Every parliamentary written question tabled by Alex Mayer this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 641–660 of 698 · this parliament
What steps his Department is taking to support people with anorexia.
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 ...
Communities and Local Government, if her Department will make an estimate of the annual cost to the public purse of pan-regional partnerships.
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...
With reference to the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles' report entitled Consultation outcome: driving licence flexibility for alternatively-fuelled vehicles, published on 10 October 2023, whether her Department (a) plans to remove the five-hour training requirement for drivers of electric vans weighing up to 4.25 tonnes and (b) implement the other reforms proposed in that report.
The Government is reviewing the policy proposals detailed in the previously published consultation response on driving licence flexibilities for alternatively-fuelled vehicles.
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 supply licence as large scale utility companies.
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 sites that are above the exemptions threshold when they are restricted to specified local areas.
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.
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 data for previous years is available here. The Secretary of State recently met with water company bosses, including Anglian Water, to make it clear that water firms will be held accountable for their performance for customers and the environment. Furthermore, after writing to Ofwat, the Secretary of State has secured agreement that funding for vital infrastructure investment is ringfenced and can only be spent on upgrades benefiting customers and the environment. Ofwat will also ensure that when money for investment is not spent, companies refund customers, with money never allowed to be diverted for bonuses, dividends or salary increases. The Government also announced a new Water (Special Measures) Bill, which will turn around the performance of water companies, in the King’s Speech. The Bill will strengthen regulation, give the water regulator new powers to ban the payment of bonuses if environmental standards are not met and increase accountability for water executives. These are the first critical steps in enabling a long-term and transformative reset of the entire water sector. I would also refer the hon. Member to the Written Statement made by the Secretary of State on 18 July, HCWS3.
If she will make an estimate of the number of pensioners that are (a) eligible and (b) not claiming Pension Credit by constituency.
Information relating to Pension Credit eligibility is only available via take-up statistics. The latest available Pension Credit take-up statistics for Great Britain cover the financial year 2021 to 2022 and are available at: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). However, these statistics are only available at Great Britain level and cannot be broken down to smaller geographical areas.
If his Department will set a timeframe for introducing legislative provisions to reform the dental contract.
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 potential changes to the complex dental system so that we deliver a system better for patients and the profession.
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.
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 tackle animal cruelty content under their (OSA) ‘illegal content duties’ (https://www.ofcom.org.uk/online-safety/illegal-and-harmful-content/illegal-harms-further-consultation-torture-and-animal-cruelty). Government ministers and officials regularly discuss online safety matters including the implementation of the Online Safety Act and its protections against animal cruelty.
If her Department will make an assessment of the potential options for providing relief for the trunk A5 road through Hockliffe Village during the next road investment period.
As part of their analysis of need on the Strategic Road Network, National Highways identified issues with peak period delays and unreliability on the A5 in Hockcliffe. A feasibility study has been undertaken and has identified options for improvements. This scheme is currently being considered as part of the next Roads Investment Strategy, though all future spend by National Highways is subject to the DfT’s Capital Review and the cross-government Spending Review.
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.
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.
What plans her Department has to support the availability of bleed control kits in (a) Central Bedfordshire and (b) the UK.
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 their operational decision making, including how to allocate resources based on their local knowledge and experience.
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.
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, authoritative, impartial and timely advice from the Animal Welfare Committee for all animal welfare matters relating to animals kept by people. In relation to companion animal welfare, the Committee advises the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and the Scottish and Welsh Governments. The Committee produce reports according to topics agreed annually, but do not have standing items on their agenda. More information on AWC’s terms of reference and workplan is available on the GOV.UK page (here).
Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will make an assessment of the impact of fireworks on (a) domestic and (b) wild animals.
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. As a matter of best practice, those organising displays should give neighbouring owners plenty of advance notice of the fireworks display and should ensure that fireworks are not set off near livestock or horses in fields, or close to buildings that house livestock.
Communities and Local Government, If her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of capping tenant contributions to qualifying works set out in section 6 of the Service Charges (Consultation Requirements) (England) Regulations 2003.
By law all variable service charges, which includes charges to pay for major works under section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, must be reasonable and, where costs relate to works or services, the works or services must be of a reasonable standard. Leaseholders may challenge them at the property tribunal.
Communities and Local Government, what data her Department holds on the (a) number of units of housing stock, (b) population and (c) area in square miles in each local planning authority area.
The Ministry publishes an annual release entitled ‘Dwelling Stock Estimates, England’, with estimates of the number of dwellings in each local authority, as at 31 March in each year since 2001, shown in Live Table 125 at the following link.https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-dwelling-stock-including-vacantsThe statistics use the Census as a baseline and apply annual net changes to the dwelling stock as measured by the related Housing supply: net additional dwellings statistics (which is collected for each local authority district, resulting in complete coverage for England).The Ministry does not collect or hold dwelling stock estimates for those Local Planning Authorities that are National Parks or development corporations.The Office for National Statistics hold and publish data on population and area in various administrative geographies at the following links.https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimateshttps://geoportal.statistics.gov.uk/
Whether her Department plans to introduce a Natural History GCSE in September 2025.
The government has launched an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review covering key stages 1 to 5, chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE. The Review will consider the current qualification pathways available at key stage 4 and 5. A call for evidence will be published in the autumn which will set out the areas the review group would particularly welcome input from. More information about the review is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-launches-curriculum-and-assessment-review.
What recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of NHS dental provision in Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard constituency.
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 Health Service dentist in the Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes ICB, equal to 36% of the adult population in the ICB. In the 12 months to March 2024, 132,424 children saw an NHS dentist in the Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes ICB, equal to 55% of the child population in the ICB.Patients unable to access an urgent dental appointment directly through an NHS dental practice are advised to contact NHS 111 for assistance. NHS dentists are now required to update their NHS website profiles at least every 90 days to ensure patients have access to up-to-date information on where they can access care.
If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of including education on identifying misinformation online in the school curriculum.
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 education ready for life and ready for work, building the knowledge, skills and attributes young people need to thrive. This includes embedding digital, oracy and life skills in their learning. The review will consider the key digital skills needed for future life and critical thinking skills to ensure children are resilient to misinformation and extremist content online.
If her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of pedal monitoring cameras on all new (a) buses, (b) trams, (c) coaches and (d) other forms of public transport.
The Government currently has no plans to make an assessment of the potential merits of pedal monitoring cameras on all new public transport. Some bus service providers have introduced pedal monitoring as part of their ongoing safety strategy and to aid incident investigations. Pedal errors on other forms of public transport have not been highlighted as a significant issue.
When her Department plans to update statutory guidance on the cost of school uniforms.
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 requires schools to keep branded uniform items to a minimum. The existing statutory guidance will be updated once the new legislation has received Royal Assent. This will ensure that both work together to ensure that schools will need to justify every piece of branded uniform they include in their uniform policy. This will put an end to schools still requiring large numbers of branded items.