Written answers

Friday, 16 September 2022

  • Department for Transport

    • Dover Port

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is planning to take to prevent queues at the Port of Dover.

    • Public Transport: Hitchin and Harpenden

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of a Demand Response Travel project for areas of North Hertfordshire and St Albans...

      M1

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the planned timetable is for completion of National Highways' upgrades of the M1 between junctions 13 and 16.

  • Church Commissioners

    • Church of England: Kirklees

      To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps the Church has taken to ensure that an (a) Agricultural Land Classification and (b) Soil...

  • Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

    • Development Aid: Food Poverty

      To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the International Development Strategy, what assessment she has made of the role of eliminating...

  • Ministry of Defence

    • National Flagship: Procurement

      To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the contracts agreed by his Department with (a) the Royal Institute of British Architects on 20 October 2021, procurement reference...

    • Nuclear Powered Vessels: Shipbuilding

      To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what is the (a) original and (b) current cost expectations for the Core Production Capability programme.

  • Department for Work and Pensions

    • Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she is taking steps to progress the incorporation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in...

    • Social Security Benefits: Terminal Illnesses

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2022 to Question 112701 on Social Security Benefits: Terminal Illnesses, what plans her Department has to...

      Employment and Support Allowance

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of requests made to her Department for compensation for the underpayment of Employment Support Allowance were (a)...

      Employment and Support Allowance

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people contacted her Department to request compensation for the underpayment of Employment Support Allowance since December 2017.

      Access to Work Programme

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure support for individuals currently employed under the Temporary Employment Support Grant under...

      Personal Independence Payment: Medical Examinations

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the (a) 20th, (b) 40th, (c) 60th and (d) 80th percentile of average waiting times was for receiving the outcome of a Personal...

      Access to Work Programme

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment the Government has made of the efficacy of the system whereby people in receipt of support through Access to Work have to...

      Carer's Allowance

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason it is her Department's policy that pensioners are not eligible to claim carers allowance; and if she will make an assessment...

      Social Security Benefits: Terminal Illnesses

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department has taken to provide additional financial support to people receiving end of life care in the context of the cost of...

      Terminal Illnesses

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in the context of the rising cost of (a) food and (b) domestic bills, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing...

      Social Security Benefits: Dyslexia

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if her Department will (a) review and (b) increase the support it offers to claimants with dyslexia.

      Beer: Air Pollution

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of the Health and Safety Executive strengthening regulation regarding the monitoring of...

      Social Security Benefits: Encephalitis

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support her Department provides to benefit claimants who (a) are suffering from Encephalitis and (b) have limited capacity for work.

      Working Conditions: Weather

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to consult relevant stakeholders on the health and safety implications for workers of working in extreme weather.

      Employment and Support Allowance

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has taken steps to to identify and inform claimants affected by underpayment of Employment Support Allowance of the...

      Employment and Support Allowance

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the report entitled An investigation into the Department for Work and Pensions’ handling of Ms U’s migration to...

      Employment and Support Allowance

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the total value of compensation payments made following underpayment of Employment Support Allowance.

      Motability

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the value for money of the Government’s funding of Motobilty in the context of waiting times for...

      Visual Impairment: Cost of Living

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the impact of the rise in the cost of living on people who are blind and partially sighted.

      Disability: Playgrounds

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the policy paper entitled National Disability Strategy: Part One: practical steps now to improve disabled people's everyday...

      Access to Work Programme

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to review the service standard Access To Work application timescales from application to approval.

      Access to Work Programme

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the (a) evidence and (b) definition of in-work support required for a supported employee is...

      Personal Independence Payment: Overpayments

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing a time limit on the (a) re-assessment and (b) removal of previously...

      Access to Work Programme

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time was for an Access to Work grant application to be processed in (a) 2019, (b) 2020, (c) 2021 and (d) 2022.

      Personal Independence Payment: Medical Examinations

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of when the average waiting time for a Personal Independence Payment assessment will return to that...

      Access to Work Programme

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potentials merits of extending Access To Work support to the newly self-employed, in the context of an...

      Department for Work and Pensions: Staff

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much her Department spent on staffing costs for the preparation of Contract Notice 2021/S 000-028407 (Functional Assessment Services (FAS)...

      Personal Independence Payment: Long Covid

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with long covid have been awarded the Personal Independence Payment (a) daily living standard, (b) daily living enhanced, (c)...

      Jobcentres: Visual Impairment

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the cost of deploying (a) screen readers, (b) speech recognition software and (c) screen magnification software...

      Long Covid

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the answer of 27 June 2022 to Question 21271 on Long Covid, what progress her Department has made on investigating whether COVID...

      Cost of Living Payments: Universal Credit

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of the decision taken that Universal Credit claimants will not be eligible for the cost...

      Cost of Living Payments: Universal Credit

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department made before introducing the Social Security (Additional Payments) Bill of the potential impact on Universal...

      Jobcentres: Disability

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate the Department has made of the average waiting time to see a disability employment adviser.

      Jobcentres: Email and Internet

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make it her policy to introduce either (a) direct email addresses or (b) a contact webform to allow claimants of social security...

      Personal Independence Payment: Medical Examinations

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to take steps to reduce the number of Personal Independence Payment assessments that remain outstanding prior to...

  • Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    • Bakery Products: Labelling

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to require...

    • Bread

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of proposals in the Real Bread Campaign’s Honest Crust Act to...

      Cereal Products: Labelling

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will bring forward legislative proposals to introduce a mandatory minimum percentage of unrefined grain...

      Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits for a community of being included in an Area of Outstanding...

      Fertilisers: Prices

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the impact of natural gas prices on fertiliser costs in the UK.

      Agriculture: Government Assistance

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what additional support his Department has provided to farmers since the UK left the EU on 31 January 2020.

      Fertilisers

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential role of alternatives to fossil fuel dependent fertiliser in...

      Agriculture: Land

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help protect high-grade agricultural land from (a) housing and (b) other...

      Foie Gras: Imports

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 25 May 2022 to Question 3523 on Foie Gras: Imports, if he will set out a timetable to bring...

      Agriculture: Hitchin and Harpenden

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help (a) farmers and (b) food producers in Hitchin and Harpenden constituency use...

      Cereals: Ukraine

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing funding for (a) increased seed production and...

      Dairy Products: Exports

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the impact of the Food is GREAT campaign on levels of British dairy exports.

      Dairy Products: Labelling

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he (a) has had and (b) plans to have with representatives of supermarkets on encouraging customers to (i)...

      Cereals: Ukraine

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing seed for grain crops as direct aid to farmers...

      Dairy Products: Exports

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to encourage (a) innovation and (b) domestic processing capacity in the UK dairy industry in order...

      Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: EU Law

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many officials in their Department are working on Retained EU Law legislation.

      Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Termination of Employment

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many members of staff have left his Department since 12 December 2019.

      Fertilisers: Prices

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to help tackle the impact of rising fertiliser prices on food production.

      Energy: Prices

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of rising energy prices on food producers.

      Agriculture: Employment

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the demand for farm machinery operatives in the agricultural sector; and...

      Farmers: Apprentices

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to incorporate farming apprenticeships into its policies on national food (a) security...

      Food: Insects

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help remove obstacles to the growth of the edible insect industry in the UK.

      Agricultural Products: Imports

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what body has responsibility for testing produce that enters the UK.

      Pesticides: Standards

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to introduce pesticide risk reduction targets by the end of 2022.

      Cereals: Overseas Trade

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the impact of the market share of (a) Cargill, (b) Archer Daniels Midland Company, (c)...

      Agricultural Products: Imports

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many Border Control Points are planned to be (a) approved or (b) developed in the next 12 months; and where those points...

      Agricultural Products: UK Trade with EU

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his Department has to increase testing of produce entering the UK from the EU for pesticide residues.

      Agricultural Products: Imports

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many Border Control Points were operational on 2 September 2022; where each of those points was located; and whether...

      Bread: Labelling

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps with (a) his Cabinet colleagues and (b) his counterparts in the devolved administrations and their...

      Agriculture: Standards

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing an accreditation body to approve and...

  • Scotland Office

    • Transport: North West

      To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent progress the Government has made on improving transport connections between Scotland and the North West.

  • Cabinet Office

    • Cabinet Office: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

      To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many payments were fraudulently charged to the budgets of (a) his Department and (b) Downing Street using electronic purchasing cards in the...

    • Refugees: Hitchin and Harpenden

      To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if his Department will make an estimate of the number of Ukrainian refugees who are in work in Hitchin and Harpenden constituency as on 2 September 2022.

      Overseas Trade: Somaliland

      To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish recent statistics on the volume of trade between Somaliland and the UK.

      Blood: Contamination

      To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to Sir Brian Langstaff’s interim report on the Infected Blood Inquiry, if he will make it his policy to adopt the report’s...

  • Treasury

    • Tobacco: Taxation

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Government’s response to the Science and Technology Committee’s report on e-cigarettes, published in December 2018,...

    • Cost of Living: Hitchin and Harpenden

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to help support people in Hitchin and Harpenden constituency with rises in the cost of living in the period between...

      Cost of Living: Wales

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had recent discussions with Ministers in the Welsh Government on the rising cost of living.

      Public Sector: Energy

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for (a) Health and Social Care, (b) Education and (c) Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on the...

      Economic Situation: Wales

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with representatives from the Welsh Government on the state of the UK economy.

      Domestic Visits: Wales

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many times he has visited Wales since July 2022.

      Domestic Visits: Northern Ireland

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many times he has visited Northern Ireland since July 2022.

      Treasury: Termination of Employment

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many members of staff have left his Department since 12 December 2019.

      Small Businesses: Finance

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to help unlock capital for SMEs in Britain.

      Fuels: Excise Duties

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that retailers pass on the savings from the reduction in Fuel Duty to consumers.

      Off-payroll Working

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when his Department will publish a summary of the responses to its November 2021 consultation on the umbrella company market.

      Revenue and Customs: Flexible Working

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing HMRC's working from home allowance in the context of rising energy prices; and if...

      Taxpayer Protection Taskforce

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the grading structure applied to the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce is; and how many employees were in each grade as of 1 September 2022.

      Disguised Remuneration Loan Charge Review

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Independent Loan Charge Review: report on the policy and its implementation, published in December 2019, if he will make an...

      Council Tax: Appeals

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of council tax challenges submitted to the Valuation Office Agency have been (a) checked and (b) reviewed within the service...

      Taxpayer Protection Taskforce: Staff

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many full time equivalent officials were deployed to the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce in the financial year 2021-22; and what the staff complement is...

  • Department for Transport

    • Transport: East of England

      To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimated cost of (1) the new 16km dual carriageway linking the A1 Black Cat roundabout in Bedfordshire to the A428 Caxton Gibbet roundabout in...

    • Darlington Station

      To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the proposed station renewal for Darlington will be completed by the time of the bi-centennial celebrations of the Darlington and Stockton Railway in 2025.

What is this?

The parliamentary question is a great way for MPs and Peers to discover information which the government may not wish to reveal. Ministers reply via written answers, a list of which gets published daily.

We let you vote on whether or not the answer given is adequate.

September 2022
Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
2627282930