Asked by: Oliver Colvile (Conservative - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to strengthen provisions in building regulations on ensuring that materials and methods used in housing construction are more resilient to the risk of flooding and damage caused by water leaks.
Answered by Lord Barwell
The statutory guidance in Approved Document C (Site preparation and resistance to contaminants and moisture) which supports the Building Regulations promotes the use of flood resilience and resistance measures in flood prone areas. The document references guidance produced jointly by the Department for Communities and Local Government, Defra and the Environment Agency – Improving the flood performance of new buildings – Flood resilient construction. Much of the information is applicable to resilient repair as well as new build.
The Building Regulations also require that floors, roof and walls of buildings should be adequately protected from harmful effects caused by spillage of water from or associated with sanitary fittings or fixed appliance. Guidance on how to meet this requirement is set out in Approved Document C.
Asked by: Oliver Colvile (Conservative - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what use is made of Clerks of Works in evaluating building projects.
Answered by Lord Barwell
It is for those commissioning building work to decide whether to employ a clerk of works to evaluate or supervise the building work they wish to carry out. In many cases architects, structural and civil engineers and other professionals are used as an alternative to a clerk of works.
Asked by: Oliver Colvile (Conservative - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question
To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, what support the Church of England provides for people affected by domestic violence and abuse.
Answered by Caroline Spelman
On 15th March 2017 the Church of England’s House of Bishops published “Responding Well to Domestic Abuse: Policy and Practice Guidance”, which urges church communities to address the issue of domestic abuse and raise awareness of its impact on adults and children. The document can be seen at: https://www.churchofengland.org/media/3896806/responding-well-to-domestic-abuse-2017.pdf
The updated practice guidance and policy encourages churches to become places of safety where domestic abuse is taken seriously, survivors are believed and respected, and alleged or known perpetrators challenged. The updated document reflects legislative and other changes since guidance was last issued in 2006.
Under the policy Church leaders and Officers working with children, young people and vulnerable adults will be expected to undergo domestic abuse training, with the issue being raised in appropriate contexts within church life including youth groups, marriage preparation and ordinand training. They will also be expected to work closely with statutory and other specialist organisations.
In the House of Lords this session bishops supported the passage of the Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (Ratification of Convention) Bill.
Asked by: Oliver Colvile (Conservative - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2017 to Question 908267, if she will publish a list of the fish stocks of UK interest for which total allowable catches (TACs) are set with advice on maximum sustainable yield (MSY) provided by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea; and how many of those TACs she expects will be fished at or below MSY in 2017.
Answered by George Eustice
The information is in the table attached.
Asked by: Oliver Colvile (Conservative - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the number of breast cancer treatments potentially affected by the proposed £20 million budget impact test.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence estimates that around 80% of technologies appraised between June 2015 and June 2016 fell below the level of the proposed budget impact test. The level of the budget impact test does not represent a maximum that the National Health Service will spend on an individual drug in any year, but represents the point at which NHS England will seek to agree a commercial agreement with the drug company.
Asked by: Oliver Colvile (Conservative - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what advice his Department gives to military personnel on alcohol intake and good health.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) provides a package of measures to educate Service personnel on the dangers of alcohol misuse to help them make informed decisions, and has introduced extensive policy and guidance for Commanding Officers. Each Service has a clear substance misuse education and training policy. We believe personnel have the necessary information to allow them to make informed decisions, but the focus of all activities is to encourage a sensible social approach to alcohol consumption.
The Department has also established a working group to look at the research outcomes and identify key policy or behavioural changes to support the reduction in alcohol misuse. The working group has introduced a number of initiatives to promote a sensible attitude to alcohol and encourage all Service personnel to take responsibility for their own actions. An alcohol strategy is being developed along four lines; Prevention, Intervention, Protection and Engagement. The emphasis will be on good leadership and role modelling behaviour at all levels as well as supporting alcohol-free social and leisure initiatives, and ensuring alternative options are available to support individuals to make informed choices. The MOD has also entered into a partnership with DrinkAware to identify methods to increase awareness of the dangers of alcohol misuse across the Armed Forces.
Asked by: Oliver Colvile (Conservative - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if his Department will publish a definition of the term social lettings agencies as used in the white paper, Fixing our broken housing market, published in February 2017.
Answered by Lord Barwell
Social letting agencies can support vulnerable people and people on low incomes to access and sustain tenancies in the private rented sector. We want to prevent people reaching crisis point, and for those who are already homeless to be able to move out of temporary accommodation or hostels to a settled home as quickly as possible. There are a number of different models of social letting agencies and in the Housing White Paper we set out our interest in exploring the relative effectiveness of these different models with the aim of securing more housing for households who would otherwise struggle – providing security for landlords and support for tenants.
Asked by: Oliver Colvile (Conservative - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing financial support to increase the level of activity at the fisheries research laboratory in Monkey Bay, Malawi.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
The Department for International Development (DFID) is supporting Malawi to diversify its economy, improve inclusive growth and eradicate extreme poverty. My Department has not made an assessment of the merits of providing support to the fisheries research laboratory in Monkey Bay. However, a new programme of agricultural support is currently in design and assessing potential options for UK support, including on fisheries.
Asked by: Oliver Colvile (Conservative - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made on improving of the reliability and availability of wifi and mobile connectivity on trains between (a) Penzance and London and (b) Taunton and Bristol.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Great Western is providing free Wi-Fi on a large majority of their services and Cross Country will be providing this from April 2018.
Our priority is for passengers to experience a reliable and highly available mobile service and we will be securing this within future franchises.
Great Western’s new franchise is due to start from December 2019.
Cross Country’s new franchise is due to start from June 2019.
Asked by: Oliver Colvile (Conservative - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent progress has been made on developing the solar market in Malawi.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
During my visit to Malawi last year, I signed a Compact with the Government of Malawi as part of the UK’s “Energy Africa” campaign. The Compact sets out agreed actions to remove policy and regulatory barriers to Malawi’s solar market expansion. The UK is also working alongside energy companies to develop inclusive business models for solar products, providing technical support to improve markets, distribution and access to consumer and business finance.