Rt Hon Sir John Whittingdale OBE MP

Member of Parliament for Maldon

Mobile Phones: Registration

Mr. Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has for a compulsory register of mobile telephones; and if he will make a statement. [283858] Mr. Hanson: We have no plans to introduce a mandatory registration scheme for mobile phones and would want firm evidence of the effectiveness of […]

Communication

Mr. Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has for a national database maintaining records of (a) e-mails, (b) Voice Over Internet Protocol telephone calls and (c) instant messages; and if he will make statement. [283859] Mr. Hanson: The Government have no plans to build a national database […]

Local Authority Funding

T5. [284365] Mr. John Whittingdale (Maldon and East Chelmsford) (Con): Does the Minister accept that the blanket requirement to find 3 per cent. a year efficiency savings is particularly difficult for smaller local authorities such as Maldon district council? Will he confirm that there may be some flexibility in the imposition of that target that […]

Coastal Access

19. Mr. Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations he has received on rights of appeal against a coastal access report under the provisions of the Marine and Coastal Access Bill; and if he will make a statement. [283396] Huw Irranca-Davies: Following concerns raised during the Pre-Legislative […]

Holocaust (Return of Cultural Objects) Bill

Mr. John Whittingdale (Maldon and East Chelmsford) (Con): I congratulate once again the hon. Member for Hendon (Mr. Dismore) on introducing the Bill and on having a good chance of getting it on to the statute book. It is a great achievement to get a private Member’s Bill passed into law. He has been extraordinarily […]

National Security

Mr. John Whittingdale (Maldon and East Chelmsford) (Con): I welcome the Minister’s commitment to civil liberties, but will the national security strategy include the establishment of a national database to maintain records of web page visits, e-mails and VoIP—voice over internet protocol—calls and whether the Government intend to introduce a compulsory register of all mobile […]

Digital Britain

Mr. John Whittingdale (Maldon and East Chelmsford) (Con): Although I share some of the reservations expressed by my hon. Friend the Member for South-West Surrey (Mr. Hunt), I welcome a number of measures proposed in the report, in particular support for regional news programming, for tackling illegal file sharing, for assisting commercial radio and for […]

CRB checks (teachers)

23. Mr. Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what recent representations he has received on the retention of information on the outcomes of Criminal Records Bureau checks on teachers. [279182] Mr. Coaker: I am aware of representations made to the CRB in January 2009 by Southend-on-Sea borough council. The […]

Intelectual Property

8. Mr. John Whittingdale (Maldon and East Chelmsford) (Con): What steps he is taking to tackle illegal distribution of intellectual property. [279008] The Minister for Higher Education and Intellectual Property (Mr. David Lammy): The Government work to tackle IP crime in three main areas. First, we have to get the legal framework right, so I […]

Standards

Mr. John Whittingdale (Maldon and East Chelmsford) (Con): I, too, express sympathy with the comments of the hon. Member for Thurrock (Andrew Mackinlay) about the need to strengthen the Select Committee system. However, I want to concentrate specifically on the events that occurred in the Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport, which I chair. […]