Joe Robertson

The Environment Agency does not specify a colour for wheel lug nuts on its vehicles and does not cosmetically alter them. All wheel nuts on the Environment Agency’s commercial vehicles have plastic wheel nut indicators attached, which act as a safety feature to indicate if any wheel nuts have come lose. These plastic caps are yellow as standard but can be found in green or orange. Very occasionally, the Environment Agency uses red wheel nut indicators to indicate when a wheel has been changed but has not yet been torqued.

All vehicles owned by the Environment Agency have Chapter 8 markings to comply with Department for Transport codes of practice. The Environment Agency logo is also added to owned vehicles; this is regarded as essential for any public serving organisation, particularly for vehicles being used to respond to incidents where the Environment Agency needs a physical presence. The Environment Agency cannot provide a breakdown of the costs of applying chapter 8 markings and logos. The Environment Agency does not have a specific budget allocated solely for vehicle branding.

The Environment Agency does not specify a colour for wheel lug nuts on its vehicles and does not cosmetically alter them. All wheel nuts on the Environment Agency’s commercial vehicles have plastic wheel nut indicators attached, which act as a safety feature to indicate if any wheel nuts have come lose. These plastic caps are yellow as standard but can be found in green or orange. Very occasionally, the Environment Agency uses red wheel nut indicators to indicate when a wheel has been changed but has not yet been torqued.

All vehicles owned by the Environment Agency have Chapter 8 markings to comply with Department for Transport codes of practice. The Environment Agency logo is also added to owned vehicles; this is regarded as essential for any public serving organisation, particularly for vehicles being used to respond to incidents where the Environment Agency needs a physical presence. The Environment Agency cannot provide a breakdown of the costs of applying chapter 8 markings and logos. The Environment Agency does not have a specific budget allocated solely for vehicle branding.

The Environment Agency does not specify a colour for wheel lug nuts on its vehicles and does not cosmetically alter them. All wheel nuts on the Environment Agency’s commercial vehicles have plastic wheel nut indicators attached, which act as a safety feature to indicate if any wheel nuts have come lose. These plastic caps are yellow as standard but can be found in green or orange. Very occasionally, the Environment Agency uses red wheel nut indicators to indicate when a wheel has been changed but has not yet been torqued.

All vehicles owned by the Environment Agency have Chapter 8 markings to comply with Department for Transport codes of practice. The Environment Agency logo is also added to owned vehicles; this is regarded as essential for any public serving organisation, particularly for vehicles being used to respond to incidents where the Environment Agency needs a physical presence. The Environment Agency cannot provide a breakdown of the costs of applying chapter 8 markings and logos. The Environment Agency does not have a specific budget allocated solely for vehicle branding.

The Environment Agency does not specify a colour for wheel lug nuts on its vehicles and does not cosmetically alter them. All wheel nuts on the Environment Agency’s commercial vehicles have plastic wheel nut indicators attached, which act as a safety feature to indicate if any wheel nuts have come lose. These plastic caps are yellow as standard but can be found in green or orange. Very occasionally, the Environment Agency uses red wheel nut indicators to indicate when a wheel has been changed but has not yet been torqued.

All vehicles owned by the Environment Agency have Chapter 8 markings to comply with Department for Transport codes of practice. The Environment Agency logo is also added to owned vehicles; this is regarded as essential for any public serving organisation, particularly for vehicles being used to respond to incidents where the Environment Agency needs a physical presence. The Environment Agency cannot provide a breakdown of the costs of applying chapter 8 markings and logos. The Environment Agency does not have a specific budget allocated solely for vehicle branding.

Local authorities are already legally required to deliver waste collection services to all households in their area. Simpler Recycling in England will go further by mandating weekly food waste collections under the Environment Act 2021. Local authorities have always had flexibility to choose residual waste frequency, depending on local need.

Local authorities are best placed to determine the effective delivery of local services. We recognise that as recycling services are expanded and improved under Simpler Recycling, local authorities may choose to review residual waste services to ensure they are providing best value for money in line with local need. The Government’s priority is ensuring that households’ needs are met, and we expect local authorities to continue to provide services to a reasonable standard, as they do now.

Defra recently published guidance to ensure that local authorities consider certain factors when they review services, to ensure that reasonable standards are maintained. These include ensuring that there are no disamenity impacts, such as the build-up of odorous waste at the kerbside or an increase in fly-tipping of residual waste. We expect local authorities to monitor any changes to collection frequencies to ensure there are no unintended adverse consequences.

A breakdown of how much the Environment Agency spent on its commercial fleet’s maintenance by vehicle type and fuel type in the last three financial years is shown in the table below. This does not include leased vehicles as maintenance costs are included in their monthly costs. Data on ‘non-essential modifications’ is not available.

The Environment Agency does not purchase customised wheel lug nuts. The ratio of staff to road vehicles in the Environment Agency, for the last three financial years, is shown in the below table:

A breakdown of how much the Environment Agency spent on its commercial fleet’s maintenance by vehicle type and fuel type in the last three financial years is shown in the table below. This does not include leased vehicles as maintenance costs are included in their monthly costs. Data on ‘non-essential modifications’ is not available.

The Environment Agency does not purchase customised wheel lug nuts. The ratio of staff to road vehicles in the Environment Agency, for the last three financial years, is shown in the below table:

A breakdown of how much the Environment Agency spent on its commercial fleet’s maintenance by vehicle type and fuel type in the last three financial years is shown in the table below. This does not include leased vehicles as maintenance costs are included in their monthly costs. Data on ‘non-essential modifications’ is not available.

The Environment Agency does not purchase customised wheel lug nuts. The ratio of staff to road vehicles in the Environment Agency, for the last three financial years, is shown in the below table:

Defra does not routinely collect data on the frequency of household residual bin collections by waste collection authorities.

Under section 89 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, there is a duty on local authorities to keep land and highways clear of litter.

We recognise that as recycling services are expanded and improved under Simpler Recycling in England, local authorities may choose to review residual waste services to ensure they are providing the most appropriate service for local circumstances. The government’s priority is ensuring that households’ needs are met, and we expect local authorities to continue to provide services to a reasonable standard.

Defra recently published guidance to ensure that local authorities consider certain factors when they review services, to ensure that reasonable standards are maintained. These include ensuring that there are no disamenity impacts, such as the build-up of odorous waste at the kerbside or an increase in fly-tipping of residual waste.

Defra and the Environment Agency do not routinely collect data on the number of containers required for waste and recycling collections by each waste collection authority.

The Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse is already a statutory document, and Local Councils must have regard to it when carrying out their duty to keep relevant land clear of litter and refuse.

Separate guidance on enforcement was published in 2019 and attached to the Code of Practice but is not statutory. Under the previous Government a consultation was run on making this enforcement guidance statutory.

At this stage, the Government has not yet made an assessment of how it can further support local authorities to tackle litter. Any decisions or updates will be communicated in due course.

The department has not produced guidance for local authorities on issuing fixed penalty notices for householders who leave items by the curtilage of their property to be given away and re-used.

The principles of the Regulators’ Code applies, however, to enforcement action local authorities undertake. This states that regulatory activity should be carried out in a way which is proportionate, transparent, accountable and consistent. We are considering whether further guidance is necessary with regards to fly-tipping enforcement.

No, the department has not outlined a policy relating the use of microchips in household wheelie bins and has not issued guidance to local authorities in relation to this topic.

From 1 January 2025, the Producer Responsibility (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024, alongside simpler recycling and the deposit return scheme, will deliver transformational change, creating thousands of new jobs, helping communities to clean up their local areas, and stimulating billions of pounds’ worth of investment.

This will require obligated producers to pay the full end of life costs including managing the efficient and effective collection and disposal costs of waste associated with the packaging that they place on the market. That will bring more than £1 billion of investment into local Government waste collections.

The majority of the funding provided from central Government to councils through the Local Government Finance Settlement is un-ringfenced, including funding for waste management. For 2025-26, funding that local authorities receive from the Extended producer responsibility scheme will be additional income that is separate to income received through the local government finance settlement.

The Government will assess the impact of additional pEPR income on the relative needs and resources of individual local authorities, and how we factor it into our measurement of local authority spending power, ahead of the 2026-27 Settlement. We will consult local councils on any expected changes.

Protecting communities from flooding is a key priority for this Government. Defra has recently established a Flood Resilience Taskforce which brings together local, regional and national government and organisations including from the voluntary and insurance sectors to improve resilience and preparedness in England.

The role of the EA, Local Authorities and other flood risk management authorities in incident management is set out in the Flood & Water Management Act 2010.

Defra has not assessed the adequacy of international flood defence agencies. It is not the role of Defra to assess the effectiveness of agencies of other countries.

Protecting communities from flooding is a key priority for this Government. Defra has recently established a Flood Resilience Taskforce which brings together local, regional and national government and organisations including from the voluntary and insurance sectors to improve resilience and preparedness in England.

The role of the EA, Local Authorities and other flood risk management authorities in incident management is set out in the Flood & Water Management Act 2010.

Defra has not assessed the adequacy of international flood defence agencies. It is not the role of Defra to assess the effectiveness of agencies of other countries.

Protecting communities from flooding is a key priority for this Government. Defra has recently established a Flood Resilience Taskforce which brings together local, regional and national government and organisations including from the voluntary and insurance sectors to improve resilience and preparedness in England.

The role of the EA, Local Authorities and other flood risk management authorities in incident management is set out in the Flood & Water Management Act 2010.

Defra has not assessed the adequacy of international flood defence agencies. It is not the role of Defra to assess the effectiveness of agencies of other countries.

Local authorities are best placed to understand and plan for the needs of their population, which is why, under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are tasked with the duty to shape their care market to meet the diverse needs of all local people. This includes negotiating and ensuring fee levels take into account the costs of delivering care, including inflationary and other pressures, to support market sustainability and provider viability.

The Government recognises the important role councils have in commissioning and delivering adult and children’s social care services. To support social care authorities to deliver these key services in light of pressures, the Government has this week announced a further £200 million for adult and children’s social care.

As currently drafted, the Employment Rights Bill requires that membership of the Adult Social Care Negotiating Body must include, “officials of one or more trade unions that represent the interests of social care workers” and “persons representing the interests of employers of social care workers”. Further details on membership of the Negotiating Body, including on employer representation, will be subject to engagement with the sector and then set out through secondary legislation.

Following an invitation to tender competition process, we appointed Thinks Insight, Kaleidoscope Health and Care, and IPPR to support us to run the 10-Year Health Plan engagement exercise. The awarded value of the contract is up to £2.96 million, and includes running online and in-person engagement activities, the Change NHS online portal, and analysis of the insight received.

The current contract start date is 13 September 2024 with an end date of 31 March 2025, with an option to extend by three months. This means that final costs, such as those to undertake analysis, are dependent on the level of engagement that takes place.

The details of this award and redacted contract are available at the following link:

https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/80963989-c4d6-4a16-8e12-c31b43a81dda

We will be able to provide full costs of the exercise once it is complete.

The refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan will deliver the transformed health service that we will build over the next decade and will ensure that patients get the treatment they need, when and where they need it, including those at the end of their lives. In the development of the plan, we will engage with a range of stakeholders to ensure their needs are considered.

We have committed to developing a 10-year plan to deliver a National Health Service fit for the future. We will carefully be considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative and end of life care needs, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our stakeholders, including those in the hospice sector, as we develop the plan.

The engagement process has been launched, and I would encourage the palliative and end of life care sector, including hospice providers, service users, and their families, to engage with that process to allow us to fully understand what is not working as well as it should, and what the potential solutions are. Further information is available at the following link:

https://change.nhs.uk/en-GB/

On 19 December the government announced the biggest investment in a generation for hospices to help ensure that hospices can continue to deliver the highest quality end of life care possible for their patients, families, and loved ones.

We are supporting the hospice sector with £100 million funding for adult and children’s hospices to ensure they have the best physical environment for care.

Children and young people’s hospices will also receive a further £26 million revenue funding for 2025/26. This is a continuation of the funding which until recently was known as the children and young people’s hospice grant.

We will set out the details of the funding allocation and dissemination in the new year.

There is no such thing as the Global Majority Fellowship Programme. The NHS Global Fellowship programme offers volunteer reciprocal leadership development opportunities for clinical and non-clinical staff to experience health systems across the globe.

NHS England provided £441,773.27 for the NHS Global Fellowships Programme for the financial year 2023/24.

As identified by Lord Darzi’s review, primary care is under pressure and in crisis. The Government inherited a system that has been neglected for too long, and it remains very difficult for pharmacists to deliver for patients at a local level. I am committed to working with the sector to achieve what we all want, a service fit for the future.

Now that the Budget for Government has been set, we will shortly be resuming our consultation with Community Pharmacy England regarding the funding arrangements for community pharmacy.

We have taken necessary decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at the Autumn Budget, and this enabled the Spending Review settlement of a £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department from 2023/24 outturn to 2025/26. Now that the Budget for Government has been set, we will shortly be resuming our consultation with Community Pharmacy England regarding funding arrangements.

Pharmacies play a vital role in our healthcare system. We are committed to expanding the role of pharmacies and better utilising the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. That includes making prescribing part of the services delivered by community pharmacists, as part of the shift from hospital to community, and from treatment to prevention.

Now that the budget for Government has been set, we will shortly be resuming our consultation with Community Pharmacy England regarding the funding arrangements for community pharmacy.

We have taken necessary decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at the Autumn Budget, which enabled the Spending Review settlement of a £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department from 2023/24 outturn to 2025/26. The rise in employer National Insurance contributions (ENICs) will be implemented in April 2025, and the Department will set out further details on the allocation of funding for next year in due course.

The Government recognises the need to protect the smallest businesses and charities, like hospices, which is why we have more than doubled the Employment Allowance to £10,500, meaning more than half of businesses with ENIC liabilities either gain, or see no change next year. Businesses and charities will still be able to claim ENIC reliefs, including those for under 21 and under 25 year old apprentices, where eligible.

The public and staff must be at the centre of the development of the plan to make the National Health Service fit for the future, so that it makes a positive impact on their day-to-day lives. That is why we are running as series of in-depth deliberative events and have launched an open platform to hear from members of the public, and those who work in health and care.

Following an invitation to tender the competition process, we appointed Thinks Insight, Kaleidoscope Health and Care, and the Institute for Public Policy Research to support us to run this engagement exercise. A breakdown by type of spend is not available, for commercial confidentiality reasons.

The 10-Year Health Plan will set the vision for what good joined-up care looks like for people with a combination of complex health and care needs, such as people with a learning disability. It will set out how to support and enable health and social care services, and wider services, to work together better to provide joined-up care.

Everyone should have the support they need to live an independent, dignified life. We want people with a learning disability to have fair access to locally delivered services, that start at home, to support them to live independently for as long as possible, with the dignity and respect they deserve. Over the next decade, the Government is committed to building consensus on the long-term reform needed to create a National Care Service based on consistent national standards, including engaging cross-party, and with people with lived experience of care and unpaid carers.

This is not a term the Department, NHS England, or other departmental bodies would use officially.

The Government is committed to protecting those most vulnerable to COVID-19 through vaccination, as guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). On 13 November 2024, the JCVI published advice on the COVID-19 vaccination programme covering vaccination in 2025 and spring 2026. This advice is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccination-in-2025-and-spring-2026-jcvi-advice/jcvi-statement-on-covid-19-vaccination-in-2025-and-spring-2026

The Government is considering this advice carefully and will respond in due course.

The Government has committed to tackling the childhood obesity crisis and raising the healthiest generation of children ever. Under the Food (Promotion and Placement) (England) Regulations 2021 laid during the previous Parliament, restrictions on the promotion of less healthy food or drinks in prominent places in retail stores, for instance entrances, check-outs and aisle ends, and their equivalent places online, came into force in England in 2022.

Under the same legislation, restrictions on volume price promotions of less healthy food or drinks, such as three for the price of two offers, are due to come into force in England on 1 October 2025. Section 5 (3) of the legislation states that volume price promotions do not include relevant special offers such as meal deals.

The Department categorises its contracts based on the products and/or services supplied, not the type of supplier. Since 4 July 2024, the Department has awarded two contracts for ‘management consultancy’ services, providing expert advice in the areas of Medical Technology and Medicine Pricing. NHS England has not awarded any similar contracts since 4 July 2024.

There have been no meetings to date between my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, and the Minister for Women and Equalities on the socio-economic duty. The Government will enact the duty which will require public bodies, when making strategic decisions, to actively consider how their decisions might help to reduce the inequalities associated with socio-economic disadvantage.