Written questions by Robertson.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the recommendations of the report entitled Our Future Homes: Housing that promotes wellbeing and community for an ageing population, published on 26 November 2024.

The government are giving careful consideration to the recommendations in the final report of the Older People’s Housing Taskforce. We are committed to enhancing provision and choice for older people in the housing market and we will continue to consider this issue as we develop our long-term housing strategy

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 23 December 2024 to Question 20098 on Environment Agency: Motor Vehicles, what colour wheel lug nuts are standard for vehicles purchased by the Environment Agency.

The Environment Agency does not specify a colour for wheel lug nuts on its vehicles and does not cosmetically alter them. All wheel nuts on the Environment Agency’s commercial vehicles have plastic wheel nut indicators attached, which act as a safety feature to indicate if any wheel nuts have come lose. These plastic caps are yellow as standard but can be found in green or orange. Very occasionally, the Environment Agency uses red wheel nut indicators to indicate when a wheel has been changed but has not yet been torqued. All vehicles owned by the Environment Agency have Chapter 8 markings to comply with Department for Transport codes of practice. The Environment Agency logo is also added to owned vehicles; this is regarded as essential for any public serving organisation, particularly for vehicles being used to respond to incidents where the Environment Agency needs a physical presence. The Environment Agency cannot provide a breakdown of the costs of applying chapter 8 markings and logos. The Environment Agency does not have a specific budget allocated solely for vehicle branding.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 23 December 2024 to Question 20097 on Environment Agency: Motor Vehicles, whether livery expenditures are classified as (a) essential and (b) non-essential modifications; and how these classifications are determined.

The Environment Agency does not specify a colour for wheel lug nuts on its vehicles and does not cosmetically alter them. All wheel nuts on the Environment Agency’s commercial vehicles have plastic wheel nut indicators attached, which act as a safety feature to indicate if any wheel nuts have come lose. These plastic caps are yellow as standard but can be found in green or orange. Very occasionally, the Environment Agency uses red wheel nut indicators to indicate when a wheel has been changed but has not yet been torqued. All vehicles owned by the Environment Agency have Chapter 8 markings to comply with Department for Transport codes of practice. The Environment Agency logo is also added to owned vehicles; this is regarded as essential for any public serving organisation, particularly for vehicles being used to respond to incidents where the Environment Agency needs a physical presence. The Environment Agency cannot provide a breakdown of the costs of applying chapter 8 markings and logos. The Environment Agency does not have a specific budget allocated solely for vehicle branding.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 23 December 2024 to Question 20098 on Environment Agency: Motor Vehicles, whether wheel lug nuts on Environment Agency vehicles are (a) painted and (b) otherwise cosmetically enhanced.

The Environment Agency does not specify a colour for wheel lug nuts on its vehicles and does not cosmetically alter them. All wheel nuts on the Environment Agency’s commercial vehicles have plastic wheel nut indicators attached, which act as a safety feature to indicate if any wheel nuts have come lose. These plastic caps are yellow as standard but can be found in green or orange. Very occasionally, the Environment Agency uses red wheel nut indicators to indicate when a wheel has been changed but has not yet been torqued. All vehicles owned by the Environment Agency have Chapter 8 markings to comply with Department for Transport codes of practice. The Environment Agency logo is also added to owned vehicles; this is regarded as essential for any public serving organisation, particularly for vehicles being used to respond to incidents where the Environment Agency needs a physical presence. The Environment Agency cannot provide a breakdown of the costs of applying chapter 8 markings and logos. The Environment Agency does not have a specific budget allocated solely for vehicle branding.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 23 December 2024 to Question 20097, on road Environment Agency: Motor Vehicles, how much the Environment Agency has spent on vehicle livery broken down by (a) vehicle type, (b) fuel type, and (c) the proportion allocated to branding and decorative elements in each of the last three financial years.

The Environment Agency does not specify a colour for wheel lug nuts on its vehicles and does not cosmetically alter them. All wheel nuts on the Environment Agency’s commercial vehicles have plastic wheel nut indicators attached, which act as a safety feature to indicate if any wheel nuts have come lose. These plastic caps are yellow as standard but can be found in green or orange. Very occasionally, the Environment Agency uses red wheel nut indicators to indicate when a wheel has been changed but has not yet been torqued. All vehicles owned by the Environment Agency have Chapter 8 markings to comply with Department for Transport codes of practice. The Environment Agency logo is also added to owned vehicles; this is regarded as essential for any public serving organisation, particularly for vehicles being used to respond to incidents where the Environment Agency needs a physical presence. The Environment Agency cannot provide a breakdown of the costs of applying chapter 8 markings and logos. The Environment Agency does not have a specific budget allocated solely for vehicle branding.

If he will take steps to ensure that fees paid by commissioners take into account changes in the costs faced by not-for-profit social care providers.

Local authorities are best placed to understand and plan for the needs of their population, which is why, under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are tasked with the duty to shape their care market to meet the diverse needs of all local people. This in...

Pursuant to the Answer of 16 December 2024 to Question 16662 on NHS: Public Consultation, what the total budget is for deliberative engagement in the 2024-25 financial year.

Following an invitation to tender competition process, we appointed Thinks Insight, Kaleidoscope Health and Care, and IPPR to support us to run the 10-Year Health Plan engagement exercise. The awarded value of the contract is up to £2.96 million, and incl...

What representation not-for-profit social care providers will receive on the proposed Adult Social Care Negotiating Body.

As currently drafted, the Employment Rights Bill requires that membership of the Adult Social Care Negotiating Body must include, “officials of one or more trade unions that represent the interests of social care workers” and “persons representing the int...

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2024 to Question 14178 on Domestic Waste: Waste Disposal, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the removal of the minimum r

Local authorities are already legally required to deliver waste collection services to all households in their area. Simpler Recycling in England will go further by mandating weekly food waste collections under the Environment Act 2021. Local authorities ...

Whether the refreshed NHS workforce plan will include policies on the palliative care sector.

The refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan will deliver the transformed health service that we will build over the next decade and will ensure that patients get the treatment they need, when and where they need it, including those at the end of their lives. I...

Whether the 10-year health plan will include policies on palliative care.

We have committed to developing a 10-year plan to deliver a National Health Service fit for the future. We will carefully be considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative and end of life care needs, with input from the public, p...

Food and Rural Affairs, how much the Environment Agency spent on road vehicle fleet maintenance by (a) vehicle type, (b) fuel type and (c) non-essential modifications in each of the last three financial years

A breakdown of how much the Environment Agency spent on its commercial fleet’s maintenance by vehicle type and fuel type in the last three financial years is shown in the table below. This does not include leased vehicles as maintenance costs are included...

Food and Rural Affairs, how much the Environment Agency has spent on custom wheel lug nuts for Agency vehicles in each of the last three years; and for what purpose.

A breakdown of how much the Environment Agency spent on its commercial fleet’s maintenance by vehicle type and fuel type in the last three financial years is shown in the table below. This does not include leased vehicles as maintenance costs are included...

Food and Rural Affairs, what the ratio of staff to road vehicles in the Environment Agency (a) is and (b) was in each of the last three years.

A breakdown of how much the Environment Agency spent on its commercial fleet’s maintenance by vehicle type and fuel type in the last three financial years is shown in the table below. This does not include leased vehicles as maintenance costs are included...

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the delay to community pharmacy funding negotiations on community pharmacies.

As identified by Lord Darzi’s review, primary care is under pressure and in crisis. The Government inherited a system that has been neglected for too long, and it remains very difficult for pharmacists to deliver for patients at a local level. I am commit...

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the frequency of residual waste household collections on (a) public health and (b) local amenities.

Under section 89 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, there is a duty on local authorities to keep land and highways clear of litter. We recognise that as recycling services are expanded and improved under Simpler Recycling in England, local authorit...

How much funding (a) his Department and (b) NHS England has provided for the Global Majority Fellowship Programme in the last year for which figures are available.

There is no such thing as the Global Majority Fellowship Programme. The NHS Global Fellowship programme offers volunteer reciprocal leadership development opportunities for clinical and non-clinical staff to experience health systems across the globe.NHS ...

Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance has been produced by his Department on the issuing of fines by local authorities on householders who leave items by the curtilage of their property to be given away and r

The department has not produced guidance for local authorities on issuing fixed penalty notices for householders who leave items by the curtilage of their property to be given away and re-used. The principles of the Regulators’ Code applies, however, to e...

Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) his Department’s policy is and (b) what guidance has been given to local authorities on the use of microchips in household wheelie bins.

No, the department has not outlined a policy relating the use of microchips in household wheelie bins and has not issued guidance to local authorities in relation to this topic.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2024, to Question HL2390, on Waste: Codes of Practice, when his Department plans to respond to the consultation on making the Code of Practice a s

The Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse is already a statutory document, and Local Councils must have regard to it when carrying out their duty to keep relevant land clear of litter and refuse. Separate guidance on enforcement was published in 2019 and ...