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  • John Mann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    John Mann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many new houses are under construction in Bassetlaw district.

    Kris Hopkins

    The Department does not hold data centrally on the number of homes currently under construction. Data is recorded when a building is started, defined as the laying of the foundations and when the residence is completed, defined as when ready for occupation or supplied with a completion certificate. The length of time between these two points will vary and therefore we cannot know how many are currently under construction.

    Statistics on house building starts in Bassetlaw District are published in the Department’s live tables 253 (annually) and 253a (quarterly), which are available at the following link:

    http://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-house-building

  • John Mann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    John Mann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many new houses have been built in Bassetlaw district in each of the last five years.

    Kris Hopkins

    Statistics on house building completions in Bassetlaw District are published in the Department’s live table 253, which is available at the following link:

    http://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-house-building

  • John Mann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    John Mann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, of how many local authority plans arising from which authorities he has rejected the proposed local development framework and required additional housing supply in excess of that specified in the regional spatial strategy.

    Nick Boles

    [Holding Reply: Monday 9 June 2014]

    The Secretary of State has not rejected any Local Plan.

    The Coalition Government has put Local Plans and local councils at the heart of planning. We have abolished the unpopular and ineffective top-down targets in Regional Strategies, shifting power and responsibility for housing and planning to local councils and local communities. Regional Strategies are no longer relevant for Local Plans coming forward for examination.

    The Localism Act 2011 removed planning inspectors’ powers to impose changes on local authorities’ draft Local Plans. Instead, independent planning inspectors now report to the local authority and identify any conflicts between a draft Local Plan and national policy and regulatory process. They are able to recommend modifications to overcome these issues if they are asked to do so by the council itself. The local authority is free to choose to accept the inspector’s modifications and adopt the draft plan, or resubmit a new plan. This approach is aimed at encouraging a more collaborative process as the public examination proceeds.

  • John Mann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    John Mann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what performance indicators for the renewal of existing passports have been met by each passport office administrative centre.

    James Brokenshire

    Straightforward passport applications from applicants in the UK have a published expected turnaround of three weeks. For the financial year 2013-14,
    99.58 percent of customers received their passports within that period.

    Achievement of turnaround times is a national objective and specific targets are not focused on individual offices. This approach allows HM Passport Office
    to channel resources and distribute applications to meet capacity.

  • John Mann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    John Mann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many passport renewals have been completed within the advertised three week turnaround time from receipt in the last period for which figures are available.

    James Brokenshire

    Straightforward passport applications from applicants in the UK have a published expected turnaround of three weeks. For the financial year 2013-14,
    99.58 percent of customers received their passports within that period.

    Achievement of turnaround times is a national objective and specific targets are not focused on individual offices. This approach allows HM Passport Office
    to channel resources and distribute applications to meet capacity.

  • John Mann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    John Mann – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many private and third sector bidders for privatised probation work employ ex-offenders; and of these how many employ ex-prisoners.

    Jeremy Wright

    In mid December, the bidders who passed the first stage of the competition to win the regional rehabilitation contracts were announced. The list includes a diverse mix of private and voluntary sector partnerships with more than 50 organisations represented – from charities experienced in tackling a range of issues affecting offenders, to small and large British businesses and experienced multinationals. All of these Tier One bidders have experience in working with offenders or across the wider Criminal Justice System.

    The successful delivery of this competition does not depend on or require the Programme to hold information on how many private and third sector organisations bidding for Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRC) contracts employ ex-offenders or ex-prisoners. Such information would be included in bidder’s submissions if it was deemed relevant by that bidder. We have a strong and diverse market and anticipate that the bids we receive to run CRCs will be of a high standard. Providers will need to demonstrate in their bids how they would deliver high quality rehabilitative support to offenders, and they will be held to account to deliver these services in their contracts.

  • Bridget Phillipson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Bridget Phillipson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many staff in his Department were in receipt of excess fare allowance in each year for which figures are available.

    Anna Soubry

    The following table provides the numbers of Ministry of Defence civilian staff in receipt of Excess Fares Allowance (EFA) by financial year, from the earliest date that figures are available;

    Financial Year MOD Civilian Staff in Receipt of EFA
    2007-08 4,735
    2008-09 4,792
    2009-10 4,438
    2010-11 5,072
    2011-12 5,098
    2012-13 4,552
    2013-14 3,987
  • Bridget Phillipson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Bridget Phillipson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 26 March 2014, Official Report, column 318W, on conflict resolution: females, if he will publish in the Library the minutes of the meetings on this matter on (a) 24 February, (b) 5 March, (c) 20 March, (d) 18 March, (e) 19 March and (f) 13 March 2014.

    Anna Soubry

    None of the meetings mentioned were convened by the Ministry of Defence (MOD). They were convened by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) as the lead Department, or by the Department for International Development on behalf of the FCO and thus it is they who may have a record of the meetings, the MOD has no record of any formal minutes. However the real output of these meetings was in the development of the UK’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security which was published by the Foreign Secretary on 12 June at the Global Summit on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict. This document is available from the FCO.

  • Bridget Phillipson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Bridget Phillipson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent progress her Department has made in promoting development relating to water sanitation and hygiene; and if she will make a statement.

    Lynne Featherstone

    DFID aims to meet our commitments to support 60 million people to gain access to sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene services (WASH), through a range of programmes delivered by our Country Offices and from central teams. Details of our current WASH programmes are available on the DFID website (http://devtracker.dfid.gov.uk).

    Progress made through our on-going WASH programmes is detailed in the ‘DFID Annual Report and Accounts 2012-13. Results from the implementation of more recent commitments will be detailed in the next Annual Report.

  • Bridget Phillipson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Bridget Phillipson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the extent of compliance of operators with point 30 of the Senior Traffic Commissioner for Great Britain guidance in Statutory Document 14: Local Bus Services.

    Stephen Hammond

    ‘Statutory Document 14: Local Bus Services’, which was drafted by and consulted on by the Senior Traffic Commissioner, has not yet been finalised following the consultation period. There is, therefore, no ‘point 30′ within existing guidance on which to make any assessment.