Asked by: Martin Horwood (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what area of acacia trees has been removed from the Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area in 2015 to date.
Answered by Anna Soubry
No acacia trees have been removed from the range at CapePyla in the Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area (SBA) in 2015. The SBA Administration is currently evaluating options to remove acacia this year, which needs to take account of what funds can be provided for this purpose and the impact on military training. The SBA Administration will announce shortly that, subject to consultation, CapePyla will be designated as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) site. If the SAC designation is confirmed, the site will require management of the invasive species of acacia. Therefore, the decision to remove some of the acacia trees in 2014 and further proposed efforts to do so in 2015 is entirely consistent with the proposed designation of the site.
Asked by: Martin Horwood (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate his Department has made of the area of land in Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area that has been planted with acacia trees in the last 10 years.
Answered by Anna Soubry
Acacia trees occupy approximately 59.42 hectares of the 550 hectare range at CapePyla in the Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area. The Ministry of Defence is unable to estimate what areas have been planted in the last 10 years.
Asked by: Martin Horwood (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his counterpart in the government of the Republic of Cyprus on that country joining the Sovereign Base Area Administration in adopting the new Strategic Action Plan against illegal bird trapping.
Answered by David Lidington
I discussed concerns around illegal bird trapping with the Foreign Minister of Cyprus when we met on 12 March.
Asked by: Martin Horwood (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what area of acacia trees was removed from Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area in 2014; and what the cost was of such action.
Answered by Anna Soubry
My right hon. Friend, the Minister of State for the Armed Forces (Mark Francois) spoke to the Chief Executive of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds on 6 March 2015 and informed him that approximately 7.02 hectares of acacia trees were removed from within the firing zone of the range at Cape Pyla in the Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area between November and December 2014. The work to remove the trees and associated illegal irrigation cost approximately €130,000.
Asked by: Martin Horwood (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate his Department has made of the number of songbirds killed illegally on the Cyprus Sovereign Base Areas in the autumn migration periods in (a) 2012, (b) 2013 and (c) 2014.
Answered by Anna Soubry
The Sovereign Base Areas Administration (SBAA) is not able to accurately asses the number of songbirds killed illegally in the autumn migration periods.
Birdlife Cyprus undertakes assessments of bird trapping across the whole of Cyprus. The SBAA does not have confidence with unverified assessments over bird losses which are based on arbitrary data collected from a very short period.
My right hon. Friend the Minister of State for the Armed Forces (Mark Francois) met with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) Chief Executive on 6 March 2015 and informed him that the SBAA and Birdlife have agreed to work together on data collection methods to be used in analysis of the 2015 autumn season.
He also explained to him that during the autumn 2014 migration season, approximately ten percent of acacia trees in the range at CapePyla in the Eastern Sovereign Base Area were cut down. This equates to approximately 17 acres of land.
The RSPB is aware that the Sovereign Base Areas Administration is now reviewing options to remove more acacia in 2015 at Cape Pyla, and the area is proposed as one of the sites for designation as a Special Area of Conservation this year. This is subject to consultation and, if designation is endorsed, this site and others will require a long term management plan to reduce acacia further.
Asked by: Martin Horwood (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans his Department has made to remove the avenues of acacia trees which have been planted on his Department's land.
Answered by Anna Soubry
The Sovereign Base Areas Administration (SBAA) is not able to accurately asses the number of songbirds killed illegally in the autumn migration periods.
Birdlife Cyprus undertakes assessments of bird trapping across the whole of Cyprus. The SBAA does not have confidence with unverified assessments over bird losses which are based on arbitrary data collected from a very short period.
My right hon. Friend the Minister of State for the Armed Forces (Mark Francois) met with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) Chief Executive on 6 March 2015 and informed him that the SBAA and Birdlife have agreed to work together on data collection methods to be used in analysis of the 2015 autumn season.
He also explained to him that during the autumn 2014 migration season, approximately ten percent of acacia trees in the range at CapePyla in the Eastern Sovereign Base Area were cut down. This equates to approximately 17 acres of land.
The RSPB is aware that the Sovereign Base Areas Administration is now reviewing options to remove more acacia in 2015 at Cape Pyla, and the area is proposed as one of the sites for designation as a Special Area of Conservation this year. This is subject to consultation and, if designation is endorsed, this site and others will require a long term management plan to reduce acacia further.
Asked by: Martin Horwood (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether there are any plans in place for the Public Forest Estate land at the Cinderford Northern Quarter site in the National Heritage Forest of Dean will to be transferred to any other party for development.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
The Government stands by its commitment, set out in the 2013 Forestry and Woodlands Policy Statement and on subsequent occasions, that the public forest estate will remain in public hands. However, while this commitment is intended to secure the future of the public forest estate as a whole, in line with the recommendations of the Independent Panel on Forestry, it was never intended to preclude all land transactions on the estate.
The Government is aware of the decision of the Forest of Dean District Council planning committee on the matter and the continuing work in hand. A final decision on the proposed land exchange involving land on the public forest estate and land owned by the Council will be taken later in the year in the light of all the information then available.
Asked by: Martin Horwood (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the provisions in the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 on pavement parking.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
Local authorities have the necessary powers to permit pavement parking or to restrict it with enforceable measures. It is for those authorities to assess pavement parking in their respective areas. My Department’s guidance to local authorities makes clear that, during the appraisal of their parking policies, an authority should consider whether pavement parking is problematic in any part of its area. If it is, and is not covered by an existing Traffic Regulation Order, the authority should consider amending the existing Order or making a new one.
Asked by: Martin Horwood (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many referrals have been made to Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements Approved Hostels and Interventions, including Programmes in each month of the last two years.
Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner
The Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements are a mechanism through which criminal justice agencies can better discharge their statutory responsibilities and protect the public in a co-ordinated manner. MAPPA is designed to protect the public, including previous victims of crime, from serious harm by sexual and violent offenders. MAPPA is not an agency or body in its own right but rather requires local agencies dealing with offenders to work together in partnership in order to manage risk. MAPPA does not commission or operate interventions or programmes and none is unique to offenders managed under MAPPA.
Approved Premises (formerly known as probation or bail hostels) are used to provide enhanced supervision for higher-risk offenders who have been released from prison after completing the custodial part of their sentence. They also house a small number of defendants on bail. Requiring higher-risk offenders to reside in an Approved Premises enables us to monitor and supervise them as effectively as possible. Whilst in an Approved Premises, they are subject to a curfew and other controls, whilst Approved Premises staff working closely with local police officers to respond quickly to any signs of escalating risk. It would be much more difficult to monitor them if they were dispersed into less suitable accommodation throughout the community.
Whether an offender is admitted to an Approved Premises depends on specific monitoring and risk management need. Not all offenders under MAPPA are admitted and not all offenders in Approved Premises are managed under MAPPA. The table below shows the number of offenders managed under MAPPA who were admitted to an Approved Premises in each month between September 2012 and August 2014 (the most recent for which we have full data). Data about offenders who were referred to APs but not admitted is not collected in a way that would allow us to distinguish those under MAPPA management.
No data is collected about the numbers of offenders who are required to undertake particular programmes or other interventions as part of the terms of their release licences. All offenders, whether or not managed under MAPPA, will undertake some interventions intended to address their offending behaviour and reduce re-offending. The choice of intervention will be tailored to the individual offender’s needs.
Admissions to Approved Premises September 2012 – August 2014
Month | MAPPA offenders admitted to Approved Premises |
Sep 2012 | 776 |
Oct 2012 | 883 |
Nov 2012 | 950 |
Dec 2012 | 741 |
Jan 2013 | 799 |
Feb 2013 | 747 |
Mar 2103 | 828 |
Apr 2013 | 857 |
May 2013 | 931 |
Jun 2013 | 847 |
Jul 2013 | 963 |
Aug 2013 | 901 |
Sep 2013 | 911 |
Oct 2013 | 837 |
Nov 2013 | 842 |
Dec 2013 | 798 |
Jan 2014 | 853 |
Feb 2014 | 801 |
Mar 2014 | 782 |
Apr 2014 | 839 |
May 2014 | 831 |
Jun 2014 | 803 |
Jul 2014 | 852 |
Aug 2014 | 842 |
Asked by: Martin Horwood (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the level of staff shortage was in the probation service (a) at the latest date for which data is available and (b) in October 2013.
Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner
The National Probation Service (NPS) and Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) were resourced to deliver their core duties at the point of commencing the new structures on 1 June 2014, for a period of shadow running prior to the transition in the public sector.
CRCs are responsible for managing their own vacancies, and we are providing support and advice where required during the transition.
We are implementing a new reporting tool for the National Probation Service from November 2014 which will enable us to capture NPS vacancies centrally to support our workforce planning.
Prior to June 2014 probation services were delivered by 35 Probation Trusts. The Trusts were responsible for managing their own vacancies and no central records were maintained of staffing levels against requirements.