Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions he has had the Electoral Commission on ensuring that people are able to check whether they are registered on aboutmyvote.co.uk related to the EU referendum.
Answered by John Penrose
A registration look up tool that allowed electors to check their registration status would reduce duplicate applications. Technical and practical barriers prevent its implementation before the EU referendum.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government plans to take to ensure institutions and organisations in receipt of public funds do not express a corporate opinion on the forthcoming EU referendum.
Answered by John Penrose
The rules on campaigning at the referendum are set out in the European Union Referendum Act 2015 and the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. There is no general restriction on institutions and organisations in receipt of public funds expressing a corporate opinion on the European Union Referendum. However, there are restrictions on organisations whose expenses are met wholly or mainly from public funds publishing certain material relating to the referendum in the final 28 days.
As the independent regulator for charities in England and Wales, the Charity Commission published guidance for charities on 7 March 2016 regarding the forthcoming EU referendum. This clearly sets out the threshold necessary to justify any charitable activity on this specific issue.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government plans to take to ensure charities in receipt of public funds do not express a view on the forthcoming European Union Referendum.
Answered by John Penrose
The rules on campaigning at the referendum are set out in the European Union Referendum Act 2015 and the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. There is no general restriction on institutions and organisations in receipt of public funds expressing a corporate opinion on the European Union Referendum. However, there are restrictions on organisations whose expenses are met wholly or mainly from public funds publishing certain material relating to the referendum in the final 28 days.
As the independent regulator for charities in England and Wales, the Charity Commission published guidance for charities on 7 March 2016 regarding the forthcoming EU referendum. This clearly sets out the threshold necessary to justify any charitable activity on this specific issue.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many disabled people have found employment in the (a) private, (b) public and (c) charity sector in each of the last three years.
Answered by Rob Wilson
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 steps the Government is taking to increase voter registration within Commonwealth communities for the forthcoming EU referendum.
Answered by John Penrose
The Government is committed to ensuring as many eligible people as possible are registered to vote. The introduction of online voter registration has made it easier and quicker to register to vote than ever before. It can take less than three minutes and you can register throughout the year from wherever you are in the world, within the commonwealth and beyond.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will estimate the number of people from Eastern Europe who have returned to their country of birth from the UK in 2015-16.
Answered by Rob Wilson
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 steps he is taking to improve (a) productivity across the Civil Service and (b) efficient use of office space.
Answered by Matt Hancock
Improving the efficiency and productivity of the public sector is central to the work of the Cabinet Office. By 2014/15 the Government had saved £18.6 billion through efficiency and reform, and tackling fraud, error and uncollected debt (against a 2009/10 baseline).
The Government Hubs programme will reduce the government office estate from around 800 buildings to around 200 by 2023 and generate savings of over £2bn over ten years.
This is being supported by a smart working revolution to transform how and where civil servants work. In line with what many private sector organisations have achieved, we expect this to increase productivity, reduce costs, improve wellbeing, and contribute to wider objectives such as localism, sustainability, and reducing pressure on the transport system.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the average cost is to a government department of replying by letter to hon. Members raising matters of policy or casework.
Answered by Matt Hancock
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 7 March 2016 to UIN: 28897.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the employment rate was for adults in Southampton with (a) mental health, (b) physical health and (c) no declared health conditions in each year since 2010.
Answered by Rob Wilson
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 steps the Government plans to take to celebrate HM the Queen's 90th birthday.
Answered by John Penrose
Representatives of the Government will be attending a number of events to celebrate Her Majesty the Queen’s 90th birthday including a National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral and The Queen’s Birthday Parade on Horseguards Parade.