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1131046

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2019
	answering body	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	answering dept id	90
	answering dept short name	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	answering dept sort name	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	hansard heading	Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority: Location
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, for what reason the Authority did not consider locations for its offices outside London and the South-East.
	tabling member constituency	Warley
	tabling member printed	John Spellar
	uin	262236
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/06/2019 answer text <p>When moving offices, IPSA considered locations only in London and the South East, as evidence from other public bodies shows that organisations that relocate by a significant distance tend to lose more staff. IPSA is a small organisation and wished to retain its staff in order to continue uninterrupted its support to MPs, including regular meetings between them and their IPSA account managers, and its assurance to the public about MPs’ spending.</p> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Mr Charles Walker question first answered 20/06/2019 12:07:20 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker previous answer version 123714 answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Mr Charles Walker answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
	tabling member	318 label Biography information for John Spellar

1131047

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2019
	answering body	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	answering dept id	90
	answering dept short name	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	answering dept sort name	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	hansard heading	Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority: Offices
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, pursuant to the Answer of 5 June 2019 to Question 257645 on Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority: Buildings, which organisation's commercial interests would be prejudiced; and in what manner by disclosing the size of IPSA's office and the rate paid per metre.
	tabling member constituency	Warley
	tabling member printed	John Spellar
	uin	262237
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/06/2019 answer text <p>It is common practice for landlords to prohibit the publication of commercial agreements reached with their tenants. This is the case regarding the lease signed by IPSA and its landlord. IPSA is nonetheless a public body accountable to Parliament and its accounts are audited by the National Audit Office and scrutinised by the Speaker’s Committee for the IPSA in order to provide assurance that value for money has been obtained. The Speaker’s Committee is scheduled to meet in July 2019 to discuss IPSA’s finances and other matters.</p> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Mr Charles Walker question first answered 20/06/2019 12:09:00 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker previous answer version 123713 answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Mr Charles Walker answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
	tabling member	318 label Biography information for John Spellar

1131865

	registered interest
	date	12/06/2019
	answering body	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	answering dept id	90
	answering dept short name	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	answering dept sort name	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	hansard heading	Members: Allowances
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the system for reimbursing MPs expenses; and if IPSA will make it its policy to reinstate the previous system for the reimbursement of expenses.
	tabling member constituency	Christchurch
	tabling member printed	Sir Christopher Chope
	uin	263668
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/06/2019 answer text <p>IPSA considered a range of options for its new system of reimbursing MPs’ business costs and expenses. The system selected is more integrated and efficient than its predecessor systems, and holds the personal data of MPs and their staff more securely. The software selected is widely used in the United Kingdom, including in many public bodies. Prior to its launch in April, the effectiveness of the system was thoroughly tested, including by MPs and their staff. Its benefits include:</p><p> </p><p>- A ‘single sign-on’ capability to allow MPs and their staff to access the system directly through their secure parliamentary account without an additional logon.</p><p>- MPs and staff no longer need to send paper receipts and invoices to IPSA, but can scan or photograph them and upload them digitally onto the system. This improves data security and means that IPSA can process and reimburse claims more quickly.</p><p>- MPs’ staff members can now be reimbursed directly by IPSA for their own expenses rather than via their MPs.</p><p>- MPs and their staff are now able to amend their personal details, including any change of name or address, on the new system themselves, without needing to submit a form to IPSA.</p><p>- The new system allows claims from different budgets to be submitted on the same form, rather than having to submit multiple forms.</p><p>- MPs and their staff have constant access to financial information about the amounts left in their budgets and the status of any repayments or amounts owed, rather than waiting a monthly financial statement from IPSA.</p><p> </p><p>As of 13 June, 612 MPs have successfully submitted claims on the new system. IPSA is committed to supporting and training MPs and their staff as they become accustomed to the new online claims system. IPSA does not intend to make it its policy to reinstate the previous system.</p> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Mr Charles Walker question first answered 20/06/2019 12:12:33 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker previous answer version 123708 answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Mr Charles Walker answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
	tabling member	242 label Biography information for Sir Christopher Chope

1131867

	registered interest
	date	12/06/2019
	answering body	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	answering dept id	90
	answering dept short name	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	answering dept sort name	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	hansard heading	Members: Email
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, what estimate he has made of the number of emails from hon. Members sent to IPSA in June 2019 that have not received a response within three days; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Christchurch
	tabling member printed	Sir Christopher Chope
	uin	263669
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/06/2019 answer text <p>IPSA has a key performance target to respond to 90 per cent of emails within five working days. Between 1 June and 13 June, IPSA responded to 88 per cent of the 563 emails received within this target. IPSA has recently brought in five temporary staff to help improve its response times following the introduction of a new finance, payroll and expenses system in April 2019.</p> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Mr Charles Walker question first answered 20/06/2019 12:09:53 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker previous answer version 123710 answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Mr Charles Walker answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
	tabling member	242 label Biography information for Sir Christopher Chope

1131868

	registered interest
	date	12/06/2019
	answering body	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	answering dept id	90
	answering dept short name	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	answering dept sort name	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	hansard heading	Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority: Working Hours
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, what steps he is taking to help ensure that IPSA has sufficient resources to extend its working hours so that (a) telephone calls can be answered during the hours the House sits and (b) responses can be given to emails from MPs within three to five working days.
	tabling member constituency	Christchurch
	tabling member printed	Sir Christopher Chope
	uin	263670
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/06/2019 answer text <p>IPSA’s December 2018 user survey found that 68 per cent of MPs and their staff were satisfied with the support that they receive from IPSA on the phone, up from 53 per cent in 2017. Since the introduction of its new online finance and expenses system in April 2019, IPSA has experienced a higher-than-normal volume of calls, with some calls taking up to 45 minutes as MPs and their staff familiarise themselves with the new system. To respond to this increased demand, IPSA has recruited five temporary staff to answer the phone to MPs, and has temporarily closed its phone lines at 4pm in order to respond to the queries raised. IPSA expects to re-open its phone lines until 5pm when this demand subsides.</p><p>IPSA has a key performance target to respond to 90 per cent of emails within five days. In 2018-19, IPSA responded to over 85 per cent of the 54,500 letters and emails that were received within five working days of receipt. In April 2019, following the introduction on the new system, IPSA only replied to 70 per cent of emails within this target. The additional temporary staff will also address this increased demand.</p><p>IPSA’s performance is monitored by the Speaker’s Committee for the IPSA which approves IPSA’s budget and targets, including how it responds to MPs’ queries.</p> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Mr Charles Walker question first answered 20/06/2019 12:11:25 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker previous answer version 123711 answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Mr Charles Walker answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
	tabling member	242 label Biography information for Sir Christopher Chope

1132159

	registered interest
	date	13/06/2019
	answering body	Attorney General
	answering dept id	88
	answering dept short name	Attorney General
	answering dept sort name	Attorney General
	hansard heading	Randox Testing Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Attorney General, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of cases of forensic manipulation at Randox that resulted in a conviction being overturned; and in how many of those cases had a custodial sentence already been served.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield, Heeley
	tabling member printed	Louise Haigh
	uin	264437
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/06/2019 answer text <p>There is an ongoing investigation into data manipulation at Randox Testing Services. The Crown Prosecution Service will continue to support this process to ensure that fairness and transparency in the system is maintained.</p><p> </p><p>The Crown Prosecution Service can only comment on cases that it is responsible for prosecuting. For the cases which it prosecutes, the Crown Prosecution Service does not maintain a central record of the number of cases of forensic manipulation at Randox that resulted in a conviction being overturned or a record of how many of those cases involved a custodial sentence. Such information could only be obtained through a manual search of records which would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 20/06/2019 14:01:35 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	4473 label Biography information for Louise Haigh

1132234

	registered interest
	date	13/06/2019
	answering body	Attorney General
	answering dept id	88
	answering dept short name	Attorney General
	answering dept sort name	Attorney General
	hansard heading	Randox Testing Services:
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Attorney General, what estimate his Department has made of the number of prosecutions dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service as a result of data manipulation of forensic toxicology at Randox.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield, Heeley
	tabling member printed	Louise Haigh
	uin	264786
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/06/2019 answer text <p>There is an ongoing investigation into data manipulation at Randox Testing Services. The Crown Prosecution Service will continue to support this process to ensure that fairness and transparency in the system is maintained.</p><p> </p><p>The CPS does not maintain a central record of the number of prosecutions that were dropped as a result of data manipulation of forensic toxicology at Randox. This could only be obtained through a manual search of case records, at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 19/06/2019 09:26:10 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	4473 label Biography information for Louise Haigh

1130605

	registered interest
	date	06/06/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	hansard heading	Mayors: Elections
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 27 May (HL15627), what was the cost of running each of the most recent eight mayoral elections.
	tabling member printed	Lord Grocott
	uin	HL16149
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2019 answer text <p>Costs of elections of combined authority mayors are met by the combined authorities and this information is held locally. Certain combined authorities have also reported and published their running expenses for conducting elections in their General Fund Revenue Account Outturns and these are set out in the table below:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Combined authority</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Year of election</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>£ (thousands)</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Cambridgeshire and Peterborough</p></td><td><p><strong>2017</strong></p></td><td><p>£1,151 (2017-18 return)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Liverpool City Region</p></td><td><p><strong>2017</strong></p></td><td><p>£1,532 (2016-17 return) + £630 (2017-18 return) = £2,162</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Tees Valley</p></td><td><p><strong>2017</strong></p></td><td><p>£1,083 (2017-18 return)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>West Midlands</p></td><td><p><strong>2017</strong></p></td><td><p>£4,318 (2017-18 return)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>West of England</p></td><td><p><strong>2017</strong></p></td><td><p>£1,534 (2017-18 return)</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Link to the 17-18 data (attached):</p><p><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/787871/RO6_2017-18_data_by_LA_-_revised.xlsx" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/787871/RO6_2017-18_data_by_LA_-_revised.xlsx</a></p><p>Link to the 16-17 data (attached):</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/659779/RO6_2016-17_data_by_LA.xlsx" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/659779/RO6_2016-17_data_by_LA.xlsx</a></p> answering member printed Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth attachment 1 file name 190617 Copy of RO6 2016-17 data by LA - HL16149.xlsx title 16-17 data 2 file name 190617 Copy of RO6 2017-18 data by LA revised - HL16149.xlsx title 17-18 data question first answered 18/06/2019 15:01:01 answering member 4282 label Biography information for Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
	tabling member	276 label Biography information for Lord Grocott

1130847

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	hansard heading	Local Government Finance
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the cash reserves held by local authorities in England that are not ring-fenced; and (2) whether those reserves are necessary; and whether they intend to encourage councils to use some of those reserves to help local services.
	tabling member printed	Lord Patten
	uin	HL16214
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/06/2019 answer text <p>Non-ringfenced revenue reserves are either earmarked, as a result of a policy decision to use them for specific purposes; or unallocated, these reserves are part of a local authority's risk management process, which would be called upon in the event of unexpected costs and emergencies. <br> <br> All local authorities are required to hold sufficient unallocated reserves to meet unforecastable financial risks. Councils are free to determine the level of reserves they hold and are accountable to their electorate for the decisions they make. No powers exist to redistribute/reclaim this resource. Reserves are funds that are spent at the discretion of the local authority.</p> answering member printed Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth question first answered 19/06/2019 15:47:23 answering member 4282 label Biography information for Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
	tabling member	1137 label Biography information for Lord Patten

1131246

	registered interest
	date	11/06/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
	hansard heading	Housing: Environment Protection
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to encourage the use of green (a) roofs and (b) spaces in new housing developments.
	tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
	tabling member printed	Catherine West
	uin	263205
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/06/2019 answer text <p>The National Planning Policy Framework requires developments to incorporate an appropriate amount of green and other public space. It also states that greater weight should be given to designs which promote high levels of sustainability. We recognise that green roofs can improve the thermal performance of buildings. The Building Regulations set minimum energy performance standards for new homes and non-domestic buildings. The principal way that developers demonstrate compliance is through a whole building energy calculation. For a new building, the properties of green roofs would be taken into account in the calculation of overall energy performance and therefore the carbon emissions from the building.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency North West Hampshire answering member printed Kit Malthouse question first answered 20/06/2019 14:37:36 answering member 4495 label Biography information for Kit Malthouse
	tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West