Sarah Gibson

The Government is committed to meeting current legal targets for air quality, including the targets recently set under the Environment Act 2021, and will review the policy measures needed to achieve them. We will deliver a comprehensive Clean Air Strategy, including a series of interventions to reduce emissions so that everyone’s exposure to air pollution is reduced.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) air quality guidelines are intended to inform the setting of air quality standards and are not ready-made targets for direct adoption as they do not consider achievability or individual countries’ circumstances. However, we will consider WHO guidelines as part of an evidence led process when considering future targets.

Defra officials have worked closely with international partners to learn lessons and consider best practice when developing the scheme design of the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) in the UK. This includes teach-ins with the German scheme administrator, as well as a visit earlier this year to observe the recycling system in Germany.

This Government remains committed to delivering the DRS for drinks containers in October 2027, as agreed with the devolved Governments of the UK, and in accordance with the Joint Policy Statement published in April 2024.

Defra intends to lay the DRS regulations for England and Northern Ireland before Parliament later this year, assuming Parliamentary time allows. The regulations would come into force in early 2025 before the Deposit Management Organisation, who will run the scheme, would be appointed in April 2025.

Over 300 properties flooded across 50 communities in Wiltshire alone during the winter of 2023/24, which was the wettest since records began 1871. These same areas of Wiltshire also experienced heavy rainfall in September 2024. The rural catchments that have seen numerous floods during this period are sensitive to both rainfall intensities and durations. It is understood that it has been a combination of both high intensity and prolonged durations during these storm events combined with saturated catchments resulting in localised flooding.

Wiltshire Council are in the process of undertaking Flood & Water Management Act 2010 Section 19 flood reports investigating the flooding issues experienced across the county last winter. We will input information and evidence into these reports.

We are working with flood risk management authorities, through a Wiltshire Rural Runoff project, to improve understanding of the causes of flooding, and it will look for potential for interventions to reduce the impacts of these types of flood events. The Calne catchments is in one of the five focus areas, and the evidence and understanding is being gathered this winter with support of the Wildlife Trusts and local landowners and farmers.

As these types of rainfall events are expected to become more frequent with climate change, The Environment Agency are exploring how they can make our flood warning service more effective for these types of rural catchment, that respond quickly to heavy intensity rain.

This Government has been clear that vital infrastructure investment is ringfenced and can only be spent on upgrades benefiting customers and the environment. When money for investment is not spent, companies must refund customers, with money never allowed to be diverted for bonuses, dividends or salary increases.

New infrastructure will need to be paid for, and while water companies can attract private investment, this will also need to come from customer bills. It is Ofwat's responsibility to independently scrutinise water company plans to ensure that the prices water companies charge their customers are fair and proportionate.

We have inherited a water system spilling record levels of sewage into our rivers, lakes and seas. Water companies must take action to turn this around and Ofwat must ensure customers do not pay twice for upgrades.

Aside from Restoring Your Railway (RYR) projects currently at the delivery stage or in construction, all remaining RYR-originated projects, including the Corsham station proposal, will be reviewed as part of preparations for the upcoming Spending Review. Ministers have been clear that not all proposed transport projects will be able to proceed to delivery due to the challenging financial situation facing the Department.

We are committed to ensuring people can access financial support through Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in a timely manner. Reducing customer journey times for PIP claimants is a priority for the Department and we are working constantly to make improvements to our service, including through using a blend of phone, video and face-to-face assessments where an assessment is required and by increasing case manager and assessment provider health professional resource.

Where an existing award of PIP is subject to an award review, we aim to make a decision on that as quickly as possible, taking into account the need to review all available evidence, including that from the claimant. Where we can do so, we are also making decisions without referral to the Assessment Providers to speed up the process.

The Department understands the potential effect of waiting for a tribunal hearing, which is why our aim is to make the right decision as early as possible in the claim journey so that people can get the support they are entitled to, without the need for an appeal.

Appeals are lodged with, and administered by, HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS). A variety of factors can affect the number of cases cleared by the Tribunal including the complexity of the issue in dispute; the availability of panel members assigned to a particular venue; and if an appeal is adjourned (which may be directed by the judge for a variety of reasons, such as to seek further medical evidence). Any increase to the live load is monitored, and investigated, locally.

The Government has committed to supporting the National Health Service to improve performance and achieve the standards set out in the NHS Constitution, including for ambulance response times.

As a first step, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care appointed Professor Lord Darzi to lead an independent investigation of the NHS’ performance. The investigation’s findings were published on 12 September and will feed into the Government’s work on a 10-Year Health Plan to radically reform the NHS and build a health service that is fit for the future.

Ahead of this winter, NHS England has set out the priorities for the NHS to maintain and improve patient safety and experience, including actions to support patient flow and ensure ambulances are released in a timely way. NHS England’s winter letter is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/winter-and-h2-priorities/

The Government plans to tackle the challenges patients face when trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term and increase access to NHS dental care, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.

On 1 April 2023 responsibility for commissioning NHS dentistry was delegated to integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. The seven ICBs in the Southwest are supported by the NHS Southwest Collaborative Commissioning Hub to commission NHS dentistry in their area.

NHS England has provided guidance for ICBs that requires dental allocations to be ringfenced in 2024/25, with any unused resources re-directed to improve NHS dental access in the first instance, and not spent on other services. ICBs will decide how to use any forecast underspend in line with this guidance.

The government is committed to leading the world in sustainable finance by making the UK a global hub for green and transition finance activity, and delivering a world-leading sustainable finance regulatory framework.

The government will provide further information about its plans to support growth and integrity in the UK sustainable finance landscape, including sustainability disclosures, in due course.

An extensive communications campaign is being delivered in support of the transition from physical immigration documents to eVisas, to raise awareness of eVisas, build understanding of how it applies to visa holders and checkers, and encourage them to take action. This includes activity and messaging specifically targeting biometric residence permit (BRP) holding customers to register for a UKVI account by the end of 2024, when most BRPs expire, if they were not automatically provided with a UKVI account and eVisa when their most recent immigration application was approved.

Our communications also explain that customers with older forms of evidence of immigration status, such as ink stamps in passports, will still be able to prove their rights as they do today, using their legacy documents where these are permitted. However, we encourage those individuals to transition to an eVisa, which offers a range of benefits to customers and status checkers.

The dedicated eVisa communications activity has run from Spring 2024 onwards and has included regular updates to GOV.UK, including the establishment of a dedicated eVisa webpage at www.gov.uk/eVisa, and online resources such as eVisa support videos, direct messaging to customers via email and text message, and a wide-ranging programme of engagement with relevant stakeholders and international carriers. A national eVisa advertising campaign to raise awareness of these changes commenced on 10 October 2024.

All communications activity has directed visa holders to www.gov.uk/eVisa, and, where appropriate, has highlighted the range of available support.

I refer the hon Member to my answer to Question UIN 18286 on 10 December 2024.

My thoughts remain with householders and business owners impacted by flooding after Storm Bert, flooding is a devastating experience for those affected.

Activation of the Flood Recovery Framework is at Ministerial discretion and there is no fixed threshold for activation. When making that decision each event is considered on its own merits looking at factors including how widespread the event is, the significance and scale of impacts, comparison to previous events / activations and the severity of the on-going situation. These factors combined help to determine if an event can be considered exceptional.

Overall, the scale of impacts was similar to that seen in many local areas this autumn and were not sufficiently significant for Government to intervene and for the Framework to be activated.

The government has set up a floods resilience taskforce to provide a forum in which partners from across government, frontline agencies, emergency responders and interest groups will work together to strengthen flood resilience across the country.

Ministers and officials from the department are in regular contact with counterparts in the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. As has been the case under successive administrations, we do not normally disclose details of internal discussions.

My thoughts remain with householders and business owners impacted by flooding after Storm Bert, flooding is a devastating experience for those affected.

Activation of the Flood Recovery Framework is at Ministerial discretion and there is no fixed threshold for activation. When making that decision each event is considered on its own merits looking at factors including how widespread the event is, the significance and scale of impacts, comparison to previous events / activations and the severity of the on-going situation. These factors combined help to determine if an event can be considered exceptional.

Overall, the scale of impacts was similar to that seen in many local areas this autumn and were not sufficiently significant for Government to intervene and for the Framework to be activated.

The government has set up a floods resilience taskforce to provide a forum in which partners from across government, frontline agencies, emergency responders and interest groups will work together to strengthen flood resilience across the country.

Ministers and officials from the department are in regular contact with counterparts in the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. As has been the case under successive administrations, we do not normally disclose details of internal discussions.

My thoughts are with householders and business owners impacted by flooding after Storm Bert, flooding is a devastating experience for those affected. Government support for flood recovery, administrated via the Flood Recovery Framework, is only made available in the most exceptional circumstances. Most recently this was after Storms Babet in October 2023 and Henk in January this year when over 8,500 homes and businesses were impacted. My officials will continue to monitor the data on impacts following Storm Bert and will keep me updated.

The consultation on proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework and other changes to the planning system that began on Tuesday 30 July includes proposals designed to support increased build out rates.

In conjunction with the start of that consultation, the housebuilding industry made a public commitment to increase the pace at which homes are delivered and to get on and build where sites are viable and have implementable consent.