Tag: Peter Bone

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bone on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits for his Department of merging the Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland Offices to make a Department for the regions.

Stephen Crabb

I would start by reminding my honourable Friend that Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are nations, not regions.

Since my appointment as Secretary of State for Wales, I have taken action to drive down costs within the Wales Office by collaborating with other Government Departments and sharing services.

At the present time I believe the nations are best served by strong Secretaries of State representing their interests around the Cabinet table.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bone on 2016-10-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will extend the Help to Buy scheme to shared ownership housing association tenants.

Gavin Barwell

The Government has recently launched the new Help to Buy: Shared Ownership scheme which enables people to purchase an initial 25% to 75% of a new home and pay rent on the remainder with the option to purchase more later. It is open to those with a household income below £80,000 in England or £90,000 in London. The Government has no plans to combine this with Help to Buy: Equity Loan.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bone on 2015-12-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his policy is on New Home Bonuses for district and borough councils; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis

As part of the Spending Review, the Government committed to the continuation of the New Homes Bonus. We will consult on reforms to the New Homes Bonus, including means of sharpening the incentive to reward communities for additional homes. We will also explore reducing the length of payments from six years including an option for savings of at least £800 million to be returned to local government and used to fund vital services such as adult social care. Details of both reforms will be set out shortly. There are no plans to change the basis of allocations for 2016/17. The allocations for 2016/17 will be published alongside the provisional Local Government Settlement for that year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bone on 2015-12-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what changes are planned for local government funding over the next five years; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Marcus Jones

Plans for local government funding will be set out shortly, alongside the publication of the provisional local government finance settlement for 2016-17.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bone on 2015-12-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his estimate is of the amount of New Home Bonuses to be granted to (a) East Northants Council, (b) the Borough Council of Wellingborough, (c) Northamptonshire County Council and (d) England in each of the next 10 years.

Brandon Lewis

As part of the Spending Review, the Government committed to the continuation of the New Homes Bonus. We will consult on reforms to the New Homes Bonus, including means of sharpening the incentive to reward communities for additional homes. We will also explore reducing the length of payments from six years including an option for savings of at least £800 million to be returned to local government and used to fund vital services such as adult social care. Details of both reforms will be set out shortly. There are no plans to change the basis of allocations for 2016/17. The allocations for 2016/17 will be published alongside the provisional Local Government Settlement for that year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bone on 2015-12-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what transitional arrangements are in place for women affected by the planned increase in the retirement age for state pension recipients.

Justin Tomlinson

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 November 2015 to Gavin Newlands (Paisley and Renfrewshire North), Question UIN 15476

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bone on 2015-11-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the prevalence of the use of performance advancing drugs in UK sport.

Tracey Crouch

The Government supports the work of UK Anti-Doping which works tirelessly to ensure athletes and sport are clean. Through testing programmes, intelligence sharing with law-enforcement agencies on supplying and trafficking, and its excellent athlete education initiatives, UKAD is one of the world’s most highly regarded national anti-doping organisations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bone on 2015-12-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the (a) average cost of building new prisons planned by the Government and (b) length of time it will take from conception to completion to build such a prison.

Andrew Selous

£1.3bn will be invested to reform and modernise the prison estate to make it more efficient, safer and focused on supporting prisoner rehabilitation. The government will build nine new, modern prisons, five of which will open in this Parliament and the rest shortly after.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bone on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his policy is on creation of new unitary authorities.

Mr Marcus Jones

The Government’s policy is to work with local areas to deliver effective devolution with the governance necessary to support this. We support the move to create new unitary authorities where such a move is locally driven and enjoys local support.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Bone on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2015 to Question 18626, what estimate he has made of the average cost of (a) the five new prisons planned to be open in the current Parliament and (b) the four new prisons planned to open after the current Parliament; and what estimate he has made of the average time that will be taken from application for planning permission to completion in each such set of such prisons.

Andrew Selous

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to PQ 18626 on 8 December 2015.