Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 11 December 2023 to Question 4772 on Diesel Vehicles: Greater London, how many diesel cars were registered for the first time in Greater London in (a) 2022 and (b) each month of 2023 that met the (i) Euro 6, (ii) Euro 5, (iii) Euro 4, (iv) Euro 3, (v) Euro 2 and (vi) Euro 1 engine emission standard.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with the Climate Change Committee on the use of wood burning stoves over the next (a) 10 and (b) 20 years.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra officials and the Air Quality Expert Group worked with the Climate Change Committee in 2020 to identify the opportunities and potential tensions from policies and interventions to achieve net zero and other environmental outcomes such as air quality. We set out our proposals to reduce air pollution from wood burning in our Environmental Improvement Plan. We are not considering a ban on domestic burning in England. Defra officials regularly engage with the Climate Change Committee on a wide range of issues.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 17 January 2022 to Question 102527 on Wood-burning Stoves: Smoke Control Areas, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of (a) mechanisms for and (b) the performance of the external contractor for ensuring high standards in the (i) approval and (ii) testing processes for (A) individual and (B) ranges of appliances for receiving exemptions to burn unauthorised fuel in smoke control areas.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Department has regular quarterly performance review meetings with the current contractor that delivers the Defra stove exemption certification scheme. These governance meetings focus on performance and delivery of the scheme and are also taken as an opportunity to drive efficiencies.
The testing of stoves is carried out by an independent third party. Stoves are tested against the standard set out in BSI published document 6434 and BS 3841. The independent third party provides test reports to the Department’s contractor who reviews them to ensure that the smoke emissions limits of less than 5g of smoke per hour are not exceeded with the tested fuels.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Answers of 17 January 2022 to Questions 102528 on Wood-burning Stoves: Regulation and 102529 on Wood-burning Stoves: Ecolabelling, what steps his Department has taken to ensure high standards in (a) approval processes and (b) testing for individual wood burning appliances or ranges of appliances before they are certified as complying with the requirements of the Ecodesign Regulations.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra does not own Ecolabelling or Ecodesign but does have an interest. Since January 2022 emissions to air have become part of the testing regime.
Prior to placing a product on the market, manufacturers must demonstrate conformity with the implementing measures as set out in the product specific regulations. This includes a declaration of conformity and technical documentation and can include relevant standards used to demonstrate compliance. This technical documentation must be kept by the manufacturer for a period of 10 years after production and made available to the market surveillance authority, who can conduct independent testing after the product has launched on the market.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Answer of 23 May 2023 to Question 185728 on Buildings: Health and Safety, whether officials have concluded their review of British Standard BS 40102-1:2023 entitled Health and well-being and indoor environmental quality in buildings.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Building Safety Regulator has a duty to keep the safety and standard of buildings under review. As part of this work the Regulator has considered the content of BS 40102-1:2023. The Regulator does not consider that any actions are needed at this time as a result of this assessment.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of trends in the level of pay for care sector roles on the number of vacancies within that sector.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have made no recent assessment.
Vacancy rates are likely not the best measure of capacity, or lack of capacity, in the sector. Independent providers make the decision on whether to advertise vacancies based on their aspirations to grow their businesses and the expected churn of workers within the sector.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
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 Answer of 26 April 2022 to Question 157261 on Biofuels: HETAS, whether any conflicts of interest have been declared by (a) Woodsure and (b) HETAS since 1 January 2022.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Neither Woodsure nor HETAS have declared any conflicts of interest since 1 January 2022.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he is taking steps to help ensure that financial institutions (a) provide insurance for property owners using carbon-free cement in new buildings and (b) support the use of innovative low and zero carbon products and services.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is fully committed to delivering on our net zero legal obligations by 2050 and has set out a comprehensive range of measures to support investment into the transition in Powering Up Britain and the Green Finance Strategy. These will help leverage around £100 billion of private investment as we develop new industries and innovative low carbon technologies and support up to 480,000 jobs by 2030.
The package of measures recently set out at Autumn Statement 2023 will further build the enabling environment for investment, which will be vital to delivering net zero. This included making Full Expensing permanent, speeding up grid connections, and reforming the planning system. It also included £4.5bn in advanced manufacturing support, with £960m for a new Green Industries Growth Accelerator focused on clean energy sectors.
Insurers make commercial decisions about the types of products they will cover, as well as the terms and conditions they set, when offering insurance. While the Government does not intervene in these commercial decisions by insurers, it recognises the important role insurance plays in supporting the transition to more sustainable products and will continue to monitor the availability and affordability of relevant insurance products.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 24 May 2023 to Question 185868 on Air Pollution: Schools, whether she has made a recent assessment of the effectiveness of the minimum filter class from BS EN 13779.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department’s guidance, ‘Building Bulletin 101: Ventilation, thermal comfort and indoor air quality’, refers to BS EN 13779 (Ventilation for non-residential buildings: performance requirements for ventilation and room-conditioning systems) as additional guidance specifically on filtration, which describes how minimum filtration classes can be applied to schools.
BS EN 13779 is owned by the British Standards Institute and the department has not made any specific tests in relation to this standard.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has taken recent steps with (a) Health Education England and (b) Royal Colleges to provide information to health professionals on treating people who are vulnerable to the health effects of air pollution.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Guidance issued by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence includes recommendations on advice health professionals can give to people who may be particularly affected by poor outdoor and indoor air quality. The guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng70
Standards for education and training of healthcare professionals are the responsibility of the independent statutory regulatory bodies. The Department engages regularly with health professional bodies, but it would not be appropriate for the Government to intervene in the design of standards of proficiency or the design of curricula. This is to respect the independence and expertise of regulators and universities in designing standards and curricula that ensure public safety.
The Chief Medical Officer’s annual report 2022 focused on air pollution and includes an assessment of the evidence on health risks associated with poor air quality. The report is available at the following link:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/chief-medical-officers-annual-report-2022-air-pollution