11 Nov 2024·Department for Work and Pensions·Answered
AskedIf she will hold discussions with Anne Puckridge on the exclusion of certain countries from the annual uplift to the UK State Pension during her visit to the UK in December 2024.
ReplyThere are currently no plans to hold discussions with Anne Puckridge on this issue. The UK's policy on the up-rating of the UK State Pension for recipients living overseas is a longstanding one. The UK state pension is payable worldwide and is uprated abr...
11 Nov 2024·Department of Health and Social Care·Answered
AskedWhat steps he has taken to work with relevant organisations to increase blood donations in (a) England and (b) Romford constituency.
ReplyNHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is responsible for blood donation in England.Throughout the year, NHSBT produces advertising campaigns to attract new donors, such as the new gift of blood winter stocks campaign for 2024. As part of this work, NHSBT partn...
11 Nov 2024·Home Office·Answered
AskedWhat steps she is taking to support the London Fire Brigade with fire prevention activities and operational training.
ReplyThe Home Office’s Fire Kills campaign promotes fire safety messages at the national level and supports fire prevention activities undertaken by individual fire and rescue services (FRSs). Campaign plans and promotional materials are developed in partnersh...
11 Nov 2024·Ministry of Defence·Answered
AskedWhat steps his Department has taken with the Royal Navy to support the mental health of officers in the Royal Navy.
ReplyThe Ministry of Defence and the Royal Navy (RN) have implemented several specific measures to promote the psychological wellbeing of officers, recognising the unique challenges they face, especially in high-stress operational environments.For those person...
11 Nov 2024·Ministry of Defence·Answered
AskedHow much the average meal costs on a Royal Navy warship; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of fully funding food provision on Royal Navy warships.
ReplyGood nutrition is fundamental to military capability and the happiness of our personnel. It is essential for achieving optimum physical and mental performance, and for good health. The Royal Navy (RN) is committed to providing catering based on sound nutr...
11 Nov 2024·Ministry of Defence·Answered
AskedWhat percentage of the Armed Forces’ budget was spent on diversity initiatives in 2023.
ReplyThe cost of the main diversity initiatives undertaken by the Royal Navy, Army, Royal Air Force and UK Strategic Command during financial year 202-24 represented an average of 0.007% of their budgets.
11 Nov 2024·Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government·Answered
AskedCommunities and Local Government, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of reforming the local government funding formula.
ReplyAfter years of delays to much needed fair funding reform, the Government will update and improve the approach to funding allocations within the Local Government Finance Settlement by redistributing funding to ensure that it reflects an up-to-date assessme...
11 Nov 2024·Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government·Answered
AskedCommunities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to work with relevant authorities to improve social housing fire defences in Romford constituency.
ReplyThis government has committed to accelerating remediation of unsafe housing in response to the Grenfell Tower fire.Registered Providers of social housing are responsible for making sure their buildings are made safe in a proportionate and timely way. We e...
11 Nov 2024·Ministry of Defence·Answered
AskedIf he will take steps he will take to tackle reductions in hull numbers within the Royal Fleet Auxiliary since 2003.
ReplyThe Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) is an organisation of highly valued, specialist personnel. The Royal Navy, which includes the RFA, continues to ensure it has sufficient assets available to deliver its operational outputs. The Fleet Solid Support Program...
11 Nov 2024·Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office·Answered
AskedCommonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the conclusions of the report entitled One Family: Harnessing the Strategic Potential of t
ReplyI welcome the contribution of Policy Exchange's 'One Family' report to the debate on the future of the Commonwealth. In particular, I support the report's argument for the Commonwealth to focus on important areas including boosting intra-Commonwealth trad...
11 Nov 2024·Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office·Answered
AskedCommonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the report by Policy Exchange entitled One Family: Harnessing the Strategic Potential of the Commonwealth, published on 17 October 2024, if he will make an
ReplyThe UK works bilaterally and multilaterally with many Commonwealth members on defence and security issues, including through other forums - and attaches great importance to this. The Commonwealth as a collective has also been vocal on security issues faci...
11 Nov 2024·Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office·Answered
AskedCommonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with (a) US President-elect Trump and (b) his representatives on the (i) Good Friday Agreement and (ii) Northern Ireland Protocol in the last six
ReplyPresident-elect Donald Trump will not take office until the inauguration on January 20th. We look forward to working with the Trump Administration in the months and years ahead in the spirit of our shared values of freedom, democracy and enterprise. We co...
5 Nov 2024·Ministry of Justice·Answered
AskedWhat steps she is taking to reduce the backlog in the administration of warrants for possession.
ReplyTo ensure increased and ongoing efficiency of County Court bailiff resources, HMCTS has introduced dedicated regional teams alongside an automated payment line to reduce the need for enforcement visits. This enables bailiffs to focus on priority work, inc...
5 Nov 2024·Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs·Answered
AskedFood and Rural Affairs, how many people were fined for not microchipping their (a) cats and (b) dogs in each year since 2016.
ReplyThe Ministry of Justice currently collects and publishes data relating to the offence of not microchipping your dog in England and Wales. The relevant offence code is 11126 and the latest data is available here: As the compulsory microchipping of cats was...
5 Nov 2024·Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs·Answered
AskedFood and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to support Havering Council to enhance (a) the River Rom's environmental health, (b) maintenance of river-based infrastructure and (c) development of projects aim
ReplyThe Government’s Water (Special Measures) Bill is the first important step in enabling wide, transformative change across the water sector, reducing pollution and cleaning up our waterways. The Government has also launched an Independent Commission into t...
5 Nov 2024·Department of Health and Social Care·Answered
AskedWhat the average waiting time for an NHS dental practice is in Romford constituency.
ReplyPatients in England are not registered with an NHS dental practice and there is no single waiting list, although many NHS dental practices do tend to see patients regularly and may operate local waiting list arrangements. The responsibility for commission...
4 Nov 2024·Department of Health and Social Care·Answered
AskedWhether the MHRA is considering the approval of vorasidenib for the treatment of low grade gliomas.
ReplyIt is critical that medicines used in the United Kingdom are safe and effective and as such, medicines cannot be marketed in the UK without a marketing authorisation. These are granted by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) whic...
4 Nov 2024·Department of Health and Social Care·Answered
AskedWhat funding he is providing for people with brain tumours in financial year 2024/25.
ReplyAs part of the November 2021 Budget and Spending review, the Department allocated £14 billion to NHS England from 2022/23 to 2024/25 specifically for the National Health Service in England to recover elective and cancer care, including for brain tumours. ...
4 Nov 2024·Home Office·Answered
AskedWhat steps she is taking to support existing neighbourhood watch organisations.
ReplyThis Government hugely values the work of local Neighbourhood Watch groups and the role they play in making our communities feel safe.The Home Office has provided funding for Neighbourhood Watch for the last 20 years, including providing £280,000 in fundi...
4 Nov 2024·Home Office·Answered
AskedHow much funding her Department has provided to neighbourhood watch organisations in each of the last five years.
ReplyThis Government hugely values the work of local Neighbourhood Watch groups and the role they play in making our communities feel safe.The Home Office has provided funding for Neighbourhood Watch for the last 20 years, including providing £280,000 in fundi...