Alex Mayer MP: written questions 2024
239 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Airports: ConstructionDepartment for TransportTabled 4 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 6918More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if her Department will make an environmental impact assessment for each airport expansion plan.
Answer: All airport expansion proposals that are likely to have a significant effect on the environment must already be accompanied by an environmental impact assessment, as set out in planning legislation. These assessments will be taken into account by the loca...
Answered 11 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordFly-tipping: Dunstable and Leighton BuzzardDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 11 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5447More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information his Department holds on the number of instances of fly tipping in Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard constituency in each year since 2010.
Answer: Local authorities are required to report fly-tipping incidents and enforcement actions to Defra, which the department have published annually since 2012, at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/env24-fly-tipping-incidents-and-actions-taken...
Answered 7 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordFly-tippingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 11 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5446More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a single reporting mechanism for fly-tipping incidents.
Answer: Local authorities are often best placed to tackle local issues such as fly-tipping, and incidents can be reported to them by visiting the local authority's website. Individuals can get help on identifying the relevant local authority webpage at https://ww...
Answered 7 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordAirportsDepartment for TransportTabled 4 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 4294More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department will introduce a new National Airport Strategy.
Answer: This Government is committed to securing the long-term future of the UK aviation sector, recognising the vital connectivity it provides between the UK and the rest of the world. Currently, the Department has no plans to introduce a new National Airport St...
Answered 13 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordDefibrillatorsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 2 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 3882More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of access to defibrillators in (a) Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard constituency, (b) Central Bedfordshire and (c) the UK.
Answer: No assessment has been made on the adequacy of access to Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) in the Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard constituency, Central Bedfordshire, or the United Kingdom as a whole. However, the Government is committed to improving...
Answered 5 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordRegional Planning and Development: CostsMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 2 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 3881More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if her Department will make an estimate of the annual cost to the public purse of pan-regional partnerships.
Answer: Government has provided core funding for pan-regional partnerships throughout the current Spending Review period. This has supported six pan-regional partnerships, with £5 million provided in 2022/23, £6 million in 2023/24 and £7 million allocated for 202...
Answered 10 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordBuses: Carbon EmissionsDepartment for TransportTabled 2 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 3880More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of infrastructure required for the operation of zero-emission coaches.
Answer: Our understanding from industry modelling indicates most coach operations could be run using electric coaches with depot charging, but that longer distance journeys would require longer-range coaches and/or infrastructure to be available elsewhere. My Dep...
Answered 10 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordAnorexiaDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 2 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 3879More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support people with anorexia.
Answer: The Department is committed to working closely with NHS England to ensure that people with anorexia and other eating disorders get the care and treatment they need, when they need it.We will focus on improving the performance of the existing waiting time ...
Answered 10 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordBus ServicesDepartment for TransportTabled 30 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 3438More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of the Bus Service Improvement Plan on bus patronage.
Answer: The Department for Transport has commissioned a process, impact and value for money evaluation of the Bus Service Improvement Plan Programme, a £1.1 billion tranche of funding allocated to 34 Local Transport Authorities (LTAs). The work will answer questi...
Answered 9 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordWarm Homes PlanDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 30 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 3437More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what his planned timeline is for rolling out his Department’s Warm Homes Plan.
Answer: Through the Warm Homes Plan, we will invest an extra £6.6 billion over the next five years in clean heat and energy efficiency, upgrading five million homes through solutions like low carbon heating and improved insulation. We will set out the full detail...
Answered 9 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordSewage: Dunstable and Leighton BuzzardDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 30 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 3436More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an estimate of the number of sewage discharges into waterways there have been in Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard constituency in the last 12 months.
Answer: Anglian Water provides data on storm overflow discharges in near real time on their website. The Environment Agency will publish the 2024 Event Duration Monitoring data, showing how long and how often storm overflows have been used, in March 2025. The dat...
Answered 12 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordSocial Media: Animal WelfareDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 30 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 3435More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the potential link between (a) animal abuse and (b) social media.
Answer: Ofcom is the UK’s independent regulator for online safety. Social media platforms and search services will have duties to tackle animal abuse content under the Online Safety Act (OSA). Ofcom recently published its proposals for how these providers should ...
Answered 9 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordHousehold Support FundDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 30 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 3434More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of continuing the Household Support Fund after 30 September 2024.
Answer: The Government has announced funding to extend the Household Support Fund (HSF) for a further 6 months, from 1 October 2024 until 31 March 2025. An additional £500 million will be provided to enable the extension of the HSF, including funding for the Devo...
Answered 9 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordInheritance TaxTreasuryTabled 30 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 3433More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if her Department will make an (a) estimate of the potential costs and (b) assessment of the potential merits of extending inheritance tax relief to long-term cohabiting and co-dependent siblings.
Answer: There is a longstanding inheritance tax exemption for transfers between spouses and civil partners to reflect the formal legal obligations that marriage and civil partnerships involve. As with all taxes, reforms to inheritance tax, such as the potential e...
Answered 9 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordDental Services: ContractsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 30 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 3432More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will set a timeframe for introducing legislative provisions to reform the dental contract.
Answer: To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of National Health Service dentists.There are no perfect payment systems and careful consideration needs to be given to any po...
Answered 10 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordDental Services: Dunstable and Leighton BuzzardDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 30 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 3431More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of NHS dental provision in Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard constituency.
Answer: From 1 April 2023, the responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to all integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. In the 24 months to March 2024, 277,447 adults saw a National ...
Answered 9 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordAnimal Welfare: FireworksDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 30 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 3430More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will make an assessment of the impact of fireworks on (a) domestic and (b) wild animals.
Answer: A number of animal welfare and veterinary organisations provide advice and guidance to enable people to minimise the impacts of fireworks on animal welfare. Users of fireworks should be aware of animals in the neighbouring area and use them responsibly. A...
Answered 9 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordSchools: UniformsDepartment for EducationTabled 30 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 3429More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when her Department plans to update statutory guidance on the cost of school uniforms.
Answer: The government has committed to legislate through the Children’s Wellbeing Bill to limit the number of items of branded uniform and PE kit that schools can require. This proposed legislation will go further than the current statutory guidance, which only ...
Answered 9 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordAnimal Welfare CommitteeDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 30 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 3428More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make it his Department's policy that deliberate cruelty against companion animals is a standing item on the agenda of the Animal Welfare Committee.
Answer: Causing unnecessary suffering to an animal is an offence under Section 4 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006. In 2021, the maximum sentence for this offence was increased to five years imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine. The Government can seek independent,...
Answered 9 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordDisinformation: EducationDepartment for EducationTabled 30 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 3427More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of including education on identifying misinformation online in the school curriculum.
Answer: The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, covering key stages 1 to 5, chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE. The review will seek to deliver a curriculum that ensures children and young people leave compulsory educat...
Answered 9 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordKnives: Advertising and SalesHome OfficeTabled 30 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 3426More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will establish a review of knife (a) advertising and (b) sales including the strengthening of (i) ID and (ii) age checks by delivery services.
Answer: Tackling the illegal sales of knives online is a very important part of the Government’s mission to make our streets safer and reduce knife crime we will make further announcements in due course about our review into this area.
Answered 9 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordNational GridDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 30 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 3425More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of changing grid connection rules restricting operators from directly supplying households unless they acquire the same suppl
Answer: Small-scale electricity generation sites can benefit from an exemption, which means that they do not require a licence from Ofgem to generate electricity or to supply to local customers. Ofgem has further flexibility to grant supply licences to generation...
Answered 9 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordNational GridDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 30 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 3424More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department is taking steps to encourage flexibility in grid connection rules to allow operators to co-locate (a) wind, (b) solar, (c) battery and (d) other technologies through si
Answer: Connection customers are already permitted to co-locate different technologies through a single connection point.
Answered 9 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordNational GridDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 30 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 3423More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of reprioritising the grid connection queue to favour viable projects with planning consent over (a) stalled and (b) speculat
Answer: Government is working at pace with Ofgem, the Electricity System Operator (ESO), and network companies to accelerate electricity network connections. The ESO is developing proposals with stakeholders to raise requirements to obtain and retain a connection...
Answered 9 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordPolice: First AidHome OfficeTabled 30 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 3422More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans her Department has to support the availability of bleed control kits in (a) Central Bedfordshire and (b) the UK.
Answer: The use of bleed control kits is determined at the local level and the Government does not provide specific funding for bleed control kits.Where decisions have been made by police forces to deploy bleed control kits, these would have been done as part of ...
Answered 9 Sept 2024
Original Parliament record
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