Asked by: Gary Streeter (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department intends to bring forward legislative proposals to abolish charges for DIY construction waste at recycling centres.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Legislation was laid on 21 November to ensure householders do not face financial barriers to dispose of small-scale DIY waste at Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs). The legislation will come into force from 31 December 2023, subject to parliamentary procedure.
Asked by: Gary Streeter (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will take steps to ensure staff working within local government children's social care receive training to understand the potential altruistic motivation of potential (a) foster and (b) adoptive parents of faith.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Local authorities are responsible for the continuous professional development of their workforces, including social workers.
Social workers are critical to the functioning of the wider children’s social care system. They must meet the professional standards set by Social Work England to practise as a social worker. In relation to the altruism of those seeking to foster and adopt, the standards recognise the importance of family and community networks, requiring social workers to work in partnership with these.
To support child and family social workers to continuously improve their practice, the department funds professional development for around 4,000 social workers each year. The new Early Career Framework for child and family social workers will significantly extend the training and support they receive in the early stages of their career, helping to equip them with the knowledge skills they need to support children and families.
Asked by: Gary Streeter (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to ensure that staff working within children's social care receive training to understand the potential altruistic motivation of potential (a) foster and (b) adoptive parents of faith.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Local authorities are responsible for the continuous professional development of their workforces, including social workers.
Social workers are critical to the functioning of the wider children’s social care system. They must meet the professional standards set by Social Work England to practise as a social worker. In relation to the altruism of those seeking to foster and adopt, the standards recognise the importance of family and community networks, requiring social workers to work in partnership with these.
To support child and family social workers to continuously improve their practice, the department funds professional development for around 4,000 social workers each year. The new Early Career Framework for child and family social workers will significantly extend the training and support they receive in the early stages of their career, helping to equip them with the knowledge skills they need to support children and families.
Asked by: Gary Streeter (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment she has made of implications for her policies of the Post Office Ltd policy to reclassify some main post office branches as Local Plus; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
While publicly owned, the Post Office operates at arm’s length from Government. Government sets the high-level parameters for the Post Office, but it is the Post Office Chief Executive, together with the Board of Directors, who are responsible for running Post Office day-to-day and the company has the commercial freedom to deliver the branch network within the parameters set by Government.
Government continues to protect the branch network by setting minimum access criteria, and protects services by setting minimum services to be provided at post offices across the country. Decisions about individual branches are made by Post Office Limited.
Asked by: Gary Streeter (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate she has made of levels of drugs contained in sewage discharges entering (a) rivers and (b) coastal waters; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency is responsible for monitoring chemicals in the water environment in England. This includes drugs that are typically associated with discharges of treated waste water, including pharmaceuticals, substances used in personal care products and veterinary medicines. Data can be found at: Defra Data Services Platform.
Asked by: Gary Streeter (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate he has made of the number of homes unable to take heat pumps because of (a) technical reasons and (b) affordability.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Analysis conducted by Government suggests it would be technically feasible to install a heat pump in around 90% of British homes, based on analysis of homes’ current energy efficiency and internal electrical limit. Practical considerations, like space availability or compliance with planning regulations, may limit where heat pumps can be installed, but we are supporting innovation to develop solutions to these challenges.
The Government is investing £6.6 billion over this Parliament towards clean heat and improving energy efficiency in buildings, including the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, Home Upgrade Grant and Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, which support the installation of heat pumps.
Asked by: Gary Streeter (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when he plans to publish his Department's biomass strategy.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department plans to publish the Biomass Strategy before summer recess.
Asked by: Gary Streeter (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent discussions he has had with the energy sector on levels of global production and supply of (a) hydrotreated vegetable oil and (b) other renewable liquid fuels; and what assessment he has made of the potential implications for UK domestic heating.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government meets regularly with the energy sector to monitor levels of global production and supply of renewable liquid fuels.
The Government expects heat pumps will be the primary technology for decarbonising off-grid buildings. The Government recognises that not all off-grid properties will be suitable for a heat pump and there will be a role for alternative low carbon technologies where heat pumps cannot be used.
Asked by: Gary Streeter (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the report entitled Mental capacity small payments scheme: Government response, published on 28 February 2023, whether his Department plans to publish its plan for improving the Court of Protection Property and Affairs order process.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Whilst there are no plans to publish anything further on this, the ongoing improvements of the online property and affairs applications process at the Court of Protection are iterative and include ongoing development of the online applications process, user testing, reviewing and revising the court forms and supporting guidance and clearer information on Gov.UK. Forms required for paper applications are also under review and revision.
Initial improvements were rolled out for all court users in February 2023, resulting in application waiting times being reduced from 24 weeks to 8 weeks.
Asked by: Gary Streeter (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has considered the potential merits of promoting the use of hydrogenated vegetable oil for domestic heating.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is currently investigating what role renewable liquid fuels such as Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil could play in the future low carbon heating mix. As sustainable biomass is a limited resource, the Government believes that the use of biofuels in heating is likely to be limited to properties where heat pumps cannot be used. The Government will prioritise its use in sectors that offer the greatest opportunity to reduce emissions, and where there are fewest options to decarbonise through alternative low carbon technologies.