Chris Davies

I was delighted that my Rt hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced a £5 million fund to celebrate the centenary of the Representation of the People Act, and I have written to all hon. Members outlining how constituents will access the fund. The hope is that the centenary will build a legacy by educating a new generation about the hard-won right to vote.

There are now 25 independent suppliers in the domestic retail market providing more competition and choice for consumers.

The Government has made it quicker and easier for consumers to switch supplier. We are now working with Ofgem towards next day switching.

We have supported Ofgem’s reforms to make the retail market simpler, clearer and fairer and to increase liquidity in the wholesale electricity market.

In addition the Government has backed Ofgem’s referral of the energy market for investigation by the Competition and Market Authority.

Improving the efficiency and productivity of the public sector is central to the work of the Cabinet Office and other government Departments. By 2014/15 the Government had saved £18.6 billion through efficiency and reform.

The government is continuing this work. For example, we are working to improve how the government operates across functional areas such as commercial, property, infrastructure and projects, and by tackling fraud, error and debt. We will continue to make government more effective throughout this parliament.

The costs for GOV.UK are accounted for with other costs for the Government Digital Service and published in the Cabinet Office Report and Accounts as part of the Efficiency and Reform Group.

Departments also produce and publish their own material onto GOV.UK so some costs will rest with them.

The government is deeply committed to protecting freedom of speech in Higher Education (HE). The Equality and Human Rights Commission and key partners in the HE sector worked with the previous Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation to develop a single piece of guidance which will set out key principles. This will enable universities and student unions to understand their obligations for protecting and supporting free speech.

The government is deeply committed to protecting freedom of speech in Higher Education (HE). The Equality and Human Rights Commission and key partners in the HE sector worked with the previous Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation to develop a single piece of guidance which will set out key principles. This will enable universities and student unions to understand their obligations for protecting and supporting free speech.

Hill farmers play an important role in the maintenance of traditional upland landscapes providing both environmental and cultural benefits. The Government’s consultation document ‘Health and Harmony: the future for food, farming and the environment in a green Brexit’ makes clear that upland areas have the potential to benefit from the proposed new environmental land management schemes in England, given the nature of their landscapes and the public goods that they deliver.

We have introduced a new system of extended tax averaging, allowing farmers to choose whether to spread their tax over a two or five-year period.

We are working on opening up new export markets for lamb. The Secretary of State had discussions on opening access for British lamb to the American market on her recent US trip.

We are supporting the sector’s efforts to improve its efficiency and competitiveness through co-funded Agri-Tech projects.

The Department plans to conduct a survey on Traffic Regulation Orders in the Spring.

The Department is currently considering the options for dealing with pavement parking, and expects to engage with interested parties in the near future.

The Government is investing £15.1 billion England’s motorways and major ‘A’ roads, £6.1 billion for local highways maintenance, and £1.5 billion for small scale improvements in England from 2015/16 to 2020/21.

Investment in the road networks of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are the responsibility of the respective devolved administrations.

The Department plans to conduct a survey on Traffic Regulation Orders in the Spring.

The Department is currently considering the options for dealing with pavement parking, and expects to engage with interested parties in the near future.

We remain concerned by reports that Hizballah continues to amass an arsenal of weapons in Lebanon. We condemn the threat this poses to regional stability and that this is done in direct contravention of UN Security Council Resolutions 1559 and 1701.

The UK is committed to making progress towards a two-state solution. We regularly press both the Israelis and Palestinians to engage in direct negotiations that will lead to a safe and secure Israel living alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state. Our Consul General in Jerusalem reiterated our support for a negotiated two-state solution with Saeb Erekat, Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organization Executive Committee, on 2 January.

We are gravely concerned by recent increases in terrorist rocket fire. Since the 6th December 2017, 27 rockets have been fired from the Gaza strip. Rocket attacks wreak havoc on the daily lives of Israelis and make achieving peace more difficult. We call on all parties to refrain from violence and to commit to a negotiated solution to end the conflict.

Payments to Palestinian prisoners and their families are no longer made by the Palestinian Authority (PA), but by the Palestinian Liberation Organisation. We have repeatedly raised our concerns about prisoner payments at the highest levels with the Palestinian authorities and continue to press for greater transparency in the payments. UK direct financial assistance to the PA is used to pay the salaries of civil servants and pensioners only. Our support is provided through a multi-donor trust fund administered by the World Bank, which carries out close monitoring of PA expenditure. Only named civil servants from a pre-approved EU list are eligible, and the vetting process ensures that our funds do not benefit terrorist groups. The process is subject to independent auditing.

The UK is committed to strengthening its engagement with the Commonwealth. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) led a strong delegation to the Commonwealth summit in November, where the Minister of State for Trade and Investment, my noble Friend, the right hon. Lord Maude and I promoted trade opportunities within the Commonwealth.

As announced at Budget 2016, the Government will rebalance the Climate Change Levy (CCL) rates between energy sources from 2019-20.

In 2019-20, the electricity to gas rates will move from a ratio of 2.9:1 to 2.5:1. Liquefied Petroleum Gas and other taxable fuel rates will be increased in proportion to the rate for gas. The Government intends to further rebalance the electricity to gas ratio to 1:1 by 2025.

This continues to ensure that the CCL encourages the efficient use of energy by businesses and reduces emissions by creating incentives to source electricity from renewable sources.

The new levy will be charged on producers and importers of drinks with added sugar. There will be one rate for drinks with total sugar content above 5g/100ml and a higher charge for drinks with more than 8g/100ml of sugar.

This structure is clear, simple and transparent. It is designed to encourage producers to reformulate their product mix by removing the added sugar content from drinks and helping consumers choose lower and no sugar brands.

The bands have been set to give producers certainty over the next two years before implementation so they can gradually reformulate their products. Companies have until April 2018 before the levy comes into force to reformulate and if they do, they can pay less.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave on 25 June 2015 in response to PQ 3380. The answer can be accessed using the following link:

www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=QuestionsWithAnswersOnly&house=commons%2clords&use-dates=True&answered-from=2015-06-25&answered-to=2015-06-26&member=4107.

It is an operational decision for individual Chief Constables to determine how their resources are deployed and it is for Police and Crime Commissioners to hold their forces to account, including on how they tackle the crimes that matter most to residents and businesses in rural and urban areas alike.

"A Better Defence Estate" is a military led review that has been under formulation since the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR). The strategy has been has been developed with military advice from the Front Line Commands to enable infrastructure that is affordable and optimised to support capabilities, outputs and communities both now and in the future. There has been no previous assessment of Brecon Barracks.