Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department plans to provide additional funding to Sri Lanka beyond the initial humanitarian assistance announced in response to Cyclone Ditwah.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The level of UK humanitarian assistance provided in response to a natural disaster will be based on a number of factors, including the vulnerability of the affected population, capacity of the affected country's government to respond, the number of people affected or in need, and contributions from other donors towards the crisis.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much UK humanitarian assistance was provided to Sri Lanka following Cyclone Ditwah in November 2025.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The level of UK humanitarian assistance provided in response to a natural disaster will be based on a number of factors, including the vulnerability of the affected population, capacity of the affected country's government to respond, the number of people affected or in need, and contributions from other donors towards the crisis.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the proposed SESRO reservoir on the environment of the Thames Valley.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Assessments to understand the potential impacts of SESRO have been developed by Thames Water, working with environmental regulators, as part of the Regulators’ Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development (RAPID) gated planning process ahead of formal planning stages. For SESRO to proceed it will need to obtain a Development Consent Order as well as environmental permits. Through the Development Consent Order process, a full environmental impact assessment will be required to understand all environmental impacts from the scheme and to identify mitigation needed to protect the environment through both construction and operational phases. The Environment Agency (EA), along with other environmental regulators, is a statutory consultee for the process. Environmental assessments will also be required for any permits needed for the scheme, for which the EA is a regulator.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
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 considered alternative water supply schemes to the proposed SESRO reservoir in the Thames Valley.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The need for SESRO has been determined through statutory Water Resources Management Plans which are developed by water companies to show how they will manage supply and demand for the next 25 years. Water company plans adopted the outputs of the Regional Plan developed by Water Resources South East Water which appraised over 2400 options to meet water demand in the region. This included reservoirs, transfers, recycling schemes, new and redeveloped sources. All available options were compared through best value modelling, and SESRO was selected as a preferred option for the southeast and included in Thames Water’s Water Resources Management Plan.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what proportion of the overseas development assistance budget was allocated to rapid disaster response in developing countries in 2024-25.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 26 November in response to Question 92339.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what criteria her Department uses to determine the level of UK humanitarian assistance in response to natural disasters in developing countries.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The level of UK humanitarian assistance provided in response to a natural disaster will be based on a number of factors, including the vulnerability of the affected population, capacity of the affected country's government to respond, the number of people affected or in need, and contributions from other donors towards the crisis.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the proposed timeline between January 2027 and December 2029 in the F Gas Regulation consultation for the refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump sector to implement the safety measures required for the transition to alternative refrigerants with flammability or toxicity characteristics.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is currently consulting on proposed reforms to the GB hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) phasedown. The consultation remains open, and the Department is carefully considering all responses received from a wide range of stakeholders, including industry representatives, small and medium-sized enterprises, trade associations and other interested parties.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
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 plans to include mandatory training and certification requirements for refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump technicians handling alternative refrigerants as part of the proposed reforms to the F Gas Regulation phasedown schedule.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is currently consulting on proposed reforms to the GB hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) phasedown. The consultation remains open, and the Department is carefully considering all responses received from a wide range of stakeholders, including industry representatives, small and medium-sized enterprises, trade associations and other interested parties.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what comparative estimate her Department has made of the cost to consumers of (a) the proposed SESRO reservoir and (b) a Severn-to-Thames water transfer pipeline.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Water Resource Management Plans, which are approved by regulators, ensure that the strategic options pursued by water companies provide the best value for customers. Expenditure on infrastructure and customer bills are also controlled by Ofwat to minimise costs to billpayers. Defra are working to minimise bill impacts of any strategic resource option through the Water Delivery Taskforce, which brings together regulators and water companies to find cost-effective solutions.