Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce regional variation in the dementia diagnosis rate.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ Dementia Intelligence Network has been commissioned by NHS England to develop a resource to support investigation of the underlying variation in dementia diagnosis rates. The aim of this work is to provide context for variation and enable targeted investigation and provision of support at a local level to enhance diagnosis rates. The tool has been released and is available via the NHS Futures Collaboration platform.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential contribution of rooftop solar energy to the Government's net zero targets; and whether her Department plans to require a certain proportion of solar energy to be delivered through rooftop solar.
Answered by Graham Stuart
As set out in the Powering Up Britain Energy Security Plan, the Government is aiming for 70 gigawatts of ground and rooftop solar capacity together by 2035. Maximising deployment of both types of solar is important to achieve this target. Rooftop solar is a key priority for the Government and is one of the most popular and easily deployed renewable energy sources.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the (a) performance of and (b) time taken to commence appeals by the Planning Inspectorate.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Inspectorate has been performing well across a number of key areas such as local plan examinations, nationally significant infrastructure project applications, s62a applications and planning appeals proceeding by hearings and inquiries. The Inspectorate is implementing actions to maintain performance in these areas and to improve end-to-end times for other casework. In the short term those actions are focused around increasing capacity by:
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which seeds that are permitted under Article 49(1) of Regulation (EC) 1107/2009 have not been provided authorisation for use from 1 January 2024.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Prior to EU Exit, the legislation quoted allowed seeds treated with a plant protection product (PPP) authorised in at least one Member State to be imported, marketed and used in GB. After Exit, arrangements were put in place to allow the import and use of treated seeds to continue until the end of 2023, following which all seed treatments would need GB authorisation.
I have listened to farmers and recognise the importance of access to treated seeds from the EU, particularly in the feed and horticulture sectors. I am preparing to lay secondary legislation in the autumn, through the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 (REUL), to ensure measures are in place, before the current scheme for importing treated seeds ends in December.
The aim of this legislation will be to extend transitional arrangements for the import of treated seeds from the EU and EEA and will also include provisions to address the important issue of parallel imports.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to improve the availability of smart meters for properties which are unable to connect to the Wide Area Network.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Today, the Data Communications Company (DCC) provides Wide Area Network (WAN) coverage for smart meters to at least 99.25% of premises across Great Britain.
The DCC also has license obligations to explore solutions for increasing WAN coverage even further. DCC is currently developing a business case exploring such solutions, including an option for using already available internet-connected Consumer Access Devices to provide smart services. The consumer would need to have their own broadband connection and be prepared to enable the Consumer Access Device to utilise it. The Department expects to receive initial proposals from DCC shortly for review.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make it his policy for all Departments to publish a list of all their associated public bodies that have been delegated power to (a)make amend or revoke, (b) enforce and (c) monitor compliance with regulations.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Cabinet Office publishes a list of public bodies classified as arm’s length bodies, the public bodies directory, which includes whether an organisation performs a regulatory function.
The arm’s length bodies which departments have flagged as performing a regulatory function through the most recent public bodies directory data collection are:
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Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will provide a list of all public bodies that have been delegated powers to (a) make amend or revoke, (b) enforce and (c) monitor compliance with regulations.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Cabinet Office publishes a list of public bodies classified as arm’s length bodies, the public bodies directory, which includes whether an organisation performs a regulatory function.
The arm’s length bodies which departments have flagged as performing a regulatory function through the most recent public bodies directory data collection are:
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Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential (a) merits, (b) impact on pension saving and (c) impact on encouraging the economically inactive to return to work of excluding occupational pensions from the assessment of means tested employment benefits.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
It is entirely appropriate that means-tested benefits take account of occupational pension income. A guiding principle for means-tested benefits is that they are not paid to people who have sufficient other income available to meet the same need. However, this is normally only done where a person has reached the retirement age for the scheme in question. This enables the applicant to maximise their occupational pension in retirement and should not de-incentivise people with health conditions from taking steps to return to work.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what guidance his Department has provided to (a) local authorities, (b the police and (c) hospitals on the enforcement of rules relating to parking spaces for the disabled.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Currently, both local authorities and private parking operators providing parking facilities are required under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people and to provide them equal opportunities to access services.
In respect of local authority parking, the Secretary of State’s ‘Statutory Guidance for Local Authorities in England on Civil Enforcement of Parking Contraventions’ sets out the parking enforcement framework for the 98 percent of English local authorities that have acquired civil parking enforcement powers. The police have no powers to enforce parking contraventions within these local authority areas, except at safety-critical pedestrian crossings, and the Department does not issue advice to the police.
Local authorities have powers to safeguard parking places for disabled people and the Department has published ‘Blue Badge scheme local authority guidance (England)’.
Although off-street private car parks are required to make reasonable adjustments under the above-mentioned equalities legislation, the form those adjustments take are up to individual operators, who can best judge what is appropriate within their car parks. Often private car park operators provide Blue Badge spaces in their car parks but there is no legal basis for this and, as such, they are essentially advisory.
In respect of hospitals, the Department for Health and Social Care guidance ‘NHS car-parking management: environment and sustainability, 2015’ notes the importance of providers enforcing Blue Badge bays and dedicated Blue Badge car parks to ensure their use is not abused by non-Blue Badge holders. Enforcement is a matter for the relevant NHS Trust.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has received the Oxford to Cambridge Arc Roads Connectivity Study commissioned by his Department.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
We are expecting to be in receipt of the Oxford to Cambridge Arc Roads Connectivity Study shortly.