Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, if he will hold discussions with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on making Wales an international leader in building (a) sustainable, (b) net-zero and (c) hempcrete buildings and homes.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
Although housing is devolved in Wales, officials in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities have regular discussions with counterparts in the devolved administrations, including the Welsh Government to discuss modern methods of construction.
Furthermore, as part of the Swansea Bay City Deal, the UK Government is supporting the ‘Homes as Power Stations’ project, a pioneering project looking to integrate energy efficiency design and renewable technologies into the development of new build homes and retrofit programmes carried out by the public, private and third sectors. This will tackle fuel poverty while helping residents save money on their energy bills. The project aims to facilitate the take up of renewable technologies in at least 10,300 properties within five years.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent discussions he has had with the Welsh government on legislative proposals for a Clean Air (Wales) Bill.
Answered by Simon Hart - Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Chief Whip)
Wales Office Ministers have had no discussions to date with the Welsh Government in regard to the Clean Air (Wales) Bill.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how much his Department spent on social media advertising in (a) 2019, (b) 2020, (c) 2021 and (d) 2022 up to and including 28 February; and on which platforms that money was spent.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
All of the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales’ spending of more than £500 is routinely made publicly available and can be found via the following link:
Transparency Spend over £500 for February 2019 - December 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2021 to Question 90819, on Wales Office: Official Hospitality, how many members of staff were working in the departmental building on (a) 5 November 2020 and 1 December 2020 and (b) 16 December 2020 and 22 February 2021.
Answered by Simon Hart - Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Chief Whip)
The Office of the Secretary of State for Wales holds only time-limited, office-wide data for the number of staff working in its departmental buildings. The data does not extend back to the dates requested
Our staff follow relevant Covid-19 guidance when working in the office, including on social distancing.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether any social events took place between three or more people within his Departmental buildings between (a) 5 November 2020 and 1 December 2020 and (b) 16 December 2020 and 22 February 2021.
Answered by Simon Hart - Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Chief Whip)
This information is not collected. At the time, staff were expected to work from home and undertake meetings remotely, wherever possible.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Wales Office:
What assessment he has made of the potential effect on the Welsh economy of maintaining the existing transition period deadline.
Answered by Simon Hart - Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Chief Whip)
The Government’s position remains unaltered; extending the transition period will cause further uncertainty to businesses in Wales and will hamper our post-covid recovery.