Tim Farron MP: written questions 2024
77 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Social Services: CumbriaDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 19 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 902068More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help recruit social care workers in Cumbria.
Answer: We are launching a national recruitment campaign in February to encourage suitable candidates to apply for immediate vacancies by highlighting the varied and rewarding work available. We have also introduced legislation to deliver the first Fair Pay Agree...
Answered 8 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordAgriculture: SubsidiesDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 19 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 21281More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the value of government subsidies to farmers in 2024.
Answer: The Government has committed to support farmers through a budget of £5 billion over the next two years, including £2.6 billion in 2024/25.
Answered 13 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordMobile Phones: Westmorland and LonsdaleDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 19 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 21280More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will make it his policy to ensure the adequacy of mobile connectivity in Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency before the switch-off of the public switched telephone network.
Answer: Opinions vary as to what constitutes ‘good’ mobile connectivity and I have raised my concerns about the reporting of connectivity with Ofcom, but according to Ofcom’s Connected Nations report (published on 5 December 2024), 4G indoor premises coverage is ...
Answered 13 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordVoice over Internet Protocol: Westmorland and LonsdaleDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 19 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 21279More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will take steps to ensure that there is no enforced switch off of the public switched telephone network before he has made an assessment of the impact of this change on rural comm
Answer: The Government is determined to ensure that any and all risks incurred during the industry-led migration from the analogue landline network to voice over internet protocol are mitigated. On 18 November 2024, the Department published guidance for communica...
Answered 13 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordVoice over Internet Protocol: Westmorland and LonsdaleDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 19 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 21278More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the public switched telephone network switch-off on rural communities in Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency.
Answer: The Government is determined to ensure that any and all risks incurred during the industry-led migration from the analogue landline network to voice over internet protocol are mitigated. On 18 November 2024, the Department published guidance for communica...
Answered 13 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordMobile Phones: Westmorland and LonsdaleDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 19 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 21277More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will make an assessment of the number of properties in Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency without good mobile connectivity.
Answer: Opinions vary as to what constitutes ‘good’ mobile connectivity and I have raised my concerns about the reporting of connectivity with Ofcom, but according to Ofcom’s Connected Nations report (published on 5 December 2024), 4G indoor premises coverage is ...
Answered 13 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordAgriculture: SubsidiesDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 19 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 21276More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to provide top-up payments to farmers to compensate for the loss of direct payments.
Answer: The Government announced the reductions it intends to apply to delinked payments for 2025. The Government is accelerating the end of the era of payouts to large and wealthy landowners simply for owning land. The fastest reductions in subsidies will be to ...
Answered 7 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordDrax Power Station: SubsidiesDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 19 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 21275More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make it his policy to retrieve the subsidy payments made to the Drax power station.
Answer: Ofgem’s recent investigation did not find any evidence to suggest that Drax had been issued with subsidies incorrectly. Whilst Drax complied with sustainability standards, it had failed to report data accurately. This is a serious matter and Government ex...
Answered 13 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordImmigration: EU NationalsHome OfficeTabled 19 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 21274More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department conducted a lessons learned review of the EU settlement scheme digital status service.
Answer: The Home Office conducted an end-programme lessons learnt review on the roll out of the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS), of which the digital status service is part. We published two private beta reports setting out key findings of the test phases of the EUSS...
Answered 13 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordAgriculture: FloodsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 13 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 20008More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support farmers with managing flooding in winter 2024-25.
Answer: The Farming Recovery Fund was set up to support farmers affected by unprecedented extreme wet weather last winter (October 2023 to March 2024). Through these one-off recovery payments, £57.5 million has now been paid to over 12,700 farm businesses to help...
Answered 2 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordAgriculture: Environment ProtectionDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 13 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 20007More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that farmers can engage in environmentally sustainable farming projects during winter 2024-25.
Answer: Environmental Land Management schemes remain at the centre of our offer for farmers, with the Sustainable Farming Incentive, Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier and Landscape Recovery all continuing. There are now over 60,000 live agreements across these ...
Answered 23 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordJoint European TorusDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 12 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 19670More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent discussions he has had with international partners on the future of the JET fusion project.
Answer: JET has been at the forefront of fusion research and innovation, and its final experiments produced a world record in energy output. However, JET is now 40 years old. An evaluation undertaken by EUROfusion in 2016 concluded that upgrades to JET did not pr...
Answered 18 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordCycleways: Westmorland and FurnessDepartment for TransportTabled 12 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 19669More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will provide additional funding for Westmorland and Furness Council to maintain cycleways.
Answer: The Government takes the condition of local highway assets, including roads and cycleways, very seriously and is committed to maintaining and renewing the local highway network. As a local highway authority, Westmorland and Furness Council is responsible ...
Answered 17 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordRefugees: Employment and TrainingHome OfficeTabled 9 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 18515More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what tailored support she plans to provide to refugees to access (a) training and (b) employment after the closure of the Refugee Employment Programme in June 2025.
Answer: The Refugee Employability Programme (REP) was designed as a time-bound programme. It will come to a natural end in June 2025 in line with the contract delivery timelines.All refugees will continue to have access to mainstream services to support their tra...
Answered 17 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordRefugees: ResettlementHome OfficeTabled 28 Nov 2024WithdrawnUIN 16718More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many refugees her Department plans to resettle through the UK's resettlement scheme in 2025.
Answer: No published answer in this record yet.
Original Parliament recordRefugees: ResettlementHome OfficeTabled 28 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16716More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many refugees her Department plans to resettle through the UK's resettlement schemes in 2025.
Answer: This country will always play our part, alongside others, to help those fleeing war and persecution, but we need a proper system where rules are enforced.The UK welcomes refugees through our global resettlement schemes which include the UK Resettlement Sc...
Answered 5 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordRadiotherapy: Westmorland and LonsdaleDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 28 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16715More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people in Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency received radiotherapy treatment at the Rosemere Cancer Centre Royal Preston Hospital in each month in each of the last four years.
Answer: The Department does not hold information regarding how many patients from a particular constituency are treated in a specific hospital. Data regarding radiotherapy treatment is published monthly by NHS England.
Answered 5 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordMental Health Services: Children and Young PeopleDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 28 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16714More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department has on the average waiting time for young people to receive a first appointment for child and adolescent mental health services in (a) South Cumbria, (b) Lancashire
Answer: The following table shows the mean and median average waiting times between referral and first contact for children and young people aged under 18 years old, in the nearest equivalent local authority areas, for April to September 2024:Local authority area...
Answered 9 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordEmployment Rights Bill: Migrant WorkersDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 28 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16713More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Employment Rights Bill on the prevention of exploitation of migrant workers by employers that threaten to cancel visas.
Answer: The Employment Rights Bill will provide a new baseline of security for all workers, including those working on a visa. These protections include day one protection from unfair dismissal, increasing protection from harassment, strengthening Statutory Sick ...
Answered 6 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordEmployment Rights Bill: Migrant WorkersDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 28 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16712More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Employment Rights Bill on the employment rights of migrant workers.
Answer: The Employment Rights Bill will provide a new baseline of security for all workers, including those working on a visa. These protections include day one protection from unfair dismissal, increasing protection from harassment, strengthening Statutory Sick ...
Answered 6 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordAgriculture: SubsidiesDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 28 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16711More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the level of funding available to farmers in the next two years.
Answer: In the Budget announced last month, the Government committed £5 billion to the farming budget over two years, including more money than ever for sustainable food production: £1.8 billion for environmental land management schemes in 2025/26. This enables u...
Answered 9 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordAgriculture: SubsidiesDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 28 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16710More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Autumn Budget 2024 on the timeline for announcing the phase-out of direct payments under the Basic Payment Scheme.
Answer: There is no change to the timeline for phasing out delinked payments. We plan to pay delinked payments each year from 2024 to 2027.
Answered 19 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordWestmorland Hospital: Maternity ServicesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 27 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16466More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has a planned timetable for when services in Helme Chase Maternity Unit at Westmorland General Hospital will be reopened.
Answer: The reconfiguration of services is a matter for integrated care boards and local healthcare systems, in cases of specialised and national services. All service changes should be based on clear evidence, clinically led, and involve engagement with patients...
Answered 4 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordWestmorland Hospital: Hospital WardsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 27 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16465More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the closure of ward 6 at Westmorland General Hospital on (a) social care provision and (b) hospital bed availability throughout the University
Answer: Responsibility for decisions about the delivery, funding, and implementation of services ultimately rests with the National Health Service commissioner, and it is important that integrated care systems operate with a high degree of autonomy in making deci...
Answered 9 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordDental ServicesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 27 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16464More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of (a) young people have seen a dentist in the last 12 months and (b) adults have seen a dentist in the last two years.
Answer: In England in 2023/24, the number and proportion of adult patients seen in the 24 months up to the end of June 2024 was 18.4 million, or 40.3% of the adult population. The number and proportion of child patients seen in the 12 months up to the end of June...
Answered 2 Dec 2024
Original Parliament record
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