Asked by: Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve facilities for HGV drivers on the A14 in Suffolk.
Answered by Karl McCartney
The Government recognises the need to ensure hauliers have access to appropriate services and facilities.
We will be investing £52.5 million in roadside facilities for HGV drivers on the road. The funding will go towards supporting operators to make improvements such as improving security and eating facilities as well as possibly increasing spaces for lorry drivers.
We have commissioned a ‘National Lorry Parking Survey’ which commenced in January 2022 and will be used as our primary evidence base to understand what improvements are most needed and where they are needed. The A14 in Suffolk is included in this survey and its output will be used, both to set criteria for government funding and will be available to support planning applications for new lorry parking.
The Department continues to engage with key stakeholders to encourage the development of more safe, secure, and high-quality lorry parking to improve driver welfare.
Asked by: Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to help ensure that National Highways is delivering on its duty to clear litter on the A14.
Answered by Karl McCartney
The responsibility for clearing highway litter and sweeping carriageways is governed by the Environmental Protection Act (1990). National Highways’ responsibility for clearing litter is limited to motorways, with a small number of exceptions. Litter picking on most trunk roads, including the A14, lies with the relevant local authority.
National Highways has committed to keep the Strategic Road Network predominantly free from litter, without compromising safety and delivered in an affordable way. To continuously improve collaboration with local authorities and partnership working, National Highways shares forward maintenance and traffic management plans with local authorities to allow for litter collection to be carried out safely and simultaneously to maintenance.
Asked by: Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what additional steps her Department is taking to ensure people receive their passports within published timescales.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Since April 2021, people have been advised to allow up to ten weeks to get their passport. Across the first 6 months of 2022 HMPO processed 97.7% of UK standard applications within 10 weeks.
Her Majesty’s Passport Office has added 850 staff since April 2021. This has helped to ensure that more passport applications are being processed than ever before.
Processing capacity will increase further, with an additional 350 staff arriving within the summer.
Asked by: Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
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 support rural homes that are not on mains gas to manage the increasing cost of domestic heating oil.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my noble Friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State to the noble Lord Allen of Kensington on 5 July 2022 to Question HL1128.
Asked by: Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what information his Department holds on what assessment National Grid has made of the impact of its proposed East Anglia GREEN project on farmers and rural communities.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government does not hold this information, but as part of the planning process for new infrastructure National Grid Electricity Transmission will identify preferred options considering a range of factors, including impacts on land and local communities. This will need to be balanced against other considerations, such as cost and environmental impacts. National Grid Electricity Transmission are required to undertake an Environmental Impact Assessment for projects such as East Anglia GREEN, and this includes an assessment of community impacts.
Asked by: Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support improvement at the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
NHS England’s recovery programme is working directly with Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust. In addition, the Care Quality Commission is currently proceeding with the enforcement process of the Section 29A Warning Notice and has scheduled an unannounced follow up inspection. The CQC’s engagement with and visits to the Trust will continue, with further visits planned in August 2022.
Asked by: Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on expanding the number of mental health clinicians working in schools.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
We have committed to deploy mental health support teams to approximately 35% of schools and colleges by 2023. The role of education mental health practitioner has recently been added to mental health support teams. Since 2019, 1,164 practitioners have completed the one-year training. A further 503 are in training, with 221 due to complete training in September 2022 and the remaining 282 in January 2023. A further 456 training places have been commissioned, with 245 starting in September 2022 and the remaining 211 in January 2023. These cohorts will be available to join services in schools in September 2023 and January 2024 respectively.
Asked by: Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what additional steps his Department will be taking to build further dental capacity in Suffolk.
Answered by James Morris
NHS England has agreed short-term funding for dentistry in the Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care System to increase access to urgent dental care in Suffolk until 31 March 2023. The National Health Service in the East of England has developed a transformational dental strategy to deliver universal access to urgent dental care and preventative care.
Asked by: Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve resilience and reliability at Haughley Junction.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The Department is considering proposals for performance enhancements at Haughley Junction. While I cannot discuss individual projects at present, I remain committed to providing clarity in the upcoming update to the Rail Network Enhancement Portfolio (RNEP).
Asked by: Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to support the UK beet sugar industry in (a) Bury St Edmunds, (b) the East of England and c) the UK after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
Leaving the EU and the Common Agricultural Policy gives us an opportunity to transform our agricultural policy into a fairer system that will help farm businesses across all sectors thrive. We are committed to delivering value for money to the taxpayer while supporting British agriculture and the environment. We will publish for consultation a command paper setting out our proposals later this Spring.
The Government’s manifesto commit to provide the same cash total in funding for farm support until the end of this parliament, expected in 2022. This offers a greater level of security and certainty for the UK farming sector than anywhere else in the EU, where funding is only guaranteed until 2020.
We are also committed to improving and simplifying our existing farm support systems. We have recently announced four new Countryside Stewardship offers, including an offer specifically for the arable sector, along with a simplified application process for 2018.
The Secretary of State recently met representatives of the sugar beet industry to hear the industry’s views. The removal of EU sugar beet quotas, which the government pressed for, allows British growers to move towards competing on a level-playing field with other sugar producers around the world, including by opening up export opportunities for beet sugar production.
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