Asked by: Lord Bach (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to making the installation of solar panels on newly constructed warehouses mandatory.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Future standards will set our new homes and buildings on a path that moves away from relying on volatile fossil fuels and towards more secure, clean energy. The Government will therefore take the opportunity, where appropriate, to encourage the fitting of solar panels on new homes and buildings. Changes to permitted development rights rules will mean more businesses will be able to install solar panels on their roofs without going through the planning system. The Government is providing fiscal incentives to encourage businesses to install rooftop solar, through tax relief and business rate exemptions for installing and generating solar power.
Asked by: Lord Bach (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to making the installation of solar panels on warehouses constructed within the last 30 years mandatory before 31 December 2030.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Future standards will set our new homes and buildings on a path that moves away from relying on volatile fossil fuels and towards more secure, clean energy. The Government will therefore take the opportunity, where appropriate, to encourage the fitting of solar panels on new homes and buildings. Changes to permitted development rights rules will mean more businesses will be able to install solar panels on their roofs without going through the planning system. The Government is providing fiscal incentives to encourage businesses to install rooftop solar, through tax relief and business rate exemptions for installing and generating solar power.
Asked by: Lord Bach (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of how many warehouses (1) do, and (2) do not, have solar panels installed, broken down by county.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Solar power is at the heart of our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower. Whilst solar panels on warehouses form a critical part of this mission, the Department does not hold this information.
Asked by: Lord Bach (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to reforming the planning system to examine the installation of solar panels on newly constructed industrial premises.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
As part of our plans to triple solar capacity we are consulting on extra measures in the National Planning Policy Framework that highlight the importance of solar power to our clean energy ambitions.
Separately, future standards next year will set our new homes and buildings on a path that moves away from relying on volatile fossil fuels and ensures they are fit for a net zero future.
Asked by: Lord Bach (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, of the Police and Crime Commissioners elected in May 2021, how many have appointed new chief executives of their offices since their election; of those, which have subsequently appointed further chief executives, including interim chief executives, and on how many occasions.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office does not collect data regarding the senior appointments made by Police and Crime Commissioners or any severance payments made.
Senior appointments, their salaries and any payments are a matter for individual Police and Crime Commissioners. As the locally elected representative for policing, they are ultimately responsible for appointing their chief executive, balancing their budget and making decisions about the size and composition of their offices.
PCCs are required by the Elected Local Policing Bodies (Specified Information) (Amendment) Order 2021 to publish information relating to the composition of their office; the salaries of their senior staff; and financial information, including planned expenditure of the office of the police and crime commissioner, and audited accounts.
Asked by: Lord Bach (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the total cost by force area of the severance payments paid to chief executives of offices of police and crime commissioners in each of the financial years 2021/22, 2022/23, and 2023/24 to date.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office does not collect data regarding the senior appointments made by Police and Crime Commissioners or any severance payments made.
Senior appointments, their salaries and any payments are a matter for individual Police and Crime Commissioners. As the locally elected representative for policing, they are ultimately responsible for appointing their chief executive, balancing their budget and making decisions about the size and composition of their offices.
PCCs are required by the Elected Local Policing Bodies (Specified Information) (Amendment) Order 2021 to publish information relating to the composition of their office; the salaries of their senior staff; and financial information, including planned expenditure of the office of the police and crime commissioner, and audited accounts.
Asked by: Lord Bach (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the cost of homecare medicines delivery to the NHS in each of the past five years.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
No assessment has been made. The National Clinical Homecare Association collates data and estimates approximately 500,000 patients are in receipt of a homecare medicines service with an estimated annual value of £3.2 billion. However, these figures have not been validated by the National Health Service.
Asked by: Lord Bach (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in the past year, what proportion of immigration legal aid providers have (1) opened no new legal aid cases, and (2) opened no more than 30 new legal aid cases.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
Between April 2022 and March 2023, 7% (11) of immigration legal aid providers opened no new cases and 15% (23) opened no more than 30 new cases.
In total there are 152 legal aid providers who hold a contract to provide immigration and asylum legal aid service. The above data reflects active immigration work reported between April 2022 and March 2023, inclusive.
The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) delivers services for immigration legal aid by Procurement Area and Access Point geographical area. These are procured and delivered at office level. A provider could therefore have opened over 30 new cases, spread across several office locations with varied levels of active immigration casework. There are no Procurement Areas in which no new immigration legal aid cases have been opened.
The LAA frequently reviews market capacity to make sure there is adequate provision of legal aid, in all categories of law, throughout England and Wales. The LAA moves quickly, where issues arise, to secure provision and to ensure demand for legal aid services is met across the country. Legal advice on a range of civil matters including housing, debt, discrimination, and education is available, wherever people are, through the Civil Legal Advice telephone service.
Asked by: Lord Bach (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they provide to NHS Community First Responders; and what steps they are taking to improve public awareness of the work done by First Responders.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
National Health Service ambulance trusts are responsible for the deployment of volunteer Community First Responders and provide the appropriate training, equipment, oversight and support to volunteers. There are no specific centralised campaigns to raise awareness.
Asked by: Lord Bach (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to evaluate the impact of the passing on of costs by local authorities to other local authorities when placing a young person in another local authority; and what consideration they have given to asking the National Policing Chief’s Council and the Association of Directors of Children’s Services to undertake such work.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Where local authorities are placing a young person out of area, there are clear statutory requirements in place to safeguard young people. These require the placing authority to inform the host authority before confirming the placement, and to check whether the host authority is aware of any concerns about the setting.
The statutory responsibilities for looked after children remain with the placing local authority, and Directors of Children’s Services must approve all distant placements.
As a lack of sufficient placements to meet young people’s needs can lead to children being placed out of area, we are investing part of our £200 million Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme in projects in London, where demand for placements outstrips supply. This would also help to increase councils’ capacity so that fewer children are placed far away from home.
Where there is a dispute between local authorities about who should have responsibility for a looked after child, the ordinary residence determination process provides a mechanism to resolve this.
The department has also launched the Boarding School Partnerships (BSP) to encourage boarding school placements for children in care and those on the edge of care, where it was in the best interests of the child. The BSP has been working with the boarding schools sector to provide a supply of places to local authorities supported by bursaries.