Jake Berry: Will my hon. Friend give way?
Jake Berry: My hon. Friend makes an important and powerful argument. On the specific point of the Opposition’s proposals for the banker bonus tax, is he aware that it is a tax that keeps on giving, because—
Jake Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many households in the (a) private rented, (b) social and (c) owner-occupied sector in (i) England, (ii) Rossendale and (iii) Darwen are classed as being in fuel poverty.
Jake Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department has taken to prevent the misuse of devices provided under the Mobile Information Programme.
Jake Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what (a) financial and (b) other support the North West Regional Development Agency provided to businesses in Rossendale and Darwen constituency in the last three years; and what changes he expects to the provision of such assistance after the transition to local enterprise partnerships and other successor bodies.
Jake Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many antisocial behaviour orders have been issued to residents of the criminal justice areas covering Rossendale and Darwen constituency in each year since 2002.
Jake Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many (a) BlackBerrys, (b) personal data assistants and (c) other mobile devices the Mobile Information Programme has distributed to each police force in (i) 2007-08, (ii) 2008-09, (iii) 2009-10, (iv) 2010-11 and (v) 2011-12 to date; and how many such devices are in use in each police force; (2) how many (a) BlackBerrys, (b)...
Jake Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many schools have (a) converted and (b) applied to convert to academy status in (i) Rossendale and Darwen constituency, (ii) Lancashire and (iii) England.
Jake Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans he has to improve the quality of school buildings in Rossendale and Darwen constituency.
Jake Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many working households within (a) Rossendale borough council and (b) Blackburn and Darwen council area were in receipt of housing benefit in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Jake Berry: In 2009, when the Conservatives took control of Lancashire county council, fostering services were rated unsatisfactory. Since then, its budget has reduced by £120,000 and it is now rated outstanding. Will my right hon. Friend join me in congratulating county councillor Tony Winder and his Conservative colleagues not only for doing more for less but for doing it better as well?
Jake Berry: The Darwen Aldridge Community Academy is a school in my constituency that has already achieved academy status. It recently applied to set up a studio school through the same foundation. Will the Minister update the House on when we will have a decision on the first round of bidding for studio schools, and how many applications there have been?
Jake Berry: Living in the house directly opposite St Thomas, Musbury, church in Helmshore, I am a real fan of campanology. Will my hon. Friend join me in congratulating our congregation at St Thomas’s for the fundraising we have done to restore our bell tower so that bells can be rung again on Sunday morning?
Jake Berry: It is a pleasure to serve for the first time under your chairmanship, Mr Caton. I am pleased to have secured this debate on the need for a commuter rail link between Rossendale and Manchester. The Government have made key announcements recently that High Speed 2 will reach not only Birmingham but Manchester, which is of great significance to the north-west of England. I also welcome...
Jake Berry: The hon. Gentleman, like me, has a history of supporting the rail link. I pay tribute to him for supporting a hugely important project. To set the scene briefly, today’s east Lancashire railway is a heritage railway operating on two contrasting sections of line. Both were originally built in the 19th century, and both routes passed through the then-important mill town of Bury. That was all...
Jake Berry: I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising that point. It gives me the opportunity to say that I do recognise the survey in the Rossendale Free Press, one of the finest newspapers in this country, along with the Lancashire Telegraph, both of which I hope will cover this debate. We have succeeded in running a heritage line; now we want a commuter rail link. That holds its own challenges, which we...
Jake Berry: I am sorry. I will not. In June 2009, a report on the potential reopenings of rail lines nationally by the Association of Train Operating Companies investigated the Rawtenstall-Manchester rail link. The report said that it had a good business case, with a rate of return of 1 to 1.8. That was the fourth best in the 20 or so schemes that were looked at nationally. It assumed a high capital...
Jake Berry: I thank the hon. Gentleman. The heritage rail line is already open and has a huge tourism potential. I am sure that it will continue to contribute to our local economy. Returning to the ELWRAS report, the local authority’s view is that that developing piece of work has never properly addressed the demand potential, the socio-economic issues and the wider transport benefits. The report has...
Jake Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has spent on public affairs consultancy firms in the last 36 months; what the names are of any such firms; and for what reason any such expenditure was incurred.
Jake Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether staff employed by the South West England Development Agency received retention bonuses after the announcement by the Government of the abolition of regional development agencies.