STORY
Chris Chope, the Conservative MP for Christchurch, has said that he will be backing Robert Jenrick for the Conservative Party leadership as Kemi Badenoch, the other contender, is “pre-occupied with her children”. He mentioned that “Robert’s children are a bit older” and said that he was not against a woman being the leader of a political party if she has children. Neither of the leadership candidates have yet commented on Chope’s comments.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2015-10-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2015 to Question 12246, how many criminal operations have been smashed by the Organised Immigration Crime Task Force to date.
James Brokenshire
It would not be appropriate to comment on ongoing operations.
The Organised Immigration Crime Taskforce is designed to increase the resources required to build on existing extensive law enforcement capability in the UK and overseas to tackle OIC and target criminal networks in source and transit countries.
The UK has been successfully disrupting the gangs behind all forms of organised immigration crime for a number of years. UK law enforcement disrupted over 170 organised crime groups involved in organised immigration crime last year (April 14 – March 15).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2015-12-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the oral contribution of 16 November 2015, Official Report, column 393, on the Paris terrorist attacks, what capabilities for Border Force maritime aerial surveillance are needed; and whether those capabilities are fewer than under the present contract.
James Brokenshire
For security reasons we do not disclose details of the surveillance capabilities available to Border Force. Border Force will ensure it retains appropriate air surveillance capabilities to meet continuing operational needs.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-01-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people who applied to join the Army Reserve in 2015 had their applications withdrawn on medical grounds.
Mr Julian Brazier
Candidates applying to join the Army Reserve are assessed against the same medical eligibility standards as those joining the Regular Army. Candidates withdrawn on medical grounds may be rejected, deferred for set periods of time, or withdraw voluntarily citing medical reasons. The total number of candidates to the Army Reserve who had their applications withdrawn on medical grounds in 2015 is 7,920. This total has been rounded to the nearest 10 in accordance with Defence Statistics policy.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-02-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2016 to Question 22396, on park homes and the Warm Homes Discount, what the budget is for expenditure on the pilot scheme and what proportion is being funded by energy suppliers.
Andrea Leadsom
Energy suppliers participating in the Warm Home Discount this year (2015/16) have been given the voluntary option to provide a rebate to mobile home residents who meet the qualifying benefit as part of the Industry Initiatives section of the scheme. This scheme called the Park Homes Warm Home Discount pilot scheme is funded by obligated energy suppliers in the scheme and is open to permanent park home residents in England, Scotland or Wales. Residents on a Park Home site who pay for their electricity through their park site owner and meet one of the qualifying eligibility criteria can apply. If successful, residents will receive a one-off rebate of £140 towards their electricity bill.
The pilot scheme opened in November and is only open for a limited period and once a certain number of applications have been received and are successful, the pilot scheme will close. The pilot is currently expected to deliver just over 1000 rebates. This translates to just over £140,000 of support being delivered before the 31st March 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 23 February 2016 to Question 27033, which governments within the EU support further political integration.
Mr David Lidington
As I said in my response of 23 February 2016 (PQ 27033), there is clearly support in some governments within the European Union for further political integration, but there are other, more sceptical voices too. The recital in paragraph one of section C makes clear that “the United Kingdom, in the light of the specific situation it has under the Treaties, is not committed to further political integration into the European Union”.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to page 15 of the Government’s publication, The Process of withdrawing from the European Union, CM 9216, for what reason the rights and obligations which the UK currently has with other non-EU WTO members would not subsist when the UK leaves the EU.
Anna Soubry
As set out in Cm 9216, in the event that we leave the EU, we would need to update the terms of our WTO membership where the commitments taken have previously applied to the EU as a whole. This would not be a straightforward process as, if we leave the EU, then we would need all other WTO Members to agree how the UK will take on the rights and obligations which we have formerly taken as part of the EU. This would mean submitting UK schedules and, until this process was completed, there could be questions surrounding our rights to access WTO members’ markets, and our ability to enforce those rights. These issues are also addressed in the Government publication, Alternatives to Membership: possible models for the United Kingdom outside the European Union.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-03-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will make it the policy of the Government that electricity customers across the UK should pay the same for electricity transportation.
Andrea Leadsom
Electricity network charges vary by region and reflect the costs of running the network in that area and the number of consumers that those costs are spread over. The Government does not plan to move to national network charging, as the current cost reflective approach helps to ensure efficient use of the network and keeps overall costs down for bill payers across Great Britain. In contrast, national pricing risks an overall increase in network costs by weakening each network company’s local accountability to its customers, as well as making charges less transparent. On 23 October 2015, Ofgem published a report on the regional differences in network charges, which found no compelling case from a regulatory perspective to move to a national network charge. The report is available at:
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/regional-differences-network-charges.
The Government will continue to consider any evidence that is presented.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-07-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will instruct Student Finance England to respond to student number 03530036915 at the University of the West of England on the submission of that student’s 2015-16 declaration form.
Joseph Johnson
Student Finance England has confirmed that it has recently been in contact with the relevant student, and that their 2015-16 declaration form has been processed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-09-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what advice his Department has issued on whether there are maximum or minimum permitted size of the population to be served by (a) district councils, (b) unitary councils and (c) combined authorities in England.
Mr Marcus Jones
Where an area has plans for its governance arrangements to be changed and proposes this to the Secretary of State, it must provide evidence as to how its proposals are likely to result in the provision of better local public services, significant cost savings, greater value for money, stronger and more accountable local leadership, and sustainability in the medium to long term. It is of course open to any body or person to make representations to the Secretary of State either in support of or in opposition to such proposals.
As we have made clear during discussions with areas, whilst size is an important consideration for areas considering governance changes, there are no maximum or minimum permitted sizes.
The level of council tax of any new authority is a matter for the local councils concerned. The government will however maintain council tax referendum thresholds at a modest level in order to help keep bills down for hardworking people. This is always the case including in cases of governance change.