Situation in the Red Sea

Debate between Tom Hunt and Grant Shapps

Monday 5th February 2024 Commons Chamber

[Tom Hunt (Ipswich) (Con)]

I fully support the Government’s action in the Red sea. The irony of the Iranian regime accusing us of destabilising the region through our actions will not be lost on reasonable people. Does the Secretary of State agree that those demonstrators on the streets of London applauding what the Houthi rebels have been doing are at best useful idiots and at worst truly the enemy within?

[Grant Shapps]

I use my own language, but it is disgraceful to see people go out and support those who are indiscriminately firing at merchant ships—that is absolutely appalling. I will not repeat my hon. Friend’s language; I will put that support down to ignorance rather than anything else.

Energy Security and Net Zero

Debate between Tom Hunt and Grant Shapps

Monday 12th June 2023 Ministerial Corrections

[Tom Hunt (Ipswich) (Con)]

6. What steps he is taking to help businesses with their energy bills.

[The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Grant Shapps)]

I mentioned before that we are paying around half of the household energy bill. We are also paying around one third of business energy bills right now through the energy bill relief scheme.

[Official Report, 28 February 2023, Vol. 728, c. 629.]

Letter of correction from the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Grant Shapps):

An error has been identified in my response to my hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich (Tom Hunt).

The correct response should have been:

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Tom Hunt and Grant Shapps

Tuesday 28th February 2023 Commons Chamber

[Tom Hunt (Ipswich) (Con)]

6. What steps he is taking to help businesses with their energy bills.

[The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Grant Shapps)]

I mentioned before that we are paying around half of the household energy bill. We are also paying around one third of business energy bills right now through the energy bill relief scheme.

[Tom Hunt]

A few weeks ago I went to St Nicholas Street in Ipswich to talk to some of the local businesses, including Bar Twenty One and Hopsters. Bar Twenty One has made a fantastic start to business, despite the difficult climate. Those who run Bar Twenty One talked about pedestrianising the street, which I support. They also raised the issue of energy bills and their frustration at seeing a decline in wholesale prices but still not feeling the benefit of that. Will my right hon. Friend outline to me and to those businesses what steps he believes the energy suppliers should be taking to support businesses and get them on to fair contracts?

[Grant Shapps]

I really want to see a well-functioning energy market, and I have written to Ofgem about this. There is a request for information about the challenges facing non-domestic customers. As we see energy prices fall like a feather, having rocketed up, it is frustrating not to see those prices pass through. It is not the only frustration I have about the energy market—for example, it is 10 times cheaper to produce offshore wind than it is to buy gas right now, but we do not see that reflected in the prices. That is why we are looking at the entire operation of this marketplace.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Tom Hunt and Grant Shapps

Tuesday 29th November 2022 Commons Chamber

[Grant Shapps]

This Government have a very proud record when it comes to renewables. When we came to power, barely 10% was from renewables; now the figure is 42%. In fact, on one day the week before last over half of this country’s energy was produced from offshore wind alone. The SNP does not like the answers I am giving because the amounts of money we are spending supporting people, including Scots, with energy bills this year means that, for example, the average single parent on means-tested benefit will be £1,050 better off because of the energy bills support scheme. Yes, we are doing our part, and perhaps it is time the SNP looked at its own policy to make sure it is encouraging energy production.

[Tom Hunt (Ipswich) (Con)]

2. What assessment the Government have made of the potential impact of Sizewell C on employment in the local area.

[The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Grant Shapps)]

I visited the site yesterday and was delighted to confirm the nearly £700 million investment in Sizewell C pledged in the autumn statement.

[Tom Hunt]

There are clearly significant national benefits to Sizewell C in terms of national security, but as a Suffolk MP I am particularly interested in potential jobs creation. I understand that about 10,000 new jobs could be created. I previously worked closely with EDF and Suffolk New College to see how we can ensure that as many local people—and my constituents in Ipswich—benefit from Sizewell C as possible. Will the Secretary of State, in his own time—when he has a little availability—meet me, the principal of Suffolk New College, other education sector leaders and EDF to see how Ipswich people can benefit in a real, tangible way from Sizewell C?

[Grant Shapps]

My hon. Friend will be interested and happy to learn that I met two apprentices at Sizewell yesterday, who have two of what we expect to be 1,500 new apprentice jobs. He is right to mention 10,000 jobs in the immediate area—perhaps there will be 20,000 across the country—and we expect more than 70% of investment in the project to come to the UK. I will gladly meet him and his colleagues to discuss that further.

Industrial Action on the Railway

Debate between Tom Hunt and Grant Shapps

Monday 20th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[Grant Shapps]

I will recount, but I think it was 20 areas, and no, I have not done that, but it is the kind of modernisation we would expect. For example, I was just looking at the list, and one working practice means that paysheets have to be done on paper, whereas it would clearly make sense to do them electronically. It would save a lot of time and a lot of money, and I cannot really see why anyone would be against it, but it is a working practice that is not allowed. I mentioned being able to move between different very similar roles but only where somebody is fully qualified, and those kinds of flexibilities in rostering do not exist.

It is pretty much like trying to run an orchestra for Network Rail, but it does not know who is going to turn up or which instruments they will bring, and it has no ability to tell them where to sit—and then it is supposed to make the railway run. We have to modernise our railways.

[Tom Hunt (Ipswich) (Con)]

Obviously, we have this Tuesday and this Thursday, and many of my constituents will have to put up with this chaos. They will also have to put up with it on Saturday, and also on 2 July, when ASLEF will also be organising the drivers striking in Ipswich. But this is something they have got used to—constant disruption at the weekends in Ipswich. Recently, we had six weekends in a row where we had replacement bus services. Does my right hon. Friend agree with me that weekend services should not be an afterthought, but are increasingly becoming more important?

[Grant Shapps]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I caught Mick Lynch, the leader of the RMT, on TV at his press conference after he walked out of the talks, saying that there is no need for any reductions or changes because, on the basis of last week’s figures, 90% of the passengers had come back. That is completely wrong. Those numbers are not accurate; a fifth of the passengers are still missing. However, there are the occasional lines and the occasional times when 90%-plus have come back, and they tend to be at the weekends. It tends to be on the Saturday and Sunday services, and is all the more reason why we need a seven-day railway, like any other business. We need to be able to run it on a Sunday, because compared with 1919, when these rules were put in place, the world has changed.

Transport

Debate between Tom Hunt and Grant Shapps

Wednesday 5th January 2022 Ministerial Corrections

[Tom Hunt]

8. What steps the Government are taking to help prevent climate activists from blocking major roads in England.

[The Secretary of State for Transport (Grant Shapps)]

National Highways continues to pursue legal action against individuals who breached its injunctions. Thanks to those injunctions, which I asked National Highways to pursue, 11 people have been prosecuted and will be spending this Christmas at Her Majesty’s pleasure.

[Official Report, 16 December 2021, Vol. 705, c. 1129.]

Letter of correction from the Secretary of State for Transport:

An error has been identified in my response to my hon. Friends the Members for Dudley North (Marco Longhi) and for Ipswich (Tom Hunt).

The correct response should have been:

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Tom Hunt and Grant Shapps

Thursday 16th December 2021 Commons Chamber

[Tom Hunt (Ipswich) (Con)]

8. What steps the Government are taking to help prevent climate activists from blocking major roads in England.

[The Secretary of State for Transport (Grant Shapps)]

National Highways continues to pursue legal action against individuals who breached its injunctions. Thanks to those injunctions, which I asked National Highways to pursue, 11 people have been prosecuted and will be spending this Christmas at Her Majesty’s pleasure.

[Grant Shapps]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. It is unacceptable for people to disrupt other people’s lives by gluing themselves to roads. It is dangerous both for them and other users of those major roads; it is irresponsible; and it does not help with climate change, because all those cars are sitting there not moving, blasting out all the greenhouse gases that we are trying to avoid. That is why I instructed National Highways to take out a nationwide injunction, which they received. Two further cases, after the nine who were originally sent to prison, were committed to prison yesterday and there are further cases in the works. I very much hope that the message has been sent and received that this action simply does not work. I note that it has ceased to take place since the beginning of November as a result.

[Tom Hunt]

I welcome very much the national injunction on motorways and key strategic road networks. However, I understand that it is temporary. I wonder whether my right hon. Friend could confirm that he is considering making it permanent. I also welcome the prison sentences that we have been handing out to many individuals. However, in most cases, it is because they have broken a High Court ruling. Does he agree that sometimes, actually, those sorts of fast punishments should be considered immediately, even if it is a first-time offence?

[Grant Shapps]

My hon. Friend is right to spot a gap in the law here, which is why the Home Secretary is introducing, in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, legislation that would make the actual activity criminal. Instead, we have had to resort essentially to civil law. Through those injunctions, 130 activists have been served with 475 sets of injunction papers. We are seeing the fruits of that when they reoffend and the courts take offence to the fact that they have ignored the court injunction and continue to persist. Prison and unlimited fines are the upshot of that, but a proper law to cover this is coming and I invite the Opposition to support it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Tom Hunt and Grant Shapps

Thursday 11th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Grant Shapps]

First, the figures to which I refer are national statistics. My understanding is that they have to be quality assured, and it is beyond the control of the Secretary of State to quote figures that have not yet been checked. In answer to the hon. Gentleman’s last point about why we do not simply reinstate the hard shoulder— and I know that is his policy—I know from the work that has been carried out that the statisticians, who have worked very hard on this, tell us that per 1 billion miles travelled, which is the way roads are measured, there are about a third more deaths where there are hard shoulders, because one in 12 fatalities actually takes place on a hard shoulder.

As I mentioned before, I am the first Secretary of State to undertake a full stocktake and review. Tomorrow, I will have a report, and I will come back to this House and report on it very quickly afterwards. These are not new things; they were introduced in 2001 by John Prescott. However, I do absolutely agree with the hon. Gentleman’s desire to see the problem resolved. It is important to know that, while I mentioned the 39 deaths on so-called smart motorways, at the same time there were 368 deaths on regular motorways, so it is very important that we take all of these steps.

On an education campaign so that people understand how to use all motorways, not just smart motorways, the £5 million campaign was one of the calls of the stocktake. Many of the victims’ families, including Meera Naran, who lost her eight-year-old son, have welcomed the fact that the Government are spending a record £5 million to ensure that people know what to do when they do break down.

[Tom Hunt (Ipswich) (Con)]

Last month, I paid a late-night visit to the Orwell bridge to meet the teams who are working on introducing the new speed limit, which will hopefully mean that, when we have recovered from this pandemic, we no longer have to put up with constant closures of the bridge during high wind, which has a very negative economic impact. I actually went inside the bridge, which is something I did not know you could do, and it was very interesting. Also, the port of Felixstowe is to become a freeport—very good news; Orwell bridge—good news. However, we do know that with a freeport we are likely to see increased economic activity and increased traffic. Will my right hon. Friend commit to the increased investment in our road and rail infrastructure to make sure that we can sustain and support this additional growth and activity?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Tom Hunt and Grant Shapps

Thursday 3rd December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Grant Shapps]

I certainly can. I have just approved the safeguarding of the land to ensure that it can happen.

[Tom Hunt (Ipswich) (Con)]

Over the summer, I carried out a survey in Ravenswood, and by far the No. 1 issue was access. In fact, there is only one access point, at the Thrasher’s roundabout on Nacton Road. Suffolk County Council has put in a bid to the pinch point fund and is currently awaiting an outcome. Would the Secretary of State look favourably upon this application, which could be a game changer with regard to this issue? Will he also meet me to discuss a solution to this, to make life better for Ravenswood residents who currently have to put up with unacceptable levels of congestion every day when they leave their community to go to work, drop off their kids at school or whatever else it is?

[Grant Shapps]

I know just how difficult the traffic is at the Thrasher’s roundabout on Nacton Road and how hard my hon. Friend has campaigned on this. The pinch point fund or, more likely, the levelling-up fund, would be the way to proceed with this. That is the new £4 billion fund to resolve problems exactly like the Thrasher’s roundabout.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Tom Hunt and Grant Shapps

Thursday 17th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Tom Hunt (Ipswich) (Con)]

If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

[The Secretary of State for Transport (Grant Shapps)]

My Department continues to tackle the very many different challenges that covid presents to all the forms of transport discussed here this morning.

It might be worth mentioning that I visited London Bridge station earlier in the week, where a programme that involves all the Network Rail stations is being rolled out. It is using antiviral cleaning materials, which means that surfaces become protected from coronavirus for up to 30 days. It actually repeats this on a 21-day basis, and it carries out the cleaning during the night, enabling people to return to the railways with the confidence of their being covid-free.

In addition, yesterday, the first meeting of the Hammersmith bridge taskforce took place. This major artery through London has been closed for too long; it is now closed to pedestrians and cyclists as well. The Department for Transport is looking to get this resolved, and I have brought in my own engineers to do so.

[Tom Hunt]

Arguably the biggest transport issue that impacts on my constituents in Ipswich is the Orwell bridge. At the moment, the current speed limit is 60 mph, and when it closes because of high winds, the whole town grinds to a halt. The economic impact of this should not be underestimated. Highways England has a plan involving a 40 mph speed limit, which will I hope mean that the bridge can stay open even when it is very windy. However, I am slightly concerned about the timescale. Will my right hon. Friend communicate to Highways England his expectation that these new measures will be put in place before the new winter season—the windy season—when these closures will continue if we do not implement the new measures?

[Grant Shapps]

My hon. Friend is right that the Orwell bridge is another key artery for Ipswich. I know that it is subject to ongoing work by Highways England that requires wind tunnel validation. I have been promised that that work will be completed by the end of September. From the Dispatch Box, I send a clear message to Highways England that I expect to see it on my desk.