Every parliamentary written question tabled by Caroline Dinenage this session, with the full answer and department. Back to the MP page.
Showing 281–300 of 358 · this parliament
What data his Department holds on the amount of energy transmitted by IFA2 since 1 September 2024.
The National Energy System Operator publishes data on interconnector flows on its Data Portal. Historical data is available as part of the Historical Demand Data series, while more timely data is available in the Daily Demand Update.
What plans his Department has to help reduce the rate of nightclub closures.
We recognise the important role night-time economy business plays in supporting local economies and communities. Healthy night-time economy businesses not only support our creative industries, including musicians, DJs and performance artists, but also support tourism and bolster day economy businesses. This Government is focused on its five-point plan to breathe life back into Britain’s high streets. This work will ensure that our high streets are great places for our businesses, supporting economic growth across the UK. To deliver the manifesto pledge to protect the high street, from 2026-27, the government intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties with rateable values (RV) less than £500,000.
What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the level of business rates relief for hospitality, leisure and entertainment businesses on such businesses.
Without any government intervention, Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) relief would have ended entirely in April 2025, creating a cliff-edge for businesses. Instead, the Government has decided to offer a 40 per cent discount to RHL properties up to a cash cap of £110,0000 per business in 2025-26 and frozen the small business multiplier. By tapering RHL relief to 40%, rather than letting it end, the government has saved the average pub, with a rateable value (RV) of £16,800, over £3,300 in 2025. At Budget, the Government also announced that from 2026-27, it intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for high street RHL properties. This permanent tax cut will ensure that they benefit from much-needed certainty and support. The Government intends to fund this by introducing a higher multiplier on the most valuable properties, which includes the majority of large distribution warehouses, including warehouses used by online giants. The rates for any new business rate multipliers will be set at Budget 2025 so that the Government can take into account the upcoming revaluation outcomes as well as the economic and fiscal context.
Media and Sport, If she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of trends in the level of nightclub closures.
The Government is working closely with the live music industry to support an economically sustainable music sector.The Government response to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee's report on grassroots music venues, published 14 November, sets out our commitment to working with the sector to support the sustainability of the entire music ecosystem. Cultural venues provide enjoyment to many thousands of people as the opportunity to hear live music up close is an essential part of our cultural life.Following the Autumn Budget, we are continuing to support Arts Council England’s (ACE’s) successful Supporting Grassroots Music Fund which provides grants to grassroots music organisations - including those that host or promote electronic music – including venues, rehearsal and recording studios, promoters and festivals. ACE continues to engage with industry through targeted webinars and events to promote the Fund to the club sector and encourage applications.This Government is focused on our five-point plan to breathe life back into Britain’s high streets, to ensure they are great places for businesses, and economic growth across the UK.To deliver our manifesto pledge to protect the high street, from 2026-27, the government intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties with rateable values (RV) less than £500,000. To provide further support, the government has extended RHL relief at 40% for 2025-26.We have no plans to develop a separate night clubs strategy, but would be interested in hearing from her Select Committee if it has suggestions in this area.
Media and Sport, if she will (a) recognise and (b) support (i) nightclubs and (ii) venues as cultural institutions.
The Government is working closely with the live music industry to support an economically sustainable music sector.The Government response to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee's report on grassroots music venues, published 14 November, sets out our commitment to working with the sector to support the sustainability of the entire music ecosystem. Cultural venues provide enjoyment to many thousands of people as the opportunity to hear live music up close is an essential part of our cultural life.Following the Autumn Budget, we are continuing to support Arts Council England’s (ACE’s) successful Supporting Grassroots Music Fund which provides grants to grassroots music organisations - including those that host or promote electronic music – including venues, rehearsal and recording studios, promoters and festivals. ACE continues to engage with industry through targeted webinars and events to promote the Fund to the club sector and encourage applications.This Government is focused on our five-point plan to breathe life back into Britain’s high streets, to ensure they are great places for businesses, and economic growth across the UK.To deliver our manifesto pledge to protect the high street, from 2026-27, the government intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties with rateable values (RV) less than £500,000. To provide further support, the government has extended RHL relief at 40% for 2025-26.We have no plans to develop a separate night clubs strategy, but would be interested in hearing from her Select Committee if it has suggestions in this area.
Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to provide long term support for (a) nightclubs and (b) other venues; and if she will prepare and publish a nightclub strategy which provides clarity of regulation for nightclubs.
The Government is working closely with the live music industry to support an economically sustainable music sector.The Government response to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee's report on grassroots music venues, published 14 November, sets out our commitment to working with the sector to support the sustainability of the entire music ecosystem. Cultural venues provide enjoyment to many thousands of people as the opportunity to hear live music up close is an essential part of our cultural life.Following the Autumn Budget, we are continuing to support Arts Council England’s (ACE’s) successful Supporting Grassroots Music Fund which provides grants to grassroots music organisations - including those that host or promote electronic music – including venues, rehearsal and recording studios, promoters and festivals. ACE continues to engage with industry through targeted webinars and events to promote the Fund to the club sector and encourage applications.This Government is focused on our five-point plan to breathe life back into Britain’s high streets, to ensure they are great places for businesses, and economic growth across the UK.To deliver our manifesto pledge to protect the high street, from 2026-27, the government intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties with rateable values (RV) less than £500,000. To provide further support, the government has extended RHL relief at 40% for 2025-26.We have no plans to develop a separate night clubs strategy, but would be interested in hearing from her Select Committee if it has suggestions in this area.
What oversight her Department has over (a) the CPS and (b) the speed of prosecutions.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is responsible for making charging decisions and is independent of both the police and the government. Therefore, the Ministry of Justice does not have oversight over the CPS.However, whilst the listing of cases is a matter for the independent judiciary, the Ministry of Justice and HMCTS have a degree of oversight of how quickly cases move through the criminal courts once received. The Crown Court has shown improvements in timeliness more recently. The latest public data shows that the number of days from a case arriving at the Crown Court to completion reduced by 25% throughout 2023, from 167 days in Q1 to 125 in Q4.Across all jurisdictions, we are working closely with partners across the justice system to improve readiness of cases for hearing at court. We have introduced Case Coordinators into ten Crown Courts to improve adherence to the principles of Better Case Management. These principles link key initiatives to improve the way cases are processed through the system, covering areas such as robust case management, reduced but more effective hearings, and compliance with the rules and directions of the criminal court. The proof-of-concept is currently scheduled to conclude in August 2025, and the full evaluation at that point will test the business case for any further rollout.The Criminal Courts Improvement Group (CCIG), chaired by the Senior Presiding Judge, works to improve adherence to Better Case Management Principles. CCIG focuses on improving efficiency across the system and aims to improve case management principles.The Ministry of Justice publishes the CJS Delivery Data Dashboard, which includes timeliness metrics for the criminal justice system, including the average time from the police referring a case to the CPS to the CPS authorising a charge and the average time that a case takes to complete at court.
What estimate she has made of the headcount of the Security Industry Agency in each financial year between 2024-25 and 2028-29.
The Security Industry Authority budgeted headcount for 2024/15 is 416. The Home Office is working with the SIA to establish the regulator for Martyn’s Law. As part of that work the Home Office is considering resource requirements to determine what this means for SIA’s headcount in future years
Communities and Local Government, what discussions her Department has had with stakeholders on levelling up funding decisions for previously announced (a) culture and (b) regeneration projects, in the context of the Autumn Budget 2024.
The Autumn Budget 2024 confirmed that the government is minded to cancel unfunded Levelling Up Culture and Capital Projects, and the West Midlands culture and inward investment funding, that were announced at Spring Budget 2024, but will consult with potential funding recipients before making a final decision. This consultation is now underway.Potential recipients have been given the opportunity until mid-December to set out the financial, strategic and community impacts which withdrawing this funding would have. Ministers will then take these into consideration and will confirm the outcome of this process as soon as possible.
Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of changes in the Autumn Budget 2024 to the level of funding for cultural regeneration through levelling up projects on (a) local economic regeneration and (b) the maintenance of cultural assets.
The Autumn Budget 2024 confirmed that the government is minded to cancel unfunded Levelling Up Culture and Capital Projects, and the West Midlands culture and inward investment funding, that were announced at Spring Budget 2024, but will consult with potential funding recipients before making a final decision. This consultation is now underway.Potential recipients have been given the opportunity until mid-December to set out the financial, strategic and community impacts which withdrawing this funding would have. Ministers will then take these into consideration and will confirm the outcome of this process as soon as possible.
What steps his Department is taking to improve care for people living with arthritis in Gosport constituency.
Services for those with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions, including arthritis, are commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs), including the Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB, which covers the Gosport constituency. The Department expects MSK services and fragility fracture to be fully incorporated into local integrated care system planning and decision-making.At a national level, NHS England is working to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and care of patients with MSK conditions such as arthritis, and increase support for patients with arthritis through its Getting It Right First Time rheumatology programme. In January 2023, NHS England also published an improvement framework to reduce community MSK waits while delivering the best outcomes and experience. This supports integrated care systems to improve timely access to commissioned MSK triage and therapy services.To support health and care professionals in the early diagnosis and management of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, and in the provision of services for people living with arthritis, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published expert guidance for rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, with further information available, respectively, at the following two links:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng100https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng226The Department funds research into MSK conditions, including arthritis, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Through the NIHR, the Department spent approximately £26.3 million on MSK research in 2023/24, and £79.2 million since 2019/20. Six NIHR Biomedical Research Centres have MSK conditions as a research theme. In particular, the Leeds Biomedical Research Centre aims to improve treatment for osteoarthritis. The NIHR, in collaboration with Versus Arthritis, also funds a dedicated UK Musculoskeletal Translational Research Collaboration, aligning investment in MSK translational research and creating a United Kingdom-wide ambition and focus to drive cutting edge research and improve outcomes for patients.
What steps he is taking to help improve women's health in Gosport constituency.
We are committed to moving towards a neighbourhood health service, with more care delivered in local communities to spot problems earlier. Women’s health hubs are an example of this approach and can play a key role in delivering the Government’s commitments on tackling long National Health Service waiting lists, as well as shifting care into the community. The Department has invested £25 million to support the establishment of at least one pilot women’s health hub in every integrated care system.We know that more needs to be done, and we will prioritise women’s health as we build an NHS fit for the future.
Whether he plans to develop an acquired brain injury strategy.
The Government wants a society where every person, including those with a long-term condition such as an acquired brain injury (ABI), receives high-quality, compassionate continuity of care, with their families and carers supported.We will change the National Health Service so that it becomes not just a sickness service, but one able to prevent ill health in the first place. This will help us be better prepared for the change in the nature of disease and allow our services to focus more on the management of chronic, long-term conditions, like ABIs, including rehabilitation where appropriate.A decision on the next steps on ABIs at the national level will be taken in the coming months. Meanwhile, we have committed to develop a 10-year plan to deliver an NHS fit for the future. We will be carefully considering input from the public, patients, health staff, and our stakeholders as we develop the plan over the coming months. The engagement process has been launched and I would encourage my fellow Parliamentarians to engage with that process, to allow us to fully understand what is not working as well as it should and what the potential solutions are, including on ABI. More information about how they can input into the plan is available at the following link:https://change.nhs.uk/en-GB/Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning services such as rehabilitation and reablement services, and ensuring that there is appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their population. The core ICB allocations formula is an estimate of the relative need for healthcare resources in each ICB, and is recommended by an independent committee. The formula includes a range of adjustments that account for the fact that the costs of providing health care may vary between rural and urban areas.Often, rehabilitation and reablement services don’t provide services exclusively for patients with brain injuries, but also provide rehabilitation for patients with other conditions, such as stroke and Parkinson’s disease. Therefore, it is difficult to quantify the total about of funding that is spent on brain injury reablement services specifically.
What steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting times for joint replacement surgery in Gosport constituency.
Tackling waiting lists is a key part of our Health Mission and a top priority for the Government, including waits for joint replacement surgery. We have committed to achieving the NHS Constitutional standard that 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment by the end of this Parliament. As a first step, we will deliver an additional 2 million operations, scans, and appointments during our first year in Government, which is the equivalent to 40,000 per week.We are also supporting dedicated and protected surgical hubs to help reduce elective surgery wait times, including for joint replacement, by focusing on high volume low complexity surgeries, as recommended by the Royal College of Surgeons of England, transforming the way the National Health Service provides elective care.As of November 2024, there are currently 110 operational surgical hubs across England. There are currently two operational surgical hubs within the Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Integrated Care System offering trauma and orthopaedics services, including joint replacement, those being the Lymington Hospital Elective Hub, and the Winchester Country Hospital Elective Hub. Patients in the Gosport constituency can be referred to the two surgical hubs for trauma and orthopaedics services.The Department and NHS England will set out details on the allocation of further funding at the earliest opportunity, including how many new surgical hubs will be established.
With reference to her Department's policy paper entitled Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill: Scope (Premises), updated on 1 November 2024, if she will make an estimate of the number of those premises with (a) 200 to 300, (b) 301 to 400, (c) 401 to 500, (d) 501 to 600, (e) 601 to 700 and (f) 701 to 800 individuals present at any one time.
Estimates for the capacity of venues are based on a floorspace factor calculation (where no known capacity is available), drawing from ordnance survey data. The breakdown is:Number of individuals expected at venueEstimated number of venues in grouping200-30062336301-40031787401-50023597501-60013227601-7009031701-8007539As a result of pre-legislative scrutiny, Government made changes to the Bill removing the smallest premises from scope and reducing the number of venues in the standard tier from approximately 278,900 to an estimated 154,600.In addition, responsible persons will now be able to assess the number of people that may reasonably be expected to be present. This is considered a fairer basis to reflect actual usage of venues.When considering the appropriate threshold, Government’s concern is to ensure venues where a sizable amount of people gather are in scope, ensuring those responsible are required to take proportionate and reasonable action to mitigate the impacts of a terrorist attack. We are confident that, because of the changes detailed, the Bill strikes an appropriate balance between protecting the public and preventing undue burden on organisations in scope.
Whether her Department plans to publish a timeline for its proposed changes to the Work Capability Assessment.
The Work Capability Assessment is not working and needs to be reformed or replaced. This needs to come alongside a proper plan to support disabled people into work. We are taking the time to review this in the round before setting out next steps on our approach, and the timescale, in the coming months.
How the Connect to Work scheme will support people living with arthritis to remain in employment.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 12 November 2024 to PQ12617
What plans he has to review the cap on Continuity of Education Allowance in (a) 2024/25, (b) 2025/26, (c) 2026/27, (d) 2027/28 and (e) 2028/29.
Rates for the Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) are reviewed and calculated on an annual basis to take into account increases in school fees. Rates become effective in August each year, allowing claimants to submit claims before the start of the new academic year in September. Following the Budget statement by the Chancellor on 30 October 2024, the MOD confirmed that it would carry out an in-year re-rating of CEA. There are no plans to change the current annual CEA rating cycle in subsequent academic years.
Whether his Department is providing financial resources to integrated care boards to allow them to allocate resources effectively.
The Department provides funding to NHS England, which in turn allocates a large part of its funding to the integrated care boards. Planned spend by integrated care boards is currently £141 billion for the financial year 2024/25, with boards responsible for the strategic commissioning of services to meet the needs of their local populations.
What recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the availability of fracture liaison services in Gosport constituency.
The Government recognises the current postcode lottery for access to quality Fracture Liaison Services in constituencies across the country. That is why the Government is committed to their expansion, and the Department is working closely with NHS England on how to ensure better quality and access, including ways to best support local systems.Fracture Liaison Services are commissioned by integrated care boards who are best placed to make decisions according to local need. The Falls and Fragility Fracture Audit Programme, which includes a dedicated Fracture Liaison Service database, is a national clinical audit of fracture prevention care, delivered by the Royal College of Physicians. This includes reporting on individual Fracture Liaison Services, and supports local and national service improvement.