Asked by: Tom Gordon (Liberal Democrat - Harrogate and Knaresborough)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what data his Department holds on the number of homes that used Green Homes Grant vouchers for spray foam insulation.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
A breakdown of measures installed under the Green Homes Grant voucher scheme can be found in the Green Homes Grant evaluation report: www.gov.uk/government/publications/green-homes-grant-voucher-scheme-evaluation.
Asked by: Tom Gordon (Liberal Democrat - Harrogate and Knaresborough)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the (a) voucher approval, (b) issuance and (c) payment processes for the Green Homes Grant.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
An evaluation of the Green Homes Grant Voucher Scheme was published in November 2023 under the previous Government. It can be found on GOV.UK: www.gov.uk/government/publications/green-homes-grant-voucher-scheme-evaluation.
Further evaluation of the scheme will support the delivery of future schemes under the Warm Homes Plan, which will be upgrading up to 300,000 homes next year alone.
Asked by: Tom Gordon (Liberal Democrat - Harrogate and Knaresborough)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department has taken to (a) identify and (b) notify people who may have had spray foam installed through a Green Homes Grant about (i) potential damage caused by spray foam to their property and (ii) the potential impact of spray foam installation on their ability to secure a mortgage.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Green Homes Grant Voucher Scheme required that consumers seek advice from a suitably qualified TrustMark registered installer before they applied for a voucher. It also required that installations meet Publicly Available Standard (PAS) 2035.
If a homeowner believes that any installation work carried out in their home under a government scheme is faulty, they should first contact the installer. The TrustMark website contains further guidance on steps consumers can take if things go wrong (https://www.trustmark.org.uk/homeowners/if-things-go-wrong). If a product has been installed to the standard it should not require removal.
A surveyor should be able to use the published inspection protocol (https://www.property-care.org/resources/spray-foam-insulation-inspections) to make an assessment as part of the mortgage lending process.
Asked by: Tom Gordon (Liberal Democrat - Harrogate and Knaresborough)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what proportion of complaints to the Trustmark scheme in relation to the Green Homes Grant scheme have been upheld; how much compensation has been paid to Green Homes Grant recipients due to upheld complaints to the Trustmark scheme in total; and how many Green Homes Grant recipients have since received compensation due to an upheld complaint.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The department does not hold the Trustmark complaint data regarding the Green Homes Grant Voucher Scheme.
Asked by: Tom Gordon (Liberal Democrat - Harrogate and Knaresborough)
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 help improve outcomes for bowel cancer.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
The National Health Service is taking crucial steps to improve cancer outcomes for patients across England, including for bowel cancer. We will improve cancer survival rates and hit all NHS cancer waiting time targets, so no patient waits longer than they should.
The NHS will maximise the pace of roll-out of additional diagnostic capacity, delivering the final year of the three-year investment plan for establishing community diagnostic centres (CDCs) and ensuring timely implementation of new CDC locations and upgrades to existing CDCs, with capacity prioritised for cancer diagnostics.
The NHS Bowel Cancer Screening program currently invites people aged between 56 and 74 years old for screening every two years. However, this age cohort is increasing to people aged between 50 and 74 years old by 2025 with the use of Faecal Immunochemical Test kits which can be sent directly to people's homes.
Asked by: Tom Gordon (Liberal Democrat - Harrogate and Knaresborough)
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 help increase the early diagnosis rate for bowel cancer.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
The Department is taking steps to improve the rate of early diagnosis for all cancers, including bowel and bowel-related cancers. We will support the National Health Service to transform diagnostic services by spending £1.5 billion on new surgical hubs and diagnostic scanners, to build capacity for over 30,000 more procedures and 1.25 million diagnostic tests.
Asked by: Tom Gordon (Liberal Democrat - Harrogate and Knaresborough)
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 reduce waiting times for the (a) diagnosis and (b) treatment of bowel cancer.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Lord Darzi’s report has set out the scale of the challenges we face in fixing the National Health Service, and the need to improve cancer waiting time performance and cancer survival. In particular, he has highlighted the need to improve the number of patients starting their treatment within 62 days of referral, and increase the number of patients diagnosed at an earlier stage.
The NHS will maximise the pace of the roll-out of additional diagnostic capacity, delivering the final year of the three-year investment plan for establishing Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) and ensuring timely implementation of the new CDC locations, and upgrades to existing CDCs, with capacity prioritised for cancer diagnostics.
We are committed to transforming diagnostic services, and will support the NHS to increase capacity to meet the demand for diagnostic services through investment in new capacity, including magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scanners. Furthermore, in 2024/25, we will continue to extend the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme to additional cohorts, specifically to 50 to 52-year olds.
Asked by: Tom Gordon (Liberal Democrat - Harrogate and Knaresborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to reduce the number of people waiting more than 6 weeks for a colonoscopy in England.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Cutting waiting lists is a key priority for the Government. It is unacceptable that some patients are waiting over six weeks for a diagnostic test, including for a colonoscopy. To cut waiting lists for diagnostic tests, each integrated care board will have a recovery plan for diagnostic services, including endoscopy as needed.
NHS England is continuing to develop gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy networks across the country, which will address variations in care, including in the timely access to care. The Department is supporting NHS England in completing the rollout and expansion of the community diagnostic programme, including delivering additional endoscopy capacity closer to patients in the community. GI endoscopy training academies have also been established, with one per region, to enable the training and education of the required workforce.
The National Health Service is delivering on a number of specific steps to reduce waiting times for GI endoscopy services, including colonoscopy procedures. This includes the establishment of a national transformation project to enable and support the timely recovery of GI endoscopy services, and investment into an expected net increase of 80 additional dedicated endoscopy rooms to expand capacity, as well as a number of Community Diagnostic Centres offering endoscopy services.
Asked by: Tom Gordon (Liberal Democrat - Harrogate and Knaresborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many avoidable or preventable deaths of mental health patients at Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS trust there have been in each of the last three years.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Information on the number of deaths reported to Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust's incident reporting system are shown in the table. These are not categorised as preventable or avoidable.
Reporting year | Total |
2021/22 | 2,163 |
2022/23 | 2,329 |
2023/24 | 1,322 |
Source: Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust Quality Accounts
It is important to note that the majority of deaths of people in the Trust’s care from natural causes and therefore include end of life care and longstanding poor physical health. There is further detail and context within the Trust’s Quality Account for each year.
Asked by: Tom Gordon (Liberal Democrat - Harrogate and Knaresborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish mortality rates of mental health patients at Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust publishes the information requested (under ‘Learning from deaths’) as part of its annual Quality Account report about the quality of the services provided by the Trust. The most recent report is available at the following link:
www.tewv.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Quality-Account-23-24-Final.pdf