Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Places for Growth Programme in identifying the potential for relocating government offices to Southampton.
Answered by David Lidington
The Places for Growth programme seeks to deliver the Government’s commitment to move Civil Service roles and public bodies out of London and the South East of England. This commitment was set out in the Conservative Party Manifesto of 2017 and then restated in the Industrial Strategy White Paper and the Government Estates Strategy (July 2018).
The Cabinet Office is supporting departments and public bodies to identify opportunities for relocation of roles to cities across the regions and nations of the United Kingdom. This will boost local economic growth and impact on the economic growth of wider city regions, and the United Kingdom as a whole, as well as ensure the administration of central government is distributed more evenly across the United Kingdom.
All locations remain under active consideration as potential relocation destinations. The programme will be looking to consult with a number of additional cities over the coming months and we would be happy for Southampton to be involved in this process.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what progress has been made on implementing the Places for Growth programme.
Answered by David Lidington
The Places for Growth programme seeks to deliver the Government’s commitment to move Civil Service roles and public bodies out of London and the South East of England. This commitment was set out in the Conservative Party Manifesto of 2017 and then restated in the Industrial Strategy White Paper and the Government Estates Strategy (July 2018).
The Cabinet Office is supporting departments and public bodies to identify opportunities for relocation of roles to cities across the regions and nations of the United Kingdom. The Programme is providing support and coordination across Whitehall to move roles and organisations to locations that have the skills and capacity to enable organisations and cities to flourish.
The Programme is also engaging with city leaders across the UK to understand the local economic and industrial priorities which will inform the decision-making process.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the survival rates for people with breast cancer have been in each of the last five years.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the survival rate is for people with brain tumours; and what the comparative rate is for people with all forms of cancer.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the Electoral Commmission's recommendation for electors that reside in multiple properties choosing a single address to cast a vote in UK Parliamentary general elections.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
Voting more than once at a General Election or at other national polls such as a referendum is a crime which carries a financial penalty.
We take this matter very seriously. I have raised this issue as a priority with the Electoral Commission, and will consider carefully the findings of their report on electoral registration at the 2017 General Election, as well as their upcoming report on the administration of that poll.
It is possible to determine whether an individual has voted twice at a General Election by checking the marked register of those who have voted. If anyone has evidence of someone voting twice, then they should report this to their local returning officer and to the police.
I have also written to the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) to reiterate the Government's support for the police to make every effort to investigate reports of criminal behaviour in relation to elections.
The Government will continue to consider if further steps should be taken to ensure the integrity of the electoral system and where opportunities could exist to reiterate that voting more than once at the General Election or other national polls is illegal.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of harmonising the electoral register that is compiled and maintained by Electoral Registration Officers around the UK.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The electoral register is already harmonised in terms of how it is compiled, who is eligible to be registered and the information which must be included. The Government has no plans to legislate to further harmonise the electoral register. For citizens, accessing the electoral register has been made considerably quicker and easier by online registration. For individuals and organisations with a legitimate interest in accessing the information included in the registers, a number of provisions already exist that allow them to do so.