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What progress has been made on improving access to broadband for rural communities.
What progress has been made on improving access to broadband for rural communities.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to dual the A17 between Newark and Sleaford.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to dual the A17 between Newark and Sleaford.
What assessment she has made of the safety of people from Burundi in refugee camps in neighbouring countries.
What assessment she has made of the safety of people from Burundi in refugee camps in neighbouring countries.
May I associate myself with the remarks of the shadow Secretary of State about the Secretary of State, and with the remarks about standing in solidarity with Istanbul?
More than a quarter of a million Burundians have fled their country since 2015. We remain very concerned about their wellbeing, which is why we are the second largest bilateral donor to the regional refugee appeal.
My hon. Friend will be aware of reports over recent months of Burundian refugees being followed over the border into camps and attacked by those from whom they have tried to flee, often to punish remaining family members or silence those with stories of abuse. What are the Government doing to offer support to authorities and non-governmental organisations running refugee camps in Rwanda, Tanzania and other neighbouring countries to ensure that those fleeing Burundi are safe?
My hon. Friend will be aware of reports over recent months of Burundian refugees being followed over the border into camps and attacked by those from whom they have tried to flee, often to punish remaining family members or silence those with stories of abuse. What are the Government doing to offer support to authorities and non-governmental organisations running refugee camps in Rwanda, Tanzania and other neighbouring countries to ensure that those fleeing Burundi are safe?
I thank my hon. and learned Friend for that question. We are aware of the reports. Indeed, I have spoken personally to a number of Burundian refugees in camps, and we have made it very clear to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees that we expect it to protect all refugees, and in Rwanda we have funded it to provide additional protection in the Mahama region refugee camp.
If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
My hon. Friend will be aware of the valuable and essential work done by African Union troops to prevent and ameliorate conflicts all over Africa—work that is also essential for this country. Will she update the House on the support being provided to the AU by the UK to assist with its peacekeeping role?
My hon. Friend will be aware of the valuable and essential work done by African Union troops to prevent and ameliorate conflicts all over Africa—work that is also essential for this country. Will she update the House on the support being provided to the AU by the UK to assist with its peacekeeping role?
My hon. and learned Friend affords me the opportunity to pay tribute to our armed forces who are training the Rwandan defence force as well as the African Union’s Eastern Africa Standby Force. The training that we are providing is there to help security sector reform and enhance their capabilities for peace operations and disaster relief.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the effect of the Government's steps to tackle aggressive tax avoidance on the revenues derived from general taxation.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the effect of the Government's steps to tackle aggressive tax avoidance on the revenues derived from general taxation.
During this Parliament, we have already announced that we will legislate for more than 25 measures to tackle avoidance and evasion, which are forecast to raise £16 billion by 2021.
During the last Parliament, we made over 40 changes to tax law, closing down loopholes and introducing major reforms to the UK tax system. These were forecast to have raised £12 billion by 2016.
During the last Parliament, as a result of actions to tackle tax evasion, tax avoidance, aggressive tax planning and non-compliance, HM Revenue and Customs secured around £100 billion in additional compliance revenue. This includes over £38 billion from big businesses and £1.2 billion extra from the UK’s richest people.
What steps the Commission is taking to encourage the creation of an online booking system for tours of the Palace of Westminster sponsored by hon. Members.
What steps the Commission is taking to encourage the creation of an online booking system for tours of the Palace of Westminster sponsored by hon. Members.
I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for that answer. I am pretty sure that colleagues with rural constituencies will have numerous examples, as I do, of problems with Rural Payments Agency delays. I wish to raise the particular case of my constituent, Mrs Musson, who has been left in severe financial difficulties this year due to her payment being delayed, and has had extraordinary difficulty contacting the RPA, as far too many farmers do. The response I had from the RPA was that the payment would come “in due course” and that my constituent should call the agency for hardship assistance, yet that is precisely what she has been unable to do. What assurances can my right hon. Friend give me and my constituents that farmers will not be left in such dire straits in the future, that the relevant help will be more easily available and that the RPA will be more easily contactable?
I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for that answer. I am pretty sure that colleagues with rural constituencies will have numerous examples, as I do, of problems with Rural Payments Agency delays. I wish to raise the particular case of my constituent, Mrs Musson, who has been left in severe financial difficulties this year due to her payment being delayed, and has had extraordinary difficulty contacting the RPA, as far too many farmers do. The response I had from the RPA was that the payment would come “in due course” and that my constituent should call the agency for hardship assistance, yet that is precisely what she has been unable to do. What assurances can my right hon. Friend give me and my constituents that farmers will not be left in such dire straits in the future, that the relevant help will be more easily available and that the RPA will be more easily contactable?
I thank my hon. and learned Friend for his question. All eligible farmers should have received a bridging payment by the end of April, and if this is an ongoing issue for his constituent, I would be happy to assist directly. This has been the first year of implementation of the new common agricultural policy system. All payments need to be made within the payment window between December and June, and all payments will be made within that window. I appreciate that farmers are struggling with cash flow because of this year’s low commodity prices, which is why we have put in place bridging payments for those final few farmers who have not yet received payments. All that data are now on the system, so 2016 will be much more straightforward and we should be able to pay farmers much earlier in the payment window.
What recent assessment she has made of the effect on the farming community of delays in payments by the Rural Payments Agency.
What recent assessment she has made of the effect on the farming community of delays in payments by the Rural Payments Agency.
All farmers in England have received their full payment or a bridging payment of half their expected claim. Overall, 90% of eligible farmers have received full payment.
What plans the Government has to encourage cycling in rural areas.
What plans the Government has to encourage cycling in rural areas.
On 27 March—during the Easter break, when people had plenty of time to read it—we published the draft “Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy.” We want everyone in the country, including people in rural areas, to have access to safe, attractive cycling routes. Local authorities have a detailed understanding of their roads, and are well placed to decide how best to provide for cyclists on them.
If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
Every time I come across Network Rail, it seems to have a great deal of power, but to be utterly unaccountable to central Government. As we are seeing in Lincolnshire, that power can be used to frustrate growth infrastructure schemes that have the support of local authorities. What can the Minister do to ensure that Network Rail does not act to stop schemes that are in the best interests of local people and supported by local authorities?
Every time I come across Network Rail, it seems to have a great deal of power, but to be utterly unaccountable to central Government. As we are seeing in Lincolnshire, that power can be used to frustrate growth infrastructure schemes that have the support of local authorities. What can the Minister do to ensure that Network Rail does not act to stop schemes that are in the best interests of local people and supported by local authorities?
The best schemes are those that are strongly supported by local authorities, local enterprise partnerships and local businesses. Network Rail is in a new phase in which route responsibility will be devolved, and it will work to a set of investment plans that are agreed, based on important bottom-up analysis.
Safe and attractive cycling routes are important, but a number of constituents who are keen cyclists have written to me about the problem of potholes, of which I have personal experience—and a scar to prove it, although I do not intend to show my hon. Friend where it is. Will he join me in welcoming the £28.4 million that Lincolnshire County Council will receive this year for highways maintenance, and will he also encourage highways officers in Lincolnshire to continue to do what they can to reduce the risk posed by these dangerous potholes?
Safe and attractive cycling routes are important, but a number of constituents who are keen cyclists have written to me about the problem of potholes, of which I have personal experience—and a scar to prove it, although I do not intend to show my hon. Friend where it is. Will he join me in welcoming the £28.4 million that Lincolnshire County Council will receive this year for highways maintenance, and will he also encourage highways officers in Lincolnshire to continue to do what they can to reduce the risk posed by these dangerous potholes?
Lincolnshire is a wonderful county for cycling, not least because it is relatively flat. The Government have allocated substantial funds for the repair of potholes, but I would encourage local authorities to concentrate on how effectively they are using that money. There is some good new technology out there which will mean that potholes can not only be repaired but stay repaired. We often hear stories about potholes being temporarily repaired and then opening up again very quickly.
What measures he has put in place to improve the quality of service housing.
What measures he has put in place to improve the quality of service housing.
My Department is committed to improving the quality of service family accommodation provided to our service personnel and their families. We have been working closely with Carillion Amey to deliver those improvements. Work to improve accommodation has resulted in the upgrading of some 3,000 homes through complete refurbishment and the separate installation of around 10,000 new kitchens, bathrooms, and central heating systems.
I will be short, Mr Speaker—which may be why you did not see me earlier.
Service housing is absolutely critical not only to the wellbeing of our servicemen and women and their families, but to their morale. Carillion Amey has been an appalling contractor, and I know that the Department has taken this issue seriously. May I encourage my hon. Friend to continue to be robust, and to take the contract away from it unless and until it starts to discharge its obligations properly?
I will be short, Mr Speaker—which may be why you did not see me earlier.
Service housing is absolutely critical not only to the wellbeing of our servicemen and women and their families, but to their morale. Carillion Amey has been an appalling contractor, and I know that the Department has taken this issue seriously. May I encourage my hon. Friend to continue to be robust, and to take the contract away from it unless and until it starts to discharge its obligations properly?
My hon. and learned Friend is absolutely right to highlight the poor performance of Carillion Amey to date. I am determined, as indeed is the Secretary of State, to improve this matter, which
is why we will continue to work closely with Carillion Amey. I can reassure my hon. and learned Friend that Carillion Amey has committed to meet all the key performance indicators across the suite of the next generation estate contracts, including the national housing prime contract, by the end of May 2016.
What assessment the Commission has made of the value for money of the National Audit Office.
What assessment the Commission has made of the value for money of the National Audit Office.
The Public Accounts Commission, which I have the honour to chair, sets a strategy and budget for the National Audit Office. We assess the NAO’s performance against a range of measures. To highlight just three, the NAO’s work results in large savings for the taxpayer; in 2014, its work led to externally validated savings of £1.15 billion, which is £18 for every pound it costs to fund the NAO. Secondly, it has done this while at the same time reducing its own costs by 27%. Finally, the NAO is itself subject to annual value-for-money studies by its external auditor.
As my hon. Friend says, for every pound we spend on the NAO, the NAO saves the taxpayer £18. The Comptroller and Auditor General has been very pessimistic in his budget estimation for next year in seeking to reduce his budget. Does my hon. Friend agree that, given that we get £18 back for every pound we spend on it, we should spend more on the NAO, not less?
As my hon. Friend says, for every pound we spend on the NAO, the NAO saves the taxpayer £18. The Comptroller and Auditor General has been very pessimistic in his budget estimation for next year in seeking to reduce his budget. Does my hon. Friend agree that, given that we get £18 back for every pound we spend on it, we should spend more on the NAO, not less?
I am grateful to my hon. and learned Friend for that question, but the Comptroller and Auditor General and I are very mindful of the economic situation and of advice given to us by the Treasury, although I should say that as a body the NAO is entirely independent of the Treasury, about financial pressures. Above all, we believe that the NAO should practise what it preaches. I have assured the Comptroller and Auditor General—I say this to my hon. and learned Friend who asks a very serious question—that if extra work comes his way, such as auditing the BBC, I will not stand in his way to getting extra resources to do the job on behalf of this Parliament.
My right hon. Friend the Sports Minister pro tem will have seen yesterday’s suggestion from distinguished luminaries in the medical world—including from places such as the University of the Pacific, wherever that might be—that we ban any form of tackling in rugby in schools. Does he agree that it is time to stop this mollycoddling of young people, and, while doing all we can to ensure that sport is safe, to let schools get on with teaching contact sports and the values that they represent?
My right hon. Friend the Sports Minister pro tem will have seen yesterday’s suggestion from distinguished luminaries in the medical world—including from places such as the University of the Pacific, wherever that might be—that we ban any form of tackling in rugby in schools. Does he agree that it is time to stop this mollycoddling of young people, and, while doing all we can to ensure that sport is safe, to let schools get on with teaching contact sports and the values that they represent?
My hon. and learned Friend will be well aware that the Government are committed to ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to get involved in sport from a young age, provided that it is made available within a safe environment. The Department for Education is responsible for sport in schools. Rugby and many other sports always carry an element of risk, and we expect those supervising sport at that level to ensure the safety of all participants. He will be interested to note that as part of our strategy on sport and physical activity, a full review of the duty of care in sport is to be carried out, chaired by Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson.
If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.