Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Honiton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many fines were issued to South West Water since 1 January 2019.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The following fines have been imposed on water companies directly by Ofwat and as a result of prosecutions brought by the Environment Agency and the Drinking Water Inspectorate.
Fines imposed on all water companies | ||
Year | Number of prosecutions / fines | Total fines |
2019 | 8 | £6,756,725 |
2020 | 3 | £852,000 |
2021 | 8 | £102,490,001 |
2022 | 11 | £4,448,083 |
In addition to fines, water companies face other financial penalties such as financial undertakings from companies secured by Ofwat following enforcement cases. These include rebates to customers and money paid to charities and community groups.
Water companies can face financial penalties if they underperform against performance targets. Ofwat recently announced penalties for 2021-22, with almost £135 million being returned to customers. A breakdown of these penalties by water company can be found at: Final determinations of in-period outcome delivery incentives for 2021-22.
Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Honiton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much has been issued in fines to water companies since 1 January 2019.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The following fines have been imposed on water companies directly by Ofwat and as a result of prosecutions brought by the Environment Agency and the Drinking Water Inspectorate.
Fines imposed on all water companies | ||
Year | Number of prosecutions / fines | Total fines |
2019 | 8 | £6,756,725 |
2020 | 3 | £852,000 |
2021 | 8 | £102,490,001 |
2022 | 11 | £4,448,083 |
In addition to fines, water companies face other financial penalties such as financial undertakings from companies secured by Ofwat following enforcement cases. These include rebates to customers and money paid to charities and community groups.
Water companies can face financial penalties if they underperform against performance targets. Ofwat recently announced penalties for 2021-22, with almost £135 million being returned to customers. A breakdown of these penalties by water company can be found at: Final determinations of in-period outcome delivery incentives for 2021-22.
Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Honiton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many fines have been issued to water companies every year since 2019.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The following fines have been imposed on water companies directly by Ofwat and as a result of prosecutions brought by the Environment Agency and the Drinking Water Inspectorate.
Fines imposed on all water companies | ||
Year | Number of prosecutions / fines | Total fines |
2019 | 8 | £6,756,725 |
2020 | 3 | £852,000 |
2021 | 8 | £102,490,001 |
2022 | 11 | £4,448,083 |
In addition to fines, water companies face other financial penalties such as financial undertakings from companies secured by Ofwat following enforcement cases. These include rebates to customers and money paid to charities and community groups.
Water companies can face financial penalties if they underperform against performance targets. Ofwat recently announced penalties for 2021-22, with almost £135 million being returned to customers. A breakdown of these penalties by water company can be found at: Final determinations of in-period outcome delivery incentives for 2021-22.
Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Honiton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will undertake an impact assessment on the effect of military personnel cover for workers engaged in industrial action over winter 2022-23 on the UK's armed forces' capability over that period.
Answered by James Heappey
Defence considers a range of factors before approving a MACA request - including the extent to which the request can be fulfilled without disrupting core Defence activity. I and my Ministerial colleagues are clear that the primary task of the Armed Forces is the defence of the realm; we would not approve a MACA request if it put our ability to undertake priority Defence activity at inappropriate risk.
Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Honiton)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an estimate of the number of homeless veterans in winter 2022-23.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
As set out previously in response to Question UIN77402 on 11 November, our veterans play a vital role in keeping our country safe and we are committed to providing them with the support they need. Homelessness statistics for England are collected on a quarterly basis and consistently show levels of veteran homelessness are low - less than 1% of homeless households. For Winter 2021 (Oct-December) the proportion of households owed a homelessness duty with a support need due to service in the Armed Forces was 0.7%. The latest statutory homelessness statistics for England, covering the period April-June 2022, show the figure remaining at the same level and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/homelessness-statistics
Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Honiton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many military personnel have been seconded to cover for workers engaged in industrial action in (a) December 2022 and (b) January 2023.
Answered by James Heappey
No military personnel are being seconded to cover for workers engaged in industrial action. Service personnel will provide support only in response to specific agreed MACA requests for specific tasks, but this will not equate to secondments.
Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Honiton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when the next allocation of School Rebuilding Programme funding will take place.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department intends to confirm the next schools prioritised for the School Rebuilding Programme shortly. Details will be published on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Honiton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many high street businesses are currently at risk of financial insolvency in each region of England.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
While there is no established definition of a business at risk of financial insolvency, the most recent Monthly Insolvency Statistics produced by the Insolvency Service show that in September 2022 there were 143 registered companies operating in the retail industry in England and Wales that became insolvent. This represents 8 per cent of all insolvencies in September. The equivalent figures for September 2021 were 94 registered companies representing 6 per cent of insolvencies in that month. The Insolvency Service does not provide insolvency data for each region of England.
Source: Insolvency Service, Monthly Insolvency Statistics (October 2022).
Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Honiton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the impact of inflation on rural bus services.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Government recognises the importance of transport for rural areas and is committed to improving access to services that provide vital connectivity. The Government pays almost £260 million per year in Bus Service Operators Grant, which benefits passengers by helping operators keep fares down, and enabling operators to run services that might otherwise be unprofitable and could lead to cancellation.
The Government has also provided nearly £2 billion in emergency and recovery funding to local transport authorities and bus operators since March 2020 to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic on bus services and protect local bus routes. This includes an additional £130 million to continue support services until March 2023.
The Government does recognise that inflationary pressures, including rising fuel costs, are impacting operating costs of bus services across England. Recovery funding provided to LTAs from April this year has accounted for forecast inflationary increases.
Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Honiton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what financial support is available to local bus franchises to protect rural bus routes.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Government recognises the importance of transport for rural areas and is committed to improving access to services that provide vital connectivity. The Government pays almost £260 million per year in Bus Service Operators Grant, which benefits passengers by helping operators keep fares down, and enabling operators to run services that might otherwise be unprofitable and could lead to cancellation.
The Government has also provided nearly £2 billion in emergency and recovery funding to local transport authorities and bus operators since March 2020 to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic on bus services and protect local bus routes. This includes an additional £130 million to continue support services until March 2023.
The Government does recognise that inflationary pressures, including rising fuel costs, are impacting operating costs of bus services across England. Recovery funding provided to LTAs from April this year has accounted for forecast inflationary increases.