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100219

registered interest
date	21/10/2014
answering body	Department for International Development
answering dept id	20
answering dept short name	International Development
answering dept sort name	International Development
hansard heading	Electronic Government
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what progress her Department made towards achieving the departmental digital strategy objective of becoming digital by default.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
uin	211258
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/10/2014 answer text <p>DFID’s Digital Strategy 12 Months On Report (<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/department-for-international-development-digital-strategy-2012-to-2015" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/department-for-international-development-digital-strategy-2012-to-2015</a>) details our Department’s progress during 2013. We will publish a report on our progress made during 2014 in December 2014. This will include updates on delivering better results, building capability in our staff, making it easy to do business with DFID (such as the new international development funding finder) and improving the way we communicate on major issues.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency New Forest West answering member printed Mr Desmond Swayne question first answered 24/10/2014 12:53:43 answering member 55 label Biography information for Sir Desmond Swayne
tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah

100224

registered interest
date	21/10/2014
answering body	Department for International Development
answering dept id	20
answering dept short name	International Development
answering dept sort name	International Development
hansard heading	Electronic Government
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what progress in digital service delivery her Department has made since setting up the Digital Advisory Panel.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
uin	211351
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/10/2014 answer text <p>The Digital Advisory Panel has focused on the areas of work outlined in the DFID digital strategy and challenged the department to look at ways of improving how digital can support delivery of results in our development programmes, improve our internal business processes, and help us become more open and engaging. We will publish a report on our progress in December 2014.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency New Forest West answering member printed Mr Desmond Swayne question first answered 24/10/2014 12:54:42 answering member 55 label Biography information for Sir Desmond Swayne
tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah

99784

registered interest
date	20/10/2014
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Social Enterprises
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which social enterprise incubators outside London his Department supports.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
uin	211134
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2014 answer text <p>Cabinet Office has supported 10 incubators through its £10M Social Incubator Fund.</p><p>The incubators cover all areas of England, with six of the incubators located outside of London.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Incubator </strong></p></td><td><p> </p><p><strong>Geographical focus</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td>Social Incubator North</td><td><p>North of England</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Social Incubator East</p></td><td><p>East of England</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>SEEDbed</p></td><td><p>South West of England</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Dotforge</p></td><td><p>North of England</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Young Academy</p></td><td><p>London, Nottingham and Derby</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Solve</p></td><td><p>London and Birmingham / Black Country</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The other four incubators (Wayra UnLtd, Bethnal Green Ventures, Big Issue Invest's Corporate Social Venturing and Health Social Innovators’ Fund) are based in London but have a national focus.</p> answering member constituency Reading East answering member printed Mr Rob Wilson question first answered 23/10/2014 15:48:06 answering member 1556 label Biography information for Mr Rob Wilson
tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah

99908

registered interest
date	20/10/2014
answering body	Department for International Development
answering dept id	20
answering dept short name	International Development
answering dept sort name	International Development
hansard heading	Overseas Aid
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Development Tracker; and if she will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
uin	211151
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2014 answer text <p>The Development Tracker was launched by the Secretary of State on 31 October 2013 to present project documents, budgets, transactions and locations of DFID projects in line with the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) open data standard. The Tracker has enabled a step change in public access to information on how UK development assistance is being used.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Tracker is continually assessed and improved according to user need. The Tracker has 14000 visits and 80000 page views per month. There are 2442 email subscribers and 12949 email alerts were delivered in October 2014. Almost 60% of users are from the UK, with a wide range of users from countries where we work.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Tracker has received positive feedback from users. In October 2014, DFID was ranked 2nd in the global Publish What You Fund Aid Transparency Index which noted that the Tracker represents “a major step forward in improving the accessibility of information on UK development assistance by integrating IATI data for NGO implementing partners with its own data and that of other UK government departments”.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency New Forest West answering member printed Mr Desmond Swayne question first answered 23/10/2014 16:44:36 answering member 55 label Biography information for Sir Desmond Swayne
tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah

93479

registered interest
date	15/10/2014
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 Permission: Appeals
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of democratic oversight of local planning decisions when appealed; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
uin	210798
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/10/2014 answer text <p>Planning is a quasi-judicial process; it is a long-standing feature of the planning system that there is a right of appeal, just as there are with other local quasi-judicial decisions such as on licensing applications, gambling applications or parking fines.</p><p> </p><p>Planning appeals are decided by independent planning inspectors on behalf of the Secretary of State, or in a small number of cases by the Secretary of State himself. Interested parties have a statutory right to make representations on planning appeals, and these representations are required to be taken into account by the decision maker. This allows proper democratic oversight of the appeals process.</p><p> </p><p>The Localism Act 2011 has strengthened the role of Local Plans and abolished the last Administration’s top-down Regional Strategies. Our streamlined National Planning Policy Framework strongly encourages areas to get up-to-date Local Plans in place, and we have been actively supporting councils in doing so. Local Plans now set the framework in which decisions on particular applications are taken, whether locally or at appeal, unless material considerations indicate otherwise.</p><p> </p><p>Once made a neighbourhood plan will also become part of the area’s statutory development plan — an example of this Government’s localist agenda. Both Local and Neighbourhood Plans are founded on thorough community involvement and are subject to independent examination and consultation. Over 1,200 communities have applied for a neighbourhood planning area to be designated, with over 1,000 areas now designated.</p><p> </p><p>Planning inspectors will take full account of all the evidence that is before them, including representations made by local residents and other interested parties. Each representation should be considered on their merits, paying careful regard to the relevant policy and material planning considerations.</p><p> </p><p>Since the National Planning Policy Framework was introduced, the number of appeals received has fallen as has the number allowed. The quality of local decisions also remains high—99% of decisions are made locally with only approximately 1% of planning applications overturned on appeal. Housing starts and housing construction are also up, as are permissions for new homes. This means there is more local decision-making, and our reforms are supporting badly-needed new homes within a locally-led planning system.</p> answering member constituency Great Yarmouth answering member printed Brandon Lewis question first answered 20/10/2014 16:08:14 answering member 4009 label Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis
tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah

93480

registered interest
date	15/10/2014
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	Fast Food: Planning Permission
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with his ministerial colleagues on using planning applications for further public health objectives by control of the location of fast food outlets.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
uin	210799
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/10/2014 answer text <p>Ministers within the Department for Communities and Local Government regularly meet colleagues from other Departments to discuss a range of matters.</p> answering member constituency Great Yarmouth answering member printed Brandon Lewis question first answered 20/10/2014 16:03:45 answering member 4009 label Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis
tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah

99883

registered interest
date	15/10/2014
answering body	Department of Health
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health
answering dept sort name	Health
hansard heading	Health: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to promote early intervention in improving child health.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
uin	905557
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/10/2014 answer text <p>The Government promotes early intervention through the Healthy Child Programme, which is the key universal National Health Service programme for the health and wellbeing of children, and Family Nurse Partnerships, a licensed preventive programme which targets vulnerable first time young mothers.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Central Suffolk and North Ipswich answering member printed Dr Daniel Poulter question first answered 21/10/2014 15:51:41 answering member 3932 label Biography information for Dr Dan Poulter
tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah

93103

registered interest
date	14/10/2014
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	CaTreasury
hansard heading	Venture Capital
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to promote investment in venture capital trusts.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
uin	210570
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/10/2014 answer text <p>The venture capital trust (VCT) regime was significantly expanded at Budget 2012. VCTs can now invest up to £5 million a year into each qualifying company, and larger companies (with up to 250 employees and £15 million of gross assets) can benefit from the investments.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The government believes that the VCT regime, alongside the other tax-advantaged venture capital schemes, plays a key role in facilitating access to finance for smaller businesses with growth potential. At Budget 2014 the government announced that changes would be made to enable investors to subscribe for VCT shares via nominees, to facilitate a wider range of opportunities to invest in VCTs. The government has also recently consulted on the impact of the recent expansions to the venture capital schemes and is committed to ensuring that the schemes continue to work effectively.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Hertfordshire answering member printed Mr David Gauke question first answered 21/10/2014 15:54:56 answering member 1529 label Biography information for Mr David Gauke
tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah

93119

registered interest
date	14/10/2014
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	Schools: Fast Food
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 his Department is taking to address health considerations in planning policies in relation to schools and hot-food outlets.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
uin	210572
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/10/2014 answer text <p>I refer the hon. Member to my written answer to her of 11 September 2014, PQ 208593.</p> answering member constituency Great Yarmouth answering member printed Brandon Lewis question first answered 20/10/2014 16:01:42 answering member 4009 label Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis
tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah

93194

registered interest
date	14/10/2014
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	ICT
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent progress he has made on improving the quality and transparency of management information across front line services within his Department's Digital Services Performance Platform tool.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
uin	210531
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/10/2014 answer text <p>The Foreign and Commonwealth Office strongly supports the use of the Performance Platform to improve the quality and transparency of Management Information across government. There are detailed dashboards on four of our services: ‘registering a birth abroad’, ‘registering a death abroad’, ‘certificate to get married abroad’, and ‘document legalisation’. As we move more of our services online we will ensure those new transactions are built in such a way that they too can go onto the performance platform. We are also interested in extending the Performance Platform to cover the non-digital element of our major transactions and intend to scope how that might work in practice.</p> answering member constituency Aylesbury answering member printed Mr David Lidington question first answered 21/10/2014 13:35:30 answering member 15 label Biography information for Sir David Lidington
tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah