Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to make clear that investment in a firm that profits from the legal overseas recreational cannabis market should fall within the scope of the Proceedings of Crime Act 2002; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
Decisions on investments are a matter for those investing, and they must obtain their own legal advice.
There is no current intention to bring forward additional legislation and therefore no intention to make a statement.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals to ensure developers and product manufacturers responsible for defective buildings are required to take financial responsibility for those buildings.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Under the Building Safety Act 2022, those responsible for creating historical safety defects will bear the burden of costs for remediation and will be held accountable. Building owners and landlords who are, or are connected to, the developer must fix historical safety defects in their buildings above 11 metres or five storeys.
The Act also gives developers, landlords and leaseholders new legal remedies against construction product manufacturers whose products fail to comply with regulations, which results in a construction product being installed in a building and the product causing or contributing to a dwelling being rendered 'unfit for habitation'.
The Act also gives the Secretary of State the power to establish a statutory scheme to distinguish between industry actors that have committed to take responsibility where historic defects are identified, and remediation is needed and those that fail to do so. In addition, the Act gives the Secretary of State powers to prevent those that have failed to take responsibility from carrying out development for which planning permission has been granted, and to prevent them from receiving building control approval on their developments.
As the final backstop of the leaseholder protections, section 133 of the Act (once in force) will create a duty that landlords take reasonable steps to explore alternative cost recovery avenues before asking leaseholders to contribute to remediation works - including pursuing third parties responsible for defective buildings.
To protect residents in high-rise residential buildings who are facing the most serious safety risks, £5.1 billion has been committed by Government to fund cladding remediation where developers, industry or building owners are not doing so. The Building Safety Levy will be charged on new residential developments and raise an additional estimated £3 billion to remediate buildings over 11 metres tall, where no responsible developer has been identified.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has made an estimate of public funding required to carry out cladding remediation of unsafe buildings.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Under the Building Safety Act 2022, those responsible for creating historical safety defects will bear the burden of costs for remediation and will be held accountable. Building owners and landlords who are, or are connected to, the developer must fix historical safety defects in their buildings above 11 metres or five storeys.
The Act also gives developers, landlords and leaseholders new legal remedies against construction product manufacturers whose products fail to comply with regulations, which results in a construction product being installed in a building and the product causing or contributing to a dwelling being rendered 'unfit for habitation'.
The Act also gives the Secretary of State the power to establish a statutory scheme to distinguish between industry actors that have committed to take responsibility where historic defects are identified, and remediation is needed and those that fail to do so. In addition, the Act gives the Secretary of State powers to prevent those that have failed to take responsibility from carrying out development for which planning permission has been granted, and to prevent them from receiving building control approval on their developments.
As the final backstop of the leaseholder protections, section 133 of the Act (once in force) will create a duty that landlords take reasonable steps to explore alternative cost recovery avenues before asking leaseholders to contribute to remediation works - including pursuing third parties responsible for defective buildings.
To protect residents in high-rise residential buildings who are facing the most serious safety risks, £5.1 billion has been committed by Government to fund cladding remediation where developers, industry or building owners are not doing so. The Building Safety Levy will be charged on new residential developments and raise an additional estimated £3 billion to remediate buildings over 11 metres tall, where no responsible developer has been identified.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
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 impact on consumer diets of delaying (a) the food strategy and (b) subsequent policies on encouraging (i) wholegrains, (ii) fibre and (iii) healthier substitutes.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government Food Strategy set out our plan to ensure the food system is fit for the future and supports healthy and sustainable diets and we are focused on implementing the measures in the strategy. We have committed to report on how we are taking forward our actions under the strategy alongside the next UK Food Security Report.
A balanced diet is rich in fruit and vegetables, beans, pulses and wholegrain starchy carbohydrates. It can also include dairy, fish and meat which are valuable sources of many nutrients important for human health. The Government already encourages everyone to have a healthy balanced diet in line with the UK's healthy eating model, the Eatwell Guide. The Eatwell Guide shows the proportions in which different types of foods are needed to have a well-balanced and healthy diet.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to enable private train operators to increase revenues to help reduce the cost of the railway to the taxpayer.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the rail industry faces a more challenging financial position. The Department has developed and implemented an annual business planning process for all train operators which ensures the industry delivers for passengers while also improving financial performance and driving revenue growth in order to reduce the cost of the railway for taxpayers.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
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 assessment of the potential merits of introducing a public private partnership for whole grain on improving health outcomes.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government’s longstanding recommendations on fibre are based on the recommendations of the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN), which advises the Government on nutrition related matters. As part of its horizon scanning processes in June 2022, the committee agreed to undertake an overview and initial assessment of existing definitions of wholegrain and wholegrain foods for consideration and agreement by SACN, before consideration of any further work in this area.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
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 take steps to publish draft legislation following the production of the Food Strategy White Paper; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government Food Strategy set out our plan to transform the food system to ensure it is fit for the future and we are focussed on implementing the plans and policies we announced in the strategy. Recently this has included publishing plans for our Independent Review into Labour Shortages in the Food Supply Chain, running a call for evidence on methane suppressing feed additives, and completing our consultations on improved reporting of food waste by large food businesses and public sector food and catering policy.
We are confident that most policies in the Food Strategy can be implemented using existing primary powers. We will continue to review the legal powers needed for our policies and will seek new legislation only where needed.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact to consumer diets of (a) delaying the food strategy and (b) focusing on policies on food deemed high in fat, sugar or salt.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government Food Strategy sets out our plan to ensure the food system is fit for the future and supports healthy and sustainable diets and are focussed on implementing the measures in this strategy. We have committed to report on how we are taking forward our actions under the strategy alongside the next UK Food Security Report.
DHSC have published impact assessments alongside all of our regulatory policies on products high in fat, salt or sugar. Restrictions on the promotion by location of products high in fat, salt or sugar in large retail settings came into force on 1 October and are expected to accrue health benefits of over £57 billion and provide NHS savings of over £4 billion, over the next 25 years. We are also working with the food industry to ensure it is easier for people to make healthier choices and increase progress on the reformulation of products.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to bring forward a Planning and Infrastructure Bill in this Parliament.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Infrastructure is a vital means to drive the UK’s economic growth, increasing long-term energy security and delivering Net Zero by 2050. The government remains committed to delivering high quality infrastructure in a timely manner across the UK.
Further detail on the government’s legislative priorities during the remainder of this Parliament will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on delivering additional medical scans, tests and check-ups.
Answered by Will Quince
As part of our work to bust the Covid backlogs we have so far rolled out 89 Community Diagnostic Centres that have delivered over 2 million additional tests since June 2021, and will deliver capacity for up to 9 million additional tests a year from 2025.