Former Conservative MP for Bridgwater and West Somerset
May we have a debate in Government time on the Greenway landfill site? I am grateful to Councillor Becky Clarke, Ben Collins, who was The Stig in a former life, and the Sampford Peverell Church of England Primary School for standing up against it. Mid Devon District Council, which is not the ultimate authority for this, has been absolutely useless, as usual. In fact, the former chair of its...
I am not a lawyer or solicitor or magistrate, but I am interested in this, because the administration of justice in places like Somerset is few and far between. The nearest court we have is in Taunton, meaning all my constituents must travel there, so I understand the provision for video links, but I have some questions about it. First, if somebody misbehaves on the video link, they cannot be...
I must say that I have some good news from Mid Devon District Council. My right hon. Friend will no doubt fall off her chair—so long as she does not defect. The main thing is that it has been forced to release the information on 3 Rivers Development—I have mentioned it in this place a couple of times—because it has been acting irresponsibly. If he had a shred of decency, the leader of...
I do not quite agree with the last answer given by the Leader of the House. We know who we are talking about, and I agree with those on the Opposition side of the House. May we have a debate in Government time on the Three Rivers development in Mid Devon—I have mentioned this before—which is now becoming a cover-up and a financial scandal? The chairman of the scrutiny committee has done a...
I beg to move, That this House has considered roads and other transport infrastructure in Devon and Somerset. May I say how nice it is to serve under a Devon MP of great standing and long service, who knows his county better than most of us? I am delighted to be able to make this speech. When talking about our constituents in Westminster Hall, it is rare that we are able to talk cross border....
My hon. Friend has championed Devon for longer than I have had the opportunity to do so, and I greatly welcome his gentle advice about the situation on the roads. I am very grateful for the work he has done. I know he has worked very hard with the leader of Devon to make sure we secured the money—I say “we”, and that is a very grand collective “we”. I know that you, Mr Streeter,...
I give way, with worry.
I will just reiterate again what I have already said about the number of potholes in Somerset, because obviously the hon. Lady was not listening—but never mind; no change there. I just reiterate for the record that there were 60,000 potholes in 2022. I have worked with the leader of Somerset county now for 25 years, who covers a major part of the Levels, where we know the roads move all the...
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what criteria his Department use to assess whether to build solar farms on productive farmland.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the impact of generative AI on (a) methods of learning and (b) levels of plagiarism.
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he is taking steps to help to ensure that green space design is included in (a) local and (b) national planning policy guidelines.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential role of regreening urban areas in achieving the UK’s environmental targets.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of applications for probate were acknowledged as received by HM Courts and Tribunals Service following the submission of an online application and receipt of supporting paperwork within (a) 2, (b) 4, (c) 6, (d) 8 and (e) 10 weeks.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of applications for probate were processed by HM Courts and Tribunals Service within (i) 16, (ii) 20, (iii) 24, (iv) 28 and (v) 32 weeks in the latest period for which data is available.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of (a) vapes, (b) nicotine gum, (c) nicotine patches, (d) nicotine pouches and (e) other alternatives to smoking in helping to reduce the prevalence of smoking.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of (a) e-cigarettes, (b) heat-not-burn products and (c) other reduced-risk products to help reduce the prevalence of smoking.
