Every parliamentary written question tabled by Adam Jogee this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 801–820 of 895 · this parliament
What discussions he has had with the Chemical Industries Association about the (a) access to and (b) regulation of safe and approved chemicals in Northern Ireland.
The Department for Work and Pensions is the policy lead with regard to chemical regulation across the UK, as sponsor of the Health and Safety Executive. In that role, the Department for Work and Pensions continuously assesses the adequacy of chemical regulation across the whole of the UK.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government has taken to help secure the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza since 19 December 2024.
Securing an immediate ceasefire and the safe release of all hostages, including Emily Damari and three other hostages with strong links to the UK, remains the UK's top priority. We have continuously supported hostage talks, and we continue to work alongside our allies and partners in the region, exercising every possible diplomatic lever to see them immediately released. Since 19 December 2024, the Foreign Secretary has talked to several of his counterparts from across the region. On 6 January, the Foreign Secretary spoke to the Prime Minister of Qatar, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, offered UK support for negotiations, and stressed the importance of securing a ceasefire to enable the safe return of Emily Damari and the three other UK-linked hostages and see an end to the war in Gaza.
Communities and Local Government, how many people have received funding from the Disabled Facilities Grant in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency and (b) Staffordshire in each of the last 14 years.
Government recognises how important home adaptations are in enabling older and disabled people to live as independently as possible in a safe and suitable environment. This is why on 3 January 2025 government announced an immediate £86 million in-year uplift to the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG), taking the funding total to £711 million for 2024-25. This will allow 7,800 more eligible people to make vital improvements to their home allowing them to live more independent lives and reducing hospitalisations.Furthermore, government announced an £86 million additional investment in the DFG for the 2025-26 financial year at the Autumn Budget (bringing total funding for 2025-26 to £711 million).Government continues to keep all aspects of the DFG under consideration. As part of this process, we are reviewing the suitability of the current upper limit.Government does not hold data on how many people have received DFG funding. The table below sets out the number of completed grants for the (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency and (b) Staffordshire in each of the last 14 years, taken from voluntary, unaudited and incomplete data provided annually by local authorities in England. Due to changes in reporting mechanisms, completions data for financial year 2017-18 is not available.YearNumber of DFGs completed(a) Newcastle-under-Lyme(b)Staffordshire2010-20111309322011-201211610182012-2013Incomplete dataIncomplete data2013-201495Incomplete data2014-20151196832015-2016Incomplete dataIncomplete data2016-2017118Incomplete data2017-2018N/AN/A2018-20191207542019-2020756592020-2021605732021-20221357032022-2023878642023-202492984
What steps he is taking to help increase the (a) volume and (b) value of trade between the UK and Germany.
Reinvigorating the UK’s relationship with our European partners is a top priority for this Government. Germany is already the UK’s largest trading partner within the EU. Last summer, we launched negotiations for a bilateral treaty that will aim to strengthen bilateral cooperation on economic growth, and in a range of sectors including energy, defence and technology. Negotiations will resume after the forthcoming elections in Germany.
What steps he is taking to help increase the (a) volume and (b) value of trade between the UK and Jamaica.
The Department for Business and Trade is supporting UK firms to access opportunities in Jamaica across a variety of sectors, including critical infrastructure. In November 2024, the UK hosted Senator Aubyn Hill, the Jamaican Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, to discuss opportunities for deeper commercial collaboration following the first UK-Jamaica trade mission in September 2024. Later this month, the UK will meet Jamaica for the Trade and Development Council under the CARIFORUM-UK Economic Partnership Agreement to discuss further opportunities to grow trade.
What recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of chemical regulation in Northern Ireland.
The Department for Work and Pensions is the policy lead with regard to chemical regulation across the UK, as sponsor of the Health and Safety Executive. In that role, the Department for Work and Pensions continuously assesses the adequacy of chemical regulation across the whole of the UK.
What steps he is taking to help increase the (a) volume and (b) value of trade between the UK and Malta.
We are resetting the relationship with our European friends – including Malta – to strengthen ties, secure a broad-based security pact and tackle barriers to trade. We are working with the EU and bilaterally with Member States to identify areas to strengthen cooperation for mutual benefit, such as the economy, energy, security and resilience. We will also hold regular UK-EU Summits at leader level to review progress, starting in the first half of this year.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with the (a) Southern African Development Community and (b) African Union on the political situation in Mozambique.
The UK has discussed the political situation in Mozambique with key partners, including the Southern African Development Community and the African Union. The UK and partners continue to support the peaceful resolution of current unrest in Mozambique. Promoting political dialogue is central to our approach, as well as urging all parties to show restraint while respecting the rule of law and human rights. Lord Collins also recently emphasised the importance of de-escalation and an inclusive transition with representatives of the Mozambican government, and will discuss the situation with the Executive Secretary of SADC when visiting Botswana from 14-16 January.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many times Ministers in his Department have met with the leadership of the African Union since 5 July 2024.
FCDO Ministers regularly engage with the leadership of the African Union (AU). Lord Collins spoke with the AU Commissioners for Political Affairs and Trade and Industry immediately following his appointment in July. Lord Collins and I both met AU Commissioners in Addis Ababa during visits in August, and Lord Collins subsequently met with AU Commission Chairperson Faki at the UN General Assembly in September. I met with the Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment during COP29 in November.
What assessment she has made of the (a) performance and (b) adequacy of the services provided by Avanti West Coast to residents in Newcastle-under-Lyme since her appointment.
The Secretary of State is clear that the performance of Avanti West Coast has not been good enough. The Department routinely engages with all rail operators on service frequency and quality of service across the network, to hold Train Operator Companies (TOCs) to account on the services they provide to passengers, including for residents of Newcastle-under-Lyme.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government has taken to help stop the loss of life in Gaza since 19 December 2024.
We have raised protection of civilians and the destruction of health infrastructure repeatedly with the Israeli government, most recently on 3 January. The UK has announced £112 million for the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) so far this financial year, including £41million for UNWRA, providing vital services to civilians in Gaza and the West Bank, and to Palestinians across the region. In July, we announced £5.5m in funding to UK-Med for operating their field hospitals. UK-Med have now provided vital care to over 300,000 Gazans since the start of the conflict.Securing an immediate ceasefire, the safe release of all hostages and urgent action to address the humanitarian crisis remains the UK's top priority.
What steps he is taking to help increase the (a) volume and (b) value of trade between the UK and Ireland.
Reinvigorating the UK’s relationship with our European partners is a top priority for this Government. As the Prime Minister has made clear, we are committed to building an ever stronger relationship with Ireland. The UK-Ireland Summit in March offers the opportunity to take forward key areas of mutual cooperation with Ireland, including increasing bilateral trade and investment in areas such as renewables, infrastructure and supporting small business. This will build on the meeting with Irish business leaders the Prime Minister and Taoiseach held in Dublin on 7 September, and my own visit to Dublin for bilateral talks with my counterpart and to speak at the British Irish Chamber of Commerce Annual Conference in October.
Food and Rural Affairs, if he will hold discussions with the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme on taking steps to protect the residents of Mallard Close, Madeley, from the effects of repeated flooding incidents.
To ensure we protect the country from the devastating impacts of flooding, we will invest £2.4 billion in 2024/25 and 2025/26 to improve flood resilience, by building, maintaining, and repairing flood defences. The issues in the Mallards Close, Madeley, are related to surface water flooding. The responsible flood authority for surface water flooding is Staffordshire County Council. The Environment Agency is aware they are already responding to this issue and will be happy to support the council where they are able to.
What plans he has to allow up-to date medical information to be shared between the NHS and care staff in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency and (b) Staffordshire.
At a national level, in partnership with NHS England, the Department is building the foundations for improved information sharing between care and health staff. Digital social care records, that contain a person’s care information, are now in use by more than 72% of Care Quality Commission-registered care providers, from a starting point of 41% in December 2021. We recently set out our ambition that all care providers will be fully digitised by the end of this Parliament.Within the coming months, all assured Digital Social Care Records will also enable medical information to be shared with social care providers through GP Connect, which provides a restricted view of a person’s general practice (GP) record to social care staff for direct care purposes, where there is consent for the data to be shared. Access to this information improves the quality and safety of care and saves time, currently spent on the phone waiting to speak to GP surgeries.In Newcastle-under-Lyme and Staffordshire, the One Health and Care shared care record enables medical information sharing for direct care purposes across health and social care. This initiative has been in place since 2020. There is not currently a consistent way for information held by social care providers to be shared, and from April 2025, we will begin work to establish a national shared platform that enables this essential information sharing and ensures health and care staff can access real-time social care, GP, and hospital data, providing access to essential medical information in a timely way. This could include when someone last took their medication, or whether there’s been a change to their care regimen. By linking up systems, NHS and care staff will have access to the latest information, speeding up and improving care both in health and in care settings.
How many children deemed to be at risk of abuse or neglect are home schooled in (a) Staffordshire and (b) England.
The department collects data on children in elective home education (EHE) from local authorities. The latest data, including at the local authority level, is published here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/elective-home-education.The data collection includes whether a child is defined as a child in need (CIN) and if a child is the subject of a child protection plan (CPP). In England, around 1% of children in EHE were recorded as CIN and just under 0.5% of children in EHE have a CPP (1,600 and 500 children respectively in autumn 2024). Local authority level data is suppressed to protect confidentiality due to small numbers.Local authorities have a legal responsibility for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children in their area, including taking appropriate action where safeguarding concerns are identified.The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, introduced on 17 December, will place a duty on all local authorities in England to hold and maintain registers of children not in school in their area. These registers will help to identify those children who are not in school, including those who may be at risk of harm. Parents and certain providers of out-of-school education will be required to provide the local authority with the information needed for the registers and there will be sanctions for failing to do so. The Bill also includes a new requirement for parents to obtain local authority consent before they can home educate if their child is subject to a child protection enquiry or has a CPP. Local authorities will have new powers to require any home educated child to attend school if their home or learning environment is unsuitable. These proposals will strengthen the existing system of oversight for these children.
What criteria he plans to use to appoint country-specific trade envoys.
Trade Envoys are appointed on their ability, relevant skills and experience. This can be based on market and or UK sector knowledge including previous government-to-government experience plus their commitment to support the Government’s trade and investment objectives and priorities when overseas.
Whether he has had recent discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive on the health service in Northern Ireland.
Improving health outcomes across the UK is a priority mission for this Government. Although health is devolved in Northern Ireland, the Government wants to work with the Northern Ireland Executive to transform its public services and improve outcomes for people in Northern Ireland.Government Ministers regularly engage with Executive Ministers, including the Northern Ireland Health Minister, to discuss plans to improve public services in Northern Ireland.
What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of Serious Crime Prevention Orders.
Serious Crime Prevention Orders are a powerful tool for preventing and disrupting the activities of the highest-harm criminals involved in serious crime. However, the orders are not currently being used to maximum effect. Between 2011 and 2021, only two applications were made to the High Court for an SCPO in the absence of a conviction, of which only one was successful, compared to a total of 1,057 SCPOs being made in the Crown Court on conviction in the same period. This is significantly lower than Parliament anticipated when it introduced SCPOs in the Serious Crime Act 2007.As announced on 2nd January, the Government is seeking to improve the SCPO regime by introducing new interim SCPOs. Currently, securing an SCPO on suspects, including people smugglers, can be a complex and lengthy process. Interim orders will speed up the process for placing restrictions on people under investigation so as to prevent, deter and disrupt serious and organised crime, including people smuggling. These new interim orders will allow the National Crime Agency, the police and other law enforcement agencies to apply directly to the High Court to impose immediate restrictions whilst a full order is considered. The Government will bring forward further measures to improve the functioning of SCPOs in due course.These figures are experimental, based on HMCTS management information and are not equivalent to official statistics published by the Ministry of Justice.The Explanatory Notes to the 2007 Act state that “the main route for making an order will be an application to the High Court”. In addition, at Lords Committee Stage of the Serious Crime Bill, Baroness Scotland of Asthal stated that operational partners had indicated that there may be 25 or 30 such orders – see Hansard, Volume 690, 7 March 2007: https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/2007-03-07/debates/07030790000002/SeriousCrimeBill(HL)
What discussions she has had with the management of Avanti West Coast since her appointment.
Department for Transport officials routinely meet with AWC and Network Rail as part of a relentless focus on improving rail performance, bringing together track and train and holding both sides accountable. The current Secretary of State has not yet met with the Managing Director of Avanti West Coast (AWC) since her appointment. Further meetings with the Rail Minister or the Secretary of State will be held in due course.
What steps he is taking to help increase the (a) volume and (b) value of trade between the UK and Indonesia.
Indonesia is an emerging economic powerhouse where UK companies see significant opportunities, particularly in renewable energy, infrastructure, education and health. In November 2024 the Prime Minister and President Prabowo of Indonesia agreed to work towards a new Indonesia-UK Economic Growth Partnership to drive increased trade and investment.The UK will also support Indonesia to deliver the reforms needed to join the OECD, which should address business environment issues to further increase trade and investment opportunities.