Chris Hinchliff MP: written questions
93 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Horticulture: Government AssistanceDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 8 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 45328More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the House of Lords Hoticultural Sector Committee Report entitled Sowing the seeds: A blooming English horticultural sector, published on 6 November 2023, what assessm
Answer: The Government recognises the specific needs of the sector, and Defra ministers and officials meet regularly with growers to discuss a wide range of issues to help us understand how best to support the sector. Our proposed approach to future funding for h...
Answered 25 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordPregnancy: Mental Health ServicesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 8 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 45327More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all Integrated Care Systems in England commission Maternal Mental Health Services.
Answer: We recognise how important it is for women with perinatal mental health problems to get the right care and support they need. Women who need support can access specialist perinatal mental health services, including mother and baby units, specialist perina...
Answered 22 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordInfant Mortality: Mental Health ServicesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 8 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 45326More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of mental health support for (a) fathers and (b) partners impacted by pregnancy loss or the death of a baby provided by (i) maternal mental health servic
Answer: We recognise that experiencing baby loss can be devastating and we are committed to ensuring that all families receive safe, personalised, equitable and compassionate care.Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Services offer mental health assessments and sig...
Answered 28 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordBloodDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 28 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 42345More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish a report on the potential impact of outsourcing on collection and delivery of blood products on the NHS and hospices.
Answer: NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is responsible for blood services in England. NHSBT’s Logistics Department plays a key role in planning for, collecting, and delivering life saving and life changing donated blood products to hospitals across England. It d...
Answered 8 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordBloodDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 28 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 42344More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of outsourcing on collection and delivery of blood products to hospitals.
Answer: NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is responsible for blood services in England. NHSBT’s Logistics Department plays a key role in planning for, collecting, and delivering life saving and life changing donated blood products to hospitals across England. It d...
Answered 8 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordHospitals: ChildrenDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 28 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 42343More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many children were admitted into NHS care for more than seven days in the latest period for which data is available.
Answer: NHS England collects data on patient discharge episodes, including for children. Discharge data does not represent the number of individual children with a hospital stay, as a child may have more than one discharge from hospital within the reporting perio...
Answered 3 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordAgriculture: Inheritance TaxTreasuryTabled 26 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 41660More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will publish a response to the report by the National Farmers Union entitled An impact analysis of APR reforms on commercial family farms, published on 25 November 2024.
Answer: The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, and fixing the public finances. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advant...
Answered 2 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordAgriculture and Business: Inheritance TaxTreasuryTabled 26 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 41659More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the findings of the report by the National Farmers Union entitled APR and BPR reform alternative, published on 19 February 2025, on ch
Answer: I refer the Honourable Member to the answer given to UIN 32918.
Answered 2 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordAgriculture and Business: Inheritance TaxTreasuryTabled 26 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 41658More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will publish her Department's impact assessments of changes to (a) Agricultural Property Relief and (b) Business Property Relief.
Answer: The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, and fixing the public finances. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advant...
Answered 2 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordAgriculture and Business: Inheritance TaxTreasuryTabled 26 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 41657More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if her Department will publish the modelling used to set changes to (a) Agricultural Property Relief and (b) Business Property Relief.
Answer: The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, and fixing the public finances. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advant...
Answered 2 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordEnvironmental Delivery PlansMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 24 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 40682More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to part three of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, whether environmental delivery plans will be applied in a modular way, with species considered on a case-by-
Answer: Environmental Delivery Plans will only be put in place where Natural England and the Secretary of State are confident that conservation measures will be sufficient to outweigh the negative impact of development. Where this is not the case, existing enviro...
Answered 2 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordEnvironmental Delivery PlansMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 21 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 40393More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Environmental Development Plans proposed in Part 3 of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will be required to follow the mitigation hierarchy.
Answer: Environmental Development Plans will provide the flexibility to diverge from project-by-project mitigation and a restrictive application of the mitigation hierarchy. However, this will only be where Natural England consider that this would deliver better ...
Answered 2 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordEnvironmental Delivery PlansMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 21 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 40392More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Environmental Development Plans proposed in Part 3 of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will be informed by site level assessments where required.
Answer: Environmental Delivery Plans will only be put in place where Natural England and the Secretary of State are confident that conservation measures will be sufficient to outweigh the impact of development. The plans will be evidence based and subject to cons...
Answered 2 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordAbsent Voting: British Nationals AbroadMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 21 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 40375More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information her Department holds on the number and proportion of overseas voters who did not receive a ballot in time to vote at the general election in 2024; and whether he
Answer: The Department does not hold information on the number of overseas voters that did not receive a ballot in time to vote at the general election in 2024.As set out in our response to the Electoral Commission’s evaluation of the 2024 general election, publi...
Answered 27 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordBlue Badge Scheme: TaxisDepartment for TransportTabled 21 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 40374More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of extending regulations on blue badges to include a provision for people who run (a) taxis and (b) other transport vehicles that are designed to
Answer: The Blue Badge scheme provides a range of parking concessions for people with a long-term disability, who travel either as passengers or drivers, that affects their capacity to access the goods and services they need to use. The regulations governing the ...
Answered 27 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordNational Care ServiceDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 19 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 903394More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress he has made on creating a National Care Service.
Answer: The Government is launching an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service.Chaired by Baroness Casey of Blackstock, the Commission will start a national conversation about wh...
Answered 25 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordSchools: FinanceDepartment for EducationTabled 17 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 38800More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the timing of the start of the school budget year in April and the academic year in September on schools' ability to budget effectively for staffing
Answer: Schools are generally funded on the basis of their pupil numbers in the previous October census, therefore meaning the funding that schools receive for the 2025/26 funding year will be based on pupil numbers as of October 2024. This practice means that th...
Answered 25 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordSchools: FinanceDepartment for EducationTabled 17 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 38799More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the permanent cost of pay rises for primary school teachers implemented in September 2024 has been factored into school budgets beyond April 2025.
Answer: The overall core schools budget is increasing by £3.2 billion in the 2025/26 financial year, meaning the core schools budget will total over £64.8 billion compared to almost £61.6 billion in the 2024/25 financial year. This includes the £2.3 billion annou...
Answered 25 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordRenewable EnergyDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 12 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 903244More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of renewable energy projects on local communities.
Answer: This government has a very simple principle: if you live near new clean energy infrastructure, you should benefit from it. That's why the Planning and Infrastructure Bill proposes much-needed reforms, including direct bill discounts for communities, easie...
Answered 18 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordStellantis: LutonDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 5 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 35932More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has had recent discussions with Stellantis on the closure of their Luton plant.
Answer: Ministers have engaged closely with Stellantis on the future of its operations in the UK, with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade most recently meeting the Chair of the Stellantis board on 1 February to discuss how the Luton plant could be kept...
Answered 12 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordSpecial Educational Needs: North East HertfordshireDepartment for EducationTabled 4 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 903096More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of special educational provision in North East Hertfordshire constituency.
Answer: This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.The department wan...
Answered 10 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordDisabled Facilities GrantsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 4 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 35492More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the policy paper entitled Better Care Fund policy framework 2025 to 2026, published on 30 January 2025, what plans he has to consult on changes to the maximum Disabled Facilities
Answer: In England, we continue to fund the locally administered Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG), which helps eligible older and disabled people on low incomes to adapt their homes. We are providing an immediate in-year uplift of £86 million in 2024/25. This is o...
Answered 11 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordSovereign Grant: ReviewsTreasuryTabled 12 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 31375More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing the Sovereign Grant for the 2026-27 financial year.
Answer: The rules governing the Sovereign Grant have been set by Parliament in the Sovereign Grant Act 2011. The Grant will be reviewed again in 2026 and the government is committed to bring forward legislation to reset the Grant to a lower level from 2027-28 onc...
Answered 27 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordPension Credit: ApplicationsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 3 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 28292More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the time taken for Pension Credit applications to be approved and what steps her Department is taking to reduce the time taken for Pension Cred
Answer: DWP works to a planned timescale of 50 working days to clear Pension Credit claims. The most recent information on processing times for Pension Credit was published in the DWP annual report and accounts 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK (ARA) on 22nd July 2024. This ...
Answered 11 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordWinter Fuel PaymentDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 31 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 27911More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the number of qualifying benefits for the Winter Fuel Payment.
Answer: The Government has had to make hard choices to bring the public finances back under control. Linking Winter Fuel eligibility to Pension Credit and other means tested benefits for pensioners ensures the least well-off pensioners still receive the help they...
Answered 6 Feb 2025
Original Parliament record
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