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Written Question
Young Offenders: Women
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Samantha Dixon (Labour - City of Chester)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of accommodating young female offenders in all-male young offender institutions on the wellbeing of those female offenders.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The safety of all those in our custodial estate, including young female offenders is a key priority.

Girls currently make up less than 1% of children and young people within the youth estate which has a range of mixed gender settings. In HMYOI Wetherby, girls live separately from boys but attend education and activities together, as occurs in the community.

Girls in the youth estate can communicate trauma-related stress through internalising behaviours such as self-harming. Professionals work hard to deliver effective care.

The YCS is further developing gender-responsive guidance and training both at HMYOI Wetherby and for the wider youth estate.


Written Question
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: ICT
Tuesday 6th February 2024

Asked by: Samantha Dixon (Labour - City of Chester)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Fifty-first Report of the Committee of Public Accounts of Session 2022-23 on Tackling Defra’s ageing digital services, HC 737, published on 10 May 2023, how much of the £871 million allocated in the 2021 Spending Review to be spent by his Department on digital investment over three years has been spent.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

At least £381.5 million of the £871 million allocated in the 2021 Spending Review to be spent by Defra on digital investment has been spent as of 31 December 2023.

Approximately £134 million of the £871 million was allocated to Arm’s Length Bodies (ALBs) for their own IT expenditure and so is monitored through individual ALB finance processes rather than central Defra finance.


Written Question
Flood Control
Thursday 7th December 2023

Asked by: Samantha Dixon (Labour - City of Chester)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of flood defences.

Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government is working closely with the Environment Agency and relevant authorities to ensure flood defences impacted by recent flooding are repaired as quickly as possible; around 14,000 asset inspections have been conducted following the recent storms with action taken wherever asset performance was compromised.

This year and last, £200 million is being invested in maintaining flood risk assets, with the aim of achieving our current target of between 94-95% in target condition.

In the City of Chester, in the current Flood and Coastal Risk Management capital programme, £20,000 of Flood Defence Grant-in-Aid funding has been allocated for projects in the constituency, which will better protect properties from flooding. There is also a proposed project in the Stretford and Urmston constituency (Longford Brook Flood Alleviation Scheme).


Written Question
Inflation
Thursday 26th October 2023

Asked by: Samantha Dixon (Labour - City of Chester)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will place a copy of his Department’s internal projection of the CPI inflation figure for October 2023 in the House of Commons Library.

Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is the Government’s official forecaster.

The OBR published its most recent economic and fiscal forecasts in March 2023 and will publish an updated projection alongside the Autumn Statement on 22nd November.


Written Question
Water Companies: Pollution Control
Tuesday 24th October 2023

Asked by: Samantha Dixon (Labour - City of Chester)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that water companies meet their target for reduced pollution incidents by 2025.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

While the water sector has delivered a 15% reduction in category 1-3 pollution incidents since 2019, companies are not on track to meet the 2024-25 target. Both the Government and regulators expect water companies to step up this improvement. Ministers regularly meet with the regulators to discuss progress and have engaged directly with water companies who are not performing to the standard we expect.

The Environment Agency regularly meets with water companies to assure progress against their pollution reductions plans, which water companies are required to publish. Pollution offences may be subject to action in line with the Environment Agency’s Enforcement and Sanctions Policy.

Ofwat requires underperforming companies to produce detailed service delivery plans, and Ministers will be following this up with regular meetings with Chairs and CEOs to track progress. I have also written to Ofwat’s Chair and CEO asking them to outline the detailed steps they will take to hold all water companies to account on these findings.

Where companies have underperformed against their commitments, they will be required to return money directly to customers through their bills. Based on the results of Ofwat’s 2022-23 Water Company Performance Report, water companies will have to return £114 million over 2024-25.


Written Question
Water: Standards
Tuesday 24th October 2023

Asked by: Samantha Dixon (Labour - City of Chester)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department is taking steps to ensure that water companies (a) sample water entering their water treatment plants and (b) publish data on this.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

There is no requirement currently for water companies to sample and publish data on the quality of water entering their waste water treatment plants. However, they are required to sample treated effluents from their plants which are discharged to the environment. These samples are analysed and assessed for compliance against protective environmental permit requirements. This information is reported to the Environment Agency and published on GOV.UK.

However, a new requirement in S. 82 of the Environment Act 2021 requires sewerage undertakers to continuously monitor the quality of the receiving water upstream and downstream of their assets. This will allow sewerage undertakers to assess the impact of discharges from their assets on the receiving watercourse. The requirement covers both storm overflows and the treatment works discharges and is being introduced in 2025.

Continuous Water Quality Monitoring Programme - provisional technical guidance for sewerage undertakers (publishing.service.gov.uk).


Written Question
Asylum: Disability
Monday 23rd October 2023

Asked by: Samantha Dixon (Labour - City of Chester)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that disabled people in the asylum system receive the care they need.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

Asylum seekers have access to health and social care services from the point of arrival in the UK. The Home Office and its contractors work closely with the NHS, local authorities and non-governmental organisations to ensure that people can access the healthcare and support they need. All accommodation providers have a contractual duty to assist people in accessing the health care they need. The Home Office also operates a Safeguarding Hub to support vulnerable individuals in accessing these services.

In addition, the Home Office contracts Migrant Help to provide advice and guidance to asylum seekers should they have an issue with their accommodation or support, and for signposting to health and welfare services. Asylum seekers can access Migrant Help 24/7, every day of the year by a freephone telephone number, via an online chat or completing an email enquiry form both of which can be accessed free of charge on the Migrant Help website. Interpreting and translation services are available through Migrant Help when the need arises for asylum seekers to raise any queries or concerns.

Where an individual is on asylum support and has a care need, a referral will be made to the local authority for an assessment of care needs under the Care Act 2014. Our guidance sets out the approach to be taken by the Home Office to the duties and obligations owed to asylum seekers who have disabilities, care needs or both. In doing so it sets out how the framework of the Care Act 2014 should be interpreted by the Home Office and its external partners in the context of asylum support. The guidance can be found here: Asylum-Seekers-With-Care-Needs-v2.0ext.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk)


Written Question
Community Energy Fund
Monday 23rd October 2023

Asked by: Samantha Dixon (Labour - City of Chester)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if her Department will produce annual reports on the progress (a) of the Community Energy Fund and (b) towards establishing local supply rights.

Answered by Graham Stuart

The Government has recently committed to publishing an annual report on the community energy sector, and to consult on the barriers the sector faces when developing projects. The right to local energy supply already exists and Ofgem has existing flexibility to award supply licences that are restricted to specified geographies.


Written Question
Energy: Housing
Wednesday 18th October 2023

Asked by: Samantha Dixon (Labour - City of Chester)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the adequacy of (a) guidance and (b) information on participating suppliers to support the ECO4 flex application process.

Answered by Graham Stuart

The Department and Ofgem, the ECO4 scheme administrator, consistently engage with stakeholders to ensure that the ECO4 Flex guidance is fit for purpose and meets the needs of its intended users.

Ofgem has published a full list of ECO-obligated energy suppliers on its website, including contact details. The Department and Ofgem encourage participating local authorities and ECO-obligated energy suppliers to promote ECO4 Flex through their own communication channels.


Written Question
Social Rented Housing: Energy
Monday 18th September 2023

Asked by: Samantha Dixon (Labour - City of Chester)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department is taking steps to help ensure energy companies inform (a) the landlord and (b) the relevant housing provider of any social housing tenant who is about to have their energy supply stopped.

Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

In 2022 there were 13 electricity and 6 gas meters disconnected in Great Britain due to a failure to pay a debt owed. Energy suppliers must explore all other options first, such as payment plans.

An energy supplier would only be able to inform a landlord in cases where the landlord is the party that holds the contract with the energy supplier, or where the householder has given their permission for their energy supplier to communicate directly with their landlord.