Asked by: Lord Robathan (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham on 3 January (HL1166), whether they are encouraging the fluoridation of drinking water supplies, given that the report cited in the Answer Water Fluoridation: Health Monitoring Report for England 2022 noted that there was contradictory evidence relating to adverse neurodevelopmental effects in children.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Health and Care Act 2022 transferred responsibility for water fluoridation from local authorities to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. This was to make it simpler to expand water fluoridation schemes. Subject to a public consultation, which will be published shortly, the Government has announced its intention to expand the current water fluoridation scheme across the North East of England.
The overall weight of evidence and authoritative reviews of relevant and suitable studies indicate that there is no convincing evidence that fluoride at the levels permitted in fluoridated drinking water present a risk of adverse neurodevelopmental effects in children.
Asked by: Lord Robathan (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have considered making it a legal requirement for every new car to have a spare wheel.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government currently has no plans to introduce a legal requirement for the inclusion of spare wheels on all new cars. There are various solutions to flat tyres including full-sized spare wheels, a temporary use space-saver spare, or a sealant and inflation kit. Many manufacturers choose to provide a sealant and inflation kit which has benefits in reducing the weight of the vehicle and increasing usable space.
Asked by: Lord Robathan (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of studies in the United States, Canada and China which have concluded that high levels of fluoride permanently reduce the IQ of children.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Some studies from these countries have reported a reduction in IQ in children associated with exposure to relatively high levels of fluoride. However, the overall weight of evidence and authoritative reviews of relevant and suitable studies indicate that there is no convincing evidence that fluoride at the levels permitted in fluoridated drinking water present a risk of adverse neurodevelopmental effects in children.
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Victoria Atkins MP) continues to have a duty to monitor the effects of water fluoridation schemes on health and to produce reports at no greater than four-yearly intervals. The last monitoring report for England was published in 2022. This supported the findings of earlier monitoring reports and the wider evidence that water fluoridation, at levels recommended in the United Kingdom, is a safe and effective public health measure to reduce dental caries and inequalities in dental health.
Asked by: Lord Robathan (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk to the neurodevelopment of children from fluoride, particularly if administered through its addition to water supplies.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Water Fluoridation: Health Monitoring Report for England 2022 considered the overall weight of evidence and authoritative reviews of relevant and suitable studies. These indicate that there is no convincing evidence that fluoride at the levels permitted in fluoridated drinking water present a risk of adverse neurodevelopmental effects in children.
A copy of the report is attached.
Asked by: Lord Robathan (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that consumer goods imported into the UK are labelled only with regard to the recognised customs authority that processes their export.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the UK’s customs authority, is responsible for the vast majority of customs matters and protects the UK’s fiscal, economic, social and physical security before and at the border. HMRC works closely with Border Force to deliver customs controls for goods entering the UK. This ensures that customs functions are delivered effectively and in such a way that secures the UK border- for example, checking that goods have the correct customs documentation to allow import into the UK. All imported goods are required to meet UK regulations, including any relevant labelling requirements.
Asked by: Lord Robathan (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many (1) fatalities, and (2) casualties, occurred per 1,000 miles travelled on (a) smart motorways, (b) traditional motorways, and (c) dual carriageways, in the past five years.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
National Highways measures safety performance using key metrics, including, Killed and Serious Injuries (KSI) and Fatal and Weighted Injuries (FWI)) which look at absolute values and rates accounting for traffic flows, as endorsed by the Office of Rail and Road.
The latest safety data is available in the Smart motorway stocktake second year progress report published in May 2022 (covering the period 2016-2020). This data shows that, overall, in terms of serious or fatal casualties, smart motorways are our safest roads.
Table I: 5-year average (2016-2020) injury adjusted metrics per Hundred Million Vehicle Miles (HMVM) for all collisions.
Type of motorway/ road | KSI (per HMVM) | FWI (per HMVM) |
Conventional | 1.45 | 0.37 |
ALR | 1.38 | 0.33 |
DHS | 1.17 | 0.32 |
Controlled | 1.30 | 0.32 |
A-roads (on SRN) | 3.66 | 0.91 |
Asked by: Lord Robathan (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of dual carriageways have a hard shoulder of sufficient width to park a vehicle.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Whilst we do not hold that specific information, most all-purpose dual carriageways do not have hard shoulders.
Asked by: Lord Robathan (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 30 January (HL4799), what training is given to the traffic marshals; how long is the duration of the training; what qualifications they are required to possess; and what legal authority they have to direct and stop traffic.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Traffic marshals require specialist training specific to their role. As a minimum, the Parliamentary Marshal team has National Plant Operators Registration Scheme (NPORS) Vehicle Banksman Training.
Training includes a minimum of one day practical (on-site) training and additional classroom training. All candidates are required to complete the NPORS health and safety test and assessment. On successful completion candidates are issued with a NPORS Operators’ Card which is valid for five years.
Some Marshals, including those who are supervisors or managers, have chosen to gain additional qualifications. These include:
The Traffic Marshals direct vehicles and pedestrians on the Parliamentary estate to minimise the potential for incidents and to mitigate risk identified within the traffic management risk assessments. The team do not have legal authority to stop vehicles.
Asked by: Lord Robathan (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Benyon on 9 January (HL4498), what consideration they have given to including swift bricks as a biodiversity net gain in the schedule of the Environment Act 2021.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government has consulted on the detail of implementation and secondary legislation for mandatory biodiversity net gain in the Environment Act, and the response will be published in due course. The mandatory approach will be based on a biodiversity metric which assesses biodiversity using habitats. Species-based features such as bird and bat boxes are not included within the metric; instead it focuses on the habitats such species need to forage and complete their life cycles. Planning Practice Guidance published to help implement planning policy makes clear that relatively small features can often achieve important benefits for wildlife, with incorporating ‘swift bricks’ in developments in particular highlighted as an option. Specific biodiversity features, such as swift bricks, would normally be required for developments through either the relevant local plan or through the local authority’s development control team.
Asked by: Lord Robathan (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what is the cost of the traffic controllers stationed on the road between Black Rod's Entrance and New Palace Yard during the current building works; how long will those staff be employed; and what evidence there is for the need for those controllers, illustrated by (1) vehicle, or (2) pedestrian, casualties over the last 10 years.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
There are four traffic marshals stationed on the road between Black Rod’s Garden and New Palace Yard (also called the ‘spine road’); there is one marshal in Royal Court, two along the road itself, and one in Speaker’s Court.
Other marshals are located elsewhere -one at Carriage Gates, one outside Westminster Hall, one on the Corus Lane/Peers’ Car Park and one in Black Rod’s Garden. There is also one marshal supervisor and two relief marshals to provide shift and break cover. This makes 11 marshals. The total cost for all marshals per week is £12,588.
Marshals will be in place while construction work is underway as part of the New Palace Yard Security Project. The intention is to reduce the number of marshals on the spine road, and elsewhere in the Palace, once users become more confident with the new arrangement. Strategic Estates are tracking and reviewing the system daily. Any remaining marshals may be deployed where our current monitoring of the one-way system identifies the most need.
The need for traffic marshals is not a consequence of vehicle or pedestrian causalities but is based on risk assessments, traffic modelling carried out prior to the operation of the one-way system, stakeholder requests, and construction industry best practice. On construction sites pedestrians and traffic are almost always segregated, but where this is not possible, such as on the Parliamentary Estate, additional mitigations are required.