Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment his Department has made of the trends in the price of car insurance premiums in the past 12 months.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The setting of motor insurance premiums is a commercial decision for individual insurers based on their underwriting experience. The government does not intervene or seek to control the market.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had recent discussions with representatives from car insurance providers on the potential impact of trends in the price of insurance premiums on policyholders; and whether he is taking steps to increase the transparency of the insurance policy renewal process.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The setting of premiums is a commercial decision for individual insurers based on their underwriting experience and the Government does not intervene or seek to control the market.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps her Department has taken to help ensure small businesses reduce their use of single-use plastics.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Building on the success of our existing restrictions on certain single use plastic items and the single use carrier bag charge, the government will restrict the supply of single use plastic plates, bowls, trays, cutlery, balloon sticks and expanded and extruded polystyrene food and drinks containers from October this year.
We will also, subject to public consultation this autumn, change the law to ban the sale of wet wipes containing plastic.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of recent violence in Kenya.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK regrets the loss of life and destruction of property during recent demonstrations in Kenya. The UK is following events closely and continues to urge all parties to engage in dialogue and resolve their differences peacefully.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to issue a formal apology to unmarried mothers who had their babies taken for adoption from the1940s to the1970s.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The government set out its position on the question of issuing a formal apology when it responded to the Joint Committee on Human Rights report, ‘The Violation of Family Life: Adoption of Children of Unmarried Women 1949–1976’. The government’s response was published on 3 March 2023 and is available at: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/jt5803/jtselect/jtrights/1180/report.html.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the progress of the Windrush compensation scheme.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The victims of the Windrush scandal suffered terrible injustices, and this Government remains steadfast in our commitment to do everything in our power to right the wrongs. We are determined to ensure everyone who was affected receives every penny of the compensation to which they are entitled at the earliest point possible. The Windrush Compensation Scheme is making significant progress towards achieving this aim. As at the end of May 2023 the scheme had paid or offered more than £75 million in compensation and over 66% of claims received by the end of May 2023 had been given a final decision.
Since its launch, the Home Office has continued to listen and respond to feedback from affected communities and stakeholders about how the Scheme operates and its accessibility. The changes made to the Scheme in December 2020 and August 2022, mean people receive significantly more money more quickly. Last year redesigned claim forms were published along with refreshed casework guidance, with the aim of reducing the time taken to process claims and improving individuals’ experiences of applying to the Scheme. Changes were also made to the Homelessness category and a new ‘Living Costs’ category was created, to compensate close family members for certain contributions to a primary claimant’s living costs. These significant and positive policy changes were made following consultation with claimants and stakeholders.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will hold discussions with representatives of delivery companies on delivery delays and potential impacts on businesses.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Postal Services Act 2011 designates Ofcom as the independent regulator for the postal sector with the powers to impose and enforce regulatory requirements on postal operators to fulfil its functions in relation to postal services.
In its review of postal regulation in 2022, Ofcom committed to ongoing monitoring of operators’ complaints handling performance and keep under review the need for additional regulation to protect customers.
Ofcom publishes an annual monitoring update which includes views from a representative sample of SME users of postal services.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many crisis houses are managed by the NHS as of June 2023.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
There are currently around 600 different types of crisis alternatives services operating across the country, including around 70 crisis houses, providing an alternative to accident and emergency or psychiatric admission. This number will continue to grow with further investment over the remaining NHS Long Term Plan period to March 2024. NHS England has advised that the number of crisis houses which are National Health Service commissioned but not managed by NHS staff is not held centrally.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many crisis houses are commissioned by the NHS but not managed by its staff.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
There are currently around 600 different types of crisis alternatives services operating across the country, including around 70 crisis houses, providing an alternative to accident and emergency or psychiatric admission. This number will continue to grow with further investment over the remaining NHS Long Term Plan period to March 2024. NHS England has advised that the number of crisis houses which are National Health Service commissioned but not managed by NHS staff is not held centrally.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the impact on public health of second-hand vapour from e-cigarettes in public spaces.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, previously Public Health England (PHE), has published detailed evidence updates on vapes (e-cigarettes) since 2014.
The last report, published in 2022, assesses the impact on public health of second-hand vapour from e-cigarettes in public spaces. This can be seen in Chapter 7 ‘Biomarkers of Secondhand exposure’. The full report is available at the following link:
In summary, there is limited published evidence of harm to bystanders from exposure to e-cigarette vapour and the available evidence indicates that any risk of harm is extremely low, especially when compared with tobacco smoke. PHE also published advice on the use of vapes in public places and workplaces in 2016 which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/use-of-e-cigarettes-in-public-places-and-workplaces