Tag: 2014

Emma Reynolds – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Reynolds on 2015-01-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many sites have been disposed of as a result of disposal notices issued by his Department under the Community Right to Reclaim Land.

Brandon Lewis

I have attached a table which outlines the actions we have taken in response to each substantive request under the Right to Reclaim since its introduction in 2011. Each case is considered on its individual merits. Even where a direction to dispose is not issued, the whole process of challenging the local authority can help fast-track their own disposal plans. We do not hold information on the status of the applicant.

The act of Whitehall forcing councils to dispose of land is controversial, there is a high threshold for deciding whether a disposal can be ordered..

There is a strong commitment from the Government to making the best use of its land and disposing of land that is no longer needed. As such in addition to the Right to Reclaim Land powers which relate primarily to local government or other public bodies, a new Right to Contest was created in January 2014. This gives individuals, communities and businesses the ability to challenge Government on land and property owned by Whitehall departments and their agencies which is being used, but where, if sold, a better economic use could be made of it. Whilst theoretically people can still use the Community Right to Reclaim Land for Government land, in practice, most will now be dealt with under Right to Contest.

November 2, 2022
Roberta Blackman-Woods – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roberta Blackman-Woods on 2015-01-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of sites where planning permission for housing development has been granted but construction has not yet started.

Brandon Lewis

I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 30 October 2014, to Question, UIN 207630.

We do not hold the requested figures on planning permission and the length of time.

November 2, 2022

Angela Smith – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Smith on 2015-01-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recorded number of sea bass were discarded in the (a) Irish and (b) Celtic Sea by Irish vessels in each of the last five years.

George Eustice

Under long standing Irish national measures to protect bass stocks their commercial fishing vessels are not permitted to land bass for sale, which means a degree of discarding of bass by-catch from mixed fishing activity will occur. We have no data available to us, however, on the level of such discards by Irish vessels.

For UK vessels we have discard estimates for the last five years combined for the Irish and Celtic Seas. These relate to otter trawlers, netters and beam trawlers, based on the numbers of sampled trips (see table (b)). We do not sample hook and line boats although these report a sizeable fraction of bass landings in these areas, as survival rates for discarded bass from commercial rod-and line or hand-line boats (under 10 metre inshore vessels) are considered potentially relatively high.

(a) Numbers (thousands) and weight (tonnes) landed and discarded for sampled fleets (otter, nets, beam) in Irish and Celtic Seas, raised to fleet landings for each gear, based on at-sea observer sampling by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas).

Number ‘000s	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	Mean
Landed	48	36	29	39	30	36
Discarded	8	9	10	10	4	8
% discarded	14	20	25	21	11	18

Tonnes	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	Mean
Landed	107	58	71	94	80	82
Discarded	3	3	4	6	2	3
% discarded	3	5	5	6	2	4

(b) Number of trips sampled, Irish and Celtic Seas

No. trips sampled	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	Total
Beam trawls	1		1			2
Netters	4	4	16	12	10	46
Otter trawls	23	20	21	21	12	97
Grand Total	28	24	38	33	22	145

November 2, 2022

Tim Farron – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2015-01-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he next plans to meet the Sri Lankan Minister of External Affairs.

Mr Hugo Swire

I hope to engage with the Sri Lankan Minister of External Affairs, and other representatives of the newly appointed Sri Lankan government, at the earliest opportunity. The UK looks forward to working with the new government and reinvigorating the long standing partnership between the UK and Sri Lanka.

November 2, 2022
Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-01-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the sex was of the complainant and the accused in each case of stalking reported after the implementation of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012; and what proportion of such cases which were investigated resulted in the accused being (i) charged with the offence and (ii) cautioned.

Lynne Featherstone

The Home Office does not hold this information centrally. The Home Office has received data on the number of stalking offences recorded in England and Wales since April 2014 as a separate offence category but these data do not contain
information on the sex of the victim or the perpetrator. Prior to April 2014, stalking offences under Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 were included within the harassment offence classification.

The latest available statistics show that between April and June 2014 there were 695 stalking offences recorded by the police in England and Wales.

The Ministry of Justice hold separate data for the number of cautions that have been issued for stalking. Between the implementation of the Protection of Freedoms Act in January 2013 and 30 June 2014 there were 57 cautions given for
stalking. This comprised of 49 given to males, 7 given to females and 1 where the gender was not stated.

Neither the Home Office nor the Ministry of Justice hold information on the number of individuals charged.

November 2, 2022
Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-01-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders were sentenced to a custodial sentence of 12 months or less for each offence by each Crown Court in the latest year for which figures are available.

Mike Penning

The information you have requested cannot be extracted from our raw data due to the extensive nature of what you have requested. I will therefore write to my honourable Friend as soon as it is available.

November 2, 2022
Lord Hylton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-01-15.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government who is responsible for co-ordinating the services and provisions needed by those sleeping rough.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Department of Communities and Local Government has the lead on tackling homelessness and rough sleeping. Formed in 2010, the Ministerial Working Group on Homelessness brings Departments together to ensure that Departments across Government play their part in tackling both the causes and consequences of homelessness. Throughout this Parliament, the group has worked together to coordinate action on the issues facing homeless people.

The Government have increased spending to prevent and tackle rough sleeping and homelessness making over £500 million available, giving councils the funding and tools needed to take action against rough sleeping locally.

There are a range of initiatives and projects in place to help rough sleepers, prevent single homelessness and to help those who have been homeless find and sustain accommodation.

Thousands of vulnerable people, including military veterans, who have slept rough or faced with the prospect of doing so have been given the help they need through No Second Night Out and Streetlink. By using Streetlink the public can help connect rough sleepers to the local services available so they can get the help they need to get them off the streets. Since 2012 Streetlink has made nearly 21,000 rough sleeping referrals to councils with over 9,000 having positive outcomes (such as accessing services) of which nearly 1,800 have had a specific housing outcome.

We have supported the roll-out of No Second Night Out nationally through the £20 million Homelessness Transition Fund for the voluntary sector ensuring rough sleepers are found quickly and that they do not spend more than one night on the street. In 20 key rough sleeping areas outside London 67% of rough sleepers were helped off the streets after a single night according to homelessness charities.

We have launched an £8 million Help for Single Homeless Fund for local authorities which will improve council services for single people facing the prospect of homelessness. 34 projects, working across 168 local authorities, will provide support for up 22,000 single homeless people.

Finally, the Government is helping single homeless people find and sustain accommodation in the private rented sector through our £13 million funding to Crisis. By 2016 we expect the Crisis scheme to have helped 10,000 single homeless people since it started in 2010.

We work closely with Homeless Link, who represent homelessness charities across England, and attended the launch of their homelessness manifesto at a recent parliamentary reception.

It is not for the Government itself to respond to the manifestos produced by Non-Governmental Organisations and pressure groups ahead of the general election, but we welcome the broader contribution to the debate.

November 2, 2022
Lord Greaves – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2015-01-15.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many patients presented themselves to the Accident and Emergency and Urgent Care Units at the Royal Blackburn Hospital and Burnley General Hospital respectively in each month in the last two years; and in each month how many of those patients were admitted for treatment.

Earl Howe

Information is not available in the format requested.

Information showing quarterly accident and emergency activity and admissions at the East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust between Q4 2010-11 and Q4 2014-15, is shown in the attached tables.

November 2, 2022
Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-01-15.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are proposing in relation to banks that have missold business loans to customers.

Lord Deighton

Business lending is not, and never has been, within the scope of the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) conduct rules. The position that has traditionally been taken in the UK is that the terms and conditions of contracts between businesses (e.g. loans) are not generally prescribed by government. The government is committed to regulating only where there is a clear case for doing so, in order to avoid putting additional costs on lenders that would ultimately lead to higher costs for businesses customer.

However, the smaller end of the business community does receive regulatory protection. In the UK, loans to the smallest businesses (sole traders, partnerships consisting of 2 or 3 partners and unincorporated businesses) of less than £25,000 are treated as regulated consumer credit agreements (CCAs).

This protects consumers, typically in their dealings with banks where there is the potential for consumer detriment. Around three quarters of the 4.8 million UK SMEs are sole traders, partnerships consisting of 2 or 3 partners and unincorporated businesses.

For those loans which are not treated as CCA loans, there is also a clear route of recourse for businesses that feel they have been mis-sold a business loan to pursue. A business’ first recourse should be to its bank’s customer complaints department. This is a route that has been taken by a number of customers. The FCA’s rules require the banks to properly investigate all complaints and, through ongoing supervision, it continues to monitor the banks’ complaint handling process.

Furthermore, micro businesses with a turnover of less than 2 million Euros and fewer than 10 employees have recourse to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). The FOS is an independent, non-governmental body, established under statute to provide for the proportionate, prompt and informal resolution of complaints against financial services firms. It provides a free, independent dispute resolution service for bank customers and has a special team looking at this issue. Its decisions are binding on the firm concerned.

Beyond this, businesses are expected to be responsible for ensuring that contracts they make with other businesses are in their interest. However, if a business believes a bank has acted unlawfully, they can seek to take action through the courts

November 2, 2022
Lord Storey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2015-01-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to increase the attention paid to vocabulary building within literacy syllabuses in the national curriculum from pre-school onwards.

Lord Nash

The Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) sets out that literacy development during the early years involves encouraging children to link sounds and letters and to begin to read and write. Both the reading and writing literacy goals in the Statutory Framework set out the skills that most children should meet by the end of the foundation stage. Children must also be given access to a wide range of reading materials to ignite their interest.

The importance of vocabulary development is emphasised and integrated throughout the National Curriculum framework. This covers both general vocabulary development and the subject-specific language that pupils need to be able to use to progress in, for example, mathematics and science. Both the reading and writing domains of the English programmes of study emphasise the importance of building pupils’ vocabulary, so they understand and can use a wide range of words.

The approach to developing vocabulary is first through securing word reading and comprehension and secondly through pupils developing an understanding of how words and meaning can be created using prefixes and suffixes. Morphology and etymology are emphasised at key stage 2 to further develop pupils’ capacity for understanding and developing vocabulary. This is brought together in the appendix to the English programmes of study covering vocabulary, grammar and punctuation, which also sets out the terminology that pupils should be taught to use to discuss their writing.

November 2, 2022