Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to support homeowners that have reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in their properties.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 20527 on 15 April 2024.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many applications for emergency proxy votes due to (a) lost and (b) damaged IDs were received in the elections of 2 May 2024; and what assessment he has made of the potential implications of that number for his policies on voter ID .
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Electoral Commission is the independent electoral regulator and will be providing their analysis of the running of the May polls 2024. This will include the reporting of the number of individuals turned away from polling stations. We anticipate publication of their interim report in early July.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of the number of people unable to vote due to the voter ID requirements in the elections of 2 May 2024.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Electoral Commission is the independent electoral regulator and will be providing their analysis of the running of the May polls 2024. This will include the reporting of the number of individuals turned away from polling stations. We anticipate publication of their interim report in early July.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is taking steps to mitigate the potential impact of increases in import costs at Dover on the efficiency of haulage operations.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The new import health control regime aims to achieve the lowest regulatory obligation for businesses, consistent with the need to protect biosecurity and public health and to safeguard the UK’s reputation for high regulatory standards. The additional costs for businesses associated with the BTOM are substantially less than they would have been if we had extended the inherited EU 3rd country model, currently applied to non-EU goods, to all imports.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of developing a long-term strategy to manage and remediate properties built with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete that are now deemed unsafe.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 20527 on 15 April 2024.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on (a) inspecting and (b) reporting on the structural safety of buildings constructed with RAAC.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 20527 on 15 April 2024.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, if he will take steps with his international counterparts to support the Kenyan government in managing evacuations near dams and reservoirs due to ongoing flood risks.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Following recent periods of intense rainfall a nationwide assessment of all dams has been conducted with nearly 200 identified as high risk. Government-led search and rescue operations are ongoing with the police, public health officers and others assisting across all emergency locations. In response to the flooding the UK has provided £850,000 to UNICEF to support the provision of cash transfers to nearly 7,000 households in the worst affected counties. UK funding will also deliver urgently needed health, nutrition and sanitation services. We remain in close contact with our Kenyan and international partners on the continuing response.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the High Court ruling of 3 May 2024 on the Government's carbon budget delivery plan, if her Department will take steps to tackle issues identified by the High Court in that ruling.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is proud of its record on climate change. The Carbon Budget Delivery Plan remains Government policy and sets out over 300 policies and proposals the Government has in place to reach its carbon budget targets.
The judgment contains no criticism of these detailed plans nor the policies themselves, which will keep the UK on track to meet our international commitments, including the 2030 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement, and Net Zero by 2050.
Officials are considering the best approach to comply with the court order and Government will publish a new report within 12 months.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the impact of the High Court ruling of 3 May 2024 on the Government's carbon budget delivery plan on the UK's ability to meet its climate commitments under the Paris Agreement.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is proud of its record on climate change. The Carbon Budget Delivery Plan remains Government policy and sets out over 300 policies and proposals the Government has in place to reach its carbon budget targets.
The judgment contains no criticism of these detailed plans nor the policies themselves, which will keep the UK on track to meet our international commitments, including the 2030 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement, and Net Zero by 2050.
Officials are considering the best approach to comply with the court order and Government will publish a new report within 12 months.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the potential barriers to reducing the number of empty dwellings in high-demand housing areas.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
As mentioned in the answer to Question UIN 23007 on 30 April 2024, the department publishes live tables on dwelling stock, which includes vacant homes here: Live tables on dwelling stock (including vacants) - GOV.UK. This data is collated from Council Taxbase data, collected by local authorities.
Our published figures for empty homes in England are in live table 615 which can be found here. As for the rest of the UK, housing is a devolved matter.
Local authorities already have powers to deal with empty homes.