Every parliamentary written question tabled by Nick Timothy this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 701–720 of 956 · this parliament
What proportion of lighting on (a) motorways and (b) A roads has been replaced with LEDs in each year between 2014 and 2024; and what the cost to the public purse was of this work.
The answer could only be provided at a disproportionate cost.
Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2025 to Question 23517 on Crime: Westminster Bridge, what steps her Department is taking to tackle unlawful gambling on Westminster Bridge; and if she will initiate discussions with the relevant responsible authority.
Localised incidents of unlawful gambling such as those on Westminster Bridge are the responsibility of the relevant licensing authority and police force. In the case of Westminster Bridge, this is Westminster City Council and the Metropolitan Police. The Gambling Commission also provides guidance for licensing authorities about illegal gambling on its website.
Pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2025 to Question 23517 on Crime: Westminster Bridge, what role the Government has (a) in policing and (b) tackling crime within Whitehall’s Government Secure Zone; and whether Westminster Bridge is in the Government Secure Zone.
Departmental responsibility for tackling crime, whether on Westminster Bridge, or in the Hon Member’s own constituency of West Suffolk is a matter for the relevant local police force.
Innovation and Technology, with reference to Clean Power 2030 Action Plan, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the AI Opportunities Action Plan on future (a) instances of judicial review, (b) environmental impact assessments and (c) local planning decisions on grid infrastructure for new data centres.
The AI Opportunities Action Plan sets out measures to support AI infrastructure development, including tackling challenges like planning and energy access. As part of this, the Government is considering how best to ensure an efficient regulatory and planning framework while maintaining high environmental and legal standards. This includes engagement with local authorities and relevant regulators to explore ways to manage planning processes effectively, including for grid infrastructure linked to new data centres.
If she will make an estimate of the potential cost to the public purse for Highways England to decarbonise (a) internal operations by 2030, (b) road maintenance and construction by 2040, and (c) travel on roads by 2050.
The draft third Road Investment Strategy (RIS3), which will cover five years from April 2026 to March 2031, will be published in due course. This will set out the Government’s objectives for the Strategic Road Network and the funding available. This includes in relation to National Highways’ climate obligations and commitments.
How many electric vehicle pilots were administered by Highways England in each year between 2014 and 2024; and what the cost to the public purse was per pilot.
National Highways has an electric vehicle pilot working group. It has undertaken 3 electric vehicle trials as follows: 2023 – present: £337,382.832024 – present: £453,487.402024 – present: £16,206.05 The first two pilot projects listed were supported via the National Highways designated funds programme to support its commitment to progress towards a zero-emission fleet. The third pilot was provided as a business demonstrator, provided on a loan basis by the vehicle manufacturer.
If she will list all (a) start and (b) end dates for lease agreements held by Highways England for their vehicle fleet.
National Highways does not currently have any lease agreements for vehicles in place for its vehicle fleet.
What discussions his Department has had with (a) Highways England and (b) Distribution Network Operators on steps to accelerate the upgrades to substations near charging points on (i) motorways and (ii) A roads.
Government is committed to accelerating the rollout of EV charging infrastructure to support long journeys in line with ambitions for a zero emission car, van and HGV fleet. Access to a comprehensive ultra-rapid chargepoint network will enable more consumers to confidently purchase electric vehicles. There has been good progress on chargepoints on our Strategic Road Network (SRN), covering motorways and major A Roads in England. There are now over 4,500 rapid and ultra rapid chargers within one mile of the strategic road network, a major increase since January 2022 (Zapmap). Within this, there are over 1,100 open-access rapid and ultra-rapid chargepoints (industry data) at motorway service areas in England, which is an over 40% increase in the last year. Government is taking a range of actions to support improvements in charging infrastructure on the SRN, including to address gaps in the network, and has been engaging closely with industry, including distribution network operators (DNOs). This includes working with Ofgem and distribution network operators to develop a new, more affordable, approach so power capacity use at charging sites can be increased over time in line with demand, and on the Green Recovery Scheme, a £300m scheme to accelerate network investment. Government has worked with National Highways to deliver a joint Energy Storage Systems (ESS) project (£11m) to fund batteries, and on a £70m pilot scheme to part-fund grid upgrades, both to support charging at motorway sites.
If she will make an estimate of the number and proportion of Highways England vehicles that were (a) petrol, (b) diesel, (c) hydrogen, (d) hybrid, (e) plug-in hybrid and (f) fully electric in each year between 2014 and 2024.
National Highways keeps records of the vehicles that make up its fleet; the breakdown of vehicle fuel type between 2014 and 2024 can be found in the table below. Vehicle TypeYearPetrolDieselHydrogenHybridPlug-in HybridFully Electric20140685000020150717000020160730000120170755000120180784000120190826003512020083300312192021083300440202022076200616392023059700811572024046000883132 National Highways have an ambitious plan for their non-traffic officer vehicles to be 100% electric by 2027, with traffic officer vehicles to be 100% electric by 2030 (as laid out in their Net zero highways: our 2030 / 2040 / 2050 plan).
Whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of building new data centres on (a) sites of decommissioned power stations and (b) other brownfield sites.
The suitability of any site for a data centre depends on a number of factors including grid capacity, state of grid infrastructure and availability of data connectivity. Future AI Growth Zones will be selected taking into account these factors.
What assessment he has made of the potential impact of his policies on the construction of off-grid infrastructure for new data centres, including on (a) gas-fired power plants, (b) nuclear power plants, (c) small modular reactors, and (d) renewables.
Data centres are normally connected to the transmission and distribution grid rather than off-grid connection as this gives them resilience to planned and forced outages of an individual power source. Consequently, my Department has not made any assessment of off-grid infrastructure requirements.
Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2025 to Question 23517, on Crime: Westminster Bridge, what steps her Department is taking to tackle unlawful street vendors on Westminster Bridge; and if she will initiate discussions with the relevant responsible authority.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 9942 on 22 November 2024.
How many people of what (a) nationality and (b) ethnicity were found guilty of (i) murder and (ii) manslaughter in each year since 2010.
Data on those convicted of murder or manslaughter, up to 30 June 2024, can be found in the principle offence proceedings and ‘Outcomes by Offence’ data tool, available at: Outcomes by Offence data tool: June 2024. In the 'Outcomes by Offences' document, select the `Overall volumes’ page, then select the offence filter. Select '1 Murder' and then separately, '4.1 Manslaughter'. The number of convictions for murder or manslaughter for each year can be found in the `Convicted’ row. Data on ethnicity can also be viewed using the 'ethnicity' filter. Data on nationality is not collated by the Ministry of Justice. To do so could only be achieved at disproportionate cost.
With reference to the press release entitled Government reaffirms commitment to Free Speech in universities, published by her Department on 15 January 2025, what the terms of reference are for the (a) review of the overseas transparency provisions of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 and (b) assessment of the existing approaches to managing foreign interference.
This government is committed to ensuring our world leading universities remain free from foreign interference. Providers should expect the Office for Students (OfS) to take regulatory action if they allow foreign governments to interfere in free speech or academic freedom. To support this, the OfS can already request information from providers about overseas arrangements, including financial transactions, if they are relevant to a potential breach. The new complaints scheme being implemented as part of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act will also offer a new focused route for concerns to be raised.There are a range of wider measures and guidance for the sector to support secure international collaboration. This includes the Academic Technology Approval Scheme, advice provided by the Research Collaboration Advisory Team based within the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, and powers in the National Security and Investment Act 2021 to scrutinise and intervene in business transactions. Further guidance includes that published by the National Protective Security Authority and Universities UK on managing the security-related risks of internationalisation.The government is now working at pace on the implementation of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, which will apply to universities across the UK and will require registration of foreign-directed activity involving specific governments and entities where it is necessary to protect the safety or interests of the UK. The scheme is expected to commence in summer 2025.Any additional regulatory ask on providers needs to add value to these existing and upcoming protections and not duplicate reporting requirements. This is why the government is conducting an internal review, informed by engagement with the regulator, sector, academics impacted by foreign interference and international partners, to assess existing approaches to managing the risk of foreign interference and what more support they might need. The department will keep open options around the commencement of the overseas funding measures as we work carefully on this.
What assessment (a) his Department and (b) its arms-length bodies has made of the potential impact of grid-scale battery energy storage solution systems on the safety of nearby residential units.
I refer the hon Member to the answer I gave to UIN 24989.
What the (a) start and (b) end dates are of all lease agreements held by NHS ambulance trusts for (i) ambulances and (ii) other vehicles.
The information requested is not held centrally.
What estimate he has made of the staff time taken in ambulance trusts to meet the target for the NHS to reach net zero by 2040, broken down by (a) FTE positions and (b) salary.
The information requested is not held centrally. No estimate has been made.
How many (a) electric ambulances and (b) other electric vehicles were there in the ambulance service fleet for (i) England, (ii) the East and (iii) Suffolk in each year between 2014 and 2024.
The following two tables show the number of electric double-crewed ambulances and other emergency vehicles for England and the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust, respectively, from 2019/20 to 2023/24:EnglandYearNumberDouble-crewed ambulance2019/2002021/2212022/2312023/242Other emergency fleet2019/2012021/22312022/23802023/24150 East of England Ambulance TrustYearNumberDouble-crewed ambulance2019/2002021/2202022/2302023/240Other emergency vehicle2019/2002021/2202022/2302023/242 Notes: there will be some variation in numbers when comparing between years due to different levels of data quality and completeness in the data collections.Data is only held for the years included in the tables, and information is not available for the Suffolk geographical area.
How many vehicles other than ambulances used by the NHS were (a) petrol, (b), diesel, (c) hydrogen, (d) hybrid, (e) plug-in hybrid and (f) fully electric in (i) England, (ii) East of England and (iii) Suffolk in each of the last 10 years.
The information requested is not held centrally.
If he will publish a list of the (a) name and (b) postcode of all ambulance depots in (i) England, (ii) East of England and (iii) Suffolk; and how many (A) ambulances and (B) other vehicles are based at each depot.
A table showing the names, postcodes, and operating foundation trusts of all ambulance depots in England, including the East of England and Suffolk, is attached. Information on the number of vehicles at each depot is not held centrally.