Asked by: Eddie Hughes (Conservative - Walsall North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support his Department is providing to improve flood defences.
Answered by Steve Barclay
The Government is investing a record £5.2 billion over six years in flood and coastal erosion schemes to better protect communities across England.
In addition, at the last spending review the Government increased funding for maintaining existing flood defences by £22 million per year, bringing the total to over £200 million per year.
Our investment in flood defences has seen over 600,000 properties better protected from flooding since 2010, including over 71,000 since 2021.
Asked by: Eddie Hughes (Conservative - Walsall North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had recent discussions with representatives of creative industries on the impact of AI on that sector.
Answered by John Whittingdale - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the opportunities presented by AI to enable growth in a range of sectors, including our creative industries. As set out in the recent AI white paper, our goal is to ensure that the UK becomes an AI superpower. However, it is important that while we harness the benefits of AI, we also manage the risks. This includes particular risks to creative sectors and copyright holders.
The Department has held a number of meetings with the sector on this issue, including with members of the Creative Industries Council earlier this week, and with music, press and publishing stakeholders over recent weeks. The Secretary of State also met with the Minister for AI and Intellectual Property this week, together with the Intellectual Property Office.
The Secretary of State intends to convene roundtable discussions in September with media stakeholders to discuss the particular impact of AI on journalism.
Asked by: Eddie Hughes (Conservative - Walsall North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to reduce pet theft.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
While stealing a pet is already a criminal offence under the Theft Act 1968, we understand the devastating impact that the theft of a pet can have. That is why we intend to legislate to make pet abduction a specific offence, building on the recent work of the Pet Theft Taskforce to clamp down on this heartless crime.
Asked by: Eddie Hughes (Conservative - Walsall North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 24 April 2023 to Question 179976 on Demonstrations, what steps her Department is taking to ensure any public order guidance related to buffer zones is compatible with existing rights to freedom of (a) speech, (b) religion and (c) assembly.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
Ahead of the commencement of section 9 of the Public Order Act 2023, the College of Policing and the Crown Prosecution Service are updating relevant public order guidance and training to reflect the inclusion of the offence of interference with access to or provision of abortion services.
In accordance with human rights obligations, these organisations are required to consider the rights provided under Article 9 (freedom of thought, religion and belief), Article 10 (freedom of expression) and Article 11 (freedom of association and assembly) of the European Convention on Human Rights, recognising that they are qualified and can sometimes be infringed upon to uphold other rights.
Asked by: Eddie Hughes (Conservative - Walsall North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that members appointed to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority reflect a diversity of ethical viewpoints on research on human embryos.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
Non-executive members are appointed to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) in accordance with legislative requirements, and the skills, experiences and personal qualities that have been judged to meet the needs of the HFEA in discharging its responsibilities. The appointment process reflects the requirements of the Cabinet Office Code of Governance for Public Appointments.
Asked by: Eddie Hughes (Conservative - Walsall North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce barriers to global trade for British businesses.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston
We are targeting a global ‘hit list’ of barriers whose removal would deliver massive new opportunities for UK business throughout the country, estimated to be worth over £20 billion over five years.
Latest available figures show that in the year to March 2022, the Department resolved 192 trade barriers in 79 countries; 45 of these alone are estimated to be worth around £5 billion to businesses across the UK over the next five years.
Asked by: Eddie Hughes (Conservative - Walsall North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a specialist school for music, film and digital design in the north of England.
Answered by Nick Gibb
All pupils are entitled to a broad and ambitious cultural education, irrespective of where they live. The Department is currently assessing a number of applications for new free schools, including one in Bradford, linked to the BRIT school in London. This is a competitive process and the Department will announce approved schools later this year.
Asked by: Eddie Hughes (Conservative - Walsall North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to ensure that the technology required to make the 2035 goal on electric cars feasible will deliver the (a) fast and (b) long lasting charging required to meet the time constraints of people's working day.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Along with the private sector, the Government will invest £1 billion in charging infrastructure – making sure that everyone is within 30 miles of a rapid charging station. In July 2019 work commenced to determine a vision for a core rapid charger network on England’s strategic road network. This will report in Spring 2020. Highways England has committed £15m to ensure there are chargepoints (rapid where possible) every 20 miles on 95% of the Strategic Road Network by 2020. Our jointly funded £400 million Chargepoint Infrastructure Investment Fund’s first investment round, worth a total of £70 million, will ensure the delivery of 3,000 rapid charging devices by 2024, more than doubling the current number of rapid charging devices.
As per our manifesto, on 4 February the Prime Minister announced that Government is consulting on bringing forward the end to the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2040 to 2035, or earlier if a faster transition appears feasible, as well as including hybrids for the first time. The position reflects the independent Committee on Climate Change (CCC) advice that the phase out date should be 2035 or ideally 2030, and that only battery electric or other zero tailpipe emission vehicles should be permitted to be sold after this point. The CCC has advised that this is an important step in the UK’s aim to end our contribution to climate change by 2050. Stakeholders will have a diverse range of views on this subject so the consultation process will help inform our thinking on what the appropriate measures to achieve a faster transition will need to be.
Asked by: Eddie Hughes (Conservative - Walsall North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure the adequate provision of high-kilowatt charging infrastructure for the rapid charging of electric cars.
Answered by Grant Shapps
In collaboration with industry the Government will invest £1 billion in charging infrastructure – making sure that everyone is within 30 miles of a rapid charging station for electric vehicles. The first £70 million of the Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund will create 3,000 new rapid chargepoints, more than doubling the number of rapid chargepoints across the UK by 2024. Highways England has commitment of £15m to ensure there are chargepoints (rapid where possible) every 20 miles on 95% of the Strategic Road Network by 2020. We will set out a vision by Spring 2020 for a core infrastructure network of rapid and high powered chargepoints along England’s strategic road network.
Asked by: Eddie Hughes (Conservative - Walsall North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that electric cars have a range equivalent to petrol cars by 2035.
Answered by Grant Shapps
Improving the range of electric vehicles is primarily a matter for vehicle manufacturers, and this is something that is continuously being improved. Government will continue to support industry in doing this, we have committed £274m from the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund to the Faraday Battery Challenge to advance electric vehicle battery technology. This funding is supporting battery R&D from the Faraday Institution’s academic research, through Innovate UK’s programme of collaborative applied R&D, to scale-up in the cutting-edge UK Battery Industrialisation Centre. The aims of the Faraday Battery Challenge include improving the energy density of batteries, improving our understanding of temperature effects on range, and reducing battery costs which will make longer range electric vehicles more affordable.