Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
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 potential merits of increasing penalties for water companies that discharge sewage into (a) watercourses and (b) coastal waters.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
For too long, water companies have pumped record levels of sewage into our rivers, lakes and seas.
The Water (Special Measures) Bill will deliver on the Government’s commitment to put water companies under special measures. It will drive meaningful improvements in the performance and culture of the water industry as a first important step in enabling wider, transformative change across the water sector.
The Bill will provide the most significant increase in enforcement powers for the regulators in a decade, giving them the teeth they need to take tougher action against water companies in the next investment period. This includes giving environmental regulators powers to impose penalties on the civil standard of proof, in addition to new automatic penalties. The regulators will also be able to recover costs for a much greater range of enforcement activities.
In October 2024, the Secretary of State, in conjunction with the Welsh Government, launched an Independent Commission on the water sector regulatory system, to fundamentally transform how our water system works and clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good.
In August 2024, Ofwat proposed that Thames, Yorkshire and Northumbrian Water be fined a total of £168 million for failing to manage their wastewater treatment works and networks. These proposed fines were subject to a public consultation and so are currently draft; Ofwat are reviewing responses before making their final decisions.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of preventing planning inspectors from overturning decisions made in line with neighbourhood plans.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Appeal decisions by planning inspectors must be taken in accordance with policies in the development plan for the area, including any neighbourhood plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise. The revised National Planning Policy Framework, which is a material consideration, continues to make clear that where a planning application conflicts with an up-to-date development plan (including any neighbourhood plans), permission should not usually be granted. Protections from speculative development for areas with a qualifying neighbourhood plan have also been retained in the revised Framework.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what plans hi Department has expand the roll out of Project Gigabit in (a) Kintbury, (b) Boxford, (c) Lambourn, (d) Great Shefford and (e) Newbury constituency.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
According to the independent website Thinkbroadband.com, 99% of premises in the Newbury constituency can already access superfast broadband speeds (>=30 Mbps), and almost 87% can access a gigabit-capable broadband connection.
To extend gigabit-capable coverage further, approximately 1,600 premises in the constituency are currently included in a Project Gigabit contract being delivered by Openreach. This includes eligible premises in Kintbury, Boxford, Lambourn and Great Shefford.
Additionally, a significant number of premises in the constituency are expected to be connected through the commercial market.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to support pharmacies in Newbury constituency with the increased cost of employers National Insurance contributions.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have taken necessary decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at Autumn Budget 2024, 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 employer national insurance rise will be implemented April 2025, with the Department setting out further details on allocation of funding for this year in due course.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
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 hold discussions with Ofwat on the potential impact of the levels of Thames Water's (a) debt and (b) dividend payments on its customers.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Water companies are commercial entities, and it would be inappropriate to comment further on the specific situation of any individual company.
We understand the financial pressures hardworking families are currently facing and we are pushing the sector to ensure support is available for vulnerable customers who are struggling to pay their bills.
We have also been clear that the payment of dividends that do not take into account performance and service delivery for customers and the environment is disgraceful, and we share the public’s anger on this.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of benefits for disabled people.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The extra costs disability benefits, Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment (PIP), provide a contribution towards the extra costs that may arise from a long-term disability or health condition.
The extra costs benefits are non-contributory, non-means-tested and can be worth over £9,500 a year, tax free. Individuals can choose how to use their benefit, in the light of their individual needs and preferences. The benefit can also be paid in addition to any other financial or practical support someone may be entitled to such as Universal Credit, Employment and Support Allowance, NHS services, free prescriptions, help with travel costs to appointments or the Blue Badge scheme. The benefits have been consistently uprated in line with inflation since they were introduced and were, like other benefits, increased by 6.7% from 8 April 2024.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent progress has been made on Project Groundwater in Lambourn Valley.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Project Groundwater is funded by the £150 million Flood & Coastal Resilience Innovation programme, managed by the Environment Agency (EA). The programme includes 25 local projects around the country that are testing practical ways of bolstering resilience to flooding and coastal change.
Project Groundwater has produced a new community-level, automated groundwater flood warning system, www.projectgroundwater.co.uk/floodwarning. This went live as a trial in the Lambourn Valley on 4 December and the EA are currently collating feedback for the next phase of improvements. The next key output will be new improved groundwater flood risk maps which are expected to be published in February. The project has also been gathering data via a Flood Experience Questionnaire, to target invitations for property flood resilience surveys in the new year, helping us to develop trials of community flood resilience measures. The project is also seeking to identify locations for nature-based solutions to help with groundwater flooding.
Collectively all aspects of Project Groundwater will have longer term benefits to the Lambourn Valley. These include ensuring groundwater is robustly addressed in planning applications whilst better understanding the mental health impacts of groundwater flooding.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department holds plans for supporting rail networks affected by flooding.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Network Rail and other operators are responsible for planning for flooding events and have contingency plans in place. The Department keeps in close contact with these operators in such events and would take appropriate action as necessary.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support research in the pharmaceutical sector in Newbury.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department funds research and research infrastructure, which supports patients and the public to participate in high-quality research across the United Kingdom, through the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR).
Development and delivery of research in the pharmaceutical sector is supported and enabled nationwide through NIHR infrastructure, including the NIHR Research Delivery Network (RDN), the NIHR Clinical Research Facilities (CRFs), the NIHR Biomedical Research Centres (BRCs), and the newly designated NIHR Commercial Research Delivery Centres (CRDCs). These all support the delivery of clinical research through facilities, staff resource, collaborations, and funding.
In Newbury, pharmaceutical research benefits from the South Central RDN, as well as the Oxford and Southampton-based CRFs and BRCs, and from April, a new CRDC in Southampton, all of which support a range of pharmaceutical studies in the region.
In order to maximise our potential to be a world leader and develop a more competitive, efficient, and accessible clinical research system, the Department is committed to implementing the recommendations from Lord O'Shaughnessy’s independent review of commercial clinical trials in full. We expect these efforts to attract more commercial investment in clinical research and yield a broad and diverse portfolio of clinical trials in the United Kingdom, to provide innovative treatment options for patients.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing funding to ensure that the Lifelong Links programme can be extended to all children in care.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is committed to helping children thrive and wants the best for every child and family. We know that a stable support network and loving relationships are crucial to supporting children in care and care leavers to thrive.
To support this, the department is currently funding 50 family finding, befriending and mentoring programmes, being delivered by 45 local authorities. These programmes will help children in care and care leavers to identify and connect with the important people in their lives and create safe, stable loving relationships. Of the 45 local authorities, 23 are delivering Lifelong Links as their family finding programme.
The family finding, befriending and mentoring programme is being evaluated and this will inform decisions about the future of the programme.