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43015

	registered interest
	date	13/03/2014
	answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many applications to dispose of statutory allotments have been (a) submitted, (b) approved and (c) rejected in each local authority area in each year since 2010.
	tabling member constituency	Leeds Central
	tabling member printed	Hilary Benn
	uin	191956
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>Further to the Allotments Act 1925, applications for consent to dispose of allotment land are submitted to the Department by local councils (parish councils and principal authorities). The table below shows the breakdown of applications since May 2010.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td> </td><td><p><em>Granted</em></p></td><td><p><em>Withdrawn</em></p></td><td><p><em>Refused</em></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May 2010- March 2011</p></td><td><p>18</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011-12</p></td><td><p>17</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012-13</p></td><td><p>15</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013-14</p></td><td><p>17</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014-15 to date</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>To place this in context, the Secretary of State granted 34 allotment disposals in 2007, granted 22 in 2008 and granted 18 in 2009, whilst only 2 were declined, which is a greater rate than under this Administration.</p><p>I observe that the rt. hon. Member has been quoted in the media attacking such consents. He would have been wiser however to have undertaken a closer examination of the 68 individual consents granted to the local councils since May 2010.</p><p>The table below provides some context to help explain why there was a reasonable case by the representative local bodies for changing the statutory status of the land.</p><p>In January 2014, my Department published <em>Allotment Disposal Guidance: Safeguards and Alternatives</em> replacing the previous guidance from 2002. The new guidance strengthens allotment protection, as the requirement for waiting lists to be taken into account must now be rigorously applied to all that council's waiting lists, not just the waiting list for the site to be disposed of. This aims to ensure that poorly maintained sites are not used to justify disposal. Ministers will be closely monitoring to ensure that this new guidance is followed.</p><p>Notwithstanding, I have taken the opportunity to analyse these previous cases in the table below. The National Allotment Society was consulted in every case, and nine out of ten decisions were consistent with advice from the National Allotment Society (where advice was given); the remaining cases where the advice diverged related to land not actually in use as allotments, requiring a judgement call on whether it was realistic to bring the land back into productive use.</p><p>Having analysed these approvals, I can note that half of the land disposed was not actually in use as allotments. Moreover, in every case where existing allotment plot holders were displaced, evidence from local authorities indicates that alternative plots were made available to them.</p><p>More new plots were proposed to be created and/or vacant sites proposed to be brought back into use than the number of proposed disposals of in-use allotment plots. Consequently, the statutory disposal process overseen by the Secretary of State since May 2010 should have resulted in an <strong>increase</strong> in allotment provision not a reduction. This reflects this Government's commitment both to supporting local communities grow their own food and to protecting important community assets.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bristol West answering member printed Stephen Williams grouped question UIN 196310 question first answered 14/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1492 label Biography information for Stephen Williams attachment 1 file name 2269 & 2521 Benn - Table.docx title Allotments - Disposal Consents Granted
	tabling member	413 label Biography information for Hilary Benn

42610

	registered interest
	date	11/03/2014
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many migrants from EU countries living in the UK receive child benefit.
	tabling member constituency	Romford
	tabling member printed	Andrew Rosindell
	uin	191453
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2014 answer text <p>HMRC are not able to provide the information in the manner requested. HMRC do not record the nationality of the claimant receiving Child Benefit for children living in another member state.</p><p> </p><p>Published Child Benefit statistics provide annual estimates of the number of families and children claiming. The latest available (August 2012) show that there were 7.92 million families, responsible for 13.77 million children and qualifying young people receiving Child Benefit.</p><p>The main purpose of Child Benefit is to support families in the UK. Consequently, the rules generally do not provide for them to be paid in respect of children who live abroad.</p><p> </p><p>Nevertheless, Child Benefit is a family benefit under EC Regulation 883/2004. This regulation protects the social security rights of nationals of all member states of the European economic area, including the UK, and Switzerland when they exercise their rights of free movement under EU law.</p><p> </p><p>HMRC holds information on the number of Child Benefit awards under EC Regulation 883/2004. As at 31 December 2013, there were 20,400 ongoing Child Benefit awards under the EC Regulation in respect of 34.268 children living in another member state.</p><p> </p><p>This is a fall of 3,682 (15.3%) awards in respect of 5,903 (14.7%) fewer children since 31 December 2012.</p><p> </p><p>The breakdown by member state is as follows:</p><p> </p><p>*We have withheld the number where it is fewer than 5, as there is risk that the information could be attributed to an identifiable person, which would prejudice their right to privacy and would therefore be a breach of Principle 1 of the Data Protection Act.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Child Benefit</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Country of residence of children</p></td><td><p>Number of awards</p></td><td><p>Number of children</p></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td><p>Austria</p></td><td><p>23</p></td><td><p>37</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Belgium</p></td><td><p>75</p></td><td><p>140</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Bulgaria</p></td><td><p>186</p></td><td><p>245</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Croatia</p></td><td><p>*5</p></td><td><p>*5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Cyprus</p></td><td><p>39</p></td><td><p>61</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Czech Republic</p></td><td><p>124</p></td><td><p>203</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Denmark</p></td><td><p>13</p></td><td><p>23</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Estonia</p></td><td><p>45</p></td><td><p>65</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Finland</p></td><td><p>12</p></td><td><p>23</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>France</p></td><td><p>789</p></td><td><p>1429</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Germany</p></td><td><p>283</p></td><td><p>495</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Greece</p></td><td><p>44</p></td><td><p>69</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Hungary</p></td><td><p>136</p></td><td><p>196</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Iceland</p></td><td><p>*5</p></td><td><p>*5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Italy</p></td><td><p>156</p></td><td><p>273</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Latvia</p></td><td><p>797</p></td><td><p>1091</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Liechtenstein</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Lithuania</p></td><td><p>1215</p></td><td><p>1712</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Luxembourg</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>14</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Malta</p></td><td><p>15</p></td><td><p>22</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Norway</p></td><td><p>30</p></td><td><p>61</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Poland</p></td><td><p>13174</p></td><td><p>22093</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Portugal</p></td><td><p>202</p></td><td><p>309</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Republic of Ireland</p></td><td><p>1231</p></td><td><p>2505</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Romania</p></td><td><p>230</p></td><td><p>392</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Slovakia</p></td><td><p>692</p></td><td><p>1232</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Slovenia</p></td><td><p>11</p></td><td><p>21</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Spain</p></td><td><p>600</p></td><td><p>1019</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Sweden</p></td><td><p>49</p></td><td><p>95</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Switzerland</p></td><td><p>77</p></td><td><p>150</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>The Netherlands</p></td><td><p>142</p></td><td><p>288</p></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td><p>Totals</p></td><td><p>20400</p></td><td><p>34268</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>As announced in the 2014 Budget, to prevent EEA migrants claiming benefits they are not entitled to, the Government will increase compliance checks to establish whether EEA migrants meet the entitlement conditions to receive Child Benefit</p><p> </p><p>Under domestic law, in order to claim Child Benefit EEA Migrants must be present in the UK, ordinarily resident and have a right to reside in the UK and their children must live in the UK.</p><p> </p><p>The recent changes to migrants' access to benefits announced by the Government sends a strong message that the UK benefit system is not open to abuse, as well as deterring those who may seek residence in the UK primarily to claim benefits.</p><p>Strengthening compliance checks will help prevent EEA migrants from claiming, and continuing to claim, benefits they are not entitled to. Checks will be applied to both new claims and existing awards.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Loughborough answering member printed Nicky Morgan grouped question UIN 181673 183448 184509 question first answered 14/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4027 label Biography information for Baroness Morgan of Cotes
	tabling member	1447 label Biography information for Andrew Rosindell

42273

	registered interest
	date	10/03/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people who (a) were given a non-custodial sentence and (b) were given their first custodial sentence in each year from 2004 had previously had (i) no criminal convictions, (ii) one criminal conviction, (iii) two criminal convictions, (iv) three criminal convictions, (v) four criminal convictions, (vi) five to 10 criminal convictions, (vii) 11 to 20 criminal convictions, (viii) 21 to 30 criminal convictions, (ix) 31 to 40 criminal convictions, (x) 41 to 50 criminal convictions, (xi) 51 to 75 criminal convictions, (xii) 76 to 100 criminal convictions and (xiii) more than 100 criminal convictions.
	tabling member constituency	Hyndburn
	tabling member printed	Graham Jones
	uin	191341
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2014 answer text <p>It has not been possible to obtain this information. I will write to the Honourable member in due course.</p> answering member constituency Kenilworth and Southam answering member printed Jeremy Wright question first answered 14/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1560 label Biography information for Sir Jeremy Wright
	tabling member	3999 label Biography information for Graham P Jones

42277

	registered interest
	date	10/03/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2014, Official Report, column 641W, on reoffenders, what (a) offence type and (b) sentence length each offender with more than one fixed term recall is serving.
	tabling member constituency	Shipley
	tabling member printed	Philip Davies
	uin	191309
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2014 answer text <p>It has not been possible to obtain this information. I will write to the Honourable member in due course.</p> answering member constituency Kenilworth and Southam answering member printed Jeremy Wright question first answered 14/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1560 label Biography information for Sir Jeremy Wright
	tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Philip Davies

42290

	registered interest
	date	10/03/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of eligible (a) male and (b) female offenders were recalled on a fixed term recall instead of a standard recall (i) in 2008, (ii) in 2009, (iii) in 2010, (iv) in 2011, (v) in 2012 and (vi) since 3 December 2012.
	tabling member constituency	Shipley
	tabling member printed	Philip Davies
	uin	191215
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2014 answer text <p>It has not been possible to obtain this information. I will write to the Honourable member in due course.</p> answering member constituency Kenilworth and Southam answering member printed Jeremy Wright question first answered 14/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1560 label Biography information for Sir Jeremy Wright
	tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Philip Davies

41405

	registered interest
	date	05/03/2014
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what contingency plans are in place for the future administration of Premium Bonds currently administered in Scotland and held by residents in England, Northern Ireland and Wales in the event of Scottish independence; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Northfield
	tabling member printed	Richard Burden
	uin	190813
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2014 answer text <p><strong>National Savings and Investments (NS&amp;I) is a UK institution, operating from a number of sites within the UK and abroad. </strong></p><p> </p><p><strong>The powers governing NS&amp;I products come from UK primary and secondary legislation. Only individuals with a UK bank account are eligible to buy NS&amp;I products. In the event of independence, the current rules would prohibit individuals with only a Scottish bank account from buying NS&amp;I products. </strong></p><p> </p><p><strong>Any changes to these rules would depend on negotiations between the UK and Scottish governments in the event of independence. Both governments have said that there can be no pre-negotiations on what the terms of independence might be before the referendum takes place.</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong>The UK government believes that Scotland is better off as part of the UK, and the UK is better off with Scotland in it.</strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey answering member printed Danny Alexander question first answered 14/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1535 label Biography information for Danny Alexander
	tabling member	301 label Biography information for Richard Burden

41185

	registered interest
	date	04/03/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Defence
	answering dept id	11
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the objectives are of Britain's Defence and Security Strategy.
	tabling member constituency	Mid Sussex
	tabling member printed	Nicholas Soames
	uin	190480
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2014 answer text <p>The National Security Strategy defines two strategic objectives. These are firstly to ensure a secure and resilient UK – protecting our people, economy, infrastructure, territory and way of life from all major risks that can affect us directly – and secondly, shaping a stable world – acting to reduce the likelihood of risks affecting the UK or our interests overseas. Taken together, the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review define the ends, ways and means through which Government seeks to strengthen our security and build our prosperity.</p> answering member constituency Runnymede and Weybridge answering member printed Mr Philip Hammond question first answered 14/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 105 label Biography information for Lord Hammond of Runnymede
	tabling member	116 label Biography information for Lord Soames of Fletching

40314

	registered interest
	date	26/02/2014
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police forces in England have signed local protocols for those detained under the Mental Health Act 1983.
	tabling member constituency	Broxbourne
	tabling member printed	Mr Charles Walker
	uin	189645
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2014 answer text <p> </p><p> </p><p>I understand that, as of 13 May 2014, 36 of the 39 territorial police forces in <br>England - plus British Transport Police - are currently signed up to local <br>protocols for those detained under the Mental Health Act 1983. The other 3 <br>forces report that they are in the process of agreeing such protocols with <br>local partner agencies.<br><br>The agreement of mental health protocols by local agencies is promoted at <br>national level, including through the Mental Health Act 1983 Codes of Practice <br>and the new national Mental Health Crisis Care Concordat, which states that:<br><br>‘Every area should have a local protocol in place, agreed by NHS commissioners, <br>the police force, the ambulance service, and social services. This should <br>describe the approach to be taken when a police officer uses powers under the <br>Mental Health Act'.<br><br>The Mental Health Crisis Care Concordat can be found at: <br>https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/281242<br>/36353_Mental_Health_Crisis_accessible.pdf<br><br>The Department of Health, supported by the Home Office and Mind, is encouraging <br>local areas to sign-up to the principles of the Concordat, with the expectation <br>that all areas in England will have signed local declarations by December <br>2014. The Department of Health will publish details of the areas that have <br>signed such declarations.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Ashford answering member printed Damian Green question first answered 14/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 76 label Biography information for Damian Green
	tabling member	1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker

38564

	registered interest
	date	12/02/2014
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the size, in square metres, of the offices assigned to each of his Department's Ministers is; and how many officials, at what grade, work in the private offices of each of his Department's Ministers.
	tabling member constituency	North Durham
	tabling member printed	Mr Kevan Jones
	uin	188327
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2014 answer text <p>I can confirm that Ministers have a total of 256.08 sq m of office space currently assigned to them.</p><p> </p><p>In total, there are 35staff working in ministerial offices, compared to 38 members of staff in 2009. This is as follows:</p><p> </p><p>Range B: 6</p><p>Range C: 8</p><p>Range D: 13</p><p>Range E: 5</p><p>Range E2: 2</p><p>SCS: 1</p><p> </p><p>These figures are based on the latest data available for staffing numbers for HMT Treasury as of May 2014.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South Northamptonshire answering member printed Andrea Leadsom question first answered 14/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom
	tabling member	1438 label Biography information for Mr Kevan Jones

38759

	registered interest
	date	12/02/2014
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the income provided to the Educational Testing Service for English language tests by (a) individuals, (b) companies and (c) her Department in each of the last three years.
	tabling member constituency	Delyn
	tabling member printed	Mr David Hanson
	uin	188048
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>On 6th February 2014 ETS were instructed to suspend all English language <br>testing in the UK for immigration purposes and from the same date all <br>immigration applications made in the UK that are supported by an ETS test <br>certificate have been placed on hold. On 5th April the licence ETS held to <br>conduct English language testing for immigration purposes expired and it has <br>not been renewed. A criminal investigation, which began before the BBC Panorama <br>programme aired allegations with respect to ETS testing conducted in the UK, <br>remains ongoing.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Old Bexley and Sidcup answering member printed James Brokenshire grouped question UIN 188047 question first answered 14/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1530 label Biography information for James Brokenshire
	tabling member	533 label Biography information for David Hanson