Tag: Philip Hollobone

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Hollobone on 2015-10-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to ensure the delivery of superfast broadband to the remaining five per cent of properties which do not have access to it in (a) Northamptonshire and (b) England.

Mr Edward Vaizey

By2017, approximately 95 per cent of homes and businesses in Northamptonshire will have access to superfast broadband. To support further delivery, a further £1.9 million of funding has been made available through the contractual gainshare arrangements, and Northamptonshire County Council has further funding available beyond this for additional procurement.

In addition, the Government is supporting seven pilot projects to help deliver superfast broadband services to the hardest to reach parts of the UK. We will publish the findings from the pilots in duecourse.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Hollobone on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will meet the hon. Member for Kettering and other interested parties to discuss how an action plan might be drawn up to speed up the adoption by local highways authorities of new residential roads.

Andrew Jones

I share my honourable colleague’s concern over the need to avoid unnecessary steps that might hold up the adoption of suitable roads into the public highway. I would be very happy to arrange for him and other interested colleagues to meet my Ministerial team.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Hollobone on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the change in total traffic volumes across the entire road network over present levels by (a) 2020, (b) 2030 and (c) 2040.

Andrew Jones

The Department’s most recent published road traffic forecast for England was published in 2015.

Compared to the traffic volumes in 2014, the latest year for which traffic statistics are available for England, the Department forecasts that traffic volumes will be:

a) 4-20% higher in 2020

b) 11-38% higher in 2030

c) 15-52% higher in 2040

More detailed information can be found on the Department for Transport pages on GOV.UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Hollobone on 2015-10-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which three EU countries have the largest number of foreign nationals in UK prisons; and how many such prisoners there are from each of those countries.

Andrew Selous

The three EU countries with the largest number of foreign national offenders in prison are; Poland 951, Ireland 783 and Romania 629 as of 30th September 2015 last published figures.

The EU Prisoner Transfer Agreement is beginning to take effect. Poland has a derogation until the end of December 2016 from the agreement to allow time to improve their prisons.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Hollobone on 2016-02-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will take steps to ensure that local planning authorities maintain high homebuilding standards in large sustainable urban extensions.

Brandon Lewis

The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that good design is indivisible from good planning and should contribute to making places better for people. Our planning guidance reinforces this strong focus on design, and provides advice on tools for delivery – including design codes.

All new homes also have to meet building regulations’ requirements. The Government has introduced new optional building regulations which means that for some requirements such as on access, local planning authorities can apply a higher standard than the national minimum requirements, where justified by need and provided that the viability of development is not compromised. The Government has also introduced a national space standard which local authorities can apply where justified by need and provided that the viability of development is not compromised.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Hollobone on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many young people from Kettering constituency have participated in the National Citizen Service in each of the last three years.

Mr Rob Wilson

I am very pleased to report that around 2,500 young people in Kettering have participated in NCS over the past three years. The NCS Trust does not collect data at a constituency level. Therefore, the figures below are for the local authority area of Northamptonshire:

2013 – 542 participants

2014 – 1,032 participants

2015 – 1,103 participants

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Hollobone on 2016-01-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2015 to Question 15757, what proportion of clandestine illegal entry attempts in 2014-15 were intercepted by the (a) French authorities and (b) UK authorities.

James Brokenshire

The UK Government does not release statistics that could prejudice the security of the UK borders.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Hollobone on 2015-10-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has for replacement of the HST 125 trains on the Midland mainline.

Claire Perry

The Department considers that franchisees are normally best placed to procure the rolling stock that they require to deliver the necessary levels of service and capacity. We expect the competition for the next East Midlands long-term franchise to deliver those improvements to the rolling stock that are required.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Hollobone on 2016-02-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the purpose was of her recent visit to Weetabix in Burton Latimer; and what progress has been made on the launch of the Great British Food Unit.

George Eustice

My Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, launched the Great British Food Unit during a visit to Weetabix on 21 January 2016. This unit brings together experts from Defra and UKTI and will celebrate British food, encourage innovation and increase the number of Protected Food Names. The unit will increase investment and exports by opening new global markets and offering support to companies.

Weetabix is made with locally sourced wheat and its iconic cereal is eaten in 80 countries. It is an historic British business benefitting from foreign investment and so provided an excellent example of the various types of business the Food Unit is there to support.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Hollobone on 2016-07-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure (a) the territorial integrity and (b) improved border arrangements with Spain of Gibraltar.

Mr David Lidington

The United Kingdom will continue to stand by Gibraltar. We are confident of the United Kingdom’s sovereignty over the whole of Gibraltar, including British Gibraltar Territorial Waters, and have been firm in our commitment to the double lock. We will continue to protect the rights of the people of Gibraltar to remain British, for as long as they wish to do so.

Maintaining a well-functioning Gibraltar-Spain border is one of our top priorities. We welcome the overall downward trend in border delays since their height in 2013, but we are alive to the risk of a return to disproportionate delays at any time. Her Majesty’s Government is working closely with Her Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar and European partners ahead of proposed changes to the Schengen Border Code later this year to ensure that delays due to security checks are not disproportionate. As we prepare for the process to exit the EU, we will fully involve Gibraltar to ensure that its interests are taken properly into account.