Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Grant Shapps and Philip Hollobone

Monday 20th May 2024 Commons Chamber

[Grant Shapps]

I am pleased that the hon. Gentleman recognises that my hon. Friend the Minister for Defence Procurement has written to him on the subject, and I have no doubt that he will wish to engage with the hon. Gentleman further.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

[The Secretary of State for Defence (Grant Shapps)]

We are very mindful of the situation in Ukraine, particularly in Kharkiv where Russia is making, or trying to make, inroads. This is an existential battle for all civilised countries that believe in democracy and freedom, and it is the case that we must ensure that the world continues to keep up the efforts. It is not right for there to be pauses in our support and, when there are, the sort of losses we have seen on—I hope and believe—a temporary basis in Kharkiv around the villages to the north are an inevitable consequence of inaction.

[Mr Hollobone]

Lieutenant General Pavliuk, Ukraine’s commander of ground forces, recently confirmed that medium and short-range strike drones now kill more soldiers on both sides of the conflict than any other weapon. Is that not both a grim milestone in the history of warfare and the strongest possible signal that His Majesty’s armed forces must master that developing technology if they are to preserve and enhance their combat effectiveness?

[Grant Shapps]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. It is one reason why this country has been at the forefront of providing drones. Indeed, we have made an enormous £325 million contribution to the drones coalition and provided 4,000 drones in the latest package, and there is a lot more to come for Ukraine. This bloody war is now killing, or causing casualties to, up to 1,000 Russians a day, and it needs to come to a stop.

Integrated Rail Plan: North and Midlands

Debate between Grant Shapps and Philip Hollobone

Thursday 18th November 2021 Commons Chamber

[Grant Shapps]

Yes, the hon. Gentleman should tell them that under this plan trains will come straight into the city centre of Nottingham, which would not have happened under the original HS2 plan.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

In addition to the recently announced improvements to the train service from Kettering, including a 46-minute, non-stop London to Kettering service and the reintroduction of the half-hourly service northwards, which was taken out by Labour in 2010, I welcome the better connectivity that will be experienced by rail passengers from Kettering as a result of the integrated rail plan. Will the Secretary of State confirm the timetable for the electrification of the midland main line and, in particular, the section between Kettering and Market Harborough?

[Grant Shapps]

The good news is that that is starting very soon. I made reference to work starting by Christmas and I think—this is subject to my checking—that it is actually the Kettering section that will be starting. I know that my hon. Friend’s area has already benefited from rail electrification to the south, and this brings it to the north as well.

International Travel

Debate between Grant Shapps and Philip Hollobone

Monday 20th September 2021 Commons Chamber

[Grant Shapps]

I should say to the hon. Lady that the quarantine hotels are the same hotels that people would be staying in if they were on holiday, on business or anything else. There should never be rats in a room, regardless of anyone’s reason to travel to that hotel. The local environmental health would certainly be interested, as would my colleagues at the Department of Health and Social Care, who run the managed quarantine scheme. That is never acceptable under any circumstances. I should just point out to the House and to the hon. Lady that people should not be travelling from red-list countries without very good reason indeed. I am pleased that we have just taken eight more countries off the red list and I hope that that number will be able to continue to reduce, but people should try to avoid travelling from those countries at all.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

Will the Transport Secretary help me with two cases? The first concerns a family living in Kettering who were fully vaccinated in South Africa with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The second concerns a gentleman in Kettering who is a fully vaccinated participant in the Novavax vaccine trial. Will the people in these two cases be able to travel from the UK and if they do will they have to self-isolate on their return?

[Grant Shapps]

That is an excellent question from my hon. Friend. First, on other countries, South Africa being one, coming into the programme that 50 are already in, we will publish the criteria and are working with other countries to be able to recognise their vaccinations. On the trials, we are absolutely clear that people who have volunteered for trials should not be in any way, shape or form disadvantaged by this policy. While I am mentioning them I want to mention people who cannot medically be vaccinated, who will not be disadvantaged by this policy. In both cases, they will be treated as if they are fully vaccinated travellers. I know that my hon. Friend the aviation Minister would welcome a meeting with my hon. Friend the Member for Kettering (Mr Hollobone) to discuss the specifics of those cases.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Grant Shapps and Philip Hollobone

Thursday 11th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Grant Shapps]

I am very sorry to hear about what the hon. Gentleman’s local Labour council has been doing with the traffic situation there. I will ensure that the Roads Minister meets urgently with Ealing Council to try to address his concerns, and those of other Ealing Members, over their traffic process.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

[R] Will Transport Ministers ensure that funding for a new junction 10A on the A14 at Kettering is provided in road investment strategy 3? Otherwise, with 2,700 new houses expected to have been built in the new Hanwood Park development by that time, traffic will grind to a halt in Kettering, Barton Seagrave and Burton Latimer.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Grant Shapps and Philip Hollobone

Thursday 12th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[Grant Shapps]

I am surprised that the figure 5 with “billion” after it did not answer the hon. Gentleman’s question. We are not just paying lip service; we are doing it. What he does not seem to understand about building roads is that buses run on them.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

Of the £250 million in direct revenue support for bus operators, just £43 million goes to local councils outside London. We are going to need a lot more than that if we are going to reinstate local bus services in rural areas, aren’t we?

[Grant Shapps]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and that is where the £5 billion national bus strategy, which we will be publishing shortly, comes in. Our aim is quite simply to get to a London standard of service throughout the country, including in rural areas and his constituency.

HS2

Debate between Grant Shapps and Philip Hollobone

Thursday 5th September 2019 Commons Chamber

[Grant Shapps]

I can. I have met the Mayor of Manchester and Mayors across the north, and I am due to meet them again shortly. Those things absolutely will be taken into account.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

I voted against HS2 every time. Would the money be better spent on improvements to our existing conventional rail network?

[Grant Shapps]

The answer is that I do not know, but I like to think that £48 billion on improving and upgrading our existing networks is a good down payment.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Grant Shapps and Philip Hollobone

Wednesday 28th October 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

6. In which countries her Department is working with the Ministry of Justice to build prisons to facilitate the return of foreign national offenders from the UK.

[The Minister of State, Department for International Development (Grant Shapps)]

This summer, in my capacity as a joint Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister, I visited Tower Street prison, Jamaica, where we have negotiated a prison build and transfer arrangement to return foreign national offenders, as reported by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister.

[Mr Hollobone]

Given that we spend £300 million a year on incarcerating foreign national offenders in this country, it makes sense to use the DFID budget to build prisons in other countries so that they can be returned. Would the Minister be kind enough to consider Pakistan, Bangladesh and Vietnam for future projects?

[Grant Shapps]

My hon. Friend will be pleased to hear that we work in various countries, through the returns and reintegration fund. I mentioned Jamaica. There are also examples in Ghana, which I will shortly visit, and Nigeria, where I have just been.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Grant Shapps and Philip Hollobone

Monday 28th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Grant Shapps]

The hon. Lady refers to Trafford, where she used to be a councillor, but that council receives much less money from the Government than do other councils, including Liverpool. The idea that they are in the same position is untrue. In addition, the hon. Lady should know that we have protected the level of reduction for some of the most needy councils by having banded floors, which means far smaller reductions in the most needy areas, while the transition grant means that no area can be affected by more than 8.8%. A range of other measures, including an increase in the deprivation index from 73% to 83%, also apply.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

6. What steps he is taking to reduce the incidence of antisocial behaviour in social housing.

[The Minister for Housing and Local Government (Grant Shapps)]

I recently announced a package of proposals to strengthen the hands of social landlords and tenants, so that they can take swift and effective action to tackle antisocial behaviour.

[Mr Hollobone]

All too often, the rights of very badly behaved social tenants seem to be given more weight by the courts than the alarm and distress that their poor behaviour causes to fellow tenants in the wider community. Will the Minister agree to meet representatives of Kettering borough council, of which I am a member, to discuss how the problem can be tackled?

[Grant Shapps]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising this important issue, of which I am aware. The amount of time that it takes to evict antisocial tenants is a severe problem, which is why the measures that I announced on 11 January included a proposal for mandatory grounds for evictions when a case has occurred before. I should be happy to meet my hon. Friend.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Grant Shapps and Philip Hollobone

Thursday 10th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Grant Shapps]

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right that there are numerous problems with how the housing revenue account operates at the moment, in England as well as in Wales. The simplest answer that I can give him is that I agree, and we will continue the review.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

Kettering council, on which I serve, collects £12 million a year from its council tenants, £3 million of which is handed straight over to Her Majesty’s Treasury. How is that fair, and will the Minister receive a representation from the council on this issue?

[Grant Shapps]

I would be happy to receive a delegation from the council on the issue. It is absolutely the case that it is not fair. I think that there is cross-party agreement that the housing revenue account has become increasingly unfair over the years. That must be fixed, in the interests not only of transparency and of the tenants within those authorities that are paying in, but of efficiency. I would be very happy to meet my hon. Friend and his colleagues.