Tag: Christopher Chope

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-09-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether statutory safeguards are in place to ensure that new unitary authorities created as a result of councils seeking to abolish themselves in favour of new unitary structures must set the same band D council tax for all households from their inception; and if he will make a statement.

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.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2015-10-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the estimated cost to the public purse is of the examination into the planning consent application for the Navitus Bay Wind Park under the Planning Act 2008.

James Wharton

The net cost to the Planning Inspectorate and the fees paid by Navitus Bay Development Ltd for examining the Navitus Bay Wind Park application is estimated to be £430,000.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2015-10-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will set out the record of attendance and participation in sessions of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and its committees by those hon. Members of the UK delegation who were appointed to the Parliamentary Assembly on 10 November 2010.

Mr David Lidington

A new UK delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe was appointed on 10 November 2010 following the 2010 General Election, to provide a balanced reflection of the representation in the UK parliament, in accordance with the Statute of the Council of Europe. Details of participation in sessions of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and its committees by hon. Members of the UK delegation are published on the Parliament website:

http://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/offices/delegations/coe2/membership1/

This includes lists of members and in respect of the periods 2010-13 , 2013-2014, and 2014-15, their party affiliations and European political groupings. I have placed a copy in the Library of the House. I am pleased to note that the UK’s delegation has a strong record of attendance.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2015-10-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the work of the members of the UK delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe who were appointed on 10 November 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Lidington

Details of participation in sessions of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe by members of the UK Delegation are published on the Parliament website:

http://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/offices/delegations/coe2/membership1/

The work of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is reflected in adopted recommendations, resolutions and opinions which are in the public domain. The UK Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is recognised within the Assembly as one of the more active and influential delegations, contributing effectively across a range of issues on the Assembly’s agenda, in plenary and within the supporting committee structure. The UK Delegation also engages beyond the Assembly in other Council of Europe bodies and as part of Assembly missions deploying to Member States including for election observation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2015-10-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 15 September 2015 to Question 9845, what steps have been taken with Breast Cancer Now since the roundtable event.

George Freeman

Since the Roundtable Event, the Department has engaged with a number of key stakeholders to progress various outputs. I met Breast Cancer Now and the hon. Member for Torfaen (Nick Thomas-Symonds) who is sponsoring the Off Patent Drugs Bill recently where we discussed their views. The Government’s position on the Bill will be shared in full at its second reading on 6 November 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2015-10-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people are engaged in the Organised Immigration Crime Task Force; and in which countries those people are deployed.

James Brokenshire

The Organised Immigration Crime Taskforce brings together officers from the National Crime Agency, Border Force, Immigration Enforcement and the Crown Prosecution Service to pursue and disrupt organised immigration crime. The Taskforce builds on existing extensive law enforcement capability in the UK and overseas to tackle organised immigration crime and target criminal networks in source and transit countries. The Taskforce will exploit every opportunity to smash the gangs’ criminal operations. There are currently 52 officers in post. It is expected that 89 of the operational posts will be filled by the end of 2015 with all posts in place by the end of March 2016. In addition to posts in the UK, officers have been deployed to Europe and East, West and North Africa. While we continue to fill the additional posts we have temporarily flexed resources from across Organised Immigration Crime Taskforce partners to prioritise tackling people smuggling.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2015-10-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on how many occasions did the National Crime Agency received notice of suspicion of terrorist financing from private sector institutions, under Part III of the Terrorism Act 2000, in the last 12 months for which information is available.

Mr John Hayes

In total, between 1 October 2014 and 30 September 2015 the National Crime Agency received 1,216 Suspicious Activity Reports under the provisions of the Terrorism Act 2000.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2015-10-21.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to support non-online applications for marriage allowance by couples on low incomes.

Mr David Gauke

HM Revenue and Customs is able to support customers who need additional help such as taking applications by phone.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2015-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department plans to determine the application by CTC Aviation, dated 18 November 2014, for Highly Trusted Sponsor status for pilot training; and what the reason is for the time taken to determine that application.

James Brokenshire

The Highly Trusted Sponsor status application by CTC Aviation was granted on 12 February 2015. The application was decided within the published 18 week service standard.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2015-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether he plans to publish the Government’s response to the review of gambling advertising before the General Election.

Mrs Helen Grant

Yes.