Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to review the range of season and flexible ticket options available to commuters when rail services are brought into public ownership, to better accommodate hybrid working patterns.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are overhauling the complex fares and ticketing system to make it easier for passengers to trust that they are buying the right ticket and getting the best fare, with the move to Great British Railways (GBR) enabling passengers to receive a more consistent offer across the network.
We need to balance affordability for both passengers and taxpayers as we reform fares and deliver GBR, ensuring everyone gets a fair deal. Delivering better quality services, and increased reliability of trains, alongside a clearer fares offer will ensure an enhanced passenger experience.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that local authorities are correctly implementing the council tax premium on second homes.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The second homes council tax premiums is not a mandatory requirement, and it is for individual councils to decide whether to make use of a premium. However, where councils apply a premium, they are required to implement this in line with the relevant regulations. Furthermore, the government has published guidance for councils on the implementation of premiums and exceptions. Councils must have due regard for this guidance when considering application of the premium.
Where a household believes their council has incorrectly applied the premium, they may be able to appeal this to the Valuation Tribunal in certain circumstances.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to protect nature in the design of new build housing developments.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The National Planning Policy Framework is clear about the importance of conserving and enhancing the natural environment.
Planning policies and decisions should contribute to and enhance the natural and local environment by minimising impacts on and providing net gains for biodiversity, including by establishing coherent ecological networks that are more resilient to current and future pressures and incorporating features which support priority or threatened species such as swifts, bats, and hedgehogs.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of taking steps to grant local authorities greater flexibility in setting school term dates.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Local authorities already have responsibility for setting term dates for schools where they are the employer, including community schools, community special schools, voluntary controlled schools, pupil referral units and maintained nursery schools. These will be set in line with the requirements set out in the Education (School Day and School Year) (England) Regulations 1999.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to tackle the challenges that medical graduates face in securing positions within medical specialty training programmes.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to training the staff we need to ensure that patients are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it.
We will ensure that the number of medical specialty training places meets the demands of the National Health Service in the future. NHS England will work with stakeholders to ensure that any growth is sustainable and focused in the service areas where need is greatest.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his planned timeline is for the roll-out of the new pet passport scheme.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have agreed to establish a UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Zone, which will mean taking pets on holiday into the EU will be easier and cheaper.
Instead of getting an animal health certificate each time you travel, you will be able to get a multiuse pet passport valid for travel to the EU.
It’s important that we get the right agreement for the UK, so we’re not putting an arbitrary deadline on negotiations. We will provide more information on pet passports valid for travel to the EU in due course.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of military accommodation units are unoccupied in Suffolk Coastal constituency; and whether his Department plans to bring them back into use.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Defence Housing Strategy includes an extensive review of our entire Service Family Accommodation (SFA) portfolio to determine how we will utilise our properties. I expect we will be able to provide details of our future intentions when the review is completed.
There are 225 SFA properties located in the Suffolk Coastal constituency of which, 60 (27%) are currently unoccupied. 41 of these SFA are ready to be occupied by families and 19 require improvement works before they can be allocated to Service families.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department plans to spend on military accommodation in Suffolk Coastal constituency in each of the next five financial years.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Defence Housing Strategy includes an extensive review of our entire Service Family Accommodation (SFA) portfolio to determine how we will utilise our properties. I expect we will be able to provide details of our future intentions when the review is completed.
There are 225 SFA properties located in the Suffolk Coastal constituency of which, 60 (27%) are currently unoccupied. 41 of these SFA are ready to be occupied by families and 19 require improvement works before they can be allocated to Service families.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the annual running costs were for Army sites located in Suffolk Coastal constituency in each of the last five financial years; and how much funding his Department plans to provide for those sites in the next five financial years.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The data requested for the previous five financial years can be found below. These costs relate to MOD Woodbridge (Rock Barracks and Woodbridge Airfield), as the only Army owned site within the hon. Member’s constituency:
Year | £ million |
FY2024-25 | 4.416 |
FY2023-24 | 4.528 |
FY2022-23 | 4.723 |
FY2021-22 | 3.799 |
FY2020-21 | 3.768 |
Note: These figures represent the total actual costs for the Hard and Soft Facilities Management of the establishment.
Funds are allocated appropriately to deliver strategic objectives. In advance of the conclusions of the Strategic Defence Review , I hope the hon. Member will understand that I cannot anticipate future budgetary allocations.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to extend the boundary of Freeport East.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The boundaries of Freeport tax sites are defined in law. They were agreed, after careful deliberation, by the Government and local Freeport partners, including the relevant local authorities. The Government currently has no plans to amend the boundaries of Freeport tax sites.