Asked by: Lord Redesdale (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many places of worship are currently on the Historic England's Heritage at Risk Register.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Of the 4,871 entries on the 2023 Historic England Heritage at Risk Register, 943 are places of worship. Two other entries are also assessed as buildings or structures which affect places of worship.
The Heritage at Risk Register aims to protect and manage the historic environment. Historic England works with owners, ‘friends of’ groups, developers, and others to find solutions for historic places and sites at risk across England, ensuring their survival for the benefit of present and future generations.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to bring the majority of Plantation on Ancient Woodland Sites into restoration by 2030.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Keepers of Time policy, updated in 2021, sets out our principles and objectives to protect and improve ancient and native woodland and trees for future generations. Restoring ancient woodlands that are ecologically degraded is a high priority for the Government. This includes restoring plantations on ancient woodland sites by gradually transforming stands from non-native planted species to native species.
We provide support and incentives through Countryside Stewardship and the HS2 Woodland Fund to restore plantations on ancient woodland sites (PAWS). We are currently considering how best to support and incentivise PAWS restoration in future environmental land management schemes while making sure they continue to provide owners with income. We support Forestry England to manage ancient woodland sites across the nation’s forests to improve their ecological value and ultimately restore all plantations on ancient woodland sites to resilient native woodland.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the manpower strength of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The number of personnel within the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) is a constantly evolving figure, with sailors leaving the Service after years at sea, and future generations joining through direct entry or apprenticeship schemes.
I can confirm however, that as of 1 October 2023, the overall personnel strength of the RFA was 1,675.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to preserve sites of local cultural heritage.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
His Majesty’s Government is committed to protecting the historic environment for the benefit of present and future generations. DCMS is responsible for the statutory heritage protection system and welcomes applications — through Historic England — for heritage assets to be considered for designation.
Significant public funding is distributed to heritage assets across the country, via both Government and our key partners such as Historic England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Historic England provides funding for heritage through various grant schemes, including £11.3 million annually for Heritage at Risk. Historic England has also awarded public funding to 67 historic High Streets across England through the £95 million High Street Heritage Action Zone Programme, with the majority of this funding being used to repair and improve heritage assets.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund also provides funding for heritage projects with a community angle across the country, awarding more than £8.4 billion in Lottery funds to more than 46,000 heritage projects across the UK. The Fund has made awards in every parliamentary constituency in the UK.
Through the £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund, HM Government is directly investing in many projects which benefit heritage across England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. The £150 million Community Ownership Fund is also open to groups across the UK to take ownership of heritage assets which are at risk of being lost to the community. Many of these projects are benefiting heritage assets in areas across the country.
DCMS also provides up to £42 million for the Listed Place of Worship Grant Scheme, which provides grants to reimburse the VAT paid on repairs and maintenance to the nation's listed places of worship, to support our historic spiritual architecture for the benefit of present and future generations.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of funding UK-based studies of the (a) use of the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine to prevent bovine tuberculosis, (b) period of effectiveness of that vaccine and (c) benefits of that vaccine to the beef industry.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Developing a deployable cattle bovine TB vaccine is one of the government’s top priorities. Field trials have been taking place in England and Wales since 2021, following a major breakthrough by government scientists in the development of a new DIVA skin test to Detect Infected among Vaccinated Animals. The aim of these trials is to gather information to enable both the CattleBCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guérin) vaccine and the new DIVA skin test to be authorised for use and recognised internationally.
CattleBCG stimulates a protective immune response in vaccinated cattle. In the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA)’s experimental challenge model vaccinated animals display a range of protection and demonstrate a 12 month duration of immunity. The extent of disease reduction from CattleBCG depends on many factors including severity of exposure to bTB and herd immunity. Establishing the true level of protection afforded by vaccines is only possible by monitoring and assessing performance after licensing and routine use in the population vaccinated. When combined with existing disease control measures, we are confident that widespread vaccination will help to further reduce the incidence of bTB and its impact on cattle farms in England.
We continue to work in partnership with stakeholders, alongside colleagues in Scotland and Wales, to assess how this potential new tool could be deployed in the future and provide the greatest possible benefit to our herds for generations to come.
Information on the development of a bovine TB cattle vaccine can be found on the TB Hub at https://tbhub.co.uk/resources/frequently-asked-questions/development-of-a-deployable-tuberculosis-vaccine-for-cattle/.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help increase participation of (a) girls and (b) women in cricket.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to supporting women's sport at every opportunity including pushing for greater participation.
We are pleased to see the significant progress in the number of women and girls taking up cricket in recent years, and wider developments in the women’s game, as noted by the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) report. The England and Wales Cricket Board’s five year plan, Inspiring Generations, launched in 2020 aims to inspire a new generation to believe that ‘cricket is a game for me’. The plan focuses on six priority areas including making cricket gender-neutral with women and girls being properly represented across the whole game.
Initiatives like Chance to Shine, which receives funding from Sport England, play an important role in encouraging girls to play cricket. The project gives all children the opportunity to play, learn and develop through cricket.
The Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) report notes that while positive progress has been made in the women’s game, there are still areas of concern where more action is needed.
The ECB has provided a full response to the ICEC report and has committed to taking on board the majority of the recommendations to create lasting change across the sport. We welcome the ECB’s commitment to bring forward a plan to tackle these serious issues and secure a sustainable future for the sport, and look forward to receiving updates on this.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the proposal to ban disposable vapes on the illicit vape market.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On 29 January, a ban on the supply and sale of disposable vapes was announced as part of the Government’s response to its consultation on smoking and vaping that was launched in October last year. A ban on the supply and sale of these throwaway items will help to protect our environment, as well as future generations, from the harmful effects of disposable vapes. We will be working with the appropriate bodies to ensure that the ban, when introduced, is enforceable to minimise illicit vapes entering the market.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support the future sustainability of Rugby League.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Government has set out its ambitions for supporting the long-term sustainable growth of the sport sector in the new sport strategy, Get Active.
This includes supporting sports like Rugby League to access additional, alternative forms of investment to help the sector to continue to grow and thrive, and by highlighting best practice, good governance mechanisms, and opportunities offered by technology and innovation. This will allow sport to thrive for future generations, and support the continuation of our sporting institutions.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department takes to help ensure that clinical supervisers of (a) medical students and (b) newly qualified healthcare staff hold the relevant competencies to train those people.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, we recognise that clinical academics are crucial to training future generations of healthcare professionals, by leading on research and delivering much of the teaching of students. As the number of training places increases across professions, more clinical academic posts will be needed.
Health Education England, now part of NHS England, published a new Educator Workforce Strategy in March 2023 setting out the actions that will lead to sufficient capacity and quality of educators to allow the growth in the healthcare workforce needed now and in the future. This includes planning for educator career pathways practice and across sectors and professions. Recognising educators and their value, and detailing initiatives to support them, will raise the profile of this essential workforce, and help to expand the educator pool.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of availability of clinicians to supervise (a) medical students and (b) newly qualified healthcare staff.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, we recognise that clinical academics are crucial to training future generations of healthcare professionals, by leading on research and delivering much of the teaching of students. As the number of training places increases across professions, more clinical academic posts will be needed.
Health Education England, now part of NHS England, published a new Educator Workforce Strategy in March 2023 setting out the actions that will lead to sufficient capacity and quality of educators to allow the growth in the healthcare workforce needed now and in the future. This includes planning for educator career pathways practice and across sectors and professions. Recognising educators and their value, and detailing initiatives to support them, will raise the profile of this essential workforce, and help to expand the educator pool.