Joe Robertson MP: written questions
485 published records · newest first.
Written questions
PharmacyDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 23 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 47509More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help increase the number of brick-and-mortar pharmacies.
Answer: Pharmacies play a vital role in our healthcare system, and the Government recognises the integral role they play within our communities, as an easily accessible ‘front door’ to the National Health Service, staffed by highly trained and skilled healthcare ...
Answered 28 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordCats: Animal BreedingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 17 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 46494More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential implications for its policies of the Animal Welfare Committee’s report entitled Opinion on the welfare implications of current
Answer: The Government welcomes the Animal Welfare Committee’s Opinion on the welfare implications of current and emergent feline breeding practices. We are carefully considering the Committee’s recommendations.
Answered 25 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordCats: Animal BreedingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 17 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 46493More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to ban deliberate breeding of domestic cats with non-domestic felid species.
Answer: The Government welcomes the Animal Welfare Committee’s Opinion on the welfare implications of current and emergent feline breeding practices. We are carefully considering the Committee’s recommendations.
Answered 25 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordKinship Care: Isle of WightDepartment for EducationTabled 8 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 45340More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help ensure the adequacy of support for kinship care therapists for families on the Isle of Wight.
Answer: The Autumn Budget 2024 gave an additional £22.6 billion of resource spending for the day-to-day health budget for last year and this year. It is the responsibility of the Isle of Wight Council and Isle of Wight NHS Trust to ensure there are adequate thera...
Answered 22 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordNHS: Unmanned Air SystemsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 8 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 45339More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with the Civil Aviation Authority on (a) the regulatory framework for Beyond Visual Line of Sight drone operations and (b) how this impacts NHS and emergency
Answer: The Government is committed to innovation in drones and other growth sectors, and work is ongoing across the Government, including between the Department and the Civil Aviation Authority, to support the safe and effective introduction of drones into medic...
Answered 22 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordNHS: Unmanned Air SystemsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 8 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 45338More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to integrate drone technology into existing NHS logistics and emergency response frameworks.
Answer: The Government is committed to innovation in drones and other growth sectors, and work is ongoing across the Government, including between the Department and the Civil Aviation Authority, to support the safe and effective introduction of drones into medic...
Answered 22 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordNHS: Delivery Services and Unmanned Air SystemsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 8 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 45337More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the cost-effectiveness of using (a) drones and (b) traditional delivery methods for medical logistics.
Answer: The Government is committed to innovation in drones and other growth sectors, and work is ongoing across the Government, including between the Department and the Civil Aviation Authority, to support the safe and effective introduction of drones into medic...
Answered 22 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordNHS: Unmanned Air SystemsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 8 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 45336More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of drone regulation to support the delivery of (a) blood, (b) organs, (c) pharmaceuticals and (d) other medical supplies within the NHS.
Answer: The Government is committed to innovation in drones and other growth sectors, and work is ongoing across the Government, including between the Department and the Civil Aviation Authority, to support the safe and effective introduction of drones into medic...
Answered 22 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordAutism and Learning Disability: HousingDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 8 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 45335More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which body will be responsible for allocating the existing NHS capital grant funding programme for housing for people with (a) a learning disability and (b) autism, in the context of the abolition
Answer: The Government is committed to reducing the number of people with a learning disability and autistic people who are inpatients in mental health hospitals. High quality, safe, and suitable homes can help people stay independent and healthy for longer.Work ...
Answered 22 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordPsychiatric Hospitals: Autism and Learning DisabilityDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 8 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 45334More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2025 to Question 32596 on Psychiatric Hospitals: Autism and Learning Disability, where the commitment has been documented; and what steps his Department has taken
Answer: The 2025/26 NHS Priorities and Operational Planning Guidance was published on 30 January 2025. It includes a focus on improving mental health and learning disability care and contains the objective to deliver a minimum 10% reduction in the use of mental h...
Answered 22 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordRecycling: OfficesDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 8 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 45333More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department's guidance entitled Simpler recycling: workplace recycling in England, published on 29 November 2024, whether (a) waste collection businesses, (b) loca
Answer: The Environment Agency (EA) is the regulator for Simpler Recycling for Non-Household waste and are committed to supporting businesses – both waste producers and collectors – in understanding their duties. As a Regulator they are required to have regard to...
Answered 6 May 2025
Original Parliament recordPackaging: 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 record
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