Mike Martin MP: written questions
149 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Post Boxes: Cultural HeritageDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 16 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 24581More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the sale of Royal Mail on the protection of historic post boxes.
Answer: Royal Mail is an iconic part of the UK’s infrastructure, and the government has ensured that the takeover has been properly scrutinised. The government has secured a commitment from EP Group, the potential buyers, to ensure that Royal Mail retains control...
Answered 24 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordSchools: UniformsDepartment for EducationTabled 16 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 24580More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of section 23 of the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill on schools' ability to participate in team sports.
Answer: School uniforms play a valuable role in creating a sense of common identity among pupils and reducing visible inequalities, however, too many schools require high numbers of branded uniform items which creates a significant cost burden for families. This ...
Answered 21 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordSchools: UniformsTreasuryTabled 16 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 24579More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of removing VAT on school uniforms.
Answer: VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. VAT is the UK’s second largest tax forecast to raise £171 billion in 2024/25. Taxation is a vital source of revenue that helps to fund vital publ...
Answered 21 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordSchools: UniformsDepartment for EducationTabled 16 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 24578More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of section 23 of the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill on small businesses that provide school uniforms.
Answer: School uniforms play a valuable role in creating a sense of common identity among pupils and reducing visible inequalities, however, too many schools require high numbers of branded uniform items which creates cost pressures for too many families. This is...
Answered 22 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordPerinatal Mortality: CoronersDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 15 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 24357More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the powers of Coroners to include the investigation of stillbirths.
Answer: The Department of Health and Social Care and the Ministry of Justice jointly consulted on proposals to provide coroners with new powers to investigate term stillbirths in 2019. In 2023, a factual summary of responses to the consultation was published. The...
Answered 20 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordSudan: RefugeesForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 13 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 23637More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of continuation of the conflict in Sudan on the number of Sudanese refugees seeking asylum in the United Kingdom.
Answer: Over 3.6 million people have fled Sudan since the current conflict began in April 2023; many more (8.8 million people) have been internally displaced. Those fleeing Sudan in need of international protection should claim asylum in the first safe country th...
Answered 20 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordTeachers: Apprentices and Classroom AssistantsDepartment for EducationTabled 13 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 23636More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) fast-tracking higher-level teaching assistants to become teachers and (b) introducing teaching apprenticeships.
Answer: Teaching assistants (TAs) play a vital role in children’s education. They are crucial to ensuring we give children the best possible life chances. The ‘use of teaching assistants in schools’ departmental survey from 2023 found that 23% of TAs with a highe...
Answered 21 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordMedical Records: Information SharingDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 13 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 23635More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that NHS patients who consent to have their data shared with UK medical institutions for research and development will not have their data shared overseas.
Answer: Research studies in which patients choose to share their data must adhere to strict legal and ethical standards, including compliance with the United Kingdom’s General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the common law duty of confidentiality. As par...
Answered 22 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordAmbulance Services: Private SectorDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 13 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 23634More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of ensuring that private ambulance service personnel on NHS contracts receive (a) recognition and (b) honours.
Answer: Under the honours system of the United Kingdom, anyone can receive an award, and anyone can nominate someone if they demonstrate the exceptional contribution the person has made.Recognition for those working in the private sector is primarily a matter for...
Answered 17 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordDrugs: MisuseHome OfficeTabled 13 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 23633More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of imposing civil rather than criminal penalties on people found in possession of drugs for personal use.
Answer: There are no plans to decriminalise illicit drug use. The law allows for the prosecution of those who commit offences, including drug possession and supply. The police have a range of alternative options within the out of court resolution framework (such ...
Answered 21 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordDrugs: MisuseHome OfficeTabled 13 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 23632More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of moving responsibility for drugs policy to the Department of Health and Social Care.
Answer: Responsibility for drug policy is shared across a number of departments and both the Home Office and the Department for Health and Social Care have important roles to play in setting policy to tackle drug use and to reduce drug-related crime and drug heal...
Answered 21 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordAutism: DiagnosisDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 13 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 23631More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time was for an autism diagnosis in Kent in (a) 2025 and (b) 2020; and what steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting times for receiving an autism diagnosis.
Answer: The information is not held centrally in the format requested, but may be held by individual providers or integrated care boards (ICBs). Some relevant information is available on autism assessment waiting times for the NHS Kent and Medway ICB.In the NHS K...
Answered 17 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordProtection From Sex-based Harassment in Public Act 2023Home OfficeTabled 13 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 23630More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her planned timetable is for the implementation of the Protection from Sex-based Harassment in Public Act 2023.
Answer: The Government is committed to halving levels of violence against women and girls in a decade. An important part of this ambition is tackling public sexual harassment which often leaves people, disproportionately women, feeling very unsafe. The Protection...
Answered 16 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordAgriculture: Inheritance TaxTreasuryTabled 13 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 23629More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the planned reforms to agricultural property relief, what steps her Department will take to support farmers who have lost their exemption because their (a) spouse or (b) civil partner has died.
Answer: The Government published information about the reforms to agricultural property relief at www.gov.uk/government/publications/agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief-reforms. The reforms mean that individuals can access 100% relief for th...
Answered 16 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordHospitals: Telephone ServicesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 13 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 23628More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of issuing guidance to hospitals on using withheld numbers to contact patients about appointments.
Answer: National Health Services may sometimes choose to use withheld numbers when contacting patients, including to protect patient privacy and confidentiality, but we appreciate the frustration that patients can feel when they are unable to contact clinical sta...
Answered 16 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordWildlife: RodenticidesDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 13 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 23627More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Rodenticide Stewardship Scheme in reducing wildlife exposure to rat poisons; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of taking
Answer: The Rodenticides Stewardship Scheme was developed by The Campaign for Responsible Rodenticide Use UK to promote responsible use and is overseen by the Government Oversight Group for Rodenticide Stewardship (GOG), chaired by the Health and Safety Executive...
Answered 20 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordStansted Airport: NoiseDepartment for TransportTabled 3 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 21856More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the penalties are when the LAeq noise contour threshold at Stansted Airport is exceeded; and who enforces those noise restrictions.
Answer: Stansted Airport’s noise contour limit has been set through a local planning agreement. Enforcement of local planning conditions at Stansted Airport is a matter for the local authority, Uttlesford District Council.
Answered 8 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordLong Covid: Health ServicesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 19 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 902075More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that people with long covid are adequately supported.
Answer: I know firsthand how complex and debilitating long COVID can be.Since 2020, specialist long COVID services have been made available in England, and NHS England is now completing a stocktake of these services.This will provide an accurate national picture,...
Answered 7 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordPancreatic Enzyme Replacement TherapyDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 17 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 20760More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a British supplier of Creon.
Answer: The Department has been working with suppliers to address current supply issues with Creon, which is a brand of pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT) used by patients with conditions such as cystic fibrosis and certain cancers, including pancreatic...
Answered 6 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordElections: KentMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 16 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 20555More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to page 101 of the English Devolution White Paper, published on 16 December 2024, whether she plans to postpone local authority elections in Kent in 2025.
Answer: I will consider any requests I receive to postpone the May 2025 local authority elections in Kent and Warwickshire only where this will help the areas to deliver both reorganisation and devolution to the most ambitious timeframe – either through the Devol...
Answered 19 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordPancreatic Enzyme Replacement TherapyDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 16 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 20534More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the impact of supply chain issues surrounding the importing of Creon into the United Kingdom on patients with pancreatic diseases; and what steps he is taking to incr
Answer: The Department has been working with suppliers to address the current supply issues with Creon, which is a brand of pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT) used by patients with conditions such as cystic fibrosis and certain cancers, including pancre...
Answered 19 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordNHS: DrugsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 16 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 20533More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a Medicines Shortages Task Force.
Answer: While there are no plans to establish a Medicines Shortages Task Force, there is a team within the Department that deals specifically with medicine supply problems. They work closely with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the pharma...
Answered 19 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordWorkplace Pensions: Index LinkingDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 16 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 20515More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of providing indexation of pension rights accrued before April 1997.
Answer: It is for sponsoring employers to decide what pension benefits they offer, provided these meet minimum standards. These benefits are set out in the scheme rules. It would not be appropriate for the Government to interfere in decisions made by individual s...
Answered 19 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordOverseas Students: UkraineHome OfficeTabled 16 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 20501More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 29 November 2024 to Question 16106 on Overseas Students: Ukraine, whether students who have extended visas under the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme and whose graduation
Answer: Those granted permission under the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme will receive the same rights and entitlements to access work, benefits, healthcare and education as provided under the existing Ukraine Schemes.Individuals with permission under one of...
Answered 19 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordRyan CorneliusForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 16 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 20383More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to raise the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention's ruling that the United Arab Emirates has unlawfully detained Ryan Cornelius with th
Answer: The FCDO takes the opinions of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention seriously. We continue to provide consular assistance to Mr Cornelius and his case has been raised at senior levels, highlighting the Government's support for his appeal for clemen...
Answered 6 Jan 2025
Original Parliament record
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