Tag: Ivan Lewis

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2016-02-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police forces in England operate a neighbourhood policing model.

Mike Penning

How neighbourhood policing is delivered, its priorities, and the specific model that is used, are decisions for Chief Constables in conjunction with their democratically accountable Police and Crime Commissioners. This Government believes in local policing, accountable to local communities. That is why we abolished all central Government targets and put local people in charge by introducing directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of planned future budget reductions on the capacity of Greater Manchester police service to tackle cyber-crime.

Mike Penning

As the Chancellor announced in the Spending Review, no PCC will receive a reduction in cash funding over the Spending Review period if they choose to maximise their precept. It is an operational decision for chief officers, working with their PCC, to determine how best to allocate their available resources taking into account local and national priorities. In total, including national transformation funding and other funding, policing will see a £900 million increase in funding by 2019/20 in cash terms. We will continue to allocate specific funding for Counter Terrorism Policing over the course of the Spending Review period to ensure that the CT policing network has the capabilities it needs to tackle changing threats. The settlement will increase counter-terrorism policing funding in real terms in 16-17 to £670m.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2016-02-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of planned budget changes to her Department’s Afghanistan Project on economic security in that country.

Mr Desmond Swayne

The UK remains committed to a long term partnership with Afghanistan, as I communicated to President Ghani when I visited in June 2015.

It is worth noting that Afghanistan has made significant progress over the last decade, and the UK will continue our support to protect these hard-won gains. For example, UK support has helped ensure that more than 60% of the population now live within 2 hours walking distance of public health facilities, compared to only 9% in 2002. We have committed to spend £178m million in bilateral aid per year until at least 2017, and future commitments will be determined as part of the Bilateral Aid Review, due to be published shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the expected cost is of replacement of the Emergency Services Network in Greater Manchester; and how that project is to be funded.

Mike Penning

The Emergency Services Network (ESN) transition is being managed regionally. Greater Manchester is part of the North-West Region, incorporating North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust, Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside Fire & Rescue Services, as well as Cheshire Constabulary, Cumbria Constabulary, Greater Manchester Police, Lancashire Constabulary and Merseyside Police. The Core costs of operating the network are initially borne by the Home Office, but shared by the Department for Communities and Local Government, Department of Health, Welsh and Scottish Governments. The Non-core costs of connecting to the network and utilising it will be borne by local Emergency Services organisations and exact costs in Greater Manchester will be dependent upon take up of device and connection numbers to meet local operational needs. Taken together, the Core and Non-core costs of ESN are projected to cost £5 billion over the 15 year operating life of the network, saving in the region of £3 billion on the costs of the current Airwave service.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2016-02-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to reduce the prevalence of child poverty in the Greater Manchester area.

Priti Patel

The Government is committed to eliminating child poverty and improving life chances for all children, including those in Greater Manchester.

We know that work is the best route out of poverty and we are already making progress, with the number of children in workless households across Greater Manchester down by 13,000 since 2010. Our investment in childcare, the National Living Wage and increases to the Personal Allowance will help people increase their hours, increase their earnings, and enable them to keep more of what they earn.

The Secretary of State will say more about the Government’s plan to tackle disadvantage and extend opportunity in a new Life Chances Strategy. This will be published in the Spring.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of planned future budget reductions on the capacity of Greater Manchester police service to tackle child exploitation and sexual offences.

Mike Penning

As the Chancellor announced in the Spending Review, no PCC will receive a reduction in cash funding over the Spending Review period if they choose to maximise their precept. It is an operational decision for chief officers, working with their PCC, to determine how best to allocate their available resources taking into account local and national priorities. In total, including national transformation funding and other funding, policing will see a £900 million increase in funding by 2019/20 in cash terms. We will continue to allocate specific funding for Counter Terrorism Policing over the course of the Spending Review period to ensure that the CT policing network has the capabilities it needs to tackle changing threats. The settlement will increase counter-terrorism policing funding in real terms in 16-17 to £670m.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that local authorities have the (a) financial and (b) other capacity to deliver free childcare to those people who are most deprived.

Mr Sam Gyimah

Since September 2014 around 40% of disadvantaged two-year-olds have been entitled to an early education place. In 2012 the Government contracted ‘Achieving 2-year-olds’ to support local authorities in expanding the two-year-old entitlement. This support is working, and data from the latest voluntary survey of local authorities shows that an estimated 182,000 children were funded during the seven week period in the autumn of 2015, as take-up of the entitlement has increased to 72% of eligible children. This is building on local authorities’ successful delivery of 15 hours of early education per week to all three- and four-year olds, with 99% of four-year-olds and 94% of three-year-olds taking up a place.

The Government is investing in childcare at record levels, and total Government spend on childcare will increase from £5 billion in 2015-16 to over £6 billion by 2019-20. This includes almost £4 billion for the current free entitlement for three- and four-year-olds, disadvantaged two-year-olds and the early years pupil premium for three- and four-year-olds, as well as funding for the extended entitlement for working parents of three- and four-year-olds. The funding also includes £300 million for a significant uplift to the rate paid for the two, three and four-year-old entitlements, including for children from deprived backgrounds.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of planned future budget reductions on the capacity of Greater Manchester police service to tackle organised crime and terrorism.

Mike Penning

As the Chancellor announced in the Spending Review, no PCC will receive a reduction in cash funding over the Spending Review period if they choose to maximise their precept. It is an operational decision for chief officers, working with their PCC, to determine how best to allocate their available resources taking into account local and national priorities. In total, including national transformation funding and other funding, policing will see a £900 million increase in funding by 2019/20 in cash terms. We will continue to allocate specific funding for Counter Terrorism Policing over the course of the Spending Review period to ensure that the CT policing network has the capabilities it needs to tackle changing threats. The settlement will increase counter-terrorism policing funding in real terms in 16-17 to £670m.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps the Government has taken to help enforce the recently agreed ceasefire in Syria.

Penny Mordaunt

As a member of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), the UK has been closely engaged with the cessation of hostilities and supported UN Security Council Resolution 2268, which endorsed its terms. The UK supports a range of organisations on the ground in Syria who are reporting violations, and we are working with the UN and ISSG co-chairs in Geneva to support their monitoring and verification efforts.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2016-05-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to respond to the Fourth Report of the Home Affairs Committee, on Reform of the Police Funding Formula, HC 476.

Mike Penning

We will respond to the Home Affairs Select Committee’s report as soon as we are in a position to do so.

We have noted the Committee’s recommendations and are taking them into account as we consider the options for how best to take forward the work on the police funding formula.