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Written Question
UK Border Force: Redundancy
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Heathrow Border Force staff have taken voluntary exit as a result of the Heathrow Change Programme; and how many such staff are (a) women and (b) disabled people.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

The Home Office can confirm 158 staff have indicated they wish to take the voluntary exit scheme. 54% of those staff who have indicated taking the voluntary exit are female. 18% of staff who have indicated, wishing to take the voluntary exit scheme, have a disability.


Written Question
UK Border Force: Complaints
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many grievances have been raised by Heathrow Border Force staff in response to the Heathrow Change Programme; how many of these have been rejected; and what proportion of grievances were raised by (a) women and (b) disabled people.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

The Home Office would not disclose information which is considered likely to cause prejudice to the effectiveness of public affairs.


Written Question
UK Border Force: Conditions of Employment
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Heathrow Border Force staff have been asked to accept new terms and conditions as part of the Heathrow Change Programme; and how many such staff are (a) women and (b) disabled people.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

No members of staff have been asked to accept new terms and conditions. All staff were given a range of options on which they could make the decision which best suited them.


Written Question
UK Border Force: Reasonable Adjustments
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Heathrow Border Force staff had reasonable adjustments before the Heathrow Change Programme; and what proportion of such staff were (a) women and (b) disabled people.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

The Home Office do not hold the requested information on how many people working for Border Force at Heathrow prior to the Change Programme had reasonable adjustments, in an accessible format.


Written Question
UK Border Force: Staff
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many disabled people worked for Heathrow Border Force before the Heathrow Change Programme.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

The Home Office do not hold the requested information on how many people working for Border Force Heathrow prior to the Change Programme had declared a disability, in an easily accessible format.


Written Question
UK Border Force: Pay
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Heathrow Border Force staff have gone down a pay grade as part of the Heathrow Change Programme; and what proportion of such staff are (a) women and (b) disabled people.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

No members of staff have gone down a pay grade as part of the Heathrow Change Programme.


Written Question
Dental Services: Standards
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Thérèse Coffey (Conservative - Suffolk Coastal)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how her Department determines the performance target for units of dental activity for each dental practice.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

From 1 April 2023, the responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to all integrated care boards (ICBs) across England.

The current General Dental Service (GDS) contract and Personal Dental Service (PDS) agreement were introduced in 2006. The majority of contracts which deliver routine, or mandatory, dental services are legacy arrangements from pre-2006, and the contracted Units of Dental Activity (UDAs) under these contracts generally reflect the treatment volumes that were required from each practice prior to the new arrangements coming into force.

Activity levels for any new GDS contracts or PDS agreements would be determined as part of the procurement process, taking into account oral health needs assessments undertaken by ICBs, to identify areas of need and to determine the priorities for investment.

Contractors are expected to deliver 96 to 102% of their agreed activity each year. Where contracts deliver less than 96%, the value of the undelivered activity is recouped from the contractor. Undelivered activity between 96 to 100% may be carried forward into the next financial year. Activity greater than 100% may be funded to 110%, if there is a local arrangement with the ICB, or may be deducted from the activity requirements of the next financial year.


Written Question
Sexual Assault Referral Centres
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS England has completed its review of service provision of June 2022 to determine whether forensic and medical interventions for non-fatal strangulation which occur in domestic abuse should form part of the core offer for sexual assault referral centres or should be cared for elsewhere.

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

The National Sexual Assault Referral Centre’s (SARC) Service Specification, as reviewed and updated in June 2023, now reflects the offence of non-fatal strangulation (NFS). The specification states: Appropriate medical and forensic interventional support is provided to all service users presenting with sexual assault and/or sexual abuse where the presenting need also indicates non-fatal strangulation. It is widely acknowledged that many victims of sexual assault will have also experienced domestic abuse.

For cases of non-fatal strangulation not associated with sexual assault, victims’ immediate healthcare needs can be treated in other acute healthcare settings such as emergency departments. The Institute for Addressing Strangulation recently published guidelines for clinical management of non-fatal strangulation in acute and emergency care services.


Written Question
Animal Welfare: Charities
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)

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 made an assessment of the potential impact of provisions in the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill on the work of animal rescue charities.

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

The Government supports the Private Members’ Bill, Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill introduced by Selaine Saxby MP on restricting the importation and non-commercial movement of pets. The Bill completed second reading in the House of Commons on 15 March 2024.

In August 2021 we launched a consultation on the commercial and non-commercial movement of pets into Great Britain. It was a wide-ranging consultation with excellent engagement with key stakeholders including animal rescue charities. We are carefully reviewing the feedback from our consultation and wider engagement with stakeholders, and the consultation response will be published soon.


Written Question
Import Controls: Disease Control
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2024 to Question 11320 on Import Controls: Disease Control, which categories of consignment will be required to pay the Common User Charge, by risk level.

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

Defra has consulted on its proposed methodology and rates to inform charging levels and will publish an update on the Common User Charge shortly. This will include the Government response to the Common User Charge consultation. Further information on the policy and rates will be included in the upcoming publication.