Tag: Nicholas Soames

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with the Highways Agency on litter clearance on roads.

Andrew Jones

The Secretary of State discusses a range of issues in his regular meetings with the Chief Executive of Highways England. I also raised the issue of litter on roads with the Chief Executive at our most recent monthly meeting on 15 March 2016.

Highways England actively monitors local authorities to ensure standards are maintained, as it is a local responsibility to clear litter on most of the A roads on the strategic road network. On the motorways for which Highways England is responsible, more than 150,000 sacks of litter are collected every year; an average of 411 bags every day at a cost of £40 per sack.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the Government’s strategy is for litter and fly-tipping.

Rory Stewart

Defra has announced plans for a new litter strategy and we are working with industry, experts and councils across England to improve the way we all tackle the scourge of litter. The litter strategy will promote affordable and replicable ways to influence littering behaviour – and reduce littering. It will encourage innovation in physical infrastructure and cleansing methods, and in product design, and will help to make a compelling and engaging case for investment in work to tackle litter and littering.

To develop the strategy we will seek the views of, among others, representatives from local government, campaign groups and independent experts, as well as voices from the packaging and fast-food industries. As part of this process we will also establish a number of working groups on specific issues, such as roadside litter, data and monitoring and enforcement.

We are committed to tackling fly-tipping as set out in the Government’s manifesto. Subject to Parliamentary approval, we will give local authorities the power to issue fixed penalty notices for small-scale fly-tipping. Regulations were laid in Parliament on 11 March. These new enforcement tools will be available to local authorities from 9 May, providing them with an alternative to prosecutions and will assist them to take a proportionate enforcement response. This will build on other actions, including:

• Cracking down on offenders by strengthening the Sentencing Council’s

  Guideline for sentencing for environmental offences, which came into force on 1 July 2014.

• Making it easier for vehicles suspected of being involved in waste crime to be

  stopped, searched and seized.

• Continuing our work with the Defra-chaired National Fly-Tipping Prevention

  Group to promote and disseminate good practice in the prevention, reporting,

  investigation and clearance of fly-tipped waste.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-05-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what obligations NHS England – South (South East) have to consult local councils before closing a GP list.

Alistair Burt

There is no specific requirement to engage with local authorities in regards to applications to close a general practitioner (GP) surgery, however, NHS England consider any discussions the practice concerned has had with its existing patients about the matter and the views of other local GP practices who may be impacted.

Practices can apply to NHS England to temporarily halt new patient registrations if they are facing immediate challenges in providing patient services in order to give them the opportunity to take action to resolve these issues and so that they can continue to provide safe, good quality care to their existing patients.

When NHS England receives a request to formally close a GP practice list over a longer period, they consider both the impact on patients as well as on neighbouring practices and services to avoid displacing a problem elsewhere.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the Government’s policy is on the EU Global Strategy.

Mr David Lidington

At the European Council meeting of 25-26 June, European leaders asked the EU High Representative to prepare an EU Global Strategy on foreign and defence policy to replace the 2003 European Security Strategy, which was last updated in 2008. It will identify and describe EU Member State interests, priorities and objectives, existing and evolving threats, challenges and opportunities, and the instruments and means to meet them. The Government supports this initiative, which complements the UK’s Strategic Defence and Security Review, and has engaged regularly with the High Representative during its preparation. The Government believes that the Global Strategy can enhance UK and other Member State foreign and security policy by covering the full range of EU external action tools.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-07-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what additional support and resources her Department is providing to assist West Sussex County Council in meeting its universal broadband obligations.

Matt Hancock

The Government has implemented a basic broadband scheme to enable all premises to gain access to speeds of at least 2Mbps. This enables residents to gain access to every government service available online. Funding for subsidised connections through the scheme is provided by Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) as part of the government’s superfast broadband programme. Consumers in eligible premises can access services from any of the suppliers who have been entered onto the scheme by BDUK.

In addition it is the Government’s intention to implement a new broadband Universal Service Obligation. This will give people the legal right to request a broadband connection, no matter where they live, by the end of this Parliament. Our ambition is that the minimum download speed should initially be set at 10 Mbps.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many additional practice-based mental health therapists have been appointed to GP practices in Mid Sussex constituency since 2015-16.

David Mowat

NHS England advises that its south east regional team has not yet commissioned any additional practice-based mental health therapists in the Mid Sussex area.

NHS England’s General Practice Forward View, published in April 2016, sets out a commitment to invest in an extra 3,000 mental health therapists to work in primary care by 2020-21, which is an average of a full-time therapist for every two to three typical sized general practitioner practice.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-09-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans his Department has for developing for a crewed successor to Typhoon.

Harriett Baldwin

The Strategic Defence and Security Review of 2015 announced the out of service date for the Typhoon fleet would be extended to 2040. The Ministry of Defence will consider options to replace the capability closer to that date but so far no decision has been made.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which ongoing operations are funded by the core defence budget; and what the expenditure on each such operation was in each year from 2010-11 to 2014-15.

Michael Fallon

The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The costs of military operations are compiled in terms of the net additional costs incurred, which are defined as those which the Department would not have incurred had the operation not taken place. The Department’s estimate of the net additional cost of military operations are recorded annually, and can be found in Table 2.3.1 in the Departments’ Annual Report and Accounts 2014-15 which is available at the following link;

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/462966/MOD_ARAc_combined_23_Sep_2015_web.pdf

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what (a) Grade I listed buildings, (b) Grade II* listed buildings, (c) Grade II listed buildings and (d) scheduled monuments his Department owns; under which top level budget those buildings and monuments fall; and what plans he has for their disposal.

Mark Lancaster

Details of all Grade I listed buildings, Grade II* listed buildings, Grade II listed buildings and scheduled monuments the Department owns, including those which are located on sites that are currently in disposal are shown in the attached tables.

Details of the top level budget for these Monuments and Buildings could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-11-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the number of additional schools that will be needed to accommodate the predicted population rise over the next 25 years; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Timpson

Pupil forecasts based on ONS population projections have been made out to 2024 and they suggest that pupil numbers are due to rise significantly over that period. Local authorities are responsible for ensuring that there are sufficient schools to meet that need, and for determining precisely how many new schools are needed in their area.

We allocate funding for new school places to local authorities three years in advance in order to balance the need for robust forecasts and to ensure certainty for local authorities over their future funding allocations.

Providing this funding to support local authorities in creating additional school places is one of the Government’s top priorities. This is signalled by the £7 billion that this Government has committed to spend on new places over the course of this Parliament; as well as the £5 billion that the previous Coalition Government invested in school places between 2011 and 2015 (more than double the £1.9 billion spent between 2007 and 2011).