2021.
The Provider Collaborative for Wessex and Dorset, responsible for Hampshire, are working in partnership with relevant ICBs on Dynamic Support Registers to ensure young people are assessed at an early point and there are timely interventions that will prevent escalation. Additionally, where gaps in commissioning are identified, system partners are working together to address these.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many places in residential care settings dedicated for profoundly autistic adults there are in (a) West Sussex, (b) Hampshire and (c) Surrey.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not available. The Department does not collect data on care settings places for autism only. The following table shows data on total capacity in care homes that are able to serve users with learning disabilities or autistic spectrum disorder.
Local authority | Hampshire | Surrey | West Sussex |
Number of beds in care homes that can serve users with learning disabilities or autistic spectrum disorder | 1,659 | 2,338 | 1,585 |
All Care Home Beds in local authority | 14,127 | 13,567 | 9,950 |
Source: The CQC Care Directory data as of 1 March 2023.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many times calls to the Pension Service phone line were disconnected in each of the last two weeks.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Department does not hold information on calls that were disconnected.
DWP continues to proactively monitor increased call demand following the broadcast on 22 February. Collaborative working with HMRC continues. We have also introduced additional measures such as adapted in-call messaging and use of Social Media to improve customer experience.
I am pleased to confirm that a Written Ministerial Statement has been made today by the Financial Secretary to the Treasury confirming that the deadline for contributions has been extended to 31 July. This is to ensure customers do not miss out on the opportunity to make voluntary NICs for the period between 5 April 2006 to the end of the 2016/17 tax year. All voluntary NICs payments for this period will now be accepted at the existing 2022/23 rates until the 31 July. This extension allows HMRC and DWP the time to process enquiries and payments to ensure people’s State Penson eligibility can be maximised.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an estimate of the number of prospective pensioners who would benefit from contacting the Pension Service to establish the contributions they can pay before 5 April 2023.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
It is not possible to estimate the number of people who would benefit from contacting the Pensions Service in relation to voluntary National Insurance Contributions and filling gaps between 2006 and 2016. This is because it is not possible to know all the variables in an individual’s circumstances (including their future employment record) that would mean they would benefit from filling past gaps in their National Insurance records.
DWP advise customers to use the online Check your State Pension forecast service to get a personalised State Pension forecast. This gives the customer their expected State Pension entitlement based on their National Insurance (NI) record, and a forecast entitlement if they fill all the Qualifying Years available to them. Once they have done this, if people are below State Pension age, they can contact the Future Pension Centre to find out if they will benefit from voluntary contributions. If they have reached State Pension age, they can contact the Pensions Service.
I am pleased to confirm that a Written Ministerial Statement has been made today by the Financial Secretary to the Treasury confirming that the deadline for contributions has been extended to 31 July. This is to ensure customers do not miss out on the opportunity to make voluntary NICs for the period between 5 April 2006 to the end of the 2016/17 tax year. All voluntary NICs payments for this period will now be accepted at the existing 2022/23 rates until the 31 July. This extension allows HMRC and DWP the time to process enquiries and payments to ensure people’s State Penson eligibility can be maximised.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many times there were technical problems with the Pension Service phone line in the last two weeks.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
There have been no technical problems with the Pension Service phone line.
DWP continues to proactively monitor increased call demand following Martin Lewis’ broadcast on voluntary National Insurance contributions on 22 February. Collaborative working with HMRC continues. We have also introduced additional measures such as adapted in-call messaging and use of Social Media to improve customer experience.
I am pleased to confirm that a Written Ministerial Statement has been made today by the Financial Secretary to the Treasury confirming that the deadline for contributions has been extended to 31 July. This is to ensure customers do not miss out on the opportunity to make voluntary NICs for the period between 5 April 2006 to the end of the 2016/17 tax year. All voluntary NICs payments for this period will now be accepted at the existing 2022/23 rates until the 31 July. This extension allows HMRC and DWP the time to process enquiries and payments to ensure people’s State Penson eligibility can be maximised.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of the cost of the National Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre; what allowance this makes for (a) contingencies and (b) optimism bias; and what the last such estimate of (i) cost, (ii) contingencies and (ii) optimism bias was.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The forecast cost, produced in line with Green Book guidance, was published in the NAO report of 5 July 2022. Costs are currently being reviewed in light of the delay due to the High Court judgement.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much public funding the English National Opera received in each of the last 15 years; and what discussions his Department had with Arts Council England on funding that organisation (a) over the next three years and (b) in the long term; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Records of the level of public funding for English National Opera are available in its annual accounts, which are published online on the Companies House website.
Following Arts Council England’s decisions relating to English National Opera and its 2023–26 Investment Portfolio, which are taken at arm’s length from the Government, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is helping to convene relevant parties and support them to find a way forward. I am keen that Arts Council England and English National Opera work together on the future of the organisation.
All decisions on which organisations to fund through the 2023–26 Investment Programme, and by how much, have been taken by Arts Council England in line with the long-standing principle that Arts Council England makes such decisions at arm’s length from the Government. The Chief Executive of Arts Council England, Darren Henley, answered questions from the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee on these issues on 8 December 2022.