Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding his Department plans to provide to (a) Quantock Hills, (b) Blackdown Hills and (c) other national landscapes in the 2025-26 financial year.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Business planning is ongoing, so we are currently unable to confirm Defra grant allocations to National Landscapes, including the Quantock Hills and Blackdown Hills, for the 2025-26 financial year. We understand the uncertainty around resourcing remains a challenge and recognise that the Defra core grant is vital to support our Protected Landscapes.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of broadband coverage in rural areas.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The latest data from the independent website Thinkbroadband.com shows that over 85% of UK premises can now access a gigabit-capable connection. We are committed to delivering nationwide gigabit coverage by 2030.
Earlier this week we announced the signing of four additional Project Gigabit contracts with Openreach to extend gigabit connectivity to over 130,000 premises, including in the Hon. Gentleman’s constituency.
As a result, there is now more than £2 billion available in our live contracts to connect over a million premises with gigabit-capable broadband. These are premises that fall predominantly in rural areas.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the guidance entitled Immigration Rules, updated 10 October 2024, whether the rules applicable to a person with a Skilled Workers visa are those (a) currently in place or (b) when a person's leave was granted.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The most recent changes relating to the Skilled Worker immigration rules will apply to all applications made using a certificate of sponsorship issued from 8 October 2024. These changes were corrections to the salary going rates for the Skilled Worker route which came into force in April 2024.
Changes made to the rules for partner and dependent child of a person will apply to all outstanding applications by Skilled Workers, and their dependents, regardless of the dates the applications were made, so they can benefit from the new provisions.
These changes only affect applications which have yet to be decided. They do not apply to applications which have already been granted.