Tag: Graham Evans

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Evans on 2016-02-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the average benefit to local economies of devolution deals.

James Wharton

The seven devolution deals that the Government has agreed will give local leaders direct control over the levers of growth in their economies, including new powers and substantial budgets ranging from transport, to adult skills, to long term investment funds. The size of these funds is substantial, for example the West Midlands will receive over £1 billion of additional investment. It will be for mayors and local leaders to set ambitions for growth and job creation as a result of these deals. By giving local areas control over key policies and resources, and making sure that local government more efficient, effective and as possible, devolution deals will give these places the tools that they need to drive forward growth for the benefit of the whole local economy.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Evans on 2016-02-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many homeowners have accessed (a) Help to Buy and (b) Right to Buy.

Brandon Lewis

Up to September 2015, over 128,000 homes had been purchased with assistance of Help to Buy Equity and Mortgage Guarantee Loans.

Since 2010/11, over 53,000 thousand tenants have purchased their homes through Right to Buy (and preserved Right to Buy for housing association tenants). The voluntary scheme extending to housing associations will give 1.3 million more families the opportunity to do this.

The Department publishes statistics on Help to Buy and Right to Buy at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-communities-and-local-government/about/statistics

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Evans on 2016-02-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to devolve powers to the local level under the Northern Powerhouse.

James Wharton

Devolution deals are progressing well across the north having already been agreed with Greater Manchester, Sheffield, Tees Valley, the North East and Liverpool, all of which will see directly elected mayors introduced in return for substantial new powers and budgets. Discussions with other areas across the north are progressing.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Evans on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent assessment she has made of the level of the threat of terrorism in Northern Ireland.

Mrs Theresa Villiers

The threat level in Northern Ireland is SEVERE meaning an attack is highly likely. Threat levels are kept under constant review.

There were 16 national security attacks in 2015 and there has been one so far this year. Many more attacks and murders by violent dissident republicans have been foiled.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Evans on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the greatest possible engagement by children and young people in the commemoration of the First World War.

David Evennett

Children and Young People are at the centre of our First World War Centenary Commemorations. We want to see young people across the country learning about the war.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Evans on 2016-04-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of potential steps to increase provision of (a) court time and (b) relevantly skilled members of the judiciary to ensure the timely management of legal proceedings on complex planning disputes.

Mr Shailesh Vara

The Planning Court was established in 2014 and has greatly increased the speed in which planning cases are dealt with.

A dedicated cadre of lawyers and judiciary have been appointed to deal expediently with all significant planning cases.

The Criminal Courts and Justice Act 2015 introduced a permission stage in applications for statutory review, to remove unmeritorious statutory challenges to planning decisions as early as possible.

Current statistical data shows that the average time taken for a planning case to be dealt with in the Planning Court has reduced from 46.9 weeks in February 2014 to 25.9 weeks in March 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Evans on 2016-06-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to accelerate the rollout of broadband in (a) rural and (b) urban areas.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The BDUK programme continues to work with BT and other suppliers to bring forward delivery of superfast broadband across the UK. 9 out of 10 homes and businesses can now receive superfast speeds and we remain on track to reach 95% by end of 2017.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Evans on 2016-09-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps he is taking to ensure that the UK retains its research and development relationship with Israel after the UK leaves the EU.

Mark Garnier

We have a strong research and development relationship with Israel, and that will continue.

We have established a UK-Israel Tech Hub, which creates partnerships between British companies and world class Israeli innovators.

We also have a thriving science and innovation relationship, for example the UK-Israel Science Council whose core mandate is to improve science collaboration between the UK and Israel.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Evans on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure that public-facing staff at sports venues have disability equality awareness training.

Tracey Crouch

I refer my Honourable friend to the answer to PQ 44837, answered on 7^th September.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Evans on 2014-07-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the NSPCC about its current and future plans to train staff to run her planned modern slavery helpline; what that training will include; what the estimated cost is of such training; and which body will provide the training.

Karen Bradley

We are working closely with the NSPCC to pilot a Modern Slavery Helpline as part of a wider communications and marketing campaign, to raise awareness of modern slavery. The helpline will be established by the end of July 2014. We are working with a number of non-governmental organisations and law enforcement agencies to ensure that all callers to the helpline can access any additional help, advice and support they need.

Training will be provided to all call handlers working on the helpline, which will be delivered by the NSPCC Child Trafficking Advice Centre and the
Metropolitan Police Service, building on their specific expertise and knowledge in this area. The training will include the nature of modern slavery, the information to be obtained from individuals who call the helpline as well as organisations that can provide further support and guidance. There are no specific costs to the Home Office associated with providing this training.

Each call to the helpline will be considered on a case-by-case basis and, where an individual requires further information or advice, the helpline call handlers will provide the details of other organisations for the caller to contact, as appropriate. This is regardless of whether the caller is from an EU or non-EU country.

Stakeholders, including NGOs, have been engaged in the communications and marketing campaign which underpins the helpline.
The NSPCC is ideally placed to deliver what we need given their existing infrastructure and expertise in safeguarding issues. The NSPCC runs a number of helplines, including Childline, FGM helpline and the Child Trafficking Advice Centre (CTAC) line. We have engaged NSPCC by means of a formal Grant Agreement, not a Contract, which will be managed using standard Home Office grant terms and conditions in accordance with the principles of Managing Public Money.