Tag: Christian Matheson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the average cost per mile of electrification of a railway line in the UK.

Claire Perry

The Department for Transport does not delineate the average cost per mile of electrification from the wider rail upgrade works that it funds in England and Wales. The Government’s commitment to a rolling programme of electrification is reliant on a wider set of enhancement works to make journeys better. This often includes track works, gauging, signalling upgrades, power supply works and station works to allow electric trains to run. The Department does not make an estimate of the average cost per mile of electrification as the engineering complexity and challenge varies significantly across England and Wales. Electrification works in Scotland are devolved to the Scottish Government.

However, we are aware of the significant cost to the industry and the wider public of the failure of the Labour Governments of 1997 to 2010 to progress electrification schemes across the country. This Government is determined to rectify this failure.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2016-04-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what attempts have been made to begin a national media campaign to recruit doctors at Chorley and South Ribble District Hospital; and in which national papers that campaign was placed.

Ben Gummer

These are operational matters for the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and we have written to Stuart Heys, Chair of the Trust informing him of the hon. Member’s questions. He will reply shortly and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Library.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2016-07-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 19 July 2016, to Question 42328, if he will provide (a) a schedule of the consular documents and (b) a copy of the investigation report referred to in that Answer.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The consular documents referred to in my Answer of 19 July, to Question 42328, contain numerous pieces of correspondence between the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the many interested parties in the case, including the Governments of the Bahamas and Mexico. However, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not hold a copy of the police report, which was passed to Cheshire Police. Officials will meet you and the Coriam family to discuss the case, and our engagement with the Governments of the Bahamas and Mexico.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2015-11-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of recent trends in the level of housebuilding.

Brandon Lewis

Housing starts have almost doubled since 2009. Over 608,000 new homes have been built since April 2010 – there are now 795,000 more homes in England than in 2009.

Trends in housebuilding are published in the quarterly House Building Release.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of upgrading the M56 to a smart motorway between junctions 12 and 14.

Andrew Jones

No work has been done to estimate the costs of upgrading the M56 to a smart motorway between Junctions 12 and 14 as this scheme is not within the first Road Investment Strategy (RIS). Highways England is working hard to deliver the schemes set out in the RIS in the first Road Period 2015-20.

Future investment in the strategic road network is currently being developed through Highways England’s Route Strategies process, which will be used to plan new investments in the second Road Period 2020-25.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2016-04-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Trust’s Business Resilience Plan is to avoid acute shortages of staff at the Accident and Emergency department.

Ben Gummer

These are operational matters for the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and we have written to Stuart Heys, Chair of the Trust informing him of the hon. Member’s questions. He will reply shortly and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Library.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what representations her Department has received on alleged conflicts of interest in the appointment of Sir John Chadwick to head an inquiry into the mistreatment of live foxes by the South Herefordshire Hunt.

Brandon Lewis

The Home Office has not received any representations regarding the appointment of Sir John Chadwick to head the independent inquiry into the mistreatment of live foxes by the South Herefordshire Hunt.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2015-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 19 October 2015 to Question 11221, how many prosecutions or fixed penalty notifications have occurred for non emergency vehicles displaying static blue lighting in the last three years for which figures are available.

Mike Penning

This information is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with which trade associations he has met since his appointment.

Joseph Johnson

Details of Ministers’ meetings with external organisations are published up to 31 March 2015 and can be accessed on Gov.uk at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?keywords=Ministers&publication.

Further publications of Ministerial meetings will be published in due course across Government in the usual way.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make it his policy to use the Charity Research Support Fund as a means to secure investment from the charitable sector into universities.

Joseph Johnson

The Government recognises the significant contribution made by charitable funders of research. The charity support element of Quality Related research funding, provided through the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), has provided £198m per year over the period 2011-16 to support institutions leveraging funding from the charitable sector.

Decisions on any funding beyond 2015-16 will be subject to the outcome of the Spending Review later this year.