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Written Question
Flats: Fire Prevention
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)

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 leaseholders living in buildings below 11 metres in height with fire remediation costs.

Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)

The responsibility for the costs of fixing historical building safety defects should rest with building owners. They should not pass these costs on to leaseholders but should seek to recover costs from those who were responsible for building unsafe homes.

We have undertaken extensive work over the last two years to review buildings under 11 metres which have been reported to us as having potential building safety issues. Almost all have proven not to need any intervention following detailed review.

In rare cases where remediation work is required in buildings under 11 metres, the Government has retrospectively extended the limitation period under Section 1 of the Defective Premises Act 1972 enabling legal action against developers and contractors where works completed in the last 30 years made a dwelling not “fit for habitation”.

These rights include:

  • extending the Defective Premises Act to 30 years retrospectively, so compensation can be sought from developers where homes have not been built to the appropriate standard and are not fit for habitation; and,
  • civil claims where products have caused or contributed to a dwelling being ‘not fit for habitation’.

Written Question
Offences against Children: Civil Proceedings
Thursday 7th March 2024

Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) removing the limitation period for civil claims relating to childhood sexual abuse and (b) bringing forward legislative proposals to align the law in England and Wales with that in Scotland following the introduction of the Limitation (Child Abuse)(Scotland) Act 2017.

Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)

The government recognises that it might take years, and in many cases decades, for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse to come forward and feel ready to disclose their trauma. We will shortly consult on strengthening existing judicial guidance, and set out options to reform limitation law in child sexual abuse cases in England and Wales.


Written Question
Smoking
Thursday 14th December 2023

Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the implications for her policies of data from New Zealand on a generational ban on smoking.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Smoking is responsible for around 80,000 deaths a year in the United Kingdom, causes around one in four cancer deaths and is responsible for just over 70% of all lung cancer deaths. No other consumer product kills up to two-thirds of its users. Smoking costs our country £17 billion a year and puts a huge burden on the National Health Service. Almost every minute of every day someone is admitted to hospital because of smoking, and up to 75,000 General Practice appointments attributed to smoking each month – over 100 appointments every hour.

This is why the Government is planning to create a smokefree generation by bringing forward legislation so that children turning 14 years old this year or younger will never be legally sold tobacco products.

Modelling assumptions for the policy outline that one of our four scenarios modelled reflects the assumptions used in modelling from New Zealand. The document is available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/651d3fdf6a6955000d78b29e/cp-949-II-stopping-the-start-annex-1-modelling-assumptions.pdf


Written Question
Tobacco: Sales
Friday 1st December 2023

Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether adult smokers will be required to present an identification document to retailers after the introduction of the generational ban on smoking.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Smoking is responsible for around 80,000 deaths a year in the United Kingdom. Smoking causes around one in four cancer deaths in the UK and is responsible for just over 70% of all lung cancer deaths. No other consumer product kills up to two-thirds of its users. Smoking costs our country £17 billion a year and puts a huge burden on the National Health Service. Almost every minute of every day someone is admitted to hospital because of smoking, and up to 75,000 general practitioner appointments attributed to smoking each month, constituting over 100 appointments every hour.

This is why the Government is planning to create a smokefree generation by bringing forward legislation so that children turning 14 years old or younger this year will never be legally sold tobacco products. As per existing age of sale legislation, smokers will be required to produce identification if retailers are uncertain that they are above the legal smoking age.


Written Question
Dartford-Thurrock Crossing: Tolls
Tuesday 19th September 2023

Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will review the adequacy of processes for the changeover of the Dartford Crossing payment system providers.

Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

Yes. Whilst the service is working well now, a number of users experienced unsatisfactory delays. National Highways will consider carefully similar processes in future.


Written Question
Buildings: Safety
Monday 11th September 2023

Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)

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 help support people affected by safety defects in buildings that were built in the last 30 years and are under 11 metres in height.

Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)

The Government has implemented a risk-based and proportionate approach to regulating safety in residential buildings and in remediating cladding and other building safety defects. In general, the risk to life in lower-rise buildings is low and can be mitigated, for example, by installing fire alarms.

We are aware of a very small number of buildings under 11 metres where expensive remediation is proposed. We have written to freeholders and managing agents in affected buildings to make sure that any proposed works are necessary and proportionate and the rights to redress are being fully utilised.


Written Question
Tobacco: Regulation
Friday 21st July 2023

Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to oppose restrictions on access to reduced-risk tobacco products at the Tenth Conference of the Parties of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

Answered by Neil O'Brien

As at all events at the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, we will use the opportunity to speak about the United Kingdom’s progress on the implementation of tobacco control policies. This will include, where relevant, the role of nicotine replacement therapy and vapes in supporting people to quit all forms of tobacco.

All the COP papers and decisions during the COP are available at the following link:

https://fctc.who.int/who-fctc/governance/conference-of-the-parties/tenth-session-of-the-conference-of-the-parties


Written Question
Ovarian Cancer
Friday 21st July 2023

Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer in England in each of the last five years.

Answered by Will Quince

NHS England’s National Disease Registration Service, as the national cancer registry, collects diagnosis and treatment data on cancer patients in England.

There were 6,111 diagnoses of ovarian cancer in 2020. This figure is taken from the published national statistics publication, which is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/cancer-registration-statistics/england-2020

There were 6,527 diagnoses in 2021 and 6,451 diagnoses in 2022. These figures are not yet finalised and are taken from the rapid cancer registration data set, which is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/ndrs/data/data-outputs/covid-19-rcrd-and-treatment-data

Data on the number of people diagnosed with ovarian cancer in England before 2020 is available publicly at the CancerData website.


Written Question
Ovarian Cancer: Medical Treatments and Screening
Thursday 20th July 2023

Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has plans to increase funding for (a) screening and (b) treating ovarian cancer.

Answered by Will Quince

The Department invests in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). As with other Government funders of health research, the NIHR does not allocate funding for specific disease areas. The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including ovarian cancer research.

Currently, there is no national screening programme for ovarian cancer, in part due to the unsuitability of the blood test as a screening tool. No funding has been allocated for screening for ovarian cancer.

However, it is worth noting that the NIHR has funded six research projects into screening for ovarian cancer since 2018, with a combined total funding value of £3.8 million. The NIHR also supports delivery in the health and care system for screening for ovarian cancer research funded by research funding partners in the charity and public sectors.

The Department is committed to timely access to clinically and cost-effective new cancer drugs on the National Health Service. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence appraises all new cancer medicines, including for gynaecological cancers. The Cancer Drugs Fund supports patient access to the most promising new cancer medicines while further evidence is collected, including for ovarian cancer.

On ovarian cancer awareness, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Twickenham on 9 May 2023 to Question 183186.


Written Question
Ovarian Cancer: Publicity
Thursday 20th July 2023

Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)

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 raise awareness of ovarian cancer.

Answered by Will Quince

The Department invests in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). As with other Government funders of health research, the NIHR does not allocate funding for specific disease areas. The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including ovarian cancer research.

Currently, there is no national screening programme for ovarian cancer, in part due to the unsuitability of the blood test as a screening tool. No funding has been allocated for screening for ovarian cancer.

However, it is worth noting that the NIHR has funded six research projects into screening for ovarian cancer since 2018, with a combined total funding value of £3.8 million. The NIHR also supports delivery in the health and care system for screening for ovarian cancer research funded by research funding partners in the charity and public sectors.

The Department is committed to timely access to clinically and cost-effective new cancer drugs on the National Health Service. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence appraises all new cancer medicines, including for gynaecological cancers. The Cancer Drugs Fund supports patient access to the most promising new cancer medicines while further evidence is collected, including for ovarian cancer.

On ovarian cancer awareness, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Twickenham on 9 May 2023 to Question 183186.