Asked by: Geoffrey Cox (Conservative - Torridge and West Devon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with Natural England on supporting the value of traditional farming and the social and cultural capital of its communities supported by upland farming in a manner that encourages the promotion of each.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Natural England’s role is to help conserve, enhance and manage the natural environment for the benefit of present and future generations in a way that contributes to sustainable development. We hold regular discussions with Natural England to support this aim.
Asked by: Geoffrey Cox (Conservative - Torridge and West Devon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the (a) prevalence of Brucella Canis and (b) risk it presents to humans in the UK; and what steps including import controls she is taking to prevent the spread of that disease.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Brucella canis is classed as a reportable disease under the Zoonoses Order and in 2022, the first full reporting year, 54 cases were reported.
The Human Animal Infections & Risk Surveillance group (HAIRS), chaired by Defra, published a risk statement in February 2021 which concluded that the evidence available at that time did not allow an in-depth assessment of the risk to the general public. This statement is now under review in light of new data available.
Working with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), we will continue to gather information on the disease risk posed by B.Canis and will consider any further actions including import controls as appropriate.
Asked by: Geoffrey Cox (Conservative - Torridge and West Devon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to make further funding available to households who do not qualify for the Energy Bill Support Scheme, including off grid households.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding will provide £400 support for around 900,000 households without a domestic electricity supply, including off-grid households. Those eligible for the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding will need to submit a short online form via the Government’s GOV.UK pages, with the application portal due to open later in January.
Asked by: Geoffrey Cox (Conservative - Torridge and West Devon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what factors he will take into account in negotiations to agree with Xlinks a price for the electricity it will supply to the National Grid; and how he will ensure value for money in public spending on the interconnector project.
Answered by Graham Stuart
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has had early stage discussions with Xlinks about their proposal to import renewable electricity from Morocco to the UK. The Department has not undertaken a detailed assessment of the value for money of any supply from this project. Any assessment would be in accordance with established processes for managing public money.
Asked by: Geoffrey Cox (Conservative - Torridge and West Devon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has had recent discussions with Xlinks on the price of electricity it might supply to the national grid from solar power generated in Morocco.
Answered by Graham Stuart
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has had early stage discussions with Xlinks about their proposal to import renewable electricity from Morocco to the UK. The Department has not undertaken a detailed assessment of the value for money of any supply from this project. Any assessment would be in accordance with established processes for managing public money.
Asked by: Geoffrey Cox (Conservative - Torridge and West Devon)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the reasons for delays to decisions on planning appeals by the Planning Inspectorate; and what steps he is taking to ensure prompt and timely adjudication on those decisions.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Planning Inspectorate has been focusing their resources on casework with the greatest potential for economic impact and those with greatest community interest: national infrastructure, local plans and appeals requiring a hearing or inquiry before decision. The remaining capacity is used for casework decided by written representations.
The Inspectorate has been implementing actions to maintain performance in the areas currently performing well and to improve end-to-end times for other casework. In the short term those actions are focused around increasing capacity by:
The Inspectorate is also part way through a major investment programme which will support significant improvements to ways of working as well as providing a significantly improved customer experience.
Asked by: Geoffrey Cox (Conservative - Torridge and West Devon)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what is the current backlog of appeals awaiting adjudication by the Planning Inspectorate (a) in each region and (b) nationally.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Region | Open Appeals as at 31st August 2021 |
East Midlands | 595 |
East of England | 1,991 |
London | 3,589 |
North East | 172 |
North West | 703 |
South East | 2,762 |
South West | 1,125 |
West Midlands | 768 |
Yorkshire & Humberside | 656 |
No Region Recorded | 67 |
Total | 12,428 |
Asked by: Geoffrey Cox (Conservative - Torridge and West Devon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the review of the contractual arrangements under which NHS dental treatment is carried out will be completed.
Answered by Will Quince
In July 2022, we announced measures to improve the National Health Service dental system and in ‘Our plan for patients’ published in September 2022. This aims to increase access for patients, including those with greater oral health needs and ensure that dentists are fairly rewarded for the delivery of NHS care. Further information on improving access for patients, including in the South West, will be available later in the autumn.
Asked by: Geoffrey Cox (Conservative - Torridge and West Devon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take urgent steps to improve the availability and quality of NHS dental treatment in Torridge and West Devon constituency.
Answered by Will Quince
In July 2022, we announced measures to improve the National Health Service dental system and in ‘Our plan for patients’ published in September 2022. This aims to increase access for patients, including those with greater oral health needs and ensure that dentists are fairly rewarded for the delivery of NHS care. Further information on improving access for patients, including in the South West, will be available later in the autumn.
Asked by: Geoffrey Cox (Conservative - Torridge and West Devon)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to protect people who have signed up to the Help to Buy Scheme from property developers altering completion dates of their building programmes to a date beyond the closure of that scheme; and what assessment he has made of the scale of that issue across the UK.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Homes England have set out deadlines which are 31 October 2022 for customer applications for the scheme, 31December 2022 for practical completion of the house build and 31 March 2023 for the legal completion date. These dates were designed to ensure all transactions have time to complete and provide consumers with the confidence that their purchase would be completed prior to the scheme closing.
Homes England have been clear developers should only take customer orders on properties that can meet these deadlines.
Customers who are not able to use the Help to Buy scheme maybe able to use one of the other government schemes to help them purchase a home. Details of these schemes can be found at https://www.ownyourhome.gov.uk/