Asked by: Chris Clarkson (Conservative - Heywood and Middleton)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps she has taken to increase energy security.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
This Government created a standalone department to focus on energy security. We are driving tyrants like Putin out of our energy markets. We are leading one of the world’s largest renewables programmes and driving forward the largest expansion of nuclear in 70 years, making our future energy in Britain.
Asked by: Chris Clarkson (Conservative - Heywood and Middleton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate his Department has made of the contribution to UK GDP of military space exports; and what steps he is taking to help ensure that his Department's approach to procurement supports the skills required to grow such exports.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
The UK has a strong space industry, which was worth over £17.5 billion in income to the UK in 2022 alone. Space exports are valued at £5.9 billion to the UK economy, and although there is no precise figure for military space exports, UK Defence and Security Exports estimates that UK companies are currently competing for exports totalling around £4.4 billion to be delivered between now and 2030, which will continue to grow.
Recognising the importance of the space to the UK's economy, we deliberately develop and retain skills in the UK as part of our space capabilities. For example, through the social value component of our procurement of the SKYNET secure satellite communications programme, which is largely designed and manufactured in the UK. In addition, UK Space Command is developing the UK Space Academy to enhance space training for both Government and industry.
Skills will also be an important theme in the forthcoming plan for the space sector which will be published soon by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology in close consultation with Defence.
Asked by: Chris Clarkson (Conservative - Heywood and Middleton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that procurement for the SKYNET enduring capability supports high-skilled jobs in military satellite design.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
The Skynet programme is currently running a competition to procure up to three Wideband Satellites that are to contain a specified set of technologies that must be UK designed and manufactured. This pass/fail condition will help to secure technological capital and develop the United Kingdom’s space workforce, promoting both the technologies and skills investment in the UK industrial base.
In addition, the social value requirements that feature in all Skynet procurements support our drive to bring new people into the UK space industry, by securing industrial sponsorships of educational schemes and through-life skills development. The MOD is working in close consultation with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on a plan for the space industry that will be published in the coming months. This will increase growth and resilience for this vital part of the economy, generating a demand for additional high-end satellite design skills.
Asked by: Chris Clarkson (Conservative - Heywood and Middleton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to protect and enhance green spaces.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Levelling Up Parks Fund has made available £9 million for local authorities in areas which rate highly on the Index of Multiple Deprivation, to create or significantly refurbish green spaces.
The Fund also requires the planting and maintaining of trees and encourages projects to work towards Green Flag Award status. The local community should also be consulted during project design and delivery.
Asked by: Chris Clarkson (Conservative - Heywood and Middleton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to provide all (a) hospice patients and (b) next of kin with written guidance on the possible (i) effects and (ii) outcomes of medications used in end-of-life care.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published guidelines on end of life care for adults and care of dying adults in the last days of life. This guidance covers topics such as communication, shared decision-making, and pharmacological interventions.
Ensuring patients, and those important to them, are fully informed regarding their care, including medications, is the responsibility of individual staff and provider organisations. NICE guidance and quality standards, the Ambitions Framework, NHS England’s Palliative and End of Life Care Statutory Guidance for Integrated Care Boards and Care Quality Commission inspection key lines of enquiry all support this by emphasising the needs for individualised care and communication. NHS England also published an Accessible Information Standard to promote the provision of information in a way that meets the needs of each individual.
Asked by: Chris Clarkson (Conservative - Heywood and Middleton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the number of small boat crossings of the English Channel.
Answered by Suella Braverman
We have to stop these dangerous, illegal, and unnecessary crossings and are investing £480m with our French partners on additional personnel, facilities and technology.
Our Illegal Migration Bill will do more to remove those with no right to be here, deter migrants from crossing, and reduce the intolerable cost to the taxpayer. We will also seek permission to appeal the recent judgment about our partnership with Rwanda from the Court of Appeal.
Asked by: Chris Clarkson (Conservative - Heywood and Middleton)
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 tackle fly tipping.
Answered by Jo Churchill
Fly-tipping policy is a devolved matter. In England, we are taking action to crack down on fly tipping and support people to dispose of their waste properly. We have announced grants worth £450,000 to help councils in England use innovative methods to tackle fly-tipping and launched a consultation to close a loophole that allows recycling centres to charge for recycling DIY waste.
Asked by: Chris Clarkson (Conservative - Heywood and Middleton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the accuracy of reports that Iran has produced 25kg of uranium enriched to 60 per cent purity.
Answered by James Cleverly
Iran has been in non-compliance with its Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) commitments since 2019. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) verified that since April 2021, Iran has produced highly enriched uranium (HEU) at 60%. It is unprecedented for a state without nuclear weapons to enrich at 60%.
Asked by: Chris Clarkson (Conservative - Heywood and Middleton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of restoring the twice-hourly train service between Castleton and Manchester following the lifting of covid-19 public health restrictions.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
Passengers currently have an hourly service between Manchester and Castleton which increases to two trains per hour during the morning and evening peak. Northern operates on a complex network and like other operators, it has to make difficult decisions to maximise the number of services it can offer to customers whilst maintaining a high-performing railway that people can rely on.
Asked by: Chris Clarkson (Conservative - Heywood and Middleton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of confirmation from the International Atomic Energy Agency that Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium is 14 times the limit set under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear agreement.
Answered by James Cleverly
Iran's continued systematic non-compliance with its nuclear commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA), including its increasing stockpile of enriched uranium, is undermining the non-proliferation benefits of the deal and jeopardising our efforts to preserve it. On 18 February in Paris, the Foreign Secretary joined his French and German counterparts and the US Secretary of State Tony Blinken to discuss concerted action to bring Iran back to full compliance. Our priority is to find a diplomatic way forward with the parties of the JCPoA and the US Administration that realises the benefits of the deal.