UKPOL.CO.UK

Tag: 2014

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Deputy Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-05-06.

    To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, with reference to the Answer of 11 October 2011, Official Report, column 343W, on electoral register, what steps he has taken to ensure that aspects of good practice in Northern Ireland are adopted elsewhere in the UK.

    Greg Clark

    This Government has taken on board the lessons of the 2002 introduction of Individual Electoral Registration in Northern Ireland. A number of safeguards are in place for the transition that were not used in 2002. For example data matching will allow the vast majority of electors to automatically re-register and the transition is being phased over two years to allow those not yet individually registered to vote in the 2015 General Election.

    Funding has been made available to all 363 local authorities and valuation joint boards in Great Britain. Electoral registration officers have been encouraged to use this funding to support the delivery of the Rock Enrol! learning resource.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-05-06.

    To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, which local authority had the biggest percentage (a) increase and (b) decrease in electoral registration in each year since 2010.

    Mr Gary Streeter

    The Electoral Commission informs me that there are no reliable yearly estimates of levels of registration at a local authority level.

    The Office for National Statistics publishes total electorates for each local authority on an annual basis. This data can be found here: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/pop-estimate/electoral-statistics-for-uk/2013/index.html

    “

  • Paul Maynard – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Paul Maynard – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Maynard on 2014-05-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, which organisations have received how much funding from his Department aimed at supporting access to short breaks and respite provision for children, young people and their families experiencing all types of disadvantage in each of the last five financial years.

    Mrs Helen Grant

    DCMS has not provided any funding to organisations aimed at supporting access to short breaks and respite provision for children, young people and their families. However, DCMS and VisitEngland contributed to the Parliamentary Inquiry into Social Tourism. VisitEngland also works with the Family Holiday Association (FHA) to raise awareness of the issue of families excluded from taking holidays. I visited ‘Kent Life’ in March 2014 to promote Visit Kent’s social tourism pilot with the FHA.

  • Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-05-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders have been released from one life sentence before being given another life sentence in each of the last 30 years; and in each such case (a) how long the offender spent in prison for the earlier life sentence, (b) how long the offender had been ordered to serve as a minimum period for the latest life sentence, (c) on what dates each life sentence was given, (d) what the offences were for which the offender received each life sentence and (e) what all the offences committed by that offender prior to the latest life sentence were.

    Jeremy Wright

    A life sentence is mandatory for murder and discretionary life sentences are available for other very serious offences. This Government has introduced an automatic life sentence for a second very serious violent or sexual offence.

    Under a life sentence, the court determines the minimum period to be served in prison for the purposes of punishment and deterrence. Once that period has been served it is for the Parole Board to determine if and when the offender may be released from prison on life licence and subject to recall for the rest of their life.

    Table 1 shows the number of offenders who have been sentenced to life in the 12 months ending September 2013 who previously had one or more previous life sentence on a separate sentencing occasion within the last 30 years, in England and Wales. The table also shows details of their latest and previous offences for which they received a life sentence.

    Reoffending rates for life sentenced prisoners are very low. A small number of life sentence prisoners commit offences in prison which result in a second life sentence. Some life sentence prisoners can also receive a second life sentence on conviction for offences committed prior to being imprisoned (e.g. a previous murder or rape).

    The figures provided have been drawn from an extract of the Police National Computer (PNC) data held by the Department. The PNC holds details of all convictions and cautions given for recordable offences committed in England and Wales. In addition, as with any large scale recording system the PNC is subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

    Detailed information on the length of time served by individual life sentence prisoners, and offence information is not readily available, so I will write to the Honourable Member.

  • Geoffrey Clifton-Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Geoffrey Clifton-Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Geoffrey Clifton-Brown on 2014-05-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the Environment Agency classifies as a watercourse; if he will ensure that insurance companies can differentiate between major watercourses and watercourses of no consequence; and if he will make a statement.

    Dan Rogerson

    The Environment Agency defines a “Watercourse” according to section 72(1) of the Land Drainage Act 1991. It includes all rivers and streams and all ditches, drains, cuts, culverts, dikes, sluices, sewers (other than public sewers within the meaning of the Water Industry Act 1991) and passages, through which water flows.

    Insurance companies take into account a range of factors in setting policy premiums and excesses, and different insurers take different approaches to assessing flood risk. Certain insurance companies would use proximity to a watercourse to assess the risk of flooding to a property, whilst other companies may use postcodes to assess flood risk or their own flood risk models.

  • Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Hilary Benn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2014-05-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to answer Question 196666, tabled on 25 April 2014 for answer on 30 April 2014.

    Brandon Lewis

    Question 196666 was answered on 6 May, Official Report, Column 29W.

  • Jim Murphy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Jim Murphy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Murphy on 2014-05-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether she plans to implement the Independent Commission for Aid Impact’s recommendation that beneficiaries in Afghanistan should be directly consulted when new projects are being designed and that Afghan women should be consulted on development of the new strategic priority on violence against women.

    Justine Greening

    DFID already uses a variety of methods to ensure intended beneficiaries in Afghanistan are consulted in the design of new programmes and monitoring of existing programmes.

    DFID already consults Afghan women and civil society groups to inform our strategy and programmes for tackling violence against women and improving women’s rights.

  • Lord Bassam of Brighton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Bassam of Brighton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2014-05-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to provide guidance to long-haul transport providers to ensure that the special travel needs of neurofibromatosis sufferers are taken into account.

    Earl Howe

    NHS England commissions neurofibromatosis type two (NF2) services and complex neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) services as part of its remit to deliver specialised services.

    NHS England has published service specifications for both types of neurofibromatosis. These estimate that in England there are 11,267 individuals with NF1 and 862 with NF2.

    The Department does not have specific guidance relating to the special travel needs of neurofibromatosis sufferers. Domestic equality legislation makes it unlawful for transport operators to discriminate against a disabled person simply because they are disabled, treat disabled people less favourably or fail to make reasonable adjustments in the way they provide their services, depending on the type of vehicles and the services they offer to the public.

    Furthermore, an extra level of protection is provided by recently implemented European regulations on passenger rights across all transport modes. These provide a set of rules for the treatment of disabled people and people with reduced mobility.

  • Lord Barnett – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Barnett – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Barnett on 2014-05-06.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 9 April (WA 302), what are the current terms of income contingent repayment loans.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    The Education (Student Loans) (Repayment) Regulations set out the terms and conditions of income contingent student loans. This is also set out in the booklet Student Loans – a Guide to Terms and Conditions, the latest copy of which can be accessed at http://www.sfengland.slc.co.uk/media/666045/sfe_t_c_guide_1415_d.pdf . Students are informed at the time of taking out their student loan that the regulations may change from time to time and this means that the terms of their loan may also change.

  • Robert Buckland – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Robert Buckland – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Buckland on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will assess the potential merits of allowing designated bodies to be given the power to make super-complaints against public service providers such as those that exist in private markets.

    Mr Francis Maude

    The Government is considering recent reports of the Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) into how complaints about public services are handled. As part of this, the Cabinet Office is working to investigate further how public services can make best use of complaints and also to take a wider look at the role and powers of the Public Sector Ombudsmen. The Government will respond to the PASC in due course. I am happy to discuss this matter further with my Hon. Friend.

    The annual reports and accounts of the public service ombudsmen in the UK provide details of their performance over the past 12 months including information about complaints received.