Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions officials in his Department have had with international zoological accreditation and certification bodies on future regulations under the Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government continues to make animal welfare a priority. The Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023 provides a framework for the introduction of a ban on the advertising and offering for sale of specific low-welfare animal activities abroad. It is an important step in protecting animals from considerable suffering and unacceptable practices.
To this end, we have been generally engaging with stakeholders domestically and internationally and are currently exploring several options.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions officials in his Department have had with international zoological facilities on future regulations under the Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government continues to make animal welfare a priority. The Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023 provides a framework for the introduction of a ban on the advertising and offering for sale of specific low-welfare animal activities abroad. It is an important step in protecting animals from considerable suffering and unacceptable practices.
To this end, we have been generally engaging with stakeholders domestically and internationally and are currently exploring several options.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people received a Universal Credit migration notice in St Albans district; and how many and what proportion of these people submitted a new claim.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The first migration notices for St Albans were issued from 1 Feb 2024.
The number of individuals in St Alban’s that had received a migration notice by Dec-23 was nil/negligible. We are therefore unable to provide the requested data to prevent releasing potentially disclosive information about individuals.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much VisitBritain spent on the promotion of tourism to London under its GREAT-funded international campaigns in financial years (a) 2021-22, (b) 2022-23, and (c) 2023-24.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As VisitBritain’s GREAT-marketing campaigns cover the whole of Britain, they do not break down spend by specific regions.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she has had discussions with Ofgem to ensure that heat pump installation companies under the Energy Company Obligation scheme provide (a) a suitable service for customers to assist with problems and (b) provide advice on the optimal use of the new heating system.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
All installations under the Energy Company Obligation scheme must be carried out by a TrustMark registered business. Installations of low carbon measures, such as heat pumps, must be carried out in accordance with the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) requirements.
TrustMark’s Customer Charter sets out the responsibilities of any TrustMark registered installer which includes the registered business ensuring there is a proper testing and hand-over process to ensure the customer knows how installations work and should be maintained.
Ofgem has set out a route to redress for any issues arising from measures installed under the scheme, which can be found at: www.ofgem.gov.uk/eco4-complaints-process.
Asked by: Thérèse Coffey (Conservative - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps she is taking to help support low-income households to transition to net zero in Suffolk Coastal constituency.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government is allocating around £20 billion over this Parliament and next improving energy efficiency and low carbon heating of homes, reducing reliance on fossil fuel heating and reducing household energy bills for low income households in Suffolk Coastal constituency as well as other constituencies.
The Government will deliver upgrades to over half a million homes in the coming years through Social Housing Decarbonisation, Home Upgrade Grant Schemes and Energy Company Obligation Schemes.
The Government has spent over £2 billion to support transition to zero emission vehicles (ZEVs), focusing on reducing barriers to adopting ZEVs, including offsetting higher upfront cost, and accelerating rollout of chargepoint infrastructure.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to page 22 of the Infected Blood Inquiry’s second Interim Report of the Infected Blood Inquiry, published on 5 April 2023, what steps his Department plans to take to help ensure (a) the independence of and (b) confidence in the arms length body.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The victims of the scandal are at the forefront of my mind, and it is critical to ensure that any scheme works effectively for the victims. The Government will respond in full to Sir Brian Langstaff’s recommendations following the publication of the Inquiry’s final report. Additionally, we are tabling a Government amendment at Report Stage of the Victims and Prisoners Bill in the Other Place to fix technical deficiencies, while working in the spirit of Dame Diana Johnson’s amendment. The amendment is tabled with the intention of speeding up the implementation of the Government’s response to the Infected Blood Inquiry.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 15 April 2024 to Question 20231 on Ministry of Defence: Aviation and with reference to page 13 of the Cabinet Office Guidance on Ministers’ gifts (given and received), travel, hospitality received and meetings with external organisations and individuals, updated on 2 April 2024, for what reason the answer does not provide the total cost of each RAF flight.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Transparency data is provided in line with longstanding Government guidance, this includes the provision of costs for RAF flights for Ministerial travel.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending the Breathing Space (Debt Respite Scheme) to 180 days.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government launched the Breathing Space scheme on 4 May 2021, and as of February 2024, over 216,000 people in problem debt have benefited from Breathing Space protections.
In developing the scheme, the government took the decision that sixty days is an appropriate period for breathing space to last to give individuals the time to engage with debt advice, whilst maintaining fairness and certainty for creditors.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of trends in the level of (a) complaints and (b) litigation claims against the NHS; and what steps she is taking to support the resolution of those complaints.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
There are a range of factors that affect trends in the level of complaints and litigation claims against the National Health Service, that go beyond the Department’s policies. On complaints, factors that affect trends include things like how well NHS organisations resolve concerns before they escalate to written complaints, and how well publicised and accessible their complaints handling processes are. To support effective resolution of complaints, we have worked closely with the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman on their work to develop the NHS Complaint Standards, which set out how organisations providing services in the NHS should approach complaint handling to ensure they are handled and resolved effectively.
NHS Resolution (NHSR) manages clinical negligence and other claims against the NHS in England. NHSR is committed to helping the NHS learn from claims. It is working directly with providers of healthcare services, alongside other national and local bodies working on patient safety, to share learning and best practice across the NHS, to drive safety improvement. In 2022, NHSR published a new three-year strategy which extends and enhances its focus on prevention, learning, and early intervention following incidents of harm. NHSR is committed to improving the claims process, including innovative approaches to dispute resolution. This work includes a number of pilots exploring various dispute resolution techniques which can result in faster resolution and reduced legal costs for both sides.