Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had discussions with (a) relevant stakeholders and (b) his international counterparts on reported terror activity within and near United Nations Works and Relief Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) facilities in Gaza.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK takes allegations of neutrality violations extremely seriously, including any incidents related to UN installations. The FCDO also monitors this closely through our annual assessment of UNRWA. When violations have been identified, UNRWA has taken action, including raising the issue with relevant parties.
We are aware that the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services and Catherine Colonna have now provided their interim reports to the UN Secretary-General. Their independent investigations include assessment of the policies and systems UNRWA has in place to ensure neutrality.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had recent discussions with his Palestinian counterpart on the content of Palestinian Authority textbooks.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We regularly discuss issues relating to the curriculum and textbooks with counterparts including in the Palestinian Authority (PA). The UK-supported 2021 review of the Palestinian Authority (PA) curriculum found improvements in content, with previously flagged materials removed. We need to see further curriculum reform from the PA, and we continue to raise this with them regularly.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the recent report from the Israel Defence Force's Colonel Elad Shushan on the presence of weapons at civilian sites.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We are aware of reports of Hamas using schools and other infrastructure for their operations. We are strongly condemn Hamas' ongoing use of civilian areas. By embedding themselves in the civilian population and civilian infrastructure, Hamas is putting Palestinian civilians at grave risk. We have been clear that for a lasting peace, removing Hamas' capacity to continue launching attacks against Israel and ensuring Hamas is no longer in charge of Gaza are both vital steps.
However, we also remain deeply concerned about the impact of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) operations on the civilian population in Gaza. The Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister have underlined the need for Israel to ensure effective deconfliction in Gaza. We want to see Israel take greater care to limit its operations to military targets and avoid harming civilians and destroying homes.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to renegotiate carnet provisions between the UK and EU on the movement of vehicles and parts used in motorsport.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK is committed to maintaining the option of using ATA Carnets for temporary movements of professional equipment to the EU. Carnets can be a simpler and cheaper way to move goods into and out of a customs territory temporarily, compared to submitting full customs import and export declarations and paying duties.
The EU’s Temporary Admission procedure in combination with the UK’s Returned Goods Relief offers another alternative to move items temporarily into the EU and back to the UK without paying import duties. Improved guidance on the temporary movement of goods from the UK has recently been published: https://www.gov.uk/taking-goods-out-gb-temporarily.
The Government is reviewing how we can improve the UK’s own Temporary Admission procedure and simplify processes for individuals and businesses, and has engaged with the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders which included representatives from Motorsport UK. HMRC and HMT are open to further discussions and any specific concerns the motorsport industry has around the options available for temporarily moving goods.
Work to digitalise ATA Carnets and their processes is currently underway as part of a World customs Organisation (WCO) and International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) initiative. The Digital Pilot was launched in February 2019, initially involving the UK and five other countries. To date the UK has successfully processed a number of e-Carnets from Heathrow and is looking to collaborate with more ports to make digital Carnets more readily available. More information is available at https://iccwbo.org/media-wall/news-speeches/icc-new-ata-carnet-app-makes-digital-declarations-and-transactions-possible/
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 21 November 2023 to Question 1534 on Motor Vehicles: Carbon Emissions, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of the report entitled Powered Light Vehicles Life Cycle published by Zemo Partnership in December 2021.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As stated in the answer to Question 1534, we are now analysing responses to the 2022 consultation on ending the sale of new non-zero emission L-category vehicles, including evidence provided on this issue, and will bring forward the Government’s response in due course.
The Government recognises that L-category vehicles represent a small proportion of the overall greenhouse gas exhaust emissions created by the road transport sector. However, only a transition to fully zero emission technologies will reduce air and noise pollution.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the impact of the reduction of the plug-in motorcycle grant on the (a) commercial viability of the production and (b) consumer uptake of electric mopeds and motorcycles.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The plug-in motorcycle grant, which was introduced in 2017 to stimulate the early market for zero emission mopeds and motorcycles, has provided over £7m to support the purchase of over 11,000 zero emission mopeds and motorcycles.
In 2021, the share of moped (L1-category vehicles) registrations that were electric was 41.7%. After a grant rate reduction at the end of 2021, this remained similar at 40.6% in 2022.
In 2021, the share of motorcycle (L3-category vehicles) registrations that were electric was 2.9%. After a grant rate reduction at the end of 2021 and the introduction of the £10k price cap, this increased to 3.3% in 2022.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent estimate he has made of the acreage of farm land used for (a) housing development, (b) commercial development, (c) solar panels and (d) battery storage in each of the last five years.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Figures for 2019 onwards are derived using a revised methodology and are expressed as three-year totals. They are not directly comparable with figures for earlier years. Accordingly, the available information for the last three years for which figures are available for (a) and (b) is set out in the table below. Separate figures for (c) and (d) are not available.
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| Amount of land changing use (acres) (a) | |
Period (b) | Change of use: | ||
| Agriculture to residential | Agriculture to Industry and commerce | |
2019 to 2022 (c) | 9,854 | 3,168 | |
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Source: DLUHC Land use change - hectarage statistics, (part of) Live Table P361 at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/land-use-change-hectarage-2019-to-2022 | |||
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Notes: |
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(a) Figures are published in hectares and have been converted into acres for this table. | |||
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent discussions he has had with his Israeli counterpart on Hamas’s placement of military infrastructure within civilian areas.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
It is clear that Hamas has put Palestinians at grave risk by embedding themselves in the civilian population, and Hamas has used civilians as human shields. The Foreign Secretary visited Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories on 23 November, where he met President Herzog, Prime Minister Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Cohen and other senior Israeli interlocutors to discuss the conflict. However, we are not going to specifically comment on individual locations. Israel has a legitimate right to self-defence against Hamas but the Israel Defense Forces military actions in Gaza must be carried out in accordance with International Humanitarian Law and Israel must take all possible measures to protect civilians.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of highways funding for (a) Buckinghamshire and (b) England.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Local highway authorities across England are set to benefit from an £8.3 billion boost in funding for highway maintenance, the biggest ever increase in funding for local roads. This funding is in addition to local transport funding from the last Spending Review and in addition to what local authorities were expecting to receive. Buckinghamshire will receive a minimum additional overall uplift of £51 million between 2023-24 and 2033-34, which should allow it to make major improvements to the condition of its local roads.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
o ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of mobile connectivity in rural areas.
Answered by John Whittingdale
Almost 93% of the UK benefits from good quality 4G coverage from at least one mobile network operator, but we know more needs to be done in rural areas.
Our £1bn Shared Rural Network agreement with industry, will increase coverage to 95% by the end of 2025, supporting rural businesses and communities.
Ofcom is also looking at the accuracy of coverage reporting to ensure it better reflects people’s experiences over coverage.