Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the risk of potential wildfires in Surrey.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office are the lead Government Department for Wildfire Response and own the National Security Risk Assessment (NSRA) wildfire risk. Government departments including Home Office, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities and key stakeholders work closely to mitigate the risk of wildfire.
The published Wildfire Framework outlines the work being undertaken to improve the UK’s preparedness for wildfires in England. The Home Office maintains regular engagement with National Bodies including the National Fire Chiefs Council and England and Wales Wildfire Forum to monitor and review sector led improvements to wildfire response and mitigation.
The Home Office have committed to scoping a wildfire strategy and action plan by mid-2024, with support from Defra and its agencies. This commitment is outlined in the third National Adaptation Plan and includes considering prevention, response and recovery actions.
In 24/25, the Home Office is funding a new National Resilience Wildfire Advisor who will assess what additional wildfire national capabilities might be needed to increase resilience to the wildfire risk and to ensure coordination of approaches across the sector.
Surrey County Council has overall responsibility for fire and rescue services in Surrey. The county council will receive an un-ringfenced grant for all of their services including fire, through the Local Government Finance Settlement and they will allocate funding according to their priorities.
All Fire and Rescue Authority’s including Surrey, are required to plan for the foreseeable risks in their area (including wildfires) through their Integrated Risk Management Plan. This will include plans to prevent and respond to incidents.
Individuals should contact their own insurance providers with regard to any potential claims for damage as a result of wildfire.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Southwark (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to hold chief officers of police to account for the appropriate vetting of adverse information on police recruits regarding (1) security, (2) public safety, and (3) the confidence of the community.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Police forces carry out their vetting independently of government and in line with the College of Policing’s vetting code of practice and vetting authorised professional practice (APP) guidance, which are both continually reviewed. The code sets out the role that a thorough and effective vetting regime has in helping to ensure public trust and confidence in those working in policing.
The College’s most recent code, published in July 2023, sets out how adverse information should be considered in vetting decisions, as well as provides a number of requirements on chief officers, including the need to assess the risks posed by the individual undergoing vetting both to the public and the police service.
His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) hold forces to account by routinely carry out independent inspections of forces’ effectiveness and efficiency, which include assessments on vetting. The inspectorate has recently set up a new rolling inspection programme on integrity which will look at the work of professional standards units alongside force vetting and counter-corruption arrangements.
The government is supporting policing by creating a statutory requirement for officers to hold and maintain vetting clearance, as well as creating a new set of regulations which will govern how those who fail vetting can be dismissed. In January this year, the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) also published outcomes from its exercise ensuring all officers and staff were checked against the Police National Database (PND).
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information his Department holds on the number for fire fighting (a) appliances and (b) vehicles owned by the Fire and Rescue Service over the last five financial years, by each region.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The latest available data (year ending March 2021) on the number of fire -fighting appliances and vehicles owned by the Fire and Rescue Service is published in FIRE1403, available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/634d2ed6e90e0731aa0fcc59/fire-statistics-data-tables-fire1403-201022.xlsx.
This provides the number of fire operational appliances (fire-fighting appliances) and non-operational appliances which includes the subcategory of vehicles. The data is provided by year for England, and for each fire and rescue service (FRS), designated as either metropolitan or non-metropolitan. We do not publish the data by region, but the numbers for each FRS can be aggregated to provide required regional level data.
The table below provides the number of operational and non-operational appliances in England between the years ending March 2017 and years ending March 2021.
Year ending March | Number of operational appliances | Number of non-operational appliances | Total number of appliances |
2017 | 3,201 | 5,831 | 9,032 |
2018 | 3,445 | 5,609 | 9,054 |
2019 | 3,352 | 5,740 | 9,092 |
2020 | 3,525 | 5,727 | 9,252 |
2021 | 3,608 | 5,729 | 9,337 |
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what her planned timescale is for ambulance service data to be active on the Federated Data Platform for use by participating hospital trusts.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has had recent discussions with his Israeli counterpart on injuries received by (a) children and (b) civilian men of working age in Gaza hit by Israeli drone fire.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The British Government has underlined the need for Israel to ensure effective deconfliction in Gaza. We want to see Israel take greater care to limit its operations to military targets, avoid harming civilians, in particular children, and destroying homes. Too many civilians have been killed.
We are calling for an immediate pause to get aid in and hostages out, then progress towards a sustainable, permanent ceasefire, without a return to destruction, fighting and loss of life.
The Foreign Secretary reiterated these points during his visit to Israel on 17 April, where he met Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Israel Katz.
Asked by: Nicola Richards (Conservative - West Bromwich East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will publish the average mayoral precept in each mayoral authority.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government publishes data on the average Band D council tax set by each individual authority - including mayoral combined authorities - in the annual council tax levels publication. Band D is used as the standard for comparing council tax levels between and across local authorities. Individual local authorities also publish further details about their council tax charges.
The average Band D council tax set by each local authority for 2024-25 are as follows:
Authority | Average council tax for the authority (Band D) – general functions of the mayor £ | Average council tax for the Authority (Band D) – Police and Crime Commissioner functions of the mayor £ |
West Midlands | 0.00 | N/A |
Greater Manchester | 112.95 (Note 1) | 256.30 |
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough | 36.00 | N/A |
Liverpool City Region | 19.00 | N/A |
North of Tyne | 0.00 (Note 2) | N/A |
South Yorkshire | 0.00 | N/A |
Tees Valley | 0.00 | N/A |
West Yorkshire | 0.00 | 249.28 |
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|
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Greater London Authority | 166.27 (Note 3) | 305.13 |
Note 1: Greater Manchester’s general functions includes the responsibility for Fire and Rescue provision. This is not the case for any other Authority and so the figure is not directly comparable.
Note 2: The North of Tyne Combined Authority will be replaced by the newly established North East Mayoral Combined Authority.
Note 3: Greater London Authority is not a Combined Authority and therefore the Mayor has different roles and responsibilities which are not directly comparable.
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, if he will hold discussions with the Department of Health in Northern Ireland on ambulance response times in that region.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Departmental officials have regular discussions with Northern Ireland and other Devolved Governments on a range of issues, including urgent and emergency care services. There are, however, no specific discussions currently planned on ambulance response times in Northen Ireland.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the numbers of (1) private, and (2) social housing buildings above 11 metres which are fitted with equipment to prevent voltage surges.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer the Noble Member to the response provided to UIN HL8412 on 26 June 2023.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether there is any evidence of voltage surges causing damage to domestic appliances in Grenfell Tower in the days prior to the fire on 14 June 2017.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The issue of electrical surges was considered in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry: Phase 1 report, which focused on the causes of the fire. There were longstanding concerns raised by residents about electrical “surges” affecting appliances within the Tower. As stated in the report, RINA Consulting (RINA) were retained by the Metropolitan Police to assess the electrical supply and distribution infrastructure. RINA found no damage or significant degradation (other than that caused by the fire) nor any major defects in the electrical supply system. RINA found no evidence to suggest that the electrical infrastructure of the Tower was in any way responsible for the fire.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS England has issued a data privacy notice for ambulance services data to be part of the NHS Federated Data Platform product.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has published an Ambulance Data Service dashboard, Federated Data Platform product privacy notice, which is available at the following link: