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Written Question
Road Traffic: Lincolnshire
Thursday 7th November 2024

Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to help reduce congestion on roads in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

This Government is committed to maintaining and renewing our road network so it can serve all road users and is safe. Traffic management of local roads is the responsibility of local traffic authorities who are best placed to understand local circumstances and needs.

Traffic authorities are subject to the statutory network management duty which requires them to manage their roads to secure the ‘expeditious movement’ of all traffic including pedestrians, with a view to reducing congestion, and they have a wide range of tools already available to them to enable this.


Written Question
Roads: South Holland and the Deepings
Thursday 7th November 2024

Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress she has made on supporting pothole repairs in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Government takes the condition of local roads very seriously and is committed to maintaining and renewing the local highway network.

At Budget 2024, the Chancellor announced an extra £500 million for local highway maintenance for the 2025/26 financial year, an increase of nearly 50% compared to the current financial year - exceeding this Government’s manifesto commitment on repairing local roads.

The Government will confirm 2025/26 funding allocations to English local highway authorities, including Lincolnshire County Council, in due course.


Written Question
Roads: South Holland and the Deepings
Thursday 7th November 2024

Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many road accidents there were in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire in the most recent period for which data is available.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Data on road injury collisions are reported by police using the STATS19 system. The number of personal injury road collisions reported to police in each of the areas requested in 2023 are shown in the table below.

Area

All collisions

South Holland and the Deepings constituency

215

Lincolnshire

1,724


Written Question
England Infected Blood Support Scheme: East Midlands
Wednesday 6th November 2024

Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many registrations have been made with the Infected Blood Interim Compensation Payment Scheme in (a) Lincolnshire and (b) the East Midlands.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

As of July 2024, 3,698 interim compensation payments have been paid to living infected persons and bereaved partners. This information is not made available on a regional basis. The process under which estates can apply for interim compensation payments opened on 24th October. We will provide an update on the number of applications in due course.


Written Question
Shoplifting: Lincolnshire
Wednesday 6th November 2024

Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken with relevant authorities to reduce shop lifting in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

Shoplifting increased at an unacceptable level under the previous government, and we have seen more and more offenders using violence and abuse against shopworkers. We will not stand for this. Everybody has a right to feel safe on the job.

To that end, this Government will end the effective immunity, introduced by the previous Government, granted to low level shoplifting of goods under £200, and introduce a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.


Written Question
Nature Reserves: East of England
Wednesday 6th November 2024

Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the impact of proposed pylons in the Grimsby to Walpole scheme on the Wash National Nature Reserve.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Developers of transmission projects and all nationally significant infrastructure projects in England and Wales must assess the impacts of their proposals. This includes conducting assessments of projects’ impacts on the environment and habitats through Environmental Impact Assessments and Habitats Regulations Assessments. Additionally, developers engage with statutory and non-statutory stakeholders through consultations to ensure their feedback is considered and incorporated into project proposals. All of this is considered in the project consenting process.


Written Question
Courts: Lincolnshire
Tuesday 5th November 2024

Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to reduce the backlog of court cases in Lincolnshire.

Answered by Heidi Alexander - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

We have interpreted this question as in reference to the Crown Court outstanding caseload in Lincolnshire. We inherited a record and rising Crown Court backlog from the previous Government and we are committed to tackling it.

We are pursuing a number of measures at a national level that will contribute to the reduction of outstanding cases in Lincolnshire.

The Crown Court outstanding caseload remains one of the biggest challenges facing the Criminal Justice System. We have already shown we are committed to bearing down on the caseload and bringing waiting times down.

This Government has increased the number of Crown Court sitting days to 106,500, more than in six out of the last seven years. We will soon extend magistrates’ court sentencing powers from 6 to 12 months, freeing up 2,000 days in the Crown Court to handle the most serious cases.

Judges have been prioritising rape cases that have been waiting for over two years to go to trial. Despite this, there are some cases in the outstanding caseload which are taking far too long to progress through the system. We want to make sure every victim has the swift access to justice they deserve. This is why we have committed to fast-tracking rape cases through the courts, to deliver swift and effective justice to some of the most vulnerable victims in the criminal justice system, and will say more on this in due course.

Alongside this, we consistently invest in the recruitment of c.1,000 judges and tribunal members across all jurisdictions annually alongside continuing to use 18 Nightingale courtrooms across eight venues to hear more cases.

At Lincoln Crown Court specifically, we have expanded physical capacity of the HMCTS estate by creating a permanent fourth Crown Courtroom based in Lincoln Magistrates Court. As a result, we also plan to sit 903 sitting days this financial year at Lincoln Crown Court, this is an increase from 885 sitting days in the last financial year (FY23/24). An uplift in sitting days has taken place across East Midlands in response to growing Crown Court caseload pressures.


Written Question
Sexual Offences: Sentencing
Tuesday 5th November 2024

Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of those convicted for sexual offences were not given prison sentences in the last five years.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for the independent judiciary.

This Government was elected with a landmark mission to halve violence against women and girls within the decade. To do so, we must improve the justice system’s response to these crimes. We must relentlessly target the most prolific and harmful perpetrators; better support victims and survivors; and ensure timely and effective justice.

The Ministry of Justice publishes data on convictions for a wide range of offences, including sexual offences in the period requested, via the Outcomes by Offence data tool: December 2023, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2023.


Written Question
Drugs: Lincolnshire
Tuesday 5th November 2024

Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce levels of drug offences in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

Reducing drug-related crime is a key priority for this Government and is part of our mission to take back our streets and drive down crime and antisocial behaviour.

An additional £267 million in drug and alcohol treatment is being invested into services this year to improve quality and capacity, which has the potential to reduce crime and reoffending.

As part of the Governments work to reduce drug-related harms and crime, every area in England has a dedicated Combating Drugs Partnership (CDP). In Lincolnshire, the Government has supported the establishment of a Lincolnshire Drug and Alcohol Partnership, to help bring together key local partners to address drug related-crime, drug use and drug deaths, in line with local context and need. Between March 2022 and August 2024 there has been an increase of 248 treatment places in Lincolnshire.

Broader work across the county to reduce drug offences included targeting drug treatment referrals at offenders. As well as continuing work with the National Police Chiefs Council to increase police referrals into drug treatment.

We are committed to reducing drug offences in supply of illicit drugs. Recent police activity on County Lines has resulted in over 5,100 line drug dealing line closures, over 15,600 arrests and over 8,000 safeguarding referrals. In addition, we are working continuously to disrupt the organised criminal gangs behind the importation and supply of drugs in the UK.


Written Question
Pupils: Absenteeism
Tuesday 5th November 2024

Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to reduce school absences in rural areas.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The government recognises school absence as a key barrier to learning. If children are not in school, it does not matter how effective or well-supported teaching and learning is, they will not benefit. Thanks to the sector's efforts, more students are attending school this year compared to last. However, 1.6 million children remain persistently absent, missing 10% or more of lessons.

To address this, the department will roll out funded breakfast clubs to all primary schools so that all children are ready to learn. The department will also introduce new annual Ofsted reviews on safeguarding, attendance and off-rolling. Mental health support is also being expanded, with specialists in every school.

The ’Working together to improve school attendance’ statutory guidance promotes a support first approach, encouraging schools, trusts and local authorities to work with families to address attendance barriers. Every state school in England should now be sharing their daily attendance registers with the department, local authorities and trusts. Schools, trusts and councils are able to access this data via an interactive secure data dashboard maintained by the department.

For all schools it is vital that there are opportunities to share best practice on how to improve attendance. Across the nation there is a network of 31 attendance hubs, working with 2000 schools to share to share their strategies and resources for improving attendance.