Asked by: Jeremy Wright (Conservative - Kenilworth and Southam)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of using the third cycling and walking investment strategy to set targets for a) the National Cycle Network, b) Bikeability and c) the national walking, wheeling and cycling network.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The consultation on the third Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, is seeking the views of stakeholders on a national vision, statutory objectives and underlying performance indicators. The shape of the final strategy, intended to be published next year including any targets, will be informed by the responses to the consultation.
Asked by: Jeremy Wright (Conservative - Kenilworth and Southam)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans she has to meet with disabled people's organisations on the third cycling and walking investment strategy.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The consultation on the third Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy outlines that by 2035, the Government wants walking, wheeling and cycling to be a safe, easy and accessible option for everyone. Disabled People’s organisations have been engaged as part of a wider series of thematic workshops to inform the development of the final Strategy.
Asked by: Jeremy Wright (Conservative - Kenilworth and Southam)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether the Local Power Plan will contain measures to enable community energy schemes to sell electricity that they generate directly to local customers.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Local Power Plan will put local authorities and communities at the heart of the energy transition, giving them a stake in the shift to net zero as owners and partners in clean energy projects, allowing more to come online. Small-scale electricity generation sites can benefit from an exemption, which means they do not require a licence from Ofgem to generate electricity or to supply to local customers. Ofgem has further flexibility to award supply licences to generation sites that are above the exemptions threshold when restricted to specified local area.
Asked by: Jeremy Wright (Conservative - Kenilworth and Southam)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
What recent steps he has taken to support the development of community energy projects.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Ofgem supports community energy projects and welcomes applications from the sector to the Industry Voluntary Redress Scheme. The Government is also helping local authorities and community energy groups to work together to develop projects within UK Growth Funding schemes.
Asked by: Jeremy Wright (Conservative - Kenilworth and Southam)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
What progress has she made towards a free trade agreement with the US.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
I am in close contact with Katherine Tai, the US Trade Representative. I am pleased the US has lifted tariffs on Whisky and I am working to lift Airbus Boeing dispute. We are continuing to make progress in Free Trade Agreement (FTA) discussions as well as working together on our broader trade agenda.
Asked by: Jeremy Wright (Conservative - Kenilworth and Southam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of allowing registered NHS volunteer responders to assist with NHS Test and Trace.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The NHS Volunteer Responders programme, is available to help support people in England who need it. NHS Volunteer Responders carry out simple, one-off non-medical tasks to support people who need help, for instance in accessing essentials.
NHS Volunteer Responders provide a different but complementary service to the NHS Test and Trace service. They are part of the end-to-end service that helps identify, contain and control COVID-19, preventing the spread of the virus, protecting local communities and saving lives.
Asked by: Jeremy Wright (Conservative - Kenilworth and Southam)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the proposed Remedial Order to extend the legislation governing widowed parent's allowance and bereavement support payments will be applied retrospectively to non married partners and their children.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
We intend to take forward a Remedial Order to extend eligibility for BSP to cohabitees with children. The detail of the changes will be set out in the Remedial Order. We intend to lay the Order before the House in due course.
Asked by: Jeremy Wright (Conservative - Kenilworth and Southam)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to apply the proposed remedial order to extend the legislation governing widowed parent's allowance and bereavement support payments retrospectively to non-married partners and their children.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
We intend to take forward a Remedial Order to extend eligibility for BSP to cohabitees with children. The detail of the changes will be set out in the Remedial Order. We intend to lay the Order before the House in due course.
Asked by: Jeremy Wright (Conservative - Kenilworth and Southam)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Plan for Jobs, published in July 2020, if he will extend (a) eligibility for the £1,000 bonus to employers who re-employ new starters who were not retained during the covid-19 outbreak and (b) an additional £1,000 bonus to those new starters directly.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Further information on the Bonus has been published at the end of July, including the eligibility criteria. Full guidance will be published by the end of September. Regarding labour retention and new starters, the relevant criteria is that the employee must have been continuously employed until 31 January 2021 and still be employed by the same employer as of 31 January 2021; and, not be serving a contractual or statutory notice period, that started before 1 February 2021, for the employer making a claim.
The Government’s comprehensive response to the COVID-19 outbreak ensures that there is a wide range of support available for those who may have not been retained by their employers. These include a £1,000 a year increase to the Universal Credit standard allowance and Working Tax Credit basic element, and a nearly £1 billion increase in support for renters through increases to the Local Housing Allowance rates for Universal Credit and Housing Benefit claimants.
Asked by: Jeremy Wright (Conservative - Kenilworth and Southam)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will extend the (a) phase-out start date from August to October 2020 and (b) scheme end date from October to December 2020 of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme for the conferencing and exhibitions sector in acknowledgement of the semi-easing of covid-19 lockdown restrictions being permitted for that sector from October 2020.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
After eight months of the CJRS, the scheme will close in October.
The CJRS is a temporary scheme and the Government must ensure that people can get back to work when it is safe to do so and get the UK economy up and running again.
It would be very challenging to target the CJRS to specific sectors in a fair and deliverable way, and it is not clear that this is the most effective or sensible way to provide longer term support for those sectors most affected by coronavirus.
It would also be difficult to target the CJRS at specific sectors without creating distortion, particularly as some firms work across multiple sectors. Other business support measures can provide support to specific firms.