Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the report by Sir Robert Francis QC on Compensation and Redress for the Victims of Infected Blood - Recommendations for a Framework, published in March 2022, if he will take steps to implement the recommendation in paragraph 9.136 of that report that arrangements should be made immediately through the existing support schemes for an interim lump sum payment of compensation to be made to every living infected person accepted by a support scheme as eligible for annual support payments.
Answered by Michael Ellis
I refer the Rt Hon. member to the answer given to PQ 16932 on 20 June 2022.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will take steps to institute financial penalties against firms which fail to answer customers' telephone calls within a specified acceptable period of time; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Paul Scully
High quality customer service makes commercial sense and the Government expects all businesses to treat consumers fairly. However, the Government does not seek to intervene in the detail of how businesses conduct their activities, which are essentially commercial matters. For free advice on consumer rights and how to make complaints, consumers may contact the Citizens Advice consumer service on 0808 223 1133 (www.consumeradvice.org.uk/) or Advice Direct Scotland on 0808 164 6000 (www.consumeradvice.scot) for consumers living in Scotland.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of creating an augmentation force consisting of recently retired (a) diplomats and (b) other relevant officials to provide surge capacity in (i) Ukraine and (ii) other States facing emergencies; and if she will make it her policy to commission a pilot scheme to test the feasibility and practicability of that proposal.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The FCDO has established capabilities that provide surge capacity. These include FCDO's humanitarian and civilian stabilisation roster. These capabilities provide rapidly deployable, specialist expertise, are open to all non-civil servants, including retirees, and ensure the UK Government is able to access UK expertise to deliver impact and value for money for the taxpayer.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of recent representations submitted to his Department by the Association of Colleges on (a) pay differentials between schoolteachers and further education lecturers, (b) changes to workloads relating to potential grade inflation and changes to sixth-form student numbers resulting from exam cancellations and (c) the availability of shared funding for approved capital projects.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Setting pay rates for lecturers in further education (FE) is the responsibility of colleges and the department plays no role in this process. However, we recognise that the department’s funding does affect college finances and, therefore, pay decisions. We will make available an additional £1.6 billion for 16-19 education in the 2024/25 financial year compared with the 2021/22 financial year. This is in addition to the £291 million extra funding for 16-19 education in the 2021/22 financial year, and the £400 million that the department provided in the 2020/21 financial year. We will be investing nearly £52 million in the FE Workforce in the 2022/23 financial year, to continue to support the FE sector with the recruitment, retention, and development of teachers. This includes bursaries worth up to £26,000 each tax-free, which are available to support FE teacher training in priority subject areas for the 2022/23 academic year.
We recognise that arrangements for GCSEs during the COVID-19 pandemic have contributed toa fall in student numbers for some providers and an increase for others. We increased the funding rates to colleges and other providers in the 2022/23 financial year, which will cushion the impact on allocations for institutions with falling student numbers.
We are aware of the challenges facing capital projects across different types of education providers. Many colleges who have approved bids for capital funding will also be contributing match funding towards their projects, and it is for colleges to manage their projects within the budget available. We will monitor progress across all college projects.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what further steps he plans to take to assist Ukraine to neutralise the use of long-range artillery against civil and military targets by Russian armed forces; whether equipment, supplied to Ukraine by the UK for this purpose, will include unmanned aerial vehicles and other smart munitions; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by James Heappey
The UK has already committed £1.3 billion for military operations and has provided lethal aid that has assisted the Ukrainians to defend itself and its sovereignty. This military aid includes counter-battery radar and a range of unmanned aerial systems. We have recently announced, that we will be providing multiple launch rocket systems which will provide Ukraine with a significant boost in capability. Ministers have kept the House updated regularly on the situation in Ukraine and will continue to do so.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 23 February 2022 to Question 124937 on Sovico Group: Linacre College, if she will publish (a) correspondence, (b) advice, (c) emails and (d) notes held by her Department on Linacre College and the University of Oxford working with Vietnamese entities in each of the last 2 years, including background information supplied to (i) Linacre College and (ii) the University of Oxford on working with those entities relating to (A) the Sovico Group and (B) Nguyen Thi Phurong Thao.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
FCDO Officials have given background information to Linacre College and the University of Oxford, at the request of these institutions, in line with the advice we offer UK organisations and businesses looking to work with Vietnamese entities. The offer would be the same globally.
It would not be appropriate to publish background advice given to any third party institution.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Answer of 6 December 2021 to Question 85168 on Flats: Construction, what safeguards have been put in place to ensure that leaseholders do not have to pay for remedial works to apartment blocks caused by (a) faulty design and workmanship by contractors and (b) inadequate supervision by freeholders; whether he plans to introduce additional safeguards for leaseholders; if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies on liability for remedial works of the use of ad hoc limited companies by contractors and freeholders to (i) carry out works and (ii) nominally take over ownership of such blocks after the completion of remedial work; and if he will make it his policy to require planning authorities that permit the construction of additional storeys to existing apartment blocks to conduct annual surveys on the (A) frequency of defective outcomes and (B) implications for existing leaseholders for their (1) costs, (2) property values and (3) quality of life.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The landmark Building Safety Act 2022 delivers robust and far-reaching protections for leaseholders in buildings above 11 metres in height or with at least five storeys from the costs associated with historical building safety defects. A leaseholder qualifies for the protections if, on 14 February 2022, the property was their principal home, or if they owned up to three UK properties in total.
The Act protects qualifying leaseholders from all costs related to the remediation of unsafe cladding and the costs for remediation of non-cladding defects and interim measures like waking watches are subject to a firm cap. Once the leaseholder caps have been reached, landlords will be unable to demand further non-cladding costs from leaseholders. Qualifying leaseholders will be protected from costs associated with both shoddy workmanship and faulty design: the protections safeguard against costs associated with any defect that has arisen in the past 30 years because of anything done or not done, or anything used or not used in connection with works to the building that also causes a building safety risk. This includes defects associated with the provision of professional services, for example those of an architect.
The Act ensures that corporate structures cannot be used to evade liability for building safety defects. Freeholders with links to the building’s original developer, such as where the freeholder is a subsidiary of the developer, will need to meet remediation costs for their buildings in full. As the Act looks at the situation on 14 February 2022, any future buyer of the freehold will assume the same liabilities of the previous freeholder; as such, freeholders will not be able to simply sell off their buildings to evade liability. The Act also grants a power to the High Court allowing them to extend specific liabilities for one company to associated companies, removing the protection afforded to developers and contractors by special purpose vehicles.
All development, whether allowed through a permitted development right or an application for planning permission, must meet building regulations including fire and other building safety requirements. The Government has no plans at present to review the permitted development rights for building upwards.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Prime Minister's oral contribution of 20 April 2022, Official Report, column 161, what steps he is taking to ensure that surviving nuclear test veterans receive recognition for their service.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
Those who participated in the Nuclear Test Programme made a significant contribution to the safety and security of the UK by ensuring that we were equipped with an appropriate nuclear capability; it is right that their contribution is recognised.
The Prime Minister and I look forward to meeting with representatives of the Nuclear Test Veteran community shortly.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to substantively respond to Questions (a) 124936 on Surgical Mesh Implants: South East, due for Answer on 23 February, (b) 127247 on Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Independent Review, due for answer on 25 February and (c) 131025 on Members: Correspondence, seeking a response to a letter dated 6 December 2021 from the Rt hon. Member for New Forest East about a vulnerable constituent and due for answer on 3 March; for what reason none of the substantive answers have yet been forthcoming; and what steps he plans take to ensure that Questions receive a substantive answer on the date they are due.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
I refer the Rt hon. Member to the answers to Questions 124936, 127247 and 131025.
We take parliamentary scrutiny incredibly seriously and it is fundamentally important that hon. Members are provided with accurate and timely information to enable them to hold the Government to account. We are working rapidly to provide all Members with accurate answers to their questions, while supporting the Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2022 to Question 139243 on Russia: Sanctions, whether shipping carrying Russian-originated cargo, but (a) owned, (b) operated, (c) controlled, (d) chartered, (e) registered or (f) flagged by or to countries other than Russia, including NATO countries, are banned from entering British ports; what representations she plans to make to EU and NATO countries to institute similar bans on all vessels carrying Russian-originated cargo; and if she will take steps, in conjunction with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and HM Treasury to ensure that Russia is excluded from all aspects of the London Commercial Insurance market.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK Government has banned all ships that are Russian owned, operated, controlled, chartered, registered or flagged from entering British ports. We continue to consider further trade measures to support our policy of ratcheting up economic pressure on Russia. Nothing is off the table until Russia reverses its illegal invasion of Ukraine, stops undermining Ukraine's sovereignty and abides by international law.