Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment her Department has made of the impact of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 on the ability of healthcare professionals to participate in industrial action.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 allows for regulations to be laid in Parliament in the health sector. The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels: NHS Ambulance Services and the NHS Patient Transport Service) Regulations 2023 came into force on 8 December 2023.
As we set out in in our consultation response on minimum service levels in the ambulance sector, in our engagement with representatives from ambulance trusts, they indicated that establishing a minimum service level at the level specified in the regulations would require approximately 80% of an ambulance service’s resources on a typical shift. Therefore, if an employer chose to issue work notices during a strike, it is likely that a high proportion of all levels of paramedics, emergency care assistants, and other staff in the ambulance teams rostered to work on a strike would be named, and this would have a significant impact on the ability of employees to participate in strike action. The Department has consulted on whether to implement similar regulations for hospital services, and will set out its response in due course.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what criteria a company must meet in order to be included on the Homes England Fire Risk Assessor Panel and authorised to carry out FRAEWs for buildings in the Cladding Safety Scheme.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
To join the Fire Risk Assessor Panel firms must sign a participation agreement which sets out the terms for the panel and eligibility criteria. Along with agreeing to follow Homes England processes set out in the scheme guidance and use the correct scheme documents, firms must have:
Membership is renewed annually with firms having to provide evidence of their PII insurance and self-certification of qualifications and experience of firm assessors. The use of PAS 9980 and proportionality is assured by sample audit.
Since the scheme went live, four firms have left the panel through their own accord. Two pulled out due to resourcing issues and their inability to commit to meeting service level agreements and two others left due to them not receiving any business from being on the panel.
To date, Homes England have not had to remove any firms due to performance however Homes England can exercise this option should they need to.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether any companies have been removed from the Homes England Fire Risk Assessor Panel for the Cladding Safety Scheme.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
To join the Fire Risk Assessor Panel firms must sign a participation agreement which sets out the terms for the panel and eligibility criteria. Along with agreeing to follow Homes England processes set out in the scheme guidance and use the correct scheme documents, firms must have:
Membership is renewed annually with firms having to provide evidence of their PII insurance and self-certification of qualifications and experience of firm assessors. The use of PAS 9980 and proportionality is assured by sample audit.
Since the scheme went live, four firms have left the panel through their own accord. Two pulled out due to resourcing issues and their inability to commit to meeting service level agreements and two others left due to them not receiving any business from being on the panel.
To date, Homes England have not had to remove any firms due to performance however Homes England can exercise this option should they need to.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of publishing guidance for leaseholders on how they can access the dispute resolution process under the Developer Self Remediation Terms.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
If a dispute arises and leaseholders are unable to make contact with their developer, they should follow the published guidance in the Developer remediation contract: resident factsheet - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has provided specific guidance to Right to Manage directors on their responsibilities under the developer remediation contract.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
If a dispute arises and leaseholders are unable to make contact with their developer, they should follow the published guidance in the Developer remediation contract: resident factsheet - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 2 April 2024 to Question 19958 on Flats: Fire Prevention, if he will make it his policy to commit to quality assurance measures equivalent to the Self Remediation Terms including a post-remediation Qualifying Assessment.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
As the answer provided on 2 April indicates, only three buildings under 11m have been found to require some form of remediation to date. The Department expects the developers of any unsafe buildings under 11m to take responsibility for remediating them in accordance with the appropriate standard and deal with the risks identified in the Fire Risk Assessment and Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls as soon as reasonably practicable.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what precautions are in place to prevent voltage surges entering the electrical system serving the Palace of Westminster.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Within the Palace of Westminster there is surge protection by way of Surge Protection Devices on low voltage switchgear. This means that any surges from incoming high voltage supplies are suppressed. The Palace’s main low voltage switchgear was replaced in 2015 and has such surge suppressors installed.
Low Voltage Boards are a key part of the electrical infrastructure within the Palace of Westminster, providing localised power across the building. There have been two new local unit boards fitted in Elizabeth Tower and these have surge protection fitted, as stipulated by the Design Authority for new boards. Both boards tripped (as per design) when the tower was struck by lightning, showing the surge protection was successful. Surveys were undertaken of existing boards under the Mechanical, Electrical Public Health & Fabric Safety (MEPFS) programme and those ranked as high risk had faulty components replaced, thus reducing the risk of significant power outages across the Palace. Surge protection of these boards will be installed under the new Mechanical, Electrical, Public Health and Fire Safety (MEPF) programme which will be completed prior to the commencement of Restoration and Renewal.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact on the environment of non-compliant vapes.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As confirmed by the Government response to the consultation on Creating a Smokefree Generation and Tackling Youth Vaping consultation, Defra is leading on implementing a ban on disposable or single-use vapes due to the environmental harm caused by these devices. On 11 March draft regulations were published along with an impact assessment, which set out the main environmental concerns. Single-use vapes are an inefficient use of finite raw materials, they are inherently difficult to recycle and are often discarded incorrectly. When littered they pose a risk to soil, water and biodiversity and are a fire risk when thrown into residual waste. A report published by Defra earlier this year provides a broader assessment of the environmental impacts of single-use vapes and can be found online here: Analysis of the market for vapes: exploring the environmental impacts of single-use vapes - EV0157 (defra.gov.uk).
Defra has not made any environmental assessment of current non-compliant vapes.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2023 to Question 3014 on Building Regulations: Fire Prevention, what recent progress his Department has made on the property protection workstream.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Technical Review of Approved Document B was published on 6 June 2022. Research on the property protection workstream has completed. Government will consider findings, then publish the research and an update on the workstream in due course.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to paragraphs 8.1 to 8.5 of his Department's guidance entitled, Inclusive Mobility: A guide to best practice on access to pedestrian and transport infrastructure, published in December 2021, if he will publish updated guidance on the design of regular parking spaces to increase accessibility for disabled people who are not blue badge holders.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
My officials have ongoing discussions with the British Parking Association on a variety of issues. The Department has no current plans for increasing the minimum size for on-street car parking bays to accommodate larger vehicles.
The minimum size of on-street parking bays is regulated through the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016. Local authorities may already provide larger bays if they wish.
The design of off-street car park facilities is governed by Building Regulations which specify requirements in relation to accessibility, structural design and fire safety.