Tony Baldry said, “At the present moment there are a whole number of Defence Logistic Depots scattered around England. Lorries in one place, stores in another – it simply doesn’t make sense when there is clearly surplus capacity at Bicester.

“Bicester must be logical and natural location to consolidate Defence Logistics. Bicester has outstanding road and rail connections. Those rail connections are going to significantly improve with the development of the East West Rail Link which in due course will have the capacity to link Bicester by rail to both Southampton and Felixstowe.

“In addition to making Bicester the single, consolidated Defence Storage, Equipment and Logistics Depot, the Government has just published a White Paper on Defence Equipment, Support and Technology and given that the MOD are wanting to sell surplus land at Arncott, and that there is a planning permission for a business park at Bicester between “Bicester Village” and the motorway, I would also have thought it would be sensible to try and promote Bicester as a location for Defence Logistics, Equipment and Support, and to encourage opportunities for small and medium-sized companies, and to assist UK-based companies to obtain export orders.

“We already have EP Barrus in the town, and I am sure that Bicester could make an attractive location for other similar companies”.

The Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning (Mr John Hayes): I am delighted that my hon. Friend has raised that matter again, as he has done frequently. He has done much work in Banbury in this area. The important thing to do next is to match the businesses to the young people. We can do that by getting businesses into schools and by speed-dating—that is an exciting prospect, is it not, Mr Speaker? We must use all modern media to ensure that young people know about the jobs and opportunities that exist—where they are, what they are and how they can find them.

The competition, which is being supported by the Banbury Guardian and the Bicester Advertiser, is calling for people to write a poem which best captures the spirit of Banbury or Bicester.

There will be two classes: one competition for those aged under 18 and another competition for those aged over 18.

The title of the poem would simply be “Banbury” or “Bicester”, and it can be in whatever format the entrant wishes – from an ode to a haiku, a limerick to a sonnet.

There will be two prizes of £500 each for the winning entries and all entries will be included in an anthology of poems entitled “Banbury – 2012” which it is hope will be sold at a later date with all profits going to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Fund.

Tony Baldry said: “2012 is a momentous year and I thought a poetry competition would be a great chance for people of all ages to get directly involved in celebrating the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. My inspiration for the competition came from Edward Thomas’s poem ‘Adlestrop’ which is one of the most popular, most quoted and most collected English poems and which captures a memorable but otherwise unremarkable moment on the edge of Oxfordshire countryside in 1914 just before the outbreak of the First World War. I think that this is a fantastic way in which the entire community can get involved – we are not just looking for school-age children but anyone of any age. We will be looking for something special – probably indefinable – which is memorable and captures the reader’s attention and I am already looking forward to reading all the poems we receive.”

All entries should be sent to: Tony Baldry MP, Alexandra House, Church Passage, Banbury, OX16 5JZ.

The closing date for entries is Friday 11 May 2012.

Entries will be judged by a panel of three independent judges who will draw up a shortlist and decide on two winning poems.

To download a copy of the Banbury poster about the competition, please click here: Poetry competition poster (Banbury).

To download a copy of the Bicester poster about the competition, please click here: Poetry competition poster (Bicester).

The Secretary of State for International Development (Mr Andrew Mitchell): The coalition Government have doubled British aid to Burma. If progress on political reform continues, we will be able to do much more.

Tony Baldry: Does my right hon. Friend consider that there is sufficient substance to the reforms in Burma? Is he confident that money provided by DFID for humanitarian relief is getting to the areas where it is needed, such as the Chin state?

Mr Mitchell: My hon. Friend poses the key question of whether these reforms are real. The fact that the regime in Burma has now released nearly all its political prisoners—particularly Min Ko Naing whom many Members campaigned to see released—is an enormously encouraging sign. The real test will come with the 48 by-elections due to take place before April. We will see how those elections are conducted and whether they are free and fair. If they are, that will be the most eloquent possible answer to my hon. Friend’s question.

Mr Blunt: I am extremely grateful to my hon. Friend for that suggestion, which is certainly one that I will be taking up in our ongoing examination and review, so that we improve the current, unsatisfactory state of affairs with foreign national offenders as quickly as we legally can.

Sadiq Khan (Tooting) (Lab): May I remind the Minister that it was the last, Labour Government who negotiated the groundbreaking EU prisoner transfer agreement, which came into force last December, to transfer foreign European prisoners back to their countries during their sentence? We have had lots of tough talk from the Minister and the Government, but what progress have the Government made on ensuring that the EU agreement is implemented across all EU states?

Mr Blunt: One of the reasons why I was visiting the European Union Commission on Friday and speaking to the official responsible for implementation of the agreement was to help deliver that. It is just a slight pity that in the negotiations undertaken by the last Administration, they managed to give Poland a five-year delay and Ireland a complete opt-out.

Dr Andrew Murrison (South West Wiltshire) (Con): In designing prisoner transfer agreements, will the Minister ensure that the legitimate expectations of the victims of crime in this country are satisfied? Too often we find them fearful that their natural desire for retributive justice is going unfulfilled.

Mr Blunt: That is an important part of any consideration about the transfer of prisoners, and one that I certainly give attention to in considering applications that are made to me.

Keith Vaz (Leicester East) (Lab): As the hon. Member for Banbury (Tony Baldry) said, the process for removal should begin at the time of sentence. That was one of the recommendations of the Select Committee on Home Affairs in our last report. At the moment, the whole process starts far too late. We need better liaison between the UK Border Agency and the prison authorities.

Mr Blunt: I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman and to his Select Committee for its work in this area. He will know just how multi-faceted this all is, and I am grateful for the continuing attention of his Committee. The points he makes are entirely reasonable and I will be following them up.

The Prime Minister: My hon. Friend is entirely right to raise that big gap in the single market. We passed the Single European Act all those years ago—more than 20 years ago—yet the professions and services have still not been properly opened up. The action we are taking is for all Governments to agree to open up those professions, and on this occasion the European Court of Justice may actually be helpful in that the Commission is taking infraction proceedings against a number of member states—Germany included, I think—to make sure that they genuinely open up their professions and complete the single market.

Tony Baldry said, “I think that the Canal & River Trust, which effectively is akin to a National Trust for water, will hopefully be much more responsive to the needs of waterway users.

“The Oxford Canal is an important amenity for many of my constituents, whether they be boaters, canoeists, walkers or cyclists. I hope that the new Trust will be able to better involve the energy and views of those who use the Oxford Canal which has seen a steady increase in recent years and with a proposal for a new marina to be built near to Banbury and as we see every year with the very successful Banbury Canal Day, its use its likely to continue to increase.”

Please click on the link provided here to read a letter to Tony from Tony Hales CBE, Chairman of Trustees at the Canal & River Trust: Canal & River Trust press release 310112

Please click here to read about Tony’s visit last June to the Banbury & District Canoe Club where he joined members for a paddle in the Oxford Canal.

“Cherwell District Council has granted planning permission for thousands of houses on a number of sites across the District,” said Tony Baldry.

“Because of the present economic climate on a number of these sites construction work has yet to start. However, in considering whether Cherwell has made adequate provision for housing for the next 5 years, the Planning Inspectorate appears to treat these planning permissions as if they have not been granted.

“This is a ludicrous situation.

“It is not Cherwell’s fault that house builders have not yet started building houses where planning permissions have been granted, but what it has led to is a number of developers putting forward opportunistic planning applications for not insignificant housing developments almost always in villages in the area, hoping that such planning applications will be granted on appeal irrespective of the wishes of local people because they believe the Planning Inspectorate will find that Cherwell has inadequate provision for a 5-year housing supply.

“It is not surprising that the Inspectorate comes to that conclusion if they simply ignore most of the planning permissions that Cherwell has granted.

“It is a completely ludicrous situation and leads to planning anarchy.

“However, I am hopeful following correspondence and exchanges in the House of Commons with Planning Ministers that the Inspectorate will be instructed to take into account all planning permissions granted by local councils when considering whether there has been adequate provision of housing.”

Notes to editors:

The full text of Tony’s question and the Minister’s answer is below:

T3. [92082] Tony Baldry (Banbury) (Con): Will my right hon. Friend instruct the Planning Inspectorate that in considering whether a local authority has made adequate provision for housing over a five-year period it should take into account all the extant granted permissions for housing that a local authority has given, irrespective of whether construction work on such housing has started?

The Minister of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Greg Clark): My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. We want to strengthen the sovereignty of local plans and it seems to me that if councils have done their bit by granting planning permission, that ought to be taken into account by the Planning Inspectorate. I will certainly make sure that that point is reflected in the new framework on which we are consulting.

The letter clearly sets out the importance of the Government reforms on NHS commissioning and makes clear GP support for them.

The text of the letter is as follows:

SIR – The NHS faces a challenging few years. Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) are already showing their ability to innovate and improve the care of patients despite difficult circumstances.
Blanket opposition to the NHS reforms by the British Medical Association and the Royal College of Nurses is not representative of the views of GPs who, like us, already lead CCGs, and the large number of GPs and nurses who support us. In many parts of England, CCGs are already showing effective leadership in their local health systems. This brings frontline clinical experience and the views of local people into the heart of the NHS.

The risks of derailing the development of clinical commissioning must not be underestimated. Previous health service reforms have failed to commit to clinical leadership and have paid the price of disengaging the frontline staff most needed to modernise the NHS. We cannot allow that to happen this time. Without strong clinical leadership and the co ordinated efforts of local clinicians, the NHS itself may be in peril: local services can only be improved if we all pull together.

Tony Baldry said: “The letter from Dr Stephen Richards and many other GPs confirms what I have known for some time. These GPs are saying in public what they have said to me in private for some time now, that is, that they want to get on with the Government’s NHS reforms and that they welcome the prospect of them.

“They want to be in a position to be better able to design services for their patients and be better able to respond to the needs of patients in Oxfordshire. I think that the letter also confirms to many MPs that the BMA doesn’t necessarily always reflect the views of a very large number of GPs.”

Tony Baldry said:

“It is very good news that the Government has decided to take firm and clear action to tackle the problem of metal theft.

“In my capacity as Second Church Estates Commissioner, I know only too well about the problem of theft of lead from the roofs of on average some 10 churches per day. This is a tragedy for both our national heritage and the local communities within which these churches are situated.

“Not just churches, as a constituency MP I am well aware of the disruption caused to the rail network by the theft of copper signalling and only last weekend many villagers in Oxfordshire found themselves cut off from their telephones and home computers due to the theft of telephone cabling.

“It has been all too easy to steal metal overnight and simply sell it for cash the next day – no questions asked. So I am very pleased that the government is taking firm, clear and decisive action on metal theft.”

To read the full statement by the Home Secretary, please click here: Scrap Metal Dealers Written Statement 260112.