Tag: Chris Ruane

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-03-17.

To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 24 February 2014, Official Report, column 20W, on the electoral register, if the Electoral Commission will make a copy of its evaluation of the effectiveness of electoral registration grants available online; and if he will inform the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee once this action is complete.

Gary Streeter

The Electoral Commission informs that it will arrange for the document to be put on their website and will inform the honourable member and the Political and Constitutional Committee Clerk when this has happened.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-03-13.

To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, if he will list the local authority databases used by electoral registration officers in the dry run for individual electoral registration for the 10 authorities with the (a) best and (b) worst registration rates.

Gary Streeter

The Electoral Commission informs me that electoral registration officers (EROs) had their own discretion to use any local databases to which they had access to support their work on local data matching. After the dry run was complete the Commission conducted a voluntary survey of EROs on their use of local data following the dry run of confirmation.

Not all EROs responded to that survey so it is not possible to provide a full answer regarding all EROs with the best and worst registration rates. However, amongst the replies received, the following databases were most frequently cited:

· Council tax database

· Council tax benefits

· Housing benefits

· Registrar of births and deaths

· Housing list/Tenancy records

· Residential homes records

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-03-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many deaths in fires in domestic properties in England there were in each year since 1999.

Brandon Lewis

The number of fatal casualties from fires in domestic properties in England has reduced by 42% from 1998/99 to 2012/13. The data for each year is provided in the table below.

The Government remains committed to ensuring the fire safety of people in their own homes. The Department’s long-running fire safety campaign – established in 1988 and re-branded as Fire Kills in 1999 – is delivered in partnership with fire and rescue authorities across England. The award-winning campaign promotes a range of fire safety messages, primarily around the importance of working smoke alarms, to help drive down the number of fires and associated casualties.

Year Fatalities in dwelling fires in England 1998/99 361 1999/00 343 2000/01 336 2001/02 355 2002/03 307 2003/04 333 2004/05 277 2005/06 280 2006/07 259 2007/08 275 2008/09 255 2009/10 252 2010/11 252 2011/12 233 2012/13 211

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-03-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his Department’s policy is on allowing officials to appear before all-party parliamentary groups.

Dan Rogerson

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my Rt. Hon. friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, Mr Francis Maude, on 26 March 2014, Official Report, Column 300W.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-04-01.

To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, which local authorities have failed performance standard 3 on house-to-house enquiries; how many times they have failed; and how many times a Cabinet Office regional delivery manager has intervened.

Mr Gary Streeter

The Electoral Commission informs me that in 2013 five Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) reported that they did not meet performance standard 3: Mid Devon; Taunton Deane; Torridge; West Devon; and West Somerset. The table below shows the number of times these EROs have not met this standard.

Table: Number of times those EROS not meeting standard 3 in 2013 have not met this standard.

ERO	Number of times not met	Years in which not met
Mid Devon	4	2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
Taunton Deane	3	2011, 2012, 2013
Torridge	2	2012, 2013
West Devon	4	2009, 2010, 2011, 2012
West Somerset	4	2009, 2011, 2012, 2013

The Commission is in the process of conducting a detailed analysis of EROs’ electoral registration data from the 2013 canvass, following which it will publish its final assessment of EROs’ performance in 2013.

The Cabinet Office has established a network of Regional Delivery Managers to monitor EROs’ readiness for the transition to individual electoral registration in 2014. However, the Commission does not have specific details of the activities undertaken by these all of these officials.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of Capita personal independence payment assessments have involved people who were mentally ill since the introduction of that assessment.

Mike Penning

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

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what meetings he has had with organisations (a) from the advice sector and (b) representing people with disabilities on the performance of Capita in introducing personal independence payments.

Mike Penning

I have had regular meetings with various stakeholder organisations, for example Macmillan, and my officials and I continue to engage with them on a regular basis.