Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department plans to take to strengthen the framework for holding large corporations accountable in their support for small businesses.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
In September 2024 we announced a package of measures to help ensure small businesses are paid promptly by the large businesses they supply.
This included launching a new Fair Payment Code and a commitment to including payment performance information in large companies’ annual reports.
In the spring we will launch a public consultation on further measures to address late payments, including new powers for the Small Business Commissioner to tackle large businesses who pay late.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2024 to Question 901298 on leases for GP premises, if he will review the decision to delegate the authority to hold GP leases to integrated care boards.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The GP (General Medical Services) Contract terms ordinarily require the contractor to hold the premises liability.
NHS England also holds the right to hold operational estate and has delegated the power to hold leases to integrated care boards (ICBs). However, bringing ICBs into any formal leasing structure creates capital accounting liabilities, and these would need to be considered in the context of any request to directly hold operational estate.
NHS England currently accepts ICBs holding leases only as a last resort or by exception due to the significant capital required. Whilst we know this not the most effective use of ICB resources, it is an important safeguard.
Given where the liabilities lie within contracts and the power already held by ICBs to provide exceptional support, it is not deemed necessary to seek to amend any rules or guidance.
We are committed to fixing the front door of the National Health Service by supporting GPs and ICBs through, for example, the £102 million of capital funding announced at the Budget for GP estate upgrades.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 18 November 2024 to Question 12879 on Employer national insurance contributions on pharmacies, whether an impact assessment was conducted prior to the decision to increase employer National Insurance contributions.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the bill containing the changes to employer National Insurance contributions. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, and an overview of the equality impacts.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 7 January 2025 to Question 21895 on Benefits for people with disabilities, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the benefits available for people with disabilities.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There are a wide range of studies and estimates for the extra cost of disability. As such, there is no objective way of deciding what an adequate level of the extra costs disability benefits should be, and everyone has different requirements reflecting their own circumstances and priorities.
DWP pays close attention to the evidence base on the extra costs faced by disabled people; including academic research, analysis by Scope, and DWP’s own commissioned research.
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, what steps she plans to take to update hon. Members on the progress of the implementation of the Section106 Affordable Housing Clearing Service.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government will continue to monitor the implementation of the Section 106 Affordable Housing Clearing Service that was launched in December and will update parliament in the usual manner.
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.