Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of climate change on the counter-sonar capabilities of the continuous at sea deterrent.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Royal Navy continuously monitors the potential impacts of climate related risks to ensure its equipment remains suitable for future operating parameters.
Whilst for security reasons I cannot go into detail regarding operational capabilities, I can confirm that Defence is committed to making preparations for the more extreme conditions that climate change may bring, in order to maintain operational advantage.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of climate change on anti-submarine warfare capabilities.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Royal Navy continuously monitors the potential impacts of climate related risks to ensure its equipment remains suitable for future operating parameters.
Whilst for security reasons I cannot go into detail regarding operational capabilities, I can confirm that Defence is committed to making preparations for the more extreme conditions that climate change may bring, in order to maintain operational advantage.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she expects Litfulo to be made available to NHS patients in (a) Shropshire, (b) Telford and (c) Wrekin.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) makes recommendations on whether all new licensed medicines should be routinely funded by the National Health Service, based on an assessment of their costs and benefits.
On 27 March 2024, NICE published final technology appraisal guidance recommending ritlecitinib (Litfulo) for treating severe alopecia areata in people 12 years old and over. The NHS in England is legally required to fund medicines recommended by NICE within three months of the publication of its final guidance.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will hold discussions with the Financial Conduct Authority on the additional costs to consumers of paying (a) vehicle and (b) household insurance in monthly instalments; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of such costs on people on lower incomes.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Treasury Ministers and officials have regular meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors, including the financial services regulators, on an ongoing basis.
The Government does not prescribe the terms, conditions or price that insurance companies set when offering insurance. Insurers make commercial decisions about the pricing of insurance following their assessment of the relevant risks. The Government does not intervene in these decisions as this could damage competition in the market.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the independent regulator responsible for supervising the insurance industry. The FCA requires firms to ensure their products offer fair value (i.e. if the price a consumer pays for a product or service is reasonable compared to the overall benefits they can expect to receive). The FCA has been clear that it will be monitoring firms to ensure they are providing products that are fair value, and, where necessary, it will take action.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will hold discussions with the (a) Directors of Wrexham, Shropshire & Midlands Railway and (b) Chief Executive of the Office of Rail and Road on the inclusion of Wellington in Shropshire in future services operated by Wrexham, Shropshire & Midlands Railway.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
As part of the Industry Consultation, conducted by Network Rail, the Department for Transport reviewed the open access application from Wrexham, Shropshire and Midlands Railway and was supportive in principle of this application. Department for Transport officials have engaged with Directors at Wrexham, Shropshire and Midlands Railway and will continue to do so.
Passenger open access operators are train operators that run services without contractual arrangements or direct support from Government. Decisions on access to the rail network are a matter for the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) in its role as independent regulator for the rail industry and the Department for Transport is unable to direct the ORR in its decision making. Should Wrexham, Shropshire and Midlands Railway wish to include Wellington in Shropshire in future open access proposals they will need to apply to the ORR in the usual manner.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans she has to provide financial support to (a) adult and (b) youth brass bands in (i) Telford and Wrekin borough and (ii) Shropshire in the next five years.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Arts Council England, which is funded by taxpayers and National Lottery players, is working with Brass Bands England, the sector support organisation for brass bands. In particular, it is providing support to brass bands across the country to develop their membership and audiences.
While there are no specific plans for the funding of brass bands in Telford and Wrekin borough or Shropshire at present, brass bands from anywhere in the country are eligible to apply for Arts Council England’s National Lottery project grants. Since April 2022, the Arts Council has provided over £500,000 of funding for 21 applications from brass bands. It also provides annual funding to the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain and the organisation Making Music, both of which support youth and amateur adult brass bands.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how much UK Development Aid has been transported by road and air into Gaza in 2024.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK is providing £60 million in humanitarian assistance to support partners including the British Red Cross, UNICEF, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and Egyptian Red Crescent Society to respond to critical food, fuel, water, health, shelter and security needs in Gaza. Much of this support is in the form of contributions to large scale appeals, which prevents us from directly attributing UK funding to specific items. It includes support to the United Nations World Food Programme to deliver a humanitarian land corridor from Jordan into Gaza. A delivery of 315 tonnes of life-saving food aid was made via this route in January. We also delivered 87 tonnes of aid - inclusive of five tonnes of Cypriot aid - on board RFA Lyme Bay in early January and in late January the UK and Qatar delivered a joint consignment of 17 tonnes of family sized tents. In February the UK and Jordan delivered 4 tonnes of aid by air to Tal Al-Hawa Hospital in northern Gaza.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he expects the next Community Ownership Fund bidding round will open.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
We will announce the timings of the next bidding window in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that the UK has adequate ground-based surface-to-air defence capabilities to defend itself from potential medium- and long-range missile attacks.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
To complement the Air Defence already provided by the RAF’s Typhoon Force, Defence has committed funds in year to significantly enhance its Counter-Uncrewed Air Systems capabilities. The British Army, through its Land Ground Based Air Defence (GBAD) Programme, plans to spend more than £3 billion over the next ten years modernising its GBAD, with substantial investment in scaling, extending, and integrating its Air Defence capability. Similarly, the Secretary of State has recently announced a £405 million upgrade to the Royal Navy’s Sea Viper Air Defence System that will enable it to defeat ballistic missile threats. Further detail on Defence’s plan for protecting the United Kingdom against attack from the skies can be found in the Defence Command Paper Refresh which was published on 18 July 2023.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department's policy is on stationing non-UK nuclear weapons at UK military sites.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
It remains longstanding UK and NATO policy to neither confirm nor deny the presence of nuclear weapons at any given location.