Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what information her Department holds on which businesses provide broadband connections on new housing developments.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Building etc. (Amendment) (England) (No. 2) Regulations 2022 require developers of new build homes in England to install the gigabit-ready physical infrastructure necessary for gigabit-capable connections. Additionally, and subject to a £2,000 cost cap per premise, developers need to install a gigabit-capable connection. Where a developer is unable to secure a gigabit-capable connection within the cost cap, a next best technology connection available within the same cost cap must be installed. This means first a superfast connection, and then at least a broadband connection is required.
The requirements are technologically neutral and allow for existing and future wired and fixed wireless connectivity options, so as not to stifle technological innovation. This enables housing developers to make commercial decisions and secure connections from any network operator providing performance criteria are met. Ensuring facilitated connections are appropriate for a specific development.
Thinkbroadband statistics for homes built in 2023 indicate that 98% of new homes developed across the UK have access to a gigabit-connection through Fibre to the Premises (FTTP). The provision of Gigabit infrastructure for new build homes comes from many different network operators. Some housing developers have made arrangements to ensure that new build developments are served by multiple network operators providing access to numerous broadband service providers.
The Department does not hold data on the proportion of new build housing developments to which individual network operators provide broadband connections. Further information on the breakdown of the new build home broadband market is available from ISPreview.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of changing the terminology of road traffic accidents to crashes or collisions.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Where possible, the Department no longer uses the word ‘accidents’. The appropriate terms to use are ‘crashes’, ‘collisions’ and ‘incidents’. We encourage others to do so, too.
However, the word ‘accident’ continues to be used in certain circumstances, for example where that is the term previously used in legislation.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero during Consideration of Lords message on the Energy Bill [Lords] on 18 October 2023, Official Report, column 352, when she plans to publish the consultation on barriers to developing community energy projects.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We have been codesigning the consultation on the barriers to community energy schemes with the Community Energy Contact Group. We intend to publish the consultation as soon as possible.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department provides ringfenced funding for dentistry to the Devon integrated care board.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are currently considering arrangements for 2024/25. NHS England provided guidance for the integrated care boards (ICBs) that required dental allocations to be ringfenced in 2023/24, with any unused resources to be re-directed to improve National Health Service dental access in the first instance, rather than being spent on other services. In November 2023, NHS England confirmed that where ICBs had not spent all of their allocation on improving access to dentistry, they would be able to retain any underspend, and use it to balance their bottom line and any other pressures. ICBs will decide how to use any forecast underspend in line with this guidance.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what information her Department holds on the number and proportion of new-build housing developments that are served by more than one gigabit-capable network connection.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Building etc. (Amendment) (England) (No. 2) Regulations 2022 came into force from 26th December 2022 to ensure that new homes in England are future-proofed and have access to the fastest broadband. The Regulations require a single connection to be facilitated for each new dwelling, however developers are free to approach as many network operators as they wish and to secure multiple connections on a voluntary basis. Thinkbroadband statistics for homes built in 2023 indicate that 98% of new homes developed across the UK have access to Fibre to the Premises (FTTP). We do not hold data on the new build developments that are served by more than one gigabit-capable network connection.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
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 had discussions with (a) local authorities, (b) water companies and (c) Surfers Against Sewage on the terminology they use when issuing sewage alerts, in the context of potential confusion with storm overflows.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Secretary of State has regular meetings with a wide range of stakeholders. Local authorities use information from the Environment Agency (EA) to issue pollution alerts relating to designated bathing waters in England, and Surfers Against Sewage use information from the EA’s Pollution Risk Forecasting service for bathing waters to inform the alerts they provide, along with information about storm overflow discharges.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much has been (a) raised for and (b) spent through the Water Restoration Fund since its implementation.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is fully committed to the delivery of the Water Restoration Fund. As set out in the Plan for Water, environmental fines and penalties from water companies will be reinvested into the delivery of projects which improve the water environment. The Fund has yet to launch but further details will follow later this year.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an estimate of the number of kilometres of tree cover there are along the banks of (a) rivers and (b) tributaries in England.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra can provide both a rapid indicative estimate and a longer-term definitive estimate to the question.
It will take within the region of two to four weeks’ time to produce an indicative estimate, with estimates solely based upon earth observation techniques.
It may take up to one year’s time to achieve a definitive answer, as we await the completion of field work undertaken as part of the Natural Capital Ecosystem Assessment.
The main difference between the indicative estimate and a comprehensive estimate is the ability to include smaller tree size and tributary sizes:
Parochial estimates would be that possibly up to 30% of trees are less than 2.5m in height and 5% of tributaries are less than 0.5m in width.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
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 has taken steps to help increase domestic production of virgin and waste wood.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Trees are at the forefront of Government action on Net Zero – not just because of the carbon they lock up as they grow, but because of the carbon that stays locked up when timber is put into long-term use.
We have set a new legal target that will see tree cover reach 16.5% of England’s total land area by 2050, which will increase productive woodland.
Our Woodlands into Management Forestry Innovation Funds are supporting projects that will develop new technologies and working practices to help homegrown timber production meet demand.
Last year, we published the Timber in Construction Roadmap setting out the Government’s plan to increase the safe use of timber in construction in England.
We increased the recycling target for businesses handling wood packaging in 2024 to 42% (from 35% in 2023) and will be setting recycling targets to 2030 as part of the new packaging Extended Producer Responsibility Regulations that will come into force later this year.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy, Security and Net Zero, when she will launch a consultation on removing the barriers to selling clean electricity.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has announced that it will consult on the barriers preventing the development of community energy schemes. The Government is actively working with the Community Energy Contact Group on the content of the consultation and plans to publish the consultation as soon as possible once these discussions have concluded.