Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact on patients receiving letters from the NHS of changes to the universal service obligation.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, is responsible for ensuring that the universal postal service meets the reasonable needs of customers as well as being financially sustainable and efficient. The Government does not have a role in Ofcom’s regulatory decisions.
The Government expects Ofcom to take full account of users’ needs, including users of important public services, in assessing the feedback on its recent Call for Inputs.
The Government will consider any recommendations that Ofcom puts forward, but Ministers are not currently minded to introduce new legislation to change the obligations on postal deliveries.
Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many premises were able to access a gigabit-capable broadband connection in each constituency in the period between March 2019 and March 2024.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Constituency-level statistics detailing the percentage of premises with access to a gigabit-capable connection over this period are available from the independent website Think Broadband.com.
As of March 2024, over 81% of premises across the UK are able to access a gigabit-capable connection, up from just 6% in March 2019.
Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many recorded incidents of disease were connected to imports from the EU of (a) gypsophila, (b) solidago, (c) orchids, (d) dianthus and (e) chrysanthemum between 2020 and 2023.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
During 2020 – 2023 there were no findings of disease on cut flowers of the stated genera from the EU. Please note that import physical checks on cut flowers from the EU were not required during this time.
Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many (a) gypsophila, (b) solidago, (c) orchids, (d) dianthus and (e) chrysanthemum consignments were imported from the EU between 2020 and 2023.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
During 2020 – 2023 there were 54,432 imports of cut flowers of the stated genera from the EU.
Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what was the total number of cut flower imports between 2010 and 2020.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
During 2010 – 2020 there were 177,113 imports of cut flowers.