Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his expected timetable is for publishing his Department's roadmap on household water efficiency.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We published our ‘Roadmap on water efficiency in new developments and retrofits’ in the Environmental Improvement Plan in 2023. This sets out 10 actions to achieve our statutory target to reduce water demand by 20% by 2038. Within this we committed to implementing a Mandatory Water Efficiency label by 2025, to enable consumers to identify water efficient products. In October 2023, the Government publicly committed to a spring consultation to fulfil the roadmap action to Review the Building Regulations 2010, and the water efficiency, water recycling and drainage standards (regulation 36 and Part G2, H1, H2, H3 of Schedule 1), considering industry competence and skills.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking with water companies to help tackle leaks.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Reducing losses through leakage is an important part of maintaining secure supplies of water for customers now and in the future. Government is committed to reducing leakage and has set a statutory water demand target to reduce water demand per person by 20% by 2038. This includes reducing leakage by 37% by 2038, on a trajectory to a 50% reduction in leakage by 2050. Ofwat set out a £51 billion five-year investment package in the Price Review 2019, including requirements for water companies to cut leaks by 16% and reduce mains bursts by 12% between 2020-2025. Ofwat will hold water companies to account for delivering leakage reduction targets, with financial penalties if they fail to meet them.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many and what proportion of the population have access to (a) green space and (b) water within 15 minutes walk from home.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The data we currently use on the number and proportion of people with access to greenspace is taken from Natural England’s Green Infrastructure (GI) Framework analysis. Natural England’s G3 Indicator report shows that as of October 2021, the proportions of the total population in England living within Accessible Greenspace Standards ‘criteria’ (straight line distances from the boundary of the greenspaces) are:
• 1 in 3 people live within 200 metres of a doorstep greenspace of at least 0.5 hectares
• 1 in 4 people live within 300 metres of a local natural greenspace of at least 2 hectares
• 1 in 2 people live within 1 km of a neighbourhood natural greenspace of at least 10 hectares.
We are currently working to establish a robust baseline of walkability to green and blue space, including working with NE and with the Rivers Trust to create data on blue space access points. In August we will publish an official statistic in development on walkability within England to the nearest green space. This will use network analysis to calculate travel time/distance rather than straight-line distances, and enhanced use of data on the rights-of-way network. For full details see https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements/access-to-green-space-in-england.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the sustainability of the future water supply.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Last year, regional water resources groups and water companies, consulted on their draft water resources plans. These statutory plans set out how each company will secure water supplies sustainably for at least the next 25 years. Within the plans, water companies consider all options, including demand management and new water resources infrastructure. The draft plans show how the Government’s water demand targets will be met, including reducing leaks, and contain proposals for multiple new water resources infrastructure schemes, such as reservoirs, by 2050.
Further information on the water resources plans can be found in the Environment Agency’s Summary of England’s draft regional and water resources management plan published in March 2024.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many hectares of new wildlife habitats have been (a) created and (b) restored since 31 January 2023.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We do not currently have an estimate for habitat created and restored in 2023, the first year of the target.
Data on habitat created and restored is not usually available by year end. We expect there to be a two-year lag before having a 'complete' count due to the time taken for data to be reported and the quality assurance process.
In April, we published information about actions that will count toward our statutory habitat target, the list of wildlife rich habitats, and definitions of restoration and creation (available here).
We are currently working with Natural England to set up a formal reporting system for monitoring progress towards our statutory habitat target.
While we establish this formal reporting system, we are looking at whether we can collect a subset of data from Defra Group delivery mechanisms for ad hoc interim reporting.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to (a) support research for and (b) raise awareness of Ornithine Transcarbamylase Deficiency.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department funds research into rare diseases such as ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Over the last five years, NIHR infrastructure has supported 13 research awards on ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency. Raising awareness of rare diseases such as ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency among healthcare professionals is a priority of the 2021 UK Rare Diseases Framework, and the 2024 England Rare Diseases Action Plan.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will hold discussions with car insurance providers on the cost of insurance for young drivers.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Department for Transport officials regularly liaise with representatives of the motor insurance industry on a variety of issues such as the cost of insurance. However, it is the responsibility of individual motor insurers to set premiums and the terms and conditions of their policies, and the Government does not intervene or seek to control the market.
The Government is determined that insurers should treat customers fairly and firms are required to do so under the Financial Conduct Authority rules.
There is evidence to suggest that younger drivers and those with less experience carry a higher risk. Some insurers have introduced the use of telematics or in-car black boxes to allow better risk-based pricing of insurance, especially for new drivers. It means insurers now have a real time data feed, which allows them to see an individual’s driving behaviour; this had not been possible in the past. This can help reduce insurance premiums if drivers show good driving behaviour with a black box installed in their cars.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Batley and Spen)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has made with the Financial Ombudsman Service on support for people who have been missold a shared appreciation mortgage.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has received a number of complaints from people who purchased shared appreciation mortgages and are alert to the issues involved.
Any borrower that feels they have been mis-sold a shared appreciation mortgage should bring their complaint to the FOS, which can provide arbitration in such cases.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to (a) publicise and (b) promote the maternity exemption to prescription charges; and what steps she is taking to ensure (i) rapid reimbursement and (ii) the removal of fines when the forms for patients entitled to the exemption are not correctly filed.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Both the NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA) and the National Health Service promote maternity exemption certificates to raise awareness amongst midwives, general practitioners, and other healthcare practitioners of their obligations to apply for maternity exemption certificates on behalf of the patient. They’ve also taken action to raise awareness amongst eligible individuals of their entitlement by promoting the certificates through social media, online resources, media releases, and through healthcare bulletins. Information on how to apply for a maternity exemption certificate is available at the following link:
https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/check-if-you-have-nhs-exemption/maternity-exemption-certificates
A maternity exemption certificate can be applied for as soon as a healthcare professional has confirmed the pregnancy or that the patient has given birth, including still-birth, in the previous 12 months. The certificate is automatically backdated one month from the date the application is received by the NHS BSA. Where a Penalty Charge Notice has been issued because a patient has claimed the maternity exemption without holding a valid maternity exemption certificate, the patient is given 60 days to pay the prescription charge and apply for an exemption certificate. The penalty charges will only then be removed.
The reimbursement of prescription charges usually takes place through a community pharmacy using the NHS FP57 receipt and refund form. In specific circumstances a refund request may require input from NHS BSA, these are processed and returned to the patient to take to the pharmacy within five working days.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment on the impact of (a) the Our Generation Our Vote project and (b) other political literacy projects on levels of political engagement among young people.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
As part of the national curriculum for Citizenship at key stages 3 and 4, pupils will learn about Parliament, the importance of voting and elections, and the actions citizens can take in democratic and electoral processes to influence decisions locally, nationally and beyond. The national curriculum programmes of study for Citizenship are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-citizenship-programmes-of-study.
Schools are subject to statutory duties regarding political impartiality, which require them to present partisan political issues in a balanced and impartial way. The department has published guidance to support schools to meet their duties regarding political impartiality which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools.
The guidance is clear that schools are responsible for reviewing any external materials that they use to ensure they are factual, balanced and age appropriate. The department therefore has no plans to assess the impact of the Our Generation Our Vote project or other political literacy projects, centrally.