Simon Hart

Where the Electoral Commission is made aware of allegations of electoral fraud it advises the complainant to contact their local police force or Crimestoppers. It does not record where such advice has been provided.

Statistics reported to the Electoral Commission by police forces across the UK show that in 2017 there were 148 cases in relation to alleged electoral fraud at the UK Parliamentary General Election. There were a further 168 cases relating to other election types, and 20 cases recorded as non-election specific.

It is not possible to know which of these cases may have resulted from advice given to a complainant by the Commission.

The Electoral Commission receives both formal and informal complaints across a range of areas of electoral law through a range of different routes. It is not, therefore, possible to provide comprehensive data in response to parts of this question. Allegations of electoral fraud relating to offences under the Representation of the People Act (RPA)1983 are matters for the police. When the Commission is made aware of allegations of electoral fraud they advise the complainant to contact the police directly, and they may also pass on details of the allegation to the relevant police force.

On 2 March 2018 the Commission published information provided by police forces about cases of electoral fraud recorded during 2017. The data shows that police forces across the UK recorded a total of 336 cases of alleged electoral fraud relating to offences under the Representation of the People Act (RPA) 1983. Police forces also recorded 69 other complaints about elections which did not relate to allegations of electoral fraud offences.

At the end of January 2018, when the data was updated by police forces, there had been one conviction following investigation by the police, and suspects in eight further cases had accepted police cautions. Police forces were awaiting prosecution advice in relation to a further seven cases, in two cases court proceedings had been initiated and one case resulted in an acquittal. Forty four cases remained under investigation by the police.

The Speaker’s Committee has not received any legal advice on connected parties.

The Restoration and Renewal Programme currently employs 29 staff. Of these, 17 have been competitively recruited to the Programme from within the House of Commons or House of Lords Service, seven have been recruited externally, three are agency staff and two are on loan, from the Corporate Services Team and the Parliamentary Digital Service. Most Programme staff are on temporary contracts; permanent staff of the two Houses would return to their previous Teams if their contracts were not renewed or extended.

¹Includes two agency staff

²Includes one agency staff and two staff on loan

As a result of an mail merge error, IPSA issued incorrect P11D forms for 2014-15 to 536 MPs. The correct P11D information for all 650 MPs was sent to HMRC.

The UK Government has a responsibility to plan for, respond to and recover from a wide variety of challenges and events. As such Government departments work with partners in the public and private sectors to develop and test contingency plans for such challenges.

It is the Government’s policy to leave the EU with a deal. As a responsible Government we have been planning, and continue to prepare for all eventualities associated with the UK leaving the EU. This includes managing the impacts of a no deal Brexit if they arise.

Last month we published the draft Protection of Charities Bill which would give the Charity Commission stronger powers to tackle rare cases of serious abuse in charities.

BDUK's State aid clearance from the European Commission has been given on the basis that deployment will be predominantly in rural and remote areas. These areas are not defined by the Commission, although BDUK has provided information to the Commission on how interventions will be targeted using population densities

The Superfast Broadband Programme aims to maximise coverage within the framework set by the State aid regime. BDUK therefore undertakes an assessment of each project to ensure that it is consistent with the State aid requirements. Projects have not been taken forward in London or Birmingham, and the eligible areas for other projects which include cities within their scope have been assessed on the basis that coverage is targeted at rural and urban fringe areas. BDUK therefore does not measure rural and urban deployment.

I regularly meet Ofcom to discuss a range of issues across its remit as the communications regulator in the UK.

Since the publication of the Law Commission’s report on the Electronic Communications Code, DCMS has been considering the implications of the recommendations on network roll out and service provision to consumers. In January 2014, we published an economic analysis of the impacts of various wayleave valuation regimes. A copy of this report has been placed in the House of Commons library.

I will make public my plans to reform the Electronic Communications Code shortly.

Since the publication of the Law Commission’s report on the Electronic Communications Code, DCMS has been considering the implications of the recommendations on network roll out and service provision to consumers. In January 2014, we published an economic analysis of the impacts of various wayleave valuation regimes. A copy of this report has been placed in the House of Commons library.

I will make public my plans to reform the Electronic Communications Code shortly.

Ofcom, the independent regulator, is currently undertaking a review of the market for leased lines, which are used for mobile backhaul and for other applications. Ofcom published a call for inputs on 1 April 2014, as well as two interim consultations. The Regulator intends to publish full proposals for consultation in Spring 2015 and this will include an analysis of issues in relation to mobile backhaul.

The current regulatory controls on BT’s charges for leased lines, including those used for mobile backhaul, expire in April 2016.

BT has made no representations to DCMS about mobile backhaul. However, in the company’s response to the DCMS consultation on its Digital Communications Infrastructure Strategy, BT made it clear that it was opposed to the mandating of ‘dark fibre’ access to its network. Access to dark fibre would enable other providers to compete with BT more easily in the provision of various communications services, including mobile backhaul, although BT’s response did not highlight this use.

I have had no discussions with Ofcom on the cost of mobile backhaul and leased lines in rural areas. The information collected by Ofcom, referred to above, will inform any such discussion in the future.

The Government recognises the problems caused by disposable cups, which are difficult to recycle and often littered. At Budget 2018, the Government concluded that a levy on all cups would not at this point deliver a decisive shift from disposable cups to reusable cups across all beverage types.

The Government expects industry to go further in taking action on disposable plastic cups and will return to the issue if sufficient progress is not made. In the meantime, the Government is considering the case for reducing the environmental impact of disposable cups within a reformed packaging producer responsibility system and a potential deposit return scheme (DRS), which we are currently inviting views on through consultation.

The DRS consultation is being undertaken jointly by the UK and Welsh Governments, and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland. The consultation was launched on 18 February and will close on 13 May. The aim of a DRS is that it is easy for consumers to return drinks containers (such as plastic bottles, aluminium and steel cans, and glass bottles), reduce litter and increase recycling rates of drinks containers within the scope of a DRS.

The Government recognises the importance of making drinking water more readily available in public places, as a means of reducing single use plastic bottles. As laid out in the 25 Year Environment Plan and the Resources and Waste Strategy, we are already taking action in this area.

The Government has encouraged transit hub operators, including Network Rail and airports, to install free water fountains to support refilling water bottles.

The water industry is supporting the Refill campaign, which is managed by City to Sea. We are pleased to see new refill points being installed in every major city and town in England. There are now over 14,000 refill points on City to Sea’s free Refill app, and they aim to double this by 2020.

The Government’s white paper on the future relationship between the UK and the EU proposes a UK-EU free trade area for goods, including chemicals, underpinned by a common rule book. We are seeking participation in ECHA, to ensure UK businesses could continue to register chemical substances directly. This remains part of ongoing negotiations with the EU.

In the event of a no-deal, the EU (Withdrawal) Act will convert existing EU chemicals law, including REACH, into domestic law. This includes the registration of chemicals under a UK REACH system which will replicate the current EU approach. We have published a Technical Notice ‘Regulating Chemicals (REACH) if there’s no Brexit deal’. This sets out the implications for business and transitional measures to minimise disruption and ensure continuity in the event of a no deal. The Technical Notice is available via the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulating-chemicals-reach-if-theres-no-brexit-deal

Defra has not made a specific assessment of the effect of fly-tipping on wildlife and husbanded animals. The Government is committed to tackling the impact of fly-tipping on wildlife, farmland and local communities.

The Environment Agency advertised its proposed changes to the rod licence structure and duties on 6 May 2016 in the London Gazette, Welsh newspapers and in the angling press. The Environment Agency also consulted stakeholders through focus groups, newsletters, publications, websites, telephone calls and their stakeholder forum, the England Fisheries Group, prior to advertising the changes in England and Wales.

The dairy industry in Britain has had a very tough year. A slowdown in global markets, low farm-gate prices, and a strong pound increasing imports, have all contributed to this. The UK average farm gate milk price for March 2016 is 22.38p per litre. This represents a 10.5% decrease on March 2015 and continues the downward trend seen since November 2013.

There were 281 fewer registered dairy producers in England and Wales in April 2016 compared with April 2015 (a 2.8% reduction). This continues the long-term trend which has resulted in dairy producer numbers falling while the average herd size and annual yields per cow have increased. In the year ending February 2016, forecasts suggest that incomes on dairy farms in England fell by 45% to an average of £45,000 per farm. Average incomes on Welsh dairy farms fell by around 40% to £42,000 in the same period. Expert commentators such as Rabobank expect the current cycle of low prices to be maintained through most of 2016.

The Government continues to work closely with the UK farming unions, Dairy UK and Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board (AHDB) to assess the difficult market situation and what we can do to help the industry to recover. For example, we are currently drawing up practical options for creating new derivatives markets, co-operating closely with the AHDB’s volatility forum, farmers, processors and the finance sector.

The Government does not hold this information; the EU will determine its policy direction once a new Commission takes office on 1 November. The British people voted to leave the European Union and the Government is committed to delivering this by 31 October.

However, in November 2018 the Government published analysis of the long run economic impact of leaving the EU across a range of scenarios, and a separate assessment of the Future Security Partnership. It is worth noting that the UK only participates in certain parts of the EU policing acquis.

The HS2 Development Agreement sets out the Sponsor’s Requirements for the HS2 scheme. At Old Oak Common, this includes interchange facilities with the Great Western Main Line and Crossrail services.

Our current indicative train service specification that has informed the design of Old Oak Common station assumes that all Great Western franchise and Heathrow Express services will stop at Old Oak Common. This will enable passengers from Wales and other destinations currently served by Paddington bound trains to interchange with HS2 services to the midlands and north of the UK. The frequency of connections is an operational matter that will be determined nearer the time, but we would expect passengers and other stakeholders to be consulted on material changes to future franchise service patterns.

Rule 215 of The Highway code gives specific advice on approaching and overtaking horse riders and horse-drawn vehicles safely and with consideration. The theory test contains questions about how drivers should interact with horse riders and the hazard perception test includes a number of clips where horse riders are the hazard.

The “Have Some Horse Sense on the road campaign was launched as part of the THINK! Road Safety Campaign and encouraged drivers to approach horses slowly and give them a wide berth when overtaking. This has been supplemented more recently by the THINK! Rural Roads campaign which reminds drivers to take particular care when driving along country roads.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency provides guidance on hypoglycaemia to all drivers who notify they have insulin treated diabetes. Advice is also available on gov.uk.

Drivers who experience recurrent episodes of severe hypoglycaemia cannot be issued with a licence. Severe hypoglycaemia is defined as needing the assistance of a third party to treat the episode. Recurrent severe hypoglycaemia is more than one episode of severe hypoglycaemia in 12 months. These standards are specified in the Third European Union Directive on driving licences, which does not distinguish between events while a person is awake or asleep. The European Commission has confirmed that hypoglycaemia occurring at night cannot be discounted when considering the number of occurrences of severe hypoglycaemia in 12 months.

The guidelines are based on standards determined by experts from across the European Union and agreed by the Secretary of State for Transport's Honorary Medical Advisory Panel on Driving and Diabetes Mellitus.