Joe Robertson MP: written questions 2025
626 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Transport: Scottish IslandsScotland OfficeTabled 25 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 902935More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on improving transport connectivity to Scottish islands.
Answer: There are few issues which better encapsulate the incompetence and arrogance of the SNP government than their long-running ferry fiasco.Scotland’s island communities have been let down time and time again, from Nicola Sturgeon pretending to launch a ferry...
Answered 5 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordFood: InsectsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 25 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 33762More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 24 February 2025 to Question 26637 on Food: Insects, what his policy is on the use of insect-based novel foods for human consumption to deliver net zero goals
Answer: Defra is currently undertaking research on the insect bioconversion industry, including a life-cycle assessment to better understand the environmental impacts of using insect protein in pig and poultry feeds.
Answered 27 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordVoice over Internet ProtocolDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 25 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 33761More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to (a) monitor and (b) enforce compliance with the checklist for communication providers; and how customers will be informed of their rights and the
Answer: The PSTN switch-off is an industry-led process. As per the checklist the Government is meeting with communications providers before they restart non-voluntary migrations to ensure they are meeting the checklist commitments. The Government is engaging regu...
Answered 5 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordVoice over Internet Protocol: Older PeopleDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 25 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 33760More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the migration of analogue phone lines to digital voice over internet protocol on elderly people in the Isle of Wight East constitu
Answer: The Government is determined to ensure that any risks arising from the industry-led migration of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) are mitigated, for all customers across the UK.A definition of vulnerable ...
Answered 5 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordMotability: Impact AssessmentsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 25 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 33759More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has undertaken an impact assessment for the (a) Motability Scheme and (b) Motability Operations.
Answer: The Motability Scheme was scrutinised by a range of external bodies between 2018 and 2020, and a series of reports were produced:The Motability Scheme; Joint report by the Work and Pensions and Treasury Committees; May 2018;The Motability Scheme; National...
Answered 3 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordMotability: FinanceDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 25 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 33758More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what funding her Department has provided to the Motability (a) Foundation, (b) Scheme and (c) Operations.
Answer: The Motability Foundation charity, which is independent of government, oversees Motability Operations in its delivery of the Motability Scheme. The Motability Scheme does not receive any direct funding from the Department for Work and Pensions. The Depart...
Answered 3 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordPrisoners: MembersMinistry of JusticeTabled 25 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 33757More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether hon. Members serving a custodial sentence at His Majesty’s Pleasure are permitted by HM Prison & Probation Service to receive Parliamentary casework by post.
Answer: All prisoners have a statutory entitlement to send and receive letters, this includes parliamentary casework by post where an Hon. Member is serving a custodial sentence.
Answered 5 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordMembers: PrisonersHouse of Commons CommissionTabled 25 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 33756More
Question: To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, whether hon. Members serving a custodial sentence at His Majesty’s Pleasure can have their Parliamentary (a) mail and (b) casework delivered to them at the
Answer: Royal Mail receives mail instructions from Members, such as deliver to desk, keep at Members’ Lobby or forward to an external address such as a home or constituency office.The rules concerning the sending and receipt of mail from prison are the responsibi...
Answered 11 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordMembers: Prison SentencesCabinet OfficeTabled 25 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 33755More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government plans to review the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 in relation to hon. Members serving custodial sentences.
Answer: The Government has no plans to review, and is not currently planning to legislate to extend the disqualification criteria for standing as a candidate in UK general elections or membership of the House of Commons beyond the criteria currently set out in th...
Answered 21 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordHealth ServicesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 24 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 33276More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS appointments were delivered in each month between July 2023 and June 2024.
Answer: Information related to the baseline and methodology for the additional appointments delivered is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/rtt-waiting-times/recovery-of-elective_activity-mi/
Answered 7 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordHealth Services: Waiting ListsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 24 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 33275More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of what the NHS waiting list will be in (a) 12 months, (b) two years, (c) three years and (d) by the end of the Parliament.
Answer: Projected estimates of National Health Service waiting list size are currently being refined. We have delivered a reduction in the list of 160,000 pathways, as well as provision of over two million extra appointments between July and November 2024 compare...
Answered 18 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordHealth ServicesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 24 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 33274More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) value-weighted activity appointments and (b) diagnostic NHS appointments that will take place in (i) 2024-25, (ii) 2025-26 and (iii) by th
Answer: As set out in the Plan for Change, we will ensure 92% of patients return to waiting no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment by March 2029, a standard which has not been met consistently since September 2015.Thanks to funding announced in the Au...
Answered 7 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordCJD: ResearchDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 24 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 33273More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support research and innovation into Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
Answer: The Department funds research through the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR). Since 2002, the Department has made available over £43 million of funding for research and surveillance of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) and prion diseases ...
Answered 5 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordCJD: Health ServicesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 24 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 33272More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will maintain funding for specialist (a) clinical and (b) surveillance services for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
Answer: Effective diagnostic and surveillance services for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) are necessary to monitor public health protection measures and ensure that patients receive appropriate care and support.Currently, specialist diagnostic and surveillance s...
Answered 5 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordIsle of Wight CouncilMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 24 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 33271More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions her Department has had with Isle of Wight Council on (a) local government reorganisation and (b) devolution.
Answer: At the start of February I was pleased to confirm Hampshire and the Solent’s place on the Devolution Priority Programme. Since then both I and Baroness Taylor have met with leaders from the Isle of Wight Council and their neighbours to discuss both reorga...
Answered 4 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordEnergy: ConservationDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 21 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 32691More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to incentivize contractors and service providers to operate in underserved areas with high demand for energy efficiency upgrades.
Answer: The Government recognises the need for a skilled, competent and robust supply chain to deliver the improvements to buildings necessary to meet our net zero and fuel poverty targets. We have invested in regional pilots through the Local Net Zero Hubs which...
Answered 3 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordEnergy Performance Certificates: Rented HousingDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 21 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 32689More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the new EPC regulations on the supply of rental properties in underserved regions.
Answer: I refer the hon Member to the answer given to the hon Member for Thirsk and Malton (Kevin Hollinrake) by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on 14 January 2025 to Question UIN 22048. On the 4th December 2024 Government published the ...
Answered 3 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordEnergy Performance Certificates: Coastal Areas and Rural AreasDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 21 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 32687More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department plans to take to support landlords in (a) rural and (b) coastal areas to meet the new EPC standards by 2030.
Answer: The Government is now consulting on increasing minimum energy efficiency standards in the private rented sector to EPC C or equivalent. We are proposing a phased implementation of the new standard from 2028 to 2030 to encourage early action. The consultat...
Answered 3 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordEnergy Performance Certificates: Private Rented HousingDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 21 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 32686More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what financial assistance the Government is providing to landlords to help them meet the new EPC requirements for private rented properties.
Answer: The Government is now consulting on increasing minimum energy efficiency standards in the private rented sector to EPC C or equivalent. We are proposing a phased implementation of the new standard from 2028 to 2030 to encourage early action. The consultat...
Answered 3 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordEnergy Performance Certificates: Private Rented HousingDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 21 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 32685More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to support landlords in areas with limited access to qualified professionals and contractors in meeting the proposed higher EPC requirements for private re
Answer: The Government is now consulting on increasing minimum energy efficiency standards in the private rented sector to EPC C or equivalent. We are proposing a phased implementation of the new standard from 2028 to 2030 to encourage early action. The consultat...
Answered 3 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordPsychiatric Hospitals: Autism and Learning DisabilityDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 21 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 32599More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to monitor progress on reducing the number of people with a learning disability and autism in mental health hospitals.
Answer: The Mental Health Bill, introduced in the House of Lords on 6 November 2024, proposes a package of measures to ensure people with a learning disability and autistic people get the support they need in the community, improving care and keeping people out o...
Answered 3 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordAutism and Learning Disability: Community CareDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 21 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 32598More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the final report from the Funding Flows task and finish group.
Answer: The Building the Right Support Delivery Board, including the Funding Flows Task and Finish Group, was commissioned under the previous Government and has been paused. We do not plan to take decisions on the delivery board, including publishing the final re...
Answered 11 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordAutism and Learning Disability: Community CareDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 21 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 32597More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding his Department allocated to improve community support for people with a learning disability and autistic people in 2024-25.
Answer: For 2024/25, NHS England allocated £124 million of transformation funding for learning disability and autism services in local integrated care board (ICB) areas. This funding includes money for local systems to reduce reliance on mental health inpatient s...
Answered 3 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordPsychiatric Hospitals: Autism and Learning DisabilityDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 21 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 32596More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether it remains his Department's policy that there should be no more than 30 adult inpatients with a learning disability and/or autism per million adult population in mental health inpatient uni
Answer: Our commitment remains, as set out in the NHS Long Term Plan, that there should be no more than 30 adults with a learning disability, autism or both in a mental health inpatient setting per million adults. As part of NHS Operational and Planning Guidance ...
Answered 3 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordDoctors' and Dentists' Review BodyDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 21 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 32589More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, who the members of the assessment advisory panel are for the Members of the Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration.
Answer: When new members or chairs are recruited to pay review bodies, Ministers are assisted in their decision making by an Advisory Assessment Panel, set up for each individual recruitment. The Panel includes a departmental official and a member independent of ...
Answered 7 Mar 2025
Original Parliament record
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