Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Honiton)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department plans to take to provide housing providers with support to meet the standards set out in the forthcoming Social Housing Regulation Bill.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
Registered providers of social housing already have a duty to comply with the Regulator of Social Housing's standards. The Regulator will consult on its revised consumer standards following the passage of legislation and the issuance of government directions, and is already conducting extensive engagement with the sector to prepare providers for the new regulatory regime.
Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Honiton)
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 provide mental health support, including counselling, to people living in rural communities as part of the Major Conditions Strategy.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Major Conditions Strategy will cover prevention to treatment for six broad conditions including mental ill health and we will continue to work closely with stakeholders, citizens and the National Health Service in coming weeks to identify actions that will have the most impact.
We are already taking steps to increase access to mental health services, including for people in rural settings. The NHS Long Term Plan commits to investing an additional £2.3 billion a year into mental health services, including through integrated care board (ICB) baseline funding. As part of this, we are increasing access to NHS Talking Therapies across all parts of England, including rural areas. NHS Talking Therapies provide evidence-based support for a range of conditions.
ICBs are responsible for decisions about the provision of services in their area and how funding allocations should be used to meet the needs of people in their areas. There are a range of adjustments made in the ICB allocations formula to account for how the costs of providing health care may vary between different types of rural and urban areas.
Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Honiton)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to support councils to provide and maintain adequate council housing.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
In the Levelling Up White Paper the Government set out its ambition to reduce the number of non-decent rented homes by 50% by 2030 with the biggest improvements in the lowest performing areas. In the Charter for Social Housing Residents, the government committed to a range of measures to drive up the quality of social housing, including through the introduction of a new, proactive consumer regulation regime and a review of the Decent Home Standard.
Further to the statement made by the Secretary of State on 16 November 2022, the Social Housing Regulation Bill will create a strong and proactive consumer regulation regime that will drive up standards in social housing and help tenants and the Regulator of Social Housing hold landlords to account. The Regulator will have stronger enforcement powers so they can take robust action if they identify failings by social housing landlords. We expect registered providers to place tenants’ concerns at the heart of all they do, with effective resident engagement in place, so no one has to live in sub-standard social housing.
Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Honiton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people who will not meet the 35 qualifying years in order to receive the full new State Pension due to prolonged periods of low-income work.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government has made no such assessment.
The Government has ensured that people with earnings below the Primary Threshold continue to have their entitlement to State Pension protected. Although the Primary Threshold, when people start making National Insurance Contributions, has increased from £190 to £242 per week in 2022/23, the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) remains at £123 per week in 2022/23 (£6396 per annum). The LEL is the level of earnings above which people are treated as having paid National Insurance, even though they have not paid Contributions.
People with earnings from a single employer above the LEL, receive a Qualifying Year of National Insurance, which counts towards their State Pension eligibility. For people on low incomes, there is a wide range of National Insurance credits available, including people in receipt of Universal Credit, ensuring they can achieve the best possible State Pension outcome when they reach State Pension age. Information about these can be found on www.gov.uk/national-insurance-credits/eligibility.
Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Honiton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure low-paid workers do not miss out on receiving the full new State Pension due to zero rate National insurance Contributions.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government have ensured that people with earnings below the Primary Threshold continue to have their entitlement to State Pension protected. Although the Primary Threshold, when people start making National Insurance Contributions, has increased from £190 to £242 per week in 2022/23, the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) remains at £123 per week in 2022/23 (£6396 per annum). The LEL is the level of earnings above which people are treated as having paid National Insurance, even though they have not paid Contributions.
People with earnings from a single employer above the LEL, receive a Qualifying Year of National Insurance, which counts towards their State Pension eligibility. For people on low incomes, there is a wide range of National Insurance credits available, including people in receipt of Universal Credit, ensuring they can achieve the best possible State Pension outcome when they reach State Pension age. Information about these can be found on www.gov.uk/national-insurance-credits/eligibility.
Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Honiton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average waiting time is for a pilot between selection for and beginning Typhoon flight training; and what the longest time is that a pilot has waited to begin that training.
Answered by James Heappey
A pilot is selected to fly Typhoon on completion of their Advanced Fast Jet Training. The average waiting time between selection to fly Typhoon and beginning training on the Typhoon Operational Conversion Unit (OCU) was 28 weeks, with the longest waiting time being 49 weeks. The wait between selection and starting the Typhoon OCU has begun to reduce, with the most recent wait time being approximately eight weeks.
Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Honiton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many pilots fully trained to fly Typhoon aircraft are employed in the Royal Air Force.
Answered by James Heappey
I am withholding the information requested as its disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.
Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Honiton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what is the longest period of time an RAF pilot has taken to complete their flight training from commencement.
Answered by James Heappey
I have interpreted your question to relate to Typhoon pilots. The longest period for an individual to complete their flying training from starting Elementary Flying Training to completing their training in the Military Flying Training System was six years and three months. This does not include the time in the Typhoon Operational Conversion Unit. The time taken by individuals to complete their flying training can be subject to several impacting variables, such as personal aptitude and weather. The current average time taken to complete this training is significantly lower.
Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Honiton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many full complements of the ground crew the RAF currently has available.
Answered by James Heappey
I have interpreted ground crew as Royal Air Force (RAF) personnel in Trade Group 1, which includes Aircraft Maintenance Avionic, Aircraft Maintenance Mechanic and Weapons Technicians.
As of 1 October 2022, the total number of personnel was 5,860 (rounded to the nearest 10).
This data covers trained RAF Regular personnel only and excludes RAF Reservists.
Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Honiton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much has issued been to South West Water in fines since 1 January 2019.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The following fines have been imposed on water companies directly by Ofwat and as a result of prosecutions brought by the Environment Agency and the Drinking Water Inspectorate.
Fines imposed on all water companies | ||
Year | Number of prosecutions / fines | Total fines |
2019 | 8 | £6,756,725 |
2020 | 3 | £852,000 |
2021 | 8 | £102,490,001 |
2022 | 11 | £4,448,083 |
In addition to fines, water companies face other financial penalties such as financial undertakings from companies secured by Ofwat following enforcement cases. These include rebates to customers and money paid to charities and community groups.
Water companies can face financial penalties if they underperform against performance targets. Ofwat recently announced penalties for 2021-22, with almost £135 million being returned to customers. A breakdown of these penalties by water company can be found at: Final determinations of in-period outcome delivery incentives for 2021-22.