Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with banks on the potential impact of the removal of mobile bank services on people in (a) Bonar Bridge, (b) Lairg, (c) Helmsdale and (d) Dornoch.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Decisions to open or close a branch or mobile banking service are commercial decisions for firms and the Government does not intervene. However, it is imperative that banks and building societies recognise the needs of all customers, including those who need to use in-person services.
Guidance from the FCA sets out its expectation of firms when they are deciding to reduce their physical branches, including mobile branches, or the number of free-to-use ATMs. Firms are expected to carefully consider the impact of planned closures on their customers’ everyday banking and cash access needs, and put in place alternatives, where this is reasonable.
Alternative options to access everyday banking services can be via telephone banking, through digital means such as mobile or online banking and via the Post Office or Banking Hubs.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many water sports (a) training sessions, (b) activities and (c) events have been reported to her Department due to unsafe water quality in each year since 2020.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Event organisers, including National Governing Bodies (NGBs), are responsible for ensuring appropriate measures are in place to protect participants.
We recognise the need for water sport participants to have access to consistent and up-to-date data about bathing water quality. DCMS is working with relevant water based National Governing Bodies and the Outdoors For All Coalition to understand the barriers to accessing and participating in green and blue spaces.
Designated bathing waters and water quality monitoring in England is the responsibility of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Environment Agency (EA). DEFRA is a permanent member of the National Physical Activity Taskforce, which ensures that we deliver coordinated policy that will help encourage people to get active.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many water sports (a) training sessions, (b) activities and (c) events have been reported to his Department due to unsafe water quality in each year since 2020.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is responsible for designating bathing waters in England but many water sports training sessions, activities and events will take place outside of these bathing waters. Information on water quality issues affecting local training sessions, activities and events is not routinely reported to Defra. Government is committed to improving water quality through more investment, stronger regulation and tougher enforcement to tackle every source of river and sea pollution.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department requested that water sports (a) training sessions, (b) activities and (c) events were (i) cancelled and (ii) postponed due to unsafe water quality in each year since 2020.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is responsible for designating bathing waters in England. As decisions on water sports training sessions, activities and events are managed locally, Defra has not requested that any are cancelled or postponed.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support sports clubs engaged in (a) swimming, (b) surfing, (c) angling, (d) canoeing and (e) other water sports who have impacted by water pollution and sewage discharges.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to improving the quality of our coastal and inland waters for the benefit of the environment and everyone who uses it. The Environment Agency takes over 7,000 samples each year at England’s 424 designated bathing waters, which are used to determine the annual bathing water classifications. These classifications are displayed on signage at bathing waters and online on the Environment Agency’s Swimfo website, to allow bathers to make informed decisions before entering the water. Defra welcomes applications for bathing water designations in England for both coastal waters and inland waters such as lakes and rivers. Anyone, including swimming clubs, can apply to designate a site as a bathing water by following the application guidance available at: Designate a bathing water: guidance on how to apply - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The Government is clear that the amount of sewage discharged into our waters is unacceptable. We have taken a series of actions to require water companies to improve how they manage wastewater. For example, we have set ambitious targets through the Storm Overflow Discharge Reduction Plan to reduce the use of storm overflows. This will drive the largest infrastructure programme in water company history: estimated at £60 billion capital investment in 25 years. To support these targets in the near term, water companies have committed to £180m of new funding over the next year to help tackle sewage spills. This is a new investment committed by water companies to deliver enhanced maintenance programmes to improve the sewer network and is expected to prevent more than 8,000 sewage spills polluting English waterways.
These measures will benefit swimming, surfing, angling, canoeing and all other water sports.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the impact of sewage discharges on sports clubs engaged in (a) swimming, (b) surfing, (c) angling, (d) canoeing and (e) other water sports.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
In our Sport Strategy, ‘Get Active’, we set out our unapologetic ambition to build a more active nation and our vision to ensure the sector can thrive in the years ahead. Outdoor recreation on our nation’s coastline and in our rivers, lakes and canals are vital to the participation landscape.
We recognise the need for water sport participants to have access to consistent and up-to-date data about bathing water quality. DCMS is working with relevant water based National Governing Bodies and the Outdoors For All Coalition to understand the barriers to accessing and participating in green and blue spaces.
Designated bathing waters and water quality monitoring in England remain the responsibility of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Environment Agency (EA). DEFRA is a permanent member of the National Physical Activity Taskforce, which ensures that we deliver coordinated policy in this area.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department has taken to support water sports clubs that have been impacted by high levels of e. coli in (a) rivers and (b) other bodies of water.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
In our Sport Strategy, ‘Get Active’, we set out our unapologetic ambition to build a more active nation and our vision to ensure the sector can thrive in the years ahead. Outdoor recreation on our nation’s coastline and in our rivers, lakes and canals are vital to the participation landscape.
We recognise the need for water sport participants to have access to consistent and up-to-date data about bathing water quality. DCMS is working with relevant water based National Governing Bodies and the Outdoors For All Coalition to understand the barriers to accessing and participating in green and blue spaces.
Designated bathing waters and water quality monitoring in England remain the responsibility of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Environment Agency (EA). DEFRA is a permanent member of the National Physical Activity Taskforce, which ensures that we deliver coordinated policy in this area.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to evaluate the (a) implementation and (b) effectiveness efficacy of industry-led measures on loot boxes.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Following the Government response to the call for evidence on loot boxes in video games, the Government has welcomed new industry-led guidance and its potential, if fully implemented, to meet our objectives to improve protections for players.
The Government has agreed a 12-month implementation period for the new guidance on loot boxes and has asked the industry, coordinated by Ukie, to report back to DCMS on the extent to which it has been implemented and on steps taken in areas identified for further work.
We are working closely with industry and academics to ensure robust data is available to support evaluation of these measures, supported by the Video Games Research Framework which was developed and published by DCMS.
We will provide a further update in due course, following the 12-month implementation period and informed by independent academic scrutiny of the implementation and efficacy of these measures.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of her Department's funding schemes providing support with the cost of energy.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government delivered over £40 billion in support last winter to households and businesses, covering half of a households’ energy bill, between October 2022 and June 2023.
This provided an average of £1,500 to households to support their energy bill costs.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve rail connections between England and the north of Scotland.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Cross Border Connectivity is a priority for the Department, the Department is committed to ensuring that passengers are able to travel by rail between England and Scotland.
Investment in timetable improvements and new infrastructure will enable faster and more frequent services on the East Coast Mainline improving rail connections between England and Scotland. Officials from the Department are in contact with their counterparts at Transport Scotland.
LNER provide a daily train service each way – the Highland Chieftain – between Inverness and London King’s Cross serving Aviemore, Perth, Sterling, Edinburgh, Newcastle, York and Peterborough.