Tag: Craig Whittaker

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to encourage local authorities to (a) create a business-friendly environment and (b) expand their business rates base.

Mr Marcus Jones

The business rates retention scheme was introduced in 2013-14 to give councils greater autonomy over their finances and to incentivise them to grow their business rates base. According to local authority forecasts, 54% of authorities benefitted from growth above assumed levels in 2013-14, which has risen to 91% in 2016-17. By the end of the Parliament, local authorities will retain 100% of their business rates, further strengthening the incentive for growth. Councils will also have the power to cut the business rates multiplier to improve the business environment for enterprise and attract further businesses to their area.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential economic benefits to the Calder Valley of accelerating the upgrade of the M62 to a four-lane smart motorway between junctions 20 and 25.

Andrew Jones

The recent Budget announced that funding had been brought forward to enable Highways England to accelerate the smart motorway investment for the M62 Junction 10 to 12 scheme by two years, and to accelerate delivery of the M62 Junction 20 to 25 smart motorway.

Design development work on these schemes is at the very earliest stage, and as such the analysis of the full economic potential of this investment is still being developed as part of the business case.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to close attainment gaps between the best and worst performing local authority areas as judged by GCSE and A Level results.

Nick Gibb

Our recent White Paper, ‘Educational Excellence Everywhere’, set out our intention to place a new focus on ‘Achieving Excellence Areas’ where too few children have access to a good school and there are insufficient high quality teachers, leaders, system leaders and sponsors. By doing this we will enable the school-led system to deliver rapid and sustainable improvement.

We want to eradicate the pockets of underperformance in our school system and will do so by targeting the Department for Education’s programmes in the areas of greatest need. We intend to pilot this approach from September 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-07-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans his Department has to (a) invest in and (b) modernise Territorial Army centres.

Mark Lancaster

The Department continues to develop and invest in the Army Reserves, including its infrastructure and estate, in line with commitments set out in the Reserves White Paper (Cm8655) published on 3 July 2013 and accompanying statement (Official Report, column 49WS) and through our wider estate optimisation plans.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners serving a mandatory life sentence have been released early from prison in each of the last 10 years.

Mr Sam Gyimah

A life sentence is mandatory for murder. A life sentence must also be imposed for a second, very serious, specified violent or sexual offence – for example, manslaughter, GBH with intent, rape, and sexual assault on a child under 13 – unless the court finds that there are particular circumstances relating to the offence or the offender which would make it unjust to do so.

Under a life sentence, the offender must serve the full minimum term imposed by the court before being considered for release on life licence by the Parole Board, which will only release an offender if and when it considers it safe to do so. Where a whole life order is imposed the offender is not eligible for parole.

The number of life sentences imposed in each of the last ten years can be found on gov.uk.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the level of financial reserves of local authorities.

Mr Marcus Jones

Local authorities are responsible for managing their own finances. They are required by statute to have regard to the level of reserves needed for meeting estimated future expenditure when calculating their annual budget requirement.

In making their assessment, they must have regard to the good practice guidance produced by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy.

Where authorities have maintained significant revenue reserves, this will give them room to manoeuvre on their finances in future years.

Authorities should consider dipping into their revenue reserves where it can be sensible to provide and protect front line services for local tax payers.

My Department publishes statistics on the level of reserves held by each authority, based on reports from them, which are available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing-england-2014-to-2015-individual-local-authority-data-outturn

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2015-12-03.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the local economy of the potential closure of HM Revenue and Customs offices in West Yorkshire.

Mr David Gauke

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has announced its plans to create a new regional centre in West Yorkshire, investing in up to 4,400 full time posts in the region. HMRC will be offering career opportunities to those from across the county in a range of the Department’s professions and intends to partner with local colleges and universities to provide a pipeline of staff to work in its new centre. The Department’s proposed changes will also save money for the taxpayers of West Yorkshire as HMRC’s national estates costs will reduce by around £100 million a year by 2025.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of increasing the use of upland management schemes in areas susceptible to flooding as a method of flood prevention.

Rory Stewart

Land management change can have important benefits in reducing flood risk. We will encourage any measures that could help manage flood risk, for example management of our peat uplands and planting trees to slow the flow at the same time as providing wider environmental benefits within catchments. Flood risk management is also one of the targeting criteria for woodland creation funded through the new Countryside Stewardship scheme and the Forestry Commission also continues to undertake research into understanding what role woodlands can play in managing flood risk.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department has taken to improve security at the Akrotiri and Dhekelia RAF Sovereign Base Areas; and how much his Department has spent on securing those areas in each of the last 10 years.

Penny Mordaunt

There are robust and established measures in place to provide effective security to the Akrotiri and Dhekelia Sovereign Base Areas, both of which have undergone various upgrades during the past 10 years. I cannot comment in detail on the security arrangements, the cost of them, and any specific changes to them over the last ten years, but they include physical improvements and intelligence driven countermeasures. All measures are kept under constant review.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to encourage local authorities to offer apprenticeships.

Mr Marcus Jones

My Department is working closely across Government and with the Local Government Association to encourage local authorities to start planning now so they can take advantage of the opportunities both the apprenticeship levy and targets offer to meet skills shortages and increase apprenticeship numbers. The Department has already jointly hosted, with BIS and the Local Government Association, two successful round table events with local authorities to support them in meeting the challenge of significantly increasing the numbers of apprenticeships in the wider public sector.