Asked by: Kirstene Hair (Conservative - Angus)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress he has made on the roll-out of the pilot Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The roll-out of the Seasonal Workers Pilot remains on track and will be implemented in spring this year. A commencement date for the pilot will be announced in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Kirstene Hair (Conservative - Angus)
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 ensure that the Industrial Strategy takes account of the importance of traditional industries to local areas.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The Industrial Strategy ensures every place, including areas where traditional industries are located, realises its full economic potential. We are working in partnership with local areas to agree a Local Industrial Strategy with every area of England by early 2020, with support for places in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that want one.
Local Industrial Strategies will provide distinctive and long-term visions of how specific places can maximise their contribution to UK productivity, building on existing local strengths and capitalising on the opportunities of the future.
Asked by: Kirstene Hair (Conservative - Angus)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with representatives from (a) Police Scotland and (b) the Home Office in relation to tackling fly-tipping in rural areas.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Policies to tackle fly-tipping are devolved.
No discussions have been held with Police Scotland.
In England, the Government is committed to tackling fly-tipping in rural and urban areas. We are working closely with the Home Office on a range of issues in relation to rural crime, including waste crime and fly-tipping. Local authorities and the Environment Agency have a wide range of enforcement powers to tackle fly-tipping and we have recently strengthened these. In 2016 we gave local authorities the power to issue fixed penalty notices for small scale fly-tipping and enhanced local authorities’ and the Environment Agency’s ability to search and seize the vehicles of suspected fly-tippers.
In November we laid regulations in Parliament to give local authorities and the Environment Agency the power to issue fixed penalty notices to householders who fail in their duty of care and pass their waste to fly-tippers. Two thirds of fly-tips involve household waste so this will help address the main source of the crime. We will also support local authorities in increasing householders’ awareness of their duty of care to ensure their waste is disposed of properly. On 18 December we published our Resources and Waste Strategy for England including a new strategic approach to prevent, detect and deter waste crime including fly-tipping. The Strategy is available at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/resources-and-waste-strategy-for-england.
Asked by: Kirstene Hair (Conservative - Angus)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what his Department's policy is on improving mobile data coverage in rural areas with low levels of fixed superfast broadband coverage.
Answered by Margot James
The Government’s ambition is for there to be good mobile coverage in all areas where people live, work and travel, including areas where there are low levels of superfast fixed broadband coverage.
The Government recognises that industry needs to improve coverage further, particularly in rural areas, as consumers’ experience of mobile coverage falls short of their expectations.The Government has been taking action to drive up coverage, including reforms to the Electronic Communications Code, to encourage investment in the rollout of digital infrastructure by making deployment cheaper.
We also welcome Ofcom’s recent consultation (published on 18th December) which outlined potential new licence obligations targeting rural coverage as part of the upcoming 700MHz spectrum auction. This will help deliver better mobile coverage - including voice and data - and enable more people to benefit from the digital economy.
Asked by: Kirstene Hair (Conservative - Angus)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions officials in his Department has had with representatives of the Scottish Government on implementation of the Fisheries Bill in Scotland.
Answered by George Eustice
The UK Government has worked closely with the Devolved Administrations in developing the Fisheries Bill.
The Fisheries Bill respects the devolution settlements and in many ways incorporates specific asks for new decision-making powers the Devolved Administrations, including the Scottish Government, had put forward.
Implementation of the Fisheries Act is then a matter for each Devolved Administration. In some areas, however, we will continue to closely cooperate, for example, on foreign vessel licencing or in the development of a Joint Fisheries Statement.
Asked by: Kirstene Hair (Conservative - Angus)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps his Department has taken to reduce the level of crime in rural areas; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government has ensured that, through the election of police and crime commissioners, communities, including those in rural areas, have a strong voice in determining how police resources are allocated to tackle the crimes that most matter to them.
Moreover, we are committed to providing all police forces in England and Wales with the resources they need to do their crucial work. In 2018/19, total police funding increased by over £460 million, including Council Tax precept and funding for national priorities. The proposed funding settlement for 2019/20 enables total policing funding to increase by up to £970 million, including Council Tax precept and funding for national priorities such as counter-terrorism. This is sufficient for the police to both manage financial pressures and invest in key capabilities such as recruiting more detectives.
Asked by: Kirstene Hair (Conservative - Angus)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions his Department has had with representatives of the petroleum retail industry on fuel prices in rural and remote areas.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Ministers and officials hold regular discussions with representatives of the petroleum sector on a range of issues, including fuel prices.
The rural fuel duty rebate scheme allows around 125,000 people living in the UK’s most rural communities, including on the Scottish mainland and Scottish Islands, to benefit from a five pence per litre fuel price cut. The government also recognises that fuel costs remain a significant part of business and household costs, particularly in rural areas. That is why at Budget 2018, the Chancellor announced the main rate of fuel duty would remain frozen for the ninth successive year, which by April 2020 will have saved the average driver a cumulative £1000 compared to pre-2010 escalator plans.
Asked by: Kirstene Hair (Conservative - Angus)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether an equitable distribution of National Lottery funding throughout the UK will be a criterion in the bidding process for the National Lottery franchise.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The licence to operate the National Lottery does not cover distribution of good cause funding. The roles of operating the National Lottery and distributing funds to good causes are separate and distinct. National Lottery funding is awarded by 12 distributors working at arm’s length from Government. The distributors generally aim to ensure a wide geographical reach, but ultimately funding is distributed where there is greater need and impact.
The Fourth Licence to run the National Lottery is due to come into force in 2023. Bidding criteria have not yet been set.
Asked by: Kirstene Hair (Conservative - Angus)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions officials in his Department have had with representatives from local authorities in Scotland on the roll-out of superfast broadband.
Answered by Margot James
There is a regular and good working level relationship between DCMS and the Scottish government on the roll-out of superfast broadband.
Discussions cover superfast projects, R100, Local Full Fibre Networks (LFFN) projects and use of the DCMS Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme which was launched in April. To date, 425 vouchers have been issued totaling just £1.08m.
We are also engaging with Scottish Government and local bodies on the Rural Gigabit Connectivity programme announced at Budget 2018.
Asked by: Kirstene Hair (Conservative - Angus)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what steps his Department is taking to ensure an equitable distribution of Tay Cities growth deal funding to (a) urban, (b) rural and (b) local government areas that are part of the deal.
Answered by David Mundell
My officials have been working closely with local partners since proposals were submitted to Government in 2016.
It is important to note that the decision on which projects to include in any Deal is a matter for local partners in the first instance. From there, the Government is keen to deliver an equitable Deal that improves economic prospects across the whole region.
The UK Government contribution of £150 million ensures this with a package of measures to deliver transformational economic change across the whole of the Tay Cities Region.
In Dundee, we will invest in a centre of expertise for forensic science at the University and a Cyber Security Centre of Excellence at Abertay University. We will also support the Aviation Academy for Scotland.
We are supporting three projects at the Eden Campus at Guardbridge in North East Fife to strengthen both business and academia.
I was also pleased to announce a wide ranging package of support for Perth & Kinross, with projects ranging from the iconic Perth City Hall to the cutting edge research at the James Hutton Institute. Other investments here include digital connectivity and plastics recycling.
In the absence of enough suitable proposals in the Angus area, as part of the Heads of Terms agreement for the Tay Cities, the Government has agreed to ring-fence an Angus Fund and to hold further discussions over the next 12 months with Angus Council and local partners to identify proposals that will help to achieve that equitable distribution by investing in the Angus economy.