The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2015-11-06.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many rating assessment appeals are outstanding with the Valuation Office Agency.
Mr David Gauke
The information requested can be found at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/non-domestic-rating-challenges-and-changes-experimental
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2015-11-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he expects there to be universal access to superfast fibreoptic broadband in Easington constituency.
Mr Edward Vaizey
In the Easington constituency we estimate that around 90% will benefit from superfast broadband coverage through commercial roll out. According to current forecasts a further 7% will have access under the publicly funded Superfast Broadband Programme by the end of September 2018. As announced by the Prime Minister on 7 November, the Government intends to implement a new broadband Universal Service Obligation in this Parliament. A four-week consultation on the Government’s proposed approach to taking this work forwards was published on 23 March.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-01-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of existing legislation for tackling incidents of cyber bullying and harassment.
Mike Penning
As part of the arrangements for the collection of police recorded crime data the Home Office has introduced an ‘online flag’ allowing police forces to record online instances of crimes such as stalking and harassment. These data are still being developed but will be published once the data are considered to be of sufficient quality. In October 2015, the Office for National Statistics introduced new fraud and cyber questions to the Crime Survey for England and Wales. These new questions mean that we will be able to identify those crimes that had an online component and hence be able to provide estimates of cyber crime. This data will be published in due course.
Legislation is in place to deal with internet trolls, cyber-stalking and harassment, and perpetrators of grossly offensive, obscene or menacing behaviour. Through the Criminal Justice Act 2015, we improved two communications offences which can be used to prosecute misuse of social media: section 1 of the Malicious Communications Act 1988, and section 127 of the Communications Act 2003, giving the police longer to investigate either offence, and increasing the maximum penalty for the former to two years imprisonment.
Engagement with the industry is essential, and the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) brings together industry, law enforcement, academia, charities, parenting groups, and government departments (Home Office, Department for Culture, Media & Sport, and Department for Education), to work in partnership to help to keep children and young people safe online. As part of this work, the UK’s Communications regulator, Ofcom, recently led a working group to develop good practice guidance for providers of social media and interactive services. Its purpose is to encourage businesses to think about “safety by design” to help make their platforms safer for children and young people under 18. This guidance was published in December 2015. A wide range of partners contributed to this project, including Twitter, Facebook, Google, Ask.FM, MindCandy and Microsoft.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had on introducing new duties on local authorities to assess the level of need for wheelchair accessible homes and set appropriate targets in local development plans.
Brandon Lewis
Local authorities are best placed to understand the housing needs in their area. We expect them to work closely with key partners and their local communities in deciding what type of housing is needed.
National policy sets out clearly the need for local authorities to plan for the housing needs of all members of the community and that planning should encourage accessibility. The introduction of optional requirements for accessibility in the Building Regulations provides local authorities with the tools needed to ensure that new homes are accessible and that in particular the needs of disabled people are met.
Local authorities are held accountable for their housing delivery via their Local Plans which are tested by local independent planning inspectors and are scrutinised via yearly Authority Monitoring reports which set out progress on delivery against Local Plan targets. In addition local authorities must determine individual decisions in line with the development plan and other material considerations, such as the National Planning Policy Framework and having regard to viability considerations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-02-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to provide new swimming facilities in Easington constituency.
David Evennett
Sport England is currently supporting Durham County Council to conduct a review of its sports facilities strategy to ensure the provision of facilities for grassroots sports in the area, including swimming, can meet the needs of the local community.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how the Government intends to encourage electoral registration officers to prepare and execute strategies to maximise the proportion of (a) 16 and 17 year olds, (b) FE and HE students and (c) people aged 25 years and under registering to vote.
John Penrose
Electoral Registration Officers have a statutory duty to maintain the completeness and accuracy of their registers and are held accountable for meeting performance standards by the Electoral Commission. This includes implementing public engagement strategies to target under registered groups which includes young people. The Government has made available a range of free online learning resources on voter registration. These have been promoted to EROs using channels such as newsletters and Association of Electoral Administrators (AEA) meetings.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-04-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of improving metro services in the North East and extending such services into Easington constituency.
Andrew Jones
My Department is supporting Nexus in delivering an 11 year programme of works to renew and improve the Tyne and Wear Metro. This work is being funded with over £300 million of grant from DfT and includes refurbishment of the Metrocar fleet, modernisation of 60 stations, introduction of new ‘smart’ ticketing machines, barriers and technologies, and a new communications system. Nexus is also overhauling and maintaining structures such as bridges and tunnels, track and overhead power lines.
As part of the North East Devolution Deal, Nexus will be submitting a business case shortly that covers the replacement of the existing rolling stock and signalling as well as any proposals for expanding the Metro network.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-05-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had about funding the construction of a new rail station at Horden.
Andrew Jones
Officials from Rail North met with Durham County Council on 21 April to discuss its aspirations for a new station at Horden and potential funding sources, including the New Stations Fund. The new station may also be included in the draft Rail North Single Investment Plan.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make available to the hon. Member for Easington, in electronic form, (a) all Local Government Pension Scheme pooling bids and (b) the investment cost data provided by CEM Benchmarking which have been used to calculate investment costs under each fund and that underpin each bid in each of the last three years.
Mr Marcus Jones
I will place copies of the final proposals on local government pension scheme pooling in the Library of the House.
Investment cost data was provided by CEM Benchmarking to the individual administering authorities and is not held by my Department.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2015-10-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many hospitals in the North East are treating brain tumour patients with stereotactic radiosurgery; and how many patients have been treated in each such hospital in each year since NHS England was created.
Jane Ellison
There was no recorded activity of stereotactic radiosurgery or radiotherapy in 2013-14 for hospitals in the North East¹.
¹Source: The Health and Social Care Information Centre, Hospital Episodes Statistics database 2013-14.
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