Asked by: Mike Thornton (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many dogs have been identified as in contravention of Section 1 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 in each of the last five years.
Answered by George Eustice
The numbers of dogs in contravention of Section 1 that courts have notified to the Index of Exempted Dogs in each year is as follows:
2009 372
2010 674
2011 649
2012 649
2013 700
Asked by: Mike Thornton (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the annual operational cost of the new Dartford-Thurrock River free flow toll system.
Answered by John Hayes
The estimated cost of operating the new system in the calendar year 2015 is £24.5m. This includes costs paid to the service provider (Sanef), third party costs and the Highways Agency’s internal costs.
The Department of Transport estimates the following revenue will be generated by the Dartford-Thurrock River Crossing in the financial years 2014/15 and 2015/16.
| 2014/15 | 2015/16 |
Estimated Revenue | £98.2m | £111.2m |
Asked by: Mike Thornton (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the annual cost to the police of the enforcement of section 1 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991.
Answered by Mike Penning
The cost of policing the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 is a matter for each police force and is not held centrally.
Asked by: Mike Thornton (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will provide funding to support the delivery of more healthcare services from the Moorgreen Hospital site in Eastleigh constituency.
Answered by Dan Poulter
This is a matter for West Hampshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).
We are advised that ownership of Moorgreen Hospital has been transferred to NHS Property Services and it is working with commissioners to plan for the site’s future use in line with the CCG’s commissioning proposals.
Asked by: Mike Thornton (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will provide funding for the Botley bypass on the A334.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Department supports any investments in infrastructure that supports growth.
Through the Growth deals agreed this summer, Government funding for this type of scheme has passed to the Local Economic Partnerships (LEPs).
It would be for the promoters of this scheme to work with the Solent LEP to take it forward.
Asked by: Mike Thornton (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that public transport ticket price increases are kept to a minimum.
Answered by Claire Perry
I recognise concerns passengers have about impacts of fares on household budgets, which is why for the first time in a decade average regulated rail fares were capped at inflation for 2014 and will also be capped at RPI+0% for 2015, removing the previously planned increase of rail fares of RPI+1%. Furthermore, for 2015, train operating companies will no longer be able to increase individual fares by up to 2% more than the permitted increase. By way of context, rail passenger journeys have doubled since privatisation and increased by a quarter in the last five years.
Bus services outside London are deregulated and fares are mainly a matter for the commercial judgment of bus operators. However, the Government has made a commitment to retain the current Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) rate for the remainder of this Parliament. The subsidy means that bus operators’ net fuel costs are around 40% lower which can enable operators to keep bus fares approximately 4% lower than they otherwise would be.
Government has also maintained free bus travel in England for eligible older and disabled people. By way of context, the number of bus journeys in England in 2013/14 was 4.7 billion, the highest recorded number since privatisation. In addition, for the first time since 2008/09, 2013/14 saw a year-on-year increase in overall bus use outside London.
Asked by: Mike Thornton (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has for the funding of (a) all post-16 education, (b) sixth forms and (c) further education colleges; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Boles
The Education Funding Agency wrote to all 16-19 institutions in October regarding our plans for announcing funding for 2015/16. We plan to confirm the national funding rate for 2015/16 in January 2015, as soon as we have early data on student numbers in 2014/15.
After the national funding rate is confirmed, notification of individual institutions' budgets for 2015/16 (which will be based around the national funding rate) will be sent out in February or March.
The level of funding for education of 16- to 19-year-olds beyond 2015/16 will be subject to the Government’s next spending review.
Asked by: Mike Thornton (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that local waterways blocked by flooding are reopened for community use as soon as possible.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
Canals and rivers are an important asset for tourism and recreation, which the Government aims to protect and promote. However, the maintenance and dredging of canals and other waterways is an operational matter for the relevant Navigation Authority.
Asked by: Mike Thornton (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to ensure that residents can veto proposals to extract minerals in their localities.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Without minerals, the country cannot provide the raw materials for construction, to help build and maintain homes, roads and railway lines. Traditional materials are also needed to maintain historic buildings. Hence, some extraction will always need to take place.
However, as with housing, this Government has abolished top-down regional targets in the Regional Strategies, and given councils more power and discretion through Local Plans to determine where development should and should not go.
Asked by: Mike Thornton (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will provide funding for the Chickenhall link road in Eastleigh constituency.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Department supports any investments in infrastructure that support growth.
Through the Growth deals agreed this summer, Government funding for this type of scheme has passed to the Local Economic Partnerships (LEPs).
It would be for the promoters of this scheme to work with the Solent LEP to take it forward.