Asked by: Joy Morrissey (Conservative - Beaconsfield)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what the scientific basis is for closing golf courses during the November 2020 covid-19 lockdown in England; and when he plans to reopen those courses.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Sports and physical activity are incredibly important for our physical and mental health, and are a vital weapon against coronavirus. That’s why we made sure that people could exercise at least once a day even during the height of the first period of enhanced national restrictions and why we opened up grassroots sport and leisure facilities as soon as it was safe to do so.
Nobody wanted to be in the position of having to introduce further National Restrictions. However as the Prime Minister said, with the virus spreading faster than expected we cannot allow our health system to be overwhelmed. The National Restrictions are designed to get the R rate under control through limiting social contact and reducing transmissions. We have not introduced further exemptions because when you unpick at one activity the effectiveness of the whole package is compromised.
However, as the Prime Minister said on 23 November national restrictions will end on Wednesday 2 December and gyms and the wider leisure sector including golf courses can reopen across all tiers.
Asked by: Joy Morrissey (Conservative - Beaconsfield)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) golf courses and (b) other naturally covid secure environments will be accessible under the tier system after the November 2020 covid-19 lockdown ends.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
As the Prime Minister set out on 23 November, the current national restrictions are due to end on Wednesday 2 December and gyms and the wider leisure sector, including golf courses and tennis clubs, can reopen across all tiers.
Parks, sports courses and gardens will be open, and organised outdoor sport and physical activity will be allowed under all tiers. For areas in Tier 3 contact activities should be avoided.
Government has produced guidance for owners or operators on managing such facilities.
There are different restrictions with respect to meeting others in an indoor or outdoor setting dependent on which tier an area is in. Owners, operators and the public should consult the latest information on gatherings.
Asked by: Joy Morrissey (Conservative - Beaconsfield)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to guarantee protection of Green Belt land in future legislation.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government continues to prioritise protection for Green Belt. The reforms put forward in our White Paper Planning for the Future made clear that local authorities would need to categorise Green Belt as a protected area in the proposed new planning system.
The protections for the Green Belt set out in the National Planning Policy Framework, and the strong encouragement to prioritise re-use of suitable brownfield land, will remain in place, in line with our manifesto commitments.
The White Paper consultation closed on 29 October 2020 and we are currently considering the responses received. The Government will publish a response which will set out any decisions and associated proposed implementation.
Asked by: Joy Morrissey (Conservative - Beaconsfield)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans the Government has to protect (a) Beaconsfield and (b) similarly located constituencies from encroachment and urban sprawl.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government continues to prioritise protection for Green Belt. The reforms put forward in our White Paper Planning for the Future made clear that local authorities would need to categorise Green Belt as a protected area in the proposed new planning system.
The protections for the Green Belt set out in the National Planning Policy Framework, and the strong encouragement to prioritise re-use of suitable brownfield land, will remain in place, in line with our manifesto commitments.
The White Paper consultation closed on 29 October 2020 and we are currently considering the responses received. The Government will publish a response which will set out any decisions and associated proposed implementation.
Asked by: Joy Morrissey (Conservative - Beaconsfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government plans to extend the Bounce Back Loan Scheme in response to the additional time businesses have been subject to covid-19 lockdown restrictions.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government launched the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) to ensure that the smallest businesses could access loans of up to £50,000 in a matter of just days. As of 15 November, the scheme had supported nearly 1.4 million businesses with facilities totaling over £42 billion.
Originally, the scheme was due to close to new loan applications on 4 November. However, this end date has already been extended twice; initially to 30 November and subsequently to the existing scheme end date of 31 January 2021. This extension ensures that businesses have more time to make loan applications, supporting them through the pandemic.
Furthermore, the Government is continuing to work with lenders and business representatives to introduce a new, successor loan guarantee scheme, set to begin once the existing guarantee schemes (BBLS, along with the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme and Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme) close to new applications. More details around this new scheme will be released in due course.
Asked by: Joy Morrissey (Conservative - Beaconsfield)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to support the tourism sector as it moves from the summer season into autumn.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
We recognise the significant impact of Covid-19 on the tourism sector. We continue to monitor the situation and are taking steps to support the sector as it moves to the autumn season.
The Government has implemented a series of measures that will assist tourism business over the coming months, such as the cut to VAT which will last into January and business rates relief for hospitality, retail and leisure businesses which will last until the end of March.
We are working with VisitBritain on an Autumn and Winter campaign, 'Escape the Everyday', which will help extend the tourism season.
The Government is also encouraging local planning authorities to exercise their discretion in relation to planning conditions for caravan, campsites and holiday parks, in order to help these businesses extend their open season.
And through the Cultural Renewal Taskforce and the Visitor Economy Working Group, we are continuing to engage with stakeholders to assess how we can most effectively support tourism’s recovery across the UK.
Asked by: Joy Morrissey (Conservative - Beaconsfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will set out a timetable for bringing forward legislative proposals to reform the law on trespassing.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
We have a clear manifesto commitment to tackle unauthorised encampments. We remain determined to ensure that the police have the powers they need.
The consultation has closed and the Government is considering the response. It is our firm aim to bring forward legislation later this session.
Asked by: Joy Morrissey (Conservative - Beaconsfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will include a target date for implementing WHO air quality standards in the Environment Bill.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to tackling a diversity of pollutants which harm human health and the environment. We already have ambitious and statutory emission reduction ceilings in place for five key air pollutants, as well as legally binding concentration limits. However, the case for even more ambitious action on fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is especially strong, as it is the pollutant that has the most significant impact on health.
The Environment Bill establishes a legally binding duty to set a target for PM2.5, in addition to a long-term air quality target. We are committed to setting ambitious targets and following an evidence-based process, seeking advice from a range of experts, in addition to giving consideration to the World Health Organization’s air quality guidelines. The targets will be set in secondary legislation at the end of this process. It would not be an effective approach to policy making to commit in primary legislation to delivering a target, without giving due consideration to its achievability and the measures required to meet that target. Stakeholders, Parliament and the public will have the opportunity to comment on, and input into, the process of developing this target.
Asked by: Joy Morrissey (Conservative - Beaconsfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the GS1 report entitled, A scan of the benefits: the Scan4Safety evidence report, published in July 2020, what recent assessment has been made of the potential merits of providing funding to enable the expansion of Scan4Safety across the acute care sector in England.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
The Scan4Safety pilot proved the benefits of the programme for patient safety, clinical productivity and operational efficiency. In February 2019, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care indicated that he wanted to see the programme taken up by the entire acute sector. Following the publication of the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety review, and as the health and care system looks to take forward learnings on the back of the response to COVID-19, we are looking at a range of programmes, including Scan4Safety, to build on known successes. In the case of Scan4Safety this will also be considered as part of the response to the forthcoming Medicines and Medical Devices Bill.
Asked by: Joy Morrissey (Conservative - Beaconsfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to allocate the £2 billion of funding for active travel announced in early 2020.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
On 28 July the Prime Minister launched ambitious plans to boost cycling and walking, which set a long-term vision for half of all journeys in towns and cities to be cycled or walked by 2030. The plans include a £2 billion package of funding for active travel over the next 5 years.
£225 million has been made available to local authorities this financial year for immediate measures including new cycle lanes, wider pavements and safer junctions. £25 million has been allocated to cycle maintenance initiatives, including the Fix Your Bike Voucher Scheme. Decisions on the remainder will be for the Spending Review in the autumn.