Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Rory Stewart and Christian Matheson

Tuesday 5th June 2018 Commons Chamber

[Christian Matheson (City of Chester) (Lab)]

T10. I have constituents who are close family members of the murdered Fusilier Lee Rigby. They are being taunted by the constant drip, drip of musings from within the Prison Service of his two killers. Can Ministers ask the Prison Service to get a grip on those pronouncements and the ability to make them, and if they are to be made, might the family be informed first?

[Rory Stewart]

Absolutely. That is disgusting and disturbing behaviour, and I will be talking directly to the governor of the prisons concerned.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Rory Stewart and Christian Matheson

Thursday 4th February 2016 Commons Chamber

[Rory Stewart]

Legal proceedings were brought and the decision was made by Truro Crown court, under the hon. Judge Carr, to instead impose an enforcement order. Some £70,000 has been contributed by the company, but, much more importantly, five new lagoons have been put in place to deal with the incident and chemical processes are being used to prevent a recurrence.

[Christian Matheson (City of Chester) (Lab)]

rose—

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Rory Stewart and Christian Matheson

Thursday 17th December 2015 Commons Chamber

[Rory Stewart]

My hon. Friend is very interested in the role that ancient woodland can play in flood alleviation. We are looking at that as part of the upstream alleviation programme. Three main initiatives are being undertaken: one by Cumbria County Council; one led by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster; and one, which I am chairing, through the Cumbria partnership.

[Christian Matheson (City of Chester) (Lab)]

7. What recent assessment she has made of the extent of flood risks in the UK.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Rory Stewart)]

The work done on flood forecasting is carried out by the Flood Forecasting Centre, which involves collaboration between the Environment Agency and the Met Office. It provides daily forecasts, which are communicated to the public through the web and through telephones, providing flood warnings and flood alerts on a real-time basis.

[Christian Matheson]

May I send Chester’s best wishes to the Minister and his constituents, whom I know are overcoming the damage from the flooding so far? Long-term assessments of flooding demonstrate that the risk is becoming greater, and the Government have introduced an insurance scheme to support people in their homes who are affected by insurance issues. Am I right in thinking that the scheme does not include small businesses? In the light of the recent flooding in Cumbria, will the Minister rethink that policy?

[Rory Stewart]

I am very pleased that the hon. Gentleman has recognised the work of the Flood Re scheme, which will make a considerable difference, particularly to lower income households. He is correct that small businesses are not currently included. The Association of British Insurers believes that there is no systematic problem in providing insurance for small businesses, but should we discover that that is not the case, I am happy to sit down with him and the ABI to resolve the matter.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Rory Stewart and Christian Matheson

Thursday 5th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Christian Matheson (City of Chester) (Lab)]

6. What steps she is taking to reduce inequality between rural and urban areas.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Rory Stewart)]

We are focusing on rural productivity, and we have 10 main priorities: mobile broadband, transport, communications, investment in education and skills, investment in apprenticeships, houses, affordable childcare, making sure that we have in place everything that we need for businesses, rural enterprise zones and the localism to underpin all of that to deliver rural productivity.

[Christian Matheson]

I thank the Minister for his answer, and I am pleased that he mentioned rural broadband. In the village of Saughall, in my constituency, residents are being told to pay an extra £7 a month in premium to access fast broadband because they live in a rural area. Ofcom is acquiescing in that, but I remind the Minister that there are large amounts of public and European money to develop those networks. Will he please make representations to Ofcom to stop this discrimination, which is increasing the inequality?

[Rory Stewart]

I would be very interested to meet the hon. Gentleman and to hear more about this matter. That does seem an unjust situation. I would be interested to know the identity of the provider and why they are charging in that way. It certainly seems an important issue for rural areas in general, so I would be delighted to meet the hon. Gentleman.