Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he is taking steps to support the Bolton Interfaith Forum.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Government is supportive of efforts by faith groups and others to bring together people of different faiths and beliefs.
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of a system of national service for young people.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Defence purpose is to protect the people of the United Kingdom, prevent conflict, and be ready to fight our enemies. To support this, the Services offer their recruits high-quality training, both vocational and in softer skills such as teamwork and the ability to function under pressure. These recruits are volunteers, however, and the Government has no current plans to reintroduce National Service or any form of conscription.
Since 1963, it has been the policy of successive Governments that the best way of providing for the defence of our country is by maintaining professional Armed Forces which are staffed by volunteers. The demanding nature of defence today is such that we require highly trained, professional men and women in our Regular and Reserve Armed Forces, fully committed to giving their best in defending our country and its allies.
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if her Department will open negotiations with the European Union on a no tariff charge for goods and imports.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK has a comprehensive zero-tariff, zero-quota Free Trade Agreement with the European Union that eliminates tariffs on UK imports from and exports to the European Union, subject to goods meeting the relevant rules of origin.
This Government is committed to the ensuring the smooth running of the agreement to the benefit of UK business and consumers, such as via the annual framework of Trade Specialised Committees. For example, on 21st December 2023 HMG announced an agreement with the EU to extend trade rules on electric vehicles saving manufacturers and consumers up to £4.3 billion in additional tariffs.
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of barriers to opening bank accounts in the UK faced by Japanese companies on the ability of those companies to expand in the UK.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
I refer the honourable Member to the answer I gave to PQ UIN 9958 given on 23 January.
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made on removing reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete from the school estate.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Our priority will always be to ensure the safety of pupils and staff, which is why we have taken a precautionary approach and asked schools to vacate spaces known to contain RAAC until mitigations are put in place.
To give a sense of the scale, there are around 22,000 schools and colleges in England, of which around 15,000 have at least one block constructed during the period in which RAAC may have been used. Due to the action we have taken to issue questionnaires, we now have responses from all schools and colleges with buildings from the era when RAAC was commonly used. All schools and colleges that advised us they suspected they may have RAAC have had a first survey to confirm if it is present.
The vast majority of schools and colleges surveyed to date have been found to have no RAAC. Where it is present, it may be limited to a single classroom. So far, these surveys have confirmed a very small proportion of schools and colleges – 231, or around 1% – have RAAC present.
In December 2023, we published an updated list of affected schools and colleges. Thanks to the hard work of school and college leaders the vast majority – 228, or 99% - were delivering full time face-to-face education for all pupils. At the time of publication, 3 schools had hybrid arrangements in place, all 3 are now in full-time face-to-face education for all pupils.
Each school and college has a dedicated caseworker to help implement individual mitigation plans and we have dedicated contracts to enable delivery of alternative accommodation including temporary classrooms, and structural supports where appropriate.
We will spend what it takes to resolve this problem as quickly as possible. All reasonable requests for additional help with revenue costs are being approved and we are funding further longer-term refurbishment or rebuilding projects to address the presence of RAAC in schools. Schools and colleagues will either be offered capital grants, or rebuilding projects where these are needed, including through School Rebuilding Programme.
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to help ensure that theatres (a) outside London and (b) in Bolton North East constituency receive equitable funding from Arts Council England.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
His Majesty’s Government is deeply committed to supporting theatres across the whole country, including through public funding to organisations made via Arts Council England.
The arts are for everyone, and the Government has made it a priority to ensure that funding for the arts is fairly distributed across the country. Through Arts Council England’s 2023–26 National Portfolio, increased funding of £444.6 million per annum will fund a record 985 organisations in more parts of the country than ever before. This is an increase from £410 million per annum and 828 organisations under the previous portfolio. Of the 275 new organisations joining the funding portfolio, 214 are outside London.
Overall investment in theatre has also increased through this round of the Arts Council’s investment programme – both in terms of the number of organisations supported, and the volume of funding, which is now more than £110 million per annum, encompassing 194 organisations. The Octagon Theatre in Bolton receives annual funding of £625,359. In the last three years, theatres and theatre-focused projects in the Bolton North East constituency have received over £2.5 million of funding via Arts Council England.
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department is taking steps to help support Japanese companies to open bank accounts in the UK.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department for Business and Trade has a global network, including a significant presence in Japan, to support investors around the world to establish their businesses in the UK. DBT uses its engagement with thousands of businesses and investors to build a well-rounded view of the top issues impacting business, and will continue to engage businesses on these commercial issues.
The Government knows that Japanese companies continue to take confidence in doing business with the UK. Japan is already the UK’s 5th largest investor and this past year alone during the Prime Minister’s visit, with Japanese businesses committed to invest almost £18 billion in businesses and projects across the UK.
More broadly, the provision of banking services is a commercial decision for firms based on a variety of factors, including the local law, regulation of individual countries, an assessment of profitability, or other commercial drivers. Nevertheless, the Government takes the issue of access to bank accounts very seriously, and that is why last year the Chancellor asked the FCA to collect evidence to help us understand where account closures or refusals are happening and why.
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will take steps to reduce the pay difference for experienced police community support officers transitioning to become police constables.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
On 13 July 2023, the Government announced that it had accepted the recommendations of the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) to award a consolidated increase of 7% to all ranks up to and including assistant chief constable and commander with effect from 1 September 2023. The Government also awarded the same increase to chief constables, deputy chief constables and ranks above commander in the Metropolitan Police Service and City of London Police. The PRRB’s recommendation to remove the lowest pay point for constables was also accepted, bringing starting salaries up to £28,551.
The independent PRRB and Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) consider and make recommendations to the Government on the appropriate level of pay and allowances for police officers. The Review Bodies gather and invite parties to submit evidence to inform their decisions. This includes both written and oral evidence from the Government, police employers and police staff associations.
The Home Secretary’s remit letters to the PRRB and SSRB, published on 20 December 2023, ask for recommendations on how to apply the pay award for 2024/25. The Government will give very careful consideration to their recommendations when they submit their reports in May.
The Government has no statutory role in determining the pay and conditions for police staff, including police community support officers, which are agreed locally by Chief Constables in consultation with trade unions.
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of police pay.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
On 13 July 2023, the Government announced that it had accepted the recommendations of the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) to award a consolidated increase of 7% to all ranks up to and including assistant chief constable and commander with effect from 1 September 2023. The Government also awarded the same increase to chief constables, deputy chief constables and ranks above commander in the Metropolitan Police Service and City of London Police. The PRRB’s recommendation to remove the lowest pay point for constables was also accepted, bringing starting salaries up to £28,551.
The independent PRRB and Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) consider and make recommendations to the Government on the appropriate level of pay and allowances for police officers. The Review Bodies gather and invite parties to submit evidence to inform their decisions. This includes both written and oral evidence from the Government, police employers and police staff associations.
The Home Secretary’s remit letters to the PRRB and SSRB, published on 20 December 2023, ask for recommendations on how to apply the pay award for 2024/25. The Government will give very careful consideration to their recommendations when they submit their reports in May.
The Government has no statutory role in determining the pay and conditions for police staff, including police community support officers, which are agreed locally by Chief Constables in consultation with trade unions.
Asked by: Mark Logan (Conservative - Bolton North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether the Government is taking steps to assess the level of compliance with international humanitarian law of Israel’s recent actions in Gaza.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Israel has endured the worst terrorist attack in its history at the hands of Hamas. We support Israel's right to defend itself against Hamas, but it must comply with International Humanitarian Law (IHL). We keep under continuous review whether they are abiding by their obligations. We continue to call for IHL to be respected and civilians to be protected.