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  • Sir Peter Bottomley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Sir Peter Bottomley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sir Peter Bottomley on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will direct the Leasehold Advisory Service to cease carrying advertising for or links to the services of Benjamin Mire or Trust Property Management.

    Kris Hopkins

    My hon. Friend raises a serious matter. In July 2013, Mr Benjamin Mire resigned from his (part-time) judicial post on the Southern Residential Property Tribunal following a conduct investigation by the Ministry of Justice, but prior to the conclusion of the formal disciplinary process.

    Mr Mire is Chief Executive of Trust Property Management, a firm of chartered surveyors and managing agents. The issue raised is whether this company should continue to be advertised on LEASE’s (the Leasehold Advisory Service) practitioners’ list.

    The practitioner list is not meant to be a fully comprehensive list, nor does inclusion constitute a recommendation by LEASE. Firms pay a fee to be entered on the list and sign a contract accordingly.

    In considering a recent complaint on this issue, LEASE undertook a careful review of their terms and conditions in relation to inclusion in their professional directory. This has resulted in amendments being made, and revised terms and conditions have been published on their website.

    The revised terms and conditions give LEASE the right to temporarily remove an organisation’s directory information from the directory if a complaint is received from a third party relating to the organisation or its listing. They also give LEASE the right to terminate the contract with immediate effect by giving written notice if a number of conditions are not met, these include:-

    “The inclusion of the organisation’s directory information on the directory conflicts with LEASE Conferences Ltd or the Leasehold Advisory Service’s purposes, objectives or obligations or brings LEASE into disrepute or there is a risk (in our reasonable opinion) of any such conflict or bringing into disrepute.”

    If Trust Property Management does not meet the new terms and conditions when their contract for inclusion in the directory is due for renewal in July, then they will be removed, as will any other organisation which similarly does not meet the revised terms and conditions.

    Whilst I appreciate that this may not be as quick a step as my hon. Friend would wish, moving forward, I hope these actions taken will in due course ensure the continued integrity of the practitioners’ list. I would be happy to meet my hon. Friend if he wishes to discuss this further.

  • Sir Peter Bottomley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Sir Peter Bottomley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sir Peter Bottomley on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he expects to appoint a new chariman to the Leasehold Advisory Service.

    Kris Hopkins

    Consideration will be given to the position of Chairman of the Leasehold Advisory Service later this year, when the current term of office is due to end.

    This will be carried out in line with the Code of Practice for Ministerial appointments to Public Bodies published by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

  • Stephen O’Brien – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Stephen O’Brien – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen O’Brien on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, in what circumstances he uses a calculation of the (a) value of preventing a fatality, (b) willingness to pay and (c) cost-per-quality adjusted life year approach to quantify the value of a policy intervention; what other tools he uses to quantify the benefit of a policy intervention; and if he will make a statement.

    Brandon Lewis

    The Green Book and associated supplementary guidance is publicly available on the Treasury website. It sets out a range of approaches and methods that may be appropriate in a number of different appraisal circumstances.

  • Stephen O’Brien – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Stephen O’Brien – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen O’Brien on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, in what circumstances he uses a calculation of the (a) value of preventing a fatality, (b) willingness to pay and (c) cost-per-quality adjusted life year approach to quantify the value of a policy intervention; what other tools he uses to quantify the benefit of a policy intervention; and if he will make a statement.

    Mrs Helen Grant

    To answer each of these points in turn:

    a) DCMS uses Department for Transport cost of fatality estimates where relevant to policy development. For instance, this valuation technique was used recently as part of the assessment of costs associated with allowing motor sport on closed roads.

    b) DCMS follows valuation guidance set out in HM Treasury’s Green Book, including the use of willingness to pay techniques, to proportionately assess the impact of policy interventions. Willingness to pay has been used as part of the DCMS cost-benefit analysis of Digital Radio Switchover, for example. DCMS also recommends Green Book valuation techniques are used by our ALBs to inform spending decisions.

    c) DCMS uses the Quality Adjusted Life Year approach where relevant to policy development. To take an example, the Culture and Sport Evidence programme that DCMS shares with a range of ALB partners has developed a Quality Adjusted Live Year approach for physical health benefits of sport, which Sport England use to assess local impacts.

    Other techniques used to assess benefits of interventions include macro-economic modelling to assess the impacts of both the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and superfast broadband investment funded by the Department.

  • Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether he has made an assessment of the recommendations contained in the Association of Business Recovery Professionals publication entitled Level Playing Field: SMEs, taxpayers, and the Football Creditors Rule.

    Jenny Willott

    R3 has made some interesting recommendations which the football authorities should consider carefully. The football authorities have already made some changes, notably through agreeing “financial fair play” rules, salary caps and an early warning system for tax debts, as well as to governance arrangements, to increase financial stability in the leagues and to increase transparency for creditors.

  • Helen Goodman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Helen Goodman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to ratify the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its two Protocols.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Government, along with the British Red Cross, has pledged to facilitate the UK’s ratification of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, and believes ratification of the Convention and its two Protocols will strengthen our commitment to the protection of our own heritage, and highlight our respect for the cultural property of other nations. However, as yet it has not been possible to secure the parliamentary time needed to pass the relevant legislation.

  • John Redwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    John Redwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what levels of stock his Department holds of (a) stationery, (b) printer cartridges, (c) treasury tags and other fasteners and (d) other office consumables.

    Mrs Helen Grant

    DCMS holds a minimal stock of stationery to supply staff, and orders items as required.

  • John Redwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    John Redwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what levels of stock his Department holds of (a) stationery, (b) printer cartridges, (c) treasury tags and other fasteners and (d) other office consumables.

    Anna Soubry

    The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  • Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) associated costs and (b) utility of the Trident Alternatives Review.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    I have made no such assessment.

  • John Spellar – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    John Spellar – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when Ministers in his last met their counterparts from (a) Norway, (b) Finland and (c) Sweden.

    Dr Andrew Murrison

    Defence Ministers meet their counterparts regularly at multinational meetings throughout the year. The Secretary of State for Defence most recently met the Defence Ministers of Norway, Finland and Sweden at the Northern Group meeting in Helsinki in December 2013, and I had a bilateral meeting with the Defence Minister of Sweden at the EU Foreign Affairs Council (Defence) meeting in Luxemboug in April 2014.