Martin Wrigley MP: written questions
1010 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Devolution: DevonMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 19 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 21420More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make a comparative assessment of the (a) Devon and Torbay Devolution deal and (b) English Devolution White Paper, published on 16 December 2024.
Answer: In September last year, this Government confirmed the establishment of a non-mayoral Combined County Authority with Devon and Torbay, in line with the devolution deal agreed with that area under the previous government. This was an important first step as...
Answered 10 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordSouth West Main Line: DawlishDepartment for TransportTabled 19 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 21418More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the letter from her Department to the hon. Member for Truro and Falmouth, published on 10 December 2024, whether she plans to fully fund phase 5 of the South West Rail Resilience Programme at
Answer: The Chancellor has been clear about the nation's finances and has launched a multi-year Spending Review. Decisions and timescales about individual projects, including the fifth phase of the South-West Rail Resilience Programme, will be informed by the rev...
Answered 13 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordLocal Government: ReformMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 18 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 21097More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the population sizes in the English Devolution White Paper refer to (a) electorate and (b) total population.
Answer: The population sizes outlined in the English Devolution White Paper for creating new unitary councils and new devolution geographies refer to total population.
Answered 9 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordLocal Government: DevolutionMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 17 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 20898More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has issued a map similar to that shown in Figure 1 of her Department's English Devolution White Paper, published in December 2024 for new English Devolutio
Answer: The Government has not published a map of England showing potential future devolution geographies.
Answered 20 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordParking: Codes of PracticeMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 17 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 20863More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to implement a statutory code of conduct for parking operators that includes appropriate levels for permissible charges within this Parliamentary session.
Answer: The Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 places a duty on the Government to prepare a code of practice containing guidance about the operation and management of private parking facilities.This government is determined to drive up standards in the private p...
Answered 20 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordLocal Government: DevonMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 17 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 20854More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to page 101 of the English Devolution White Paper, published on 16 December 2024, whether she plans to postpone local authority elections in Devon in 2025.
Answer: It is usual for the government to take account of requests for reorganisation, and to decide on the appropriateness of elections taking place to local authorities which are planned to be replaced, usually postponing to allow elections to the new shadow au...
Answered 27 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordMayors: South WestMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 17 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 20843More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans she has for establishing a mayor for Devon and Cornwall.
Answer: In September, the Government confirmed a non-mayoral devolution agreement with Cornwall and to establish a Combined County Authority in Devon & Torbay. These are important first steps for devolution in the region.We have set out the framework in the E...
Answered 27 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordMental Health Services: FinanceDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 16 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 20357More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding his Department plans to provide for meeting the Mental Health Investment Standard in the 2025-26 financial year.
Answer: We remain committed to the Mental Health Investment Standard. My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, will set out expectations for mental health funding, including the share of overall National Health Service expenditure in ...
Answered 8 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordAgriculture: Inheritance TaxTreasuryTabled 13 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 20074More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to (a) agricultural property relief and (b) business property relief on farm business productivity.
Answer: The Government published information about the reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief at www.gov.uk/government/publications/agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief-reforms. It is expected that up to around 2...
Answered 20 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordAgriculture: Food SupplyDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 13 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 20073More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the impact of family farms on food security.
Answer: Defra does not collect any farming data based on whether farms are owned by a family. Estimates are produced based on the economic size of farms (based on Standard Outputs*). The latest estimates show that in England in 2022, a small number of economicall...
Answered 24 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordAgriculture: SubsidiesDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 13 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 20072More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has conducted an impact assessment of the decision to accelerate reduction of direct payments to farming businesses.
Answer: The Government has committed to support farmers through a farming budget of £5 billion over two years, including £2.4 billion in 2025/26. Accelerating the phase out of Direct Payments will allow us to focus more of this funding on Environmental Land Manag...
Answered 17 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordCountryside Stewardship SchemeDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 13 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 20071More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he has taken to ensure timely payments from the Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier.
Answer: The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) began making payments to Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier agreement holders at the start of the December 2024, along with those in Countryside Stewardship Mid-Tier and Environmental Stewardship, with around £330 million ...
Answered 23 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordAgriculture: GrantsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 13 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 20070More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the closure of Capital Grant Applications on (a) farm productivity and (b) food security.
Answer: We have allocated the largest ever budget for sustainable food production through the farming budget. In the first week of December, we paid £343 million into the rural economy, benefiting more than 31,000 farmers. After unprecedented demand, parts of the...
Answered 18 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordRailways: DawlishDepartment for TransportTabled 13 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 20069More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what criteria her Department is using to assess the viability of the fifth phase of the Rail Resilience Programme for Dawlish.
Answer: Proposals for a fifth phase of the South West Rail Resilience Programme will be assessed against the criteria described in the document entitled ‘Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline - A New Approach for Rail Enhancements’ published in March 2018.
Answered 19 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordRailways: DawlishDepartment for TransportTabled 13 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 20068More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an estimate of the potential impact of the timing of the funding for phase five of the Dawlish Rail Resilience Programme on the cost of phase four of that programme; and whether she plans to se
Answer: Decisions in relation to a phase five of the South West Rail Resilience Programme do not impact the cost of phase four, for which all physical works have now been completed. Phase five is being considered as part of the Spending Review in 2025.
Answered 19 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordAgriculture: Inheritance TaxDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 13 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 20067More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will have discussions with the National Farmers' Union on their statistical information relating to changes to agricultural property relief.
Answer: We are listening to the sector to ensure their views are heard. Ministers and officials regularly meet with a range of farming stakeholders, including the National Farmers Union (NFU), the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), and the Tenant Farmer...
Answered 23 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordParking: RegulationMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 12 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 19896More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 11 December 2024 to Question 17651 on Parking: Regulation, what options her Department is reviewing to drive up standards in the private parking industr
Answer: As referenced in the answer to Question UIN 17651 on 11 December 2024, the Government is required by the Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 to publish a code of practice concerning guidance on the management of private parking facilities.At this time the...
Answered 19 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordAgriculture: Inheritance TaxDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 9 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 18731More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the NFU mass lobby on 19 November 2024.
Answer: Farmers are the backbone of Britain, and we recognise the strength of feeling expressed by farming and rural communities in recent weeks. We are steadfast in our commitment to Britain’s farming industry because food security is national security. It's why...
Answered 19 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordAgriculture: Overseas TradeDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 9 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 18730More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of (a) UK-US trade relations and (b) the incoming US administration on the agricultural sector.
Answer: The US is the UK’s single largest trading partner (with over £300 billion in trade) and the UK’s third largest export market for agri-food products, with trade worth over £2.5 billion. UK-US trade and investment is a vital part of this Government’s plan t...
Answered 31 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordPost OfficesDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 4 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 17939More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will ensure the Post Office withdraws the five-year Transformation Plan published on 13 November 2024..
Answer: While publicly owned, Post Office Limited is a commercial business that operates at arm’s length from Government. The Post Office's transformation plan aims to put the Post Office on a more stable financial footing for the future, including by reducing co...
Answered 16 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordVeterans: Radiation ExposureMinistry of DefenceTabled 4 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 17938More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will take steps to expedite compensation for nuclear test veterans.
Answer: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my noble Friend, the Minister for the Armed Forces (Luke Pollard), on 27 November 2024 to Question 15649 to the hon. Member for Dwyfor Meirionnydd (Liz Saville Roberts).
Answered 11 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordPolice and Crime CommissionersHome OfficeTabled 3 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 17655More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of replacing Police and Crime Commissioners with police panels.
Answer: Police and Crime Commissioners play a vital local role acting as the voice of the public and victims in policing, holding Chief Constables to account and leading local partnerships to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour. The government will continue t...
Answered 11 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordDevon and Cornwall Police: Public AppointmentsHome OfficeTabled 3 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 17654More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, If she will have discussions with the Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly on the adequacy of the system for appointing a Chief Constable for Devon and Cornwall Po
Answer: It is for locally elected Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to make decisions around appointing, suspending, and removing chief constables. The College of Policing updated the national Guidance for Appointing Chief Officers in February 2024 to ensure ...
Answered 11 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordPost Offices: ClosuresDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 3 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 17653More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will take steps to ensure post offices cannot be closed without seeking the views of local residents.
Answer: Post Office is committed to engaging and supporting its customers and their representatives when it makes changes to the Post Office network. When proposing any branch change in the network, Post Office invites comment on access. Feedback is reviewed befo...
Answered 10 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordPost OfficeDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 3 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 17652More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the written Statement of 5 November 2024 on Post Office Update, HCWS184, what work the external consultants have done; and what account the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Business
Answer: The Post Office faces a number of complex challenges. As set out on 13 November, Nigel Railton’s transformation plan aims to reduce Post Office’s central costs and deliver a real-terms increase in postmaster pay. As set out on 5 November, it is also impor...
Answered 18 Dec 2024
Original Parliament record
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