Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with Abellio Greater Anglia on commitments for station upgrades at Clacton-on-Sea, as part of the new franchise agreed in August 2016.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The new Franchise Agreement will require that Clacton-on-Sea station is equipped with digital Customer Information System (CIS) screens, help points and CCTV cameras linked back to a central control centre. Passengers at Clacton-on-Sea will also benefit from free of charge improved network bandwidth WiFi at the station by 2018. Abellio shall undertake a refurbishment programme at Clacton-on-Sea. This will include a deep clean of the station.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the Government's policy is on Turkey's accession to the EU.
Answered by Alan Duncan
As and when candidate countries have met the requirements for accession in full, it will be for those countries and European Union members at the time to decide on membership. That point remains some way off.
The UK remains committed to driving reform, embedding stability and addressing shared challenges such as security and migration in the Western Balkans and Turkey. The UK will continue to support countries committed to the accession process in meeting the necessary requirements.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make it his policy to renegotiate the strike price per megawatt hour for Hinkley Point C; and if he will assess the potential merits of imposing a limit on the taxpayer subsidy to EDF.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Hinkley Point C is a good deal for consumers – it will provide reliable energy at an affordable cost, powering nearly six million homes for around 60 years and creating more than 25,000 jobs.
Today nuclear provides around 19% of our electricity but these ageing plants won’t go on forever. Therefore the Government is committed to our policy of building new nuclear in the interest of energy security and decarbonisation, and keeping costs down for the consumer.
Consumers will only pay when Hinkley is up and running.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Answer of 9 November 2015 to Question 14704, what plans his Department has to review and enhance the powers contained in the Public Order Act 1994 to award local authorities greater ability to remove illegal traveller camps without recourse to the courts.
Answered by Lord Barwell
Local authorities and the police have a range of strong powers that enable them to take action against unauthorised encampments and developments. As my predecessor outlined in the Answer to the Hon. Member dated 9 November 2015 (Question 14704), a summary of these powers was sent to all council leaders, Police and Crime Commissioners and Police Chief Constables in March 2015:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/418139/150326_Dealing_with_illegal_and_unauthorised_encampments_-_final.pdf
The Government is open to suggestions for how enforcement could be strengthened and continues to keep this issue under review.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make it his policy to ensure that a minimum number of homes are constructed on MOD Wethersfield for local residents during negotiations for the sale of that site.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has committed to release land for 55,000 homes during this Parliament. Land at MOD Wethersfield is estimated to provide 4,850 homes. The allocation of these homes is a matter for the local authority and the developers who build them and not the MOD.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what progress has been made on the consideration of the Greater Essex Combined Authority bid.
Answered by Andrew Percy
We are encouraging all areas to come forward with locally led devolution proposals. If Greater Essex takes the decision to proceed with a combined authority and consults on those proposals, as statue provides, we will consider whether the creation of a combined authority is likely to improve the exercise of statutory functions in that area and lead to more effective and convenient local government.
We look forward to discussing with Greater Essex any proposals they have to form a combined authority.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to (a) modify and (b) remove the 75 per cent target for Red 1 ambulance calls.
Answered by Ben Gummer
In spring 2015, National Medical Director of NHS England Sir Bruce Keogh carried out a review of key National Health Service waiting time measures to ensure they make sense for patients and are operationally well-designed. Following this review and pilots being carried out as part of NHS England’s Ambulance Response Programme, the results will be considered in due course.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to increase clinical resources for the East of England Ambulance Trust.
Answered by Ben Gummer
It is the responsibility of individual ambulance trusts and their commissioners to decide how clinical resources are used to meet local demand.
NHS Improvement advises that East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust is currently working with management consultants Operational Research in Health to remodel its future workforce requirements based on a new operating model and its demand profile. The Trust will discuss any additional funding this will require with its commissioners.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies of Public Health England's recent findings that electronic cigarettes are 95 per cent less harmful than conventional cigarettes.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The Public Health England (PHE) report is consistent with the Government’s current policy that the best thing a smoker can do for their health is to quit smoking and quit for good. Evidence in the United Kingdom indicates that e-cigarettes can help people quit smoking, with similar or better results than nicotine replacement therapies such as patches or gum.
E-cigarettes are, however, not harmless and there is a lack of evidence on their effects in long term use. The Department has and will continue to monitor all emerging evidence and consider it in developing policy. PHE has been commissioned to update their evidence report on e-cigarettes annually until the end of this Parliament and to include within its quit smoking campaigns consistent messaging about the safety of e-cigarettes.
There are no current plans to ban the use of e-cigarettes in public places in England.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the potential long-term health effects of trends in the use of electronic cigarettes amongst adult smokers.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The Public Health England (PHE) report is consistent with the Government’s current policy that the best thing a smoker can do for their health is to quit smoking and quit for good. Evidence in the United Kingdom indicates that e-cigarettes can help people quit smoking, with similar or better results than nicotine replacement therapies such as patches or gum.
E-cigarettes are, however, not harmless and there is a lack of evidence on their effects in long term use. The Department has and will continue to monitor all emerging evidence and consider it in developing policy. PHE has been commissioned to update their evidence report on e-cigarettes annually until the end of this Parliament and to include within its quit smoking campaigns consistent messaging about the safety of e-cigarettes.
There are no current plans to ban the use of e-cigarettes in public places in England.