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 Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2015 to Question 12248, what the gross cost to the Planning Inspectorate was of the examination into the planning consent application for the Navitus Bay Wind Park; and how much of that cost was paid by Navitus Bay Development Ltd.
James Wharton
The gross cost to the Planning Inspectorate of the examination into the planning consent application for the Navitus Bay Wind Park was £995,660. Navitus Bay Development Ltd paid £565,660 of those costs.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-01-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she expects the new secure zone for British-bound lorries at Calais to be operational; and what steps are being taken to protect UK-bound lorries from attack before that time.
James Brokenshire
The new secure zone at Calais for UK-bound lorries which will provide a secure waiting area for 230 vehicles is expected to be completed in late spring 2016. In the interim, Border Force has worked with Calais port operator and introduced an interim secure freight circulation and waiting area for around 200 vehicles.
The haulage industry is hugely important to UK trade and prosperity and Her Majesty’s Government regularly speaks with haulage industry representatives to listen to their concerns regarding the situation in northern France. The Government is funding improved security measures and port infrastructure to protect the travelling public, including HGV drivers, in the Calais area. This includes the introduction of security fencing around port perimeters and along the port approach roads at Calais port and at the Coquelles Eurotunnel site; and the introduction of new secure waiting zones for UK-bound HGVs at both locations.
This forms part of the measures to reduce illegal migration in Northern France being delivered under the Anglo/French Declaration. In addition, the UK and French authorities also work closely to share intelligence to combat illegal migrant activity and organised immigration crime.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-01-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the Answer of 15 December 2014 to Question 218111, what conclusions were reached by the Taskforce of business representations and government departments established to access how to limit the negative impact on business and jobs of the decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal of 4 November 2014 in the case Bear Scotland and over v Mr David Fulton and others.
Nick Boles
The previous Government involved the Holiday Pay Task Force in discussions leading to the introduction of the Deduction from Wages (Limitation) Regulations 2014. These regulations were introduced to limit backdated holiday pay claims to two years and have applied to Employment Tribunal claims for unlawful deductions from wages made on or since 1 July 2015. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) believes that the regulations are helping to limit the negative impact on business of the Employment Appeal Tribunal decision in Bear Scotland.
BIS is continuing to monitor the impact of this and other court decisions relating to holiday pay. We regularly discuss the situation with a wide range of interested parties.
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 22397, on park homes and smart meters, what the maximum size is of park home sites which fall within the definition of small non-domestic business sites for the roll-out of smart meters; and what steps are being taken to ensure that residents at such sites are offered a smart meter.
Andrea Leadsom
Electricity sites are not determined by size, but are settled on their Profile Class. Licence conditions require energy suppliers to install smart meters (or in some circumstances, advanced meters) to all electricity sites in Profile Classes 1-4, and to gas sites where average annual consumption is below 732 MWh per year. We would expect most park home sites to fall into Profile Class 3 (Non-Domestic Unrestricted Customers) or 4 (Non-Domestic Economy 7 Customers).
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 18 January 2016 to Question 22397: park home owners of non-domestic sites have responsibility for any secondary metering equipment within their site and the decision to install smart meters for their tenants lies with them.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 23 February 2016 to Question 26625, on the Twynham Learning Federation, for what reason it is not possible to place the documents in the Library prior to publication on the Department’s website in May.
Edward Timpson
As previously agreed, the application will be published alongside other successful direct free school applications in May 2016. This is in line with the established timetable of publishing applications three months after each announcement. However, the Secretary of State and Twynham Learning Federation have exceptionally agreed to also place a copy of the application and the decision letter signed by Sir David Carter, the former Regional Schools Commissioner for the South West in the House of Commons library. This will be done as soon as both commercially sensitive information and personal information, that may contravene the Data Protection Act, has been redacted. We will write to the Honourable Member when this has been done.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2016 to Question 28521, on holiday leave: pay, when work on the formal assessment of the financial impact began; and what the target date is for completion of that assessment.
Nick Boles
Our formal assessment of the financial impacts of the Court of Justice of the EU’s judgment in Lock v British Gas is based on the latest 2015 Labour Force Survey (LFS) micro data which was released on 17 February 2016. We are going through the final stages of quality assurance and hope to make the assessment available on the BIS website within the next few weeks.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-04-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make it the Government’s policy to invite a delegation of parliamentarians from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe as official observers of the forthcoming EU referendum.
Mr David Lidington
The Government welcomes observers – either from within the UK or from overseas – who wish to observe our electoral process. The Electoral Commission accredits observers who may, once accredited, observe proceedings at the poll, proceedings at the issue and receipt of postal ballot papers, and proceedings at the count. It is therefore open to parliamentarians from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to apply for accreditation as observers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-07-06.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his oral contribution on 4 July 2016, Official Report, column 626, on what date he (a) decided not to introduce an emergency budget and (b) asked the OBR to assess the effect of the EU referendum result on the economy.
Harriett Baldwin
As the Chancellor has said, the referendum result will have an impact on the economy and public finances – and there will need to be action to address that. Given the delay in triggering Article 50 and the Prime Minister’s decision to hand over to a successor, it is sensible that decisions on what that action should consist of should wait until the Office of Budget Responsibility has made an economic forecast in the Autumn.
The Chancellor will commission the OBR to provide an Autumn forecast in the usual way.
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 the (a) membership and (b) terms of reference are of the Park Homes Working Groups.
Gavin Barwell
The members of the park homes working group set up by the Government in 2015 were:
1. Peter Aldous MP (Conservative) – Waveney
2. Steve Brine MP (Conservative) -Winchester
3. Natascha Engel MP (Labour) – North East Derbyshire
4. Sonia McColl – Park Homes Justice Campaign
5. Brian Doick – National Association of Park Home Residents
6. Alan Savory – Independent Park Homes Advisory Service
7. Alicia Dunne – The National Caravan Council
8. Ros Pritchard – British Holiday and Home Parks Association
9. Paul Holland – South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse District Council
10.Lisa Osborn – North Somerset District Council
11.William Tandoh – Department for Communities and Local Government
12. Annette Brooke* – Former Liberal Democrat MP for Mid Dorset and North Poole
13 Stephen Lloyd* – Former Liberal Democrat MP for Eastbourne
14. Andrew Miller* – Former Labour MP for Ellesmere Port and Neston
*from February – May 2015
The terms of reference of the group was to identify evidence of poor practice in the park homes sector and investigate how best to raise standards further and tackle abuse. The group concluded its work earlier this year and I will shortly consider its final recommendations.