Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 17 April 2023 to Question 177749 on Travel: Greater Manchester, what estimate he has of the percentage of households that own a car in Bolton South East constituency.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
According to Census data, 72% of households in Bolton South East constituency in 2021 had access to one or more cars or vans.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill on the competitiveness of UK-based businesses.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
We have published an overall impact assessment for the Bill which is available on gov.uk. Going forwards, departments will identify how they will reform their REUL using the powers in the Bill. In doing so they will conduct proportionate analysis of any economic impacts, and where relevant this will include the impact on the competitiveness of UK businesses.The Government remains committed to engaging with stakeholders to ensure policy decisions are well informed and result in benefits for UK businesses and the wider population
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill on costs for businesses.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
We have published an overall impact assessment for the Bill which is available on gov.uk. Going forwards, departments will identify how they will reform their REUL using the powers in the Bill. In doing so they will conduct proportionate analysis of any economic impacts, including the impact on costs for businesses. The Government remains committed to engaging with stakeholders to ensure policy decisions are well informed and result in benefits for UK businesses and the wider population.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent estimate he has made of the size of the backlog of criminal court cases in Bolton.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The number of outstanding cases at the magistrates’ courts and the Crown Court are routinely published as part of the National Statistics release Criminal Court Statistics Quarterly. The latest published data is available to December 2022 and can be found at the following link: Criminal court statistics quarterly: October to December 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). For Crown Court, figures are published specifically for Bolton. For magistrates’ courts, the Greater Manchester Local Justice Area is the closest match available.
The published data for the Crown Court are found here: Crown Court cases received, disposed and outstanding tool, and the published data for the magistrates’ court are found here: Magistrates' courts cases received, disposed and outstanding tool.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill on the level of support provided by the Government to businesses for health and safety initiatives.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
With the introduction of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) remains focused on ensuring that regulatory frameworks maintain the United Kingdom’s high standards of health and safety protection and continue to reduce burdens for business.
HSE’s approach aligns closely with the Government’s pledge to do more for business to help promote growth by removing disproportionate burdens and simplifying the regulatory landscape whilst maintaining our existing high standards of health and safety.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate his Department has made of the level of (a) car ownership, (b) bus usage (iii) light rail usage, (d) train usage and (e) active travel usage in (i) Bolton South East constituency, (ii) the borough of Bolton and (iii) Greater Manchester.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The information requested regarding (a) car ownership, (b) bus usage (c) light rail usage, (d) train usage and (e) active travel usage in (i) Bolton South East constituency, (ii) the borough of Bolton and (iii) Greater Manchester is given below, where available. In several cases, data are not available specifically for Bolton South East constituency or the Borough of Bolton.
A) Car ownership
According to the Department’s vehicle statistics, there were 1,393,157 registered cars as at end-September 2022 in Greater Manchester, 127,329 in Bolton Borough and 42,868 in Bolton South East Constituency.
B) Bus usage
According to the Department’s annual bus statistics, in the financial year 2021/22 there were 121.0 million local bus journeys taken in Greater Manchester. Data for (i) Bolton South East constituency and (ii) the borough of Bolton are not available
C) Light rail usage
According to the Department’s light rail statistics, in the financial year 2021/22 there were 26.0 million journeys taken on Manchester Metrolink. Data for (i) Bolton South East constituency and (ii) the borough of Bolton are not available
D) Train usage
According to Office of Rail and Road statistics in 2021/22 there were 39.2 million passenger rail journeys within the North West that started or ended in Greater Manchester. There were also 13.9 million journeys that started or ended in Greater Manchester that ended or started from regions other than the North West. Data for (i) Bolton South East constituency and (ii) the borough of Bolton are not available
E) Active travel usage
According to the Department’s annual walking and cycling statistics, between November 2020 and November 2021, 61.4% of adults walked or cycled at least once a week in Bolton (Local authority) and 66.6% of adults walked or cycled at least once a week in Greater Manchester. Data for (i) Bolton South East constituency are not available
F) Personal travel patterns in Greater Manchester
Additionally, information from the Department’s National Travel Survey shows that, on average each year between 2010 and 2019 there were 244 walking trips per person, 11 pedal cycle trips per person, 81 bus trips per person, 12 surface rail trips per person and 11 light rail trips per person by residents of Greater Manchester. 76% of adults in Greater Manchester had access to a car in 2021. National Travel Survey data is not available at constituency or borough level.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support her Department provides to farmers in Bolton South East constituency.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We recognise that global factors outside the Government’s control are increasing farmer’s input costs, particularly fertiliser, feed, fuel and energy, and that increased input costs can be challenging to cashflow.
To support farmers in England, the Government decided that the 2022 Basic Payment Scheme payment will be made in two instalments each year for the remainder of the agricultural transition period, to help farmers with their cashflow. We are also increasing revenue payment rates for the Countryside Stewardship scheme by ca. 30% to reflect the change in costs since 2013.
To further help with high input costs, Government has removed the 25% tariff on maize imports from the USA to help with animal feed costs. We have also introduced measures to help with the impact of global impacts on fertiliser supply chains. These include a fertiliser industry roundtable, delayed changes to the use of urea fertiliser, encouraging use of organic fertiliser and new technologies.
We have supported farmers through the worst global outbreak of Avian Flu in many years through an improved the Avian Flu compensation scheme for farmers and eased marketing rules to give certainty over business planning.
Government announced 45,000 visas for seasonal workers for the horticulture sector to ensure they have the labour they need, up 15,000 from start of 2022.
Other support includes changes to guidance on farmers using manures, increased grants for farmers and growers, boosting research and development, and supporting farmers to build the health and fertility of their soil through the Sustainable Farming Incentive.
We have committed to spend around £600 million on grants and other support for farmers to invest in productivity, animal health and welfare, innovation over three years and paid out over £30 million so far in grants for technology and equipment, having increased the original budget from £17 million and committed £90 million to our Innovation Programme.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the level of investment by IX Wireless in the local authorities in (a) Bolton, (b) Blackburn, (c) Rochdale, (e) Bury, (f) Lancashire.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
I am aware that IX Wireless is in the process of rolling out its network in your constituency and surrounding areas, making use of permitted development rights to install telegraph poles.
This issue was debated in the House on 15 March 2023. During that debate I said the Government is looking closely at how to ensure all operators are aware of, and adhere to, their responsibilities when under both the legislative framework and the associated code of practice on pole siting. In addition we are looking at whether additional work is needed to ensure local authorities understand their role in the process, including their ability to impose conditions on where poles and cabinets are sited and the ability to escalate issues to Ofcom.
Increasing competition and investment in the fixed telecoms market is integral to the Government’s strategy to deliver nationwide coverage of gigabit-capable broadband. In the 2018 Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review and the 2019 Statement of Strategic Priorities, we brought forward substantive proposals to make it easier for new firms to enter the market and compete with the incumbent provider, such as granting competitors access to Openreach’s national network of ducts and poles.
As a result of our pro-competition policies, there is now a thriving market of over 80 providers investing nearly £35bn rolling out gigabit broadband all over the UK. In Lancashire, 73% of premises can access gigabit-capable networks, up from just 5.6% in November 2019.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his department has made an assessment of the economic impact of late-stage heart failure; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure people receive an early diagnosis.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No specific assessment has been made as to economic impact.
We have introduced community diagnostic centres, which will support primary care networks to help increase the volume of early diagnostic activity of conditions such as heart failure and heart valve disease and reduce patient waiting times. NHS England is also working with regions and networks to increase access to the Brain Natriuretic Peptide blood test, which will improve the early detection and optimum management of heart failure.
Additionally, a new pre-diagnosis breathlessness pathway has been developed to support the improved recognition and timely diagnosis of heart failure and heart valve disease.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many former service people are housed in military housing in Bolton South East constituency as of 30 March 2023.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
This information is not held. There are no Service Family accommodation properties in the Bolton South East Constituency.