Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department is taking steps with National Highways to introduce speed enforcement measures at known accident hotspots on the A34.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
National Highways currently has no plans to introduce speed enforcement measures on the A34. National Highways deem the current speed limits on the A34 are appropriate. However, speed limits across the network are kept under review by National Highways.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much and what proportion of the funding allocated for affordable housing in the Spending Review 2025 will be allocated to rural areas.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 2 July 2025 (HCWS771).
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department is taking steps with National Highways to install LED cat’s eyes on the A34.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
National Highways is responsible for the maintenance and safety of the A34. The A34 has approximately 0.5 million metres of longitudinal road markings, with a legacy of associated road studs of various types. Surface-mounted road studs are typical, although more robust embedded studs are used where necessary, such as at centre lines near junctions.
LED flush solar road studs have already been installed at several locations on the A34, including around the West Ilsley, Chilton, Milton, Hinksey Hill, and Botley junctions, to improve nighttime visibility.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to improve the quality of road surfaces on the A34 slip roads.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
National Highways is responsible for the maintenance and the quality of the A34 and its slip roads surfaces. National Highways currently has a resurfacing scheme ongoing in the East Ilsley area, which includes the resurfacing of the northbound slip roads.
In addition, several A34 slip roads have been resurfaced since December 2023. These include:
National Highways will continue to monitor the condition of the A34 and plan further maintenance as necessary.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department is taking steps with National Highways to introduce new (a) signage and (b) road markings to improve visibility on the A34.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
National Highways is taking steps to improve visibility on the A34 through planned work on both new signage and road marking.
National Highways is currently developing a scheme to renew approximately 51 signage assets along the route, in addition to refreshing road markings on the A34 and its slip roads between the Chieveley Interchange and the junction with the M40.
Traffic signs on the A34 are inspected annually, alternating between one year as visual inspections and the second year as drive-through surveys measuring sign reflectivity. National Highways inspectors also patrol the length of the A34 at least twice a week, looking for obstructed signs or deteriorating road markings with any issues identified and raised as defects for attention.
This year, National Highways has so far carried out 1,053 soft estate works on the A34, including the clearance of vegetation and obstructions from sightlines at junctions, signage, footpaths, and technology equipment.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to issue guidance to (a) charities and (b) the voluntary sector on local government reorganisation.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department has no plans to issue guidance to charities or the voluntary sector on local government reorganisation.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to support (a) the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service and (b) other local fire and rescue services to (i) manage risks from (A) wildfires, (B) flooding and (C) other major incidents, and (ii) collaborate with police and ambulance services.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Fire and Rescue Authorities (FRAs) have duties under the Civil Contingencies Act (2004) to prepare for emergencies, such as a wildfires, flooding, and other major incidents. Under the National Framework, FRAs are required to prepare Community Risk Management Plans, having regard to the views of other key local responders. These local plans identify and assess the full range of foreseeable fire and rescue-related risks, and make provision for prevention and protection activities, and appropriate response to incidents.
We work with the National Fire Chiefs Council, FRAs and Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs) to maintain, review and develop capabilities. This includes multi- agency working and use of the Joint Emergency Services Principles (JESIP) framework, that improves co-ordination and collaboration among blue light services and with other partners.
The Government is providing funding of £17.9m in 2025/26 to FRAs who host national resilience capabilities, including Royal Berkshire FRS. These capabilities are widely used in day-to-day operations by FRSs and help to enhance both local responses, and responses to major and national scale incidents. Further, the Government provides funding of £15.1m in 2025/26 to the lead authority on national resilience (Merseyside) to assure the capabilities.
Since 2024 the Government has also funded a national resilience wildfire advisor.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of proposed reductions in staff numbers in schools in Newbury on academic outcomes for children.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers is critical to the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and boost the life chances for every child. This is why the government’s Plan for Change has committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 new expert teachers in secondary and special schools, and in our colleges, over the course of this Parliament.
To support this key pledge, we recently announced a 4% pay award for teachers and leaders in maintained schools from September 2025. This builds on the 5.5% pay award for 2024/25, resulting in a near 10% pay award since this government came to power, to ensure teaching is once again a valued and attractive profession. This is on top of the £700 million invested across schools and further education this year, which included bursaries for trainees and increasing targeted retention incentives for early career teachers, in key subjects. We also provided resources to improve teachers’ workload and wellbeing and now allow more flexibility for teachers, such as undertaking planning, preparation assessment from home.
Our investment is starting to deliver. The workforce has grown by 2,346 full-time equivalent (FTE), between 2023/24 and 2024/25, in secondary and special schools. Overall teacher numbers have also increased in Newbury constituency under this government, with 842.2 FTE teachers in November 2024, as reported in the latest Schools Workforce Census.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to reverse the 10 per cent commission charge on the sale of park homes.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 44299 on 16 April 2025.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to improve infrastructure levy charging arrangements in local authorities to avoid people being charged incorrectly.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
A person who considers a Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) charge to have been incorrectly calculated can seek a formal review of the calculation by the levy charging authority. They may also seek an independent assessment of the calculation through an appeal to the Valuation Office Agency if deemed necessary following review by the authority.
There are also provisions in levy regulations enabling a person to seek an independent appeal via the Planning Inspectorate against any surcharges imposed by the levy charging authority.
Separately, a person can escalate any concerns with how their local authority has handled a particular matter, including CIL, through the authority’s official complaints process. Concerns can be subsequently further escalated, if considered necessary and appropriate, to the Local Authority Ombudsman.
The government is committed to strengthening the system of developer contributions, including CIL, and we will provide further details in due course.