Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the (a) similarities and (b) differences between the European Innovation Council and Innovate UK.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Both organisations bridge the funding gap for small and medium-sized enterprises to succeed through a range of support mechanisms. These include funding products for thematic R&D projects to help individual businesses take their ideas towards commercialisation; and providing support services including advisors to support business access to global markets.
The European Innovation Council provides the opportunity for businesses to seek direct equity investment. The British Business Bank, a close partner of Innovate UK, offer some similar products and Innovate UK enables connectivity with trusted investors to bring about private investment aligned with its funding and support.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has uplifted the Government contribution for the Tyne Bridge and Central Motorway A167 (M) road works from 85% to 100%.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Prime Minister’s ‘Network North’ announcement in early October included the Tyne Bridge and Central Motorway A167 (M) scheme. The Department for Transport are finalising plans for this scheme’s uplift, and the Council will be contacted in due course. All schemes will continue to be subject to the Department's standard business case rules.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the minutes of each of the fortnightly meetings held by his Department, TfL and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham on the business case for the strengthening works on Hammersmith Bridge in the last six months.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
These meetings are primarily for the Department’s officials to discuss any updates regarding the ongoing Hammersmith Bridge restoration project with their counterparts at Transport for London and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and are not minuted.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Newcastle (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the £41.4 million funding they have promised for the restoration of the Tyne Bridge will be released in time for the works to completed for its centenary in 2028.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
I am delighted that the Roads Minister announced at the Tyne Bridge last Friday, 2 February, that the Full Business Case (FBC) for the Tyne Bridge and Central Motorway A167(M) Major Road Network scheme has been approved.
The Department has agreed to provide an initial funding contribution of £35.2m towards an estimated total scheme cost of £41.4m. Following the Prime Minister’s announcement on Network North last autumn, our commitment to schemes in the Major Road Network programme has increased from 85% of cost, as estimated at the Outline Business Case stage, to up to 100%. We will announce shortly how individual schemes, including the Tyne Bridge, will benefit from this additional funding.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what funding his Department has provided for the maintenance of the River Rom in each of the last three years.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency’s records relating to maintenance funding on main rivers are set out per financial year, which runs from 1 April – 31 March. The Environment Agency has spent the following on maintenance for the River Rom and Black’s Brook (which feeds into the Rom) in the past 3 years (to the nearest whole figure):
2021 - 2022: £93,350
2022 - 2023: £74,430
2023 - 2024: £52,550 (expected cost as financial year not yet complete).
This includes a variety of works including vegetation management, operational checks on flood defence assets, treatment of invasive non-native species, bridge inspections, and inspection and maintenance of public safety measures.
These figures will not include any expenditure on maintenance carried out as part of the Environment Agency’s incident response activities as the financial data for this is not held for each river.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department plans to upgrade the BOWMAN tactical radio system, in the context of the cancellation of the Morpheus programme.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Bowman is a capable system having been upgraded several times (most recently between 2018-20). It will be updated again under the Bowman 5.7 project (commissioned last year as a result of the delay to MORPHEUS).
Bowman’s Out of Service Date was 2026 and this has now been extended out to no later than 2035, and no earlier than 2031, to bridge the capability gap until MORPHEUS delivers.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what (a) was the original and (b) is the current out of service date for the BOWMAN tactical radio system as of 17 January 2023.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Bowman is a capable system having been upgraded several times (most recently between 2018-20). It will be updated again under the Bowman 5.7 project (commissioned last year as a result of the delay to MORPHEUS).
Bowman’s Out of Service Date was 2026 and this has now been extended out to no later than 2035, and no earlier than 2031, to bridge the capability gap until MORPHEUS delivers.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle (a) pickpocketing and (b) illegal street gambling in London.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
We are ensuring police forces have sufficient resources to respond to the challenges they face, delivering on our manifesto commitment to recruit an extra 20,000 police officers by March 2023. As a result of the Government’s Police Uplift Programme, as at 31 March 2023, the Metropolitan Police had a headcount of 35,411 officers, higher than the pre-PUP peak of 33,820 in March 2010.
However, decisions on how resources are utilised are an operational matter for Chief Constables and locally elected Police and Crime Commissioners, who are best placed to make resourcing decisions within their communities based on their local knowledge and experience. This will include activity such as Operation London Bridge, which involved the Metropolitan Police working in partnership with others to tackle the issue of illegal gambling, and crimes such as pickpocketing which can occur when people stop to watch, on Westminster Bridge.
Moreover, the public rightly expects police to respond when these crimes occur, working with partners across the justice system to see more criminals charged and prosecuted. We therefore welcome the police commitment to pursue all ‘reasonable lines of enquiry’ where there is a reasonable chance it could lead them to catching a perpetrator and solving a crime. This commitment, announced on 28 August, has been worked up and agreed by the Home Office, in tandem with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and College of Policing.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will have discussions with local authorities on the cost of tolls for crossing the Tamar Bridge.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Department for Transport officials have had, and continue to have regular discussions with officials at both Plymouth City Council and Cornwall Council on a range of transport issues; including the Tamar Crossings. The Crossings are an important local issue, and the Department is aware that at their most recent meeting in December, the Tamar Bridge and Torpoint Ferry Joint Committee agreed to a new 9-point plan ('Tamar 50'). This included the establishment of a focus group to ensure that key local stakeholders have a voice and opportunity to be involved with the crossings moving forwards.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his policy is on the introduction of a toll on Hammersmith Bridge as part of efforts to finance the strengthening works.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
It is for the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham – the asset owner and lead for the Hammersmith Bridge project – to make suggestions of this sort, which will be considered in the usual way.