The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-02-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals to amend the working time regulations; and if he will make a statement.
Nick Boles
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills keeps the working time regulations under continuous review. We will continue to engage with interested parties to determine the best way forward in this area.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-03-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 1 March 2016 to Question 28406, for what reasons the governments within the EU that support further political integration are not listed in that Answer.
Mr David Lidington
It is for other national governments to explain their own approaches to further European political integration. A government may, for example, be in favour of greater integration in some areas of policy but not in others. As I said in my responses to PQ 27033 and 28406, there is clearly support in some governments within the European Union for further political integration, but there are other, more sceptical voices too. The Decision of the Heads of State or Government, meeting within the European Council, on 18 and 19 February 2016, makes clear that the Treaty references to an ‘ever closer union’ are “compatible with different paths of integration and do not compel all Member States to aim for a common destination”.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-05-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many GP practices in Dorset provide phlebotomy services; and what action his Department is taking to increase the number of practices providing such services.
Alistair Burt
NHS England advises that 83 out of 98 general practitioner (GP) practices in Dorset provide practice based phlebotomy as an enhanced service. All patients registered at GP practices in Dorset have access to phlebotomy services, which are provided from a variety of locations, including GP practices and other sites.
The Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group is in the process of reviewing the provision of all phlebotomy services across Dorset to see how current provision could be improved. This is also a feature of the Clinical Services Review which is looking at how a wider range of services, closer to people’s homes can be offered.
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 the Government’s policy is on the maximum threshold for council tax increases in England in (a) 2019-20, (b) 2020-21 and (c) 2021-22.
Mr Marcus Jones
The Government is committed to maintaining the right of local electorates to approve or veto excessive council tax rises in a local referendum. Decisions on the threshold are made annually as part of the Local Government Finance Settlement.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-10-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the Government plans to respond to the recommendations of the Law Commission Report on taxi and private hire vehicle licensing, published in May 2014; and whether it plans to take steps to permit more local authority cross-border use of such vehicles.
Andrew Jones
The Government is currently considering all the recommendations in the Law Commission’s report on taxi and private hire regulation in England and Wales and will formally respond to the Law Commission and announce its intentions once this scrutiny is completed.
The Government has no current plans to amend legislation in respect of cross-border working. The Deregulation Act 2015 enables licensed operators in England and Wales to subcontract bookings to licensed operators in another district, any private hire vehicle operator in London or an operator in Scotland. This power was already possible in London through The Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1998. This was a recommendation from the Law Commission’s review of taxi and private hire services.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2015-11-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners are serving sentences beyond the limit of the tariff for the crimes for which they were sentenced.
Andrew Selous
Prisoners serving indeterminate sentences have a minimum term, or tariff, imposed by the court for the purposes of punishment and deterrence. Once this has been served release is determined by the Parole Board on the basis of risk.
The latest figures for the indeterminate sentence prison population by tariff length and tariff expiry date can be found in table 1.9 of the Offender Management Statistics Quarterly Bulletin published on 29 0ctober 2015: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/offender-management-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2015
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-01-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to his oral contribution of 6 January 2016, Official Report, column 275, what the source is of the figures which he quoted on application rates for higher education.
David Mundell
These figures were published by UCAS on 30 January 2015. The relevant publication can be found at:
https://www.ucas.com/sites/default/files/january_application_rates_2015_final_0.pdf
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-01-27.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people have claimed the marriage allowance introduced in April 2015 to date; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure that eligible people apply for that allowance.
Mr David Gauke
As of 28 January 2016, 332,301 couples have successfully claimed Marriage Allowance. All eligible couples can apply on the GOV.UK website, or by phoning HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
HMRC has extensively marketed Marriage Allowance, including through digital and press advertising, and social and free media. HMRC plans further activities over the coming months to raise awareness.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-02-08.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether any Barnett consequentials arise from the Local Government Finance Report (England) 2016-17.
Greg Hands
The Barnett Formula will be applied in the usual way to any additional funding from the Exchequer arising from the final local government finance settlement for 2016-17.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-02-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Environment Agency has taken to identify those responsible for the fly-tipping of plastic and other rubbish in Cornwall Road, Smethwick in March 2015.
Rory Stewart
The Environment Agency is continuing to investigate the case of illegal dumping on land in Cornwall Road. As this is an active investigation I am unable to provide further details at this stage.
Illegal dumping and waste crime more generally is unacceptable whether it occurs on public or private land.
The Government is taking action to crack down on this unacceptable behaviour and has pledged an additional £20 million of funding for waste crime enforcement over the next five years as part of the Spending Review. We are also working with the Environment Agency through a joint Waste Crime Action Plan to ensure its regulatory effort is targeted effectively and focussed on speedy and tough enforcement action