Written Answers
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Department for Business and Trade
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much money South Tyneside Council returned to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from grants in December 2022.
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Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 24 January 2023 to Question 127774, on Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: South Tyneside, where his Department records information on grant money returned from Councils.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much money have South Tyneside Council returned to his Department from grants allocated over the last two years as of 19 January 2023.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much of the money allocated for Covid Business Grants have South Tyneside Council returned to his Department; and for what reasons this money was returned.
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Department for Culture, Media and Sport
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when her Department will publish a response to the Technical consultation on a Community Wealth Fund in England, which closed on 19 October 2023.
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Department for Education
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what contingency plans the government has to (a) identify and (b) remove asbestos in schools scheduled for reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete remediation.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department collects data on the average time SEND pupils spend in isolation across England.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the number and proportion of apprenticeships undertaken in artificial intelligence related positions in the last 12 months.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Education during the debate on Children in the Care System: Sibling Contact of 4 March 2020, Official Report, column 957, when her Department plans to update the Care…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 27 June 2023 to Question 190584 on Apprentices: Taxation, how many students were studying at Level (a) 3 and (b) 4 and above in each of the last five years.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the proportion of the Apprenticeship Levy that has been spent on people studying at (a) Level 3 and (b) level 4 and above in each of the last 5 years.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the real-terms change to funding for Further Education Colleges has been in each year since 2010.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to extend the period of time within which employers can use their apprenticeship levy funds from 24 to 36 months.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to take steps to remove the 12-month minimum course requirement for the use of apprenticeship levy money.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to expand Free School Meals to all children with families in receipt of Universal Credit.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much money South Tyneside Council has returned to her Department from grants allocated in the last two years as of 19 January 2023.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to reform children’s social care.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2022 to Question 111600 on Holiday Activities and Food Programme, how much and what proportion of the funding allocated to each local authority was spent on (a) administration, (b) publicity and marketing, (c)…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's guidance entitled Holiday activities and food programme 2022, published on 28 January 2022, how much and what proportion of the funding allocated to each local authority for the 2021-2022 financial year was spent on (a)…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 7 November 2022 to Question 75936 on Children in Care: Siblings, how many siblings and half siblings were split up under local authority care in each of the last three years.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish all data and statistics on sibling and half sibling contact for children under local authority care.
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Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many pensioners are eligible for the Warm Homes Discount in each region.
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Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has to amend policies on non-stun slaughter in the upcoming animal welfare strategy.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the issue of non-stun slaughter will be included in the animal welfare strategy.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether Ofwat’s recent enforcement package on Northumbrian Water was in respect of overflows from sewage works in South Shields constituency.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department is taking steps to prevent Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances from entering into the environment in South Shields constituency.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to collaborate with (a) water companies and (b) scientific experts on future investment in per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances remediation for South Shields.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much South Tyneside Council has returned to her Department from grants allocated in the last two years.
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Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what information his Department holds on the amount of money local authorities spent on employing political assistants in the financial years (a) 2020-21, (b) 2021-22 and (c) 2022-23.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 24 January 2023 to Question 127773 on South Tyneside, if he can provide a breakdown of what the returned grant funding was allocated for.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much money have South Tyneside Council returned to his Department from grants allocated over the last two years as of 19 January 2023.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what plans his Department has to tackle increasing levels child poverty through levelling up policies.
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Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to paragraph 21 of the report entitled A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation: Government response, CP 1019, published on 6 February 2024, whether the (a) lead AI Ministers and (b) new Inter-Ministerial Group…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to paragraph 21 of the report entitled A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation: Government response, published on 6 February 2024, when the lead AI Ministers have met; and how frequently they plan to meet in…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will make a comparative assessment of the affordability of mobile phone contracts based on the (a) Retail Price Index and (b) Consumer Price Index.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how much grant money was returned to her Department by South Tyneside Council in the last two years.
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Department for Transport
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much money South Tyneside Council has returned to his Department from grants allocated in the last two years as of 19 January 2023.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the pass rate for the Chief Mate Stability paper of the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping exam in each of the last five years; whether he has had discussions with the Maritime and Coastguard…
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Department for Work and Pensions
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much the Government has spent on litigations with the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign group in each year since 2015.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to (a) identify and (b) remove deteriorating asbestos in (i) schools and (ii) hospitals.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent progress his Department has made on establishing an asbestos census.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Health and Safety Executive plans to update its Standard Occupational Classification asbestos mortality statistics to include (a) deaths over 75 and (b) non-occupational exposures.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much her Department spent on Budgeting Loans (a) overall and (b) in each category in the 2023-24 financial year.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average Pension Credit processing time is (a) per month in the latest three-month period for which data is available and (b) in each region.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of claimants for Pension Credit were (a) initially turned down and (b) successful on appeal in each region in the latest period for which data is available.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Pension Credit applications her Department received in each region in each of the last three months for which data is available.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department's review of Universal Credit will include the income threshold used to determine eligibility for (a) free school meals and (b) the NHS Healthy Start scheme.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she plans to launch her Department's review of Universal Credit.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many referrals were made by Jobcentre Plus to employment support programmes that are (a) centrally contracted and (b) not centrally contracted by her Department to (i) voluntary and community sector providers, (ii) private sector providers,…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of incapacity benefit claimants receiving (a) Universal Credit Limited Capability for Work-Related Activity element and (b) Employment and Support Allowance are parents of dependent children.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the two-child limit in Universal Credit applies to households caring for an additional child under a special guardianship order.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to recruit Covert Surveillance Officers to gather evidence to prove or disprove offences relating to benefits claims.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average decision wait time was for new Personal Independence Payment applications over the last year; and how many applications were awaiting a decision on 25 April 2023.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he will plans to answer Question 136620 on Universal Credit tabled by the hon. Member for South Shields on 30 January 2023.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much grant money was returned to his Department by South Tyneside Council in 2021.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many children live in households which are in receipt of Universal Credit but have experienced a deduction to that benefit in each parliamentary constituency in the most recent month for which data is available.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much grant money was returned to his Department by South Tyneside Council in the period between 1 January 2022 and 30 November 2022.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much money South Tyneside Council has returned to his Department from grants allocated in December 2022.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many children live in households in receipt of Universal Credit in each parliamentary constituency in the most recent month for which data is available.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much money South Tyneside Council has returned to his Department from grants allocated over the last two years as of 23 January 2023.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support her Department provides for young people in supported housing when they earn enough to take them off Universal Credit and lose their entitlement to full housing benefits.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the increase in absolute child poverty in (a) the North East and (b) Yorkshire and the Humber.
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Department of Health and Social Care
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of (a) the prevalence of respiratory disease and (b) the number of emergency hospital admissions for respiratory conditions in South Shields constituency compared with national averages; what steps he is…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of a respiratory Modern Service Framework, in the context of (a) NHS winter pressures and (b) health outcomes for long-term respiratory conditions and short-term respiratory illnesses such…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the uptake figures were for the Healthy Start scheme in the latest period for which data is available.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of families are eligible to participate in the Healthy Start scheme.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of families are eligible to participate in the Healthy Start scheme.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of eligible families are receiving Healthy Start in South Shields constituency.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many families receive Healthy Start in South Shields.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether Tumour-infiltrating Lymphocytes therapy has been licenced in the UK.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2025 to Question 26821 on Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce, whether the taskforce plans to engage with (a) families with lived experience of childhood cancer, (b) children’s cancer…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the terms of reference will be for the Children and Young People’s Cancer Taskforce.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he expects the Children and Young People’s Cancer Taskforce to report.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress the Children and Young People's Cancer Taskforce has made.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average time period is for issuing payments via the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of applications to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (a) are pending, (b) have been paid and (c) have been refused.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make it her policy to (a) review and (b) update the National Radiological Protection Board report published on 4 January 1988.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will take steps to automatically enrol eligible families in the NHS Healthy Start programme.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average weekly payment to beneficiaries on the Healthy Start scheme was in June 2024.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many physician associates have been employed in each NHS Trust in each year since 2019.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many never events occurred in each NHS Trust in each year since 2019.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many never events occurred within NHS England in each year since 2019; and how many and what proportion of these incidents involved Physician Associates in each year.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much her Department spent on the Healthy Start Scheme in the (a) 2021-22 and (b) 2022-23 financial year.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when her Department plans to respond to the correspondence of November 2023 to the Minister for Primary Care and Public Health from public healthcare professionals on the Healthy Start scheme.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people were eligible for Healthy Start vouchers in January (a) 2022 and (b) 2023.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the correspondence from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Public Health, Start for Life and Primary Care to the hon. Member for South Shields of December 2023, whether her Department has received personal…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the correspondence from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Public Health, Start for Life and Primary Care to the hon. Member for South Shields of December 2023, for what purpose her Department requested personal…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the correspondence from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Public Health, Start for Life and Primary Care to the hon. Member for South Shields of December 2023, for what purpose her Department requested personal…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will have discussions with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the potential merits of automatically enrolling eligible people in the Healthy Start scheme.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the Children's Cancer and Leukaemia Group report entitled The Children and Young People's Cancer Plan, published on 7 February 2023.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Major Conditions Strategy on the needs of children and young people that are diagnosed with cancer; and whether she plans to produce a bespoke strategy for them.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take steps to insert an addition to the Major Conditions Strategy requiring children and young people with cancer to receive (a) age appropriate care and (b) personalised care.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of NHS England's publication entitled Cancer Under 16 Patient Experience Survey, published on 8 November 2023.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help improve cancer diagnosis services in primary healthcare settings for children and young people.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she plans to respond to the correspondence from the hon. Member for South Shields of 2 November 2023.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 11 December 2023 to Question 4438 on Healthy Start Scheme: Expenditure, whether Healthy Start costs have now been published.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many incidents of (a) self-harm, (b) suicide and (c) attempted suicide by patients within (i) 24 and (ii) 48 hours of discharge from a mental health hospital have been been recorded in the past year.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she plans to respond to the correspondence of 1 June 2023 from the hon. Member for South Shields.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much her Department spent on the Healthy Start Scheme in the 2022-23 financial year.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to reduce waiting times for cancer treatment.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many hospital admissions there were for (a) scurvy, (b) rickets, (c) vitamin D deficiency and (d) malnutrition in age groups (i) up to four, (ii) five to nine, (iii) 10-16 and (iv) over 17 years in (A) 2020/21 and (B) 2021/22.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of recipients of Healthy Start paper vouchers have not re-enrolled via the online registration system.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many hospital admissions for malnutrition in England were there in the latest period for which data is available, broken down by age groups (a) 0-5 years, (b) 5-10 years, (c) 10-16 years and (d) over-16 years.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many hospital admissions were there for (a) scurvy, (b) rickets and (c) vitamin D deficiency in England in the latest period for which data is available, broken down by age groups (i) 0-5 years, (ii) 5-10 years, (iii) 10-16 years and…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to make available audited data on the cost of operating the Healthy Start scheme in the 2022/23 financial year.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2023 to Question 188559 on Healthy Start Scheme, for what reason Departmental forecasts on numbers of beneficiaries and uptake of the Healthy Start scheme are not available.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 24 May 2023 to Question 185900 on Healthy Start Scheme, how much funding was provided to his Department for the Healthy Start scheme in 2021-22; and what was the forecasted number of families on the scheme during…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many Heathy Start Scheme applications were rejected due to the form being filled out incorrectly in (a) 2021-22, (b) 2022-23 and (c) March 2023; and how many applications to that scheme were rejected in that period in total.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 24 May 2023 to Question 185900 on Healthy Start Scheme, on what timescale his Department measures forecasted uptake of the Healthy Start Scheme.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 24 May 2023 to Question 185900 on Healthy Start Scheme, what the forecasted number was of (a) beneficiaries or (b) families in percentage format of the Healthy Start Scheme for (i) 2023-24 and (ii) 2022-23.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much money was (a) allocated to and (b) spent on the Healthy Start Scheme in the 2021-22 financial year.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an estimate of the uptake of the Healthy Start Scheme on a (a) monthly and (b) yearly basis; and what recent estimate his Department has made of the uptake of the Healthy Start Scheme.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the number of recipients of Healthy Start paper vouchers who have not re-enrolled via the online registration system as of 1 June 2023.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Prime Minister's oral contribution of 26 October 2022, Official Report, column 295, what the evidential basis is for his statement that the Government has reintroduced the nurses' bursary.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Prime Minister's oral contribution of 30 November 2022, Official Report, column 896, what the evidential basis was for his statement that the UK had had the fastest vaccine roll-out in the world because of its freedoms…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average weekly Healthy Start payment was for (a) individuals entitled to the scheme and (b) households with claimants receiving a digital card payment in March 2023.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much has been spent on the Healthy Start Scheme including on (a) transition to the digital scheme, (b) applicant support and (c) promotion in 2022-23 financial year.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 17 April 2023 to Question 175581 on Healthy Start Scheme, whether his Department estimates the anticipated demand for the Healthy Start Scheme each year.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has adequate funding to cover the cost of all people who are eligible for the Healthy Start Scheme.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much was unclaimed by people eligible for the Healthy Start Scheme in financial years (a) 2021-22 and (b) 2022-23.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to meet its target of increasing the take-up of the Healthy Start Scheme to 75 per cent by the end of March 2023.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to provide additional funding to the Healthy Start scheme to help tackle food poverty.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the number of families expected to be on the Healthy Start Scheme in (a) 2023 and (b) 2024.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the NHS Business Service Authority are taking to encourage people who were not previously registered for Healthy Start paper vouchers to register for the digital Healthy Start scheme.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has set a target for uptake of the Healthy Start scheme.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to increase the value of the Healthy Start scheme in line with the value of the Best Start Foods scheme in Scotland.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to extend the Healthy Start scheme to cover the time period between the age at which eligibility for Healthy Start stops and the age at which children start school and begin to receive Free School Meals.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of bursaries for social work students on access to those courses.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take steps to help improve (a) the equality of distribution of and (b) access to bursaries for student social workers.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much money South Tyneside Council has returned to his Department from grants allocated in the last two years as of 19 January 2023.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the reasons for his decision to require people providing social contact within a care setting to wear face masks as published in updated guidance on 15 December 2022.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Minister of State for Social Care's Answer to the Question from the hon. Member for South Shields at Health and Social Care questions on 6 December 2022, Official Report, column 203, when the updated guidance for the…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many beneficiaries of Healthy Start paper vouchers have not yet re-enrolled via the new online registration system.
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Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with her Kosovo counterparts on a bilateral security agreement.
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Home Office
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Ukrainian refugees are awaiting biometric residence permits; for what reasons there have been delays in processing those permits; and what the average wait time was to receiving a permit in the latest period for which data is available.
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To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2023 to Question 188007 on Visas: Ukraine, if she will detail what the particular challenges are in obtaining a representative response.
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To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 24 May 2023 to Question 185901 on Visas: Ukraine, for what reason her Department is not planning to take steps to run a further online survey which produces higher quality and reliable data.
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To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 27 April 2023 to Question 182300 on Visas: Ukraine, whether her Department is taking steps to undertake an online survey with higher reliable data quality.
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To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2022 to Question 111601 and the Answer of 12 January 2023 to Question 117608 on Visas: Ukraine, what information her Department holds on the reasons for Ukrainian visa holders not arriving in the UK…
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To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2023 to Question 117608 on Visas: Ukraine, whether her Department plans to publish any information from the online survey of people who held Ukraine Family Scheme or Homes for Ukraine visas but who had not…
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To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how regularly her Department plans to update the Shortage Occupation List.
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To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent progress her Department has made on reducing the use of hotels as contingency accommodation for asylum seekers.
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To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much grant money was returned to her Department by South Tyneside Council in the last two years.
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To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what mechanisms are in place to remove the owner of a property who is engaging in anti-social behaviour and causing harm to neighbours whilst living in that property.
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To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 3 January 2023 to Question 111601 on Visas: Ukraine, whether her Department (a) has undertaken and (b) plans to undertake research on the reasons for which 55,500 Ukrainian visa holders have not arrived in the UK since…
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To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has taken recent steps to ensure that family groups are not prevented from entering the UK because one or more family members has not yet been issued with a visa.
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To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the reasons for 55,500 Ukrainian visa holders not arriving in the UK since their visa has been issues; and if she will make an estimate of the number of Ukrainian visa holders who have not arrived in…
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To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an estimate of the number of family groups who applied for the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme who were prevented from coming to the UK due to one or more family members having a delay in their visa application as of 30 November…
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Ministry of Defence
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will instruct the UK Health and Security Agency to add service personnel (a) who flew atomic surveillance missions and (b) for whom he recently extended the eligibility criteria for the Nuclear Test Medal to the long-term Government study into the…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the recent declassification of the Merlin database and file reference ES 38/ZGWGV, whether service personnel took part in a mission to sample the Soviet nuclear weapon known as Tsar Bomba.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish all radiation research on British servicemen held by The Technical Cooperation Programme of the Ministry of Defence.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference his Department's documents entitled Murder, Manslaughter and Sexual Offences in the Service Justice System: 2024, updated on 3 October 2025, and Murder, Manslaughter and Sexual Offences in the Service Justice System: 2023, published on 28…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference his Department's documents entitled Murder, Manslaughter and Sexual Offences in the Service Justice System: 2024, updated on 3 October 2025, and Murder, Manslaughter and Sexual Offences in the Service Justice System: 2023, published on 28…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference his Department's documents entitled Murder, Manslaughter and Sexual Offences in the Service Justice System: 2024, updated on 3 October 2025, and Murder, Manslaughter and Sexual Offences in the Service Justice System: 2023, published on 28…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions he has had with Kosovo counterparts on (a) strengthening defence and security collaboration and (b) industrial and armed forces cooperation.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the total cost to the public purse is for compensation paid to (a) (i) former and (ii) current armed forces personnel and (b) their solicitors in relation to the use of Lariam by the Armed Forces.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2025 to Question 77519 on Armed Forces: Mefloquine, when he expects the issue of claimants' legal costs to be resolved.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many claims his Department (a) has settled, (b) has refused and (c) are outstanding for asbestos exposure relating to service in the armed forces.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department holds information on UK participation in civilian radiation experiments conducted by the US during the Cold War.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether results of (a) blood tests, (b) urine tests and (c) chest x-rays taken from UK troops serving at nuclear weapons tests were shared with (i) the US, (ii) Canada, (iii) Australia and (iv) New Zealand.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the total cost was of the sums agreed by his Department with Hilary Meredith Solicitors Ltd in connection with cases relating to the use of Lariam by armed forces personnel; and how many such claims have been settled.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reason his Department's settlement of Lariam claims involved a non-disclosure agreement with solicitors acting for veteran claimants.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that missing medical records on the use of Lariam by armed forces personnel are (a) located and (b) provided to those personnel.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what information his Department holds on the prevalence of asbestos in (a) defence equipment platforms and (b) his Department's (i) buildings and (ii) other infrastructure.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department's timetable is for its review of the medical records of nuclear veterans.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many nuclear veterans have (a) applied for and (b) been refused compensation under the War Pension Scheme.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 17 April 2024 to Question 21056 on Defence: Artificial Intelligence, whether the Capability Lead, AI Talent and Skills is now in post.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 12 November 2024 to Question 12460 on AUKUS, whether he has received Sir Stephen Lovegrove’s report on AUKUS; and when he plans to publish that report.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Army Foundation College is required to inform its independent advisory panel in the event of an allegation of staff misconduct concerning recruits.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether Ofsted inspectors are given access to the record of complaints held on the Joint Personnel Administration system relating to violent behaviour by staff at the Army Foundation College.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the Army Foundation College is next due to be inspected by Ofsted.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to publish the Defence AI Skills Framework.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Defence Artificial Intelligence Strategy, published on 15 June 2022, whether his Department has appointed a Head of AI Profession.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence during the debate on Nuclear Test Veterans: Medical Records of 28 November 2023, Official Report, column 245WH, whether his Department has examined the 150…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what benchmark criteria his Department is using to assess the effectiveness of implementation of the Defence Artificial Intelligence Strategy, published in June 2022.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of AI-related projects in his Department are undertaken by SMEs.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of defence capabilities in his Department incorporate artificial intelligence as of 6 March 2024.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an estimate of the number of merchant seafarer (a) ratings and (b) officers working for external employers other than the Royal Fleet Auxiliary to deliver contracts with his Department.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence during the debate on Nuclear Test Veterans: Medical Records of 28 November 2023, Official Report, column 245WH, when his Department plans to examine the 150…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence of 28 November 2023, Official Report, column 246WH, if his Department will provide the 150 Atomic Weapons Establishment files to the Defence Select Committee with…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many initial army training staff were (a) investigated for and (b) convicted of sexual offences against recruits under the age of 18 in the last three years.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of (a) current and (b) former houses owned by his Department were unoccupied in May 2023; and what was the cost to the public purse of maintaining empty houses owned by his Department in the (i) 2020-21, (ii) 2021-22 and (iii)…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many applications for a nuclear test veterans medal have been received; and how many of those medals have been issued.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero on the security of domestic energy supplied from offshore wind farms in the UK’s (a) territorial waters and (b) Exclusive Economic Zone in the next five…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will hold discussions with Cabinet Office colleagues on the impact of inflation on the earnings of civilian seafarer (a) Ratings and (b) Officers employed by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the (a) National Strategy for Maritime Security and (b) Integrated Review Refresh 2023 on the staffing levels of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the impact of pay progression of civilian seafarer (a) Ratings and (b) Officers employed by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary since 2010-11 on (i) recruitment, (ii) retention and (iii) morale.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of armed forces personnel took on (a) second jobs and (b) other additional work in the last two months.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 9 March 2023 to Question 158939 on Armed Forces: Employment, whether his Department regularly (a) collects and (b) reviews information on (i) second jobs and (ii) other additional work taken up by armed forces personnel.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of armed forces personnel took on (a) second jobs and (b) other additional work in the last two years.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish his Department's contracts with BAE Systems (a) in place, (b) under negotiation and (c) completed in the two years to 18 January 2023; and what the value of each of those contracts is.
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Ministry of Justice
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister of State for Justice during the debate on the Victims and Prisoners Bill of 4 December 2023, Official Report, column 138, when his Department plans to start a public consultation.
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Prime Minister
To ask the Prime Minister, with reference to his oral contribution of 2 November 2022, Official Report ,column 861, what the evidential basis was for his statement that Labour was committed to abolishing the armed forces, scrapping the nuclear deterrent, withdrawing from NATO. and befriending Hamas…
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To ask the Prime Minister, with reference to his oral contribution of 26 October 2022, Official Report, column 297, what the evidential basis was for his statement that a record number of new homes had been built in the previous year.
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Treasury
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the reasons why the recent business rates revaluation results in projected increases of up to 76 per cent in liabilities for pubs over the three-year revaluation period, after transition, compared with projected increases of…
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To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether it is her policy that the business rates system should level the playing field between high street businesses and online retailers.
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To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an estimate of the annual cost of increasing Child Benefit by £20 per week.
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To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent fiscal steps he has taken to help tackle regional economic inequalities.
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To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much money have South Tyneside Council returned to his Department from Government Grants allocated over the past two years as of 6 January 2023.
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Women and Equalities
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether she has had recent discussions with Cabinet colleagues on support for disabled people with rising energy, food and fuel costs.
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