Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she (a) has reviewed and (b) plans to review the (i) provision and (ii) location of (A) inpatient and (B) outpatient health services in Essex.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No formal reviews have been undertaken by the Department. Inpatient and outpatient health services in Essex are provided by the Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board (ICB), Suffolk and North East Essex ICB, and the Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB. Further information of specific service provision is available at the following link:
Local provision of services is determined by the ICBs, rather than directly by the Government, and decisions are made based on population need in the area. The Department is expanding diagnostic capacity across the National Health Service by rolling out more community diagnostic centres (CDCs), delivering vital tests, scans, and checks. With 154 CDCs open already, and up to 160 set to open by March 2025, these offer millions of patients the chance to access quicker, more convenient checks outside of hospitals, with capacity prioritised for cancer. Across all three ICBs in Essex, we have opened five CDCs in the past year, with another location approved by the Department.
We are also increasing activity through dedicated and protected surgical hubs, focusing on providing high volume, low complexity surgery, as recommended by the Royal College of Surgeons of England. There are currently 100 elective surgical hubs that are operational across England, including the Braintree Community Hospital in Essex, as of February 2024. These surgical hubs will help separate elective care facilities from urgent and emergency care.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress has been made on the Lampard Inquiry into mental health services in Essex.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Baroness Lampard, the Chair of the Inquiry, undertook a consultation on proposed amendments to the terms of reference for the inquiry in November 2023. Through this consultation, families and other stakeholders had the opportunity to outline their views on the proposed terms of reference. The Chair has submitted her proposed terms of reference for the statutory inquiry, and my Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care will make a decision in due course.
On 5 December 2023, my Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care agreed to meet with families and local MPs in Essex, to discuss the terms of reference. A meeting will be arranged in due course.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to protect small businesses from being de-banked.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises the vital role SMEs play in fuelling economic growth, and it is important they can access the banking services they need. However, the decisions about what products are offered to individual businesses remain commercial decisions for banks and building societies.
Last year the Chancellor asked the FCA to collect evidence to help the Government understand where account closures and refusals are happening and why. The FCA published their initial findings on 19 September, and are doing further work with firms to verify the data and to better understand the reasons behind account refusals. In addition, the Treasury is continuing to engage with industry to understand any existing or emerging issues regarding bank account access for businesses.
On 21 July, the Government published a policy statement setting out its plans to strengthen requirements relating to users’ payment service framework contract terminations. This will increase the minimum notice period in cases of contract termination to 90 days – giving customers more time to challenge a decision through the Financial Ombudsman Service, or find a replacement service. Providers will also be required to spell out to the affected customer why they are terminating their contract – increasing transparency and aiding customers’ ability to appeal decisions. Both requirements will be subject to certain exceptions, including if to do so would be unlawful.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the future revenue to the Exchequer from the lease of the seabed by the Crown Estate for offshore wind farms.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Crown Estate returns its Annual Net Revenue Profit to the Exchequer for the benefit of the nation’s finances. The Crown Estate’s Net Revenue Profit for 2022-23 was £442.6 million (as noted on page 116 of its 2022-2023 annual report).
Like any commercial business, The Crown Estate does not provide forecasts of its future profits.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent estimate he has made of the number of leaseholders in (a) Witham constituency, (b) Essex and (c) England.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The department publishes an annual estimate of Leasehold dwellings in England. The most recent data (2021-22) shows there were an estimated 4.98 million leasehold dwellings in England. In the South East, there were an estimated 696,000 leasehold dwellings. Due to methodological limitations, the statistics cannot show robust estimates at a sub-regional level. The data are published on gov.uk here: Leasehold dwellings.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the performance of HMRC in answering telephone enquiries.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC takes the quality of customer service very seriously.
HMRC is making strong progress improving its customer services, with a focus on encouraging people to deal with them online where they can, by providing quicker, easier and always available digital services.
HMRC performance, including adviser attempts handled and average speed to answer calls, are published on a quarterly basis and can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-quarterly-performance-updates
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of the introduction of the Pillar 2 OECD global minimum income tax on the UK economy.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Pillar 2 will protect the UK tax base against aggressive tax planning and reinforce the competitiveness of the UK, boosting the UK’s attractiveness as a place to do business, and raising over £12bn in the UK over the next 6 years.Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance his Department has issued to (a) Ministers and (b) staff on maintaining the confidentiality of official documents after they leave office.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
In addition to the requirements set out in the Ministerial Code, Ministers are reminded on leaving office of their ongoing duty of confidentiality and the Official Secrets Act.
Departments and agencies are obliged to remind those who leave the civil service that they remain subject to the requirement in Civil Service Code not to disclose official information without authority, which continues to apply after leaving their role, as well as the Official Secrets Act.
The Civil Service Management Code sets out more detail on the requirements on civil servants with regards to maintaining confidentiality, including key principles (section 4.1.3.a.) and standards (4.2.4), and the obligations on departments and agencies (4.2.1).
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects work on the A12 widening scheme to begin and to be completed.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
National Highways set out its expected delivery schedule on the A12 Chelmsford to A120 widening scheme (junctions 19 to 25) in its Delivery Plan Update, with start of works expected in 2023/24 and open for traffic in Road Period 3 (2025-2030).
National Highways reports on delivery, regularly updating progress on its website and will provide more details in due course.
The Secretary of State granted development consent for the A12 to A120 Widening Scheme on the 12 January 2024. The Department is unable to comment on the details of the decision during the 6-week High Court challenge period, which began the day after the consent was published.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
What recent assessment he has made of the impact of his fiscal policies on levels of foreign direct investment into the UK.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK has the second highest level of greenfield inward investment in the world, behind only the US. The UK remains an attractive destination thanks to our competitive tax regime, world-leading regulatory and legal system, and exemplary academic institutions.
This success was demonstrated at last year’s Global Investment Summit, where the PM announced £29.5bn of investment into the UK.