Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS England plans to remove the minimum age of referral to specialist gender identity clinics.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 7 August 2024, NHS England published a new service specification that describes the pathway onto the waiting list for NHS Children and Young People's Gender Services in line with the recommendations of the Cass Review. The service specification does not describe a minimum age, recognising that there may be underlying reasons for children questioning their gender and that accessing mental health and counselling services would be beneficial. Denying parents and children access to professional support risks driving people to unregulated online sources.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 3 June 2025 to Question 53757 on Beverage Containers: Recycling, whether UK-based beverage manufacturers can accept used recyclable containers of (a) their own products and (b) other manufacturers' products to offset their Extended Producer Responsibility levy.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The packaging EPR Regulations allow, in some circumstances, packaging collected by producers from consumers, and subsequently recycled, to be offset against their disposal fee obligations. These are currently limited to hard to recycle packaging (e.g. plastic film take back) which is not collected in local authority household waste kerbside collection.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what his Department's policy is on the personal use of IT equipment to access the internet through (a) desktops and (b) wifi by (i) staff and (ii) Ministers.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
All users within the department must adhere to our IT Acceptable Use Policy which details how departmental IT should be used. Departmental provided internet access, corporate IT and email services are intended for business use. Limited personal use is permitted where this is not detrimental to the department. All staff and ministers are accountable for their actions while using departmental IT.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 8 April 2025 to Question 43345 on WRAP: Finance, if he will provide the hyperlink to the grant agreement .
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The grant agreement contains commercially sensitive information and will not be published. Details of the grant will be published on the Grants register held at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-grants-data-and-statistics. This information is published retrospectively with data for the 2024/25 grant published later this year. Details of the 2025/26 grant will be published in 2026.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of (a) moped and (b) motorcycle riders with provisional licences who have been convicted of (i) road traffic offences, (ii) robbery and (iii) drug trafficking in each of the past 5 years.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency will be able to provide the information in relation to road traffic offences, but this requires a scan of the driver database. Officials will write to the Honourable Member as soon as the information is available.
Information about robbery and drug trafficking offences is not recorded by the DVLA.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what her Department's policy is on the personal use of IT equipment to access the internet through (a) desktops and (b) wifi by (i) staff and (ii) Ministers.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
MHCLG do not provide desktop computers. However all corporate devices are covered by the same policy and terms and conditions.
WiFi is provided by the GovWiFi service, which is covered by the GovWiFi Terms and Conditions (Terms and conditions - GovWifi) in conjunction with MHCLG acceptable usage policy, which is available to all staff on the Intranet. The policy allows for ‘limited personal use of MHCLG IT is acceptable as long as it does not cause a problem with your work or that of your colleagues’.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what research his Department has commissioned on the potential role of insect protein in (a) animal and (b) human diets in the last ten years.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra’s scientific research is exploring ways to reduce environmental impacts of livestock production, including research to better understand the role of insect protein in pig and poultry feed (not human diets) in addressing this aim. Examples include a scientific review of the opportunities for the inclusion of insect protein in pig and poultry feed within the UK (2021). Research also considered insect-based proteins (for food and feed), as part of a wider review of alternative proteins (2022). A life-cycle assessment of UK insect protein production compared the environmental impacts of insect, soy and fishmeal protein production for animal feeds in the UK (2023).
Defra has also committed funding via the Farming Innovation Programme and Farming Innovation Pathways for projects looking at insect protein in animal feed, including a themed competition addressing on farm protein.
The FSA report on the ‘The Future of Animal Feed’ was published in April 2023. The report analysed the production and supply of protein for the global livestock sector, focusing on the potential opportunities, and threats, of alternative feeds.
Under food law, it is the responsibility of food businesses to ensure food is safe. Edible insects, as novel foods, need authorisation from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Food Standards Scotland (FSS), which requires provision of a safety case. Food businesses wanting an authorisation will develop the research and evidence to demonstrate the food is safe for consumption.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Extended Producer Responsibility is a tax.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) decides the classification of taxes, while the Office of Budgetary Responsibility (OBR) determines how they are treated in fiscal forecasts. In earlier fiscal events OBR have treated pEPR fees as adjustment to departmental budgets as “there was previously not enough detail on the fees for this to be reflected as a tax in our receipts forecast”.
The OBR determination is a technical classification that has no effect on pEPR policy.
This technical classification does not affect the distribution of revenue to local authorities. Revenue from pEPR will be distributed directly by PackUK, the scheme administrator, to local authorities.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 8 April 2025 to Question 43343 on Domestic Waste: Recycling and Waste Disposal, if he will publish that guidance.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
WRAP, supported by Defra, and with input from local authorities, recently published Good Practice Guidance to help local authorities deliver quality waste and recycling services to citizens in England. Further guidance topics, including on residual waste collection, are intended to be published shortly.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether (a) her Department and (b) the Metropolitan Police have made an assessment of trends in the level of mopeds with L-plates being used in criminal activities in London.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office holds data on the number of incidents of crime recorded by the police in London.
The Home Office does not hold data on whether a vehicle was used as part of the incident, the type of vehicle used, or whether the vehicle had an L plate fitted at the time of the incident.