Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will list each foreign language where there has been (a) translation and (b) interpretation to facilitate engagement with the proposed NHS 10-Year Health Plan.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Change NHS portal was available in English, Urdu, Romanian, Punjabi, and Polish, as these are the five most common languages in England, as reported by the 2021 Census. Participants at 10-Year Health Plan deliberative engagement events were given the option to request translation into any other language.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress the Environment Agency has made on its investigation into the flooding in Ryde in October 2023.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On becoming aware of a flood in its area, a lead local flood authority (LLFA) must investigate to the extent it considers it necessary or appropriate. This duty comes under section 19 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. When a LLFA undertakes an investigation, it must publish the results.
The Environment Agency supported Defra to produce their new national guidance for LLFAs on investigating a flood, published in April 2025. This includes guidance on:
· typical criteria for deciding whether to instigate an investigation
· engaging with communities and partner organisations
· understanding the event
· developing suitable recommendations
· timescales for publication
The Environment Agency may be asked to contribute evidence and information to support the investigation, but they are not responsible for instigating it or for its completion.
The Environment Agency is also investigating a flooding event at Ryde that occurred in October 2023, but this is not a Section 19 investigation. This report was sent to stakeholders, including the hon. member for Isle of Wight East, on Tuesday 08 July 2025.
A summary of significant flood events is published in the Environment Agency’s Flood and coastal erosion risk management annual report.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Environment Agency on the (a) transparency of flood investigation reporting and (b) timeliness of the publication of its flood investigation reports.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On becoming aware of a flood in its area, a lead local flood authority (LLFA) must investigate to the extent it considers it necessary or appropriate. This duty comes under section 19 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. When a LLFA undertakes an investigation, it must publish the results.
The Environment Agency supported Defra to produce their new national guidance for LLFAs on investigating a flood, published in April 2025. This includes guidance on:
· typical criteria for deciding whether to instigate an investigation
· engaging with communities and partner organisations
· understanding the event
· developing suitable recommendations
· timescales for publication
The Environment Agency may be asked to contribute evidence and information to support the investigation, but they are not responsible for instigating it or for its completion.
The Environment Agency is also investigating a flooding event at Ryde that occurred in October 2023, but this is not a Section 19 investigation. This report was sent to stakeholders, including the hon. member for Isle of Wight East, on Tuesday 08 July 2025.
A summary of significant flood events is published in the Environment Agency’s Flood and coastal erosion risk management annual report.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Environment Agency on the time taken for flooding investigations to be completed.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On becoming aware of a flood in its area, a lead local flood authority (LLFA) must investigate to the extent it considers it necessary or appropriate. This duty comes under section 19 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. When a LLFA undertakes an investigation, it must publish the results.
The Environment Agency supported Defra to produce their new national guidance for LLFAs on investigating a flood, published in April 2025. This includes guidance on:
· typical criteria for deciding whether to instigate an investigation
· engaging with communities and partner organisations
· understanding the event
· developing suitable recommendations
· timescales for publication
The Environment Agency may be asked to contribute evidence and information to support the investigation, but they are not responsible for instigating it or for its completion.
The Environment Agency is also investigating a flooding event at Ryde that occurred in October 2023, but this is not a Section 19 investigation. This report was sent to stakeholders, including the hon. member for Isle of Wight East, on Tuesday 08 July 2025.
A summary of significant flood events is published in the Environment Agency’s Flood and coastal erosion risk management annual report.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Environment Agency has a target timeframe for publishing flood investigation reports following significant flooding events.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On becoming aware of a flood in its area, a lead local flood authority (LLFA) must investigate to the extent it considers it necessary or appropriate. This duty comes under section 19 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. When a LLFA undertakes an investigation, it must publish the results.
The Environment Agency supported Defra to produce their new national guidance for LLFAs on investigating a flood, published in April 2025. This includes guidance on:
· typical criteria for deciding whether to instigate an investigation
· engaging with communities and partner organisations
· understanding the event
· developing suitable recommendations
· timescales for publication
The Environment Agency may be asked to contribute evidence and information to support the investigation, but they are not responsible for instigating it or for its completion.
The Environment Agency is also investigating a flooding event at Ryde that occurred in October 2023, but this is not a Section 19 investigation. This report was sent to stakeholders, including the hon. member for Isle of Wight East, on Tuesday 08 July 2025.
A summary of significant flood events is published in the Environment Agency’s Flood and coastal erosion risk management annual report.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of existing data collection systems in capturing the scale of spiking incidents in the UK.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
From April 2026, offences which involved spiking will be added to the Home Office’s Annual Data Requirement. This is the formal mechanism through which the Home Office collects data from all police forces in England and Wales. This will ensure that the Home Office has access to formal, standardised and regular reporting from the police on offences involving spiking.
The Home Office will also look to utilise the National Data Quality Improvement Service (NDQIS), a computer-assisted classification tool, to greatly improve the analysis of the data it receives. NDQIS will have a range of benefits including being able to identify crimes which were facilitated by spiking, such as rape or sexual assault. We expect this to give us a better understanding of the scale of spiking and its use in enabling other crimes.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to improve data collection on the prevalence of spiking.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
From April 2026, offences which involved spiking will be added to the Home Office’s Annual Data Requirement. This is the formal mechanism through which the Home Office collects data from all police forces in England and Wales. This will ensure that the Home Office has access to formal, standardised and regular reporting from the police on offences involving spiking.
The Home Office will also look to utilise the National Data Quality Improvement Service (NDQIS), a computer-assisted classification tool, to greatly improve the analysis of the data it receives. NDQIS will have a range of benefits including being able to identify crimes which were facilitated by spiking, such as rape or sexual assault. We expect this to give us a better understanding of the scale of spiking and its use in enabling other crimes.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the importance of understanding offender motivation as part of the Government's strategy to tackle spiking.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office has recently completed the tender for a piece of academic research into the motivations of perpetrators who commit spiking offences. This project will help to fill a gap in research that was identified by a recent literature review on the subject and will have practical implications by helping to inform Home Office policy and practice going forward.