Tag: Douglas Carswell

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-02-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans his Department has to extend the classification criteria of brownfield sites for housebuilding.

Brandon Lewis

Brownfield land is defined as previously developed land in the National Planning Policy Framework. We are consulting on whether it would be beneficial to strengthen national policy on the development of brownfield land for housing. The consultation closes on 22 February.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-02-25.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Prime Minister’s Oral Statement of 22 February 2016, Official Report, column 35, on the European Council, whether his Department is undertaking planning in the eventuality of a majority leave vote in the EU referendum.

John Penrose

At the February European Council, the Government negotiated a new settlement, giving the United Kingdom a special status in a reformed European Union. The Government’s position, as set out by the Prime Minister to the House on 22 February, is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-03-17.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what planning his Department is undertaking to facilitate private sector investment in the scalability of the proofs-of-work aspects of blockchain technology; and what discussions he has had with the Bank of England on that topic.

Harriett Baldwin

Digital currencies, and the distributed ledger technology that underpins them, have the potential to bring innovative services and products to UK customers and firms – particularly in areas like international transfers.

The Chancellor announced in March 2015 that the Government will bring digital currency exchange firms into regulation in the UK to help the legitimate industry flourish, and to create a hostile environment for illicit actors. We will publish proposals on this regulatory regime in due course.

As outlined in Deputy Governor, Ben Broadbent’s recent speech, the Bank of England is also exploring this emerging sector and the implications it could have for monetary and financial stability as part of its broader research agenda.

Separately, academics at University College London’s (UCL) digital currency research centre have also been looking at how the distributed ledger technology that underpins digital currencies could be harnessed by central banks. The Government is encouraged to see this research from one of the UK’s world-leading universities. However, this a theoretical paper by an independent institution, separate from the Bank of England’s work and from Government policy.

It is the Government’s ambition to foster the growth of legitimate digital currency firms as part of the wider FinTech ecosystem here in the UK. As part of this, the Government will consider the wider implications of a growing digital currencies sector for the financial services sector and the economy as a whole. Some parts of Government are also looking at how the benefits of distributed ledger technology can be harnessed to deliver greater innovation. However, the Government and the Bank of England do not currently have any plans to introduce a centrally issued digital currency.

The UK has been rated as having the world’s leading FinTech ecosystem in a recent global benchmarking exercise and attracted c. £524mn in investment in 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Army Air Corps pilots have resigned due to his Department’s plans to recover over-payment of flying pay; how many of those pilots (a) are currently serving and (b) have retired; what assessment he has made of the effect on (i) staffing levels and (ii) the effectiveness of that corps; whether any of those pilots affected have been subject to disciplinary proceedings due to non-repayment of such over-payments; what the value is of such over payments; over what period such over-payments relate to; and if he will make it his policy to not recover such over-payments.

Mark Lancaster

I refer the hon. Member to the response given by my noble Friend, the Minister of State for Defence, the Rt Hon. Earl Howe, to the noble Lord, the Rt Hon. the Lord Trefgarne, in the House of Lords (Official Report, column 2379). In addition to this I can confirm that an overpayment of recruitment and retention pay amounting to £829,000 in total was made to 146 Army aircrew personnel over a number of years. Of the 146 personnel affected, 97 are still serving. We have apologised and explained the circumstances of the overpayments to all affected. Each individual has the opportunity to object, appeal, and if necessary submit a Service Complaint against recovery action receiving individual and tailored advice as required. Since notification of the recovery action, the Army Air Corps is not aware of any resignations as a direct result. The error was caused by differing interpretations and use of the Recruitment and Retention Pay (Flying) policy across the Army Air Corps. As such there are no disciplinary issues associated with the overpayment.

Although there are manning pressures within the Army Air Corps they are able to meet all current commitments. In recognition of these pressures a Financial Retention Incentive was introduced in 2015 and 81% of the eligible personnel have taken up this offer resulting in a stabilisation of Army Air Corps pilot manning levels.

In accordance with HM Treasury Policy and Guidance, pay has been reverted to the correct levels and recovery action has now begun. This guidance requires that efforts are made to recover incorrect payments in all cases across the public sector. I am satisfied that this is the correct approach to take under these circumstances and reflects the previous recovery of overpayments within the Armed Forces.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-04-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what legislative provisions there are to prevent the husband of a child bride bringing that bride into the UK.

James Brokenshire

Under the family Immigration Rules both an applicant for a spouse visa and their sponsor must be aged 18 or over.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-05-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the introduction of the European Rail Traffic Management System on rail services in East Anglia.

Claire Perry

The impact of introducing the European Rail Traffic Management System is being evaluated first at the national level. Assessments for individual regions will be performed at a later stage.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2015-11-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the effect of increased cyber-security funding on the numbers of (a) frontline police and (b) police community support officers.

Mike Penning

Cyber Security, including combating cyber crime, is a top priority threat to national security. That is why, through the National Cyber Security Programme, we have invested over £90 million under the last Parliament to bolster the law enforcement response, and we will continue to invest. As the Chancellor announced this week, this Government has committed to spending £1.9 billion on cyber security over the next five years, including for cyber crime.

To date, we have funded the development of National Crime Agency’s National Cyber Crime Unit (NCCU) and of cyber teams within the Regional Organised Crime Unit network; and invested in Action Fraud and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau. We are clear that front line policing also needs to adapt with the changing nature of the threat. In partnership with the College of Policing, we have rolled out cyber crime training so that it is available to all police officers and staff, with over 150,000 modules completed so far. We recognise that local policing capabilities in respect of the investigation of digital crime are a particular concern – that is why we are working with the National Policing Lead for Digital Investigations to define the capabilities required to conduct effective digital investigations. This Government has also made a commitment to expand the number of volunteer ‘Cyber Specials’ across policing. This will harness expertise from other sectors to further increase police capability at all levels, including within local forces.

This Government will continue investing at the national, regional and local levels to ensure we have the capacity to deal with the volume and sophistication of online crime. We will continue to boost the capabilities of the NCCU by increasing their ability to investigate the most serious cyber crime, both domestically and internationally. We will increase work with industry to stop cyber attacks reaching the UK, and we will work with industry and the public to help them better protect themselves.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2015-12-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make representations to the Essex Police and Crime Commissioner to (a) extend the consultation period for closures of police stations in Essex and (b) ensure frontline policing is not reduced following proposed police station closures.

Mike Penning

Decisions about the most effective use of available resources, including numbers of police stations and deployment of frontline resources, are rightly a matter for individual Police and Crime Commissioners and Chief Constables, tailored to the needs of the local community. Data published by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary shows that the proportion of frontline roles in Essex Police increased from 88% to 91% between March 2010 and 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-02-02.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many buildings in London are part of his Department’s sukuk bond scheme.

Harriett Baldwin

In the Sukuk structure, rental payments provide the income for investors. When the Sovereign Sukuk were issued in July 2014 the profit rate was set at 2.036% in line with the yield on gilts of similar maturity, making the investor return on the Sukuk broadly equivalent to that on conventional gilts of similar maturity.

Three central government properties form the underlying assets which underpin the Sukuk.

The Government was clear at the time of issuance that the Sukuk issuance was not for debt financing purposes. Instead, it was issued to deliver on the government’s commitment to become the western hub for Islamic finance. The issuance showed that the UK is open for business with all parts of the world and provided high quality capital to UK-based Islamic banks.

UK based institutions that offer Islamic finance services are contributing to jobs and growth with assets totalling $4.5bn at the end of 2014.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-02-25.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Prime Minister’s Oral Statement of 22 February 2016, Official Report, column 35, on the European Council, whether his Department is undertaking planning in the eventuality of a majority leave vote in the EU referendum.

Mr David Gauke

At the February European Council, the Government negotiated a new settlement, giving the United Kingdom a special status in a reformed European Union. The Government’s position, as set out by the Prime Minister to the House on 22 February, is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU.