Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what criteria need to be met by a company before it receives a contract for military training services.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
All prospective suppliers are to be checked that they are not on the Debarment List before they are invited to tender or awarded a contract. If the procurement is subject to the Procurement Act 2023 (“the Act”), prospective suppliers can be excluded from tendering in accordance with the grounds listed in Schedules 6 and 7 if the MOD is satisfied that the circumstances given rise to the event are continuing or likely to occur again.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the relationship between access to core utilities and population retention in remote rural areas.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Rural policy is a devolved matter. Defra regularly publishes statistics on a range of social and economic topics including rural population trends, and rural service provision in The Statistical Digest for Rural England.
Net internal migration within England tends to be towards rural authorities, and in 2023 the rate of this migration was higher than in 2013; the exception to this is 15- to- 19- year-olds for which there is net migration from rural authorities, reflecting the movement of students.
Despite this we know that people living in rural areas often have greater distances to travel to access essential services and can struggle to access other core utilities.
This Government is committed to improving the quality of life for people living and working in rural areas, so that we can realise the full potential of rural business and communities. We have made a commitment that all policy decision-making including the provision of utility infrastructure should be rural proofed to ensure that rural areas are not overlooked and that the intended outcomes are deliverable in rural areas.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support essential infrastructure in rural communities at risk of depopulation.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Rural policy is a devolved matter. Defra regularly publishes statistics on a range of social and economic topics including rural population trends, and rural service provision in The Statistical Digest for Rural England.
Net internal migration within England tends to be towards rural authorities, and in 2023 the rate of this migration was higher than in 2013; the exception to this is 15- to- 19- year-olds for which there is net migration from rural authorities, reflecting the movement of students.
Despite this we know that people living in rural areas often have greater distances to travel to access essential services and can struggle to access other core utilities.
This Government is committed to improving the quality of life for people living and working in rural areas, so that we can realise the full potential of rural business and communities. We have made a commitment that all policy decision-making including the provision of utility infrastructure should be rural proofed to ensure that rural areas are not overlooked and that the intended outcomes are deliverable in rural areas.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential economic merits of public investment in essential utility infrastructure in remote rural communities.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The government’s number one priority is driving economic growth to boost living standards in every part of the country. The 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy confirmed we will fund at least £725 billion for infrastructure over the next decade. This includes significant investment in essential utility infrastructure. The government is changing the Green Book and how it is used to make sure that every region gets a fair hearing when it comes to investment.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate his Department has made of the number of households not on the national grid for (a) gas and (b) electricity in each constituency in Scotland.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The department publishes estimates of the number of domestic properties not connected to the gas network in Great Britain by country, English regions, local authority and constituency.
For Northern Ireland, data on the total number of gas connections is available via the Annual Retail Energy Market Monitoring Report.
Equivalent figures for the electricity network are not published.