Asked by: Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party - North Ayrshire and Arran)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of (a) consulting widely on the design of the Deposit Return Scheme for drinks containers, (b) improving kerbside recycling and (c) increasing glass remelt targets.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
UK Government, Welsh Government and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland consulted in 2019 and 2021 on the detail of introducing a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for drinks containers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In January 2023 we published the government response to the 2021 consultation, setting out policy decisions and next steps for introducing the scheme (link here). There was strong support, with 83% of consultation responses supporting the introduction of a DRS.
Defra is working closely with devolved administrations and industry to support successful DRS delivery across the UK.
Regarding kerbside recycling, following support at public consultation, new section 45 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (as amended by the Environment Act 2021) stipulates that all local authorities in England must make arrangements for a core set of materials to be collected for recycling from households. This core set includes: paper and card; plastic; glass; metal; food waste and garden waste. These materials must always be collected separately from residual waste so that they can be recycled. Commencement dates will be set out in regulations in due course.
In the Government response to the consultation on Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility published in March 2022 we set out our intention to increase the glass remelt target to 80% by 2030.
Asked by: Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party - North Ayrshire and Arran)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department consulted relevant stakeholders on the closure of HMRC's self-assessment helpline between 12 June and 4 September 2023 prior to the announcement of that closure; and whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of that closure on customers that are not able to access HMRC's digital support services during that period.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The summer quarter is the quietest for Self-Assessment (SA) queries. HMRC piloted the temporary and time-limited closure of the SA helpline so that c.350 advisers could be moved to other work, including clearing post items, which experience heavier demand at this time of year.
The SA helpline reopened on 4 September, five months prior to the SA filing deadline of 31 January.
Around two-thirds of all Self-Assessment calls can be resolved online by customers; piloting a seasonal Self-Assessment helpline is about positively encouraging people to use these services when they can.
The intention of the pilot was to evaluate the impact of freeing up HMRC advisors to help those with urgent or complex queries or who cannot access digital services, and to work on correspondence.
HMRC will evaluate the impact of the pilot and gather feedback from customers and external bodies as a part of the evaluation.
Asked by: Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party - North Ayrshire and Arran)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to incentivise investment in infrastructure for climate resilience and adaptation.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Investment in infrastructure resilience is delivered through both public and private funding. The third National Adaptation Programme sets out in detail how each infrastructure sector is approaching the challenge of climate resilience, now and in the future, including the way in which regulatory frameworks drive investment in climate resilience.
Where the Government has concerns about the level of investment in resilience we have acted swiftly. For example, through the recent Plan for Water we have accelerated £2.2 billion of investment in measures to secure a resilient, clean and plentiful supply of water now and in the future. The 2023 Green Finance Strategy also contains a range of initiatives to help drive increased private financial flows into environmental outcomes, including climate adaptation.
Asked by: Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party - North Ayrshire and Arran)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to publish a response to her Department's consultation on the Commercial and non-commercial movements of pets into Great Britain, which closed on 16 October 2021.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
We are carefully reviewing the feedback gathered from our consultation and wider engagement with stakeholders, and a summary will be published in due course.
Asked by: Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party - North Ayrshire and Arran)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of the report by Global Justice Now, Stopaids and Just Treatment entitled Bitter Pills published on 12 July 2023.
Answered by Will Quince
The United Kingdom has well established systems for controlling costs and ensuring we get value for money for spending on medicines. The UK’s system is seen as world-leading, due in large part to the role of the National Health Service as a single buyer providing access to the vast majority of the UK market. However, the Department does not recognise the specific methodology used in this report.
The 2019 voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing and access is expected to generate around £7 billion in income for the NHS over five years, while also supporting access to and uptake of the most clinically and cost-effective medicines.
Negotiations are ongoing to agree a new voluntary scheme which should continue to support patients, the economy and the affordability of medicines to the NHS.
Asked by: Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party - North Ayrshire and Arran)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing the effectiveness of regulatory measures on the use of medicines (a) developed and (b) produced with public funding.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department is confident in the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) world-leading regulatory regime, for publicly funded medicines and others. There are no current plans for a review of regulatory measures on the use of medicines developed and produced with public funding.
Asked by: Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party - North Ayrshire and Arran)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department issues on whether a Scottish Higher National Certificate is advanced education for child maintenance purposes.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department publishes the Child Maintenance Decision Makers’ Guide on the gov.uk website. The guidance provides a list, although not exhaustive, along with information regarding advanced and non-advanced education and training. This information can be found here.
A Scottish National Certificate is equivalent to a National Higher Certificate (HNC) and counts as advanced education.
Child Maintenance payments cease when a child leaves full-time non-advanced education (non-advanced means up to A level or higher, or NVQ or SVQ Level 3 and below). Courses of degree level and above, Diploma of Higher Education, Higher National Certificate, Diploma of Higher Education or, NVQ and SVQ Level 4 and above, count as advanced education.
Asked by: Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party - North Ayrshire and Arran)
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 will consult with the animal welfare sector on pet smuggling measures; and whether he will include cats and kittens in pet smuggling proposals.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
In Autumn 2021 we consulted on further proposed changes to the rules governing the commercial and non-commercial movement of cats, dogs and ferrets into Great Britain.
We are carefully reviewing the feedback from our consultation and wider engagement with stakeholders in the animal welfare sector and a summary will be published in due course.
Asked by: Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party - North Ayrshire and Arran)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he is taking steps with international counterparts to classify wrecks of warships as war graves.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The term “war graves” is one which only applies to the final resting places of fallen troops on land, and locations can only be designated as a war grave by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC).
However, as a matter of customary international law, all naval warships, state vessels and associated artefacts are afforded protection through the principle of Sovereign Immunity. The UK is of the view that, unless expressly relinquished or abandoned by the Flag State, the Sovereign Immunity of the wreck of any Crown vessel remains in place, regardless of where the wreck in question is located, and those who lost their lives in service of our country should be left in situ and undisturbed.
Some warships are also afforded additional protection under the Protection of Military Remains Act (PMRA). Vessels of historical significance, at risk of salvage and that are the last resting place of our service personnel are considered for inclusion.
Asked by: Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party - North Ayrshire and Arran)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions he has had with the Competition and Markets Authority on when it plans to conclude its review of the use of unit pricing in the groceries sector.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government welcomes this review and looks forward to its results. The Department understands the CMA plans to conclude its review this year.
Details of the CMA’s review can be found on its website here: https://www.gov.uk/cma-cases/unit-pricing.