Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government plans to compensate property owners with septic tanks for the expense of (a) upgrading and (b) replacing existing tanks to make their tanks compliant by 1 January 2020.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There is no financial help available for upgrading or replacing small sewage discharges, regulated under General Binding Rules (GBRs), including for septic tanks if required. However, where the Environment Agency identifies that improvements are required they will agree a reasonable timescale for the improvements to be made with the owner.
All operators of septic tanks are responsible for maintaining them and making sure they don’t cause pollution. Untreated sewage harms rivers and wildlife. Discharges from septic tanks have been regulated under UK law for many years and discharges from a septic tank to a watercourse without a permit have not been lawful.
Alongside the GBRs coming into effect in January 2015, a policy target date of 1 January 2020 was set to phase out the remaining discharges directly from septic tanks to watercourses.
Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
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 potential financial effect on property owners of changes to septic tank regulations which come into force on 1 January 2020.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There was a regulatory impact assessment which considered the financial impact of the 2014 regulation changes of the regulatory system for controlling small sewage discharges from sceptic tanks which can be found here http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/2852/contents
The outcome of this was a beneficial saving to home owners and businesses as operators of small sewage discharges.
The aim of the changes is to protect water quality and were a means of reducing regulatory burden on primarily home owners and households. They removed the need to register a discharge whilst aiming to ensure maintenance of environmental protection and to prevent discharges causing pollution.
Under polluter pays principle it is an owners responsibility to comply with legislative requirements and to prevent pollution. There are no grants available for homeowners to improve or upgrade their discharges.
Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to reduce plastic waste in fast food outlets.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Resources and Waste Strategy set out our ambition to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste, including from fast food outlets. We will do this by making producers more responsible for the products they put on the market, starting with reforming the packaging waste regulations. We recently consulted on proposals to reform the packaging producer responsibility system to ensure that packaging producers fund the full net cost of managing the packaging they place on the market once it becomes waste. This will provide a strong financial incentive for packaging producers to make more sustainable decisions at the design stage and during manufacture, and to take greater responsibility for the environmental impacts of their products.
In general, we prefer to help people and companies make the right choice, rather than banning items outright. There may, however, be times when a ban is appropriate as part of a wider strategic approach. Which is why we are introducing measures to restrict the supply of plastic drink stirrers, plastic-stemmed cotton buds and plastic straws, which are commonly provided in fast food outlets, in April 2020. We will continue to review the latest evidence on problematic single-use plastic products to take a systematic approach to reducing their use.
In April last year, the Waste and Resources Action Programme and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation launched their world-leading UK Plastics Pact, with support from the Government, and some major fast food corporations such as McDonalds have signed up to it. The Pact brings these organisations together with four key targets for 2025 that aim to reduce the amount of plastic waste generated, including action to eliminate problematic or unnecessary single-use plastic packaging items. Our proposed reforms will support the Pact in achieving those targets.
Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will issue guidance on the recourse available to people in Crewe and Nantwich constituency who have either not been paid out for Equitable Life or who have received insufficient compensation.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
There are no plans to reopen the Payment Scheme or review the £1.5 billion funding allocation previously made to it. The Equitable Life Payment Scheme closed to claims in 2015 and further guidance on the status of the Payment Scheme after closure is available at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/equitable-life-payment-scheme#closure-of-the-scheme.
Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans the Government has to increase humanitarian aid to Idlib, Syria.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The humanitarian situation in Idlib is extremely serious. DFID continues to closely monitor the situation in Northwest Syria, and we are concerned about the impact of recent escalations of violence on civilians. So far this financial year we have allocated £40 million in support for the region, and are keeping this under active review as the situation on the ground develops.
Our support in this region continues to provide Syrians with shelter, clean water and sanitation, mental health services, as well as aiding health workers and facilities that have been affected by escalating violence. DFID partners are working tirelessly to meet the growing needs among displaced people.
In 2018 alone, DFID support in Idlib provided approximately 836,000 people with access to clean drinking water, 873,000 medical consultations, 69,000 food rations and access to formal education for 110,000 children.
Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to introduce routine screening in pregnancy for Vasa Praevia.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The United Kingdom National Screening Committee in 2017 considered an evidence review of screening for Vasa Praevia (VP). The review did not find sufficient evidence to support a change in the overall recommendation for VP screening. The 2017 review can be seen at the following link:
https://legacyscreening.phe.org.uk/vasapraevia
Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will have discussions with his counterparts in (a) the G20 and (b) the G7 on tackling persecution of Christians overseas.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
Over recent months, the UK has raised Freedom of Religion or Belief concerns, including the worldwide persecution of Christians, bilaterally and through multilateral institutions such as the UN, EU and OSCE. At the G7 Foreign Ministers' meeting in April, we discussed our concerns on the resurgent forms of racism, and discrimination that includes the targeting of Christian minorities. We reaffirmed our dedication to uphold the rights of all to hold and manifest their religion or belief, both privately and in public. We will consider whether to raise our concerns in subsequent G7 and G20 Foreign Ministers' meetings.
Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, for what reasons the Government did not support the UN Commission of Inquiry's report into potential violations of international law and the protection of healthcare in Palestine.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The UK abstained on the UN Human Rights Council resolution calling for a Commission of Inquiry on the basis that the substance of a resolution must be impartial and balanced. We could not support an international investigation that refused to explicitly call for an investigation into the action of non-state actors such as Hamas. It is clear that Hamas hold significant responsibility for encouraging violent protest in Gaza, which is totally unacceptable. However, our vote does not mean that we will hold back from voicing or raising concern about Israel’s actions when warranted. The UN and its member states have every right to address these grave matters in a measured, balanced and proportionate way. In future, the UK will continue to support scrutiny of Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories in the Human Rights Council, so long as this scrutiny is justified and proportionate. We have repeatedly made clear to Israel our longstanding concerns about the manner in which the Israel Defense Forces police non-violent protests and the border areas, including the use of live ammunition. We call on Israel to adhere to the principles of necessity and proportionality when defending its legitimate security interest.
Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support local authorities in managing the increase in mental ill health.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
Public Health England (PHE) provides a variety of resources to support local authorities in managing the increase in mental ill health.
PHE also provides local government with data on mental health to local authority level via our National Mental Health Intelligence Service. This can be viewed at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mental-health-data-and-analysis-a-guide-for-health-professionals
A dedicated profiling tool on our PHE fingertips platform is available at the following link:
http://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile-group/mental-health/
PHE published a suite of evidence for local areas and local government in August 2017 at the following link:
This includes work on Commissioning Cost Effective Interventions at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-health-services-cost-effective-commissioning
These resources give local authorities the evidence they need to take action for mental health promotion and prevention.
PHE provides support to local areas through its Prevention Concordat for Better Mental Health and through the work of the nine PHE local centres who support local authorities in their local areas. To date, over 70 national organisations and 70 local authorities have signed up to the Prevention Concordat programme. The target is to achieve full sign up of all local areas by the end of 2020/21. This work helps support local government in their strategic planning and delivery of mental health work as part of their overall work on improving the health and wellbeing of their local population.
On 7 October 2019, PHE also launched a new national resource for the public to help them look after their own mental health and support others, Every Mind Matters. This can be viewed at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/
We are supporting the recruitment of mental health social workers in local authorities and the NHS through the Think Ahead initiative. In addition, the New Roles in mental health social work group, led by Health Education England and Skills for Care, is working to develop the future social work and social care workforce with local authorities.
NHS England has developed community mental health services framework which aims to deliver greater integration with other services that impact on mental health and wellbeing outcomes - including primary care, general practitioners, social care, education, housing and third sector services. This can be viewed at the following link:
Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to provide assistance to leaseholders who were misled on property purchases.
Answered by Esther McVey - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The previous Secretary of State wrote to the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) on 26 November 2018 and 1 April 2019 to encourage them to undertake work into mis-selling in the leasehold housing market.
The government welcomed the CMA announcement on 11 June to open an investigation in this area. The CMA is concerned about potential leasehold mis-selling, and whether leasehold contract terms are onerous and unfair in relation to ground rent, permission and other charges. If the CMA thinks that a company’s practices are misleading – or that its contracts contain unfair clauses – it could take enforcement action to require the company to change how they operate. We look forward to hearing progress on the CMA’s work later this year.
The government has also worked with National Trading Standards who have published guidance to help clarify the rights and responsibilities around owning a leasehold property, and practical steps for individuals to take in the event things go wrong.