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Written Question
Maternal Mortality
Wednesday 20th March 2024

Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)

Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to help reduce maternal mortality.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

At the Spring Budget, the Government announced £35m over the next three years to improve maternity safety across England.

This is in addition to our three-year maternity plan, backed by £186m per year from April. Through this, we have introduced 14 maternal medicine networks to provide specialist advice to pregnant women, and we expect all CSs to have a Maternal Mental Health Service by the end of the month.


Written Question
Surgical Mesh Implants: Compensation
Monday 18th March 2024

Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what her planned timetable is for making a decision on redress for people affected by mesh implants following the publication of The Hughes Report on 7 February 2024.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

The Government commissioned the Patient Safety Commissioner (PSC) to produce a report on redress for those affected by sodium valproate and pelvic mesh. We are grateful to the PSC and her team for completing this report, and our sympathies remain with those affected by sodium valproate and pelvic mesh. The Government is now carefully considering the PSC’s recommendations, and will respond substantively in due course.


Written Question
Dangerous Dogs
Wednesday 14th February 2024

Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many applications his Department has received for certificates of exemption to keep an American Bully XL type dog in (a) Canterbury constituency and (b) England.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra received over 61,000 applications for Certificates of Exemption ahead of the deadline from dog owners in England and Wales. These applications are still being processed and may include duplicates, errors or ineligible applications. Defra does not collate this data by constituency.


Written Question
Care Homes: Kent
Wednesday 7th February 2024

Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many adult social care residential care home places there were in (a) Kent and (b) Canterbury in each year since 2015.

Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) publish the CQC Care Directory annually, which lists the number of care home registrations in the adult social care sector. This includes the number of care home beds, with or without nursing. The following table shows the number of CQC registered care home beds for Kent, on 1 January of each year from 2015 onwards:

Year

Registered Care Home Beds

2015

15,198

2016

15,131

2017

14,406

2018

14,590

2019

14,431

2020

14,610

2021

14,586

2022

14,598

2023

14,543

2024

14,638

The following table shows the number of care home beds for Canterbury, on 1 January of each year from 2015 onwards:

Year

Registered Care Home Beds

2015

943

2016

980

2017

973

2018

981

2019

1,020

2020

1,025

2021

1,007

2022

984

2023

976

2024

1,087

Note: This data is also from the CQC Care Directory but cross-referenced with postcode data to identify care home beds in Canterbury with or without nursing.


Written Question
Afghanistan: Hazara
Wednesday 31st January 2024

Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had recent discussions with his international counterparts on the treatment of the Hazara community in Afghanistan.

Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK works closely with the international community, including the G7, G20 and through the UN, to protect the human rights of all of Afghanistan's people and to coordinate a consistent international response. In December, the Minister for South Asia and Human Rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, raised recent attacks on Hazaras with the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.


Written Question
Dental Services: Cancer
Monday 29th January 2024

Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the potential relationship between the availability of NHS dentistry appointments and patient access to bone-strengthening medication to treat cancer.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Whilst the Department has not made a formal assessment, some integrated care boards (ICBs) may be looking at this, using the flexible commissioning model opportunity to meet the needs of their populations. Cancer services remain a priority for ICBs.

The Government has implemented a package of reforms to improve access to National Health Service dental care, which has had an effect with more patients being seen and a 23% increase in NHS activity in the past year. We know we need to do more, and the Department’s Dentistry Recovery Plan will be published shortly, setting out a big package of change.


Written Question
Vetting: Standards
Monday 29th January 2024

Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average waiting time for a DBS check is in (a) Canterbury constituency, (b) Kent and (c) England.

Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)

DBS publishes its performance data on a quarterly basis. For the third quarter of 2023-24, DBS achieved the following performance:

The target to process 85% of Basic checks within 2 days was met, with an average attainment of 88.1%. The 85% target was met on day 2 and the average turnaround time was 0.9 days.

The target to process 85% of Standard checks within 5 days was met, with an average attainment of 88.5%, the 85% target was met on day 3 and the average turnaround time was 1.5 days.

The target to process 80% of Enhanced checks within 14 days was not met during the quarter, with an average attainment of 76.7%. The 80% target was met on day 18 and the average turnaround time was 11.5 days.

For the Canterbury constituency, the average turnaround time between 1/04/2023 and 31/12/2023 was 19.8 days for Enhanced checks and 1.3 days for Standard checks.

For the Kent, the average turnaround time between 1/04/2023 and 31/12/2023 was 19.9 days for Enhanced checks and 1.3 days for Standard checks.


Written Question
Poverty
Tuesday 23rd January 2024

Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the UK's commitment to Sustainable Development Goal 1, what progress his Department has made on reducing the number of people living in poverty by more than half by 2030.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

This Government has overseen significant falls in absolute poverty since 2009/10. There were 1.7 million fewer people in absolute low income after housing costs in 2021/22 compared to 2009/10, a decrease of 4 percentage points. This decrease includes 400,000 fewer children (a decrease of 5 percentage points), 1 million fewer working age individuals (a decrease of 5 percentage points) and 200,000 fewer pensioners (a decrease of 2 percentage points).

The Government is committed to reducing poverty and supporting low-income families. This is reflected in the £276bn we will spend through the welfare system in Great Britain in 2023/24, including around £124bn on people of working age and children, and reflecting an increase in benefit rates and State Pensions of 10.1% last April. From this April, and subject to Parliamentary approval, working age benefits will rise by a further 6.7%, in line with inflation. The increase in the Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30th percentile of local market rates will give further help to 1.6 million low-income households.

With over 900,000 job vacancies across the UK, our focus remains firmly on supporting individuals to move into and progress in work. This approach is based on clear evidence about the important role that work - particularly where it is full-time – can play in reducing the risks of poverty. The latest statistics show that, in 2021/22, working age adults living in workless families were 7 times more likely to be in absolute poverty after housing costs than working age adults in families where all adults work.

To help people into work, our core Jobcentre offer provides a range of options, including face-to-face time with work coaches and interview assistance. In addition, there is specific support targeted towards young people, people aged 50 plus and job seekers with disabilities or health issues.

To support those who are in work, the voluntary in-work progression offer is now available in all Jobcentres across Great Britain, providing an estimated 1.2 million low paid workers on UC access to personalised work coach support to help them increase their earnings. In addition, on 1 April 2024, the Government will increase the National Living Wage for workers aged 21 years and over by 9.8% to £11.44 representing an increase of over £1,800 to the gross annual earnings of a full-time worker on the NLW.


Written Question
Bluetongue Disease: Kent
Monday 22nd January 2024

Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken in response to the findings of its investigation into the cases of bluetongue virus in cattle in Kent.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Upon detection of bluetongue disease in Kent in November during our routine surveillance, Defra and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) officials took immediate and robust action. Animals on the affected premises in Kent, and subsequently Norfolk, have been humanely culled and Temporary Control Zones have been put in place to prevent potential spread of disease by restricting movements, except under licence, of ruminant and camelid animals. Surveillance of susceptible animals and epidemiological assessments within these zones continue and we will review the need for the Zones when this is complete. We continue to work closely with industry representatives to ensure that keepers are kept up to date with developments and that issues and concerns are addressed promptly.


Written Question
Southern Water: Sewage
Monday 22nd January 2024

Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has met Southern Water to discuss sewage discharge since taking office.

Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Secretary of State and his ministerial team hold regular discussions with representatives of the water industry to discuss a range of issues, including reducing sewage discharges and performance issues.

The Government is clear that the volume of sewage being discharged into our waters is unacceptable. This is why we launched the Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan, setting stringent targets to reduce discharges from storm overflows. This Plan will drive the largest infrastructure programme in water company history - £60bn capital investment over 25 years.

On 11 December 2023, the Secretary of State wrote to water companies requesting plans to accelerate action on storm overflows over the next 12 months. This government will continue to take bold action to tackle sewage pollution and hold all water companies, including Southern Water, to account for delivery.