Tag: Oliver Dowden

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Dowden on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what regulations govern the manufacture, import and sale of laser pens in the UK.

Anna Soubry

All products intended for use by consumers are regulated under the General Product Safety Regulations (GPSR) 2005 which implements the EU’s General Product Safety Directive (GPSD). This requires such products to be safe when placed on the market and applies to products where there is no other applicable legislation with more specific provisions on safety. This includes laser pens.

In addition to the legislation, lasers sold in the UK and EU are covered by the safety standard BS EN 60825-1: 1994 Safety of Laser Products. This specifies those lasers which should be used by trained operators and therefore not suitable for use by the general public. Laser products up to 1 mW are considered safe for general consumer use.

Trading Standards has the powers under the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 to remove laser products from sale to the public, which are unsafe for general consumer use. If anyone is concerned about the safety of a product they should not use it and report it to their local Trading Standards department.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Dowden on 2016-09-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if the Government will consider reinstating clothing grants for care homes for elderly residents who have just arrived from hospital.

David Mowat

Despite a welcome shift towards more care provision in community settings, our ageing population means a growing number of people require care in care and nursing homes, with an increasing level of acuity and complexity of need.

The Enhanced Health in Care Homes vanguards, implemented by NHS England, are beginning to show how addressing this inequity in access to services can reduce unnecessary, unplanned and avoidable admissions to hospital, shorten the length of hospital stays and improve peoples’ quality of life, wellbeing and clinical outcomes.

NHS England is also leading the multi-agency Community Services and Hospital Discharge programme, which will deliver a series of interventions to transform community services and improve discharge of older people from hospital. These include initiatives such as “discharge to assess”, which will increase the number of patients who are discharged quickly and safely to their usual place of residence.

The Department is not aware of a clothing grant for people who enter care homes and is therefore unable to consider reinstatement. Where a local authority arranges care and support to meet an adult’s eligible needs, it may charge them. Where care is arranged in a care home, a local authority must not, through charges, reduce the adult’s income below the Personal Expenses Allowance of £24.90 per week.

The allowance means that local authority supported care home residents have money to spend as they wish on personal items, including clothing. It must not be spent on meeting their eligible care needs.

Local authorities have discretion to be more generous where they think this would be appropriate.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Dowden on 2016-01-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department provides to local planning authorities on whether (a) a Local Plan and (b) other local planning policies can be amended following the granting of planning permission on appeal for substantive development.

Brandon Lewis

The National Planning Policy Framework says that Local Plans can be reviewed in whole or in part to respond flexibly to changing circumstances. Our planning guidance also indicates that a local planning authority should review the relevance of the Local Plan at regular intervals to assess whether some or all of it may need updating. It is for the local planning authority to decide whether and when to review its planning policies.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Dowden on 2016-01-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department has issued on whether the existence of extant planning permission for development in the Green Belt would count as exceptional circumstances to permit a planning application for an alternative, less intrusive form of development in that location.

Brandon Lewis

An extant planning permission does not prevent consideration of a further planning application for the same site. It would be for the local authority to assess each proposal on its merits, in the light of all material considerations, including the protections for Green Belt set out in our National Planning Policy Framework. If the development proposed would be inappropriate in Green Belt, the Framework states that planning permission should generally be refused. However, if the local authority finds that any harms caused by the development would be clearly outweighed by other considerations, and that very special circumstances justify planning permission, permission may be granted. If necessary the local authority can impose planning conditions or require design changes to mitigate any adverse impact.

A Local Development Order or Supplementary Planning Guidance would also have to be designed by the local authority to accord with policies in the Framework, including the need to protect the openness of Green Belt land.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Dowden on 2016-01-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department issues to local authorities on (a) a Local Development Order and (b) Supplementary Planning Guidance to facilitate alternative, less intrusive development on a specific location in the Green Belt where there is already extant planning permission for development in that location.

Brandon Lewis

An extant planning permission does not prevent consideration of a further planning application for the same site. It would be for the local authority to assess each proposal on its merits, in the light of all material considerations, including the protections for Green Belt set out in our National Planning Policy Framework. If the development proposed would be inappropriate in Green Belt, the Framework states that planning permission should generally be refused. However, if the local authority finds that any harms caused by the development would be clearly outweighed by other considerations, and that very special circumstances justify planning permission, permission may be granted. If necessary the local authority can impose planning conditions or require design changes to mitigate any adverse impact.

A Local Development Order or Supplementary Planning Guidance would also have to be designed by the local authority to accord with policies in the Framework, including the need to protect the openness of Green Belt land.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Dowden on 2016-02-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking on ensuring the extension of the Oyster card pay as you go system to Radlett.

Claire Perry

Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) has a Committed Obligation to deliver proposals with an acceptable business case for Oyster Pay As You Go (PAYG) and contactless payment (CPAY) to five stations and their respective Lines of Route; this obligation includes Radlett.

The works needed to complete this obligation are technically complex and require a substantial amount of work by Transport for London (TfL) – including a significant upgrade to the Oyster back office which will not be complete before 2017 – before they can be introduced.

GTR, TfL and DfT officials meet at a Project Board every month to review progress.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Dowden on 2016-02-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 25 January 2016 to Question 23018, what steps he is taking to limit the availability of laser pens.

Anna Soubry

I refer to my answer of 25 January.

I have asked my officials as a first step to request an urgent update from Trading Standards on their recent market surveillance activities. I am aware that Leicester Trading Standards recently seized 1,500 unsafe laser pens at point of entry and the importer agreed to destroy them.

In addition RAPEX (the European electronic notification platform for the notifying and removal of dangerous consumer products) statistics show 98 different types of laser pointers were removed from the EU market and of these 9 different products were notified by UK market surveillance authorities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Dowden on 2016-02-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 25 January 2016 to Question 23018, what steps he is taking to enforce the General Product Safety Regulations 2005.

Anna Soubry

Consumer products such as laser pens intended for use by consumers are regulated under The General Product Safety Regulations 2005. BIS is responsible for the legislation but it is enforced by Local Authority Trading Standards Services.

Under the rules, Trading Standards Officers have a range of powers available to them with regards enforcement of the legislation such as requirements to mark or to warn, or to issue withdrawal or recall notices. They also have the power to prosecute traders.

This is a well-established regime that has seen many hundreds of dangerous products taken off the market including laser pens.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Dowden on 2016-02-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 25 January 2016 to Question 23018, on lasers: regulation, what steps he is taking to restrict direct sale into the UK to individual customers.

Anna Soubry

I refer to my answer of 25 January.

Under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 and the General Product Safety Regulations, a business importing into the EU/EEA must have a representative within the EU/EEA who is responsible and liable for the safety of imported goods. This enables Customs and Trading Standards to check that imported laser products comply with safety standards. It is harder for them to carry out these checks where customers order goods from a company outside the EU and receive them directly through the post.

We therefore advise customers who want to buy laser products to go to a reputable dealer with authorised representation in the European Union. If consumers are concerned about the safety of laser products on sale they should report the website or retailer to their local Trading Standards department.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Dowden on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that information relating to infertility and its treatment is available to those affected.

Jane Ellison

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority have a statutory duty to publish information for patients and donors about fertility treatment and the clinics that it licenses. The Authority is currently reviewing the information published on its website following extensive research and is working with NHS Choices to make sure that all patients are directed to the right information at the right time.

Individuals with fertility problems can discuss these issues with their general practitioners and ask to be referred to a fertility specialist to discuss the difficulties that they are having in conceiving and the options that are open to them.