Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of benefit claimants receiving over-payments on their mental health; and what steps his Department is taking to support claimants that need to re-pay over-payments.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Where overpayments occur, we have a duty to recover taxpayers’ money as quickly and efficiently as possible, without causing hardship to those making repayments. DWP remains committed to working with anyone who is struggling with repayments terms and encourage anyone who is experiencing such difficulty to contact DWP Debt Management to discuss their circumstances.
Claimants who do contact Debt Management, are routinely referred to the Money Advisor Network, who work in partnership with DWP to offer free independent and impartial money and debt advice. We also remain committed to His Majesty’s Treasury’s Beathing Space policy, which provides those with problem debt the right to legal protections from creditor action for a period of 60 days to enable them to receive debt advice and enter into an appropriate debt solution.
In exceptional circumstances, where there are specific and compelling grounds to do so, a waiver can be considered. Full details on this can be found at Chapter 8 of the Department’s Benefit Overpayment Recovery Guide: Benefit overpayment recovery guide - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps his Department has taken to tackle modern slavery in the maritime industry.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
While onboard for surveys and inspections, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) inspectors assess the working and living conditions for crew including, but not limited to, employment agreements, payment of wages and standards of accommodation. These inspections implement the standards of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, and the Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 (No.188), that came into force in 2013 and 2019, respectively.
Inspectors also interview crew while they are onboard during merchant and fishing vessel inspections and surveys, offering a confidential space for concerns to be raised. If there is any evidence of modern slavery, the matter is followed up and information is also forwarded to HMRC or local police for further investigation, as needed.
Asked by: Michael Shanks (Labour - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the level of public awareness of changes to the highway code made in 2022.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The January 2022 changes to The Highway Code to help improve road safety for people walking, cycling and horse riding have been communicated via a factual awareness raising campaign and broader behaviour change campaigns.
Over £2.4million has been spent on media across the campaign, utilising channels such as radio, digital audio, video on demand and social media advertising.
Results from the most recent campaign activity in August 2023 include:
Awareness: The percentage of road users reporting to know either a little or a lot about the Highway Code changes in September 2023 was at 70% among all road users (82% amongst drivers), with 86% of road users having heard of the changes by September 2023.
Understanding: In September 2023 86% of drivers correctly identified that you should leave at least 1.5 metres of space when passing cyclists. Pedestrian priority at junctions was correctly identified by 77% of drivers.
Empathy: Drivers agreeing that it is their responsibility to respect and give space to vulnerable road users remains consistently high and was at 93% in September 2023.
Action: In September 2023 81% of drivers claim to leave a gap of 1.5M when passing a cyclist all or most of the time.
We will continue to promote The Highway Code changes on THINK! and DfT social media channels and via our partner organisations.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what her Department's policy is on the procurement of (a) food and (b) drinks produced in Britain for use in its canteens and restaurants.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department is onboarded to the Government Property Agency (GPA). GPA is the landlord or building manager at the Department’s office occupations, where the space is often shared with several other tenant organisations. The Department buys catering services, or a share of, direct from GPA alongside all other building services.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
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 support lower budget film and TV programmes.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The UK Government has a clear plan to grow the creative industries by a further £50 billion and support another 1 million jobs by 2030. This was set out in June 2023 in the Creative Industries Sector Vision, which was accompanied by £77 million of new funding to support the sector’s growth.
We are taking steps to support producers of all sizes and the production sector more generally. This includes generous tax reliefs across studio space and visual effects, investing in studio infrastructure, and supporting innovation and promoting independent content through the UK Global Screen Fund.
At Spring Budget 2024, the Chancellor also announced the UK Independent Film Tax Credit. Eligible films with production budgets (excluding marketing and distribution) of up to £15 million will be able to opt-in to claim enhanced Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit at a rate of 53% on their qualifying expenditure.
This is in addition to our long standing interventions supporting the independent television production sector, including the independent productions quota and associated Terms of Trade regime, which have been extremely successful in furthering the diversity of the sector and its output.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service personnel are based at RAF High Wycombe as of May 2024.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
As at 1 January 2024, there were 1,940 UK Armed Forces Service personnel stationed at RAF High Wycombe, inclusive of HQ Air Command and UK Space Command personnel.
Please note, UK Forces Service Personnel comprises UK Regular Forces, Gurkhas, Military Provost Guard Service (MPGS), Locally Engaged Personnel, Volunteer Reserve, Serving Regular Reserve, Sponsored Reserve, and Full-Time Reserve Service (FTRS) of unknown origin. University Air Squadron Officer Cadets are excluded. The figure includes trained and untrained personnel.
The figure includes Reserve personnel and is therefore an estimate because the stationed location data for Reserves has not been fully verified.
The figure has been rounded to the nearest 10. However, numbers ending in "5" have been rounded to the nearest 20 to prevent systematic bias.
Data has been provided as at 1 January 2024 to align with published Quarterly Service Personnel Statistics.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what actions they are taking to ensure their targets for additional childcare provision are met for September 2024 and September 2025, given the National Audit Office report into early years entitlements published on 24 April.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government exceeded expectations for the first stage of the rollout to working parents of two year olds in April, with over 210,000 children accessing funded places to date, and all local authorities confirming that they are able to meet parental demand.
The department is confident that parental demand will be met for the next steps of the rollout, as it was in April.
The department has a number of interventions in place to support local authorities to deliver for September 2024 and September 2025, including £12 million delivery support funding and support through the department’s delivery support contractor, Childcare Works.
The department is also taking action to support the childcare market to expand to meet estimated demand from September 2024 and September 2025. This includes significantly increasing rates paid to providers for government funded hours and confirming an additional £500 million to provide certainty that rates will increase in line with cost pressures in the 2025/26 and 2026/27 financial years. The department has also launched a nationwide recruitment campaign, introduced a package of flexibilities to help manage staffing pressures, and allocated £100 million of capital investment to increase physical space in nurseries and other childcare settings.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made in phasing out coal power.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In line with our net zero target, the Government is committed to phasing out unabated coal-fired power generation by 1st October 2024, earlier than the original 2025 target. The remaining coal fired power station in Great Britain is scheduled to close before this date.
This will mean that we will have reduced coal’s share of our electricity supply from around a third, to zero in the space of only ten years.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the appropriateness of maintaining Household Cavalry horses stabled and deployed in central London in the light of the events of 24 April, and public safety and animal welfare concerns arising from the risks of their environment.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The British Army takes the health and wellbeing of its military working horses (MWH) extremely seriously. All of our horses are well looked after, exercised daily and have 24/7 direct access to world-class veterinary care.
Before riding in public, Service personnel undertake training to prove their competence and are fully compliant with the Highway Code when exercising horses on public highways. A progressive programme of activity, including exposure to London traffic, military bands and environmental noise, ensures our horses are properly and safely prepared for their ceremonial role.
The Army has three mounted units in London: the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, the Band of the Household Cavalry and King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery. All undertake State Ceremonial and Public Duties in Central London and Windsor throughout the year.
Steps have already been taken to enhance the environment for our MWHs by creating more loose boxes, which provide greater space and comfort to the horses while stabled. Two to three months per year, the horses are also provided with an alternative environment by being sent out to pasture and the herd often visit Norfolk for two weeks, offering time for daily exercise in the countryside and along local beaches.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
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 support small rural community projects in North West Leicestershire constituency.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)