Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
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 work with metro mayors to create a plan for flooding across Yorkshire.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Lead Local Flood Authorities have a duty to develop, maintain, apply and monitor a strategy for local flood risk management in its area, and the Government is supportive of them working together to deliver shared mitigations for a wider area.
The Government has committed to reform the current approach to local flood risk planning by 2026, ensuring every area of England will have a more strategic and comprehensive plan that drives long-term local action and investment and supports a catchment-based approach. To strengthen collaboration, we will encourage flood and coastal erosion risk management activities across local authority boundaries and explore options to join up flood resilience with other responsibilities held by Mayors or Combined Authorities.
As part of the Government’s six-year £200 million flood and coastal innovation programme (FCIP), £8 million is allocated to four adaptation pathways to support work in the Thames and Humber estuaries, the Severn Valley and Yorkshire to trial and develop ways of planning ahead and making wise investment choices for the decades to come in the face of the long-term uncertainties brought by climate change. The West Yorkshire Adaption Pathway (WYAP) project is developing a community-scale surface water flood risk adaptation plan for a town in West Yorkshire. The South Yorkshire Adaption Pathway (SYAP) project aims to develop an adaptation pathway plan for South Yorkshire which will ensure that all decision-making on, and implementation of, long-term, future adaptation is as efficient and effective as possible.
Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will take steps to help leaseholders with premium insurance rates for multi-occupancy residential buildings affected by (a) flammable cladding and (b) other material safety risks.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Government continues to put extreme pressure into ensuring more fair and proportionate premiums for leaseholders living in multi-occupancy buildings with fire safety issues.
The FCA recommended that the insurance industry develop a risk-sharing facility for buildings with fire-safety issues. The Association of British Insurers’ Fire Safety Reinsurance Facility launched on 1 April 2024 in response to this recommendation. We are closely monitoring the Facility to understand the extent to which it improves outcomes for leaseholders.
On 31 December 2023, FCA changes came into force to give leaseholders rights under Fair Value rules and require the disclosure of key policy information. We welcome these changes and expect that they will help reduce the unfair costs facing leaseholders.
On 27 November 2023, the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill was introduced into Parliament. The Bill bans insurance commissions being passed to freeholders and managing agents, replacing these with transparent handling fees. This will stop leaseholders being charged excessive and opaque commissions on top of their premiums.
The Government has also published a commitment by 14 insurance broker companies to cap their commissions to 15%, stop sharing commissions with managing agents, landlords and freeholders, and share policy information with leaseholders when requested. The pledge will benefit leaseholders in buildings over 11 metres (or four storeys) in height with identified fire safety defects, where these details have been made known to the insurance broker.
We will continue to monitor the impact these changes have had on leaseholder premiums, and will remain engaged with industry regarding whether any further steps may be required.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of prohibiting the practice of intentionally rendering commercial videogames inoperable when support ends.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government recognises recent concerns raised by video games users regarding the long-term operability of purchased products. Video games publishers must comply with existing consumer law, including the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA) and the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs).
The CPRs protect consumers from being given false or misleading information by businesses. If consumers purchased a game on the understanding that it would continue to be playable, even when support ends, then the CPRs may provide recourse.
Under the CRA, consumers have clear rights when buying digital content, such as video games, supplied in digital form. Any digital content the consumer has paid for must be as described and of a satisfactory quality. If digital content does not meet these requirements, the consumer is entitled to a repair or replacement, or a price reduction or refund if the fault cannot be fixed. The CRA has a time limit of up to six years after a breach of contract during which a consumer can take legal action.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Labour - Canterbury)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of updating the National Planning Policy Framework to enable local planning authorities to use the most recent Office for National Statistics household projections in the standard method of calculating local housing need.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
A review of the standard method formula was undertaken in 2020. As part of the consultation, we asked if we should incorporate more recent household projections data into the formula. Following careful consideration of the responses received, to provide stability and certainty for local authorities and other stakeholders we decided to retain the existing formula.
We have kept the standard method under review. Through a consultation on changes to national policy held in 2022/23 we committed to review our approach to assessing housing needs once new household projections data, based on the 2021 Census, is released in 2025.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much his Department has spent on costs associated with (a) AAA and others v Secretary of State for the Home Department, [2022] HWHC 3230 (Admin), for which judgment was passed on 19 December 2022, (b) AAA and others v Secretary of State for the Home Department, [2023] EWCA Civ 745, for which judgment was passed on 29 June 2023, (c) R (on the application of AAA and others) v Secretary of State for the Home Department, [2023] UKSC 42 on appeal from [2023] EWCA Civ 745, for which judgment was passed on 15 November 2023 and (d) other court cases relating to individual appeals against removal to Rwanda.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The most recently published information which includes legal fees is the National Audit Office Report which can be found here: Investigation into the costs of the UK-Rwanda Partnership - NAO report.
Asked by: Matt Rodda (Labour - Reading East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to her Department's consultation outcome entitled A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation: Government response, CP 1019, updated on 6 February 2024, what progress her Department has made on boosting AI research through the launch of nine new research hubs across the UK.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
UK research and Innovation’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has invested £86 million in new research hubs that will propel the UK to the forefront of advanced AI research. The hubs are broad consortia of universities and businesses, which will leverage the UK’s world leading AI research, connecting universities and businesses and creating spinouts who will deliver next-generation innovations and technologies.
This focussed investment will enable AI to evolve and tackle complex problems across applications from healthcare treatments to power-efficient electronics, transforming the way we develop and use AI, and is part of a larger investment of over £300 million in AI research and training by EPSRC over the past 12 months, safeguarding the UK’s digital future.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking with allies to secure semiconductor supply chains in the context of heightened tensions in the Taiwan Strait.
Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Safeguarding the UK against supply chain disruptions is a key pillar of the UK National Semiconductor Strategy, and international collaboration is crucial to achieving this. The UK Government works closely with international partners, including through semiconductor partnerships with Japan and the Republic of Korea. These partnerships explore shared approaches and solutions to improve global supply chain resilience and aim to establish areas of collaboration for mutual strategic advantage. Multilaterally, the UK Government is engaging with the G7 and the OECD Semiconductor Informal Exchange Network to strengthen understanding and coordination of global supply chain risks.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has had discussions with her international counterparts on coordinating the global response to potential disruptions of semiconductor manufacturing as a result of geopolitical tensions.
Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The UK Government is working closely with international partners and has already signed semiconductor partnerships with Japan, the Republic of Korea and the US. These partnerships encourage greater transparency in the semiconductor market, place an increased focus on improving supply chain resilience, and establish areas of collaboration for mutual strategic advantage. Multilaterally, the UK Government is engaging with the G7 and the OECD Semiconductor Informal Exchange Network to strengthen understanding and coordination of global supply chain risks.
Asked by: Matt Rodda (Labour - Reading East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to her Department's consultation outcome entitled A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation: Government response, CP 1019, updated on 6 February 2024, how much of the £10m to jumpstart regulator’s AI capabilities has been allocated.
Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is moving at pace to design the mechanism for allocating the £10m funding to jumpstart regulator capabilities. The Government is actively engaging with regulators to ensure this is delivered in a way that best supports their needs. The Government expects to launch the fund this summer and will allocate the funding during the course of this financial year and 25/26.
Asked by: Matt Rodda (Labour - Reading East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department expects to send ministerial representatives to the South Korean AI safety summit.
Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As this is a co-hosted Summit between the Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom, the Government can confirm that the Secretary of State will be attending the Summit in Seoul. At this moment, the Government cannot confirm if there will be any other ministerial representatives to attend in the Summit.