Asked by: Peter Bone (Independent - Wellingborough)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to improve the national grid network in rural areas.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Shadow Minister (Energy Security and Net Zero)
Ofgem regulate investment by network companies in improving the electricity grid through the price control process. The Government welcomes Ofgem’s work to create a price control that will ready the grid for changes to electricity demand and supply needed for a secure, net zero system, including in rural areas. In the current electricity distribution network price control, they have set baseline funding at £22.2bn, including £3.1bn proposed for upgrades, which will improve the network in rural areas and support the expected uptake in electric vehicles, heat pumps and the connection of more local, low carbon generation.
Asked by: Peter Bone (Independent - Wellingborough)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of the planning system on on-farm renewable energy projects.
Answered by Felicity Buchan
National planning policy is clear that local authorities should have a positive strategy in place to promote energy from renewable and low carbon sources such as solar plants.
The Government also recognises the need to preserve our most productive farmland. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is clear that planning decisions should 'contribute to and enhance the natural and local environment' by recognising the 'benefits of the best and most versatile agricultural land'. Where significant development of agricultural land is shown to be necessary, the Framework sets out that areas of poorer quality land should be used in preference to those of a higher quality.
The Government recently consulted on proposed changes to the NPPF, which includes a change relating to food security, building on what is already in the NPPF on preserving most productive farmland. Ministers and officials are currently analysing the responses received before issuing a formal response.
Asked by: Peter Bone (Independent - Wellingborough)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on extending the list of energy and trade intensive industries that are eligible for a higher level of energy support to include horticulture and poultry businesses.
Answered by Mark Spencer
Defra officials and Ministers have worked closely with counterparts across Government on the Energy Bill Relief Scheme and Energy and Trade Intensive Industries (ETII) support since the Government started to support business energy prices in Autumn 2022, raising the energy needs of businesses in our sectors via cross Government discussions on design of the scheme and formal Write Round processes.
Asked by: Peter Bone (Independent - Wellingborough)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help support agricultural exports.
Answered by Mark Spencer
We are delivering our commitment to boost UK exports. We want people at home and abroad to be lining up to buy British.
We have expanded our agrifood attaché network from two to eleven locations around the world. They work to resolve market access barriers, reduce the complexity of trading requirements, and raise the profile of British products, enabling U.K. producers to tap into the growing international demand for our quality products.
The attachés work to drive export growth and help deliver on the opportunities created by new Free Trade Agreements.
Asked by: Peter Bone (Independent - Wellingborough)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of biosecurity checks on imported meat.
Answered by Mark Spencer
The Government published the Border Target Operating Model (TOM) ON 05 April 2023. In developing the TOM, we have designed a modern border with a simplified, effective, risk-based system of controls based on current assessments of risks to biosecurity. It will strike the appropriate balance between protecting the UK’s public health, food supply chains and natural environment, and setting a proportionate controls regime. The TOM will operate a more sophisticated approach to risk categorisation than the EU’s 3rd country model, with the intensity of controls calibrated to the level of risk presented by each commodity, and the country of origin. This will be underpinned independent and dynamic risk assessments which respond to changing risks. For high-risk and medium-risk goods, including POAO products in those categories, we will retain health certification and BCP inspection, albeit with frequently lower inspection rates than under the EU model.
Asked by: Peter Bone (Independent - Wellingborough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department has made on developing regulation to support the expanded use of low speed, low weight, autonomous last-mile delivery.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Some emerging technologies, such as low speed, low weight, last-mile delivery vehicles with automated technology, have no specific provision for them under existing legislation. Any development of regulation for these technologies would need to be balanced with the need to maintain safety and accessibility for other road users. The Government is considering research to inform possible ways forward in this area.
Asked by: Peter Bone (Independent - Wellingborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many medically fit patients have been waiting more than 14 days to be discharged in acute hospital settings as of 19 January.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The information requested is not collected centrally.
Asked by: Peter Bone (Independent - Wellingborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many medically fit patients in acute wards are awaiting discharge in (a) Kettering and (b) Northampton General Hospital; and what proportion of the total available beds this constitutes in both locations.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
In the week ending 15 January, the daily average number of patients who remain in hospital and do not meet the criteria to reside in Kettering General Hospital Trust was 54, 9% of available beds, and in Northampton General Hospital Trust was 114, 17% of available beds.
Asked by: Peter Bone (Independent - Wellingborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many medically fit patients in NHS acute wards are awaiting discharge; and what proportion of the total available beds this constitutes.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
In the week ending 15 January, there was a daily average of 14,000 patients in hospital who were medically fit to be discharged. This accounts for 14% of the total beds available from the trusts who submitted discharge data.
Asked by: Peter Bone (Independent - Wellingborough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the oral statement of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department on 18 May 2022, on Foreign National Offender Removal Flights, Official Report, column 687, in respect of each of the 112 individuals originally included on the flight manifest, whether each of those individuals were on the flight when it departed; what criminal convictions each of those individuals had; and for what reasons certain individuals did not depart on that flight.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
This Government’s priority is keeping the people of this country safe, and we make no apology for seeking to remove dangerous foreign criminals. Foreign national offenders (FNOs) who abuse our hospitality by committing crimes should be in no doubt of our determination to deport them.
We do not comment on individual cases. However, convicted criminals guilty of heinous crimes, including manslaughter, rape, robbery, child sex offences, drug offences and violent crime, and persistent offenders, were not deported on 18 May 2022. These are extremely serious offences which have a real and lasting impact on victims and communities.
All those returned are provided with the opportunity to raise claims prior to their removal. But where representations are made at the last minute, despite the offender having ample opportunity to raise these at an earlier stage, and the claim cannot be resolved in time for the flight’s departure, it can act as a barrier to removal.
We are doing everything possible to reduce legal challenges and to increase the numbers of FNOs being removed. Our New Plan for Immigration, underpinned by the Nationality and Borders Act, is the first major reform of the system in decades and will end the merry-go-round of last-minute legal challenges that stop us removing those with no right to be in the country.
The Government is committed to removing FNOs with no legal basis to be here and since January 2019 we have returned over 10,000 people from the UK.