Lisa Smart MP: written questions
579 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Drinking Water: Per- and Polyfluorinated Alkyl SubstancesDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55509More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he will take steps to reduce limits for acceptable levels of (a) forever chemicals and (b) per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in drinking water.
Answer: The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) has provided guidance on PFAS to water companies since 2007. In 2021 a guideline value of 0.1 micrograms per litre (µg/L) was adopted for drinking water which, since August 2024 when DWI’s guidance was updated. Compan...
Answered 9 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordMinamata Convention on MercuryDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55472More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which (a) scientific experts, (b) NGOs, (c) industry representatives and (d) other stakeholders he has consulted as part of the development of the negotiating mandate for the Conferenc
Answer: The next Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention will be taking place on the 3 - 7 November 2025. Working documents and proposals for negotiation at this meeting have not yet been published but will be in due course. Officials in Defra will r...
Answered 9 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordMercury: Dental ServicesDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55470More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the the use of mercury in dental amalgam on (a) the environment and (b) public health.
Answer: The UK has national country plans to phase down dental amalgam use, which align with domestic mercury regulations to reduce pollution and protect the environment. Regarding public Health, Dental amalgam is a well-established, safe, and effective dental fi...
Answered 5 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordMinamata Convention on MercuryDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55469More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the proposed amendments on dental amalgam use to the Minamata Convention on Mercury.
Answer: The next Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention will be taking place on the 3 - 7 November 2025. Working documents and proposals for negotiation at this meeting have not yet been published but will be in due course. Officials in Defra will r...
Answered 9 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordBanks: InnovationTreasuryTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55452More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to ensure that banks support innovation in relation to (a) digital assets and (b) other areas.
Answer: The government recognises the transformative potential of new technologies in the financial services sector and has made innovation and technology one of the key pillars of its Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy. The government is comm...
Answered 9 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordCommunity EnergyDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55446More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the time taken to conduct Environment Agency (a) compliance inspections and (b) consent renewals on community-owned renewab
Answer: The Environment Agency (EA) considers the impact of its decisions on regulated businesses and individuals in line with the Regulators-code.
Answered 5 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordCommunity Energy: ReviewsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55444More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to review the (a) proportionality and (b) cost-effectiveness of the Environment Agency’s (i) licensing and (ii) inspection processes for small-scale commun
Answer: The Government makes full use of the comprehensive and wide ranging environmental regulatory framework in England. Defra and the Environment Agency have contributed to HMT’s Regulatory Action Plan and other recent reviews into regulatory effectiveness, in...
Answered 10 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordHydroelectric Power: Community EnergyDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55442More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to simplify regulatory requirements for community hydroelectric schemes; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of doing so on his (a) net zero and
Answer: The Government makes full use of the comprehensive and wide ranging environmental regulatory framework in England. Defra and the Environment Agency have contributed to HMT’s Regulatory Action Plan and other recent reviews into regulatory effectiveness, in...
Answered 9 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordRenewable EnergyDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55441More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is taking steps to improve the (a) timeliness and (b) efficiency of the Environment Agency’s response to pre-application advice requests from (i) Stockport Hydro and (ii) ot
Answer: The Stockport Hydro scheme was licensed by the Environment Agency (EA) in 2011/2012 and there are no current pre-application enquiries or licence applications from them. The Environment Agency has dealt with over 100 pre-application enquiries over the las...
Answered 9 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordRailwaysDepartment for TransportTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55341More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the capacity of rail services to meet levels of demand during (a) parades, (b) football matches and (c) other events.
Answer: The Department requires its train operating companies to use all reasonable endeavours to operate adequate railway passenger services to or from any special events which are not already provided for in the base timetable, including providing an appropriat...
Answered 9 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordRoads: SafetyDepartment for TransportTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55206More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will take steps to expand public campaigns to improve driving safety awareness.
Answer: THINK! is the Government’s flagship road safety campaign. The campaign prioritises budget where it can have most impact, targeting priority issues such as drink driving and speeding and focusing on young men aged 17-24, who are four times more likely to b...
Answered 4 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordBarbecues: Public Spaces Protection OrdersHome OfficeTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55202More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of (a) support and (b) guidance provided to local authorities on the use of Public Spaces Protection Orders to prevent the use of disposable barbecues
Answer: The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 provides the police, local authorities and other local agencies with a range of tools and powers they can use to respond to anti-social behaviour (ASB), including the Public Spaces Protection Order (P...
Answered 10 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordBarbecues: SalesDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55201More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effectiveness of the voluntary agreement by major retailers to restrict the sale of disposable barbecues within one mile of Nationa
Answer: Defra does not hold this data and has not made an assessment. As the lead department for wildfires, MHCLG encourages the public to follow local advice from their local Fire and Rescue Service, Local Authority and landowners. Officials continue to work alo...
Answered 9 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordFirst-tier Tribunal: StandardsMinistry of JusticeTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55098More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to reduce delays in the (a) processing and (b) hearing of cases at the First-Tier Tribunal.
Answer: This Government inherited a broken justice system with record and rising court backlogs. We are determined to reverse these trends in this Parliament. HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) continues to invest in improving tribunal productivity by:Incr...
Answered 9 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordOxygen: Medical TreatmentsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 22 May 2025AnsweredUIN 54445More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS England plans to include (a) diver safety organisations and (b) medical experts in future consultations on the national contract for recompression services.
Answer: Last year, NHS England held a public consultation on a revised service specification and changes to commissioning arrangements for hyperbaric oxygen services. This included consideration of the impacts on geographical access to services and traveling time...
Answered 2 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordOxygen: Medical TreatmentsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 22 May 2025AnsweredUIN 54444More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate NHS England has made of average emergency travel times to hyperbaric chambers for cases of suspected decompression illness.
Answer: Last year, NHS England held a public consultation on a revised service specification and changes to commissioning arrangements for hyperbaric oxygen services. This included consideration of the impacts on geographical access to services and traveling time...
Answered 2 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordOxygen: Medical TreatmentsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 22 May 2025AnsweredUIN 54443More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps NHS England is taking to ensure equitable regional access to hyperbaric treatment services.
Answer: Last year, NHS England held a public consultation on a revised service specification and changes to commissioning arrangements for hyperbaric oxygen services. This included consideration of the impacts on geographical access to services and traveling time...
Answered 2 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordOxygen: Medical TreatmentsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 22 May 2025AnsweredUIN 54442More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS England conducted an impact assessment on (a) diver safety and (b) emergency response times before reducing the number of hyperbaric chambers available under the national contract for r
Answer: Last year, NHS England held a public consultation on a revised service specification and changes to commissioning arrangements for hyperbaric oxygen services. This included consideration of the impacts on geographical access to services and traveling time...
Answered 2 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordBritish Nationality: Greater ManchesterHome OfficeTabled 22 May 2025AnsweredUIN 54441More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of her Department's revised guidance entitled Nationality: good character requirement, published on 11 February 2025, on levels of community cohe
Answer: I refer the Hon Member to the answers I gave on 3 April to Question 40163, and on 25 February to Question 31371.
Answered 6 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordBritish NationalityHome OfficeTabled 22 May 2025AnsweredUIN 54440More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the guidance entitled Nationality: good character requirement, published on 11 February 2025, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that people who arrived in the UK as child
Answer: I refer the Hon Member to the answers I gave on 3 April to Question 40163, and on 25 February to Question 31371.
Answered 6 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordBritish NationalityHome OfficeTabled 22 May 2025AnsweredUIN 54439More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of UK citizenship applications refused since 10 February 2025 have had entry to the UK by irregular means cited as the reason for refusal.
Answer: The information requested is not centrally held, and could only be collected and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Answered 6 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordBritish NationalityHome OfficeTabled 22 May 2025AnsweredUIN 54438More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the guidance entitled Nationality: good character requirement, published on 11 February 2025, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of changes to the good c
Answer: I refer the Hon Member to the answers I gave on 3 April to Question 40163, and on 25 February to Question 31371.
Answered 6 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordEmpty Property: Business PremisesMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 20 May 2025AnsweredUIN 53698More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing measures to support the redevelopment of vacant commercial properties into affordable housing
Answer: The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that substantial weight should be given to the value of using suitable brownfield land within settlements, including bringing back into residential use empty homes and the development of under-utilised la...
Answered 28 May 2025
Original Parliament recordRefugees: FamiliesHome OfficeTabled 15 May 2025AnsweredUIN 52733More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions her Department has had with the charity sector on changes to refugee family reunion rules.
Answer: The Immigration White Paper, published on 12 May 2025, announced new measures on a wide range of issues, including family reunion, further details of which will be set out in due course.
Answered 23 May 2025
Original Parliament recordImmigration Controls: English LanguageHome OfficeTabled 15 May 2025AnsweredUIN 52732More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's White Paper entitled Restoring Control over the Immigration System, published on 12 May 2025, what level of English language proficiency people applying for refugee
Answer: The Immigration White Paper, published on 12 May 2025, announced new measures on a wide range of issues, including family reunion, further details of which will be set out in due course.
Answered 23 May 2025
Original Parliament record
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