Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Independent Review into the Boohoo Group PLC’s Leicester supply chain, published on 24 September 2020, what recent steps he has taken to tackle modern slavery.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
Operation Tacit was set-up in July 2020 to investigate allegations of widespread exploitation and modern slavery in Leicester, and to take appropriate action where non-compliance was found. The issues uncovered included health and safety breaches, illegal working and risk of underpayment of national minimum wage.
The Director of Labour Market Enforcement (DLME) has undertaken an independent review of Operation Tacit and will publish her findings in due course.
The Home Office sponsored Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) and other labour market enforcement bodies continue to work in the sector, and across the economy, to prevent, detect and investigate non-compliance.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which (a) plants, (b) trees and (c) seeds are not allowed to be sent to Northern Ireland from Great Britain as a result of the Windsor Framework.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Windsor Framework provides for simplified arrangements for the movement of plants and plant products between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, meaning a phytosanitary certificate is not required and that a wider variety of plants can move.
We have secured the lifting of a ban on the movement of twelve plant species - apple, Japanese / delavay privet, European crab apple, common hawthorn, Norway maple, Japanese maple, sycamore maple, field maple, English oak, sessile oak, European beech and, most recently, hazel. We are in active dialogue with the EU Commission on a number of other species which industry has proposed as priorities. We will continue to engage with industry to ensure the smooth movement of additional plant species. Further details can be found on Defra’s online Plant Health Portal. All information on high-risk plants, including the latest information on the plants’ dossiers and those where the bans have been lifted, can be found at the ‘Plant Portal’ here.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to provide support to (a) Coalville CAN and (b) other charities that provide cooking lessons for children and elderly people.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
There is a range of funding available for organisations that are working to support and improve their communities. The ‘Find a grant’ service is a search function which helps organisations search for government grants. The filtering system allows you to select grants which are open to applications from non-profits (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/find-government-grants).
The National Lottery Community Fund also hosts a number of funding programmes (https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding).
At a more local level, most areas of the country have Community Foundations that manage at least one local grant fund or can offer guidance (https://www.ukcommunityfoundations.org/)
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the death of Sir George Beaumont.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
May 2024 marks the 200th anniversary of the founding of the National Gallery. Sir George Beaumont played a crucial role in the Gallery's creation, both campaigning for its formation and donating his own art to what has become one of our greatest institutions. He died just three years later in 1827. Two hundred years on from when the Gallery was founded for the nation, it continues to bring great paintings and people together.
The Gallery is marking its bicentenary with an exciting year of activities, special displays, online events, exhibitions, and significant loans to other galleries across the UK – with everyone, everywhere welcome. The Arts Minister, Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay, was delighted to have attended the gallery last week to take part in the official start to the celebrations.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has conducted a cost benefit analysis of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Any cost benefit analysis of individual Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) would be a matter for individual local authorities. The review into LTNs concluded they could provide some benefits, but many councils had failed to engage fully with local residents before introducing them. As a result, we have strengthened statutory guidance which will set expectations for comprehensive and in-depth local engagement, and full consideration of the needs of all road users in LTN schemes.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make a cost benefit analysis of the introduction of direct democracy.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The United Kingdom is a parliamentary democracy whereby, through general elections, voters are entitled to elect an MP to represent them in the House of Commons. Parliament is responsible for making legislation and has, on occasion, made provision for specific issues to be considered by the electorate through referendums.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to improve flood defences in North West Leicestershire constituency.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is investing £5.6 billion between 2021 and 2027 to better protect communities across England from flooding and coastal erosion. This investment includes a record £5.2 billion capital investment programme, a £200 million Flood and Coastal Innovation Programme, £170 million for economic recovery from flooding and over £30 million of funding for flood incident management.
In the £5.2 billion capital investment programme, funding is consistently distributed across the country wherever the risk is greatest and the benefits are highest. The Environment Agency administer this funding to maintain flood and coastal risk management (FCRM) assets across NW Leicestershire and is responsible the management of flood risk from watercourses designated Main River. They complete routine maintenance on assets with support from partners/contractors and this programme includes regular vegetation management, blockage removal and conveyance work to keep watercourses clear.
Packington was impacted by flooding in September 2023 and the Environment Agency are working with Leicestershire County Council (LCC) to assess what improvements can be made locally, such as improved flood warnings, property flood resilience (PFR) and natural flood management (NFM) mitigation measures.
A further 63 properties in the constituency were affected by flooding during Storm Babet in October 2023, and 43 impacted by Storm Henk in January 2024. In the current national 6-year programme, more than £0.5 million of government investment is planned by the Environment Agency to support schemes led by LCC at Breedon on the Hill, Diseworth & Long Whatton. Again, a variety of PFR, NFM and other flood alleviation measures will be utilised, aiming to better protect more than 60 properties.
The Environment Agency has also improved local flood modelling information and used this to work with developers to reduce flood risk in Ashby-de-la-Zouch.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has plans to negotiate an agreement with the Republic of Ireland on the return of asylum seekers (a) from Ireland to the UK and (b) from the UK to Ireland.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
In 2020, we agreed with Ireland bilateral non-legally binding operational arrangements which allows for the return and readmission of asylum seekers when agreed by both participants.
We will only make agreements that are in the interests of the UK, and will not accept any future deals which might increase the significant burdens already placed on the UK by the level of illegal migration.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will update her Department's policy paper entitled Geo-engineering: the Government's view, published on 4 May 2020.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The policy paper entitled Geo-engineering: the Government's view, updated on 4 May 2020, describes the Government’s position on greenhouse gas removals (GGRs) and solar radiation management (SRM). The Government is not deploying SRM and has no plans to do so. The GGR business model update, published in December 2023, sets out the Government’s plans and policies on GGRs. Officials will continue to develop policy on these matters and will make any necessary updates to the policy statement in due course.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of treating (a) smoking related illnesses and (b) alcohol related illnesses in the last 12 months.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Tobacco is uniquely harmful, with no safe level of smoking, and no other consumer product that kills two thirds of its long-term users. It causes one in four cancer deaths, including 70% of lung cancer cases, and takes approximately 80,000 lives every year. The latest estimates from Action on Smoking and Health put the cost of smoking in England at over £21 billion. This includes an annual £18 billion loss to productivity through smoking related lost earnings, unemployment, and early death, as well as costs to the National Health Service and social care of £3 billion.
The Department estimated the annual cost of alcohol consumption to the NHS to be £4 billion in 2021. The previous estimate published alongside the Government’s 2012 Alcohol Strategy was updated to reflect inflation. The Department has begun a review of existing methods and evidence to update this estimate. The estimated costs of alcohol and smoking related illnesses to the NHS were not designed to be compared, and are based on different methods, data sources, and time periods.