Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the effectiveness of (a) Smoke Control Areas and (b) Ecodesign regulations, in the context of the impact of domestic log burners on air quality.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Since the introduction of Smoke Control Areas in 1956 emissions from domestic combustion have reduced significantly. However, domestic combustion is a major source of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) emissions in the UK, and wood stove ownership is increasing.
Whilst we are not required to carry out an assessment of the effectiveness of Smoke Control Areas or Ecodesign regulation we have commissioned reports in both areas.
Kantar prepared a report on Burning in UK Homes and Gardens for the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in 2020. This report included an analysis of burning in Smoke Control Areas, and can be found at Report: Burning in UK homes and gardens (plus a number of annexes) - Defra, UK
Ricardo prepared reports on Emission Factors for Domestic Solid Fuels Project which for Defra in 2024. These include details of emission factors using Ecodesign-compliant stoves compared to other types of stoves. These can be found at WP1 - Report: Emission Factors for Domestic Solid Fuels Project - Work Package 1 Report - Defra, UK and Ricardo report template The final report in this series is due to be published shortly on Air Quality Library - Defra, UK.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Written Statement of 19 December 2023 on The Next Stage in Our Long Term Plan for Housing Update, HCWS161, if she will publish (a) the review into the wider statutory consultee system and (b) her response to that review.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Written Ministerial Statement in question was published by the previous government. This government recognises the importance of ensuring the system of statutory consultees delivers effectively. Any announcements regarding the statutory consultee system will be made in the usual way.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to deliver age-appropriate (a) care and (b) settings for teenagers and young adults with cancer.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to improving outcomes and patient experience for teenagers and young adults with cancer. We recognise that cancer in teenagers and young people is different to cancer in adults and children, and so age-appropriate care is necessary, particularly regarding treatment, diagnosis, and wider support.
A national service specification is in place for the provision of teenage and young adult (TYA) cancer services. This sets out requirements for treatment and care to be delivered in age-appropriate settings, as well as the provision of age-appropriate patient information. A dedicated TYA multidisciplinary team must oversee the care of each young person, taking into account their holistic needs, including the appropriate location of all aspects of care. Further information on the national service specification is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/spec-services/npc-crg/group-b/b05/
We are committed to carefully considering this as part of our work through the relaunch of the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce in 2025, which will focus specifically on teenagers and young adults as well as children, ensuring that their clinical and non-clinical needs are met. We will set out further details on next steps in due course.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the conclusions within his Department's Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 Post Implementation Review 2024, published in December 2024; and whether he plans to introduce regulatory requirements and conditions relating to cat breeding.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 (the 2018 Regulations), anyone in the business of breeding and selling cats as pets needs to have a valid licence issued by their local authority. Licensees must meet strict statutory minimum welfare standards which are enforced by local authorities who have powers to issue, refuse, vary or revoke licences.
The Government is considering the findings of its post-implementation review of the 2018 Regulations and will be outlining more detail on next steps in due course.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing financial protection to victims of (a) financially coercive and (b) other controlling behaviour.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
This Government was elected with a landmark mission to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) in the next decade. We will use every tool within our power to target perpetrators and address the root causes of abuse and violence, including domestic abuse.
The financial difficulties which cohabitants, including victims of abuse, can face when their cohabiting relationships come to an end, is a matter of concern. That is why the Government committed in its 2024 manifesto to strengthen the rights and protections available to women in cohabiting couples. The Government will set out the next steps in due course.
In relation to divorcing couples, the Law Commission’s December 2024 scoping report on financial remedies considered how conduct, such as domestic abuse, including economic abuse, is considered by the courts when making decisions about a couple’s finances on divorce. The Government will carefully consider the findings of this report.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the potential cost saving to the public purse of GP's using online appointment forms promoted in the Help Us to Help You advertising scheme (a) in total and (b) per GP.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
To date, no Help Us Help You national advertising campaign activity has promoted the use of online consultation request forms in general practice.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the FTE staff hours that have been saved (a) in total and (b) per practice as a result of GPs using online forms promoted in the ‘Help Us Help You’ advertising scheme.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
To date, no Help Us Help You national advertising campaign activity has promoted the use of online consultation request forms in general practice.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of GP practices use online forms promoted in the Help us Help You advertising scheme.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
To date, no Help Us Help You national advertising campaign activity has promoted the use of online consultation request forms in general practice.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of GP appointments that have been booked through online forms as a result of the Help Us Help you advertising scheme since the inception of that scheme.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
To date, no Help Us Help You national advertising activity has promoted the use of online consultation request forms in general practice.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to regulate cat breeding.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018, anyone in the business of breeding and selling cats as pets needs to have a valid licence issued by their local authority. Licensees must meet strict statutory minimum welfare standards which are enforced by local authorities who have powers to issue, refuse, vary or revoke licences.
Defra has been working on a post-implementation review of the Regulations which considers whether the objectives further improve the protections they provide. We are also carefully considering recommendations in the EFRA select committee’s report into pet welfare and abuse and the Animal Welfare Committee’s Opinion on feline breeding, which will be published shortly.