Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had, if any, with the government of Serbia regarding the All-Serb Assembly joint declaration of June 2024.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has underlined with Serbia's leadership concerns about the "All Serb Assembly" in June and the subsequent Declaration. The UK consistently emphasises at senior levels the importance of Serbia's role in building and supporting regional stability; Minister of State Stephen Doughty did so most recently in October meetings with Foreign Minister Djuric and the Serbian Ambassador in London. We encourage Serbia to adhere to the commitments made by all Western Balkans leaders at the 2018 London Summit on good neighbourly relations.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote the use of electric vehicles.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Government is reducing the upfront costs of zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) by providing plug-in vehicle grants for vans, trucks and motorcycles, taxis and wheelchair accessible vehicles.
Drivers of ZEVs also benefit from favourable tax rates, such as generous company car tax incentives. They are also exempt from vehicle excise duty (VED) until April 2025, after which electric vehicles will continue to have preferential first year rates of VED in comparison to the most polluting vehicles.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure the provision of charging points for electric vehicles.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
There are now over 70,000 public charging devices in the UK, supporting drivers to switch to EVs, alongside 680,000 private chargepoints in England alone. The Government is committed to working with industry to further accelerate the rollout of affordable, accessible charging infrastructure.
Meanwhile, the Government is supporting the rollout of tens of thousands of local chargepoints, which are especially important for drivers without off-street parking. The Government also offers grants to support the installation of private chargepoints in certain residential and commercial properties and provides advice and guidance to support the planning and delivery of charging infrastructure.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the financial state of universities; and what steps they are taking to address issues in this regard.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)
The Office for Students (OfS), the independent regulator of Higher Education (HE) in England, publishes an annual report on the financial health of the HE sector.
The OfS’ most recent report, published in May 2024, showed that the financial position of the HE sector has become increasingly challenging. The report can be found at: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/media/ly1buqlj/financial-sustainability-report2024.pdf, as attached.
The government recognises the immediate financial strain that some providers are under, and the department is working closely with the OfS to monitor any risks to ensure there are robust plans in place to mitigate them. Sir David Behan has been appointed as interim Chair of the OfS to oversee the important work of refocusing their role to concentrate on key priorities, including prioritising the financial stability of the HE sector.
This government is committed to creating a secure future for our world-leading universities so they can deliver for students, taxpayers, workers and the economy. This government has already started reviewing options to deliver a more robust HE sector, but we recognise it will take time to get it right.
Ultimately, HE providers are independent from government and therefore it is their responsibility to ensure they have a sustainable business model.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking (1) to encourage the take up of Pension Credit, and (2) to simplify the application process.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department is running a national uptake campaign to encourage the estimated up to 880,000 citizens who may be entitled to Pension Credit apply for it. The Department is in the process of modernising the Pension Credit delivery and has previously undertaken an assessment of the application process and introduced online claims in addition to telephone and paper claims. DWP Agents and third-party organisations are available to support customers with the application process.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many claims for compensation under the Windrush Compensation Scheme remain outstanding; and when they expect to settle the remaining claims.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The requested information can be found on Tab WCS_05 of Windrush Compensation Scheme data: July 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) released on 29 August 2024. As at end of July 2024, 856 compensation claims were in the Work in Progress category.
We will ensure the victims of the appalling Windrush scandal have their voices heard and the compensation scheme is run effectively, with a new Windrush Commissioner.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the rate of closures of pharmacies; and what steps they are taking in response.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There has been a reduction in the number of pharmacies since 2017. There are about 1,200 fewer pharmacies than in 2017, and over 600 fewer than two years ago.
Despite a reduction in the number of pharmacies, on average, access remains good with four in five people living within a 20-minute walk from a pharmacy and twice as many pharmacies in the most deprived areas. Patients can also access 400 distance selling pharmacies that provide services nationally and must deliver any medicines they dispense free of charge.
The Pharmacy Access Scheme provides financial support to pharmacies in areas where there are fewer pharmacies.
The consultation with Community Pharmacy England on the national funding and contractual framework arrangements for 2024/25 was not concluded by the previous government and we are looking at this as a matter of urgency.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to reduce deaths and injuries on roads.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Government has announced that it intends to publish a new Road Safety Strategy, the first in over a decade. Work is already underway on this.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - 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 performance of the Environment Agency in relation to (1) monitoring water quality, and (2) taking appropriate remedial action.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller
DEFRA works closely with the Environment Agency to ensure it is equipped to carry out its functions effectively and deliver for the public and the environment.
The EA is accountable to Parliament via the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. As the principal sponsor of EA, DEFRA works closely with EA officials at every level to provide constructive challenge and support on EA performance and delivery.
The EA currently operates a network of monitoring programmes which fulfil different legislative, regulatory and policy needs. These programmes have been designed by technical experts to reflect a diverse range of parameters used to understand water quality, at the scale and frequency the data is required.
In 2023 over 70,000 samples were collected and analysed to understand water quality from a range of programmes. The EA also has continuous monitoring in place for water quality at over 200 sites at any given time.
It is critical that we continue to build and maintain a robust evidence base which strengthens our understanding of the state of the environment, and the pressures and risks impacting it. This allows action to be taken in the right places to improve the environment when needed.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address public concerns concerning (1) the quality of drinking water, and (2) the discharge of untreated waste into the sea, rivers and lakes.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller
It is important not to conflate the quality of raw water and drinking water. Drinking water quality in England is of an exceptionally high standard and among the best in the world. Compliance with drinking water quality standards has been consistently high for a number of years, with a rate of 99.97% in 2022.
The Government published the Plan for Water in April 2023 – our comprehensive strategy for managing our water environment. It brings together the significant steps we have already taken with a suite of new policy actions. It aims to change the way that we manage water, improve water quality, and continue to secure our water supply through increased investment, stronger regulation and enforcement.
The Government is clear that the amount of sewage discharged into our waters is unacceptable. The Storm Overflow Discharge Reduction Plan (SODRP) sets out stringent targets to protect people and the environment; and prioritises for early action areas used for bathing, for growing shellfish or with high ecological importance. The SODRP will drive £60 billion investment between now and 2050 to improve storm overflows, the largest infrastructure programme in water company history.
We will not let companies get away with illegal activity and where breaches are found, the regulators will not hesitate to hold companies to account.
The recent cryptosporidium outbreak in Brixham is extremely unfortunate and it is a horrific experience for the people who have been made ill. The Drinking Water Inspectorate is actively investigating the cause, extent and actions of the company, and will take actions including enforcement action in due course to prevent this type of event happening again.
Thankfully, these events are very rare, and elsewhere consumers should continue to have confidence in their high quality drinking water.