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101535

	registered interest
	date	29/10/2014
	answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Communities and Local Government
	hansard heading	Lighting
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on the level of street lighting they should have in place.
	tabling member constituency	Bury St Edmunds
	tabling member printed	Mr David Ruffley
	uin	212384
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/11/2014 answer text <p><ins class="ministerial">Street lighting plays an important role in road safety, as well as ensuring the personal safety of pedestrians. I refer my Hon Friend to the answer of 13 May 2014, Official Report, columns 535-36W, which provides a comprehensive answer on how there is no prescriptive Whitehall guidance, and places in context the policy of the last Administration which actively encouraged cuts to street lighting.</ins></p><p> </p><p> </p><p><del class="ministerial">Street lighting plays an important role in road safety, as well as ensuring the personal safety of pedestrians. There may be some roads where lights could be dimmed in the very early hours, saving taxpayers’ money. However, this should be a local decision by elected local councillors, reflecting local circumstances-specially in relation to any concerns about crime. Equally, not every neighbourhood wants street lighting, as some communities, especially in rural areas, value dark skies.</del></p><p><del class="ministerial">We believe that councils should listen to the views of their local residents, and then adopt appropriate local policies based on the neighbourhood, the precise location and the usage of the road/street. I previously noted that “Manual for Streets” contains some useful guidance on getting the balance right when providing street lighting, taking into account the different issues around safety, crime prevention, street clutter and light pollution. Ultimately, there is no prescriptive Whitehall guidance, and any assessment will depend on local circumstances and local views.</del></p><p><del class="ministerial">Notwithstanding, I would observe that Her Majesty’s Opposition seem to have a short memory about their actions on cutting street lighting when they were in office:</del></p><p><del class="ministerial"><em>Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs</em><em>:</em></del></p><p><del class="ministerial">The right hon. Member for Leeds Central (Hilary Benn) (now Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government) when Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, his Department and its quangos lectured local councils to switch off or reduce street lighting to minimise carbon emissions. For example, in 2007, he personally launched the Carbon Trust Standard, which was tied to an extensive programme to reduce street lighting as part of the Local Authority Carbon Management Programme. As DEFRA Ministers told the House:</del></p><p><del class="ministerial">“All authorities should be seeking to reduce energy usage both to cut costs and to help combat climate change. As street lighting accounts for a significant proportion of the energy used by authorities, it should be readily identified as an area that should be examined for potential efficiency savings”</del></p><p><del class="ministerial">(6 November 2006, <em>Official Report</em>, column 709W).</del></p><p><del class="ministerial"><em>Department for Transport</em><em>:</em></del></p><p><del class="ministerial">The Minister of State for Transport, the noble Lord Adonis (now a Shadow Treasury Minister) when asked about reducing the hours of operation of street lighting, noted that</del></p><p><del class="ministerial">“the Government also support the Carbon Trust’s local authority carbon management programme, which provides councils with support and guidance to help them realise carbon emissions savings from street lighting”</del></p><p><del class="ministerial">(17 December 2008, <em>Official Report</em>, <em>House of Lords</em>, column WA52). Transport Ministers also endorsed the Highways Agency’s</del></p><p><del class="ministerial">‘Efficiency Strategy for Road Lighting’ which led to switching off motorway lighting at night (21 April 2008,</del></p><p><br /><del class="ministerial"><em>Official Report, </em>column 1444W; Highways Agency</del></p><p><del class="ministerial">“Efficiency Strategy for Road Lighting Midnight Switch Off for Motorway Lighting”, 2009).</del></p><p><del class="ministerial"><em>Department for Communities and Local Government</em><em>:</em></del></p><p><del class="ministerial">The right hon. Member for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford (Yvette Cooper) (now Shadow Home Secretary), when as Minister in the precursor Department to DCLG, noted there was nuanced debate on the extent of street lighting:</del></p><p><del class="ministerial">“We all recognise the fact that there is a series of tensions around light pollution. People in the cities will never have the same view of the night sky as one can get in the middle of Dartmoor... There can be tensions too at neighbourhood level between the security-obsessed householder who has glaring white security lights stuck to every corner of the house, which flicker on every time a little bird flies past or the cat runs across the garden, and the neighbour who... has a telescope and cannot see across the garden, let alone into the skies”</del></p><p><del class="ministerial">(12 February 2004, <em>Official Report</em>, column 510WH).</del></p><p><del class="ministerial"><em>Department </em><em>of</em><em> Energy and Climate Change</em><em>:</em></del></p><p><del class="ministerial">In 2008, the right hon. Member for Leeds East (Hilary Benn) also personally launched the Carbon Reduction Commitment, which resulted in councils cutting carbon emissions from street lighting, including dimming or switching off lights. The Highway Agency’s “Energy Strategy for Roadside Equipment” (April 2010) explained that the approach of “dimming, trimming and partial night lighting” was a consequence of the requirements to meet the Carbon Reduction Commitment. As DECC Ministers said to the House:</del></p><p><del class="ministerial">“DECC is working to include street lighting in the Carbon Reduction Commitment. This will provide an incentive for local authorities to improve the energy efficiency of street lights. DECC is working closely with Communities and Local Government to develop the policy, in so far as it relates to local authorities”</del></p><p><del class="ministerial">(19 June 2009, <em>Official Report</em>, column 515W). Of course, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change at that time was the right hon. Member for Doncaster North (Edward Miliband) now Leader of HM Opposition.</del></p><p><del class="ministerial">I hope this illuminates the historical fogginess of the Labour party’s current campaign on municipal street lighting. I would suggest the last person out of Labour HQ tonight should turn off the lights.</del></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins question first answered 06/11/2014 17:31:07 question first ministerially corrected 10/11/2014 17:19:10 answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins previous answer version 26617 answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Kris Hopkins answering member 4043 label Biography information for Kris Hopkins
	tabling member	133 label Biography information for Mr David Ruffley

101519

	registered interest
	date	29/10/2014
	answering body	Attorney General
	answering dept id	88
	answering dept short name	Attorney General
	answering dept sort name	Attorney General
	hansard heading	European Arrest Warrants
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Attorney General, what recent assessment he has made of the usefulness of the European Arrest Warrant as a prosecutorial tool.
	tabling member constituency	Islington South and Finsbury
	tabling member printed	Emily Thornberry
	uin	212405
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The Government and the DPP are in agreement that the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) offers the best way of keeping Britain safe, particularly from serious criminals and terrorists.</p><p>The introduction of the EAW has resulted in much faster processing of extradition requests, meaning that we can secure the return of fugitives wanted for serious offending in this country often in a matter of weeks, not many months or even years as was the case under previous arrangements. The Arrest Warrant is also more effective. For example, under the previous regime, the European Convention on Extradition, some Member States can refuse to surrender their own nationals, including France, Germany and Spain, which is not the position in EAW cases. Furthermore, the EAW overcomes problems of time limitation in other countries. It also means that wanted people can now be extradited to face fraud and tax charges, which was not the case before.</p><p>The Government has recently made changes in the way that the EAW is processed through our courts. These changes are designed to offer greater protection to UK citizens and other UK residents against disproportionate requests and the risk of spending unreasonable lengths of time in pre-trial detention abroad. With those changes in place, the Government is convinced that the EAW provides an effective and cost-efficient tool in the fight against trans-national crime, and it is one which prosecutors and other law enforcement professionals are keen to see preserved.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Kenilworth and Southam answering member printed Jeremy Wright grouped question UIN 212406 question first answered 03/11/2014 17:02:26 answering member 1560 label Biography information for Sir Jeremy Wright
	tabling member	1536 label Biography information for Emily Thornberry

101520

	registered interest
	date	29/10/2014
	answering body	Attorney General
	answering dept id	88
	answering dept short name	Attorney General
	answering dept sort name	Attorney General
	hansard heading	European Arrest Warrants
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Attorney General, what recent discussions he has had with the Director of Public Prosecutions on the usefulness of the European Arrest Warrant as a prosecutorial tool.
	tabling member constituency	Islington South and Finsbury
	tabling member printed	Emily Thornberry
	uin	212406
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The Government and the DPP are in agreement that the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) offers the best way of keeping Britain safe, particularly from serious criminals and terrorists.</p><p>The introduction of the EAW has resulted in much faster processing of extradition requests, meaning that we can secure the return of fugitives wanted for serious offending in this country often in a matter of weeks, not many months or even years as was the case under previous arrangements. The Arrest Warrant is also more effective. For example, under the previous regime, the European Convention on Extradition, some Member States can refuse to surrender their own nationals, including France, Germany and Spain, which is not the position in EAW cases. Furthermore, the EAW overcomes problems of time limitation in other countries. It also means that wanted people can now be extradited to face fraud and tax charges, which was not the case before.</p><p>The Government has recently made changes in the way that the EAW is processed through our courts. These changes are designed to offer greater protection to UK citizens and other UK residents against disproportionate requests and the risk of spending unreasonable lengths of time in pre-trial detention abroad. With those changes in place, the Government is convinced that the EAW provides an effective and cost-efficient tool in the fight against trans-national crime, and it is one which prosecutors and other law enforcement professionals are keen to see preserved.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Kenilworth and Southam answering member printed Jeremy Wright grouped question UIN 212405 question first answered 03/11/2014 17:02:26 answering member 1560 label Biography information for Sir Jeremy Wright
	tabling member	1536 label Biography information for Emily Thornberry

101614

	registered interest
	date	29/10/2014
	answering body	Attorney General
	answering dept id	88
	answering dept short name	Attorney General
	answering dept sort name	Attorney General
	hansard heading	Prosecutions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Attorney General, for which offences the Crown Prosecution Service routinely monitors the number and proportion of cases that fail because of victim issues.
	tabling member constituency	Islington South and Finsbury
	tabling member printed	Emily Thornberry
	uin	212435
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/11/2014 answer text <p>The CPS defendant case outcome records include an allocation of a reason for each unsuccessful outcome, including the number which did not proceed because of victim issues. These records are centrally collated under the following twelve Principal Offence Categories.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Homicide</p><p> </p><p>Offences against the person</p><p> </p><p>Sexual offences</p><p> </p><p>Burglary</p><p> </p><p>Robbery</p><p> </p><p>Theft and handling</p><p> </p><p>Fraud and forgery</p><p> </p><p>Criminal damage</p><p> </p><p>Drugs offences</p><p> </p><p>Public order offences</p><p> </p><p>Motoring offences</p><p> </p><p>All other offences</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Mr Robert Buckland question first answered 19/11/2014 12:38:15 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
	tabling member	1536 label Biography information for Emily Thornberry

101615

	registered interest
	date	29/10/2014
	answering body	Attorney General
	answering dept id	88
	answering dept short name	Attorney General
	answering dept sort name	Attorney General
	hansard heading	Fraud: Wales
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Attorney General, how many fraud prosecutions the Crown Prosecution Service has brought in Crown Courts in Wales in each of the last five calendar years.
	tabling member constituency	Islington South and Finsbury
	tabling member printed	Emily Thornberry
	uin	212436
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text <p>The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains a central record of the numbers of defendants and the outcome of prosecution proceedings, divided into twelve Principal Offence Categories, including ‘Fraud and Forgery’.</p><p> </p><p>The category of ‘Fraud and Forgery, includes offences prosecuted by way of the Fraud Act 2006, fraudulently evading income tax, VAT, excise duty or national insurance, bankruptcy offences, money laundering, forgery or using a false instrument and obtaining property, services or pecuniary advantage by deception.</p><p> </p><p>The table below shows, in each of the last five calendar years, the number of defendants prosecuted and finalised, in Crown Courts in Wales, where the Principal Offence was categorised as ‘Fraud and Forgery’.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>Total Prosecutions</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2009</strong></p></td><td><p>181</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2010</strong></p></td><td><p>163</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2011</strong></p></td><td><p>185</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2012</strong></p></td><td><p>180</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2013</strong></p></td><td><p>149</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Data Source: CPS Management Information System</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Principal Offence Category is assigned at the end of a prosecution to indicate the most serious offence with which a defendant is charged at the time of finalisation. It is not possible to disaggregate the outcomes of individual offences, such as fraud, without undertaking a manual search of case records which would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>This table does not include those cases prosecuted by the DWP prosecution teams that merged with the CPS in 2012, as the DWP Cardiff team prosecutes cases in Crown Courts in England, as well as Wales. It is not possible to provide a breakdown of cases prosecuted solely in Wales without incurring a disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Mr Robert Buckland question first answered 05/11/2014 15:53:50 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
	tabling member	1536 label Biography information for Emily Thornberry

101616

	registered interest
	date	29/10/2014
	answering body	Attorney General
	answering dept id	88
	answering dept short name	Attorney General
	answering dept sort name	Attorney General
	hansard heading	Sham Marriage: Prosecutions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Attorney General, how many prosecutions the Crown Prosecution Service has brought on breaches of immigration law arising from sham marriages in each of the last five financial years.
	tabling member constituency	Islington South and Finsbury
	tabling member printed	Emily Thornberry
	uin	212437
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2014 answer text <p>Offences of breaching immigration law may be prosecuted by way of Section 25 of the Immigration Act 1971 (assisting unlawful immigration to a European Union Member State) or by way of Section 1 of the Criminal Law Act (conspiracy).</p><p>The offence created by Section 25 of the Immigration Act 1971 encompasses both the offence of assisting illegal entry (whether by smuggling someone in a vehicle or by providing false documents for presentation at a port) or by assisting someone to remain by deception (for example, by entering into a sham marriage) which facilitate a breach of the immigration laws. Conspiracies to facilitate breaches of immigration law are charged by way of Section 1 of the Criminal Law Act 1977.</p><p>The records held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) indicate the number of offences charged, in which a prosecution commenced at magistrates’ courts for assisting unlawful immigration or conspiracy. However it is not possible to disaggregate which of these offences relate to sham marriages rather than other immigration law breaches without reviewing individual case files which would incur a disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Mr Robert Buckland question first answered 04/11/2014 14:31:53 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
	tabling member	1536 label Biography information for Emily Thornberry

101617

	registered interest
	date	29/10/2014
	answering body	Attorney General
	answering dept id	88
	answering dept short name	Attorney General
	answering dept sort name	Attorney General
	hansard heading	Tesco
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Attorney General, what reports he has received on whether the Serious Fraud Office will apply for additional funding from HM Treasury to finance its investigation into Tesco.
	tabling member constituency	Islington South and Finsbury
	tabling member printed	Emily Thornberry
	uin	212438
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text <p>The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has a core budget to investigate and, where appropriate, prosecute the most serious and complex cases of fraud, bribery and corruption, and some exceptionally large cases will arise that require additional resources. However it is not in the public interest to specify in detail what resources the SFO intends to dedicate to each case.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Mr Robert Buckland question first answered 05/11/2014 15:56:51 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
	tabling member	1536 label Biography information for Emily Thornberry

101618

	registered interest
	date	29/10/2014
	answering body	Attorney General
	answering dept id	88
	answering dept short name	Attorney General
	answering dept sort name	Attorney General
	hansard heading	Public Opinion
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Attorney General, how much the Law Officers' Departments spent on (a) focus groups and (b) surveys in (i) 2013 and (ii) 2014 to date.
	tabling member constituency	Croydon North
	tabling member printed	Mr Steve Reed
	uin	212493
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2014 answer text <p>The following table contains the available costs information for internal staff or client surveys which the Law Officer’s Departments commissioned during 2013 and 2014. These costs were all incurred with Survey Monkey.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="3"><p><strong>Subscription costs – Survey Monkey</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Department</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2013</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2014</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="3"><p><strong> </strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Treasury Solicitor’s Department</p></td><td><p>£272</p></td><td><p>£296</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Attorney General’s Office</p></td><td><p>£249</p></td><td><p>£249</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate</p></td><td><p>£203</p></td><td><p>£151</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Serious Fraud Office</p></td><td><p>£299</p></td><td><p>-</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not centrally record the number and costs of all surveys and focus groups across the organisation, and to determine this would involve contacting all CPS Areas to manually check their records over the two year period, which would represent a disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Mr Robert Buckland question first answered 05/11/2014 15:52:26 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
	tabling member	4268 label Biography information for Steve Reed

101533

	registered interest
	date	29/10/2014
	answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Communities and Local Government
	hansard heading	Housing: Construction
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans the Government has to promote environmental and sustainable housebuilding following the abolition of the Code for Sustainable Homes.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield South East
	tabling member printed	Mr Clive Betts
	uin	212394
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/11/2014 answer text <p>The Housing Standards Review has clearly established the Government’s policy to rationalise and simplify the many overlapping and confusing technical housing standards currently in operation. The Review will enable quality and sustainable housing developments to be brought forward more easily but without compromising essential safety and accessibility protections. The outcome of the Review also means that a number of the requirements of the Code for Sustainable Homes will be consolidated into the Building Regulations, which would require substantial changes to the content of the current Code, as well as reconsideration of its role. So in the light of this, the Government stated in the recent technical consultation that the current Code will be wound down to coincide with the changes incorporating the new standards coming into force, early in the new year. The consultation also set out proposals on the transitional arrangements, and for the handling of legacy developments being built out to current Code requirements.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bristol West answering member printed Stephen Williams grouped question UIN 212607 question first answered 06/11/2014 16:44:57 answering member 1492 label Biography information for Stephen Williams
	tabling member	394 label Biography information for Mr Clive Betts

101534

	registered interest
	date	29/10/2014
	answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
	answering dept id	7
	answering dept short name	Communities and Local Government
	answering dept sort name	Communities and Local Government
	hansard heading	Planning: Health
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that the planning system addresses (a) size and quality of housing, (b) opportunities for physical activity such as cycling and walking, (c) air and noise pollution, (d) access to green space, (e) isolation and loneliness and (f) other factors known to affect wellbeing.
	tabling member constituency	Cheltenham
	tabling member printed	Martin Horwood
	uin	212386
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/11/2014 answer text <p>The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that the purpose of the planning system is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development, which includes the health, social and cultural well-being of local communities. It:</p><p> </p><p>- sets out that good design is indivisible from good planning and should contribute to making places better for people;</p><p> </p><p>- asks planners to work to create safe and secure layouts which minimise conflicts between traffic and cyclists or pedestrians, and give priority to pedestrian and cycle movements;</p><p> </p><p>- enables local communities, through the preparation of local and neighbourhood plans, to identify for special protection green or open areas of particular importance to them as Local Green Space; and</p><p> </p><p>- seeks to conserve and enhance the natural environment and reduce pollution.</p><p> </p><p>My Department has this year published planning guidance which:</p><p> </p><ul><li>Sets a strong focus on design and includes tools which local authorities may use;</li><li>Sets out how local strategies to improve health and wellbeing and the provision of the required health infrastructure can be taken into account in local and neighbourhood plan making and when determining planning applications;</li><li>Seeks to promote walking and cycling, whilst avoiding unfairly penalising drivers;</li><li>Asks that councils’ Local Plans consider how to support walking and cycling facilities, and assess cycle safety;</li><li>Promotes the provision of bike storage space in new developments;</li><li>Recommends removing street clutter, to make pavements clearer and more spacious for pedestrians;</li><li>Sets out how the impact on air quality and noise can be mitigated, including using green infrastructure, promoting infrastructure to promote modes of transport with low impact on air quality and incorporating good design to minimise noise transmission through the use of screening.</li></ul><p> </p><p> </p><p>Furthermore, through the Housing Standards Review, the Government has developed a nationally described space standard to offer a consistent set of requirements with regard to the size of new homes. Local authorities will not be required to adopt a space standard, but where they choose to do so, it should be the nationally described space standard.</p><p> </p><p>I also refer the hon. Member to the Government’s cycling delivery plan, published on 16 October, which can be found online at: <a href="http://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/cycling-delivery-plan-informal-consultation" target="_blank">www.gov.uk/government/consultations/cycling-delivery-plan-informal-consultation</a></p><p> </p><p>It is for councils and local communities to use their local and neighbourhood plans and existing planning powers to shape where development can go and create well-designed, safe and attractive places.</p> answering member constituency Great Yarmouth answering member printed Brandon Lewis question first answered 11/11/2014 16:21:02 answering member 4009 label Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis previous answer version 25727 answering member constituency Great Yarmouth answering member printed Brandon Lewis answering member 4009 label Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis
	tabling member	1499 label Biography information for Martin Horwood