Frequently Asked Questions
Campaign groups like 38 degrees often organise e-mail write-in campaigns to MPs. Harriett welcomes these campaigns as they give her a good sense of what her constituents care about. However, they often end up in Parliament’s e-mail spam folder, so here is a list of replies to Frequently Asked E-Mail Questions which constituents can refer to while the e-mails are retrieved, compiled and replied to.
NHS Risk Register
EU Referendum
Women’s state pension age
Planning Reform
NHS in England
BSkyB takeover by Newscorp
Fish Fight
Off-Grid Energy
Fair fuel
Risks and benefits related to the Health and Social Care Bill are already in the public domain in the Department of Health’s impact assessments, and are available on the Department’s website (www.dh.gov.uk by searching for ‘Health and Social Care Bill: combined impact assessments.’) These have been updated as recently as September.
Regardless of the Whip, I will not be voting for the motion, as I stood for election on the Conservative manifesto which stated the following:
“The European Union has done much to reconcile the painful division of Europe and to spread democracy and the rule of law across our continent. But it should not rest on those achievements.
European countries need to work together to boost global economic growth, fight global poverty, and combat global climate change. The European Union has a crucial part to play in enabling the countries of Europe to meet these great challenges of the 21st century. A Conservative government will play an active and energetic role in the European Union to advance these causes.
We will stand for open markets, and a strong transatlantic relationship; for an EU that looks out to the world, and that builds strong and open relations with rising powers like China and India. And, like every other Member State, we will fight our corner to promote our national interests.
We will be positive members of the European Union but we are clear that there should be no further extension of the EU’s power over the UK without the British people’s consent. We will ensure that by law no future government can hand over areas of power to the EU or join the Euro without a referendum of the British people. We will work to bring back key powers over legal rights, criminal justice and social and employment legislation to the UK.
We believe Britain’s interests are best served by membership of a European Union that is an association of its Member States. We will never allow Britain to slide into a federal Europe. Labour’s ratification of the Lisbon Treaty without the consent of the British people has been a betrayal of this country’s democratic traditions. In government, we will put in place a number of measures to make sure this shameful episode can never happen again.
In future, the British people must have their say on any transfer of powers to the European Union. We will amend the 1972 European Communities Act so that any proposed future Treaty that transferred areas of power, or competences, would be subject to a referendum – a ‘referendum lock’. A Conservative government would never take the UK into the Euro. Our amendment to the 1972 Act will prevent any future government from doing so without a referendum.
Unlike other European countries, the UK does not have a written constitution. We will introduce a United Kingdom Sovereignty Bill to make it clear that ultimate authority stays in this country, in our Parliament. The Lisbon Treaty contains a number of so called ‘ratchet clauses’, which allow the powers of the EU to expand in the future without a new Treaty. We do not believe that any of these ‘ratchet clauses’ should be used to hand over more powers from Britain to the EU. So a Conservative government will not agree to the UK’s participation in the establishment of a European Public Prosecutor’s Office or permit its jurisdiction over the UK. We will change the 1972 Act so that an Act of Parliament would be required before any ‘ratchet clause’ could be used. Additionally, the use of a major ‘ratchet clause’ which amounted to the transfer of an area of power to the EU would be subject to a referendum.
The steady and unaccountable intrusion of the European Union into almost every aspect of our lives has gone too far. A Conservative government will negotiate for three specific guarantees – on the Charter of Fundamental Rights, on criminal justice, and on social and employment legislation – with our European partners to return powers that we believe should reside with the UK, not the EU. We seek a mandate to negotiate the return of these powers from the EU to the UK.”
Having said this, we do need to ensure that we curtail, and in some cases, reverse the movement of power from Westminster to Brussels. In its first year of office, the Coalition Government passed an extremely important law to prevent any further transfer of powers to Brussels without a referendum. This was a major milestone in our relationship with the EU, ending once and for all the creeping powers of Brussels. The Foreign Secretary, William Hague, who was himself at the heart of the campaign to keep the pound and prevent the UK joining the single currency, has already said that we will look for opportunities to repatriate powers as part of any substantive change to the EU treaty. We are also working hard to ensure that regulations emanating from Brussels are implemented minimally without being gold-plated by government departments.
While I recognise that people feel very strongly about the EU. I understand the views of those who may believe we should leave the EU, after careful of consideration of what is in the best interests of the British people, in my judgement, now is not the time for the uncertainty, cost and disruption of such a referendum. Rest assured, I will continue to press the Government to bring back powers from Brussels and insist on reform to the EU.
The Government has listened to the representations you made through me and has made a change to the timetable. Although the State Pension Age is still rising to 66 for both men and women, the Government will cap the increase for each individual affected to a maximum of 18 months. This delays the date from April 2020 to October 2020.
The move will benefit a quarter of a million women and almost the same number of men and is expected to cost £1.1billion.
The Government has brought forward the increase in the state pension age to 66 because of the dramatic increase in life expectancy and the need to ensure that no unfair burden is placed on the next generation.
I am pleased that the government has listened to the concerns of those most affected by the increase in State Pension Age.
The Government is also planning to spend an extra £45billion on pensioners by 2025 because of the “triple guarantee” to uprate the basic State Pension by the highest of earnings, prices, or 2.5%.
The existing planning system, inherited from the previous administration, creates a lack of opportunity for residents to influence the nature of local development. Unfortunately, this has resulted in a genuine sense of disempowerment and a resistance to the notion of development, irrespective of its potential benefits.
The Coalition Government is committed to decentralising power to local people and making the planning process more accessible to them. The Government is abolishing Labour’s unpopular Regional Strategies via the Localism Bill, protecting the Green Belt from top-down removal in 30 towns and cities across England. These were imposing 24,500 new build homes on South Worcestershire.
The Localism Bill introduces an entirely new regime of neighbourhood planning, which is designed to give people far more influence in the planning system than is currently possible. Once in place, this will help to determine and shape local development, such as the location of new shops, offices and schools or the provision of more open green space. The Localism Bill is currently in the House of Lords, but the three South Worcestershire Councils have already prepared a draft Local Plan, based on local projections of housing need rather than top-down impositions from the Region. This draft Local Plan is out for consultation until November 18th 2011, and I do urge you to get involved and send in your views to the consultation.
National Government is also consulting on plans to condense the 1,000 pages of confusing and contradictory planning guidance to a succinct 52-page policy document, called the National Planning Policy Framework. This new document demonstrates the Government’s commitment to protecting our natural and historic environment. It safeguards valued national protection such as Green Belt, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Sites of Special Scientific Interest, as well as ensuring measures which protect wildlife, biodiversity, cultural heritage and which tackle light pollution. It also proposes a new designation to protect local green spaces in need of special protection, which I believe will be welcomed in our area The NPPF would only apply if we can’t agree a local plan. I have also had confirmation from the Minister that we can protect prime agricultural land in our local plans.
The Framework explicitly attaches great importance to Green Belts in safeguarding the countryside from encroachment and checking the unrestricted sprawl of large built-up areas. It also directly states that local plans should minimise adverse effects on the local or natural environment. I will be suggesting that Malvern Hills District Council create new Green Belt between Kempsey, Lower Broadheath, Hallow and Worcester.
These practical changes are part of a series of broader reforms to drive sustainable development, to promote local economic growth and protect the environment. Local firms and local communities are currently hindered by a planning system that can be slow, costly and gives them no certainty. Yet development will not be allowed if it is clearly in conflict with the environmental and other safeguards in the Framework and in the Local Plan.
I can assure you that ultimately, local communities will be the driving seat by being able to influence the shape of their local communities, supported by the innovation of neighbourhood planning – increasing the involvement of local residents across our local areas.
Implications of Government proposals for NHS in England
I am unsure as to the basis of the latest concerns expressed by 38 Degrees. First, 38 Degrees suggests that the Health and Social Care Bill, “removes the Secretary of State’s duty to provide”. However, 38 Degrees’ own legal advice states that the Secretary of State has never had such a duty to provide. Therefore, the Health and Social Care Bill makes no changes to the Secretary of State’s duty to provide, because it never existed in the first place.
Second, 38 Degrees suggests that the Health and Social Care Bill opens up the NHS to competition law. However, once again, 38 Degrees’s own legal advice states that competition law already applies to the NHS. Private companies are already involved in many ways in the NHS - in the development of the medicines we are prescribed, the machines that scan and test us and indeed, GPs are usually independent groups. I am keen for constituents in West Worcestershire to receive the best quality care, adn this may sometimes be from a private provider.
I hope you agree with me that 38 Degrees’s concerns are without foundation, as their own legal advice has confirmed. Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.
Unless you have been on the moon for the last two weeks, you should be aware that the BSkyB bid has been dropped and a public inquiry has been established. Here is a link to details of the inquiry.
Throwing dead fish back into the sea is a terrible waste. It is disruptive to marine ecosystems, ethically wrong and damages the viability of fishermen. The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) needs to be radically overhauled to overcome this and many other problems facing the marine environment and the fishing industry.
I support Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Fish Fight campaign. We must all play our part in maintaining healthy fish stocks for future generations and allowing our fishermen to make a sustainable living.
The Government are pressing for radical reform of the CFP. The solution to discards will most effectively be achieved with Member States working together at the European level, so that the same rules apply to all. Ending the waste of discards is a high priority when CFP reform negotiations begin later this year.
The Government are not just reacting to a high profile campaign. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has been driving initiatives to tackle this problem with a phased programme of projects that tackle the various reasons why fishermen discard. These reasons range from throwing back fish that are too small or discarding species that are not commercially viable.
A lot of work is being done by the Government and industry working together to address the problem through avoiding catching unwanted fish in the first place. DEFRA funded “Project 50%” in the South West to get participating fishermen to design more selective nets. This resulted in dramatic reductions in discards and the landing of better quality fish. Experience tells us that fishermen are willing to use different gear modifications that avoid pressure stocks if incentivised in the right way.
The Government have also been testing a new catch quota system which significantly reduces discards of small, juvenile fish and ensures that fishermen do not continue to fish once they have caught their quota. This is a completely different way of managing fisheries. It encourages fishermen to be more selective – effectively they catch less but can land more. A win-win situation. Positive outcomes so far resulted in a successful EU meeting in December to expand the trial in 2011 and we are looking to significantly increase participation.
Furthermore, a DEFRA research project “Fishing for the Market” is seeking to encourage consumers to try a wider range of fish, to reduce discards of unpopular species. This project is the result of the scientific analysis of discards data which showed that a large proportion of discards are due to there being little or no market value for certain stocks. The recent ‘Fish Fight’ campaign has usefully called attention to the many delicious species of fish which are not currently marketed and are often discarded. By encouraging the sustainable consumption of these under-utilised species we may also take the pressure off more popular choices, such as cod.
In addition, we are looking at domestic fisheries reform, aiming to liberate fishermen from current micro-management and give them greater certainty and responsibility for quota management in the future. This will empower local fleets to make the most of a fishery for the social and economic benefits it provides to their community. Models such Community Interest Companies or co-operatives offer the potential to safeguard and promote small scale fleets and the communities they support. The Government will be consulting on a number of potential solutions in England in March.
UPDATE 16 May 2011
Update on the Fish Fight Campaign and the motion on Fish Discards and the Common Fisheries Policy in the House of Commons on Thursday 12 May.
The motion was agreed unopposed. Throwing dead fish back into the sea is a terrible waste. It is disruptive to marine ecosystems, ethically wrong and damages the viability of the fishing industry. The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) needs to be overhauled to overcome this problem but Ministers are not waiting for reform of the CFP to make progress on this issue.
A special meeting of EU ministers was held in March 2011 on fish discards – the UK is keen to lead the way in seeing an end to this disgraceful waste of huge amounts of fish. The European Commission is aiming to finalise its proposals this year.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has various initiatives to tackle the problem of fish discards. Projects include funding “Project 50%” to get participating fishermen to design more selective nets. This has resulted in dramatic reductions in discards. The Government has also been testing a new catch quota system which reduces discards of small, juvenile fish and ensures that fishermen do not continue to fish once they have caught their quota. Another project, “Fishing for the Market”, is seeking to encourage consumers to try a wider range of fish, to reduce discards of unpopular species.
Also, in April Defra launched a public consultation on fisheries management reform in England. More information and details about how you can respond to the consultation can be found here:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/consult/2011/04/05/fisheries-1104/
The Government is working hard to find long term solutions to this problem. The solution to discards will most effectively be achieved with Member States working together at European level, so that the same rules apply to all. Ending the waste of discards is a high priority. I hope you have also contacted the Members of the European Parliament for the region as they are part of the EU law making process and their support in bringing about any change is vital.
Letter from Charles Hendry, Minister for Energy
OFF-GRID ENERGY
The recent severe weather has caused significant concern about the domestic oil market and the liquefied petroleum gas market. I fully recognise the difficulties people have experienced with rising prices and supply problems.
Underlying many of the complaints are concerns about the challenges of supplying oil and gas to rural communities and whether the current market structure provides the reassurance that consumers can get fuels for heating when needed at a price they can afford.
The Office of Fair Trading is currently consulting on its annual plan to help determine its work programme for 2011/12. This includes proposals to prioritise markets impacted by high, rising and volatile commodity prices. The off-gas grid energy market is clearly one such affected market.
In response to the Office of Fair Trading consultation and mindful of the various issues highlighted by the recent severe weather, I have written to the Office of Fair Trading asking it to bring forward its competition and consumer study into off-grid energy. In addition, I have asked the Office of Fair Trading if the study could explore the longer term consumer issues such as lifetime payback, consumer standards and labelling for alternative energy sources or supplies. Such a study would provide an independent assessment of the off-grid market and establish what further action may be necessary to ensure it works properly.
I welcome the Office of Fair Trading’s support for this area, and look forward to seeing its conclusions in advance of next winter so the lessons from this winter can be learned and any necessary changes made.”
Charles Hendry MP
Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change
As the representative of a rural constituency, I am particularly concerned about this issue, raising it in debates, parliamentary questions and in correspondence and meetings with the Chancellor.
Whilst I am heartened by reports by the Department for Transport and RAC which have demonstrated that the cost of motoring has gone down in real terms over recent years, I understand why fuel prices continue to be a particular concern for motorists, especially for those of us living in rural areas and those who travel frequently as part of their business.
The recent increase in the international price of oil has come at a time when the previous government’s increases in fuel duty are still being implemented and the increase in VAT on January 1st has also had an effect. The increase VAT a tough decision made in light of the dire state of the public finances inherited from the previous Government. Although petrol is cheaper than many countries in Europe, the UK is the ninth most expensive place to buy petrol in the EU.
The Chancellor understands the increased pressure these rises put on motorists. In 2010 he asked the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) to undertake an assessment of the effect of oil price fluctuations on the public finances and the possibility of a fair fuel stabiliser. The Treasury is considering the OBR’s assessment and will take a decision in the Budget on 23 March. Any fuel duty announcements are also a matter for the Budget.
The Government also intends to introduce a pilot scheme that will deliver a maximum of 5p per litre duty discount on petrol and diesel in remote rural areas. Ministers are currently considering the exact scope of the pilots and at present have announced their intention to include the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, and the Isles of Scilly. The Government will report back to the House, in due course, prior to submitting a formal proposal on the scope and design of the scheme to the European Commission.
Many people have also raised the national disparity in fuel pricing. The Government, however, only sets the rate of tax and not the price of fuel. The oil companies, fuel suppliers and station owners are those responsible for individual prices. Considerations to set the price depend on the oil supplier, the distance from the oil refinery, the cost of transportation to the depot and then petrol station, local business rates and costs and the prevalence of local competition. In rural areas the price of fuel is sometimes 5 pence higher than in urban areas and I have written to the Office of Fair Trading about this.
I welcome the Prime Minister’s call for a fair fuel stabiliser to be appraised and I am glad that the Government is looking into the possibility of stabilising fuel prices. I await the Treasury’s assessment with interest and look forward to the Chancellor making an announcement.
