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Written Question
High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department plans to undertake a lessons learned exercise from the residential building fire in Campanar, Valencia.

Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)

The UK Government and Fire Services have offered our assistance to the Spanish authorities of the lessons we have learned from the Grenfell Tower fire and our subsequent work. It is our intention to work with them to understand the precise details of the fire in Valencia and to consider what lessons might be learned.

The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) has been closely following the terrible event in Valencia. We understand that the investigations into the incident remain ongoing and BSR will continue to monitor any findings to ensure that any applicable learnings are made.


Written Question
Long Covid: Drugs
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to review the eligibility criteria for antivirals for those suffering from long covid.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Decisions on the eligibility criteria for treatment with antivirals are made by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), based on an assessment of their costs and benefits, developed in line with marketing authorisations issued by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.

The NICE has published guidance that recommends the antivirals Paxlovid, Veklury, and Lagevrio for the treatment of COVID-19, both in the community, and for patients in hospital. This guidance sets out the eligibility criteria and ensures that patients who are at the highest risk of developing severe disease from COVID-19 have access to clinically and cost-effective treatments. Patients with long COVID have not been identified as a distinct group that would be eligible for treatment, and there are currently no licensed antivirals for the treatment of long COVID. The NICE therefore has no current plans to review the eligibility criteria in its guidance. The NICE maintains surveillance of new evidence that may affect its published guidance, and would consult on proposed changes if significant new evidence were to emerge.


Written Question
NHS North Central London: Databases
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the North Central London Integrated Care Board's consultation entitled Start Well which closed on 17 March 2024, whether she has made an assessment of the effectiveness of the patient flow modelling methods used within that consultation.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The North Central London Integrated Care Board advise that the patient flow modelling approach was based on the combination of geographical proximity and service user choice.

The patient flow approach was tested with the Clinical Reference Group, Finance and Analytics Group, and Start Well Programme Board. The outputs were also tested with the Strategy Leads from each organisation, and the approach reviewed and assured by the London Clinical Senate and NHS England.


Written Question
Development Aid: Polio
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to the correspondence from the WHO Director for Polio Eradication to the Minister of State for Development and Africa of 19 March 2024, if he will take steps to increase funding for programmes for the eradication of polio.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The UK is proud to be a longstanding supporter of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), having contributed £1.4 billion since 1995. Building strong and resilient health systems and reducing the risk of future global health threats are priorities for the UK. The UK is committed to being a supportive partner to the GPEI in the future and will take every opportunity to ensure every child everywhere is safe from Polio.


Written Question
Papua: Biofuels
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the proposed bio-ethanol food estate in West Papua on (a) the environment and (b) local (i) communities and (ii) ecosystems.

Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK Government is aware of proposals for the Food and Energy Estate programme in Merauke. We work closely with the Government of Indonesia to help increase the sustainability of commodity production, including by limiting deforestation and other environmental impacts, and supporting local communities' access to livelihoods.


Written Question
Roads: Subsidence
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of risk of damage to public highways from subsidence caused by global warming; what is the current budget for repairs following subsidence; and what grants are available to private landowners for such repairs.

Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Chapter 4 of the Third UK Climate Change Risk Assessment Technical Report assesses the climate-related risks and opportunities to infrastructure in the UK. Part 4.8 of that document considers the risks to subterranean and surface infrastructure from subsidence.

National Highways is responsible for the operation, maintenance, renewal and enhancement of the Strategic Road Network, funded by the Government in 5-year roads periods with objectives set out in Road Investment Strategies. The second Road Investment Strategy (2020-2025) includes action to enhance all-weather resilience of the strategic road network, to minimise the risk of incidents and their impact for road users. National Highways also reports under the adaptation reporting power of the Climate Change Act 2008 on what it is doing to check climate resilience against the latest Met Office Climate Projections and undertake actions to improve resilience across its network. The next round of adaptation reporting closes at the end of 2024.

In respect of local roads, the Department is providing over £5.5 billion of highways maintenance funding between 2020/21 – 2024/25 for eligible highway authorities outside London and those receiving City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS). This funding is not ring-fenced, and authorities may choose to use it to maintain their network, including repairs to the highway following subsidence and actions to make networks more resilient to changing weather patterns. The Government has also announced that it will provide an additional £8.3 billion of reallocated HS2 funds over this year and the next decade to help authorities to transform their highway networks.

The Department for Transport does not provide grants to private landowners for repairing subsidence damage.


Written Question
Alzheimer's Disease: Research
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase funding and support for Alzheimer's research to accelerate the development of effective treatments and improve early diagnosis techniques.

Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is strongly committed to supporting research into dementia and has committed to double funding for dementia research, to £160 million per year, by the end of 2024/25. This will span all areas of research, including diagnosis and treatment of dementia, and more specifically Alzheimer’s disease.

The Government has allocated up to £120 million to the Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Mission, which aims to speed up the development of new treatments through innovations in biomarkers, clinical trials, and implementation.

Alongside the mission, the Department, via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), is funding a range of research to accelerate the development of effective treatments and to improve early diagnosis techniques. This includes investing almost £50 million into the NIHR’s Dementia Translational Research Collaboration Trials Network. This will expand the United Kingdom’s early phase clinical trial capabilities in dementia, speeding up the development of new treatments, and funding to the Blood Biomarker Challenge which could make the case for the use of a blood test in the National Health Service, to support diagnosis of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.


Written Question
Mortgages: Arrears
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following reports that mortgages in arrears hit a seven-year high in the final quarter of 2023, what assessment they have made of the impact on (1) housing stability, and (2) homelessness rates.

Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

The Government is closely monitoring levels of arrears and repossessions, which remain low by historic standards. Affordability assessment and stress testing of mortgage applications is helping ensure households do not move into arrears.

Lenders representing over 90% of the market have agreed to our Mortgage Charter, which includes new flexibilities to help customers manage their repayments over a short period. This is helping to support vulnerable households.

Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules require lenders to engage individually with their customers who are struggling or who are worried about their payments in order to provide tailored support.

The Government has also put in place measures aimed at helping people to avoid repossession, including Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) loans, protection in the courts through the Pre-Action Protocol, and the Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service (HLPAS).


Written Question
Pets and Wildlife: Crime
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to tackle the use of catapults to (a) kill and (b) maim (i) wildlife and (ii) pets.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government takes crimes against wildlife and against pets seriously, including those involving the use of catapults. Under provisions in the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, The Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996 and Animal Welfare Act 2006, there are a range of offences around deliberate attempts to kill, injure or inflict harm on wildlife and in the event that a member of the public believes such an offence has taken place, they are encouraged to report the matter to the police so they can investigate. In particular where pets are concerned, it is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to cause an animal any unnecessary suffering. The Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021 realises the Government’s manifesto commitment to increase the sentences available to our courts for the most serious cases of animal cruelty by increasing the maximum penalty for this offence to 5 years’ imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine.


Written Question
Jimmy Lai
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the call made by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture on 8 March that Hong Kong and China investigate the admission of evidence allegedly obtained by torture in the trial of Jimmy Lai, and (2) the statement by Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC that evidence which appears to have been procured by torture may be used in proceedings against Jimmy Lai.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

On 8 March the UK Ambassador and Permanent Representative, UK Mission to the World Trade Organization (WTO), UN and Other International Organisations (Geneva) highlighted the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture's comments and noted the allegation that some evidence to be used to prosecute Jimmy Lai had been obtained through the torture of Andy Li. Article 15 of the Convention against Torture, which China has ratified, prohibits the use of statements established to have been made as a result of torture in court proceedings. We are clear that no evidence gained via torture can be valid evidence.