Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether officials in her Department have had discussions with British Telecom on the potential use of former telephone exchange buildings that are vacant and derelict.

Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) engages with Openreach on a regular basis to discuss their digital infrastructure plans. DSIT have not had discussions with Openreach about the potential use of former telephone exchange buildings that are vacant and derelict. Exiting exchanges is a long-term endeavour and most exits are expected to happen in early 2030s. Five exchanges are planned to close as part of a trial in the 2024-2025 period. DIST officials remain in contact with Openreach and will aim to discuss how exchange buildings will be repurposed.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department holds data on the number of (a) establishments that received food hygiene inspections in 2023 and (b) ratings that were issued by each category defined by the Food Standards Agency.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Food Standards Agency does not hold data on the number of establishments receiving a food hygiene inspection in 2023. However, the attached tables show the number of food hygiene interventions carried out by local authorities in each country, England, Wales and Northern Ireland, for the periods 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023 and 1 April 2023 to 30 September 2023. This includes interventions other than inspections and audits, such as visits to monitor and verify the standards of food hygiene, visits to take samples, visits to give advice, or the assessment of documents provided by the food business. It also includes the number of food hygiene inspections and audits carried out by local authorities in each country, for the period 1 April 2023 to 30 September 2023.

Local authorities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland issued 199,262 food hygiene ratings from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023. The attached tables show the data for each country by each category of food establishment, and the aggregate totals for the three countries. A food establishment may have been subject to more than one intervention, or may have received more than one food hygiene rating during 2023.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department holds data on the number of Industrial Emissions Directive environmental permits that have been issued by the Environment Agency in each year since 2015.

Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Environmental permits are issued under the Environmental Permitting Regulations (England and Wales) 2016, which implement the Industrial Emissions Directive. Of the activities listed in the Industrial Emissions Directive, the Environment Agency (EA) is responsible for regulating larger (known as A1) sites under the 2016 Regulations in England, whereas local authorities regulate smaller sized (known as A2) sites.

The number of permits issued by the EA under the 2016 Regulations relating to activities in the Industrial Emissions Directive is set out below. Data for the whole year 2023 is incomplete.

The number of permits issued is governed by regulatory, economic and social drivers. The capacity of the regulator and application quality and application size and complexity are all relevant factors.

Some drivers that may have affected the number of new applications:

• Greater numbers in 2015, 2016 etc driven by new activities being prescribed under the Industrial Emissions Directive and subject to environmental permitting.
• There is a general trend of fewer applications being made over recent years.
• Fewer applications were received and processed during 2020, 2021 and 2022 due to the pandemic and capacity issues.

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to reduce postal voting fraud.

Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

Postal voting is well established and popular with many electors, who find it a convenient way to vote. However, we need to be vigilant in ensuring that the processes are not exploited by those who would seek to deprive others of their democratic rights.

We have recently brought in a number of measures to strengthen the security of postal voting via the Elections Act 2022. These include: a requirement for identity checking, usually via National Insurance number, when applying for a postal ballot; a three-year limit on how long a postal voting arrangement can be held; and banning political campaigners from handling postal ballots, delivering our manifesto commitment to stop so-called “vote harvesting”.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS Trusts employ people with responsibility for equality and diversity at director level.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department does not hold this information centrally. It is the responsibility of National Health Service organisations to determine the number of equality, diversity and inclusion roles based on need.

Equality, diversity, and inclusion roles support local NHS organisations in meeting the legal requirements set out for public bodies such as the NHS in the Equality Act 2010, and our public sector equality duty. These cover not just race, ethnicity, or nationality, but also, disability, sexual orientation, gender, faith, and other protected characteristics.

They promote the fair treatment of staff by ensuring there is a particular focus on tackling the discrimination that some staff face in the workplace. They also support retention and attraction of staff, with the aim of making the NHS the best place to work. In addition, these roles work to extend careers by creating inclusive workplaces, safeguarding investment made in training and educating doctors and nurses.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many slaughterhouses were registered with the Food Standards Agency in 2023.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Food Standards Agency has regulatory responsibility for approving slaughterhouses in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. During 2023, the agency approved two new slaughterhouses. The number of approved slaughterhouses at the end of 2023 was 243.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which airlines are banned from entering United Kingdom airspace.

Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The safety of aviation and the travelling public is a priority for the UK government.

The UK Air Safety List, which came into force in January 2021, comprises of known states and air carriers that have failed to demonstrate that they meet relevant, internationally agreed safety standards. They are therefore banned from operating into, out of or within the UK.

The Air Safety List is published online on a gov.uk website and is available for the public to view. It ensures that UK citizens continue to be protected and informed wherever they are in the world, as well as acts as a deterrent to poor safety performance of air carriers and States.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to exempt London weighting allowance payments from (a) income tax and (b) national insurance contributions.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

London weighting allowances are an additional wage supplement to people's incomes. They are therefore subject to NICs and income tax. Exempting London weighting allowances from income tax and NICs would increase the complexity of the tax system and be open to abuse.

The Government keeps all taxes under review.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 5.31 and Table 5.1 of the Spring Budget 2024, HC560, published on 6 March 2024, whether his Department has conducted an equality impact assessment for the vaping products duty.

Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The government carefully considers the impact of decisions on those sharing protected characteristics in line with both our legal obligations and with this government’s strong commitment to promoting fairness. This was the case during the policy development process on the Vaping Product Duty

Whilst there is no legal requirement to publish Equalities Impact Assessments, the Treasury and HMRC publish Tax Information and Impact Notes for individual tax measures that include, in summary form, assessments of their expected equalities impacts. These are published when the policy is final or near final.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 2.45 and Table 5.1 of the Spring Budget 2024, HC560, published on 6 March 2024, whether his Department has conducted an equality impact assessment for the one-off adjustment to rates of air passenger duty on non-economy passengers.

Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

When developing policy, including at Spring Budget 2024, the Treasury carefully considers the impact of its decisions on those sharing any of the nine protected characteristics, including sex, race, disability and age, in line with its statutory obligations and strong commitment to promoting fairness.

As with all taxes, the government keeps APD under review.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if his Department will review the ability of European Union citizens to use e-gates at UK airports.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

EU and EEA citizens are currently eligible to use eGates at UK airports. We keep border security under review and operate border controls in the best interest of the UK, balancing border security with passenger flow.

In the New Plan for Immigration, the Government has set out our ambition to increase the use of automation and eGates by those currently eligible and investigate options to extend eGate eligibility to further cohorts.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many King's Coronation Medals his Department has issued.

Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medal qualifying criteria has been amended and re-published as at 12 March 2024. It is anticipated that a significant cohort of Service personnel on Reserve engagements will now qualify under the revised criteria.

The below table shows the number of Platinum Jubilee Medals issued as at 15 March 2024.

Due to distribution issues, additional medals have been despatched so that eligible individuals receive their medal as swiftly as possible. The originally issued medals are in the process of being located by the single Service Unit Admin or Logistics staff and returned to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) Medal Office.

The below table shows the number of King’s Coronation Medals issued as at 15 March 2024.

Due to the lead time for receiving raw materials, production, delivery and internal MOD distribution, the project to award the bulk of the King’s Coronation Medal 2023 to eligible MOD personnel will take until October 2024 to conclude.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Platinum Jubilee Medals his Department has issued.

Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medal qualifying criteria has been amended and re-published as at 12 March 2024. It is anticipated that a significant cohort of Service personnel on Reserve engagements will now qualify under the revised criteria.

The below table shows the number of Platinum Jubilee Medals issued as at 15 March 2024.

Due to distribution issues, additional medals have been despatched so that eligible individuals receive their medal as swiftly as possible. The originally issued medals are in the process of being located by the single Service Unit Admin or Logistics staff and returned to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) Medal Office.

The below table shows the number of King’s Coronation Medals issued as at 15 March 2024.

Due to the lead time for receiving raw materials, production, delivery and internal MOD distribution, the project to award the bulk of the King’s Coronation Medal 2023 to eligible MOD personnel will take until October 2024 to conclude.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will have discussions with Transport for London on (a) the prevalence of mould on the London Underground and (b) the potential impact on the health of passengers.

Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

Transport in London is devolved and is the responsibility of the Mayor of London and Transport for London (TfL). While the Department for Transport works closely with TfL on a range of issues, operational decisions around health and safety are matters solely for them.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many statutory off-road notifications were received by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in 2023.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) received 2,912,375 statutory off-road notifications in 2023.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the fleet is of the National Police Air Service.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

The National Police Air Service (NPAS) is a police-led service that provides police air support to 44 police forces across England and Wales, including the British Transport Police.

NPAS owns a fleet of 20 helicopters (19 operational and 1 training aircraft), and four fixed winged aircraft.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when his Department plans to begin issuing the Wider Services Medal.

Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The award of any new medals and the timing for their issue would be announced at the appropriate time.

Found: March 2024 2 Parliamentary materials Church of England: Schools 12 Sep 2023 | 195517 Asked by : Julian

Found: Mangnall Robert Jenrick Sarah Atherton Brendan Clarke-Smith Damien Moore Kelly Tolhurst Julian