Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the potential long-term impact of the cost of living on life expectancy; and what steps her Department is taking to reduce regional disparities in life expectancy.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is mindful of potential interactions between cost of living pressures and health, which is one of the reasons we are delivering cost of living support worth an average of £3,700 per household between 2022 and 2025. The Government is committed to its levelling up mission to narrow the gap in healthy life expectancy by 2030, and increase healthy life expectancy by five years by 2035.
In January 2023 we announced our plan to publish the Major Conditions Strategy. The strategy will be a direction setting document which aims to pave the way for further action towards integrated care, coordinated around the needs of people, to address our aims of improving healthy life expectancy, reduce pressure on the National Health Service, and reduce ill-health related labour market inactivity. It will emphasise the importance of working with local services and organisations to address disparities in health outcomes, supporting the levelling up mission. Our intention is to publish the Major Conditions Strategy in Spring 2024.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he is taking steps to encourage uptake of electronic vehicles among all socioeconomic groups.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is committed to keeping the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) affordable for all consumers. Plug-in vehicle grants have been in place for over a decade to support the transition to EVs, and remain in place for harder to transition vehicles such as vans.
The uptake of EVs continues to be supported through generous tax incentives. The 2022 Autumn Statement extended favourable benefit in kind tax rates for EVs out to April 2028, and EVs are either exempt or pay minimal Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) until 2025. From 2025, EVs will still have preferential first year rates of VED in comparison to the most polluting vehicles.
To transform the availability of charging for drivers without off-street parking, the Government introduced the £381 million Local EV Infrastructure Fund. This will deliver tens of thousands of local chargepoints, ensuring the transition to EVs takes place in every part of the country. The Government also continues to provide funding for domestic and workplace chargepoints. This includes the recently announced grant for eligible households without off-street parking, to install a cross-pavement charging solution.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of levels of train cancellations into Preston; and what plans he has to help reduce such cancellations.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Ministers, DfT and Rail North Partnership Officials regularly meet with the senior management of Network Rail and train operators to review performance, including at Preston. We continue to hold operators to account for matters within their control and will continue to use all contractual levers to drive the best outcomes for passengers. The Department will continue to work collaboratively with train operating companies and Network Rail to ensure a high performing railway contributes to growth and local economies.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
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 reduce planning approval times for new electric vehicle charging installations.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Nationally set permitted development rights enable the installation of electric vehicle charging points (EVCPs) without the need for a planning application. We are currently consulting on changes to the rights to provide increased flexibility to individuals and organisations wishing to install EVCPs. The consultation is open until 9 April and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/changes-to-various-permitted-development-rights-consultation.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of levels of plastic pollution per capita in the UK; what steps his Department is taking to tackle those levels; and what plans he has to reduce plastic waste generation in the long-term.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have banned the use of microbeads in rinse-off personal care products. Our single-use plastic carrier bag charge, now 10p, has reduced the number of such bags given out by the main supermarkets by over 98%. We brought in measures to restrict the supply of single-use plastic straws and single-use plastic stemmed cotton buds and ban the supply of plastic drink stirrers in 2020. In October 2023, we also banned the supply of single-use plastic plates, bowls, and trays to the end-user and banned the supply of single-use plastic cutlery and single-use plastic balloon sticks and expanded and foamed extruded polystyrene food and drinks containers, including cups. In April 2022, we brought in the Plastic Packaging Tax, a tax of £200 per tonne on plastic packaging manufactured in, or imported into the UK, that does not contain at least 30% recycled plastic. From April 2023, it has increased in line with inflation to £210.82/tonne.
Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging (pEPR) will make producers responsible for the costs of collecting and managing packaging they place on the market when it is no longer used and becomes waste. This will encourage businesses to think carefully about how much packaging they use, to design and use packaging that is easily recyclable, and to use reusable and refillable packaging. This will contribute to our goals of a more circular economy, in which resources are kept in use for longer, minimising the waste we create, and cutting carbon emissions.
As one of the founding members of the high ambition coalition of countries calling for an end to plastic pollution by 2040, the UK will do all we can to press for the agreement of a high ambition Treaty by the end of 2024.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to help increase the level of average savings of households.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government’s plan is working, with inflation down and growth forecast to improve. This allowed the government, at Spring Budget 2024, to cut taxes further for working people. These are the most important things that the government can do to support households to save.
At Spring Budget 2024, the Chancellor also set out further measures to support and encourage a savings culture across the UK and increase opportunities for people to save for the longer term. This included launching a consultation to introduce a new UK ISA with a £5,000 allowance for investments in UK assets and funds, in addition to the existing £20,000 ISA allowance, and the launch of British Savings Bonds, delivered through National Savings & Investment.
These measures sit alongside existing policies such as Help to Save, which supports people on low incomes to save, and the Lifetime ISA, which supports people to save for a first home or later life
The retail savings market currently offers a range of options to savers, who can access competitive rates on a variety of instant access and fixed-term products.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to increase the uptake of the HPV vaccine by (a) girls and (b) boys.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) works closely with charities such as Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust and the Teenage Cancer Trust to develop resources to raise awareness and educate young girls and boys about the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine and related cancers. The UKHSA has helped develop education resources for schools called EDUCATE, co-developed with teenagers and the Health Protection Research Unit on Behavioural Science and Evaluation.
School Aged Immunisation Service (SAIS) providers have continuously been focusing on HPV programme recovery since the pandemic and the school closures, and have robust catch-up plans in place for HPV vaccination based on population need, and utilising opportunities from the HPV programme change in September 2023 to deliver further catchup activities from the academic year 2023/24 using innovative models.
The UKHSA monitors uptake for immunisation programmes for teenagers. Annual published statistics help local NHS Screening and Immunisation teams develop plans to improve uptake and reduce inequalities in collaboration with key partners, including Directors of Public Health, and teams in local authorities.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to tackle levels of plastic waste; and whether he plans to take steps to help reduce the amount of waste that is shipped abroad for disposal.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK is a leading voice in tackling plastic pollution and were proud to co-sponsor the proposal to prepare a new international, legally binding plastics treaty. Negotiations have not yet concluded; however, the UK are committed to securing an ambitious agreement by the end of 2024 and have called for the treaty to include measures that restrain and reduce the production and consumption of plastic to sustainable levels.
We have banned the use of microbeads in rinse-off personal care products. Our single-use plastic carrier bag charge, now 10p, has reduced the number of such bags given out by the main supermarkets by over 98%. We brought in measures to restrict the supply of single-use plastic straws and single-use plastic stemmed cotton buds and ban the supply of plastic drink stirrers in 2020. And in October 2023, we banned the supply of single-use plastic plates, bowls, and trays to the end-user and banned the supply of single-use plastic cutlery and single-use plastic balloon sticks and expanded and foamed extruded polystyrene food and drinks containers, including cups. In April 2022, we brought in the Plastic Packaging Tax, a tax of £200 per tonne on plastic packaging manufactured in, or imported into the UK, that does not contain at least 30% recycled plastic. From April 2023, it has increased in line with inflation to £210.82/tonne.
Under the UK Plan for Shipments of Waste, it is generally prohibited to export waste for disposal, subject to some exceptions within that plan' UK plan for shipments of waste (publishing.service.gov.uk).
Businesses involved in the export of waste are required by law to take all necessary steps to ensure that the waste they ship is managed in an environmentally sound manner throughout its shipment and during its recycling. Individuals and businesses found to be exporting waste in contravention of these requirements can face a two-year jail term and an unlimited fine. In addition, the Government has committed to banning the export of plastic waste to countries which are not members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and we plan to consult this year on the date by which this should be achieved.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he has taken to contribute towards the target in the Global Plastics Treaty of a 75% reduction in virgin plastic production and single-use plastics by 2040.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK is a leading voice in tackling plastic pollution and were proud to co-sponsor the proposal to prepare a new international, legally binding plastics treaty. Negotiations have not yet concluded; however, the UK are committed to securing an ambitious agreement by the end of 2024 and have called for the treaty to include measures that restrain and reduce the production and consumption of plastic to sustainable levels.
We have banned the use of microbeads in rinse-off personal care products. Our single-use plastic carrier bag charge, now 10p, has reduced the number of such bags given out by the main supermarkets by over 98%. We brought in measures to restrict the supply of single-use plastic straws and single-use plastic stemmed cotton buds and ban the supply of plastic drink stirrers in 2020. And in October 2023, we banned the supply of single-use plastic plates, bowls, and trays to the end-user and banned the supply of single-use plastic cutlery and single-use plastic balloon sticks and expanded and foamed extruded polystyrene food and drinks containers, including cups. In April 2022, we brought in the Plastic Packaging Tax, a tax of £200 per tonne on plastic packaging manufactured in, or imported into the UK, that does not contain at least 30% recycled plastic. From April 2023, it has increased in line with inflation to £210.82/tonne.
Under the UK Plan for Shipments of Waste, it is generally prohibited to export waste for disposal, subject to some exceptions within that plan' UK plan for shipments of waste (publishing.service.gov.uk).
Businesses involved in the export of waste are required by law to take all necessary steps to ensure that the waste they ship is managed in an environmentally sound manner throughout its shipment and during its recycling. Individuals and businesses found to be exporting waste in contravention of these requirements can face a two-year jail term and an unlimited fine. In addition, the Government has committed to banning the export of plastic waste to countries which are not members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and we plan to consult this year on the date by which this should be achieved.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of how many single-use plastic products were disposed of in (a) Preston, (b) Lancashire and (c) England in the last three years; and what support his Department plans to provide to businesses to encourage the production of more sustainable packaging products.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have made no assessment of single-use plastic product disposal in those areas in the last three years.
The Government is determined to transform the way we collect, recycle, and reuse our waste materials so we eliminate all avoidable waste by 2050. This is why we are introducing Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging (pEPR) to make producers responsible for the costs of collecting and managing the packaging they produce. pEPR will encourage producers to reduce the use of unnecessary packaging and use more recyclable and reusable materials in packaging. Furthermore, through UK Research and Innovation, we have provided over £190 million to over 280 projects in the last 5 years, for research to help us reduce plastic waste and increase the sustainability of the plastic packaging we use.