Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will extend the 50% faith-based admissions cap to all new schools.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the hon. Member for South Leicestershire to the answer of 22 January 2025 to Question 23775.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department made a distinction between pensioners living in (a) care homes and (b) assisted living accommodation when reviewing eligibility for Winter Fuel Payments.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Pensioners who are in receipt of a means-tested benefit such as Pension Credit, and who live in a care home are not entitled to a Winter Fuel Payment. This is because most will have their care and accommodation costs met by the Local Authority.
For purposes of Winter Fuel Payments, a care home is defined by section 3 of the Care Standards Act 2000 in England (Care Standards Act 2000) or Part 1 of the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016 in Wales (Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016). Assisted living accommodation does not fall under this definition.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made on developing a licensing regime to enable the wild release of beavers.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is a devolved matter, and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
Defra will continue to work with Natural England to develop our approach to beaver reintroductions and management in England. This work includes the development of a licensing regime to enable the wild release of beavers in England.
Further information on this will be published in due course.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of awarding the (a) Op Herrick Operational Service Medal and (b) Civilian Service Medal (Afghanistan) to (i) personnel of the 908 Labour Support Unit RLC and (ii) other Afghan locally employed civilians.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
Under the qualifying criterion for the Operational Service Medal for Afghanistan and the Civilian Service Medal (Afghanistan), locally employed civilians working for the 908 Labour Support Unit, and other Afghan locally employed civilians, are not eligible for either Medal.
Whilst we value greatly the support provided by locally employed civilians, the long-established position is that local nationals are not eligible for UK medallic recognition, and the Ministry of Defence has no plans to recommend that this position is reviewed.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of regulating private land management companies.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the Hon Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244).
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) amending the Quarry Regulations 1999 to ensure that (i) levels of PM10 and PM2.5 particulate emissions in quarries are (A) monitored and (B) controlled and (ii) risk assessments in relation to those particulate emissions are undertaken and (b) directing the Health and Safety Executive to introduce evidence-based standards for levels of air quality in quarries.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Under The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations, environmental permits for quarries issued by local authorities must already include emission limit values, monitoring requirements and other controls for particulate matter and other air pollutants.
The Quarries Regulations 1999 require operators of quarries to take necessary measures to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the quarry and its plant are designed, constructed, equipped, commissioned, operated and maintained in such a way that persons at work can perform the work assigned to them without endangering their own health and safety or the health and safety of others. The duty holder for the quarry is required to ensure that risks and exposure to harmful substances are adequately controlled.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with relevant stakeholders on the future status of the Parthenon marbles.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Secretary of State and I have separately met with the Chair and Director of the British Museum. The position of the Parthenon Sculptures was one of a number of issues discussed on both occasions.
I also met Greece’s Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni on 4 November for a meeting regarding tourism, and she briefly raised the Parthenon Sculptures.
Decisions relating to the care and management of the Parthenon Sculptures are a matter for the British Museum Trustees, acting within the law.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the performance trajectory of CrossCountry Trains following the implementation of its reduced timetable.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Rail Minister met with CrossCountry in August. It is subject to a Remedial Plan that runs until March 2025. CrossCountry reinstated its full timetable from 10 November.
Officials meet CrossCountry regularly to discuss operational issues including progress with the Remedial Plan. CrossCountry will continue to be very closely monitored against the contractual benchmarks that are set out in its National Rail Contract.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of making water companies statutory consultees in planning applications.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government encourage water companies and other infrastructure providers to work proactively with local planning authorities to identify where supporting infrastructure will be required to meet the demands of new development.
On 23 October, the government announced an independent commission to review the water sector regulatory system and make recommendations to reform the water sector regulatory framework in England and Wales. The review is expected to report next year, and we will carefully consider its findings.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of making the LGA's voluntary shared database on taxi driver licenses mandatory.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
On 27 April 2023, the remainder of the Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Safeguarding and Road Safety) Act 2022 was commenced, and the Department designated the use of a database, which previously operated on a voluntary basis supported by the Local Government Assocation, for the purposes of this Act. The Act mandates the use of a national database in England to record every decision to refuse, revoke or suspend a taxi or private hire vehicle driver licence due to safeguarding, road safety or discrimination concerns.