It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Dissolution.

We are providing around £600 million of funding for the remediation of unsafe Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding in high rise residential buildings in the social and private sector. We are pushing owners and local authorities hard to remediate unsafe buildings and we expect to see building owners take action. We have so far allocated £259 million to replace cladding on 140 social sector buildings. In the private sector we expect all eligible buildings to have applied to the fund by the end of this year. We will continue to maintain pressure on developers and building owners to do the right thing and get on with remediation. We will set out progress on remediation in the next data release on 14 November.

Following the collapse of Carillion, the Government agreed to support the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospital Trust’s decision to end its private finance initiative (PFI) deal, and also the Trust’s activities to arrange for the completion of the construction of the new hospital including any required demolition of earlier construction.

The National Audit Office are currently carrying out an investigation with a scope that includes the Government’s response after the collapse of Carillion, the subsequent letting of the new contracts. This report is expected to be published in November 2019.

The Trust have worked with the replacement contractor Laing O’Rourke and external advisers in undertaking a fully costed assessment of all the works needed to complete the new Royal Liverpool hospital. This assessment will be set out in a business case, which the Trust intends to submit to NHS Improvement and the Department for approval soon.

NHS Improvement and the Department are liaising closely with the Trust to ensure that the hospital is completed as soon as is possible.

The Home Office does not hold information on the number of police officer posts removed from 2010. Police workforce data is collected annually on joiners and leavers and can be found in police workforce statistics which are available via: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-workforce-england-and-wales-31-march-2019

The Government has announced the police officer recruitment targets for police forces across England and Wales in the first year of the drive to increase ranks by 6,000 by March 2021, and an unprecedented 20,000 over the next three years. The information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/home-office-announces-first-wave-of-20000-police-officer-uplift

The Home Office does not centrally hold the information requested.

The Home Office collects and publishes statistics on the number of police officers in each Police Force Area (PFA) in England and Wales, as well as the number of officers that leave each year, in the annual ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin.

The number of officers employed in each PFA as at 31 March of each year between 2010 and 2019 is available in open data tables here:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/817734/open-data-table-police-workforce.ods

The Home Office does not hold data on how many and what proportion of police officer posts have been reduced by in each police force in England and Wales in each year since 2010. The size and composition of the police workforce is a local decision for Police and Crime Commissioners, working with chief officers.

Strengthening police numbers is a priority for the government, which is providing £750 million to support forces to recruit up to 6,000 additional officers onto our streets by the end of 2020-21, the first stage in an uplift of 20,000 officers over the next three year. All officers recruited as part of the 20,000 uplift will be additional to those hired to fill existing vacancies. They are also on top of the extra officers already being recruited because of the £1 billion increase in police funding for 2019-20, which includes money from council tax and for serious violence.

The Government recognises the critical role that post offices play in communities and for small businesses across the UK. This is why the Government committed to safeguard the Post Office Network and protect existing rural services. The overall number of post offices across the UK remains at its most stable in decades with over 11,500 branches thanks to significant Government investment of over £2 billion since 2010.

While the Government sets the strategic direction for the Post Office, it allows the company the commercial freedom to deliver this strategy as an independent business. Although the future of each branch is an operational matter for Post Office Limited, the Department has had previous discussions with Post Office Limited regarding the future of the Crown post office in Dingle, Liverpool. Post Office Limited has assured the Department that they are wholeheartedly committed to serving the community in Dingle and they are currently considering all the options available to maintain access to Post Office services when the current contract comes to an end on 4 December 2019.

I have therefore asked Nick Read, the Group Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the hon Member to provide further information on this matter. A copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Sopra Steria Ltd (SSL) monitors the performance of the UKVCAS website and regularly reviews feedback from customers to ensure the website meets their needs and expectations.

So far, since service inception in November, the following improvements have been made to the online booking system:

- more detailed information in the FAQs section to help customers resolve problems
- improved visibility of appointments by expanding the number of locations that customers can view from four to eight.
- extended period for customers booking appointments from four to six weeks for core service points and from two to four weeks for enhanced service points.

Sopra Steria Ltd (SSL) monitors the performance of the UKVCAS website and regularly reviews feedback from customers to ensure the website meets their needs and expectations.

So far, since service inception in November, the following improvements have been made to the online booking system:

- more detailed information in the FAQs section to help customers resolve problems
- improved visibility of appointments by expanding the number of locations that customers can view from four to eight.
- extended period for customers booking appointments from four to six weeks for core service points and from two to four weeks for enhanced service points.

As of 1 April 2019, there were 450 disability members in post across the First-tier Tribunal. This represents a significant increase from 358 members as of 1 April 2018. This information is taken from the Judicial Diversity statistics published at www.judiciary.uk/publications/judicial-diversity-statistics-2019

In terms of qualifications, the relevant statutory requirement is that “a person who is experienced in dealing with the physical or mental needs of disabled persons because they –

(a) work with disabled persons in a professional or voluntary capacity; or

(b) are themselves disabled.”

This is set out at www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2008/2692

The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust is working closely with Laing O’Rourke and external advisers in undertaking a fully-costed assessment of all the works needed to complete the new Royal Liverpool Hospital. This includes significant works required to fix the structural issues and defective works that have been identified following the termination of the private finance initiative contract in 2018. This assessment will be set out in a business case, which the Trust intends to submit to NHS Improvement and the Department for approval soon. In the meantime, preparation work is already underway by Laing O’Rourke.

Question 261477 refers to the commencement of Section 36 of the Equality Act 2010. Some parts of Section 36 of the Equality Act 2010 were commenced following Royal Assent to that Act. In March 2018, the Government announced its intention to commence the remaining parts of Section 36, which will enable disabled tenants to require that landlords and building owners to make reasonable adjustments to the common parts of dwellings, such as entry points, landings and stairs.

The Government is already consulting with local authorities to help identify and quantify any additional burdens this may have. A commencement date will be announced in due course.

Following the collapse of Carillion, the Government agreed to support both the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospital Trust’s decision to end its private finance initiative deal, and also the Trust’s activities to arrange for the completion of the construction of the new hospital.

The Trust is currently working closely with the replacement contractor Laing O’Rourke and external advisers in undertaking a fully costed assessment of all the works needed to complete the new Royal Liverpool hospital. This assessment will be set out in a business case, which the trust intends to submit to NHS Improvement and the Department for approval soon. In the meantime, preparation work is already underway by Laing O’Rourke.

NHS Improvement and the Department are liaising closely with the trust to ensure that the hospital is completed as soon as is possible.

Some parts of Section 36 of the Equality Act 2010 were commenced following Royal Assent to that Act. In March 2018, the Government announced its intention to commence the remaining parts of Section 36 in its response to the Women and Equalities Select Committee report on disability and the built environment. A commencement date will be announced in due course, after further work to identify and assess any additional burdens on local authorities.

The Global Fund continues to play a critical role in addressing the spread of antimicrobial resistance, a major global health threat. The Global Fund works to roll out new antimicrobials and diagnostic tools for example, helping to treat 102,000 people for drug-resistant tuberculosis in 2017. It also reduces the need for antimicrobials by: supporting and strengthening health systems; preventing infection (for example helping to distribute 197 million bed nets in 2017 to prevent malaria); and by supporting prompt diagnosis and treatment of disease.

The Government believes it is only right that people who are not ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom contribute to the costs of National Health Service care they may need whilst visiting or staying here. The Department has no plans to suspend The National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations or repeal Section 38 and 39 of the 2014 Immigration Act.

The UK Government is a major investor in tuberculosis (TB) research, for the development of diagnostics, improved treatments and TB vaccines. The UK also supports applied health research, to strengthen health systems, to ensure effective delivery of health services so that new products, once available, can be used appropriately.

To date, DFID support has been instrumental in the development of five new diagnostics for TB, including GeneXpert, which is used routinely in the UK NHS, has reduced the time taken to diagnose drug-sensitive and drug resistant TB from several weeks to a few hours. DFID support also enabled the development of the first paediatric TB medicine, which is now available in 80 countries across the globe.

Executive appointments are made by a committee of the Board of the NHS Trust in accordance with Schedule 4 to the NHS Act 2006 and the National Health Service Trusts (Membership and Procedure) Regulations 1990. The committee consists of the chair, the non-executive directors and, in the case of an appointment other than the chief executive, the chief executive.

Aintree University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has proposed an acquisition of the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust, which is planned to take place on 1 October 2019. The chief executive of The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust is due to leave the post at the end of March 2019 and the Trust is currently undertaking a recruitment process for an interim chief executive for a period of six months from 1 April 2019 to 30 September 2019.

We have confirmed our settlement for local government for 2019-20, which sees a real-terms increase in local government spending power next year. Core spending power increases from £45.1 billion in 2018-19 to £46.4 billion in 2019-20. For Liverpool, core spending power will rise from £449 million in 2018-19 to £458 million in 2019-20.

All long-term spending decisions are for this year’s Spending Review, when the government will set out its approach for the future.

We understand that leaseholders in Heysmoor Heights have been protected from a substantial proportion of the overall remediation costs due to a warranty claim being accepted. However, we continue to set our strong expectation that leaseholders should be protected from all remediation costs. We have written to, and continue to engage with, individual building owners to reiterate this expectation.