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Tag: 2014

  • Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2014-06-18.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish a full list of the criminal offences introduced between 1997 and 2013 in a form easily understood by the general public.

    Lord Faulks

    The Government wants to avoid bringing in new criminal offences where they are not needed and will continue to scrap unnecessary and out of date laws, but where there is a genuine need to create a new criminal offence we will continue to do so.

    To publish an accessible list of criminal offences introduced between1997 to 2008 would incur a disproportionate cost to the public purse.

    During this parliament, however, the Government committed to publishing the number of offences it created each year. My department is responsible for doing so and publishes an annual statistical bulletin on the number of new criminal offences added to the statute book. The bulletins cover primary and secondary legislation containing criminal offences enforceable in England and Wales. The latest bulletin covering the period 2009 to 31 May 2013 is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/revised-new-criminal-offences-statistics-in-england-and-wales-june-2009-may-2013. The next bulletin should be available in December and will cover the period from 1 June 2013 to 31 May 2014.

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  • Lyn Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lyn Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lyn Brown on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many planning applications made by betting shops have been rejected by local authorities and subsequently overturned by the Planning Ispectorate in (a) Newham and (b) the UK in each year since 2008.

    Nick Boles

    We hold information for England; information for other parts of the UK is a matter for the devolved Administrations.

    The table below sets out the number of planning appeals on betting shops decided by the Planning Inspectorate in England in each year since 2008.

    Decision Year

    Allowed

    Dismissed

    Total

    2008

    13

    9

    22

    2009

    9

    11

    20

    2010

    10

    7

    17

    2011

    18

    9

    27

    2012

    4

    10

    14

    2013

    8

    10

    18

    There is no clear trend, other than fewer appeals being allowed in the last two years, and I would note that the numbers involved are small. Any planning application or appeal needs to be considered on its individual merits in light of the prevailing local circumstances and planning policies.

    During this period, three appeals relating to the London Borough of Newham in 2011 were allowed involving changes to A2 use.

    The detailed reasoning for the approvals were outlined in the three decision letters, but it may assist the hon. Member to note that (a) one case involved an application which had been rejected on grounds it was a move to a non-retail use, yet the inspector noted that the premises had been operating as a non-retail use for over 40 years, (b) another had been rejected on similar grounds, yet there was already an extant planning permission for the premises to change to a non-retail use, and (c) the other was since the premises was changing from an amusement arcade and was already in use for a form of gambling.

    The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is undertaking a broader review of gambling policy. This Government is taking action to support healthy and vibrant local high streets. This is part of a wider set of measures designed to get empty and redundant buildings back into productive use and make it easier for valued town centre businesses like shops, banks and cafés to open new premises, while giving councils greater powers to tackle the harm to local amenity caused by a concentration of particular uses.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gregory Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many consultation documents his Department issued which received fewer than 100 separate responses in each of the last four years.

    Jenny Willott

    Data on consultation response rates is not centrally held and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  • Tom Greatrex – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Tom Greatrex – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Greatrex on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the number of combined heat and power plans delivering more than 10 per cent of input energy as heat output.

    Gregory Barker

    In 2013, the Government reviewed the minimum performance standards for renewable Combined Heat and Power (CHP) set in our Quality Assurance programme. As set out in the Government response, approximately 70% of solid and liquid renewable fuel CHP schemes already certified to Combined Heat and Power Quality and Assurance (CHPQA) deliver more than 10% of their input energy as useful heat output.

    No similar assessment has been made for fossil fuel CHPs.

  • Tom Blenkinsop – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    Tom Blenkinsop – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, if he will place in the Library a copy of the Tees Valley City Deal.

    Greg Clark

    All City Deals are available on gov.uk.

    A copy of the Tees Valley City Deal has been placed in the Library of the House.

  • Douglas Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Douglas Alexander – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Alexander on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Cabinet Secretary was tasked with assessing whether there were gounds for a further inquiry into the events surrounding the storming of the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

    Mr William Hague

    The Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood’s investigation looked at why the UK provided advice to the Indian authorities, the nature of the UK assistance and the impact of that assistance in Operation Blue Star at the Golden Temple. As I told Parliament in my statement to the House on 4 February 2014, Official Report, columns 139-142, the report and the documents we published clearly show the limited nature of UK advice on Operation Blue Star, and that there were no grounds for a further inquiry.

  • Charlie Elphicke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Charlie Elphicke – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlie Elphicke on 2014-06-18.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reasons Mapeley has not come to an agreement with Network Rail regarding the sale of land on the western perimeter of the Priory Court site for the construction of new parking facilities for Dover Priory railway station.

    Mr David Gauke

    Commercial arrangements in relation to the land at the Priory Court site are a matter for discussion between Network Rail and Mapeley. The Crown does not own the land.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what her future plans are for support to the Caribbean.

    Mr Alan Duncan

    The UK is strongly committed to supporting development in the Caribbean. Helping the region tackle the risks posed by natural disasters is one of our top priorities, alongside supporting sustainable economic growth and addressing governance and security.

    The UK Government has increased its bilateral support to the Independent Caribbean by 50 percent (around £75 million in 2011 to 2015). We also make significant contributions though multilateral partners, for example providing 15 per cent of the EU’s €1.4 billion support and 19 per cent of the Caribbean Development Bank’s Special Development Fund. Our funding runs until March 2015. We are currently reviewing our approach in the Independent Caribbean to ensure that the UK’s support responds to the countries’ needs and delivers the greatest positive impact in the next phase of support from 2015/16 onwards.

    In addition, the UK provides assistance to the Overseas Territory of Monserrat by financing public services and investing in infrastructure. We are making these investments to facilitate economic growth and reduce long-term dependence on aid.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2014-06-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2014, Official Report, column 364W, on Reserve Forces, what the current national recruitment rate to the Army Reserve is.

    Anna Soubry

    I refer the hon. member to the UK Armed Forces Quarterly Personnel Report which is published by Defence Statistics. This shows Reserve trained and untrained strength figures, as well as movements into the Future Reserves 2020 populations. It is available on the www.gov.uk website at the following link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-armed-forces-quarterly-personnel-report-2014

  • Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2014-04-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time for applicants for the personal independence payment (PIP) in each region of the UK is between submission of the PIP2 form and the date of receipt of the first payment after an assessment from each assessment provider.

    Mike Penning

    I refer the hon Member to the answer I gave to the hon Member for Liverpool, West Derby, official report, 5 March, column 850W.

    In order to manage the gap between Personal Independence Payment go-live and the first release of Official Statistics in Spring 2014, we are assessing whether we can release some further information. If the quality assurance of this information shows that it is sufficiently robust and reliable then we will publish it via ad-hoc statistical releases.