Alex Ballinger MP: written questions
159 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Trading Standards: FinanceMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 80438More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with local authorities on ensuring that local trading standards services are adequately resourced.
Answer: Local Authorities are responsible for determining resourcing priorities in accordance with the needs of their local communities, and the members of those communities will differ according to the areas where they live.
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordFraud: EnforcementMinistry of JusticeTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 80437More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure civil court judgments related to consumer fraud are effectively (a) satisfied and (b) enforced; and what steps he is taking to ensure perpetrators cannot continue with such behav
Answer: The civil courts offer several methods for creditors to enforce civil judgment debts, including warrants or writs of control, attachment of earnings orders, third party debt orders and charging orders. These processes are designed to address different fin...
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordPolice: Mental Health ServicesHome OfficeTabled 16 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 77841More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with police forces on ensuring that police (a) officers and (b) staff receive (i) mental health and (ii) self-harm prevention support.
Answer: This Government is committed to supporting the mental and physical wellbeing of all our police and are working closely with police leaders to ensure this.This includes providing ongoing funding to the National Police Wellbeing Service, which provides evid...
Answered 13 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordGambling: RehabilitationDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74187More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how the (a) commissioning and (b) funding model for gambling harm treatment services is structured across England; and whether he plans to issue a Letter of Comfort to Providers.
Answer: At present, NHS England provides ringfenced funding to the integrated care boards for the commissioning of eight regional gambling harms services in England. The majority of other gambling harms treatment services in England, largely provided by the volun...
Answered 9 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordGambling: RehabilitationDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 29 Aug 2025AnsweredUIN 73531More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether funding for gambling harm treatment services will be structured through (a) block funding, (b) activity-based models or (c) outcome-based models; what his Department's timetable is for (i)
Answer: The new statutory levy on gambling operators came into effect in April 2025. Under the levy, NHS England, and appropriate bodies in Scotland and Wales, are the commissioners for gambling-related harm treatment and support services. They will receive 50% o...
Answered 4 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordGambling: RehabilitationDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 29 Aug 2025AnsweredUIN 73530More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the contracting process to enable established providers to apply for or maintain commissioned status for the commissioning of gambling harm treatment services will be through (a) open tende
Answer: The new statutory levy on gambling operators came into effect in April 2025. Under the levy, NHS England, and appropriate bodies in Scotland and Wales, are the commissioners for gambling-related harm treatment and support services. They will receive 50% o...
Answered 4 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordGambling: RehabilitationDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 29 Aug 2025AnsweredUIN 73527More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities will be responsible for commissioning gambling harm treatment services in relation to the portion of the Gambling Levy allocated for treatm
Answer: Under the new statutory levy on gambling operators which came into effect in April, NHS England and appropriate bodies in Scotland and Wales are the commissioners for gambling-related harm treatment and support services. They will receive 50% of available...
Answered 9 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordRoad Traffic Offences: Motor InsuranceDepartment for TransportTabled 29 Aug 2025AnsweredUIN 73082More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made a comparative assessment of penalty levels for uninsured driving in (a) the UK and (b) other European countries.
Answer: The Department has not made a comparative assessment of penalty levels for uninsured driving in the UK and other European countries.
Answered 8 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordRoad Traffic Offences: Motor InsuranceDepartment for TransportTabled 29 Aug 2025AnsweredUIN 73081More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of penalty levels for uninsured driving.
Answer: My department is developing our Road Safety Strategy and will set out more details in due course. All drivers must be insured to drive or ride the vehicle they are using and for the purpose it is used for. The Government takes uninsured driving seriously....
Answered 8 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordRoad Traffic Offences: Motor InsuranceDepartment for TransportTabled 29 Aug 2025AnsweredUIN 73079More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has considered including measures to combat uninsured driving in the Road Safety Strategy.
Answer: The Department is developing our Road Safety Strategy and will set out more details in due course.All drivers must be insured to drive or ride the vehicle they are using and for the purpose it is used for. The Government takes uninsured driving seriously....
Answered 8 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordRoads: SafetyDepartment for TransportTabled 29 Aug 2025AnsweredUIN 73072More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the Road Safety Strategy will be published.
Answer: The Government treats road safety seriously, and we are committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. The Department is developing our Road Safety Strategy with plans to publish it this year. We will set out more details in d...
Answered 8 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordAfghanistan: ResettlementMinistry of DefenceTabled 21 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69693More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many meetings the Secretary of State for Defence attended on (a) OP RUBIFIC and (b) the Afghan Response Route between September 2023 and 4th July 2024; and if he will provide the date of such meetings.
Answer: When the Taleban seized control in 2021, many thousands of people who served and supported our British Armed Forces were left in Afghanistan.The UK made a commitment to honour the moral obligation we owe to those Afghans who stood with us, there was cross...
Answered 5 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordAfghanistan: ResettlementMinistry of DefenceTabled 21 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69692More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many meetings the Minister for Defence Procurement attended on (a) operation RUBIFIC and (b) the Afghan Response Route between August 2023 and 4 July 2024.
Answer: When the Taleban seized control in 2021, many thousands of people who served and supported our British Armed Forces were left in Afghanistan.The UK made a commitment to honour the moral obligation we owe to those Afghans who stood with us, there was cross...
Answered 5 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordCOBRCabinet OfficeTabled 21 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69691More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether a COBR meeting took place on OP RUBIFIC between 21 May 2024 and 25 June 2024.
Answer: It is a long-established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its Committees is not normally shared publicly.
Answered 2 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordHacking: AfghanistanCabinet OfficeTabled 21 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69690More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether any COBR meetings took place on the (a) data breach relating to Afghanistan and (b) Afghan Response Route between August 2023 and May 2024.
Answer: It is a long-established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its Committees is not normally shared publicly.
Answered 2 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordBusiness: Supply ChainsDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 16 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 68528More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that companies are legally obliged to prevent (a) human rights abuses and (b) environmental harms in their supply chains.
Answer: The UK has a range of measures in place to promote RBC across the economy. In the Trade Strategy, the Government also launched a review into the UK's approach to responsible business conduct, focused on tackling human rights and labour abuses, modern slav...
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordBusiness: Supply ChainsDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 16 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 68526More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department plans to consult tea producers for the review of Responsible Business Conduct.
Answer: In the Trade Strategy, the Government launched a review into the UK's approach to responsible business conduct, focused on tackling human rights and labour abuses, modern slavery, and environmental harms in global supply chains. Throughout the review, we ...
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordSurgery: Waiting ListsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67702More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the implementation by some NHS Integrated Care Boards of minimum waiting times for elective treatment; and what assessm
Answer: There is no formal policy supporting minimum waits in the National Health Service. However, the NHS Standard Contract technical guidance for 2025/26 states that commissioners may choose to include minimum waiting times in Activity Planning Assumptions to ...
Answered 8 Aug 2025
Original Parliament recordCarer's Allowance: OverpaymentsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 2 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 64623More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of Carer’s Allowance overpayments on individuals in receipt of the benefit; and what steps her Department is taking to support carers in r
Answer: This Government recognises and values the vital contribution made by unpaid carers every day in providing significant care and continuity of support to family and friends with disabilities. When we came into government, it became clear that there were far...
Answered 10 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordLebanon: Armed ForcesMinistry of DefenceTabled 30 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 63943More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to support the (a) capacity and (b) operational readiness of the Lebanese Armed Forces, in the context of (i) disarmament initiatives and (ii) regional stability in southern Le
Answer: For more than a decade, the UK has been a trusted partner of the Lebanese Armed Forces, providing £106 million of financial support and offering training, infrastructure, and equipment. In collaboration with international partners, we continue to work clo...
Answered 8 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordLebanon: Military AidMinistry of DefenceTabled 30 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 63941More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the UK military support to Lebanon.
Answer: For more than a decade, the UK has been a trusted partner of the Lebanese Armed Forces, providing £106 million of financial support and offering training, infrastructure, and equipment. In collaboration with international partners, we continue to work clo...
Answered 8 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordDefence: Manufacturing IndustriesDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 30 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 63748More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing support with energy costs to defence manufacturers engaged in energy-intensive steel casting.
Answer: For Energy Intensive Industries overall, our Clean Power 2030 target is the key to long-term sustainable price reductions. From 2027, the new British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme will reduce electricity costs by up to £40 per megawatt hour for over 7...
Answered 8 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordElectric Vehicles: Pedestrian Areas and RoadsDepartment for TransportTabled 16 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 60342More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to introduce further legislative measures to enhance road and pedestrian safety in relation to (a) electrically assisted pedal cycles and (b) electric scooters.
Answer: This Government takes road safety very seriously and reducing those killed and injured on our roads is a key priority. There are already strict laws in place for e-cyclists and e-scooter users, and police have the power to prosecute if these laws are brok...
Answered 24 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordImports: Occupied TerritoriesDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 2 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 56517More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what investigations his Department is conducting into goods originating from Israeli settlements within the Occupied Palestinian Territories being labelled as originating from within Israel’s pre-1967
Answer: The UK Government has a clear position that Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal under international law. Goods produced in these settlements are not entitled to benefit from preferential tariff treatment under the UK’s ...
Answered 5 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordImports: Occupied TerritoriesDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 2 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 56515More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate his Department has made of the amount of goods originating from Israeli settlements within the Occupied Palestinian Territories that are being labelled as originating from within Israel’s
Answer: HMRC are responsible for the conduct of origin verification checks on imported goods. Where there are doubts about the declared origin of goods, HMRC undertakes checks to verify the origin of those goods to ensure fiscal compliance. Data on imports from I...
Answered 5 Jun 2025
Original Parliament record
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