Every parliamentary written question tabled by Joe Robertson this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 541–560 of 925 · this parliament
Whether compliance obligations related to defence procurement will be assessed for potential reduction.
Through our acquisition reforms we are streamlining our processes and taking risk-based approaches to procurement. We will focus assurance activity where it is most needed, reducing bureaucracy to drive pace in delivery, while ensuring compliance with the Department’s legal obligations.
Innovation and Technology, whether his Department plans to commission external reviews of digital compliance regulations.
The Government's independent regulators regularly review regulations and provide their independent recommendations to the Secretary of State to ensure that these regulations are effective and support businesses within the sector.
Innovation and Technology, how frequently his Department reviews compliance costs for the technology sector.
Sections 28–31 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 set the legislative requirements for the inclusion of statutory review provisions in secondary legislation, including that a report of the first review must be published within five years of the relevant legislation's commencement date and subsequent reports published at intervals not exceeding five years. In the absence of a review provision, the post-implementation review statutory guidance made under section 31 of the act states that policies should still be subject to proportionate monitoring, evaluation and non-statutory review, where appropriate.
Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2025 to Question 32569 on Domestic Waste: Recycling and Waste Disposal, whether WRAP provided guidance on the Simpler Recycling reforms to residual waste collection.
WRAP, supported by Defra, and with input from local authorities, has developed good practice guidance on household and commercial waste collections designed to help local authorities deliver quality waste and recycling services to citizens in England. This will include guidance on residual waste collection and is intended to be published shortly.
Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has funded any publications produced by WRAP in each of the last three years.
Yes, Defra has funded a number of publications produced by WRAP in each of the last three years including publications on food waste reduction, recycling and textiles.
Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2025 to Question 32571 on WRAP: Finance, how much funding to WRAP has been budgeted for the 2025-26 financial year.
A WRAP grant provision of £5,952,500 for 2025-26 is planned, this is provisional subject to agreement of the 2025-26 programme proposal from WRAP.
Pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2025 to Question 32576 on Fires: Air Pollution, whether the UK Health Security Agency and its predecessor has made an assessment of the impact of air pollution caused by backyard burning of domestic waste on public health.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), formerly Public Health England, has published systematic reviews of the epidemiological studies on the health impacts associated with outdoor and indoor exposure to solid fuel burning. This included biomass and coal, and respiratory diseases in children and adults. The evidence suggests that burning solid fuels indoors could contribute to the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer in adults, while the evidence for other respiratory effects is less clear. The results regarding outdoor exposure and the health effects were too limited to draw firm conclusions.The evidence of links between exposure to air pollution and a wider range of health effects, such as adverse birth outcomes, diabetes, and increased dementia risk, also continues to build, with varying strengths of evidence. This was noted in the Chief Medical Officer’s Annual Report on air pollution 2022, which the UKHSA contributed to. This report is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/chief-medical-officers-annual-report-2022-air-pollution
Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2025 to Question 32568 on Litter: Fines, if he will take steps to issue guidance to local authorities on establishing a mechanism to (a) appeal and (b) review fixed penalty notices.
There is no formal right of appeal against a fixed penalty notice. If an alleged offender does not accept their liability for the offence, there is no requirement on them to pay the fixed penalty. They may have to defend their case in court. We consider it good practice for councils to operate an informal dispute process to minimise the number of cases that reach court. Advisory enforcement guidance attached to the Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse provides enforcing authorities with advice on how to operate a process for informally disputing liability. The Government is currently considering the benefits of placing this guidance on a statutory footing.
Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2025 to Question 26631 on WRAP, if he will publish the contract or memorandum of understanding between his Department and WRAP that provides the basis for his Department funding WRAP.
Details of the WRAP grant agreement are published on the Grants register held on GOV.UK. The WRAP grant agreement details the purpose and objectives of the grant, standard terms and conditions, performance monitoring and financial assurance.
What discussions he has had with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on health technology assessment methods for evaluating novel therapies for Alzheimer's disease.
Department officials have regular discussions with the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) about a range of topics, including its health technology assessment methods.The NICE develops its guidance independently on the basis of an assessment of the available evidence, in line with its published health technology evaluation manual. The NICE keeps its methods and processes under review to ensure that they are appropriate to emerging new treatments and aligned with best practice.The NICE has established a Health Technology Assessment Innovation Laboratory (HTA Lab) that aims to address the challenges that may arise in the assessment of innovative health technologies.The NICE’s HTA Lab carried out a project to identify the key issues that are likely to emerge during the evaluation of the disease modifying treatments for dementia, including those licensed for Alzheimer’s disease. The project concluded that the NICE’s current approach and methods are appropriate for evaluating these treatments. The report is available at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/about/what-we-do/our-research-work/hta-lab-projects#dmdts
Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 12 February 2025 to Question 28295 on Wood-burning Stoves: Health Hazards, what the (a) terms of reference and (b) timetable is of his Department’s review of options for reducing emissions from domestic burning.
The Government is committed to taking action to clean up our air and protecting the public from the harm of pollution. Domestic solid fuel burning accounted for 20% of PM2.5 emissions in 2023, with indoor wood burning accounting for 11% of total PM2.5. The Government concluded a rapid review of the existing Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP23) and published a statement of the rapid review’s key findings on 30 January 2025. Later in 2025 we will publish a revised Environmental Improvement Plan, to protect and restore our natural environment. It will be a clearer, prioritised plan for achieving environmental outcomes, including improving air quality through action on PM2.5.
What assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Innovative Medicines Fund in providing access to non-cancer medicines.
The Innovative Medicines Fund was launched in June 2022, building on the successful Cancer Drugs Fund and supporting patient access to the most promising new medicines while further evidence is collected on their use to address clinical uncertainty.Since the fund’s establishment in June 2022, over 1,050 patients have been registered to receive treatment with 16 products treating 16 different conditions. NHS England has made interim funding available via the fund for 14 products, and two products have been recommended for managed access across three indications in the fund.A high proportion of topics assessed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence as having potential for managed access have gone on to secure a positive recommendation for routine commissioning, bypassing the need for further data collection and reappraisal through the fund. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s overall approval rate for non-cancer medicines is very high, with 88% of all of medicines it has evaluated recommended for National Health Service funding for some of or all the eligible patient population.
How many non-cancer medicines have been approved for use by the Innovative Medicines Fund in each year since June 2022.
The following table shows the number of non-cancer medicines that have been approved for use by the Innovative Medicines Fund, broken down by those available via managed access agreements and interim funding agreements:YearManaged accessInterim funding2022/23--2023/24-42024/25310Source: NHS England.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s overall approval rate for non-cancer medicines is very high, with 88% of all of medicines it has evaluated recommended for National Health Service funding for some or all of the eligible patient population.
Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2025 to Question 32576 on Fires: Air Pollution, whether WRAP has made an assessment of the potential impact of the burning of household rubbish in the gardens of residential properties on air pollution.
WRAP has not made an assessment of the potential impact of the burning of household rubbish in the gardens of residential properties on air pollution. However, the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (NAEI) includes estimates of existing emissions from burning household waste and garden waste outdoors.
Pursuant to the Answer of 28 March 2025 to Question 40054, what the total staff time spent on the redesign of the Great British Energy logo was.
As per my answer to Question 40054, Great British Energy’s logo was created in-house and with government resources. However, since the staff involved were not recruited specifically to design the logo a detailed breakdown of the time and costs involved is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. I can however assure the hon Member that the Government is committed to ensuring that staff resources are used efficiently and effectively.
Pursuant to the Answer of 28 March 2025 to Question 40054, what the total salary cost was for the staff engaged in the redesign of the Great British Energy logo from commission to delivery.
As per my answer to Question 40054, Great British Energy’s logo was created in-house and with government resources. However, since the staff involved were not recruited specifically to design the logo a detailed breakdown of the time and costs involved is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. I can however assure the hon Member that the Government is committed to ensuring that staff resources are used efficiently and effectively.
What the average waiting times are for coroner inquests in each region.
The requested information is available in, or can be extrapolated from, the Coroner Statistics 2023 which are published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/coroners-statistics-2023. Statistics for 2024 will be published on 08 May 2025.The Government is committed to supporting an inquest process which is as swift as possible and which puts the bereaved families at the heart of the process. We recognise the impact of delays on bereaved families and wider systems and will continue to work closely with the Chief Coroner, Local Authorities and other key partners to reform and deliver a framework for the future development of coroner services.
Which coroner jurisdictions have the longest inquest wait times; and what steps she is taking to bring them in line with national averages.
The requested information is available in, or can be extrapolated from, the Coroner Statistics 2023 which are published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/coroners-statistics-2023. Statistics for 2024 will be published on 08 May 2025.The Government is committed to supporting an inquest process which is as swift as possible and which puts the bereaved families at the heart of the process. We recognise the impact of delays on bereaved families and wider systems and will continue to work closely with the Chief Coroner, Local Authorities and other key partners to reform and deliver a framework for the future development of coroner services.
Pursuant to the Answer of 27 March 2025 to Question 40570 on Ministers: Aviation and to the Answer of 14 March 2025 to Question 36276 on Military Aircraft: Helicopters, which (a) Ministers and (b) Departments are eligible to procure official helicopter travel under the provisions of the Central Cabinet Office Corporate Travel Agency Contract other than the Ministry of Defence.
The Central Cabinet Office Corporate Travel Agency Contract contains provisions for the booking of aviation assets for any government department or minister, in accordance with the Ministerial Code. This contract has not been utilised for helicopter travel by this government.
Whether his Department has produced an impact assessment on the potential impact of reducing the proportion of the NHS budget allocated to mental health services.
For 2025/26, mental health spending is forecast to amount to £15.6 billion. This represents a significant spending uplift of £320 million in real terms on mental health compared to the previous financial year.In addition, integrated care boards are forecast to meet the Mental Health Investment Standard over the 2025/26 financial year, meaning that local health services will invest a greater share of their budgets into frontline mental health services.No formal impact assessment has been made, as mental health spending is forecast to be almost exactly the same as it was for 2024/25, with a small reduction of just 0.07% in the share of recurrent National Health Service spending for 2025/26. This change is driven by additional investment in the NHS to support elective recovery, and by investment to improve general practice and pharmacy services and meet the rising costs of new medicines and medical devices.