Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to introduce a scheme to permit or require the surrender of neonicotinoid pesticides for destruction to prevent them from entering waterways.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government does not have any such plan. For all pesticides, including neonicotinoids, there are legal requirements to store the product securely, use it according to its authorisation (which will include conditions considered appropriate to protect people and the environment) and dispose safely of any surplus.
Recent emergency authorisations for Cruiser SB as a seed treatment on sugar beet seed have carried very specific conditions. These include a requirement to dispose of unused stock by the end of the emergency authorisation period at the beginning of June. There should not, therefore, be any current stocks of the product.
Furthermore, we would not expect there to have been any significant surplus. Cruiser SB is applied in centralised facilities as a treatment to pre-ordered seed. The quantity required is therefore known in advance and there is no reason for additional stocks to have been acquired.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the independent review of physician associate and anaesthesia associate professions, led by Professor Gillian Leng CBE, will consider the impact of physician and anaesthetist associates on the availability of training places for junior doctors, the nature and structure of junior doctor training programmes, and the levels of remuneration for junior doctors.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the published Terms of Reference, the Leng review will be an end-to-end review of the Physician Associate and Anaesthesia Associate professions, covering selection and recruitment, training, day to day work, scope of practice, oversight, supervision, and professional regulation.
As part of the deal agreed between the Government and the British Medical Association (BMA) Resident Doctors Committee, the Government has committed to work in partnership with the BMA and other health organisations to review the current system of training and rotational placements for resident doctors. This work is being taken forward outside the Leng Review.
The levels of remuneration for resident doctors are not in scope of the review, as the Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration advises the Government on rates of pay for doctors and dentists.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to restrict private and corporate funding for political parties and election campaigns and, in particular, whether they plan to limit either the amount or the proportion of total funding that a single source can contribute to a party or campaign.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Effective regulation of political finance is crucial for maintaining public trust in our electoral systems. The Government is committed to strengthening our democracy and upholding the integrity of elections and, as stated in our manifesto, we intend to strengthen the rules around donations to political parties to protect our democracy. My department is developing proposals to give effect to these commitments and will make them public in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the campaign to introduce a "nature premium", modelled on the existing sports premium, to support school children’s access to nature.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)
The department recognises that access to green space has been shown to have a positive impact on the physical, mental and emotional wellbeing of young people, but children from disadvantaged backgrounds are less likely to spend time regularly outside than those from more affluent backgrounds. That is why we are inviting all nurseries, schools and colleges to register with the National Education Nature Park and offering grants to support participation from eligible settings.
Participating in Nature Park activities will support and encourage all children, and young people will benefit from spending time in nature. It will also support teachers to build confidence to deliver effective outdoor learning.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether RAF aircraft participated alongside the United States Air Force in strikes targeting ISIS in Syria on 7 or 8 December.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The UK did not participate in the US strikes targeting Daesh targets in Syria on 7 or 8 December 2024.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the quality of private medical insurance, including the degree to which pre-existing and chronic conditions are covered, and whether they consider the regulation of such insurance to be adequate.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the independent body responsible for regulating and supervising the financial services industry, including firms providing private medical insurance.
The Government is determined that all insurers should treat consumers fairly and provide products that offer fair value, and firms are required to do so under FCA rules. Fair value means that the price a consumer pays for a product or service must be reasonable compared to the overall benefits they can expect to receive. The FCA has robust powers to act against firms that fail to comply with its rules.
Consumers who do not feel they have been treated fairly may be able to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service, an independent body set up to provide arbitration in such cases.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the environmental and human impact of the continued UK manufacture for export of pesticides banned for use within the UK; and whether they will extend existing and future pesticide bans to the production, as well as the use, of such pesticides.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to protecting human health and the environment. Pesticides pose risks if not used properly anywhere in the world.
Requirements for the export of hazardous chemicals are agreed at the international level under the Rotterdam Convention, recognising the environmental and human impacts of such exports.
The export of certain hazardous chemicals is regulated through the GB Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Regulation, implementing the Convention. For certain pesticides, the UK goes beyond international requirements, whereby the explicit consent of the importing country is required under GB PIC before export can take place. This enables the importing country to make informed decisions about the import of those chemicals and how to handle them safely.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential health effects, including for gene expression, for passengers and crew on commercial aircraft exposed to engine oil or engine oil decomposition products.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
In 2007, the independent Committee on Toxicity (COT) undertook a review of cabin air contamination, including by products such as engine oil and engine oil decomposition products. The COT concluded that the evidence available did not establish a link between cabin air contamination and ill health but made some recommendations for further research. This was further reviewed in 2013, 2022 and 2024, concluding it unlikely that the levels of chemical contaminants in the aircraft cabin air are unlikely to cause adverse health effects following acute or long-term exposures.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to qualify and expedite the introduction of the new turbine engine oil MIL-PRF-23699, developed by NYCO and approved by the Society of Automotive Engineers, for engines used in commercial aviation.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The process of qualifying or expediting the introduction of a new engine oil is the role of the engine manufacturers who work with engine oil manufacturers to develop specifications that provide the right combination of constituents to meet their environmental, emissions, performance, reliability and maintenance targets.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what evaluation they have made of the use of MIL-PRF-23699 lubricants in Royal Air Force and Royal Navy jet-powered aircraft; and of its potential benefits in reducing hazards for those exposed to engine oil or engine oil decomposition products.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
MIL-PRF-23699 is a specification for jet engine lubricants against which numerous individual products are manufactured by different suppliers. Although no overall assessment has been made of lubricants manufactured to this specification, hazard assessments are made against the specific products used within Royal Air Force and Royal Navy air systems jet engines. The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) regulations require Original Equipment Manufacturers to provide Safety Data Sheets for all supplied products, including lubricants, which inform the hazard assessment process. Where residual risks are identified, they are relayed to the air system operator alongside any associated warnings and recommended mitigations.