Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding his Department has provided to Active Travel England in each of the last three years; and what assessment he has made of the impact of their projects on traffic congestion.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Active Travel England (ATE) was formally established in August 2022 and therefore has only received funding since this date. In its first full financial year of operation (2023/24) the Department provided ATE with a total of just over £112 million, made up of £54 million of capital and £58 million of revenue funding. The details of this are set out in ATE’s Corporate Plan for 2023-2025, which is available on gov.uk. ATE also works closely with local authorities to help them deliver active travel schemes funded by other wider funding streams, such as the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements. All funding is subject to monitoring and evaluation, and the outputs and outcomes of funded programmes will be reported in future years.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to help improve 4G and 5G coverage in (a) Yorkshire and (b) East Yorkshire constituency.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
This Government is taking steps to improve both 4G and 5G coverage across the country.
Across Yorkshire and the Humber our £1bn agreement with the industry to deliver the Shared Rural Network (SRN) will see 4G coverage from all four Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) rise to 90%, up from 81% when the programme began in 2020. 4G coverage from at least one MNO will increase to 99%, up from 95%.
In East Yorkshire, 4G coverage already stands at 93% from all four MNOs and almost 100% from at least one MNO. While the SRN is focused on areas with poorer coverage, it is not the only focus for infrastructure investment for mobile connectivity. In addition, the MNOs independently invest around £2 billion annually across the UK in enhancing and improving their networks.
The Wireless Infrastructure Strategy, published in April 2023, set out the Government’s vision for wireless connectivity and shared a new ambition for nationwide coverage of higher quality standalone 5G in all populated areas by 2030. This provides a long-term ambition to help the private sector invest in 5G networks by supporting competition, driving down deployment costs and driving the take-up of innovative, 5G-enabled tech by the business and the public sector.
The Department provides extensive guidance for local authorities and operators to help facilitate broadband and mobile deployment through the Digital Connectivity Portal. We have also taken steps to make it easier and cheaper for operators to deploy 4G and 5G. This includes reforming the planning system in England. Alongside this, measures within the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022, will support the deployment of wireless infrastructure, including 4G and 5G.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will carry out a national survey to help identify potential spare capacity in NHS hospital buildings; if she will publish a list of NHS hospital buildings with potential spare capacity; and if she will provide guidance to NHS trusts to help ensure that hospital facilities are effectively utilised.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Individual National Health Service trusts are responsible for the utilisation of their estate. The Government has been clear that it expects NHS organisations to use existing capital budgets and assets to maximum effect.
The NHS publishes the annual Estates Returns Information Collection, which contains detailed information on NHS estates. This includes multiple metrics on how space is utilised, including non-clinical space, empty floor areas, and underused floor areas. Individual NHS trusts are responsible for providing the data for the Estates Returns Information Collection and ensuring the accuracy of their returns.
Departmental officials continue to work closely with NHS England and NHS Property companies to identify any additional policy enablers which may support further improvement in utilisation, this includes the development of integrated care system level infrastructure strategies in 2024.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she plans to publish the recovery plan for NHS dentists; and what interim provision she is making for people unable to obtain NHS dentistry treatment locally.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Patients in England are not registered with a National Health service dental practice, although many NHS dental practices do tend to see patients regularly. There is no geographical restriction on which practice a patient may attend, allowing patients the choice of where they would like to receive a course of treatment.
Patients unable to access an urgent dental appointment directly through an NHS dental practice are advised to contact NHS 111 for assistance. NHS dentists are now required to update their NHS website profiles at least every 90 days, to ensure patients have access to up-to-date information on where they can access care.
We are working on our Dentistry Recovery Plan, to be published shortly, which will address how we can significantly improve access, particularly for new patients; and how we make NHS work more attractive to ensure NHS dentists are incentivised to deliver NHS care.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much and what proportion of the funding for the National Rural Crime Unit will be allocated to Humberside Police in each of the next five years.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is committed to driving down rural crime. Whether someone lives in the countryside or a town or city, they should get the same service from the police if they fall victim to a crime.
The Home Office has provided £200,000 funding this financial year to help set up the National Rural Crime Unit, with an additional £100,000 from DEFRA. The National Rural Crime Unit has secured over £1m of funding from industry for the next three financial years, including from NFU Mutual, Network Rail and Construction and Equipment Association.
The National Rural Crime Unit aims to help police forces tackle rural crime priorities through the provision of specialist operational support, as well as through sharing best practice and encouraging regional and national approaches to tackling rural crime. Funding provided by the Government for the National Rural Crime Unit is not allocated to individual forces.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
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 plans to take to support farmers in areas of Yorkshire affected by recent flooding.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has triggered the Flood Recovery Framework in Gloucestershire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Warwickshire, West Northamptonshire, Wiltshire and Worcestershire, to provide funding for affected households and businesses as a result of severe flooding caused by Storm Henk. Farmers in these areas are likely to be eligible for a number of these funds, including the Business Recovery Grant (for up to £2,500 per SME business), the Property Flood Resilience grant (up to £5,000 per flooded property) and Business Rate relief.
We are currently assessing the impact of the flooding caused by Storm Henk on farmland to enable us to confirm eligible areas for the Farming Recovery Fund. Eligible areas will be within the same areas announced for the wider Flood Recovery Framework, which does not currently include areas in Yorkshire.
We are monitoring the situation closely and further guidance on support for farmers affected by the flooding will be published on gov.uk.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to (a) publish the results of the Driver2020 research project and (b) bring forward policy proposals based on that project.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We plan to publish the results of the Driver 2020 project soon; this is an evaluation of interventions to improve the safety of young novice drivers, in partnership with the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL). This project commenced in January 2019 and over 28,000 learner and novice drivers were recruited. This project, the progress of which has been delayed by Covid, includes a telematics trial. It aims to make young drivers safer, more confident, and more skilful in their first year of driving through non legislative, technical or educational measures with potential to lower their risk of collisions.
We are awaiting publication of outcomes before considering further measures we can take to improve road safety for young drivers.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with Highways England on (a) potholes and (b) defects on the southbound carriageway north of junction 7 of the A1 (M); and when this stretch of carriageway will be repaired and resurfaced.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Departmental officials have regular dialogue with National Highways about maintenance on the Strategic Road Network. In the last 3 months, National Highways (NH) has carried out repairs and addressed defects on the A1(M) southbound approach to junction 7.
National Highways has a comprehensive road inspection and maintenance programme to maintain safe roads and to reduce the potential for potholes and other surface defects.
Further work will be done between 12 and 16 February. Subsequently, NH has plans to carry out further permanent road surface patch repairs within a 2km stretch of the A1(M) southbound approach to junction 7.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an estimate of the number of households in the East Riding of Yorkshire that are located on estate roads that have not been adopted by their local authority as of 1 January 2024.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The requested information is not held by the department.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help increase (a) recruitment and (b) retention of staff in NHS organisations in East Yorkshire constituency.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan sets out the steps the National Health Service and its partners need to take to deliver an NHS workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next 15 years. It will put the workforce on a sustainable footing for the long term.
To boost recruitment, the Government is backing the plan with over £2.4 billion over five years to fund additional education and training places. This is on top of increases to education and training investment, reaching £6.1 billion over the next two years.
By significantly expanding domestic education, training and recruitment, we will have more healthcare professionals working in the NHS. This will include more doctors and nurses alongside an expansion in a range of other professions, including more staff working in new roles.
The Long Term Workforce Plan also builds on the People Plan, setting out how to improve culture and leadership to ensure that up to 130,000 more staff are retained within the NHS over the next 15 years. This includes ensuring staff can work flexibly, have access to health and wellbeing support, and work in a team that is well led. These interventions apply across staff groups and geographical regions.
These recruitment and retention initiatives apply across the country, including in the East Yorkshire constituency.