Asked by: Gary Streeter (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that (a) national parks and (b) other public open spaces can be accessed to improve people's health and wellbeing.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is taking a number of steps to encourage and ensure public access to parks, and green spaces more generally, now and more so in the future, to enhance health and wellbeing.
Over the summer we worked with stakeholders to plan and problem solve the easing of restrictions and funded a bespoke multi-media campaign that encouraged access to the outdoors and in a safe and responsible manner. This period saw a significant rise in visitor numbers to green and blue spaces as well as to membership of outdoor activities’ organisations.
We are working to complete the England Coast Path and to support our network of National Trails, and intend to create a new National Trail across the North of England. We are ensuring that rights of way are recorded and protected, as well as developing ways to support access through the Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme.
Asked by: Gary Streeter (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will recognise the four counties of Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset as the Great South West economic region, as recommended by the relevant local enterprise partnerships; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Government is committed to pan-regional partnerships, as part of our commitment to further devolution and level up the country. These non-statutory partnerships will need to operate at scale, driving greater levels of foreign investment into the UK, and capitalising on major economic opportunities over a pan-regional geography.
I am grateful to the Counties of Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, and Dorset for their proposals as presented in the Great South West prospectus and we will be setting out further detail through the Devolution White Paper.
Asked by: Gary Streeter (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress he has made with plans to dual the A303 from the M3 to Taunton; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Highway England’s delivery plan to be published later this year will contain details of the schemes which will contribute to provision of a high quality dual carriageway link between the London and the South East and the South West.
Asked by: Gary Streeter (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans the Government has to introduce a right to shared ownership for housing association tenants; and what assessment he has made of the potential effect of such proposals on the provision of affordable housing in perpetuity.
Answered by Esther McVey - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Government is committed to delivering home ownership to more people including those who currently cannot access it. That's why on 17 October, the government announced a new Right to Shared Ownership for Housing Association tenants.
The Right to Shared Ownership will apply to all new rental homes delivered through Government grant funding where perpetuity provisions do not apply. A Right to Shared Ownership sale will result in Government subsidy being recycled to support the delivery of future affordable homes to help meet the need of future generations.
Asked by: Gary Streeter (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what his Department's definition of subsidy is as used in Annex 2A of the definition of affordable housing in the National Planning Framework.
Answered by Esther McVey - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The National Planning Policy Framework provides a definition of affordable housing for planning purposes. Within that, section a) provides a definition of affordable housing for rent. This includes a provision that homes remain at an affordable price for future eligible households, or for the subsidy to be recycled for alternative affordable housing provision.
The reference to subsidy within this section usually relates to where government has provided capital grant, in particular grant funding provided through the Affordable Homes Programme.
Asked by: Gary Streeter (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect on the operation of hospices of the increase in employer pension contributions.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Department has made no assessment of the impact the increase in the NHS Pension Scheme employer contribution rate will have on hospice operations. It is for hospices as individual employers to oversee how they operate within the available budget.
In addition to the long-term funding settlement for the National Health Service, HM Treasury committed to providing extra funding to meet the costs of to the NHS arising from the ongoing actuarial valuation of the NHS Pension Scheme. Work is ongoing to ensure the additional cost to participating employers is appropriately funded. Discussions are underway with NHS England and NHS Improvement to determine the optimum method for distributing this funding to NHS commissioners and service providers. Arrangements will be confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Gary Streeter (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has commissioned or undertaken external workforce modelling for nursing.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
The Department works closely with Health Education England (HEE), the organisation that has responsibility for workforce planning, to understand the nursing workforce supply and demand by using analytical modelling techniques. In developing their workforce plans, HEE engages with a range of stakeholders including professional bodies and sustainability and transformation partnership.
Asked by: Gary Streeter (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that recreational boaters whose craft have Union Goods status retain that status after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
Craft used by recreational boaters are currently regulated by the EU Directive on recreational craft and personal watercraft. In the White Paper published on 12th July, the Government set out its ambition for a future economic partnership with the EU, which includes a proposal for a UK-EU free trade area underpinned by a common rulebook on industrial goods. This would cover those rules necessary to provide for frictionless trade at the border and would be supported by arrangements covering all relevant compliance activity necessary for products to be sold in the UK and EU markets. Our proposal would allow UK goods, including recreational craft, to move freely between the UK and EU markets. We must all now move at pace to negotiate our proposal to deliver the prosperous and secure future all our citizens deserve.
Asked by: Gary Streeter (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that recreational boaters whose craft have Union Goods status retain that status after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
Craft used by recreational boaters are currently regulated by the EU Directive on recreational craft and personal watercraft. In the White Paper published on 12th July, the Government set out its ambition for a future economic partnership with the EU, which includes a proposal for a UK-EU free trade area underpinned by a common rulebook on industrial goods. This would cover those rules necessary to provide for frictionless trade at the border and would be supported by arrangements covering all relevant compliance activity necessary for products to be sold in the UK and EU markets. Our proposal would allow UK goods, including recreational craft, to move freely between the UK and EU markets. We must all now move at pace to negotiate our proposal to deliver the prosperous and secure future all our citizens deserve.
Asked by: Gary Streeter (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the bidding process for Transforming Cities funding (a) started and (b) is planned to conclude; and when a decision is due on which cities have been successful in their bids.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The Transforming Cities Fund Call for Proposals process launched on 13 March 2018 and bidding closed on Friday 8 June. The Department is currently considering the proposals received and cities will be notified if they are successful when the assessment is complete.