Tag: Stewart Jackson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2015-11-03.

To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, what assessment the Electoral Commission has made of the efficacy of removing the current policy of absent votes on demand in favour of the previous absent votes criteria for the purpose of preventing electoral fraud; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Gary Streeter

In January 2014, the Electoral Commission published its review of electoral fraud in the UK, which followed research and wide public consultation on a number of proposals for reducing absent voting vulnerabilities, including reversing the current availability of postal voting on demand without a reason or attestation in Great Britain.

While some respondents to the Commission’s consultation supported restricting the availability of postal voting on demand to address the risk of electoral fraud, others expressed concern that it would reduce convenience and could mean that some electors would be unable to vote. Respondents also suggested that restricting the availability of postal voting on demand would be disproportionate to the number and scale of proven cases of postal voting fraud.

The Commission’s review concluded that restricting the availability of postal voting would remove the freedom for electors to choose a convenient and, for the vast majority, secure, method of voting and on balance did not support changing the availability of postal voting in Great Britain. At the May 2015 UK Parliamentary general election postal votes were issued to around 7.6 million electors in Great Britain, representing nearly 17% of the total electorate. At present, the Commission is aware of 22 cases of alleged electoral fraud at the May 2015 polls involving postal votes. The Commission continues to monitor data about cases of alleged postal voting fraud, and will keep its assessment of the impact of restricting the availability of postal voting under review in light of any new evidence which becomes available.

The Commission’s review also considered whether there was a case for further restricting the availability of proxy voting by requiring all proxy applications to be attested; limiting proxy voting to a smaller range of categories of need, such as special category electors; or imposing further limits on the number of electors for whom an individual could be appointed to act as a proxy. Respondents to the Commission’s consultation expressed concern that such restrictions could have an impact on voter participation, especially for disabled voters or those outside the country at the time of the election for whom proxy voting might be the only way in which they are able to vote. On balance, the Commission did not support placing further restrictions on the availability of proxy voting.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2016-05-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to improve the timely conclusion of investigations by the Independent Police Complaints Commission; and if she will make a statement.

Mike Penning

In March 2013, the Home Secretary announced that increased resources would be transferred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) to enable it to expand and undertake many more independent investigations, including all serious and sensitive matters involving the police. This change programme is under way. The IPCC has more than doubled the number of independent investigations opened (from 241 in 2014-15 to over 500 in 2015/16). The average duration of investigations reduced from 294 working days in 2014/15 to 225 working days in 2015/16.

This Government is legislating via the Policing and Crime Bill to increase the IPCC’s powers and to reform its governance structures. The reforms are designed to deliver a more capable, resilient IPCC with clearer lines of responsibility and decision making. They will further ensure that complaints and investigations are handled in a way that builds public trust and confidence.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2015-10-19.

To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, what progress has been made on land disposals for residential housing by the Church Commissioners at (a) Paston Reserve and (b) Norwood urban extensions near Peterborough; and if she will make a statement.

Mrs Caroline Spelman

The Church Commissioners have two strategic land sites at Peterborough; Paston Reserve and Norwood. Both sites are allocated as residential urban extension sites in Peterborough City Council’s adopted Core Strategy and Site Allocations Development Plan Documents. It is the Commissioners’ intention, over the long term, to make these sites available to facilitate the delivery of housing and other infrastructure.

The construction of Paston Reserve, which has planning permission for over 1,000 houses, local facilities (including a primary school), open space and other infrastructure, began in 2014. The first residential phase of development comprises 87 houses and the first houses on site were sold by the developer, Keepmoat Homes, in early 2015. Discussions in regard to a second phase of development on the site are underway and it is expected that work on site will commence in late 2016.

With respect to Norwood, the Commissioners worked with the local planning authority through the development plan process, which saw the site’s allocation for 2,300 new houses, and are committed to bringing forward the land for development. Pre-application work is currently being progressed with the other landowners across the site and initial discussions have been had with Peterborough City Council about the site’s delivery and potential timescales for an outline planning application.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2015-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that databases compiled by local authorities in respect of their regulatory functions can be used to ascertain whether non-UK EU citizens are legally exercising their rights under the Free Movement Directive; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire

The Home Office continues to work with other departments to ensure that the criteria for assessing an EU national’s right of residence in order, for example, to gain access to a public service or benefit is made in line with EU free movement law. This information may be recorded in line with the relevant local authorities’ processes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2015-10-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he plans to expand embassy and consular facilities in Latin America; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Hugo Swire

As part of the Government’s Canning Agenda over the past five years we have revitalised relations with Latin America. I have opened new Embassies in El Salvador, Haiti and Paraguay. We have also opened two new Consulates General in Brazil, in Recife in 2011 and most recently last month in Belo Horizonte. We have also increased the number of diplomats in priority Posts and the number of Ministerial visits to the region.

All future resource decisions are subject to the ongoing comprehensive Spending Review.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2015-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the availability of (a) raw materials and (b) skilled labour in the construction industry on the Government’s housing targets; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis

The Government’s Housing Implementation Task Force meets regularly to review issues, such as the availability of skills, relating to the delivery of new homes and industry reports such as the Construction Sector Network reports, produced by the Construction Industry Training Board, provide an indication of the skills the construction industry believes it will require between 2015 and 2019 for housing and wider construction. Statistics maintained by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills allow us to monitor key flows of construction materials such as bricks.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2015-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the efficacy of the Homes and Communities Agency in respect of its duties on (a) land disposals and (b) allocating and choosing partners for developing (i) brownfield and (ii) other land for residential use; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis

The Department regularly reviews the Homes and Communities Agency’s performance to ensure that both the Agency and the Department’s Accounting Officer responsibilities are satisfied.

Over the last Parliament the Homes and Communities Agency disposed of land with capacity for 20,930 homes, exceeding their plan. Whilst the Agency has a panel of preferred development partners, selected through a gateway approvals process, it is not tied to using this panel and will make a decision between engaging the development partner panel or securing a partner on the open market.

An independent assessment of the efficacy of the Home and Communities Agency’s work will be commissioned following the Spending Review and will include consideration of how the Agency performs its functions in respect of land. I expect findings from that review to report in the spring.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2015-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the performance of the Small and Medium Enterprise builders fund; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis

The Builders Finance Fund was launched in April 2014. We have already signed 8 contracts worth over £11 million, with a further 33 contracts worth £70 million in the process of being signed. In addition, we are considering 83 bids for funding worth nearly £280 million. The remaining funding is available to support house builders between now and 2017.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2015-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the performance of Build to Rent projects; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis

The Build to Rent fund provides development finance to support the creation of a purpose-built private rented sector, backed by institutional private investment. The fund is market-led and the response has been strong.

As at the end of September, there were 15 schemes in contract with the Homes and Communities Agency, representing £455 million of investment from the Build to Rent Fund, and which are expected to deliver over 4,000 housing units. In addition, a further 8 schemes seeking up to £378 million of investment have been shortlisted and are undergoing their approval process, potentially delivering up to an additional 2,950 housing units.

As at the end of September, a total of 13 schemes – representing 2,631 housing units – receiving finance through the Build to Rent fund had started on site.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2015-10-21.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of recipients of working tax credits in Peterborough constituency are citizens of non-UK EU member states; and if he will make a statement.

Damian Hinds

The information requested is not available. The Summer Budget offered a new deal for working people. It means Britain moving from a high welfare, high tax, low wage economy to a lower welfare, lower tax, higher wage society.

A new National Living Wage for workers aged 25 and above, initially set at £7.20 per hour from April 2016, will directly benefit 2.7 million low wage workers, and up to 6 million could see a pay rise as a result of a ripple effect up the earnings distribution. The new National Living Wage will boost pay for those currently earning the National Minimum Wage by £4,800 a year by 2020 when the National Living Wage is expected to rise to over £9 per hour.

To help working families keep more of what they earn, the personal allowance will increase to £11,000 in 2016-17 and £11,200 in 2017-18. The government has committed to increase the personal allowance to £12,500 by 2020 which will mean that a typical basic rate taxpayer will see their income tax cut by £1,205 a year compared to 2010.

An illustrative renting family with two children, where one parent works full-time on the minimum wage, will be over £2,400 better off in cash terms by 2020.

The government set out its assessment of the impacts of the Summer Budget policies in the Welfare Reform and Work Bill on 20^th July 2015. Taken together, the introduction of the National Living Wage, increases in the personal allowance and welfare changes mean that 8 out of 10 working households will be better off as a result of the Summer Budget.

In response to a request from the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee, the government has chosen to produce and release an impact assessment on the tax credit changes to the Committee. The impact assessment shows that 60% of the tax credit savings come from the half of tax credit claimants with the highest income.