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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many domestic fires were caused by an electrical source of ignition in each of the last five years broken down by year.

Mike Penning

Between 1st April 2010 and 31st March 2015 there were over 36,000 accidental dwelling fires in England where the source of ignition was “Electrical Distribution” or “Other Electrical appliances”. Over the same period, there were 149,000 accidental dwelling fires in England.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what comparative assessment she has made of recent trends in domestic fires caused by (a) an electrical source of ignition and (b) other reasons for domestic fires.

Mike Penning

Between 1st April 2010 and 31st March 2015 there were over 36,000 accidental dwelling fires in England where the source of ignition was “Electrical Distribution” or “Other Electrical appliances”. Over the same period, there were 149,000 accidental dwelling fires in England.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-03-01.

To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, whether the Electoral Commission has given any early indication to Ministers of the likely outcomes of its investigations into electoral fraud in Tower Hamlets; and when the Commission expects that investigation to be complete.

Mr Gary Streeter

The Electoral Commission is not currently carrying out any investigations into electoral fraud in Tower Hamlets. Any allegations of electoral fraud offences under the Representation of the People Act 1983 can only be investigated by the police, on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions. The Metropolitan Police Service is responsible for investigating any allegations relating to elections in Tower Hamlets, and the Commission will monitor the outcome of any investigations relating to electoral fraud offences.

In advance of the elections this May, the Commission is working closely with the police and electoral administrators in each of the 18 areas it has identified as being at higher risk of allegations of electoral fraud, including Tower Hamlets, to ensure that robust plans are in place to detect and prevent fraud.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many deaf children attended mainstream schools in England in each of the last 10 years; and how many such children were taught British Sign Language in each of those years.

Edward Timpson

The number of children with special educational needs (SEN) who have ‘hearing impairment’ listed as their primary need can be found in the annual statistical first release ‘Special Educational Needs in England’ on GOV.UK. Table 1, below, provides collated figures for the last ten years, for pupils attending state-funded primary and secondary schools. These figures include children in resourced provision or SEN units but not children in special schools. There will be children whose primary need is not ‘hearing impairment’ but who, nevertheless, have a hearing impairment. These children are not covered by this information.

From September 2014 the ’SEN support’ category replaced the ’school action’ and ‘school action plus’ categories. Those recoded, in 2015, as having ‘SEN support’ but who were formerly included in the ‘school action’ category will not previously have had a primary type of need recorded. This is likely to have contributed to the large increase – between 2014 and 2015 – in the numbers of children recorded as having a hearing impairment.

The Department does not collect statistics on the number of deaf children in mainstream schools who are being taught British Sign Language.

Table 1:

The links to published data can be found here:

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when his Department plans to decide on whether to support prosecutions for people suspected of committing electoral or financial fraud in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets; and when he plans to announce that decision.

Mr Marcus Jones

Decisions on whether to charge or to prosecute individuals suspected of electoral and financial fraud in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets are matters for the Metropolitan Police and the Crown Prosecution Service.