Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to extend the phase out dates for new non-zero emission (a) mopeds and (b) motorcycles.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The consultation on when to end the sale of new non-zero emission L-category vehicles (including mopeds and motorcycles) was open to written responses from 14 July to 21 September 2022 and supported by a thorough programme of stakeholder engagement with manufacturers and industry. The Department is now analysing the responses and will bring forward the Government’s response in due course.
Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will take steps to increase official development assistance funding for (a) water, (b) sanitation and (c) hygiene infrastructure in healthcare facilities to help tackle antimicrobial resistance.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK remains committed to supporting access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), including in healthcare facilities. The UK-funded Hygiene and Behaviour Change Coalition supported 14,800 facilities with WASH supplies and trained 460,000 health workers on hygiene improvements. We also help rally international attention on antimicrobial resistance through the global taskforce on WASH in Healthcare Facilities, working with World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and other partners. The Statistics on International Development publication confirmed that UK bilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA) spend on WASH totalled £46 million in 2022. Multilateral spend on WASH was £63 million in 2021. At this stage we are unable to confirm FCDO's future allocations to WASH.
Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what proportion of the Official Development Assistance budget is spent on improving in water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure in refugee camps (a) in sub-Saharan Africa and (b) globally.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK remains committed to protecting the lives and dignity of those in need of humanitarian assistance, including refugees, through providing safe and sustainable access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). Our total Official Development Assistance spending on WASH in 2021 was £78 million through bilateral delivery and an estimated £63 million through multilateral delivery. The latest published and finalised data is available on GOV.UK in Statistics on International Development: final UK aid spend 2021 [https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-on-international-development-final-uk-aid-spend-2021]. We will continue to provide life-saving food and emergency health services, shelter, water, and hygiene services to refugee camps and vulnerable host communities.
Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will hold discussions with his counterpart in the Kenya Government on ways to support the rollout of the oral cholera vaccine programme in informal settlements.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK does not directly support cholera programmes in Kenya. The UK funds the Global Fund, Global Financing Facility (GFF), Gavi and UNITAID to help strengthen health systems. WHO and UNICEF support the Ministry of Health to counter cholera. An oral vaccination campaign commenced in February 2023 and to date has vaccinated 2.3 million Kenyans against cholera.
Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether manufacturers are required to declare how they plan to reach (a) Net Zero and (b) Net Zero within their supply chains.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
Climate transition plans allow companies to set out how they plan to reach climate targets, including supply chain decarbonisation.
The Government has established the Transition Plan Taskforce, which launched in April 2022. The Taskforce is developing guidance to support companies to disclose information about their transition plans, and is due to publish its finalised Disclosure Framework in October 2023. The Government has also committed to consult on our approach to transition plans, and we will do so after the Taskforce has published its finalised Framework.
Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has produced guidance on (a) the use of packaging by manufacturers when distributing (i) consumables and (ii) non-consumables to their supply chain and (b) declaring the amount of packaging used for operational processing.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Guidance for obligated businesses on their current packaging waste recycling responsibilities is published on GOV.UK. The requirements include registering with the regulator, reporting data on the packaging they use or supply, meeting recycling obligations and obtaining evidence of compliance with the regulations. Guidance has also been published on GOV.UK on meeting new reporting requirements under the Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging scheme. Defra has not published guidance on the use of packaging by manufacturers when distributing products.
Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to reduce the packaging used for distributing (a) consumables and (b) non-consumables within manufacturers' supply chains.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Our proposals for Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging will make businesses financially responsible for the waste management costs of the packaging they use or supply that ends up in household bins and street bins. This includes packaging used to distribute products purchased online directly to consumers. This will encourage businesses to reduce the amount of packaging they use and to use packaging that can be recycled easily. The UK Government jointly with the Devolved Administrations is consulting currently on the draft Regulations that will introduce Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging. These do not include any specific requirements on businesses to reduce distribution packaging.
Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
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 reduce the length of time between (a) urgent GP referrals and (b) the commencement of treatment for cancer in North Antrim constituency.
Answered by Will Quince
Health in Northern Ireland is a devolved matter; therefore, the Department does not hold this information centrally.
Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that reporting mechanisms are in place to inform the (a) public and (b) parliament how the nine statutory joint radiotherapy committees are improving access to modern radiotherapy.
Answered by Will Quince
The nine statutory joint committees between NHS England and multi-integrated care board (ICB) collaborations established on 1 April 2023 are working to improve access to specialised services by bringing together regional specialised commissioning expertise and integrated care systems (ICSs). These committees have joint responsibility for commissioning decisions on 59 specialised services, including radiotherapy. A list of these services is available at the following link:
Reporting mechanisms are in place as part of ICS governance, with ICB leaders publishing an annual report to their population stating what their health and healthcare services are delivering for their population and communities.
To ensure appropriate oversight and assurance of specialised services under the nine statutory joint committees in 2023/24, NHS England produced guidance for its regional teams and ICBs. The guidance sets out four key areas that NHS England's regional specialised commissioning teams, working with and through the joint committees, should be regularly overseeing and monitoring in relation to their specialised provision (including providers of radiotherapy services): timeliness of provision; quality of provision; use of resources and value for money; and equity and health inequalities.
Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 24 April 2023 to Question 181199 on Development Aid: Genito-urinary Medicine, whether his Department has considered the potential merits of monitoring the (a) level of (i) complications and (ii) mortality during (A) abortion and (B) childbirth, (b) quality of aftercare for women following (1) abortion and (2) childbirth and (c) other outcomes associated with services (x) partly and (y) wholly funded from sexual and reproductive health rights funds.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK is proud to defend and promote universal and comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), including safe abortion and maternal healthcare. The UK uses sexual and reproductive health funds to support services in a range of ways including technical assistance, funding drugs and supplies and delivering services directly, working through NGOs, governments and UN agencies. Examples include the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Supplies Partnership programme and the Global Financing Facility. The risk of complications without these services in place is extremely high. The UK monitors the work of our partners through annual reviews that assess progress against a set of indicators but also assess risk. Information on the monitoring of each of the UK's SRHR programmes can be found on DevTracker.