Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to attract battery recycling investment to the UK.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The Critical Minerals Refresh published in March, sets out our approach to delivering on the Critical Minerals Strategy, and confirms our participation in the Minerals Security Partnership. Working with international partners, this aims to spur investment in supply chains across four pillars, including recycling and reuse, and will support our work to accelerate a circular economy of critical minerals in the UK.
The Government is also funding record investment in battery innovation and commercialisation, including in recycling. The £541m Faraday Battery Challenge is supporting projects such as REBLEND, which is developing commercial processes to directly recover valuable cathode active materials (CAM) for reuse in automotive batteries. The project is led by Ecoshred, with University of Leicester, University of Birmingham, Minviro, Iconichem Widnes, Watercycle Technologies, Ecolamp Recycling, and Cornish Lithium.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many men in England are classified as disabled due to incontinence.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
I can confirm that the department does not hold the information requested. The department does not hold health records for each individual in England. In relation to disability benefits, the department does not classify or register disabilities or hold a disability register. The information held for disability benefit claimants is usually based on the primary disabling condition and claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which the decision is based.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions (a) she has and (b) her predecessors have had with businesses on removing illegally-mined gold from their supply chains.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
Since the creation of the position of Secretary of State for Business and Trade, there have been no such discussions.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress has been made in monitoring the implementation of the Excellence in Continence Care Guidelines.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England does not monitor the implementation of the Excellence in Continence Care Guidelines. NHS England will consider next steps on Excellence in Continence Care through its National Bladder and Bowel Health Project and will report shortly. NHS England does not currently have any plans to commission a new Continence Care Audit.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to commission a new Continence Care Audit.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England does not monitor the implementation of the Excellence in Continence Care Guidelines. NHS England will consider next steps on Excellence in Continence Care through its National Bladder and Bowel Health Project and will report shortly. NHS England does not currently have any plans to commission a new Continence Care Audit.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to (a) amend the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 and (b) recommend changes to the Code of Practice and Guidance published by the Health and Safety Executive to ensure provision of and access to hygiene bins in men's toilets equal to that in women's toilets.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Regulation 20 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 (‘Workplace Regulations’) state that toilets should be kept in a clean and orderly condition. The Approved Code of Practice covers provisions of a disposal method for sanitary dressings in toilets used by women.
Regulation 2(3) of the Workplace Regulations aims to ensure that workplaces meet the health, safety and welfare needs of each member of the workforce, therefore, HSE believe the current Workplace Regulations are fit for purpose in this respect though they intend to consider whether the guidance regarding disposal of sanitary dressings in toilets fulfils that aim.
Provisions for public toilets, including hygiene bins in men’s toilets, would be the responsibility of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of gold mined for import into the UK on the UK's environmental footprint.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department for Business and Trade has not assessed the potential impact of gold mined for import into the UK on the UK's environmental footprint.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the Philip New independent review on sustainable aviation fuel will be published.
Answered by Jesse Norman
In October 2022, the Department commissioned Philip New to lead an independent evaluation into ‘Developing a UK Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) industry’, with the aim of stress testing its evidence base on the barriers to investment in UK SAF production and consider options for addressing those barriers. The Department will publish the report shortly.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether (a) she and (b) her predecessors have had discussions with their Mercosur counterparts on the status of gold in negotiations around a UK-Mercosur trade agreement.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK is not negotiating a Free Trade Agreement with the Mercosur bloc. Neither the Secretary of State nor her predecessors have discussed the status of gold within any possible future negotiation with their Mercosur counterparts.
Mercosur countries are important partners for the UK. We are working to strengthen our trading relationships in a way which supports sustainable development, removes barriers to trade, and helps British businesses to export.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to take steps with Cabinet colleagues to incentivise the manufacture of new zero emissions aircraft in the UK for use on (a) regional and (b) sub-regional routes.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government published the Jet Zero Strategy in 2022 which sets out it’s approach to achieving net zero aviation by 2050. The Strategy considers the potential for zero emission flight alongside other measures. This includes exploring the feasibility of using zero emission aircraft on existing UK government funded PSO routes, as well as noting the balance between reducing aviation emissions and ensuring value for money on routes supported by public funding.
As part of the Jet Zero Council, the Department has established a dedicated Delivery Group to convene activity across Government, industry and academia on the development of zero emission flight.
The Government is also investing £685 million between 2022 and 2035 through the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) Programme to co-fund, with industry, the development of zero-carbon and ultra-efficient aircraft technology. A recent example, announced at the seventh meeting of the Jet Zero Council in February, was £113 million of joint government and industry investment in R&D projects to develop liquid hydrogen combusting jet engines and high-end lightweight batteries for small aircraft.
ATI funding is also supporting the current flight testing by ZeroAvia of a 19- seater aircraft using hydrogen propulsion. If successfully brought to market such aircraft could provide zero emission flight on regional and sub-regional routes.