Tag: Greg Mulholland

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-09-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to enable communities with neighbourhood plans that are (a) complete and (b) being developed to appeal against planning decisions that conflict with that plan.

Gavin Barwell

The Neighbourhood Planning Bill will strengthen neighbourhood planning, by requiring local planning authorities and others who decide planning applications to have regard to neighbourhood plans that have been independently examined, once the decision has been taken to put the plan to a referendum.The Bill would also ensure plans have full legal weight at an earlier stage of the process, as soon as the outcome of the referendum is announced, and make it easier to ensure plans can be kept up to date.

These measures are in addition to existing safeguards that ensure neighbourhood plans are given proper consideration, including existing powers for communities to request that the Secretary of State ‘calls-in’ planning applications for his own determination, and new requirements introduced in the Housing and Planning Act, that will require any conflict with a made neighbourhood plan to be set out in the committee report that will inform a planning committee decision.

Furthermore, national planning policy is clear that where a planning application conflicts with a neighbourhood plan that has been brought into force, planning permission should not normally be granted, and that decision-makers may give weight to policies in emerging neighbourhood plans according to the stage of preparation of the plan, the extent of unresolved objections, and the degree of consistency with the National Planning Policy Framework.

In the light of these safeguards, the government does not support a right of appeal for those opposed to a decision to grant planning permission, which would delay the building of the new homes we need.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-10-17.

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will bring forward proposals for a consultation on extending civil partnerships to heterosexual couples in England and Wales.

Caroline Dinenage

The Government has already carried out a consultation on the future of civil partnerships in 2014, and has no plans to carry out another consultation on this issue.

Following the passage of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013, we carried out a full review of the operation and future of the Civil Partnership Act 2004, which included a thorough public consultation on potential changes to civil partnership. Views were invited on three options: abolishing civil partnerships; phasing them out; or extending them to opposite sex couples.

The review found that there was no clear consensus on the future of civil partnerships. A majority of respondents to the consultation were against extending civil partnerships to opposite sex couples and a significant number of stakeholders thought it was too soon to consider making changes to civil partnerships until the impact of extending marriage to same sex couples is known. Given the lack of any consensus, the Government has no current plans to make changes to the Civil Partnership Act 2004.

The Isle of Man is a self-governing crown dependency. We are not required to carry out an assessment on their legislation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-28.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of armed forces veterans are in receipt of tax credits.

Damian Hinds

I refer the member to the answer I provided on 28 October 2015 to question 25228:

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=commons&use-dates=True&uin=13031

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-11-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what representations she has received on responding to correspondence from hon. Members by email rather than by letter.

James Brokenshire

UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) can confirm that it corresponds with hon. Members through informal channels such as email and telephone wherever possible as opposed to formal written correspondence.

A recent MP satisfaction survey conducted by UKVI revealed that over 87% of respondents prefer informal channels of communication such as email or telephone rather than a formal letter response. This effective channel shift has improved the level of service that the department has provided to MPs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-12-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his international counterparts on forced disappearances in Syria.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We continue to press (including in international fora) for the immediate end to enforced disappearances in Syria and the release of those arbitrarily detained.

The UK sponsored three resolutions on the human rights situation in Syria at the Human Rights Council during 2015 condemning all arbitrary detention of individuals by the Syrian authorities and other parties to the conflict and demanding the immediate release of all persons arbitrarily detained. We also co-sponsored the UN General Assembly Third Committee Resolution on the human rights situation in Syria which was successfully adopted on 19 November.

We support the UN Commission of Inquiry’s investigations into human rights violations and abuses, including enforced disappearances, in Syria. In partnership with other donor countries, we are funding the collection of documentary evidence on such abuses for use in possible legal processes in the future. We continue to call for the UN Commission of Inquiry to have unhindered access to all persons deprived of their liberty and allow them to investigate.

Last year the UK co-sponsored a UN Security Council Resolution to refer all those responsible for war-crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria, regardless of affiliation, to the International Criminal Court. Russia and China chose to veto this resolution.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he plans to take to support manufacturers who previously used the Manufacturing Advisory Service once that service is ended.

Anna Soubry

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills did not consult specifically on the decision to close the Manufacturing Advisory Service as this was a commercially sensitive decision. However, through our ongoing discussions with manufacturers and their representatives, there has been wide recognition that the best way for Government to support manufacturers is by getting the fundamentals of the economy right. We are creating a highly competitive business environment to make the UK an attractive location for manufacturing investment, supporting export success, boosting skills and protecting spending on innovation and the cutting edge smart digital manufacturing technologies which will drive the strong UK productivity growth in the future.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential threat to minority communities in the UK of language used by US presidential election candidates which her Department defines as extreme.

Karen Bradley

HM Government does not routinely comment on assessments of alleged extremist behaviour by individuals. Tackling the threat that extremism poses to all UK communities is at the heart of HMG’s Counter-Extremism Strategy, and we are working in partnership with communities across the country to do so.

In July 2015, the Prime Minister charged Louise Casey with carrying out a review of ways to boost integration in UK communities to combat the divisive threat of extremism. An interim report for the review is due to be published in the early part of this year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on amending immigration rules to support the curry industry.

Anna Soubry

My Rt hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has regular discussions with the Home Secretary on a wide variety of issues.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidelines are in place on the amount of time that should be taken to process reimbursement claims from UK citizens for health treatment in other European countries; and what data his Department holds on the average amount of time taken to process such claims.

Justin Tomlinson

The EU regulations do not provide set timescales for the processing of reimbursement claims. The DWP Overseas Healthcare Team work proactively with colleagues in the other EEA states to progress reimbursement claims on behalf of UK citizens. When all the appropriate information is received from the relevant EEA state, such claims are normally cleared for reimbursement within 10 days.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will take steps to introduce independent checks to ensure that rented properties are genuinely abandoned within the provisions of the Housing and Planning Bill.

Brandon Lewis

The new abandonment procedure will enable landlords to legally regain possession of their property where it has been abandoned, without the need to obtain a possession order. We have introduced a number of safeguards to ensure that tenants are adequately protected against potential misuse of the procedure. These include a requirement that at least 8 weeks or 2 months rent is unpaid and requiring the landlord to serve at least 3 warning notices before they can repossess the property.