Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 16 January 2025 to Question 22931 on Beijing: Embassies, what discussions he has had with his Chinese counterpart on the steps required to secure planning permission and associated consents for the new British Embassy in Beijing.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign Secretary has met his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, on three occasions so far. They have discussed the breadth of priority foreign policy and bilateral issues.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to request an indicative vote from this House on the proposed expansion of Heathrow Airport.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government has invited proposals for a third runway at Heathrow to be brought forward by the summer. Once proposals have been received, the Government will review the Airports National Policy Statement, which provides the basis for decision making on granting development consent for a new runway at Heathrow.
When conducting the review, the Secretary of State will comply with the consultation and parliamentary requirements of the Planning Act 2008, as is usual.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 7 January 2025 to Question 21148 on Air Pollution, which local authorities his Department is discussing Clean Air Zones with.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has agreed local plans with all areas in the NO2 programme except for Stoke-on-Trent/Newcastle-under-Lyme. Seven Clean Air Zones have been implemented by local authorities under the previous Government where local plans had evidenced them to achieve legal NO2 levels in the shortest possible time. Government engages with these local authorities on a range of issues, including the operation of their Clean Air Zones,
Local authorities with established Clean Air Zones are:
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 3 January 2025 to Question 19349 on Nature Conservation: EU law, what amendments to assimilated EU law are being considered.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Future plans for the reporting period 24 June to 23 December 2025 will be included in the fourth Assimilated Law Parliamentary Report. Past reports can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/retained-eu-law-reul-parliamentary-report.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 17 January 2025 to Question 22329 on Noise: Pollution Control, what guidance her Department has issued on noise complaints about established use, including long-standing (a) chiming clocks and (b) church bells.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer to Question UIN 22329 on 17 January 2025.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has received representations from health professionals have they received on shrinking the default size of the pint glass in licensed premises.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has no plans to restrict the size of a pint of beer served in pubs. Under our Health Mission, the Government is committed to prioritising preventative public health measures to support people to live longer, healthier lives. The Department will continue to work across Government to better understand how we can best reduce alcohol-related harms, including reviewing the latest evidence.
In October 2024, the Department received correspondence from a Cambridge University research team sharing the findings of a research study looking at the impact of pint sizes on alcohol consumption. As part of our commitment to evidenced based policy making, we will consider the findings in the round, alongside other similar studies.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how local authorities are charged for the costs of residual waste disposal through (a) incineration and (b) landfill.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
For too long the nation has seen recycling rates stagnate and relied on burning or burying waste.
The Government is committed to transitioning to a circular economy, a future where we keep our resources in use for longer, waste is reduced, we accelerate the path to net zero, we see investment in critical infrastructure and green jobs, our economy prospers, and nature thrives. Key to this commitment is the reduction of residual waste.
Charges for waste disposal are usually expressed as a pound per tonne cost and paid monthly in arrears depending on the tonnage managed under the contractual relationship. The overall cost of waste disposal will depend on a number of variables, associated with their contracts.
The Waste and Resources Action Programme (Wrap) publishes an annual gate fees report UK Gate Fees report 2023-24 | WRAP.
The disposal of waste in landfill is also subject to the Landfill Tax. Landfill Tax rates - GOV.UK
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 30 August 2024 to Question 1331 on Energy Performance Certificates Housing, whether this will include banning the (a) sale and (b) purchase of privately occupied dwellings which do not meet minimum energy performance certificate requirements.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government’s position on supporting owner occupiers remains as was set out in the Answer to Question 1331. The Government has since published separate proposals to raise minimum energy efficiency standards for privately rented homes in England and Wales by 2030. Proposals in this consultation do not restrict the selling or purchase of private properties.
Our position on owner occupied homes remains unchanged from our Answer to Question 1331.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what his planned timetable is for the delivery of the £300 reduction to household energy bills.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government believes that our mission to deliver clean power by 2030 is the best way to break our dependence on global fossil fuel markets and protect billpayers permanently.
The creation of Great British Energy will help us to harness clean energy and have less reliance on volatile international energy markets and help in our commitment to make Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030. This, combined with our Warm Homes Plan to upgrade millions of homes to make them warmer and cheaper to run is how we will drive down energy bills and make cold homes a thing of the past.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions the Government had with the Chinese Government in 2020 on the works to the Chinese Consulate in Belfast in breach of planning controls in a conservation area; and what subsequent assessment has been made of the implications of the Chinese Government ignoring planning restrictions in relation to the proposed new Chinese Embassy in London.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
An appointed independent Planning Inspector will hold a public inquiry into the proposal for the new Chinese Embassy in London, after which the Secretary of State for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government will make a decision on planning grounds in her quasi-judicial role.