Joe Robertson MP: written questions
1049 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Packaging: RecyclingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 3 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 44040More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department's guidance entitled Simpler recycling: workplace recycling in England, published on 29 November 2024, whether offices are now required to rinse or wash
Answer: Yes, as of 31 March 2025 all workplaces with ten or more full-time equivalent employees, including offices, must separate out recycling (plastic, metal, glass, paper and card) and food waste for recycling. Recyclables should be rinsed to remove any food o...
Answered 9 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordCoronersMinistry of JusticeTabled 3 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 44031More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the time taken for coroner inquests on the issuing of Prevention of Future Death reports.
Answer: Regulation 28(3) of the Coroners (Investigations) Regulations 2013 provides that a Prevention of Future Death report may not be made until a coroner has considered all the documents, evidence and information that, in the opinion of the coroner, are releva...
Answered 8 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordGreat British Energy: LogosDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 3 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 44029More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 28 March 2025 to Question 40054 on Great British Energy: Logos, what the internal costs were for the redesign of the Great British Energy logo.
Answer: As per my answer to Questions 42936 and 42937 the staff involved in the creation of Great British Energy’s logo were not recruited specifically to design the logo. Therefore, a detailed breakdown of the time and costs involved is not readily available and...
Answered 8 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordDefibrillators and Heart Diseases: Isle of Wight EastDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 2 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 43699More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase (a) survival rates from out-of-hospital cardiac arrests and (b) the availability of defibrillators in Isle of Wight East constituency.
Answer: To improve patients' survival rates following out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, the Government has committed to improving access to Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) in public spaces and reducing inequalities in access to these life saving devices. ...
Answered 8 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordEducation: RegulationDepartment for EducationTabled 2 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 43695More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department takes to calculate compliance costs education-related regulations.
Answer: The department assesses education-related regulation compliance costs for businesses and households as per the Better Regulation Framework, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/better-regulation-framework. This typically invol...
Answered 10 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordFinancial Services: RegulationTreasuryTabled 2 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 43694More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what her Department's policy is on whether compliance costs reported for financial regulations should be subject to periodic independent verification.
Answer: Following the announcement to cut the administrative costs of regulation on businesses by 25% by the end of this Parliament, the government is now taking forward a baselining exercise to understand how much regulation is costing and where it can be reform...
Answered 9 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordPlanning Permission: CostsMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 2 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 43692More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has assessed compliance costs associated with local authority planning approvals.
Answer: Ensuring compliance with planning approvals is a matter for local planning authorities. As such, the Department has not made an assessment of the costs involved.
Answered 7 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordLocal Government: RegulationMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 2 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 43691More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how often her Department assesses compliance costs associated with local government administration.
Answer: The Department regularly engages with authorities across the country to understand the administrative costs councils face, and to work with the sector to reduce these. The Local Government Finance Settlement for 2025-26 makes available over £69 billion fo...
Answered 10 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordDigital Technology: RegulationDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 2 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 43690More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department plans to commission external reviews of digital compliance regulations.
Answer: The Government's independent regulators regularly review regulations and provide their independent recommendations to the Secretary of State to ensure that these regulations are effective and support businesses within the sector.
Answered 11 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordTechnology: RegulationDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 2 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 43689More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how frequently his Department reviews compliance costs for the technology sector.
Answer: Sections 28–31 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 set the legislative requirements for the inclusion of statutory review provisions in secondary legislation, including that a report of the first review must be published within five ...
Answered 11 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordDefence: ProcurementMinistry of DefenceTabled 2 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 43688More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether compliance obligations related to defence procurement will be assessed for potential reduction.
Answer: Through our acquisition reforms we are streamlining our processes and taking risk-based approaches to procurement. We will focus assurance activity where it is most needed, reducing bureaucracy to drive pace in delivery, while ensuring compliance with the...
Answered 11 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordAntidepressantsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 2 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 43678More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what type of mental health support will patients who are prescribed antidepressants be able to receive from community pharmacies.
Answer: The New Medicine Service (NMS) is an advanced service offered by community pharmacies, providing patients with advice to address any possible side effects, issues, or questions that patients who are prescribed a new medicine may have. The service focuses ...
Answered 8 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordPharmacy: FinanceDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 2 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 43676More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the proportion of additional funding for community pharmacies that will be required from 1 April 2025 to cover the increase in (a) employer National Insurance contribut
Answer: We have taken the necessary decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at the Autumn Budget, and this enabled the Spending Review settlement of a £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department, from 2023/24 outturn to 2025/26....
Answered 8 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordPharmacy: Business Rates and Minimum WageDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 2 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 43675More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to community pharmacies of the rise in (a) business rates and (b) the National Minimum Wage from 1 April 2025.
Answer: We have taken the necessary decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at the Autumn Budget, and this enabled the Spending Review settlement of a £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department from 2023/24 outturn to 2025/26.T...
Answered 8 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordLitter: FinesDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 2 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 43624More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2025 to Question 32568 on Litter: Fines, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse being non-
Answer: The Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse, as it relates to cleaning standards, is statutory guidance. The code was amended in 2019 to include advisory guidance on litter enforcement. We do not intend to make an assessment of levels of compliance with the...
Answered 8 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordDomestic Waste: Waste DisposalDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 2 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 43623More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 21 February 2025 to Question 26635 on Domestic Waste: Waste Disposal, whether (a) his Department and (b) WRAP has undertaken research on restricting residual
Answer: No, Defra has not undertaken research on this. WRAP, supported by Defra, and with input from local authorities, has developed good practice guidance on household and commercial waste collections designed to help local authorities deliver quality waste and...
Answered 8 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordDomestic Waste: FiresDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 1 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 43351More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2025 to Question 32576 on Fires: Air Pollution, whether the UK Health Security Agency and its predecessor has made an assessment of the impact of air pollution cau
Answer: The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), formerly Public Health England, has published systematic reviews of the epidemiological studies on the health impacts associated with outdoor and indoor exposure to solid fuel burning. This included biomass and coal,...
Answered 8 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordWRAP: FinanceDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 1 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 43350More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2025 to Question 26631 on WRAP, if he will publish the contract or memorandum of understanding between his Department and WRAP that provides the b
Answer: Details of the WRAP grant agreement are published on the Grants register held on GOV.UK. The WRAP grant agreement details the purpose and objectives of the grant, standard terms and conditions, performance monitoring and financial assurance.
Answered 8 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordWood-burning Stoves: Health HazardsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 1 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 43349More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 12 February 2025 to Question 28295 on Wood-burning Stoves: Health Hazards, what the (a) terms of reference and (b) timetable is of his Department’s review of
Answer: The Government is committed to taking action to clean up our air and protecting the public from the harm of pollution. Domestic solid fuel burning accounted for 20% of PM2.5 emissions in 2023, with indoor wood burning accounting for 11% of total PM2.5. Th...
Answered 9 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordLitter: Fixed PenaltiesDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 1 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 43348More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2025 to Question 32568 on Litter: Fines, if he will take steps to issue guidance to local authorities on establishing a mechanism to (a) appeal and (b
Answer: There is no formal right of appeal against a fixed penalty notice. If an alleged offender does not accept their liability for the offence, there is no requirement on them to pay the fixed penalty. They may have to defend their case in court. We consider i...
Answered 8 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordWRAP: FinanceDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 1 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 43345More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2025 to Question 32571 on WRAP: Finance, how much funding to WRAP has been budgeted for the 2025-26 financial year.
Answer: A WRAP grant provision of £5,952,500 for 2025-26 is planned, this is provisional subject to agreement of the 2025-26 programme proposal from WRAP.
Answered 8 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordDomestic Waste: Recycling and Waste DisposalDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 1 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 43343More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2025 to Question 32569 on Domestic Waste: Recycling and Waste Disposal, whether WRAP provided guidance on the Simpler Recycling reforms to residual wa
Answer: WRAP, supported by Defra, and with input from local authorities, has developed good practice guidance on household and commercial waste collections designed to help local authorities deliver quality waste and recycling services to citizens in England. Thi...
Answered 8 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordFires: Air PollutionDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 1 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 43342More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2025 to Question 32576 on Fires: Air Pollution, whether WRAP has made an assessment of the potential impact of the burning of household rubbish in the
Answer: WRAP has not made an assessment of the potential impact of the burning of household rubbish in the gardens of residential properties on air pollution. However, the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (NAEI) includes estimates of existing emissions fr...
Answered 6 May 2025
Original Parliament recordWRAP: PublicationsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 1 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 43334More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has funded any publications produced by WRAP in each of the last three years.
Answer: Yes, Defra has funded a number of publications produced by WRAP in each of the last three years including publications on food waste reduction, recycling and textiles.
Answered 8 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordNHS: DrugsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 1 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 43293More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many non-cancer medicines have been approved for use by the Innovative Medicines Fund in each year since June 2022.
Answer: The following table shows the number of non-cancer medicines that have been approved for use by the Innovative Medicines Fund, broken down by those available via managed access agreements and interim funding agreements:YearManaged accessInterim funding202...
Answered 28 Apr 2025
Original Parliament record
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