Steff Aquarone MP: written questions
176 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Dental Services: NorfolkDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 8 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 75787More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that dental patients in Norfolk will be included in NHS tie-in periods for newly qualified dentists.
Answer: It costs £200,000 of taxpayer’s money to train a dentist. We believe it is right and fair to taxpayers to expect graduate dentists to invest their skills and expertise in the National Health Service for at least some amount of time.As announced in the 10-...
Answered 15 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordDental Services: East of EnglandDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 8 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 75786More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has conducted any regional modelling of dental workforce planning in (a) Norfolk and (b) the East of England.
Answer: NHS England data shows that as of December 2024, 2,810 general dentists were working in the East of England, including 1,108 National Health Service full time equivalent (FTE) general dentists. The vacancy rate for NHS dentists was 17%. On the same date, ...
Answered 15 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordAsylum: StaffHome OfficeTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74527More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's press release entitled We’re recruiting Asylum Decision Makers across the UK, published on 28 April 2025, how many asylum decisionmakers have been hired since 28 Apr
Answer: The Home Office is maintaining sufficient resource in place to clear the Asylum backlog.The number of full time equivalent (FTE) asylum caseworkers employed per month until June 2025 is published in the ASY_05(M) tab of the published migration transparenc...
Answered 9 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordCrayfish: Non-native SpeciesDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 1 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 73930More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has considered developing an invasive American signal crayfish eradication strategy in (a) England and (b) Norfolk.
Answer: American signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) are listed as Species of Special Concern and actions such as their commercial use, release into the environment and transport are banned under the Invasive Alien Species (Enforcement and Permitting) Orde...
Answered 4 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordDriving Licences: GlaucomaDepartment for TransportTabled 22 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 70182More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the availability of visual field testing for driving license holders diagnosed with glaucoma in (a) North Norfolk constituency, (b) Norfolk and (c) England.
Answer: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s (DVLA) vision testing supplier, Specsavers, currently has 360 stores across England that provide visual field testing for DVLA purposes. In Norfolk six stores offer this service with the closest stores to North No...
Answered 2 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordEmergencies: SirensCabinet OfficeTabled 22 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 70179More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to her Answer of 21 July 2025 Question 68537 on Emergencies: Sirens, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that communities in (a) coastal areas and (b) that have limited or no phone signal rece
Answer: The Emergency Alert system is a UK Government capability that allows time critical life saving information to be broadcast to phones within a certain area. This was introduced in April 2023, and has now been used five times. Emergency Alerts are instantan...
Answered 2 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordValuation Office Agency: StandardsTreasuryTabled 16 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 68556More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of case backlog at the Valuation Office Agency; and what steps she is taking to reduce this.
Answer: The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) is working as quickly as possible to clear cases, and moving staff to where there is the greatest customer demand. The VOA is focusing on the oldest cases first, and where customers are facing financial hardship. The VOA ...
Answered 21 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordDriving Licences: GlaucomaDepartment for TransportTabled 16 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 68541More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on the adequacy of the availability of glaucoma testing for driving license renewal in (a) North Norfolk constituency, (b) Norfolk and (c) England.
Answer: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) does not require driving licence holders or applicants to be tested for glaucoma. However, drivers are legally required to inform the DVLA if they have been diagnosed with glaucoma in both eyes, or if they ha...
Answered 21 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordChildren: MaintenanceDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 16 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 68538More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of HMRC confidentiality rules on the ability of the Child Maintenance Service to (a) suspend and (b) revise liability, where possible fraudulent chil
Answer: To qualify for maintenance payments a child must meet the Child Maintenance Service's criteria. They must be:under 20 years of age andin full time non-advanced education or approved training, andeligible for Child Benefit. They must also be habitually res...
Answered 21 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordEmergencies: SirensCabinet OfficeTabled 16 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 68537More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to his Answer of 15 July 2025 to Question 66761 on Emergencies: Mobile Phones, what steps she is taking to support communities who have (a) no emergency sirens and (b) had their emergency sirens removed
Answer: In the UK, we have a number of public warning and informing mechanisms that can be used in different situations when there is a risk to life. This includes the Emergency Alert system, introduced in April 2023, which has been used five times. Emergency Ale...
Answered 21 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordNeighbourhood Plans: FinanceMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 16 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 68536More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 30 June 2025 to Question 62866 on Neighbourhood Plans: Finance, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of this policy on levels of council
Answer: Precept levels are decided by parish councils, considering the needs of their community. The government expects parish councils to consider carefully the burden they are placing on local taxpayers.
Answered 21 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordEmergencies: Mobile PhonesCabinet OfficeTabled 10 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 66761More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the publication entitled UK Government Resilience Action Plan published on 8 July 2025, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the adequacy of emergency alert systems in rural areas with
Answer: Emergency Alerts are broadcast through mobile phone masts, and will be received by phones connected to the targeted masts. 95% of the UK landmass has 4G/5G coverage. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is continuing to work with the UK t...
Answered 15 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordSchools: Rural AreasDepartment for EducationTabled 10 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 66760More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the funding formula on the viability of small schools in rural areas.
Answer: The government recognises the essential role that small schools play in their communities, many of which are in rural areas. The schools national funding formula (NFF) accounts for the particular challenges faced by small schools in rural areas through th...
Answered 15 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordBritish Virgin Islands: CompaniesForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 1 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 64355More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2025 to Question 36916 on British Overseas Territories: Companies, what discussions he has had with the British Virgin Islands government o
Answer: At the Joint Ministerial Council (JMC) in November 2024, the British Virgin Islands (BVI) committed to implement a register of beneficial ownership accessible to those with a legitimate interest offering the maximum possible degree of access and transpare...
Answered 4 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordPost Boxes: TheftHome OfficeTabled 27 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 63380More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the potential implications for her polices of trends in levels of theft of Royal Mail post boxes; and whether she has had recent discussions with Royal Mail on th
Answer: In the year ending June 2024, there were 6,290 ‘Theft of mail’ offences recorded by the police across England and Wales, a 26% decrease compared with the previous year.Theft, including the theft of post boxes is a serious issue. This Government recognises...
Answered 2 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordElectricians and Plumbing: Vocational EducationDepartment for EducationTabled 27 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 63379More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to encourage more young people to undertake vocational training to become (a) plumbers and (b) electricians.
Answer: The department continues to make available education and training opportunities in electrical and plumbing sectors, including:A range of apprenticeships, including the level 3 plumbing and domestic heating technician standard and the level 3 domestic elec...
Answered 10 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordVocational EducationDepartment for EducationTabled 27 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 63378More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of drop-outs from vocational courses; and what steps she is taking to increase course completion rates.
Answer: The department's Qualification Achievement Rates (QARs) include official statistics on levels of achievement for a range of qualifications, including vocational learning. Latest published statistics show overall achievement rates within the 19+ education ...
Answered 10 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordNeighbourhood Plans: FinanceMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 25 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 62866More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of removing funding for the development of neighbourhood plans on parish councils.
Answer: As part of the Spending Review we’ve looked at all the services and programmes the government supports to identify those that should now be in a position to support themselves without ongoing funding. After more than a decade of taxpayer support, we belie...
Answered 30 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordDentistry: Higher EducationDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 16 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 60381More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help support the establishment of a dental school at the University of East Anglia.
Answer: We would like to congratulate the University of East Anglia on its newly awarded dental school status and its ambitions to train the future dentistry workforce. Tackling the geographical disparities in access to National Health Service dentistry is vital,...
Answered 19 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordVisas: Married PeopleHome OfficeTabled 5 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 57801More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the minimum income requirements for spousal visas on pensioners who are unable to increase their income.
Answer: The Home Secretary commissioned the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to review the financial requirements in the Family Immigration Rules. Once published, we will consider their report and decide on any policy changes, consistent with the objectives of ...
Answered 10 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordWaste Management: FoodDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 3 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 57013More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing penalties to local government for delays in implementing food waste collections due to (a) market congestion fo
Answer: We are working closely with local authorities and other key stakeholders across the waste sector to support implementation of food waste collections under Simpler Recycling in England. We are aware of concerns about delivery timelines, pressure on supply ...
Answered 9 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordLetter Boxes: TheftHome OfficeTabled 3 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 57012More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of postbox theft; and what steps her Department is taking to tackle it.
Answer: In the year ending December 2024, there were 7,998 ‘Theft of mail’ offences recorded by the police across England and Wales, a 24% increase compared with the previous year.The Government recognises the profound impact theft can have on individuals and wid...
Answered 9 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordPolice: PensionsHome OfficeTabled 3 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 57011More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of rules on pension entitlements for survivors of police officers on levels of loneliness.
Answer: The 2015 police pension scheme is the scheme currently open to serving police officers. This scheme provides life-long survivor benefits for spouses, civil partners and unmarried partners, including those who remarry or cohabit after losing a spouse. Thes...
Answered 9 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordCrime: Rural AreasHome OfficeTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55990More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she will publish the Rural and Wildlife Crime Strategy.
Answer: The Government is committed to tackling rural crime, safeguarding rural areas through tougher measures to clamp down on equipment theft and anti-social behaviour, strengthened neighbourhood policing and action to prevent fly-tipping.We recognise that ther...
Answered 4 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordPlanning: AppealsMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 22 May 2025AnsweredUIN 54472More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she plans to take to help tackle the backlog in certificate of lawfulness appeals at the planning inspectorate.
Answer: The Planning Inspectorate's Strategic Plan commits to removing all casework backlogs and meeting all Ministerial targets by 2027. Casework including nationally significant infrastructure projects, local plan examinations, critical Secretary of State casew...
Answered 3 Jun 2025
Original Parliament record
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