Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Angela Richardson and Rishi Sunak

Wednesday 20th March 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am very sorry to hear about the experience of the hon. Lady’s constituent, and I am sure she will be raising it with the local NHS trust as well. The NHS is, of course, recovering from a difficult two years, but it has received considerable backing from this Government, including record investment, as was acknowledged by the NHS chief executive officer just the other week, and a plan to improve productivity in the future. We have invested in 5,000 new beds over the last year and more ambulances. All of that is contributing to lower waiting times, waiting lists coming down and an improved A&E performance over the last year.

[Angela Richardson (Guildford) (Con)]

Q8. The people of the eastern villages of Guildford—the Clandons, the Horsleys, Effingham, Ripley, Send and Ockham—have had enough. Unwanted development and villages taken out of the green belt without promised infrastructure is why I have been calling for an immediate review of the local plan for the last three years. Does my right hon. Friend agree that Labour’s promise of concreting over the green belt, even against the wishes of local MPs, would simply add insult to injury?

[The Prime Minister]

Unlike both the Liberal Democrats and the Labour party, who believe in top-down targets that decimate the green belt, we believe in local people having a say over their local communities. That is why we are committed to protecting and enhancing the green belt. The national planning policy includes strong protections to safeguard this important land. I note that my hon. Friend’s local plan is currently under review by the council, which has indicated that it will be updating it, and I hope my hon. Friend and her constituents engage with that process to help shape Guildford for future generations.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Angela Richardson and Rishi Sunak

Wednesday 15th March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Angela Richardson (Guildford) (Con)]

Q7.   Thank you, Mr Speaker. For decades, Surrey Research Park in Guildford has been home to our pioneering space sector, with Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd and now Surrey Space Centre’s spacecraft project, which recently received £300,000 to train and recruit dedicated space engineers and create facilities to trial space-related technology. Will my right hon. Friend join me in welcoming that investment? When his diary allows, will he visit Guildford to celebrate successful local innovation and job creation?

[The Prime Minister]

I reassure my hon. Friend that we are continuing to invest in the UK’s thriving space sector, including in her constituency. We have a new £6.5 million scheme to support high-impact projects and, as she knows, Space South Central is already the leading regional space cluster in the UK. There is more investment coming, and I look forward to visiting—or the Minister of State, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Norfolk (George Freeman) will do so—to make sure that her companies get the recognition they deserve.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Angela Richardson and Rishi Sunak

Wednesday 1st March 2023 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Safety on our roads is our absolute priority, and we will do everything we can to make sure drivers do feel safe. Last year, we in fact paused the roll-out of smart motorways not already in construction while we consider the data and next steps. In the meantime, we have committed almost £900 million for safety improvements across the entire network.

[Angela Richardson (Guildford) (Con)]

Q11.   On Monday evening, Zero Carbon Guildford received national recognition here in Parliament, winning the Climate Coalition’s Innovative UK Community Project award. It has taken what is often an overwhelming subject and turned it into tangible solutions to local issues to give people agency. Will my right hon. Friend join me in congratulating all the volunteers, including Ben, Izzy and Mark, on their award? Does he agree that grassroots organisations such as Zero Carbon Guildford are key stakeholders in our national journey to achieving net zero?

[The Prime Minister]

I join my hon. Friend in congratulating Zero Carbon Guildford on receiving the Climate Coalition’s Innovative UK Community Project award. She is absolutely right that community empower-ment, engagement and action can play a role in supporting the UK’s transition to net zero, enabling communities to access the benefits that it brings, from greener jobs to improved health.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Angela Richardson and Rishi Sunak

Wednesday 30th November 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I believe very strongly in local public broadcasting, and indeed the Government have taken steps to support local media. I will be happy to look at the specific issue the hon. Gentleman raises, and to bring it up with the BBC when I next see them.

[Angela Richardson (Guildford) (Con)]

Q8. The people of Guildford tell me they want women and girls to feel safe, and I am delighted to have had some success in getting lights turned back on, including on Yorkie’s bridge on behalf of concerned students at the University of Surrey. Does my right hon. Friend agree that, even in difficult times, we cannot take a single step back from the brilliant work that this Conservative Government are doing to tackle violence against women and girls?

[The Prime Minister]

Like my hon. Friend, the Government are committed to tackling violence against women and girls, and to making our streets safer. We created the safer streets fund, which funds additional patrols, extra lighting and more CCTV. The StreetSafe online tool allows users, including those in her constituency, to pinpoint locations where they feel unsafe so that local police can take appropriate action. I will continue to support her in her efforts.

COP27

Debate between Angela Richardson and Rishi Sunak

Wednesday 9th November 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The right hon. Lady is right that we need to ensure that we invest in our grid to enable the transition. That is an absolutely fair point and I know it is something the National Grid is focused on. I would be happy to get more into it and discuss it with her in the future.

[Angela Richardson (Guildford) (Con)]

The UK is proof that one can achieve growth and slash emissions at the same time. Does the Prime Minister agree that we have an enduring commitment to go for clean and sustainable growth?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Our record on this is a 44% reduction in climate emissions and 76% GDP growth. That shows it is possible and that is what Britain is delivering.

Economic Update

Debate between Angela Richardson and Rishi Sunak

Monday 11th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[Rishi Sunak]

The testing capacity that we have in this country has considerably increased from where it was. The House will remember that at the start of this crisis it was 10,000, and now we are doing several hundred thousand a day, so that is a substantial increase, and testing can play a part in reducing the spread of transmission. Obviously, given the new strain of the virus, we have had to put in place new restrictions, which is disappointing, but I still believe that test and trace can play a role in suppressing the spread of the virus, especially as we come out of this crisis. The hon. Lady is right to hold me and others accountable for every pound of taxpayers’ money that we spend and I am sure will continue to do so.

[Angela Richardson (Guildford) (Con) [V]]

I have exciting, innovative companies of tomorrow located in Guildford, and they will be crucial to our economic recovery. Will my right hon. Friend ensure that these companies remain at the centre of his future plans?

[Rishi Sunak]

My hon. Friend is right: our innovative companies are a great strength of the UK economy compared with others and they will help drive our recovery. That is why we put in place the future fund, which was an unprecedented intervention to help 1,000 of our fastest-growing start-up companies with match funding. Innovate UK also made available £500 million of additional grants and loans through its innovation schemes, and most recently, we have committed extra funding for our start-up loans scheme next year. Taken together, it is a significant vote of confidence in those innovative companies, and I look forward to hearing from her other ways that we can support them to help drive our recovery.

Spending Review 2020 and OBR Forecast

Debate between Angela Richardson and Rishi Sunak

Wednesday 25th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[Angela Richardson (Guildford) (Con)]

I welcome my right hon. Friend’s statement this afternoon. He will know that affordable housing is needed in my constituency, but that development is constrained by green belt, which we are rightly enhancing and protecting as a manifesto commitment. Therefore, will he outline what fiscal steps he is taking to support councils like mine to regenerate brownfield sites?

[Rishi Sunak]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right about the importance of going to brownfield first. Today’s spending review makes available an additional £100 million for non-mayoral combined authorities to access remediation funding. My right hon. Friend the Housing Secretary will be able to talk to her in more detail about that, but it is exactly the kind of thing that I think could make a difference in her constituency.