Robert Goodwill: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of UK aid delivered by his Department compared with that channelled via the European Union.
Robert Goodwill: What the timetable is for proposals to amalgamate police forces in England and Wales.
Robert Goodwill: I thank the Home Secretary for that response, especially in relation to my own region. I understand his wish to kick this issue into the long grass; I hope that, in the case of Yorkshire and the Humber, it will be elephant grass. As a rule, the Government are keen to have a big conversation with the British people. Will the Home Secretary assure me that in the case of enforced police mergers...
Robert Goodwill: What would the Minister say to Steve Dickinson, the proprietor of Mojo's café in Scarborough, who has had to curtail his popular Wednesday afternoon jamming sessions because the two-in-a-bar rule has been abolished? He now faces having to pay for a licence for such events, which allow local bands their first opportunity, and local people to hear music for free at no cost to the taxpayer,...
Robert Goodwill: What the Government's policy is on nuclear power.
Robert Goodwill: The outcome of the energy review with regard to nuclear power has hardly been the best kept secret in Whitehall. I assure the Secretary of State of the support of many Opposition Members during the difficult months ahead. However, in the light of the delays identified by the Environmental Audit Committee in delivering a new generation of power stations in the United Kingdom, does the right...
Robert Goodwill: What is the Secretary of State's current thinking on the thorny problem that was described by his predecessor as transporting fresh air around the country?
Robert Goodwill: I know that the Prime Minister is a big supporter of the tourist industry. Has he considered taking his holiday this year in Scarborough? I am sure that he will be interested to know that many people who visit Scarborough as tourists subsequently decide to make it their permanent retirement home.
Robert Goodwill: Whether he has made an assessment of the environmental and economic implications of requiring 2 m uncropped field margins.
Robert Goodwill: I thank the Minister for that short answer. I am sure that he would wish to enhance and augment the rural environment, but I am not sure that that is the best way to do it. It tends to penalise farmers who have retained their hedges and helps farmers who have bulldozed them. If the Minister took the opportunity to inspect some of those field margins, he would see that they are choked with...
Robert Goodwill: The Minister has already mentioned the Territorial Army battalion. A number of soldiers from the Scarborough TA centre have served with distinction in a number of theatres. Sadly, the staffing has already been cut from six to three, with an NCO in charge. We are told that further cuts will mean that there will be no full-time staff. Can the Minister reassure me that the writing is not on the...
Robert Goodwill: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he is taking to ensure that school meals contain popular, nutritionally balanced staple foods.
Robert Goodwill: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what the average (a) fat and (b) saturated fat content is of manufactured potato chips (i) deep fried and (ii) baked in ovens as their final cooking method in schools; (2) whether manufactured chips which are (a) deep-fried and (b) baked in ovens as their final cooking method are classified in the same way under the new...
Robert Goodwill: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which foods meet the relevant Food Standards Agency voluntary nutritional specifications for their category, but are excluded or restricted from school menus by the food-based standards.
Robert Goodwill: Is the Minister aware that many tourists on the north Yorkshire coast this summer have been disappointed at not being able to have a drink in small hotels and guesthouses because the owners of those premises have been put off by the cost and the bureaucracy involved, so the tourists have to go into seaside towns to other institutions where there may have been a lot of trouble in the past,...
Robert Goodwill: Does the hon. Gentleman agree that an amendment is made more important by the fact that some parts of our rail network are approaching saturation point? In many cases the time between the barriers opening and closing again can be as little as one minute, which encourages some local people, who get used to the situation, to flout the law and cause accidents, which are, sadly, increasing.
Robert Goodwill: As an HGV driver, I am all too aware of the problems of low bridges. I am sure that the Minister agrees that in most cases of an HGV or double-decker bus driver hitting a low bridge it is an inadvertent act. I am unsure, therefore, whether increasing the penalties would reduce the number of bridge strikes. May I suggest that the Minister drive between Wakefield and Doncaster, where there is a...
Robert Goodwill: Does not the Minister think that, in practice, the Crown Prosecution Service will take a view based on how successful litigation has been? While it is illegal, for example, to steal things in this country, one is unlikely to be prosecuted for stealing an orange, but more likely to be prosecuted for stealing a lorry full of oranges. The CPS will take a view based on the amount of drug or...
Robert Goodwill: Does the Minister agree that one key parenting skill, in which school leavers are often deficient, is the ability to prepare and cook balanced nutritional meals for children? Does he think that more should be done to improve the teaching of cooking skills in schools, which would address children's diets not only for the five meals a week that they eat in school, but for the 16 meals that they...
Robert Goodwill: On 22 September, Scarborough council extended its already successful alcohol exclusion zone to cover 150 streets, including the Falsgrave park area. At the same time, Conservative-controlled Scarborough, in conjunction with local company Electric Angel Design, rolled out a range of new, funky, lime green signs, which are hard to miss and designed to be eye catching for younger people. Will...