Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the recipients of the £6 million air quality grant will be announced for the 2023-24 period.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I had concerns that the Local Air Quality Scheme would not deliver the most positive outcomes for local air quality at this particular time and so I have asked Defra officials to consider redesigning the Scheme in the future, to be able to better deliver those positive outcomes and therefore enhanced value for money for taxpayers.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to increase the air quality grant for 2024.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I had concerns that the Local Air Quality Scheme would not deliver the most positive outcomes for local air quality at this particular time and so I have asked Defra officials to consider redesigning the Scheme in the future, to be able to better deliver those positive outcomes and therefore enhanced value for money for taxpayers.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department made an impact assessment before ending the Air Quality Grant Scheme.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I had concerns that the Local Air Quality Scheme would not deliver the most positive outcomes for local air quality at this particular time and so I have asked Defra officials to consider redesigning the Scheme in the future, to be able to better deliver those positive outcomes and therefore enhanced value for money for taxpayers.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, who was appointed to represent the Muslim community at the National Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The table below shows the representative of the Muslim community who attended National Services of Remembrance each year for the last ten years.
Year | Name | Position |
2023 | Imam Asim Hafiz | Islamic Religious Advisor to the Armed Forces |
2022 | Imam Asim Hafiz | Islamic Religious Advisor to the Armed Forces |
2021 | Imam Monawar Hussain | Muslim Chaplain to the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust |
2020 | Imam Asim Hafiz | Islamic Religious Advisor to the Armed Forces |
2019 | Imam Asim Hafiz | Islamic Religious Advisor to the Armed Forces |
2018 | Imam Qari Asim | Senior Imam, Leeds Makkah Masjid & Chair, Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board |
2017 | Imam Asim Hafiz | Islamic Religious Advisor to the Armed Forces |
2016 | Imam Qari Asim | Senior Imam, Leeds Makkah Masjid |
2015 | Imam Asim Hafiz | Islamic Religious Advisor to the Armed Forces |
2014 | Dr Shuja Shafi | Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Great Britain |
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with refence to the oral answer of 4 March 2024 from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Housing and Homelessness to the hon. Member for Blaydon, Official Report, column 627, what his planned timetable is for appointing an independent adviser on tackling anti-Muslim hatred.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
I refer the Hon Member to the oral answer given by my Hon Friend, the Member for Kensington on 4 March 2024 (Official Report, HC Volume 746, Column 627).
Further details will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what funding is available to local authorities for clean air programmes.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have allocated over £883 million to help local authorities develop and implement local NO2 reduction plans and to support those impacted by these plans. In addition, the Local Air Quality Grant scheme has supported over 500 projects with a total of over £53 million since 2010. We are currently considering whether the Local Air Quality Grant scheme might be redesigned to better deliver positive outcomes for local air quality.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help reduce air pollution.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government has delivered significant reductions in emissions since 2010 – with emissions of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) falling by 24%, and nitrogen oxides down by 48%. We met our targets to reduce emissions for all five key pollutants in the latest reporting year.
Our Environmental Improvement Plan sets out how we will continue to drive down emissions from domestic burning, agriculture, transport, and industry – delivering cleaner air for all.
PM2.5 is the most harmful pollutant to human health, which is why we have set two new targets to drive down PM2.5 concentrations under the Environment Act 2021:
These targets mean that on average, people’s exposure to particulate matter will be cut by over a third by 2040, compared with 2018 levels.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with stakeholders on the Air Quality Grant Scheme.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Officials have had recent discussions with Local Government Association about the decision on the Air Quality Grant Scheme.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if the Government will take steps to support the establishment of (a) global and (b) national targets to reduce plastic production under the potential international plastics treaty under negotiation.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
At the forthcoming round of negotiations in Canada, we will be continuing to support a treaty that will address the full lifecycle of plastic, including restraining and reducing the production and consumption of plastic to sustainable levels, addressing plastic design, and encouraging more reuse and recycling of plastic.
As negotiations are ongoing and this is the first round of negotiations where treaty text will be negotiated, we cannot prejudge what will be agreed. The UK would support an overarching global target where the particular measures to reach the target are nationally determined.
As a founding member of the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution, a group of over 60 countries calling for an ambitious and effective treaty, we will continue to participate actively in these negotiations.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether her Department has made an assessment of adequacy of local content levels in supply chains for the (a) oil and gas and (b) renewable energy sector.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) monitors UK content in upstream oil and gas through Supply Chain Action Plans. NSTA reports that, over the last three years, oil and gas related Operating Expenditure consistently delivered UK content above 85%, with Capital Expenditure and Abandonment Expenditure consistently delivering above 75% UK content.
For renewables, the Department requires all large Contracts for Difference applicants to submit Supply Chain Plans, asking for the percentage of UK content of a project. These figures are commercially sensitive and only shared when Supply Chain Plans are published.