Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Matthew Offord – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Matthew Offord – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2016-07-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will review the technical guidance on householder permitted development rights to minimise the visual impact of loft extensions.

    Brandon Lewis

    Permitted development rights for householders are set out in the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015. The rights allow for loft extensions to the rear or side of dwellinghouses. To minimise the impact on the amenity of an area there are conditions limiting their size and appearance. These are explained in the Technical Guidance which was reviewed and updated in April 2016. Where the development exceeds the thresholds, or is to the front of a dwellinghouse, an application for planning permission is required.

  • Lord Hughes of Woodside – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Hughes of Woodside – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hughes of Woodside on 2016-09-15.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen on 12 September (HL Deb, col 1308), what are the remit and terms of appointment of the anti-corruption champion, and what staffing and financial support arrangements have been put in place to assist him in carrying out his duties.

    Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen

    The Anti-Corruption Champion, Sir Eric Pickles, is a personal appointment of the Prime Minister. The main elements of the Champion’s role were set out in the UK’s Anti-Corruption Action Plan and include: scrutinising the performance of departments and agencies, as co-chair of the Inter-Ministerial Group on Anti-Corruption; responsibility, along with Home Office Ministers, for approval of the UK’s Anti-Corruption Plan and for parliamentary and public accountability of the Government’s performance against the Plan; responsibility, along with other Ministers, for leading the UK’s push to strengthen the international response to corruption; and a mandate to engage with external stakeholders, including business and civil society organisations. The Champion is supported by the Joint Anti-Corruption Unit.

  • Iain Wright – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Iain Wright – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Iain Wright on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the fit and proper test for individuals running care homes for the elderly; and what plans he has to make changes to that test.

    Alistair Burt

    All providers of regulated health and adult social care activities in England are required to register with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and to meet a set of registration requirements relating to safety and quality. The CQC has a range of enforcement powers that it can use when these standards are not met. These registration requirements include the fitness of service providers where the provider is an individual or partnership, as well as the fitness of registered managersand the fitness of staff. Since April 2015, the directors of all registered service providers have also been required to meet a fit and proper person requirement. The registered provider is responsible for ensuring that these requirements are met. The Department keeps the requirements for registration with the CQC under review. There are no current plans to make changes to the fit and proper person requirements that apply to registered providers.

  • Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-12-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to reorganise local government in England.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The Government’s policy is to work with local areas to deliver effective devolution with the governance necessary to support this, including moves to more unitary structures where this is wanted locally. Our aim, as it has been throughout our devolution discussions with areas, is to build consensus and the provisions in the Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill, to which the House of Commons gave an unopposed Third Reading on Monday 7 December, provide the flexibility that no one council can reasonably refuse to discuss with others the potential for reforming their area’s governance.

  • Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Cadbury on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that refugees admitted to the UK from Syria are provided with the necessary support to enable them to integrate into British society.

    Richard Harrington

    The Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement scheme is based on need and prioritises those who cannot be supported effectively in the region. Local authorities are expected to provide refugees that they resettle with a 12 month support package which is tailored according to their individual needs. As well as accommodation and addressing any medical and social care needs, this also includes cultural integration and English language tuition. This is funded using the overseas aid budget as it is giving support to refugees that would otherwise be provided overseas.

    At the Spending Review, the Government committed £129 million to assist with local authority costs over years 2-5 of the scheme. This will be allocated on a tariff basis over four years, tapering from £5,000 per person in their second year in the UK, to £1,000 per person in year five. There will also be a special cases fund to assist the most vulnerable refugees. This is a substantial level of funding which will enable local authorities to support these vulnerable people as they rebuild their lives in safe and secure surroundings, among supportive communities in the UK.

    We are working with offers of support from community groups and inidividuals to see how we can best take them up to further help people settle and integrate, and, where possible, find employment in the UK.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has (a) received and (b) made on the cancellation of the UK delegation to Israel and the Occupied Territories to follow up the report published by a delegation of British lawyers, entitled Children in Military Custody, in June 2012; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We have not received representations on this issue. I expressed my strong disappointment at Israel’s unwillingness to host this follow-up visit with Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely during my visit to Israel on 18 February. Officials from the British Embassy in Tel Aviv, including the Ambassador, also lobbied the Israeli Ministry for Foreign Affairs to cooperate with the visit, and will continue to follow up. We remain committed to working with Israel to secure improvements to the practices surrounding children in detention in Israel.

  • Rushanara Ali – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Rushanara Ali – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of visa arrangements for international students on the number of those students coming to study in the UK.

    James Brokenshire

    The student migration system we inherited was too weak, and open to wide-spread abuse, damaging the UK’s reputation as a provider of world-class education. The National Audit Office reported that in 2009/10 up to 50,000 students may have come to work, not study.

    We have clamped down on immigration abuse from poor quality institutions selling immigration rather than education, and since 2010 we have struck off more than 920 bogus colleges. Visa applications for the further education sector, where abuse has been most prevalent over recent years, are down 75 per cent compared with 2010.

    At the same time, we have maintained a highly competitive offer for international students who would like to study at our world-class institutions. This is borne out by the figures: visa applications from international students to study at British universities are up by 16 per cent since 2010, whilst visa applications to our world-leading Russell Group institutions are up by 39 per cent since 2010.

    We will continue to reform the student visa system to tackle abuse and deliver an effective immigration system that works in the national interest.

  • Richard Arkless – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Richard Arkless – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Arkless on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with local authorities in Northern Ireland and Scotland about the illegal trafficking of puppies from the Republic of Ireland; and what assessment she has made of the effect on such trafficking of the transfer in Scotland of search powers from Trading Standards to local port authorities.

    George Eustice

    The Government takes the illegal movement of dogs and puppies seriously and it is committed to working with the Devolved Administrations, delivery bodies, enforcement agencies and non-government organisations to tackle this issue.

    Whilst there have been no recent Ministerial meetings on the illegal movement of dogs, Defra’s Chief Veterinary Officer has recently discussed the issue with his Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland counterparts. Additionally, there have been discussions on this issue between other Defra officials and officials within the Devolved Administrations.

    Defra has not carried out an assessment of the impact of transferring Trading Standards search powers to local port authorities in Scotland as this is a devolved matter. However, we will continue to work closely with the Scottish Government and other interested parties to ensure that there is a full exchange of ideas and information on combating the illegal importation of puppies.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent representations he has received on improving road-side facilities for hauliers on the strategic road network.

    Andrew Jones

    Since the beginning of the year Transport Ministers and DfT officials have received five letters from MPs and six letters from the public calling specifically for an improvement in roadside facilities for hauliers. I have asked officials to see what can be done to work with the industry to improve the provision and quality of roadside facilities.

  • Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-07-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will make it her policy to implement the Competition and Markets Authority’s recommendations in making all future auctions for renewable support contracts technology neutral.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The CMA recommendations are another step towards ensuring we have a competitive and effective energy market for consumers. We will now take action, along with Ofgem and other delivery bodies, to implement these recommendations.

    The Competition and Markets Authority did not recommend making all future auctions for renewable support technology neutral.