Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has for police officer recruitment in Suffolk; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government has committed to increasing the number of police officers by 20,000 over the next three years. Up to 6,000 additional officers will be recruited in the first wave and will be shared among the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales. Suffolk has a recruitment target for the first year of 54.
Targets for all forces were announced on 9 October 2019: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/home-office-announces-first-wave-of-20000-police-officer-uplift
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans she has for the roll-out of 5G in rural areas in Suffolk.
Answered by Matt Warman
The Government remains committed to becoming a world leader in 5G and providing a 5G signal to a majority of the population by 2027.
Towards this aim, the Government has taken steps to ensure that we build the right conditions for commercial investment in 5G. As a part of this, we have invested in a nationally coordinated 5G Testbeds and Trials Programme which continues to build the business case for 5G in Britain.
Two of the Phase 1 programmes funded through this scheme, 5GRIT and 5G RuralFirst, are specifically focussed on building a market for 5G use cases in rural areas. We are also providing funding for up to 10 rural-based 5G research and development projects over the next two years through the Rural Connected Communities initiative. We expect these projects to do important work in building the business case for 5G investment in rural areas, such as those within South Suffolk.
It is important to note that the vast majority of commercial rollout of 5G services will be delivered by industry, according to their own timeframes. All four Mobile Network Operators have already begun launching their 5G offerings and coverage is expected to be available in 50 major towns and cities by summer 2020.
In the interim, Government is working closely with the Mobile Network Operators on the Shared Rural Network proposal to provide high quality 4G coverage to 95 percent of the UK. This proposal will help tackle both partial not spots - area where this is currently only coverage from at least one, but not all operators - and total not spots - areas with no coverage from any operator, ensuring good 4G signal wherever people live, work and travel.
It is expected that harder to reach locations, such as rural areas within Suffolk, will see the greatest benefit from this proposal.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will state the total funds received by the Homes England from redemption of equity loans in each year since 2015 for which figures are available.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Capital receipts from the repayment of equity loans for each year from 2015/16 is as follows:
Year | Help to Buy | Other Legacy Home Equity Schemes | Total Proceeds |
17/18 | £490,177 | £79,661 | £569,838 |
16/17 | £262,438 | £81,984 | £344,442 |
15/16 | £101,663 | £82,600 | £184,263 |
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the total estimated net present value was of all outstanding equity loan advances in UK residential property held by the Homes England on the latest date for which information is available.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The fair value of equity loans held by Homes England at 31 March 2018 is as follows:
Help to Buy | £8,134,304 |
Other Legacy Home Equity Schemes | £334,939 |
Total | £8,649,243 |
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the degree to which standards are adequately and continuously assessed by OFSTED at schools where the most recent inspection was outstanding; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Gibb
I wrote to Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman, on 3 December setting out the Department’s position regarding the inspection of outstanding schools. A copy of this letter is attached.
Outstanding schools are exempt from routine Ofsted inspection but continue to be risk assessed annually. Ofsted has the power to inspect any school at any time if there are concerns about the quality of provision or safety of pupils.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
What plans his Department has to support local authorities in the delivery of services.
Answered by James Brokenshire
In addition to the Funding Settlement, we provide grant aid to support councils with improvement and realising further efficiencies.
We have also launched a Digital Innovation Fund, with 57 councils benefiting, and Suffolk partnering successful three bids.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has plans to preserve rare and native breeds by categorising genetic resources as public goods.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Agriculture Bill sets out an ambitious future for farming outside of the EU, moving towards a system where public money is invested in things which the public value, in particular protecting and enhancing our environment. Public goods include clean air, clean and plentiful water, and thriving plants and wildlife.
Farmers and land managers can deliver these public goods through managing their assets. Genetic resources are an important asset. For example, preserving genetic resources can strengthen pest and disease resilience which contributes towards improving the health and welfare of livestock (clause 1(1)(f) of Agriculture Bill). Similarly, grazing native, local breeds in upland areas can contribute towards enhancement of our cultural and natural heritage (clause 1(1)(c) of Agriculture Bill).
The financial assistance powers in clause 1(1) and 1(2) in the Agriculture Bill could be used to support genetic resources where this contributes to the delivery of the purpose set out in the clause.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to extend the Community Housing Fund beyond 2020.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Community Housing Fund is currently scheduled to close on 31 March 2020 – the end of the current Spending Review period. Decisions on funding for 2020-21 onwards are a matter for the Spending Review, which will take place this year.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the costs to haulage companies of theft from commercial vehicles in each of the last three years.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Department for Transport does not routinely gather data on, or formally assess the economic impacts of, crime against commercial vehicles.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on the number of incidents of theft from commercial vehicles in England.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Home Office’s Commercial Victimisation Survey (CVS) estimates thefts from vehicles amongst business premises included in the survey each year. However, it is not possible to identify the type of vehicles involved and figures cannot be produced for Suffolk as the sample is not designed to yield sub-national estimates.
Latest headline figures from the CVS can be found here
The Home Secretary regularly meets with his Cabinet colleagues to discuss areas of mutual interest.