Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Steve Barclay and Craig Tracey

Thursday 14th March 2024 Commons Chamber

[Craig Tracey (North Warwickshire) (Con)]

1. What steps his Department is taking to help protect rural communities in flood-risk areas.

[The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Steve Barclay)]

Around 45% of the Government’s £5.2 billion investment in flood protection is targeted at rural communities, and the Minister for Water is allocating £75 million of funding specifically to internal drainage boards, which, again, serve many rural constituencies.

[Craig Tracey]

I thank the Secretary of State for his answer. In recent months, parts of North Warwickshire and Bedworth, including Austrey, Polesworth and the Woodlands, have seen significant and unprecedented flooding, which has caused real damage to houses and businesses and upheaval for local residents. Will the Secretary of State set out what other steps can be taken to prevent this from happening and to stop these situations becoming the norm?

[Steve Barclay]

My hon. Friend has been a real constituency champion in highlighting some of the flooding issues that have occurred in North Warwickshire and Bedworth. Of the Environment Agency investment over six years, £24 million is going specifically into protecting 800 properties, and I know we will have further discussions on the work that he is doing locally to tackle flooding.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Steve Barclay and Craig Tracey

Tuesday 26th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[Craig Tracey (North Warwickshire) (Con)]

What fiscal steps his Department is taking to support local authorities during the covid-19 outbreak.

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Steve Barclay)]

The Government have committed more than £10 billion to support local authorities in dealing with covid in this financial year and the next, including an unprecedented guarantee to compensate them for their income losses as a result of the pandemic.

[Craig Tracey [V]]

I welcome the considerable support that has already been given to local councils during the pandemic. However, I recently had discussions with leaders of North Warwickshire Borough Council, which is an incredibly well-run council, and they are still finding a shortfall of about half a million pounds against an annual budget of £10 million, due to a mix of lost revenue and providing additional services to residents, such as extra home waste collection services. What more can be done to ensure that we give councils the full backing they need to continue providing services?

[Steve Barclay]

North Warwickshire has received more than £1 million to meet its expenditure pressures this year, exceeding the expenditure pressures that it has reported to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. I urge my hon. Friend to express any further concerns to MHCLG at the earliest opportunity. As he recognises, a comprehensive package of support has already been provided, and that support continues.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Steve Barclay and Craig Tracey

Thursday 6th December 2018 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Barclay]

I pay tribute to the hon. Gentleman for his approach of working with other Plymouth MPs, my hon. Friends the Members for Plymouth, Moor View (Johnny Mercer) and for South West Devon (Mr Streeter). I recognise the importance of this to the three constituencies, and I am happy to raise the issue with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence. We recognise the importance of Barden as a firm, and I am happy to work with the hon. Member for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport (Luke Pollard) and his constituency neighbours as we take the issue forward.

[Craig Tracey (North Warwickshire) (Con)]

T5. The majority of my constituents and I voted to leave the EU primarily to take back control of our sovereignty, and I am struggling to reconcile that with the proposed Northern Ireland backstop and our inability to leave it unilaterally. What reassurances can my right hon. Friend give me following the publication of the Government’s legal advice yesterday?

[Stephen Barclay]

I am very happy to reassure my hon. Friend. A number of the safeguards have been debated at some length in the House, including safeguards on extending the implementation period, on the undesirability of the backstop to the EU27 and on the due legal process. Given the commitments in the withdrawal agreement, the due process that applies, in terms of the joint committee and the arbitration, would follow. There are clear safeguards in the text that the Prime Minister has negotiated as part of the wider achievements that have been secured in delivering on the referendum. There is an independent coastal approach, and we are coming out of the common fisheries policy and having a skills-based immigration system.