Asked by: Sheryll Murray (Conservative - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he is taking steps to bring critical national infrastructure routes under his Department's control.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department does not designate whole routes as critical national infrastructure, only certain systems, or key infrastructure points.
Both Network Rail and National Highways are government owned companies, operating the rail network in Great Britain and motorway and major A-roads in England respectively.
We regularly review the strategic road network extent to ensure it remains fit for purpose, most recently in the consultation process that will inform the third road investment strategy, between 2025-2030.
Asked by: Sheryll Murray (Conservative - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress he has made on making police services more accessible.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Asked by: Sheryll Murray (Conservative - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions she has had with her international counterparts on AI safety.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
I have had several such discussions including at the AI Safety Summit, during which I was pleased to meet with more than 20 Digital Ministers.
I have since engaged with my counterparts from Australia, Japan, France, the US and the EU, and I have recently met with my Canadian counterpart to sign an important new agreement on compute collaboration.
I will continue to discuss AI safety as we work towards the next Safety Summits hosted by the Republic of Korea and France.
Asked by: Sheryll Murray (Conservative - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Transport:
Secretary of State for Transport, whether he is taking steps to support motorists with road tolls.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Established government policy is that river and estuarial crossings will normally be funded by tolls, recognising the extra cost of their construction and maintenance, and also the substantial benefits for their users.
Other than such crossings and the M6 Toll motorway, the majority of the road network is free of tolls, and the Government has no plans to change this.
Asked by: Sheryll Murray (Conservative - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support fishing communities.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are supporting fishing communities by:
Asked by: Sheryll Murray (Conservative - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department is taking to support the green industry.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK has attracted around £120 billion investment in renewables since 2010 and is expected to attract a further £100 billion investment in net zero by 2030, supporting up to 480,000 jobs.
The Government is providing investors with long-term certainty over policy and regulatory frameworks to unlock investment and create jobs in green industries such as hydrogen, CCUS, offshore wind and nuclear.
Asked by: Sheryll Murray (Conservative - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to support the delivery of nationally significant infrastructure.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Nationally significant infrastructure is vital for growing the economy, creating new jobs and levelling up our communities. In February, the government set out reforms to the system in the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects Action Plan, and will be consulting on detailed proposals shortly.
Asked by: Sheryll Murray (Conservative - South East Cornwall)
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 with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of the Seasonal Worker visa on the adequacy of the number of people available to fill seasonal farming roles.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to ensuring that the farming sector has the labour it needs to support food security, including supporting domestic workers and skills, and investment in automation.
We commissioned the Independent Review into Labour Shortages in the Food Supply Chain to consider how we can further support this, and look forward to receiving the report by the summer.
As set out at the recent UK Farm to Fork Summit, we will make 45,000 Seasonal Worker visas available for 2023 and 2024, with an additional 10,000 if needed.
Asked by: Sheryll Murray (Conservative - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to improve the transparency of public procurement rules for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
This Government knows that small and medium sized businesses are the backbone of the British economy.
The Procurement Bill we are introducing will bring four regimes into one and enable simpler, more flexible public procurement processes.
The single central digital platform, with open contracting data standards and efficient ‘tell us once’ register of suppliers, will deliver a step-change in transparency, including for SMEs bidding for public contracts.
Asked by: Sheryll Murray (Conservative - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, to ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of tolls on major routes on the users of those routes.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The only charge for users of the current strategic road network managed by National Highways is at the Dartford Crossing, where evidence has shown that it helps manage congestion to provide more reliable journeys for users.