Pulse.Assent

The Secretary of State today announced that he has asked Trevor Reaney to provide him with advice on pay for Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly in the absence of an Executive and sitting Assembly. The Secretary of State was speaking during the Second Reading of the Northern Ireland Budget Bill.

Mr Reaney, a former Clerk and Chief Executive of the Northern Ireland Assembly and a current member of the National Assembly for Wales Remuneration Board, will provide this advice. The Secretary of State’s letter sets out the scope of the requested advice.

The Government has taken further steps to provide clarity and certainty as we leave the European Union by announcing a new Bill to enshrine the Withdrawal Agreement between the UK and the EU in domestic law.

In this afternoon’s statement to the House on the latest round of Brexit negotiations, the Secretary of State for Exiting the EU, David Davis outlined plans for the Withdrawal Agreement and Implementation Bill.

This confirms that the major policies set out in the Withdrawal Agreement will be directly implemented into domestic law by primary legislation – not by secondary legislation under the EU (Withdrawal) Bill. This will allow for Parliamentary scrutiny and oversight of the process.

The Secretary of State for Exiting the EU, David Davis said:

We have always said we will do whatever is necessary to prepare for our exit, including bringing forward further legislation, and that is exactly what we are doing.

This is another important step that demonstrates our pragmatic approach to getting our house in order as we leave the EU.

By announcing this Bill, we are providing clarity and certainty – both in the negotiations and at home – about the final agreement being put into UK law.

As we move forward, we stand ready to work with MPs from across the House to ensure a smooth, and orderly exit from the EU that is effectively scrutinised by Parliament.

The exact details of the Withdrawal Agreement are the subject of ongoing and future negotiations and cannot be known until those negotiations are near completion.

Therefore a Bill separate to the EU (Withdrawal) Bill is required to legislate for our withdrawal arrangements and planned Implementation Period.

The Bill is expected to cover the contents of the Withdrawal Agreement, including issues such as an agreement on citizens’ rights, any financial settlement and the details of an implementation period agreed between both sides.

Bringing forward this Bill means that Parliament will be given time to debate, scrutinise and vote on the final agreement we strike with the EU. It comes over and above the undertaking the Government has already made that it will give Parliament a vote on the final deal as soon as possible after the deal is agreed.

The announcement of the Withdrawal Agreement and Implementation Bill comes ahead of the EU (Withdrawal) Bill entering Committee Stage in the House of Commons tomorrow (Tuesday 14 November) when amendments will be debated by MPs.

Day one of Committee Stage will include debate about the first clause of the Bill which repeals the European Communities Act 1972.

Last week, the Government tabled an amendment to the Bill, putting exit day on the face of the Bill after Ministers listened carefully to the debate around setting ‘exit day’ for the statutory purposes of the Bill.

There will be two days of debate for the Withdrawal Bill’s Commons Committee Stage this week (Tuesday and Wednesday). Further dates for debate will be scheduled in due course and announced by the Leader of the House.

The plan is to create a complete section of high quality dual carriageway, reducing congestion and leading to quicker journeys for motorists, and an initial consultation was held earlier this year.

Highways England acted on feedback from that consultation by planning a supplementary consultation, focusing on options for improving the road between the M5 and West Hatch.

Instead, the decision has been taken to consult on the whole route in early 2018 in order to gather better information.

David Stock, Highways England project manager, said:

“Having planned to hold a supplementary consultation, we’ve now decided to widen the scope into a whole route consultation and in doing so we need more time to work on this and finalise all the consultation materials. We also wanted to avoid consulting during December and the distracting run-up to Christmas.

“This will provide the public with a chance to have a fuller say, and there will be a number of options presented for consideration, the details of which will be announced when the consultation is launched.

“We listened to all the feedback during the initial consultation and we invite everybody to come along to the rescheduled events and have their say.”

The Government is committed to upgrading all remaining sections of the A303 corridor between the M3 and M5 to dual carriageway standard, and the A358 scheme is one of three projects included in its first roads investment strategy – with preferred routes announced earlier this year for both the A303 Stonehenge and A303 Sparkford to Ilchester schemes.

The A358 is currently a mix of single and dual carriageway, carrying more vehicles than it was designed for.

This leads to delays, and the plan is to improve the route to a dual carriageway as well as improve connectivity and access for local communities and vulnerable road users such as cyclists, horse riders and pedestrians.
Consultation dates and details are currently being finalised and will be announced next month.

In the meantime, anyone wanting further information can go to the scheme website.

General enquiries

Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

Media enquiries

Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.

He also urged the Scottish Government to concentrate on working with the UK Government on securing a good Brexit deal.

Mr Mundell will be responding on behalf of the UK Government later today [13 November] to a Westminster Hall debate in the UK Parliament which will debate two petitions on a second independence referendum. More than 220,000 people have signed a petition against a second independence referendum, and fewer than 40,000 have signed one in favour.

Speaking ahead of the Parliamentary debate today, Mr Mundell said:

Scotland had a fair, legal and decisive referendum on Scottish Independence in 2014 and the people of Scotland rejected independence. The Scottish Government must move on. They must respect the referendum result, and take the threat of a second independence referendum off the table once and for all.

This is not the time to take Scotland back to the constitutional arguments of the past, it is time to concentrate on improving the lives of people in Scotland. I urge the Scottish Government to get on with the day job of tackling the real problems in Scotland’s economy, health services and education.

People in Scotland rightly expect their two governments to work together. I hope the Scottish Government will work constructively with us on Brexit; on getting a deal which works for Scotland and the whole of the UK, and finding the best way of bringing back powers from the EU.

ENDS

Notes for Editors:

1. For further information contact the Scotland Office press office on 0131 244 9028.

2. The e-petitions being debated today are as follows:
   * Petition number 180642: “Another Scottish independence referendum should not be allowed to happen”: 221,514 signatures.
   * Petition number 168781: “Agree to a second referendum on Scottish Independence”: 38,515 signatures.

A Downing Street spokesperson said:

Today the Prime Minister chaired a meeting of leaders from UK and EU business organisations at Downing Street.

The Prime Minister reassured the group that Brexit meant the UK was leaving the EU, not Europe and reiterated her ambition for free and frictionless trade with the EU27 once the UK departs. She also expressed her commitment to giving businesses the certainty they need by agreeing a time-limited implementation period as soon as possible.

The Secretary of State for Exiting the EU David Davis gave an update on negotiations, highlighting the progress made on citizens’ rights.

Mr Davis said there was an important role for business leaders in the UK and the rest of the EU to play. He underlined that economic considerations should be to the fore in the negotiations.

Carolyn Fairbairn Director-General of the CBI, represented the wider group in welcoming the opportunity to hear from and discuss such key issues for industry with the Prime Minister. And Emma Marcegaglia, President for BusinessEurope stated that the business groups stand together, ready to play a constructive role in supporting governments find the solutions they need.

There was a consensus among the business groups for the need for an implementation period and for economic relations between the UK and EU27 to remain close.

The Business Secretary, Greg Clark and Economic Secretary, Stephen Barclay also attended the roundtable to hear the views from business leaders from across the EU.

The first phase between Northampton (junction 16) and the M45 (junction 17) of a new smart motorway tackling congestion and improving journey times for tens of thousands of drivers daily is now open on the M1 in the Midlands.

Up-to-date technology will help keep traffic flowing more smoothly and, with four running lanes instead of three, capacity on the motorway is being increased by a third, now junctions 16 to 17 are open to traffic.

The Highways England upgrade between Catthorpe (junction 19) and Northampton (junction 16) is part of a major government investment worth £15bn to build a modern and resilient road network and further stretches of the new smart motorway are due to open over the coming weeks.

Shaun Pidcock, Director of Highways England’s smart motorway programme, said:

This is a significant upgrade for the M1, which connects the north of England and London, and will deliver real benefits for the 125,000 drivers who use it every day. We’ve added new lanes and completely overhauled the technology, to reduce the frustrating ‘stop-start’ traffic and give drivers better information to help with their journeys, while maintaining high levels of safety.

As well as the upgrade, we have also been carrying out extensive maintenance, fully resurfacing the motorway and its slip roads and restoring it to an ‘as new’ condition. We have also introduced new style highly visible ‘orange’ emergency areas for use when drivers get into difficulty.

I’d like to thank drivers for their co-operation and understanding while we’ve been building this new, improved road and hope they enjoy the improved journeys.

The smart motorway links with the highly successful new interchange at Catthorpe which is already making a huge difference to people’s journeys by improving access to the A14 corridor and removing queueing traffic on the M1, M6 and A14 approaches.

When the smart motorway is complete, traffic sensors will automatically monitor vehicle numbers and adjust the speed limit accordingly. A total of 50 CCTV cameras will also provide 100 per cent coverage of the 15-mile route, and allow Highways England’s traffic officers and the emergency services to respond quickly to incidents.

To minimise disruption, Highways England has worked hard to keep all of the lanes open in each direction during the day by carrying out major construction work overnight.

This project is part of the larger M1 junctions 19 to 13 smart motorway project, which is targeted to be completed by 2021-2022, as set out in the 2014 Road Investment Strategy.

For more information, visit the scheme website.

General enquiries

Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

Media enquiries

Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.