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1654126

registered interest
date	18/07/2023
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	al Qaeda and Islamic State
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what new counter-terrorist measures are being proposed to deal with the threat from IS and al-Qaeda against the UK.
tabling member printed	Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown
uin	HL9458
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/07/2023 answer text <p>On Tuesday 18 July, the Home Office published an updated version of the UK’s counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST.</p><p>This strategy identifies the persistent and evolving threat from Islamist terrorist groups overseas, and sets out our response to it working closely with international allies and partners. The document is available at gov.uk</p> answering member printed Lord Sharpe of Epsom question first answered 26/07/2023 13:31:28 answering member 4888 label Biography information for Lord Sharpe of Epsom
tabling member	655 label Biography information for Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown

1654128

registered interest
date	18/07/2023
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	Health Services: Waiting Lists
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what effective measures they propose to take to cut the waiting time of patients waiting for NHS treatment, and in particular to address the number of patients waiting more than a year.
tabling member printed	Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown
uin	HL9460
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/07/2023 answer text <p>Cutting waiting lists is one of the Government’s priorities. The Government has committed more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to drive up and protect elective activity. This is supported further by £5.9 billion investment in capital for new beds, equipment and technology.</p><p> </p><p>New and expanded surgical hubs are being rolled out to increase capacity and activity, focusing on providing high volume low complexity surgery, which is backed by £1.5 billion capital funding. There are currently 93 elective surgical hubs that are operational across England.</p><p>From October 2023, all patients waiting over 40 weeks where a decision to treat a patient has been made but the patient has not received a date for their treatment will be able to initiate a request to transfer to another provider and receive treatment more rapidly via the Patient Initiated Digital Mutual Aid System.</p><p>We have met our target to virtually eliminate long waits of two years or more for elective procedures in July 2022, and significantly reduced the number of patients waiting 18 months or more by April 2023 by over 91% from the peak in September 2021. We have now moved our focus to cutting waits of 65 weeks or more to as near zero as possible, by March 2024.</p><p>Capacity is being sought across the National Health Service and the independent sector locally, regionally and across the country to support efforts in hitting this target.</p> answering member printed Lord Markham question first answered 25/07/2023 15:06:53 answering member 4948 label Biography information for Lord Markham
tabling member	655 label Biography information for Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown

1654129

registered interest
date	18/07/2023
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Food Supply and Prices
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what additional measures they are taking to protect consumers from inflated supermarket food prices; and what further assistance they will give to farmers to ensure food security.
tabling member printed	Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown
uin	HL9461
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/07/2023 answer text <p>Tackling inflation is this Government’s number one priority, with a plan to more than halve inflation this year, and we are monitoring all key agricultural commodities so that we can work with the food industry to address the challenges they face.</p><p> </p><p>Defra is taking action to maintain an efficient food supply chain by mitigating against any potential burdens or frictions which could otherwise drive up consumer food prices. We continue to use regular engagement to work with retailers and producers to explore the range of measures they can take to ensure the availability of affordable food, for example, by maintaining value ranges, price matching and price freezing measures.</p><p> </p><p>Furthermore, on 16 May 2023, the Prime Minister and Defra Secretary met representatives from across the whole UK supply chain, from farm to fork, for a Summit on how the Government and industry can work together to support a thriving UK food industry.</p><p> </p><p>With regard to support for farmers, we are backing British farmers with £2.4 billion of investment per year. We recently updated our new schemes based on farmer feedback to make them easier to apply for, and to support tenant and upland farmers in particular. We recently increased payment rates for upland farmers.</p><p> </p><p>We are committed to ensuring payment rates mean as many farmers as possible can benefit from our offers. The Sustainable Farming Incentive focuses on supporting farmers to undertake activities to grow food while improving the environment and animal health and welfare. The Landscape Recovery scheme allows landowners and managers to take a more large-scale, long-term approach to producing environmental and climate goods on their land. We have expanded and enhanced the existing Countryside Stewardship scheme. This has been simplified and improved this year to include wildlife, upland wood pasture and lowland peat offers, more efficient administration and fairer controls. Through Countryside Stewardship Plus we will pay farmers extra for taking coordinated action, working with neighbouring farms and landowners to support climate and nature aims.</p><p> </p><p>We are providing tailored business advice to all farmers, we have cut red tape and brought in a fairer enforcement regime. We have helped the sector access the seasonal labour they need, and we are looking closely at the Shropshire Review we commissioned to go further. We are reviewing supply chain fairness sector by sector and unlocking the opportunities of genetic technologies.</p> answering member printed Lord Benyon question first answered 24/07/2023 15:29:06 answering member 1547 label Biography information for Lord Benyon
tabling member	655 label Biography information for Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown

1640671

registered interest
date	25/05/2023
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Airports: Parking
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the Civil Aviation Authority regarding increases in airport car-parking charges.
tabling member printed	Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown
uin	HL8151
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/06/2023 answer text <p>Most airports in the UK are managed and operated as private businesses, and parking arrangements are subject to contractual agreements between airport operators and car parking companies covered by consumer laws.</p><p> </p><p>The provision and charging of car parking at airports (including drop off and pick charges) is a matter for the airport operator as a commercial business to manage and justify. The Department has made no representations to the Civil Aviation Authority as this is a commercial matter for airports.</p><p> </p><p>Any grievance about charges for car parking should be raised with the airport operator directly. However, the Department for Transport expects car parking at airports to be managed appropriately and consumers treated fairly.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Vere of Norbiton question first answered 08/06/2023 11:08:02 answering member 4580 label Biography information for Baroness Vere of Norbiton
tabling member	655 label Biography information for Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown

1640672

registered interest
date	25/05/2023
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Roads: Repairs and Maintenance
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what support they are giving to local authorities to address accidents caused by pot holes.
tabling member printed	Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown
uin	HL8152
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/06/2023 answer text <p>In Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland responsibility for maintaining the highway rests with the respective devolved administration.</p><p> </p><p>In England, local highway authorities have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 to maintain the public highway network in their area.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to the capital highways maintenance funding provided by Government, the Department works with the highways sector to produce guidance and best practice and encourages good practice in local highways asset management. The Department endorses the UK Roads Leadership Group’s <em>‘Well Managed Highway Infrastructure: A Code of Practice’</em>. This provides guidance for highway authorities to consider when managing and maintaining the highways infrastructure assets for which they are responsible.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, the Government commissioned <em>‘Potholes: a repair guide’</em>, published by the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (ADEPT) in March 2019.</p><p> </p><p>In the 2022 Autumn Statement, the Chancellor confirmed the three-year settlement announced at Spending Review 2021: approximately £915 million capital funding per year for local highways maintenance for local highway authorities across England outside of London and the mayoral combined authorities who are in receipt of the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS).</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In addition, at Budget 2023 the Chancellor announced an extra £200 million for highways maintenance for the 2023/24 financial year.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Vere of Norbiton question first answered 08/06/2023 10:36:04 answering member 4580 label Biography information for Baroness Vere of Norbiton
tabling member	655 label Biography information for Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown

1640673

registered interest
date	25/05/2023
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government how much was collected in (1) road and (2) petrol, tax during the last two years for which information is available; and how much of that was invested in roads.
tabling member printed	Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown
uin	HL8153
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/06/2023 answer text <p>Receipts for Vehicle Excise Duty (‘road tax’) and fuel duties, which incorporate various types of fuel including petrol (‘petrol tax’) for the last two available years were set out by the Office of Budget Responsibility in March 2022 and March 2023, and are as follows:</p><p> </p><p>Vehicle Excise Duty, 2021-22: £7.1bn</p><p>Fuel duties, 2021-22: £25.9bn</p><p>Vehicle Excise Duty, 2020-21: £6.9bn</p><p>Fuel duties, 2020-21: £27.6bn</p><p> </p><p>Income raised by the government, including tax receipts but also income from fees, charges or borrowing, is centralised in the Consolidated Fund - from which government expenditure, including on roads, is funded.</p><p> </p><p>Government spending on roads in the same time period is set out by the Department for Transport on gov.uk, and is as follows:</p><p> </p><p>Strategic road network in England, 2021/22: £5.6bn</p><p>Capital funding for local roads maintenance in England (outside London), 2021/22: £1.4bn</p><p>Strategic road network in England 2020/21: £5bn</p><p>Capital funding for local roads maintenance in England (outside London), 2020/21: £1.8bn</p> answering member printed Baroness Penn question first answered 05/06/2023 14:46:57 answering member 4726 label Biography information for Baroness Penn
tabling member	655 label Biography information for Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown

1640674

registered interest
date	25/05/2023
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Sick Leave
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to enable the long-term sick to return to work.
tabling member printed	Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown
uin	HL8154
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/06/2023 answer text <p>A range of Government initiatives are supporting disabled people and the long-term sick to start, stay, and succeed in work. These include:</p><ul><li>Increasing Work Coach support in Jobcentres for people with health conditions receiving Universal Credit or Employment and Support Allowance;</li><li>Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres offering advice and expertise on how to help disabled people and people with health conditions into work;</li><li>The Work and Health Programme and Intensive Personalised Employment Support, providing tailored and personalised support for participants;</li><li>Access to Work grants helping towards extra costs of working beyond standard reasonable adjustments;</li><li>Disability Confident, encouraging employers to think differently about disability and health, and to take positive action to address the issues disabled employees face in the workplace;</li><li>An online information and advice service called “Support with Employee Health and Disability”, providing better integrated and tailored guidance on supporting health and disability in the workplace;</li><li>Increasing access to occupational health, including the testing of financial incentives for small and medium-sized enterprises and the self-employed; and</li><li>Work in partnership between DWP and health systems, including Employment Advice in NHS Talking Therapies, which combines psychological treatment and employment support for people with mental health conditions.</li></ul><p> </p><p>To tackle rising economic inactivity due to long-term sickness, we announced a wide-reaching package at the Spring Budget to support disabled people and people with health conditions to work. New investment will provide faster access to joined-up work and health support, including for mental health and musculoskeletal conditions, the two leading causes of economic inactivity due to long term sickness.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 09/06/2023 12:07:01 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	655 label Biography information for Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown

1640675

registered interest
date	25/05/2023
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	Dental Services: Vacancies
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase the number of dentists treating NHS patients.
tabling member printed	Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown
uin	HL8155
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/06/2023 answer text <p>In July 2022, we announced a package of dental system improvements to increase access for National Health Service dental patients and make NHS dentistry more attractive to practices.</p><p>NHS England negotiated amendments to the NHS dental contract with the British Dental Association and other stakeholders. These improvements, which came into effect in November 2022, will ensure dentists are more fairly remunerated for the delivery of NHS care and making NHS dentistry a more attractive place to work and improve access for patients.</p><p>We have also recently simplified the General Dental Council's legislative framework for the registration of international dentists and dental care professionals. The legislative changes came into force on 8 March 2023.</p><p>We will announce our plan for further reform of the NHS dental system later this year. It will include several areas requiring further action to support and recover activity in NHS dentistry.</p><p>We are also committed to publishing a long-term NHS workforce plan that will set out the actions and reforms that are required to reduce supply gaps and improve retention, including in dentistry.</p> answering member printed Lord Markham question first answered 06/06/2023 14:55:58 answering member 4948 label Biography information for Lord Markham
tabling member	655 label Biography information for Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown