Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to work with relevant authorities to improve social housing fire defences in Romford constituency.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
This government has committed to accelerating remediation of unsafe housing in response to the Grenfell Tower fire.
Registered Providers of social housing are responsible for making sure their buildings are made safe in a proportionate and timely way. We expect all Registered Providers to identify and assess their housing stock and to remediate their buildings quickly. We are working with the regulators to make sure that this happens.
Work to fix unsafe cladding has been too slow. Ministers recently met regulators and other industry partners to press for action to make buildings safe. We are contacting all metro mayors in England to ask for their support in implementing local remediation acceleration plans. We will announce further steps to accelerate remediation shortly.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
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 reforming the local government funding formula.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
After years of delays to much needed fair funding reform, the Government will update and improve the approach to funding allocations within the Local Government Finance Settlement by redistributing funding to ensure that it reflects an up-to-date assessment of need and local resources.
This will start with a deprivation-based approach in 2025-26 with additional funding targeted to the places that need it most. Broader redistribution of funding will follow through a multi-year settlement from 2026-27.
We will be publishing a policy statement in late November, where we will set out our intentions for reform of the local government finance system.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department has taken with the Royal Navy to support the mental health of officers in the Royal Navy.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The Ministry of Defence and the Royal Navy (RN) have implemented several specific measures to promote the psychological wellbeing of officers, recognising the unique challenges they face, especially in high-stress operational environments.
For those personnel requiring medical intervention, the Defence Medical Services (DMS) provide a responsive, flexible, accessible, and comprehensive treatment service. The DMS is reshaping mental health provision to reduce waiting lists, improve timelines for patient recovery and refocus on earlier intervention. This will provide a single point of access for specialist mental health networks allowing quicker access to initial assessment and earlier allocation to the right treatment pathway.
Additionally, the RN provides mental health and stress management training, and continues to explore new initiatives to further enhance mental health support for all of our personnel.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much the average meal costs on a Royal Navy warship; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of fully funding food provision on Royal Navy warships.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
Good nutrition is fundamental to military capability and the happiness of our personnel. It is essential for achieving optimum physical and mental performance, and for good health. The Royal Navy (RN) is committed to providing catering based on sound nutritional principles that support the health and performance of its people. The RN covers the cost of accommodation, bills and food when personnel are at sea and subsidises it when they are not.
The Daily Messing Rate (DMR), which is used to calculate the level of food supplies aboard a ship, is currently set at £5.67 to cover all three meals. The DMR is set quarterly, and this figure covers the current quarter only (October - December 2024).
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what progress he has made on the selection process for Small Modular Reactors.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Since summer 2023, Great British Nuclear (GBN) has been administering a small modular reactor technology selection process for UK deployment, and as announced at Autumn Budget in October, four vendors have been invited to negotiate.
Once negotiations have concluded, the companies will be invited to submit final tenders, which GBN will then evaluate. Final decisions will be taken in the spring.
GBN is working to a timeline that enables a robust process underpinned by fairness and transparency and ensures any selected technology provides best value for money.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to support the London Fire Brigade with fire prevention activities and operational training.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office’s Fire Kills campaign promotes fire safety messages at the national level and supports fire prevention activities undertaken by individual fire and rescue services (FRSs). Campaign plans and promotional materials are developed in partnership with the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) and designed to support local delivery. Regular engagement with FRSs, including with the London Fire Brigade, ensures this support is fit for purpose and aligns with local priorities.
We are working closely with both the London Fire Brigade and the NFCC to consider the recommendation from the second phase of the Grenfell Tower public inquiry on how the London Fire Brigade, and FRSs nationally, can implement lessons learned from previous incidents, inquests and investigations. It is something we take extremely seriously and the Government will carefully consider all recommendations from the public inquiry to ensure that such a tragedy can never occur again.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to work with relevant organisations to increase blood donations in (a) England and (b) Romford constituency.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is responsible for blood donation in England.
Throughout the year, NHSBT produces advertising campaigns to attract new donors, such as the new gift of blood winter stocks campaign for 2024. As part of this work, NHSBT partners with organisations to utilise their expertise and national resources to increase blood donations. Notable examples of these partnerships include Disney, Dalgety Teas, Fulham Football Club, the Civil Service, National Health Service trusts, and integrated care boards.
In addition, NHSBT awards funds to community groups through its Community Grants Programme to promote blood donation. This funds community, and faith and belief organisations to drive awareness, understanding, and behaviour change. During the latest funding round, NHSBT awarded funds to 23 organisations to promote blood donation.
NHSBT’s physical and digital marketing, and collaboration and partnership, activity takes place across England, including in the Romford constituency.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what information his Department holds on whether the position of Honorary Consul of Kiribati is planned to be filled in the next 12 months.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
There are no plans to appoint an Honorary Consul in Kiribati. The British High Commissioner for Fiji is the accredited non-resident High Commissioner for Kiribati.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will hold discussions with Anne Puckridge on the exclusion of certain countries from the annual uplift to the UK State Pension during her visit to the UK in December 2024.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
There are currently no plans to hold discussions with Anne Puckridge on this issue.
The UK's policy on the up-rating of the UK State Pension for recipients living overseas is a longstanding one. The UK state pension is payable worldwide and is uprated abroad where we have a legal requirement to do so, for example in countries with which we have a reciprocal agreement that provides for up-rating.
Up-rating is based on levels of earnings growth and price inflation in the UK which has no direct relevance where the pensioner is resident overseas.
Over many years, priority is given to those living in the United Kingdom when drawing up expenditure plans for additional pensioner benefits.
People move abroad for many reasons and this can have an impact on their finances. However, the decision to move abroad is voluntary and remains a personal choice dependent on the circumstances of the individual. For a number of years, advice has been provided to the public that the UK State Pension is not uprated overseas except where there is a legal requirement to do so. HM Revenue and Customs and the Department for Work and Pensions publish information on the Government website.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications her Department received from pensioners living in countries where the UK State Pension is not uprating yearly requesting that their pension be temporarily uprated because they are visiting (a) the UK or (b) travelling to a country where the State Pension is uprated in each year since 2021; and what the cost to the public purse was of maintaining a team in her Department to administer such requests in the same period.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.