Written answers

Monday, 29 March 2021

  • Department for Transport

    • Railways: Bridges

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has for largescale (a) fill in and (b) removal of bridges for the Historical Railways Estate.

    • Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: Driving Tests

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the number of people newly passing an LGV driver practical test.

      Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: EU Nationals

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the number and proportion of EU nationals newly qualifying as LGV drivers.

      Transport: Skilled Workers

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the UK having left the EU on (a) freedom of movement and (b) interoperability of transport skills...

      Roads: Design

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to assess the effect of Highway England’s report, The road to good design: Highways England’s design...

      Biofuels

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of classifying biodiesel that is 100 per cent derived from waste biomass separately from biodiesel...

      Electric Vehicles: Charging Points

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department has made on launching a design competition for electric car charging points.

      Merchant Shipping: Crew

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of merchant seamen who are UK passport holders.

      Materials Handling Equipment: Motor Vehicles

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the number of newly qualified forklift operators.

      Transport: Infrastructure

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what transport infrastructure projects his Department is planning in the (a) north of England and (b) Midlands to help deliver the Government's...

      Travel Restrictions: Coronavirus

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that private plane owners comply with international travel restrictions.

      Railways: Coronavirus

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he will take to ensure the safety of (a) rail conductors and drivers, (b) station staff and (c) passengers is prioritised on the rail...

      Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: Apprentices

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of trends in (a) the number of applications for Driving Goods Vehicles apprenticeships, (b) the number of starts...

      Logistics: Vacancies

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the extent of skills shortages in the logistics sector in the occupations of (a) transport management, (b)...

      Transport: Vacancies

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent representations he has received from (a) members of the Strategic Transport Apprenticeship Taskforce and (b) other sector stakeholders on...

      Transport: Yorkshire and the Humber

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve transport infrastructure between Wakefield and Hull.

      Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: Jobseeker's Allowance

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the number of qualified LGV drivers claiming jobseeker’s allowance.

      Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: Driving Tests

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people have newly passed an LGV driver practical test in each of the last five years.

      Transport for London: Finance

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how long he plans to provide emergency funding to Transport for London.

      Railways

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that (a) graffiti and (b) fly tipping are adequately tackled on railway (i) mainlines and (ii) branch lines.

      Railways: Fares

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made on the economic effect on (a) retail and (b) other businesses in towns and cities of the recent increase in rail fares.

      Railways

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent progress his Department has made on (a) opening new train stations and (b) restoring previously closed railway lines.

      Driving: Qualifications

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the proportion of people holding driving qualifications who are (a) women and (b) from each Census...

      Eurostar: Government Assistance

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason the Government has not provided financial support to Eurostar.

      Department for Transport: Iron and Steel

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the level of UK-produced steel procured by his Department and associated departmental public bodies and agencies in (a)...

      Clean Air Zones

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking with the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government to allocate funding to local authorities in...

      Materials Handling Equipment

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people have newly qualified as forklift operators in each of the last five years.

      Large Goods Vehicle Drivers

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the number of people newly qualifying as LGV drivers.

      Railways: Social Distancing

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps he has taken to ensure passengers and rail staff are able to social distance on the rail network.

      Railways: Coronavirus

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure the safe return to normal service on the rail network in line with the easing of restrictions set out in the...

      Railways: Females

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 12 March 2021 to Question 165645, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the low number of female train drivers.

      Railways: Death

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to prevent fatalities on the rail network.

      Driving Licences: Foreign Nationals

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will extend the validity of driving licences for foreign nationals who are eligible to drive in the UK for 12 months before requiring a theory...

      Bicycles: Repairs and Maintenance

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government has plans to release further vouchers under the Fix Your Bike Voucher Scheme.

      Railways: North of England

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 2 March 2021 to Question 158166, what steps he will take to ensure that bids for the third round of the Ideas Fund will be...

  • Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    • Tidal Power

      To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the planned timescale is for the auction process for tidal wave energy; and when the parameters for that auction...

    • Companies: Human Rights

      To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of creating a whitelist and blacklist of companies that...

  • Department of Health and Social Care

    • Coronavirus: Contact Tracing

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure the NHS Track and Trace app and the NHS text messaging service are synchronised when giving...

    • NHS Test and Trace: Sitel

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the total value is of service credits applied to SITEL’s contract to run call centres under NHS Test and Trace.

      Coronavirus: Screening

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to introduce asymptomatic covid-19 testing for relatives of hospital patients to allow visitations.

      NHS Test and Trace: Serco

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the total value is of service credits applied to Serco’s contract to run call centres under NHS Test and Trace.

      Coronavirus: Quarantine

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to provide additional funding to local authorities for the provision of discretionary payments to people self-isolating...

      Test and Trace Support Payment

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people declined the Test and Trace support payment; and what assessment he has...

      Hospitals: Coronavirus

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to introduce covid-19 testing for asymptomatic hospital visitors.

      Coronavirus

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the cumulative total number of laboratory-confirmed cases of covid-19 is in each Middle Layer Super Output Area; and what the rate...

      Coronavirus: Children

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many children aged (a) under one, (b) one, (c) two, (d) three, (e) four and (f) five years have received a covid-19 test; and what...

      Coronavirus: Contact Tracing

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the reasons why people are being provided with different self-isolation end dates by the NHS Track...

      Coronavirus: Screening

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will expand free covid-19 testing to businesses with fewer than 50 employees.

      Coronavirus: Screening

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of expanding the list of symptoms which trigger a covid-19 test.

      Coronavirus: Contact Tracing

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which date a person should follow in the event that self-isolation end dates differ between the NHS Track and Trace app and the NHS text...

      Coronavirus: Quarantine

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how often individuals and their recent contacts who are required to self-isolate are contacted; and what assessment he has made of the...

      Coronavirus: Screening

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which Government department is responsible for collecting the number of covid-19 tests that have gone missing.

      Test and Trace Support Payment

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps people who are required to self isolate should take to claim their self isolation payment when they have engaged with NHS...

      Joint Replacements: Surgery

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the capacity among (a) orthopaedic surgeons and (b) anaesthetists to catch up on delayed joint...

      NHS Test and Trace: Consultants

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much the Government has spent on external consultants on the NHS Test and Trace programme to date.

      Coronavirus: Screening

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the evidential basis was for his decision (a) to implement mass covid-19 testing of secondary school pupils in London and the...

      NHS Test and Trace: Databases

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the answer of 23 February 2021 to Question 153230, on NHS Test and Trace: Databases, on (a) how many occasions and (b) what...

      Coronavirus: Older People

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the three-month trend in the level of covid-19 infection among over-60s in London.

      Test and Trace Support Payment

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve the accessibility of £500 Test and Trace Support Payment.

      Nutrition: Health Education

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to take to promote awareness on healthy portion sizes for food and drink.

      Coronavirus: Vaccination

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on whether there is a casual link between the Oxford AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccine and incidences of...

      Care Homes: Coronavirus

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of care home (a) staff and (b) residents have received a (i) first dose and (ii) second dose of a covid-19 vaccination to...

      Coronavirus: Vaccination

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of people who have received the (a) Oxford AstraZeneca and (b) Pfizer-BioNTech...

      Coronavirus: Children

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential disproportionate effect of long covid on BAME children.

      Travel: Quarantine

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the need for UK citizens who have received both doses of the covid-19 vaccination while abroad to take two...

      Travel: Quarantine

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the contracts signed with hotel providers for hotel border quarantine included food standards to meet Department of Health and...

      Travel: Quarantine

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will provide a breakdown of the (a) food and (b) other costs covered in the £1,750 hotel quarantine package rate for one adult...

      Cancer: Health Services

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people were waiting more than 62 days for initial treatment for cancer in the London Borough of Redbridge in the most recent...

      Travel: Quarantine

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will update his guidance on booking and staying in a quarantine hotel on arrival in England to include information on arrangements...

      Coronavirus: Screening

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will (a) review the cost of covid-19 testing for the Test to Release scheme and (b) exempt people who are returning to the UK from...

      Public Health: Parks

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many joint parks and public health strategies have been produced by local authorities since 2016; and whether he plans to make the...

      Travel: Quarantine

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what provisions his Department has made for people travelling to England from a country on the banned travel list who cannot afford to...

      HIV Infection: Screening

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges on updating guidance on HIV indicator testing...

      HIV Infection: Screening

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to improve the HIV testing rates in patients presenting with HIV indicator conditions in England.

      Coronavirus: Travel

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of replacing the covid-19 hotel quarantine system with a PCR test to...

      Food: Marketing

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2021 to Question 153180 on Food: Marketing, what assessment has been made of the potential effect...

      Nutrition

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with food and drink manufacturers on reducing portion sizes.

      Food and Drinks: Advertising

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has taken steps to protect (a) businesses and (b) jobs in the food and drink manufacturing industry from the...

      Dental Services: Sheffield

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS England plans to maintain the number of NHS dental services in Sheffield.

      General Practitioners: Hampshire

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the closure of Guildhall Walk GP Practice in September 2021, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of access to...

      Nutrition

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the benefits of introducing portion control to support Public Health England’s reduction...

      Coronavirus: Protective Clothing

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 23 February to Question 157295 on Coronavirus: Protective Clothing, if he will publish those reviews and the...

      NHS: Reviews

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish the final report of the NHS Health Checks Review.

      Smoking

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government's target to reduce the number of adults who smoke to less than 12 per cent by 2022 is still in place.

      Dental Services: Havering

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure that people in Havering are able to access urgent dental treatment using local NHS dentists.

      Asthma

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason his Department amended the definition of severe asthma sufferers as those who were formally shielding, regularly take...

      Obesity

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the role sensible portion sizes play in helping to tackle obesity.

      HIV Infection

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to tackle health inequalities experienced by people with HIV and AIDS.

      General Practitioners: Coronavirus

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that GPs offer face-to-face appointments to patients during the covid-19 outbreak.

      Dental Services: Coronavirus

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the finding by Healthwatch England in the update to its report on Dentistry and the impact of covid-19 dated 8 February...

      Coronavirus: Protective Clothing

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will update Public Health England guidance on personal protective equipment in response to (a) the new more transmissible strains...

      Coronavirus: Vaccination

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he will take to ensure that undocumented migrants will be able to access covid-19 vaccinations without fear of immigration...

      Coronavirus: Screening

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that lateral flow tests are administered by trained professionals.

      Coronavirus: Vaccination

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support his Department is providing to people who do not have internet access at home to book a covid-19 vaccination appointment.

      Coronavirus: Vaccination

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of offering covid-19 vaccination to patients before planned in-patient hospital...

      Syringes

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2021 to Question 166312 on Syringes, what proportion of the syringes procured were produced in the UK.

      Question

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to his oral contribution of 15 September 2020, Official Report, column 185, if he will publish the source of the data which...

      Care Homes: Coronavirus

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of care home (a) residents and (b) staff have been offered each covid-19 dose to date; and how many have refused that vaccine.

      Coronavirus: Disease Control

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 16 March 2021 to Question 109345 on Coronavirus: Disease Control, what the cost to the public purse was of the...

      Coronavirus: Disease Control

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the (a) Head of the NHS Test and Trace programme and (b) Government's scientific advisers with expertise...

      Hospitals: Visits

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to amend covid-19 guidance to allow both parents to visit children in hospital together.

      Department of Health and Social Care: Iron and Steel

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the level of UK-produced steel procured by his Department and associated departmental public bodies and...

      Public Health England

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, (a) how many and (b) on what topics Ministerial Directions have been issued by his Department to Public Health England.

      Autism: Coronavirus

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that autistic adults who need a social care assessment are able to receive one during the covid-19 outbreak.

  • Department for Education

    • Crafts: Apprentices

      To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to increase the number of apprenticeships across a range of traditional craft skills broken down by craft.

  • Ministry of Justice

    • HM Courts and Tribunals Service: Fees and Charges

      To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing and exemption for police forces from HM Courts & Tribunals Service fees for all...

    • Gender Based Violence

      To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure all funding and commissioning processes that relate to Violence Against Women and Girls recognise and value specialist...

      Tobacco: Children

      To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many businesses selling shisha were prosecuted for selling shisha tobacco to under-18s in each of the past three calendar years.

      Smoking: Fines

      To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total value of fines was issued to businesses providing shisha/water pipes for allowing smoking within substantially or fully enclosed public...

      Smoking: Fines

      To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many businesses were fined in each of the last three calendar years for allowing the use of shisha/water pipe within substantially or fully enclosed...

      Prisons: Coronavirus

      To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the speed of vaccinations of (a) staff and (b) prisoners in prison on the rate of covid-19 recovery...

      Prisons: Coronavirus

      To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to evaluate the potential merits of proposals to limit association within prison regimes to small groups (a) during and (b)...

      Prisons: Coronavirus

      To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies on covid-19 recovery in prisons in England and Wales of the proportion of staff who are...

  • Department for International Trade

    • Trade Agreements: Pakistan

      To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what progress her Department has made on negotiating a free trade agreement with Pakistan.

  • Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

    • Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Iron and Steel

      To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the level of UK-produced steel procured by his Department and associated departmental...

    • Park Homes: Regulation

      To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer 12 March 2021 to Question 165438, if he will facilitate the introduction of primary legislation...

      Affordable Housing: Cambridgeshire

      To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 19 March 2021 to Question 167223 on Affordable Housing: Cambridgeshire, if he will publish...

      Housing: Older People

      To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to encourage the building of homes designed for use by the elderly.

      Housing: Sales

      To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to improve the home buying and selling process.

      Property Searches

      To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to improve the process of property searches to speed up home buying and selling.

      Housing: Sales

      To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure buyers and sellers can access effective guidance on buying and selling homes.

      Home Ownership: Rother Valley

      To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to support home ownership in Rother Valley constituency.

      Property Development: Green Belt

      To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to protect the green belt against development.

      Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors: Service Charges

      To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what his Department's policy is on whether the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ Service Charge...

      Building Safety Fund: Leasehold

      To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the administration cost of collecting contributions towards the Building Safety Fund...

      New Towns: South Cambridgeshire

      To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 2.129 of the Budget 2020 Red Book, what progress has been made on the development of a...

      Planning: Greater London

      To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the White Paper, Planning for the Future, whether Metropolitan Open Land will be included in the...

      Local Plans

      To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the proposed relationship between the current neighbourhood plans and the proposed...

      Buildings: Insulation

      To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of requiring a fire safety test for buildings with unsafe cladding...

      Housing: Construction

      To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent estimate he has made of the number of homes needed to be built per year to meet demand.

      Hate Crime: Sikhs

      To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much and what proportion of the £375,000 grant allocated to True Vision in 2017 has been (a) allocated and...

      Local Government Finance: Bury

      To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much financial support the Government allocated to Bury Council in financial year 2020-21.

      Free Zones

      To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the potential effect of tariff-free arrangements for materials imported through...

      Planning: Urban Areas

      To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department takes to assess the effect of out of town development on job retention and creation on high...

      UK Shared Prosperity Fund

      To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress has been made on the process for allocation of funding under the Shared Prosperity Fund.

  • Ministry of Defence

    • China: Uighurs

      To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department made of the implications for the integrated review of security, defence, development and foreign policy of Chinese...

    • Qatar: European Fighter Aircraft

      To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Joint Typhoon Squadron with Qatar.

      India: Integrated Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy Review

      To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, in reference to the Defence Command Paper published on 22 March 2021, how his Department intends to expand defence industrial relationships with India.

      Indo-Pacific Region

      To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department has taken to strengthen relations with prospective allies in the Indo-Pacific region.

      Defence: International Cooperation

      To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what measures he plans to put in place to contribute to deeper interoperability between the UK and (a) Norway, (b) the Netherlands and (c) France.

      Cyprus: Defence

      To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse has been of upgrades to the UK defence footprint in Cyprus over the last five years.

      Army

      To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the number of full-time army personnel is planned to be higher than that of US Special Operations Command.

      Electronic Warfare

      To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to address the risk to the UK’s critical national infrastructure from technological advances in cyber warfare.

      Ranger Regiment

      To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to announce the location of the headquarters of the Special Operations Brigade.

      Spaceflight

      To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the risk to the UK of the increase in the space capabilities of foreign states.

      Nuclear Weapons

      To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 4.13 of the Defence in a Competitive Age White Paper, published on 22 March 2021, whether the specification type of the...

      Destroyers

      To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the planned timeframe is for the concept and assessment phases of the Type 83 destroyer.

      Ministry of Defence: Iron and Steel

      To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the level of UK-produced steel procured by his Department and associated departmental public bodies and agencies in (a)...

      Guided weapons

      To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the status of the interim surface-to-surface guided weapon is.

  • Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    • Horses: Transport

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many horses travelled between the UK, the Republic of Ireland and France under the Tripartite Agreement in each month...

    • Sea Bass

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will take steps to preserve bass stocks by (a) tackling illegal targeting by commercial boats and (b)...

  • Home Office

    • Asylum: Sri Lanka

      To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the findings of Freedom from Torture's July 2020 report entitled...

    • Registration of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships: Internet

      To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect of the digitalisation of the death registration process on bereaved people; and whether that...

      Immigration Controls

      To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will provide further immigration guidance on inward mobility including (a) short-term visitor routes, (b) frontier workers, (c) paid...

  • Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

    • Myanmar: Military Coups

      To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if the Government will take steps to hold the Myanmar military accountable by using provisions of universal...

    • Myanmar: Religious Freedom

      To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to support freedom of religion in Myanmar.

      Malaysia: Freedom of Religion

      To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to support freedom of religion in Malaysia.

      Myanmar: Press Freedom

      To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps his Department is taking to help encourage freedom of the press in Myanmar.

  • Cabinet Office

    • Weddings: Coronavirus

      To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether children under the age of five count toward the number of attendees allowed at weddings under Step Two...

    • Gender Based Violence: Victim Support Schemes

      To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department is taking steps to remove specialist Violence Against Women and Girls services from...

      Voting Rights: British Nationals Abroad

      To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to paragraph 2.41 of the Budget 2021 Red Book, what steps his Department has taken to end the...

      Local Government: Elections

      To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Written Statement of 8 February 2021, Local Elections, HCWS773, how much of the £92...

      Free Zones

      To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to make further funds available through the Ports Infrastructure Fund in the context of the...

  • Treasury

    • Self-employment Income Support Scheme

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on what date the fourth self-employed income support grant is planned to open for applications.

    • Conditions of Employment

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what tax incentives are available to (a) employer share ownerships plans, (b) value workers' cooperatives and (c) other forms of mutual employment and...

      Retail Trade: Non-domestic Rates

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing business rates relief to vacant retail units that are being used to facilitate...

      Customs: ICT

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2021 to Question 145127 on customs: ICT, how many individuals were employed in each team in the month of (a) December...

      Customs: ICT

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the average response time to customs queries to HMRC through the CHIEF system in the most recent period for which figures...

      Tax Avoidance: Mental Health

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect on the mental health of people who are the subject of IR35 investigations; and what guidance his Department has...

      UK Trade with EU: Customs

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what training on customs requirements is being provided by his Department to help companies to adhere to the provisions of the EU–UK Trade and...

      Customs Intermediaries: Training

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what training has been provided by his Department to customs agents to help them to understand the provisions of the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation...

      Mortgages: Coronavirus

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether it is the Government's policy that people who are unemployed as a result of the covid-19 outbreak will be entitled to a further mortgage holiday.

      Small Businesses: Taxation

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what impact assessment his Department conducted of Making Tax Digital on small businesses.

      Credit

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that (a) pensioner and (b) other people who apply for credit without a comprehensive credit rating have fair...

      Taxation: Self-assessment

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many self-assessment forms in respect of the tax year 2019-2020 have been submitted late as at 19 March 2021; and how that compares with the volume of...

      Treasury: Written Questions

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to Questions 169067, 169068 and 169069, on Excise Duties, tabled by the hon. Member for North West Durham, if he will provide the figures requested.

      Biofuels: Excise Duties

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a lower excise duty bracket for biodiesel that is 100 per cent derived from waste biomass.

      Infrastructure: Finance

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to invest in UK infrastructure.

      National Skills Academies: Shipbuilding

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions officials in his Department have had with representatives of stakeholder groups on the approval of the Shared Outcome Fund bid for the...

  • Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

    • Museums and Galleries: Gender

      To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent comparative assessment he made of the proportional representation of female artists and male artists in...

    • Society of Antiquaries: Burlington House

      To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that Society of Antiquaries can remain at Burlingham House; and what plans he...

      Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Iron and Steel

      To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the level of UK-produced steel procured by his Department and associated departmental public...

      Internet: Children

      To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to introduce user advocacy arrangements to represent children to the regulator to help tackle online harms,...

  • Department for Transport

    • Biomethane

      To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Department of Transport and DEFRA are taking any joint steps to support UK farming communities to harness methane emissions to be used as...

    • Biomethane

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of biomethane to assist hydrogen transport; what plans they have to utilise biomethane gas from farms and cities to fuel...

      Roads: Exhaust Emissions

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce particulate pollution from urban traffic; and what assessment they have made (1) of the report by University College London...

      Transport: Exhaust Emissions

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what metrics they use to calculate the emissions from transport run on (1) hydrogen, (2) biomethane, (3) biogas, and (4) electricity, when allocating funding for...

      Electric Vehicles

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide (1) additional support to councils to electrify their vehicles, and (2) councils with advice on how they can achieve...

      Electric Vehicles: Charging Points

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role of local councils in delivering electric vehicle charging infrastructure to meet the Government’s 2030...

      Hammersmith Bridge: Repairs and Maintenance

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to expedite the re-opening of Hammersmith Bridge.

  • Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    • Small Businesses: Coronavirus

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of small businesses which are not eligible for COVID-19 Government grants; and what steps they are taking to reduce...

    • Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme

      To ask Her Majesty's Government which government department was responsible for approving Greensill Capital as a lender under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme; and whether...

      Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme

      To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Callanan on 17 December 2020 (HL 11087), whether they continue to believe that it would not be the best use of public...

      Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme

      To ask Her Majesty's Government which government agency was responsible for monitoring the activities of Greensill Capital under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme; and whether in...

      Bereavement Leave: Costs

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the cost to employers of Parental Bereavement Leave since April 2020.

  • Department of Health and Social Care

    • Coronavirus: Travel

      To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 8 February (HL12760), whether there are any (1) financial, or (2) other, arrangements for private...

    • Coronavirus: Exercise

      To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they recommend graded exercise therapy for patients with post COVID-19 symptoms.

      Sally Davies

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what public responsibilities are currently held by Professor Dame Sally Davies.

      Carers: Living Wage

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of National Living Wage costs on care providers in the charitable sector.

      Blood Tests: General Practitioners

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the clinical impact of GPs directing patients to dedicated blood test centres rather than carrying out such tests at local...

      Department of Health and Social Care: Written Questions

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that questions for written answer from members of the House of Lords that are allocated to the Department for Health and...

      Coronavirus: Vaccination

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that asylum seekers living in temporary accommodation receive COVID-19 vaccinations.

      Coronavirus: Nottinghamshire

      To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people have been tested for COVID-19 in Nottinghamshire since the announcement of mass testing in November 2020.

      Brain: Tumours

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to accelerate (1) the progress, and (2) the dissemination of the findings, of research into the (a) prevention, and (b) treatment, of...

  • Department for Education

    • Special Educational Needs: Coronavirus

      To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have issued guidance (1) to schools, and (2) to parents of children who were shielding because of health conditions and who have Education and Health...

    • Education and Vocational Guidance: Travellers

      To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their white paper Skills for jobs: lifelong learning for opportunity and growth, published on 21 January, what steps they are taking (1) to ensure...

      Eleven Plus

      To ask Her Majesty's Government how many pupils entered the 11-plus examination in (1) 2019, and (2) 2020.

      Home Education

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide an update on the progress of the consultation on elective home education, including consideration on the introduction of legislation.

      Children's Social Care Independent Review

      To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the scope of the Independent review of children’s social care includes consideration of possible changes to the service and protection rights of...

      Schools: Uniforms

      To ask Her Majesty's Government how many parents who have been unable to resolve the issue of excessive school uniform costs with schools directly have raised that issue with the Department for...

      Sustainable Development: Education

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide environmental training to primary and secondary school teachers to ensure they are equipped to teach sustainable development.

      Teachers: Coronavirus

      To ask Her Majesty's Government whether teachers are prioritised to receive a COVID-19 vaccination regardless of age; and if not, what plans they have to prioritise teachers to...

      Alternative Education

      To ask Her Majesty's Government how many alternative schools are registered; and what estimate they have made of the number of unregistered alternative providers.

      Apprentices: Assessments

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the percentage of apprentices required to complete Functional Skills Level 2 qualifications in (1) Maths, (2) English, and (3) Information and...

      Children's Social Care Independent Review: Public Appointments

      To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Berridge on 16 March (HL13849), for what reasons they redacted the section entitled ‘Terms of Reference and...

      Apprentices: Small Businesses

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to increase the number of apprentices for which small businesses who do not pay the apprenticeship levy can claim cash incentives.

  • Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

    • Pakistan: Radicalism

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Pakistan about reports that extremist ideology has been taught in schools in that country.

    • Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what (1) discussions they have had with, and (2) representations they have made to, the government of Iran about the court proceedings against Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

      Palestinians: Road Traffic Offences

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel concerning (1) the reported increase in the number of hit-and-run offences against Palestinians,...

      Kashmir: Diplomatic Service

      To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 9 March (HL13631), whether a representative from the British High Commission was invited to...

      Kashmir: Diplomatic Service

      To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 9 March (HL13631), what assessment the British High Commission made of...

      Occupied Territories: British Nationals Abroad

      To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 24 February (HL13287), what is their assessment of the involvement of UK citizens in the deaths...

      Ahmad Erekat

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the findings of the report by Forensic Architecture The Extrajudicial Execution of Ahmad Erekat, published on 23 February.

      Palestinians: Children

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the number of Palestinian children (1) killed, or (2) maimed, by (a) the Israeli Defence Forces, or (b) Israeli settlers, in the last...

      Kashmir: Diplomatic Service

      To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 9 March (HL13631), which countries participated in the diplomatic visit to...

      Integrated Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy Review

      To ask Her Majesty's Government how the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy will (1) take account of, and (2) address the links between social norms, gender...

      Coronavirus: Vaccination

      To ask Her Majesty's Government to which (1) Commonwealth countries, and (2) non-Commonwealth countries, they have supplied COVID-19 vaccines; and how many COVID-19 vaccines each...

      Mozambique: Terrorism

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the prevalence of Islamist insurgency in north-east Mozambique, and (2) the number of people displaced as a result of...

      Voluntary Service Overseas

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have for the future funding of the Voluntary Service Overseas.

  • Home Office

    • Social Media: Offences against Children

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to facilitate the sharing of information on child abuse between social media companies; and whether such plans will include reforming...

    • Sarah Everard

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the actions of the Metropolitan Police at a vigil in memory of Sarah Everard at Clapham Common on 13 March.

  • Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

    • Musicians: EU Countries

      To ask Her Majesty's Government which EU Member States they have spoken to since 1 January about touring arrangements for musicians; and whether any of the solutions relating (1) to visas, and...

    • Culture Recovery Fund

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the level of funding (1) creative freelancers, and (2) arts institutions, receive from the Cultural...

What is this?

The parliamentary question is a great way for MPs and Peers to discover information which the government may not wish to reveal. Ministers reply via written answers, a list of which gets published daily.

We let you vote on whether or not the answer given is adequate.

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