Asked by: Craig Tracey (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much was spent by police forces on security and policing costs at each HS2 site since 2019.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Department does not centrally collect information on the cost to the public purse for each police force involved in policing the route of HS2.
Asked by: Craig Tracey (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much was spent by HS2 Ltd on advertising and media relation agencies in (a) 2019, (b) 2020 and (c) 2021.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In line with the Government’s transparency agenda, HS2 Ltd publishes data for all payments over £25,000 and any payments over £500 made using corporate purchasing cards. This information is available on gov.uk
Asked by: Craig Tracey (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of HS2 on the construction materials shortage for (a) other major projects in the construction sector and (b) the manufacturing and engineering sector.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government is aware that a range of building materials are in short supply nationally. This is driven by demand and increased global competition to secure supplies. At present, we do not have any information to suggest that demand from HS2 is having a material impact on supplies within the UK or on major projects in the construction, manufacturing and engineering sectors. However, the Government recognises that this is a critical situation and we are following events closely.
The Construction Leadership Council’s Coronavirus Task Force has established a Product Availability Working Group, comprised of product manufacturers, builders’ merchants and suppliers, contractors of all sizes, and housebuilders. The Task Force continues to monitor the supply and demand of products, and identify those in short supply.
Asked by: Craig Tracey (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what progress has been made on the international review into the content of Palestinian Authority school textbooks.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We understand the review is in the final stages and the final report is due to be completed shortly. We continue to engage with the EU at a senior level and push for timely publication. We will review the findings carefully before deciding on any next steps.
Asked by: Craig Tracey (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what progress she has made on negotiations with Israel on an agreement for further trade cooperation beyond the trade continuity deal; and what steps she is taking to strengthen the UK’s trade relationship with Israel in the science and technology sector.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
The United Kingdom’s trade relationship with Israel is already strong, totalling £4.9 billion in the four quarters to the end of Q3 2020. The United Kingdom-Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement entered into force on 1st January 2021. As the Foreign Secretary noted, the United Kingdom is now able to start scoping for greater ambition in our trade relationship with Israel. Science and innovation are key elements of this relationship and we are currently building a framework for a new Britain-Israel Science Partnership. Moreover, the ‘TechHub’, based in British Embassy Tel Aviv, continues to partner Israeli expertise with British companies, delivering significant benefits to the British economy.
Asked by: Craig Tracey (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the the number of benefit claimants that face a shortfall between their actual rent and the amount for rent included in their universal credit payment; and what assessment she has made of the average size of that shortfall in each region.
Answered by Will Quince
This is published in the supplementary tables available here:
For those that do experience a shortfall, Discretionary Housing Payments are available. Since 2011 we have provided over £1 billion in Discretionary Housing Payment funding, enabling local authorities to support households that need additional help by making financial awards to people experiencing financial difficulty with housing costs who qualify for Housing Benefit or the housing costs element of Universal Credit.
Universal Credit household shortfalls November 2020
| Average monthly shortfall |
East Midlands | £126 |
East of England | £181 |
London | £259 |
North East | £92 |
North West | £116 |
Scotland | £114 |
South East | £194 |
South West | £142 |
Wales | £112 |
West Midlands | £130 |
Yorkshire and The Humber | £107 |
Great Britain | £154 |
Asked by: Craig Tracey (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the conclusion of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries' report, entitled Building financial resilience for households in the private rented sector, published on published 1 July 2020, that it is not possible to insure against facing a rent shortfall in the event of a claim for universal credit.
Answered by Will Quince
The criteria for accessing insurance products is a matter for the insurance industry, therefore no such assessment has been undertaken by the DWP.
Asked by: Craig Tracey (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether renters that receive income for payment of rent from (a) Income Protection and (b) other insurance policies have that income amount deducted pound for pound from their universal credit housing allowance.
Answered by Will Quince
Universal Credit is not paid to claimants who have sufficient income available from other sources to support themselves. Where claimants have income available to meet their everyday living costs, their entitlement to Universal Credit is adjusted accordingly.
Regular income payments that are paid to meet living costs, including individual income protection insurance payments, result in reductions in the claimant’s Universal Credit entitlement pound for pound.
Asked by: Craig Tracey (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 8 February 2021 to Question 146961 on Question for Department for International Trade, what sectors have been identified for further cooperation with Israel beyond the continuity trade agreement.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The United Kingdom-Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement entered into force on the 1 January 2021. The agreement provides an ambitious framework to continue to grow our future trading relationship, which totalled £4.9 billion in the four quarters to the end of Q3 2020. We have identified opportunities to deepen our bilateral trade relationship in sectors such as financial services, infrastructure, and technology. We will work with our Israeli counterparts to realise these including through reinstating plans to host a UK-Israel Trade and Investment conference in London.
Asked by: Craig Tracey (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent steps the Government has taken to support bilateral trade with Israel.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
The United Kingdom-Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement entered into force on the 1st January 2021. The agreement provides an ambitious framework to continue to grow our future trading relationship, which totalled £4.9 billion in the four quarters to the end of Q3 2020. We are now working with Israeli counterparts on the implementation of our agreement and to scope where there is a shared ambition to deepen our bilateral trade relationship. This includes the opportunity to reinstate plans to host a United Kingdom-Israel Trade and Investment Conference.