Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the impact of Ulez expansion on businesses and economic activity outside London.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Transport in London is devolved to an elected Mayor. TfL commissioned consultants to produce an impact assessment of the proposed expansion. This was published on 17 May 2022 entitled ‘London-wide ULEZ integrated Impact Assessment (ULEZ Scheme IIA). Therefore, it is for him to assess the economic impact of his proposed expansion of the ULEZ including on businesses and economic activity outside London.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to help safeguard the intellectual property rights of performers in the music, comedy and wider arts sector, in the context of advances in artificial intelligence technology.
Answered by Paul Scully
Performers such as those in the music, comedy and wider arts sectors have their performances protected under Part II of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended. Sections 182 and 182A of the Act give performers the right to control who is able to record and make reproductions of their performances. These provisions apply regardless of the technology used to make such reproductions, including AI technology.
The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) is working to develop a code of practice on copyright, related rights and AI. The IPO has met with representatives of performers as part of this process, as well as representatives of AI firms, AI users, and the wider creative industries. Alongside this, the IPO will be developing guidance on how copyright and related rights apply to material used and generated by AI models. The Government seeks to strike a balanced and pragmatic approach which allows AI innovators and the creative industries to grow in partnership.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether (a) the local police service or (b) the Exchequer benefits from the sale of former police buildings.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
It is the responsibility of Chief Constables and locally elected Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs), including Mayors who exercise PCC or equivalent functions, to take decisions around their resourcing and estates. They are best placed to make decisions with their communities based on their local knowledge and experience.
Under the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011, PCCs have a functional power to do anything which is calculated to facilitate, or is conducive or incidental to, the exercise of their functions including the acquisition or disposal of property (including land). Capital receipts from the sale of capital assets are retained by the PCC and can be used to repay loan debt or to finance new capital expenditure.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had discussions with food (a) retailers and (b) producers onthe sale of chickens treated with fluoroquinolone antibiotics.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Secretary of State has not had any discussions with retailers or producers on the sale of chickens treated with fluoroquinolone antibiotics. There was an 89% reduction in fluroquinolone use in broiler chickens between 2014 and 2021, with fluoroquinolones representing just 0.4% of total antibiotic use in broilers in 2021.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure effective investigations by the police on incidents of antisocial behaviour.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Mr Speaker, on 27 March, the Government launched the Anti-social Behaviour Action Plan, increasing funding for Police and Crime Commissioners by over £100m.
The Plan will focus on making communities safer, building local pride, prevention, early intervention and improving data, reporting and accountability. These proposals will ensure perpetrators are investigated and punished, helping to restore pride in our communities.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with the police on preventing attacks on people working in the retail sector.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is clear that violence and abuse towards any worker is not acceptable.
The Home Office works closely with retailers and trade organisations and police partners via the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG) to understand the issues retailers are experiencing. The NRCSG meet twice yearly, and discussions include how to help reduce incidents of violence and abuse towards shop staff, and to support staff when this does occur.
On a national level, we continue to work closely with the police-led National Business Crime Centre (NBCC) to understand the crimes affecting businesses and help ensure businesses and police are working effectively together.
In addition, section 156 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 introduced a statutory aggravating factor for assault against any public facing worker. This ensures the courts treat the public-facing nature of a victim’s role as an aggravating factor when considering the sentence for any assault offence where they consider this factor to be relevant.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has held discussions with representatives of the retail sector on preventing attacks on staff working in shops.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is clear that violence and abuse towards any worker is not acceptable.
The Home Office works closely with retailers and trade organisations and police partners via the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG) to understand the issues retailers are experiencing. The NRCSG meet twice yearly, and discussions include how to help reduce incidents of violence and abuse towards shop staff, and to support staff when this does occur.
On a national level, we continue to work closely with the police-led National Business Crime Centre (NBCC) to understand the crimes affecting businesses and help ensure businesses and police are working effectively together.
In addition, section 156 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 introduced a statutory aggravating factor for assault against any public facing worker. This ensures the courts treat the public-facing nature of a victim’s role as an aggravating factor when considering the sentence for any assault offence where they consider this factor to be relevant.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much chicken treated with fluoroquinolone antibiotics was imported in each of the last five years.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra does not hold this data. All countries eligible to export poultry meat to the UK must have an approved plan for the control of residues of veterinary medicines in foodstuffs. This control plan will include testing for antibiotics, and trading partners must be able to demonstrate that their plan and maximum permitted residue levels are equivalent to our own domestic standards.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what discussions he has had with representatives of the insurance sector on the extent to which insurers are requesting that remediation work is carried out on properties of less than 11 metres; and whether he plans to take steps to prevent those requests being made without reasonable justification.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Where an external wall assessment carried out in line with guidance from the British Standards Institute (PAS 9980) shows acceptable risk, premiums should reflect that. Insurers should offer affordable premiums and should not be prescribing additional remedial works. The department is engaging with insurers on this matter.
It is generally accepted that risk to life is proportional to the height of buildings. There is no systemic risk in buildings under 11m, which are very unlikely to need costly remediation to make them safe.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
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 intervene to prevent insurers from mandating expensive building safety remediation work beyond the scope recommended by fire risk assessments.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Where an external wall assessment carried out in line with guidance from the British Standards Institute (PAS 9980) shows acceptable risk, premiums should reflect that. Insurers should offer affordable premiums and should not be prescribing additional remedial works. The department is engaging with insurers on this matter.
It is generally accepted that risk to life is proportional to the height of buildings. There is no systemic risk in buildings under 11m, which are very unlikely to need costly remediation to make them safe.