Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to amend building regulations to ensure the reduction of indoor air pollution.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
In the Government’s Clean Air Strategy 2019, we committed to consulting on changes to the ventilation standards (Part F) of the Building Regulations, which is an important component of managing indoor air quality.
We launched the Future Homes Standard Consultation in 2019, which contained the results of our review of the latest evidence on the indoor air quality parameters that underpin ventilation requirements in new homes. The consultation closed on 7 February 2020; we are carefully considering the responses received and a government response will be published in due course.
Within this consultation, we also committed to consult further on ventilation standards for new non-domestic buildings and for building work to existing buildings.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that the domestic abuse strategies of local authorities include details of how people’s speech, language and communication needs are identified and supported.
Answered by Luke Hall
The Domestic Abuse Bill will introduce a statutory duty on local authorities to commission support in safe accommodation for all victims, including children, in line with a local needs assessment and strategies. This duty will be underpinned by robust statutory guidance, clearly setting out expectations on local authorities in meeting their duty which will come into force from April 2021.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of the report of the all-party group on air pollution entitled, Air Quality Strategy to Reduce Coronavirus Infection, published on 29 May 2020.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government welcomes the all-party group’s report and has noted its recommendations with interest. Improving air quality is a top priority for the Government and, especially during these unprecedented times, we will continue to take robust and comprehensive action to improve air quality in the United Kingdom and minimise public health effects. Defra recently launched a rapid Call for Evidence to understand more fully the effect that coronavirus is having on air pollution emissions, concentrations and exposure, and Defra’s Air Quality Expert Group (AQEG) are currently analysing the responses.