Asked by: Martin Horwood (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of secondary school students in Gloucestershire qualify for the pupil premium.
Answered by David Laws
Tables detailing the number of pupils eligible for the pupil premium in the financial year 2014-2015 at school and local authority level are available online at:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-2014-to-2015-illustrative-allocation-tables/
The tables show that 18.2% of secondary school pupils in Gloucestershire are eligible for the deprivation pupil premium in 2014-2015.
Asked by: Martin Horwood (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether information included in the registry of company beneficial ownership information will be available for free.
Answered by Jenny Willott
Companies House is a Trading Fund and must recover the costs for the services it provides where there are clear identifiable costs. However, Companies House already provides a lot of company data for free, including company appointments. It is actively working to increase the amount of data available for free and company beneficial ownership information will form part of this ongoing strategy.
Asked by: Martin Horwood (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether information included in the registry of company beneficial ownership information will be cross-checked against data held by (a) passport authorities, (b) vehicle licensing authorities, (c) electoral registers and (d) other databases.
Answered by Jenny Willott
Companies House currently undertakes a range of checks across the breadth of documents delivered to them. In 2012-13 over 400,000 documents were rejected because they did not pass these checks.
We are carefully considering whether any further reform is necessary, whilst ensuring the UK's company registration regime remains quick, simple and inexpensive. We do not however envisage that this would include cross-checking data against other sources of information.
Asked by: Martin Horwood (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether the registry of company beneficial ownership information will contain a description of how the beneficial owner exercises control over (a) a company, (b) names of the chain of companies that demonstrate a person is the beneficial owner and (c) any other means by which a person exercises control over a company.
Answered by Jenny Willott
As outlined in the Government's response to the Transparency and Trust discussion paper we are continuing to develop how details of the beneficial interest are to be recorded on the company's register and at Companies House. We intend that this information will allow users of the register to build a meaningful picture of the company's ownership and control structure.
Asked by: Martin Horwood (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the amount of housing proposed on what had been designated Green Belt land in 2010 in adopted and emerging Local Plans.
Answered by Nick Boles
It is for local authorities in conjunction with their communities to assess development needs and plan to meet them in a way which is consistent with national policy. Our planning reforms have strengthened the role of Local Plans and abolished the previous administration's undemocratic Regional Strategies which imposed housing targets and Green Belt reviews. This returns power to local authorities and communities to determine whether it is appropriate to develop on Green Belt land, taking into account the strong protections in the National Planning Policy Framework.
This Government attaches great importance to Green Belt as a way to prevent sprawl and encroachment on open countryside, and as a vital 'green lung' for many communities. The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that openness and permanence are essential characteristics of Green Belt. And that Green Belt boundaries can only be revised in exceptional circumstances through the Local Plan process. Planning guidance published on 6 March re-affirmed Green Belt protection.
Asked by: Martin Horwood (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to encourage charities to become signatories to the Financial Reporting Council's UK Stewardship Code.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Financial Reporting Council's Stewardship Code does not direct itself to matters particular to charities such as their responsibilities under charity law and their focus on beneficiaries. ‘Good Governance – a Code for the Voluntary and Community Sector' developed by a coalition of charity and voluntary sector bodies is a code designed for charities and the voluntary sector. This Code has the support of the Charity Commission which encourages its adoption through publications and signposting on its website.
Asked by: Martin Horwood (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to incentivise charities to manage their assets in a manner compliant with the Financial Reporting Council's UK Stewardship Code.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Financial Reporting Council's Stewardship Code does not direct itself to matters particular to charities such as their responsibilities under charity law and their focus on beneficiaries. ‘Good Governance – a Code for the Voluntary and Community Sector' developed by a coalition of charity and voluntary sector bodies is a code designed for charities and the voluntary sector. This Code has the support of the Charity Commission which encourages its adoption through publications and signposting on its website.