Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his Department’s plans are for the disposal of dredge, including zinc and lead, in landfill.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Dredging waste must be sent to permitted landfill, unless it is exempt from the need for a permit. The permits for these sites control the site design, waste types and quantity to prevent or minimise pollution. These permits do not include specific limits for lead and zinc where the dredged material is non-hazardous waste. The Environment Agency considers the risk of lead and zinc emissions from landfill sites during the permit application process and landfill sites are designed and regulated to prevent or minimise pollution. At dredging sites exempt from the need for a permit, any pollution risk is limited by the scale of the activity and it is assumed that any pollutants will return to the waterway they were dredged from (with no additional pollutant load on the watercourse).
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what discussions she had with relevant stakeholders prior to implementing the recent changes to the Crown Prosecution Service Director’s Guidance on Charging.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The Director’s Guidance on Charging is issued by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) under section 37A of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. The current version of the Director’s Guidance is the sixth version of Guidance that was first published in 2004.
The Director’s Guidance recognises the significant changes in the way that cases are investigated, charged, and prosecuted since the last edition was published in 2013.
Those changes include, in particular, the provisions of the 8th Edition of the Code for Crown Prosecutors published in October 2018, the Attorney General’s Guidelines on Disclosure 2020 and the revised Codes of Practice issued in 2020 under the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996.
The CPS consulted police forces through the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) on the contents of the Director’s Guidance before its publication in December 2020. That consultation included the sharing of initial drafts with all police forces via the NPCC, Police and Crime Commissioners and the Senior Presiding Judge. That was followed by the establishment of a joint CPS/police working group to discuss and where appropriate amend the Director’s Guidance. A further period of consultation followed with the police before it was finalised and the DPP also personally addressed all Chief Constables directly about the changes being made in version 6 of the Director’s Guidance at an event held by the NPCC in November 2020.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a chickenpox vaccine on the NHS.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) reviewed the varicella vaccine designed to provide protection against chickenpox in 2010. Based on the JCVI’s subsequent recommendations and due to the complex health risks associated with its widespread use, the varicella vaccine is not currently part of the routine vaccination programme. The JCVI regularly reviews new and existing programmes as evidence emerges.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information she holds on the proportion of the Benton Park View site in Newcastle upon Tyne that is used by her Department.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
DWP currently occupy an area of 6058sqm over 7 buildings and floors in Benton Park View, and an additional 5758 sqm on a temporary occupation until 31st March 2022 required as part of the departments covid response. As of 1st April 2022, the main occupation will revert to 6058sqm.
These occupations are under the intergovernmental arrangements for sharing Crown Estates, known as a Memorandum of Terms Occupation (MOTO) and that document is held by DWP’s Estates function. The MOTO is reflective of the guidance contained in the Civil Estates Occupancy Guide (CEOA) where two Crown Bodies share space and details the terms and obligations between those two Crown Bodies.
At this site, HMRC are DWP’s landlord and the terms and obligations for the head lease agreement and all other space outside of DWP’s demised space, remain with HMRC to meet the obligations of their lease requirements.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he has taken to reduce the impact of chickenpox on (a) the NHS and (b) schools.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Chickenpox is not a notifiable infection in England. In the United Kingdom, varicella immunisation is only recommended to protect those people who are at most risk of serious illness. Individuals who are in regular or close contact with those at highest risk are immunised, including non-immune healthcare workers and close household contacts of immunocompromised individuals, such as the siblings of a child with leukaemia or a child whose parent is undergoing chemotherapy. Varicella immunisation can also be administered to healthcare workers, laboratory staff and those in contact with immunocompromised patients.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has plans to reduce the amount of waste generated in the UK to landfill in (a) the UK and (b) other countries.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We committed in the Net Zero Strategy to explore policies to work towards eliminating all biodegradable waste to landfill by 2028. Our ambitious Resources and Waste Strategy set a target of less than 10% of municipal residual waste to landfill by 2035.
We are making good progress with these commitments with a substantial decrease in the amount of local authority managed waste sent to landfill from 79% in 2000/01 to 8% in 2020/21.
It is generally illegal to export waste from the UK for disposal, including for disposal in landfill. We do, however, recognise the difficulties that some countries have in dealing with plastic waste, and so we have committed to banning the export of this waste to countries which are not members of the OECD. We will consult this year on options to deliver this ban.
Waste is a devolved matter and Defra has responsibility for waste management in England only.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on who owns of the freehold of the Benton Park View site in Newcastle upon Tyne leased to HMRC and her Department.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The site is leased to HMRC who are DWP’s landlord. DWP does not hold information on the Freeholder of the Benton Park View Site in Newcastle Upon Tyne.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the (a) economic, (b) social and (c) environmental impact on the local area of the removal of the Q3 bus between St Peter's Basin and Wallsend.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department has made no such assessment.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of the £150 million support package for bus and light rail operators announced on 1 March 2022 will be allocated to operators in the North East of England.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Allocations for the Bus and Light Rail recovery package have not yet been made. The Department has requested information from bus operators and Local Transport Authorities to enable us to make these allocations, which will be on the basis of need.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans she has to increase support to Citizens Advice charities to help meet increased demand following the easing of covid-19 restrictions.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Rt. Hon member to the answer I gave to 138185.