Former Conservative MP for Boston and Skegness
What at about the rest?
I thank my hon. Friend for giving way, as he is discussing the debate I secured in Westminster Hall. I welcome the contribution of many Members to that. Does he agree that the Minister rightly expressed that there is a huge amount of real feeling on our constituents’ behalf? It is right that the Government should listen to that and that this process needs to consider those feelings. Perhaps...
I beg to move, That this House has considered pylons and upgrades to the national grid. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Latham. I thank the Backbench Business Committee for awarding this debate on the great grid upgrade. To begin, it is a busy day in politics, as we know, so a number of colleagues have asked me to mention their work for them and to share the concerns...
That could be the first occasion when a Conservative is being asked to refer positively to Labour-run Wales. On this occasion, however, I am delighted to do so. I would certainly welcome at the very least a review of the process and a review of Labour policy, which is, as I have said, explicitly pro-pylons. Perhaps we can have unanimity across the House that we should look again at whether...
I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend that we need more clarity and transparency from National Grid. It is right that too many of my constituents and, by the sounds of it, my hon. Friend’s constituents feel that this is a fait accompli. The consultations are supposed to be meaningful if they are to preserve any kind of democratic consent, and we all need to encourage National Grid to...
My dad used to smoke 60 John Player Specials a day. When he died in 2009, the last 20 years of his life had been blighted by heart attacks, by strokes and by dementia—the things that we know now, and we knew then, are exacerbated not by free human choice but by the fact that smoking is an addiction. Nobody chooses to smoke 60 cigarettes a day. Addiction forces them to do so, and it hits the...
National Grid’s Grimsby to Walpole project will see pylons driven across Lincolnshire’s beautiful landscapes and will take major chunks of some of this country’s best agricultural land out of production. Does the Secretary of State agree that it is vital that residents respond to the consultation that is currently going on, and that National Grid should be told to take into...
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an estimate of the cost to (a) the public purse and (b) social care providers of increasing pay for staff in the social care sector by 65p per hour.
To ask the Attorney General, what information the Crown Prosecution Service holds on the (a) programme and (b) accompanying delegation for the visit by the Director of Public Prosecutions to Washington in November 2011.
The Department has spent the following amount on external consultancy services in the past 5 financial years. Values include VAT that is non-recoverable, whilst VAT that is recoverable has been deducted accordingly. The values for FY21/22 are subject to change following audit and the final value will be published in the DCMS Annual Report and Accounts FY21/22. FY17/18 FY18/19 FY19/20...
The Department has spent the following on both agency workers and agency retainer fees through contracts in the past 3 calendar years. Values are exclusive of VAT. 2020 2021 2022* Agency Worker £8,403,206.79 £8,428,918.79 £4,269,004.52 Agency Retainer Fee £0 £0 £0 *These figures are taken from 1 January 2022 - 24 August 2022 (to date). The Department engages...
In 2017, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the UK's regulator of advertising, reviewed consumer understanding of the term ‘fibre’ as used in broadband advertising (particularly for part-fibre services such as Fibre to the Cabinet) and any impact the use of this term has on consumers’ transactional decisions. The ASA engaged with stakeholders and received a range of responses...
The Government is committed to supporting the creative sector to adapt to new arrangements with the EU. We have worked with the sector and directly with Member States to clarify arrangements, press for specific changes from Member States, and introduce unilateral measures where possible. Ministers and officials from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) regularly engage...
The global cost of living is rising and this Government is committed to supporting households as much as possible during these difficult times. When setting the level of the licence fee earlier this year, the Government had to think very carefully about the impact that any increase would have on households. Therefore, on 17 January, the Secretary of State announced that the licence fee will...
Raising awareness of social tariffs amongst eligible households is a key priority for DCMS. We are working closely with other departments including the Department for Education, and the Department for Work and Pensions, to share information on the availability of social tariffs with libraries, local authorities, schools and regional job centres. We have also engaged a number of charities to...
