Asked by: Ben Goldsborough (Labour - South Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he is undertaking a review of the eligibility criteria for community benefits for electricity transmission.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
It is the Government’s priority to build support for developments by ensuring communities directly benefit, as per the commitments set out in the election manifesto. As such we are reviewing how to most effectively deliver community benefits for communities living near new electricity transmission network infrastructure.Asked by: Ben Goldsborough (Labour - South Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing energy bill discounts of (a) £10,000 over ten years to people within 200 metres and (b) £20,000 over 20 years for people within 500 metres of an energy infrastructure project.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
It is important for this Government that where communities host clean energy infrastructure, they should directly benefit from it. We are currently considering how to ensure communities benefit from living near new onshore electricity transmission infrastructure.
Asked by: Ben Goldsborough (Labour - South Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has undertaken a review of the accessibility of the Fruit and Vegetable aid scheme.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Fruit and Vegetable Aid Scheme is an EU legacy scheme and legislation is in place which will close it on the 31st of December 2025. The Government has committed to championing British farming, whilst protecting the environment, and is currently considering the best way to support our farming sectors in the future, including horticulture.
Asked by: Ben Goldsborough (Labour - South Norfolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) airports, (b) ports and (c) train terminals had a dedicated Border Force customs team to deal with freight in each year since 2010.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office’s priority is to deliver a safe and secure border, Border Force maintain 100% checks for all scheduled arriving passengers into the UK and this will be continued during any period.
Border Force does not publish information on operational activities. Doing so would publicise operational practices which would be used to assist in the evasion of customs controls and compromise Border security.
Asked by: Ben Goldsborough (Labour - South Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many women were taken into immediate custody from (a) Crown courts and (b) magistrates courts for sentences of (i) less than and (ii) more than six months for each offence classification in each police force area in England and Wales in 2022-23.
Answered by Heidi Alexander - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the number of custodial sentences issued at criminal courts in England and Wales. This includes breakdowns by sex, sentence length, offence group and police force area, and therefore the information requested can be obtained from the following published data:
Magistrates’ courts: Magistrates' court data tool
Crown Court: Crown Court data tool