Ben Goldsborough MP: written questions
189 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Temporary Accommodation: ExpenditureDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 8 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 8035More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of Temporary Housing Subsidy rates on local authority budgets.
Answer: DWP pays local authorities a Housing Benefit subsidy for temporary accommodation cases but this is subject to limits to incentivise local authorities to find settled accommodation for residents and to ensure good value for money for the taxpayer. Local au...
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordFood SupplyDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 8 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 8034More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Government's proposed planning reforms on food security.
Answer: This Government places great importance on our agricultural land and food production. The National Planning Policy Framework sets out how the best and most versatile agricultural land should be reflected in planning policies and decisions. The Framework i...
Answered 15 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordAgricultureDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 8 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 8033More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Government’s intended planning reforms on Controlled Environment Agriculture.
Answer: The Government is committed to a prosperous horticulture sector. Unlocking innovation is integral to enabling our growers to improve productivity sustainably, and to contribute to our food security. We are working with the industry to stimulate this, incl...
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordBiodiversityDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 8 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 8032More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the impact of Biodiversity Net Gain regulations on Controlled Environment Agriculture.
Answer: Following consultation in 2022, exemptions to the biodiversity net gain requirement set out within the regulations are narrow and focussed. This keeps the policy ambitious, whilst being proportionate and deliverable for developers and local authorities. M...
Answered 15 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordBiodiversityDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 8 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 8031More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of exempting Controlled Environment Facilities from Biodiversity Net Gain requirements.
Answer: Following consultation in 2022, exemptions to the biodiversity net gain requirement set out within the regulations are narrow and focussed. This keeps the policy ambitious, whilst being proportionate and deliverable for developers and local authorities. M...
Answered 15 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordAgricultureDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 8 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 8030More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will work with the relevant control bodies to enable vertical farms to apply for organic accreditation.
Answer: Organic production is internationally recognised as a soil-based system, that is strictly regulated by assimilated organic Regulations 834/2007 and 889/2008. Vertical farming relies on hydroponic production, the method of growing plants with their roots i...
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordFood: ProductionDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 8 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 8029More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of creating a new national accreditation for sustainable Controlled Environment Agriculture food production.
Answer: The Government is committed to a prosperous horticulture sector. Unlocking innovation is integral to enabling our growers to improve productivity sustainably, and to contribute to our food security. We are working with the industry to stimulate this, incl...
Answered 14 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordCountryside and Rights of Way Act 2000Department for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 5 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 4491More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reforming the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 to help foster responsible access to the countryside.
Answer: The Government remains committed to increasing responsible access to the countryside and is currently considering how best to deliver enhanced access and what changes are needed to develop policy.
Answered 13 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordProsecutionsMinistry of JusticeTabled 4 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 900373More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if her Department will review the effectiveness of the single justice procedure.
Answer: The Single Justice Procedure is an important part of ensuring cases can be heard swiftly within the magistrates' courts.We are aware of the criticism of aspects of the process and are looking at ways to improve the process to ensure the Single Justice Pro...
Answered 10 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordState Retirement Pensions and Winter Fuel PaymentDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 4 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 4296More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an estimate of the number of people who will be in receipt of the Winter Fuel Payment by constituency from 1 April 2025; and what the total value of the (a) Winter Fuel Payment and (b)
Answer: We cannot estimate the number of people who will be in receipt of the Winter Fuel Payment by constituency from 1 April 2025. The Secretary of State will undertake her annual statutory review of benefits and State Pensions for the next financial year ahead...
Answered 12 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordState Retirement Pensions: UpratingDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 4 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 4295More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the total uprated value of the State Pension will be from 1 April 2025, by constituency.
Answer: The Government is committed to the Triple Lock, which means that in April 2025, the basic and new State pension will increase by the higher of the growth in average earnings, price increases or 2.5%. The relevant percentage increase applied to the State P...
Answered 12 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordNeurodiversity: DiagnosisDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 29 Jul 2024AnsweredUIN 2203More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting times were for (a) ADHD and (b) autism assessments in each year since 2010.
Answer: There is, at present, no single, established dataset that can be used to monitor waiting times for the assessment or treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) nationally. The National Institute for Health and Care Research has commissio...
Answered 2 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordSpecial Educational Needs: Waiting ListsDepartment for EducationTabled 29 Jul 2024AnsweredUIN 2202More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the number of children and young people who were waiting for an Education, Health and Care Plan decision after (a) less than six months, (b) six months to a year, (c) on
Answer: The department publishes official statistics on Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans annually, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans. This includes data at local auth...
Answered 3 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordHorticulture: ExportsDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 25 Jul 2024AnsweredUIN 1845More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to help increase horticulture exports.
Answer: The Department for Business and Trade provides a comprehensive package of support to increase exports, including the Export Support Service, UK Export Finance and a network of trade advisers across the UK and overseas. The department remains committed to ...
Answered 31 Jul 2024
Original Parliament recordPlanning: BiodiversityDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 25 Jul 2024AnsweredUIN 1844More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the preparedness of local planning authorities to meet their obligations under the biodiversity net gain regulations.
Answer: Ministers and officials from Defra and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) have regular discussions on a range of issues. Officials from both departments continue to work very closely together on biodiversity net gain (BNG) i...
Answered 2 Aug 2024
Original Parliament recordBiodiversity: RegulationDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 25 Jul 2024AnsweredUIN 1843More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the potential impact of biodiversity net gain regulations on local pl
Answer: Ministers and officials from Defra and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) have regular discussions on a range of issues. Officials from both departments continue to work very closely together on biodiversity net gain (BNG) i...
Answered 2 Aug 2024
Original Parliament recordBiodiversity: RegulationDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 25 Jul 2024AnsweredUIN 1842More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make it his policy to introduce exemptions for protected horticultural growers within the biodiversity net gain regulations.
Answer: The Government recognises the importance of horticultural growers. Land used for horticulture can be enhanced or created to generate biodiversity units, which can support site expansion or be sold on the private market or used to support on site expansion...
Answered 30 Jul 2024
Original Parliament recordOffenders: EmploymentMinistry of JusticeTabled 25 Jul 2024AnsweredUIN 1841More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prisoners found work within six months of their release in each year since 2010.
Answer: We know that finding employment in the year after release makes offenders less likely to reoffend, by up to nine percentage points. Getting ex-offenders into work is critical to the Government’s work to break the cycle of reoffending. That is why in our m...
Answered 2 Aug 2024
Original Parliament recordPrisons: EducationMinistry of JusticeTabled 25 Jul 2024AnsweredUIN 1840More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the press release entitled New Prison Education Service to cut crime, published on 29 September 2023, what recent assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of giving prison governo
Answer: Under the current Prison Education Framework, prison governors have the freedom to design and organise delivery of education, skills and work in their prisons. This is further enabled through the Dynamic Purchasing System, which allows for the commissioni...
Answered 30 Jul 2024
Original Parliament recordOffenders: TrainingMinistry of JusticeTabled 25 Jul 2024AnsweredUIN 1839More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders have taken part in the Future Skills programme; and in which sectors they were trained.
Answer: The Future Skills Programme is live in 23 prisons, with training being delivered across a range of sectors including construction, warehousing, hospitality, and third sector case work. The programme will run until March 2025 and is being monitored and eva...
Answered 2 Aug 2024
Original Parliament recordPrisoners: NeurodiversityMinistry of JusticeTabled 25 Jul 2024AnsweredUIN 1838More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prisons have neurodiversity support managers.
Answer: All public prisons have successfully recruited a Neurodiversity Support Manager. All private prisons have also recruited Neurodiversity Support Managers, unless they already held equivalent neurodiversity specialisms and expertise. Due to natural role att...
Answered 2 Aug 2024
Original Parliament recordPrisons: EducationMinistry of JusticeTabled 25 Jul 2024AnsweredUIN 1837More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders (a) started and (b) completed Prison Education Service (i) catering and (ii) construction apprenticeships in 2023.
Answer: The ability of prisoners to undertake apprenticeships was introduced in October 2022.Apprenticeships for prisoners are primarily undertaken by prisoners eligible to be released on temporary licence, where they start their employment and training in the co...
Answered 30 Jul 2024
Original Parliament recordPrisons: EducationMinistry of JusticeTabled 25 Jul 2024AnsweredUIN 1836More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Prison Education Service for (a) increasing literacy, (b) reducing reoffending and (c) increasing employment opportunities for ex-offenders.
Answer: There is good evidence relating to the positive impact of prison education and we continue to carry out evaluation and work to link data to better understand outcomes for prison learners. Literacy provision is a significant element of the current educatio...
Answered 2 Aug 2024
Original Parliament recordBus Services: East of EnglandDepartment for TransportTabled 23 Jul 2024AnsweredUIN 1450More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to support the use of buses in (a) South Norfolk constituency and (b) East Anglia.
Answer: Good local bus services are an essential part of prosperous and sustainable communities, and the government is committed to delivering better bus services and growing passenger numbers. Since the de-regulation of buses in England, passenger numbers have d...
Answered 31 Jul 2024
Original Parliament recordFly-tipping: South NorfolkDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 23 Jul 2024AnsweredUIN 1449More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many instances of fly tipping there were in South Norfolk constituency in each of the last five years.
Answer: Local authorities are required to report fly-tipping incidents and enforcement actions to Defra, which the department publishes annually, at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/env24-fly-tipping-incidents-and-actions-taken-in-england. Thi...
Answered 29 Jul 2024
Original Parliament record
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