Tag: Mark Pritchard

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will meet (a) Surfers Against Sewage and (b) other charities and non-governmental organisations to discuss measures to keep the UK’s beaches clean for sport and recreational activities.

Rory Stewart

The vast majority of our beaches are high quality. We are determined to keep them that way and we are willing to work with all those who want to achieve this. Defra officials regularly meet Surfers Against Sewage and other environmental Non-Government Organisations to talk about the issues impacting our beaches. I would be pleased if they would contact my office to discuss a meeting.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-01-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will discuss with the Highways Agency the time taken to (a) programme and (b) complete highway works on the M54 in Shropshire.

Andrew Jones

(a) With regard to current and future works on the M54 in Shropshire, there are currently no delays to the programme of works for the current financial year, 2015/16.

(b) For the forthcoming financial year, 2016/17, Highways England is in the process of finalising the programme of works. This will be completed by the middle of February. The proposed works are:

Scheme	Nature of work
M54 WB J3 Exit Slip Resurfacing	Pavement
M54 J7-6 Fence & Barrier	Fences and Barriers
M54 J2-M6 J10A WB	Pavement
M54 J10a-J1 Drainage	Drainage
M54-M6 J10a-J1 WB Drainage	Drainage
M54-M6 J10a-J1 EB Drainage	Drainage
M54 J4 Traffic Signals Refurbishment	Traffic Signals

There have recently been problems with the concrete carriageway on the eastbound side of the M54 between junctions 3 and 2. Highways England has carried out a significant number of temporary repairs and is likely to undertake some more substantial repairs by the end of April 2016, whilst we investigate a longer term solution.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-03-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to improve the speed with which payments are made to small farmers under the Basic Payment Scheme.

George Eustice

As of 10 March the Rural Payments Agency has paid in the region of 83% of all eligible claims received. Of these some 81% of small farm businesses had received their payments. The Rural Payments agency is working to pay the remainder of claims as promptly as possible with between 800 and 1,000 staff working on processing claims.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-09-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will introduce stronger key performance indicators to evaluate the performance of Highways England.

Mr John Hayes

The Government will review Highways England’s existing performance indicators and targets when setting the next Road Investment Strategy. As part of this process the Government will consider whether existing indicators and targets should be strengthened, and whether new indicators should be introduced.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-11-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will discuss with Virgin Trains its replacing the ageing Voyager fleet rolling stock.

Claire Perry

The Voyager fleet was introduced in 2001/2 to provide high speed services on routes which could only be served by Diesel Trains and is primarily operated by Virgin on routes to Chester and Holyhead. We will consider train fleet options as part of the upcoming ICWC franchise competition.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Attorney General, what discussions he has had with the Secretaries of State for Defence and International Development on ensuring that full and proper account is taken of the importance of international humanitarian law in areas of potential conflict and war.

Jeremy Wright

I meet regularlywith Ministerial colleagues to discuss important issues of common interest, including on international humanitarian law. I am not able to talk about any legal content of those discussions because, by convention, whether the Law Officers have given advice or not is not disclosed outside Government. All legal advice provided by the Law Officers is confidential and subject to legal professional privilege.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-01-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of the national living wage and the apprenticeships levy on (a) contracted-out services provided to local authorities and (b) the revenue of those local authorities; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Marcus Jones

The impact of the introduction of the national living wage and apprenticeships levy was considered during the Spending Review as part of the overall assessment of spending pressures on local authorities. However, no assessment has been made on contracted out services or revenue generation as that is for individual local authorities to consider as part of their budget setting process.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce the number of non-natural deaths (a) in police custody and (b) on the prison estate.

Mike Penning

Every death in police custody and on the prison estate is a tragedy and this is a priority area for the Government.

The Ministerial Council for Deaths in Custody looks at this issue across Government. The Council considers what lessons can be learnt following a death in custody and the development of a clear and robust legislative and policy framework to help prevent deaths in any state custody setting.

The Home Secretary announced a major review into deaths in police custody on 23 July. This review is being led by Dame Elish Angiolini who is working closely with victims, families and the police. At its heart will be the experience of the families of those who have died in custody. The review is scheduled to report in the summer of 2016. My officials also work closely with police forces, the Independent Police Complaints Commission, the National Offender Management Service and other partners to take action to minimise the risks to detainees and prevent deaths from occurring in custody environments. Police forces are required to refer all matters concerning deaths in police custody to the Independent Police Complaints Commission who will decide whether the matter should be investigated and, if so, what form that investigation should take.

All deaths in prison are subject to a police investigation, an independent investigation by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) and a Coroner’s inquest. The Ministry of Justice works hard to learn lessons from each death, and has accepted and acted on the vast majority of recommendations from recent investigations by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman.

All prisons are required to have procedures in place to identify, manage and support people who are at risk of harm to themselves, and the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) has put in place additional resources to undertake this safer custody work.

Health partners are engaged in supporting all prisoners’ physical and mental health and wellbeing, and play an important role in the identification and management of prisoners at risk of self-harm and suicide.

On 17 December 2015 the Government published its response to the Harris Review into the deaths in custody of young adults and reaffirmed its commitment to reducing the levels of self-harm and self-inflicted deaths in custody.

NOMS has an extensive programme of work aimed at preventing self-inflicted deaths and reducing levels of self-harm.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-09-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will introduce a statutory maximum temperature on (a) stationary aircraft and (b) aircraft in flight.

Mr John Hayes

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has requirements in the aircraft certification specifications regarding the ventilation requirements of aircraft cabin, but no maximum temperature has been identified. It would be for EASA to introduce any changes to these safety requirements, based on robust evidence base.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what joint work she and her French counterpart are undertaking on providing governance and capacity-building support for francophone Africa.

Nick Gibb

The Department for Education is not undertaking any work on providing governance and capacity-building support for Francophone Africa.