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 2015-10-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many employees of Border Force are seconded to Kos and Lesbos; and what their (a) powers and (b) duties are.
James Brokenshire
UK Border Force currently has twelve staff deployed to support Frontex joint operations in the Mediterranean, and one staff member seconded to Frontex Headquarters, Returns Sector, in Warsaw. Eight of the twelve staff support joint operation ‘Poseidon Sea’ in Greece: two in Kos, three in Lesbos, one in Leros, one in Samos and one in Chios; and four support Frontex joint operation ‘Triton’ in Italy: two in Trapani, one in Lampedusa and one in Syracuse.
UK staff cannot exercise any powers on Frontex operations. Border Force staff debrief migrants to gather intelligence on their routing, modus operandi and any facilitators involved; Border Force staff also screen migrants to establish their identity, to aid the host member state with documentation and return of those migrants with no right of stay in Europe.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2015-11-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when his Department’s review of guidance relating to the eligibility of children with Type 1 diabetes for Disability Living Allowance was initiated; and what conclusion that review reached.
Justin Tomlinson
The current guidance for DLA decision makers on children with type 1 diabetes has been under review since March 2015. It is now near completion with conclusions reached in close collaboration with subject matter experts and will be published shortly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-01-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how her Department plans to ensure that residents of park homes have access to smart meters; and if she will make a statement.
Andrea Leadsom
The ways in which park home residents are supplied with energy and billed for its use, vary, usually reflecting the tenancy arrangements in place at park sites. Park home residents who are metered from the mains network and have a direct relationship with their energy provider fall within the scope of the smart meter rollout and should be offered a smart meter by the end of 2020.
The supply of electricity to park home residents through a private network is not subject to the electricity supply licensing regime. This is often where the park home site sells energy on to residents. Park home owners have responsibility for any secondary metering equipment and in these situations may make the decision to install smart meters for their tenants.
Park home sites that supply electricity to their residents should be offered a smart meter, as small non-domestic business sites are covered by the rollout.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-02-02.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many UK citizens resident overseas registered to vote in the 2015 general election; and how many such citizens voted in that election.
John Penrose
105,845 overseas electors were registered to vote in May 2015. The marked register, which records electors who have cast their vote, is not collated centrally. It is therefore not possible to tell how many overseas electors voted at the 2015 General Election.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-02-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 23 July 2015 to Question 6280, what work has been carried out to mitigate the risks identified from the EU’s accession to the European Court of Human Rights.
Dominic Raab
Opinion 2/13 of The European Court of Justice raises a number of complex issues which have fundamental implications for any proposed agreement for the EU to accede to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). It will be very difficult for the EU and contracting parties to the ECHR to work out where this leaves the accession process and to negotiate a revised accession agreement on that basis. There is clearly no prospect of accession being achieved any time soon. In any discussions we will continue to make our ongoing concerns clear.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-02-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2016 to Question 27179, whether the requirement in the Lisbon Treaty that the EU shall accede to the European Convention on Human Rights is legally enforceable.
Dominic Raab
The Prime Minister told the house on 3 February that the Governments position is that the EU should not join the European Convention on Human Rights. We are committed in our manifesto to change Britain’s relationship with respect to the European Court of Human Rights through our own British Bill of Rights. We shall be coming up with proposals for that shortly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-03-22.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 22 March 2016 to Question 29759, which paragraphs of the White Paper, The Best of Both Worlds, disclose what data the Government used to assess the effect of its policy (a) to restrict the payment of child benefit to EU nationals resident in the UK in respect of their children resident outside the UK and (b) to restrict entitlement of some EU nationals to tax credits.
Damian Hinds
I refer my honourable friend to the footnotes in Section D “Welfare and free movement” of the White Paper.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-06-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 6 June 2016 to Question 38596, on beach huts: Christchurch, if she will publish a full record of the discussions between Natural England and Christchurch Borough Council.
Rory Stewart
Natural England is happy to provide the hon. Member with a record of its discussions with Christchurch Borough Council.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-09-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate the Government has made of the potential annual proportion increase in yield from business rates available for local authorities in Dorset, Poole and Bournemouth in (a) 2019-20, (b) 2020-21 and (c) 2021-22.
Mr Marcus Jones
The Department does not estimate future yields from business rates for specific local authorities. National level estimates of yield from business rates are available from the Office for Budget Responsibility.