Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance her Department has issued to local authorities on the long-term maintenance of Natural Flood Management projects.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Guidance for natural flood management (NFM) projects eligible for funding from the government’s flood and coastal erosion risk management investment programme is available on GOV.UK here. Risk management authorities can access further guidance, FAQs and explainer videos through the NFM pages of the Environment Agency’s Flood and Coast SharePoint site.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department will develop a national strategy for the diagnosis and treatment of Vitamin B12 deficiency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon Member to the answers provided to the Hon Member for Hazel Grove on 22 and 25 April 2025 to Questions 44659 and 44657.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of a national policy framework for the long-term maintenance of Natural Flood Management schemes delivered by local authorities.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring that natural flood management (NFM) measures remain effective over the long term. Projects funded through the Government’s Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management investment programme are expected to have appropriate maintenance plans and funding arrangements in place. The Government also expects all risk management authorities and other asset owners to invest in ongoing maintenance and repairs where necessary.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has considered a statutory automatic redress mechanism for consumers who lose access to Alternative Dispute Resolution due to regulatory or administrative failure.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All previous complaints that were being handled by the Dispute Resolution Ombudsman on behalf of the Consumer Council for Water (CCW) before the withdrawal of CCW’s adjudication service were progressed to conclusion.
Under the new arrangement, if a customer complaint has not been resolved through discussion with their water company or through support from CCW, customers should be referred by their water company to the water company’s independent adjudication service. Customers will continue to benefit from the same protections and safeguards in place under the previous arrangement. Those contracted to provide this independent service for water companies will provide impartial decisions until the new Water Ombudsman is established.
The new Ombudsman will strengthen customer protections in the water sector by providing an impartial and legally binding dispute resolution service in the sector, in line with other regulated sectors. This will ensure that vulnerable customers and their complaints are properly safeguarded.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance her Department has issued to water companies on handling complaints that had reached the adjudication stage before the withdrawal of the WATRS scheme.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All previous complaints that were being handled by the Dispute Resolution Ombudsman on behalf of the Consumer Council for Water (CCW) before the withdrawal of CCW’s adjudication service were progressed to conclusion.
Under the new arrangement, if a customer complaint has not been resolved through discussion with their water company or through support from CCW, customers should be referred by their water company to the water company’s independent adjudication service. Customers will continue to benefit from the same protections and safeguards in place under the previous arrangement. Those contracted to provide this independent service for water companies will provide impartial decisions until the new Water Ombudsman is established.
The new Ombudsman will strengthen customer protections in the water sector by providing an impartial and legally binding dispute resolution service in the sector, in line with other regulated sectors. This will ensure that vulnerable customers and their complaints are properly safeguarded.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact on consumers of the gap in Alternative Dispute Resolution provision in the water sector following the Consumer Council for Water's withdrawal from adjudication and the end of the WATRS/CEDR scheme in April 2026.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All previous complaints that were being handled by the Dispute Resolution Ombudsman on behalf of the Consumer Council for Water (CCW) before the withdrawal of CCW’s adjudication service were progressed to conclusion.
Under the new arrangement, if a customer complaint has not been resolved through discussion with their water company or through support from CCW, customers should be referred by their water company to the water company’s independent adjudication service. Customers will continue to benefit from the same protections and safeguards in place under the previous arrangement. Those contracted to provide this independent service for water companies will provide impartial decisions until the new Water Ombudsman is established.
The new Ombudsman will strengthen customer protections in the water sector by providing an impartial and legally binding dispute resolution service in the sector, in line with other regulated sectors. This will ensure that vulnerable customers and their complaints are properly safeguarded.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure continuity of Alternative Dispute Resolution provision in the water sector during future changes to regulatory arrangements.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All previous complaints that were being handled by the Dispute Resolution Ombudsman on behalf of the Consumer Council for Water (CCW) before the withdrawal of CCW’s adjudication service were progressed to conclusion.
Under the new arrangement, if a customer complaint has not been resolved through discussion with their water company or through support from CCW, customers should be referred by their water company to the water company’s independent adjudication service. Customers will continue to benefit from the same protections and safeguards in place under the previous arrangement. Those contracted to provide this independent service for water companies will provide impartial decisions until the new Water Ombudsman is established.
The new Ombudsman will strengthen customer protections in the water sector by providing an impartial and legally binding dispute resolution service in the sector, in line with other regulated sectors. This will ensure that vulnerable customers and their complaints are properly safeguarded.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many consumer complaints were affected by the discontinuation of the WATRS adjudication scheme before a replacement provider became operational.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All previous complaints that were being handled by the Dispute Resolution Ombudsman on behalf of the Consumer Council for Water (CCW) before the withdrawal of CCW’s adjudication service were progressed to conclusion.
Under the new arrangement, if a customer complaint has not been resolved through discussion with their water company or through support from CCW, customers should be referred by their water company to the water company’s independent adjudication service. Customers will continue to benefit from the same protections and safeguards in place under the previous arrangement. Those contracted to provide this independent service for water companies will provide impartial decisions until the new Water Ombudsman is established.
The new Ombudsman will strengthen customer protections in the water sector by providing an impartial and legally binding dispute resolution service in the sector, in line with other regulated sectors. This will ensure that vulnerable customers and their complaints are properly safeguarded.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the timetable is for restoring full Alternative Dispute Resolution provision in the water sector; and which body will deliver it.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All previous complaints that were being handled by the Dispute Resolution Ombudsman on behalf of the Consumer Council for Water (CCW) before the withdrawal of CCW’s adjudication service were progressed to conclusion.
Under the new arrangement, if a customer complaint has not been resolved through discussion with their water company or through support from CCW, customers should be referred by their water company to the water company’s independent adjudication service. Customers will continue to benefit from the same protections and safeguards in place under the previous arrangement. Those contracted to provide this independent service for water companies will provide impartial decisions until the new Water Ombudsman is established.
The new Ombudsman will strengthen customer protections in the water sector by providing an impartial and legally binding dispute resolution service in the sector, in line with other regulated sectors. This will ensure that vulnerable customers and their complaints are properly safeguarded.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of diagnostic thresholds for Vitamin B12 deficiency; and what steps she is taking to reduce regional variation in access to treatment for patients with the condition.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon Member to the answers provided to the Hon Member for Hazel Grove on 22 and 25 April 2025 to Questions 44659 and 44657.