Tag: Chris Ruane

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

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what recent assessment he has made of the merits of using vehicle registration databases held by the Driving and Vehicle Licensing Authority to increase levels of voter registration as part of his plans for individual electoral registration.

Greg Clark

Officials are currently working with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to pilot the use of data from vehicle registration databases and driver licence data to improve levels of voter registration.

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

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what (a) central government and (b) local government databases electoral registration officers may use in undertaking their registration functions.

Greg Clark

The introduction of Individual Electoral Registration (IER) will require Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) to confirm existing electors and verify all new applicants to register to vote against data held by the Department of Work and Pensions and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. In addition, the Government is currently exploring using data held by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to further enhance the IER data matching processes as well as providing EROs with information which may help them identify unregistered eligible people.

Under existing legislation EROs are entitled to inspect any data held by the local authority which appointed them, including data held by private companies acting on behalf of the authority, in order to check the validity of applications to register and to identify potential new electors. The data sources which are available to EROs will vary with some EROs appointed by unitary authorities having access to a greater range of data than those appointed by district councils; the Government has introduced secondary legislation to address this issue by allowing district councils to request data from their county council.

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, what the main reasons given by electoral registration officers were for not conducting data matching activities for the purpose of individual electoral registration.

Mr Gary Streeter

The Commission informs me that the use of local data-matching to support confirmation and verification under Individual Electoral Registration (IER) is at the discretion of Electoral Registration Officers (EROs). Ministerial guidance sets out the considerations EROs should take into account in determining whether to conduct local data matching for these purposes, which includes an assessment of the costs and benefits of doing so in their local area.

Following the dry-run of the confirmation exercise in summer 2013, 137 EROs reported to the Commission on the trials that they had carried out of local data-matching to support the confirmation process. The reasons given by EROs for not carrying out local data-matching at that time included a lack of staff resources and an already high match rate. However, in a survey of EROs after the dry-run, 91% of respondents said that local data-matching would be important in their area during the confirmation live run in 2014.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-05-12.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what training has been given to electoral registration officers in the implementation of fixed penalty notices for non-registration.

Greg Clark

It has not proved possible to respond to the Hon Member in the time available before Prorogation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment his Department has made of potential health risks arising from (a) above-ground and (b) underground electricity cables which connect onshore windfarms to sub-stations.

Michael Fallon

Public Health England (PHE) is advisor on potential health risks from above ground or underground electricity cables. Government policy, based on advice from PHE, is that the 1998 International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection guidelines on public exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) are applied in terms of the 1999 EU Council Recommendation on limiting exposure of the general public (1999/519/EC). PHE remains the focus of UK expertise in such matters and keeps the scientific evidence relevant to EMF exposures under review.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, with reference to the Answer of 28 January 2014, Official Report, columns 509-10W, on electoral registration, whether his Department provides funding to Bite the Ballot to increase voter registration.

Greg Clark

The Government recently announced that all 363 local authorities and valuation joint boards in Great Britain and five national organisations are sharing £4.2 million funding to promote voter registration amongst under-registered groups.

Organisations with ideas on how funding can be used to create and support opportunities to promote voter registration, including Bite the Ballot, have been encouraged to approach local authorities, and I emphasised this point with Bite the Ballot when I met them in March this year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the savings to the NHS from the use of mindfulness interventions to reduce the number of GP visits.

Norman Lamb

No such assessment of the saving to the National Health Service from the use of mindfulness interventions to reduce the number of general practitioner visits has been made.

The Department is aware of the Mental Health Foundation’s research into the impact of mindfulness. The benefits of mindfulness are widely recognised. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidance for the NHS has recommended Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) for recurrent depression since 2004. MBCT is available through a number of Improving Access to Psychological Therapy services in England.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of children were in (a) relative and (b) absolute poverty in each region and constituent part of the UK in each of the last 20 years.

Esther McVey

Estimates of the number and proportion of children in relative and absolute low income are published in the National Statistics Households Below Average Income (HBAI) series. HBAI uses household income adjusted (or ‘equivalised’) for household size and composition, to provide a proxy for standard of living. This information is captured using the Family Resources Survey (FRS).

Estimates of the number and proportion of children in relative and absolute low income in the UK have consistently been reported using the FRS since 1998/99; these estimates are available for each financial year up to 2011/12, the latest period for which estimates are available.

All of these estimates can be found in the latest HBAI publication, available at the link below:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/households-below-average-income-hbai-199495-to-201112 (ISBN 978-1-78153-531-8).

Relevant estimates can be found in Tables 4.16ts-4.17ts for relative low income (pages 135-136) and Tables 4.22ts-4.23ts for absolute low income (pages 141-142).

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect of the use of zero hour contracts on workers’ wellbeing.

Jenny Willott

No assessment of the effects of zero hours contracts on worker’s wellbeing has been made by this Department. However the Workplace Employers Relations Study (WERS) found that overall well-being of employees increased between 2004 and 2011 despite the recession. Overall job satisfaction also increased and is very high by international standards.

Zero hour contracts have a place in today’s labour market, supporting business flexibility, making it easier to hire new staff and providing pathways to employment for young people.

Following a public consultation, which closed in March this year, this Government has introduced legislation via the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill to ban the use of exclusivity clauses in contracts which do not guarantee any hours.