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  • Lord Storey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Storey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2015-02-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 3 February (HL4358), what assessment they have made of the placement of defibrillators in schools in Liverpool; and whether there are plans to increase the number of defibrillators in schools across the country.

    Lord Nash

    The Department for Education is encouraging schools to purchase automated external defibrillators (AEDs) as part of their first aid equipment. To help them do this, on 26 November 2014, we announced new arrangements to allow schools to purchase AEDs at a competitive price. This is the result of a unique agreement between the Department for Education and the Department of Health, enabling NHS Supply Chain to purchase devices in batches from approved framework suppliers via a reverse auction process. The discount achieved on each batch is then passed on to schools through a reduced unit price.

    The Department for Education does not collect information about the placement of defibrillators in schools but is able to provide details of which schools have purchased an AED under the arrangements described above.

    To help schools in considering whether to purchase a defibrillator, the Department has also published advice on installing and maintaining AEDs on school premises. This has been developed drawing on the expertise of NHS ambulance services and voluntary and community sector organisations.

  • Lord Storey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Storey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2015-02-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to ensure that consent and emotional safety in relationships are given enough emphasis with sexual and relationship education.

    Lord Nash

    Education has an important role to play in encouraging young people to build healthy relationships, and to identify those relationships which are unhealthy. The statutory sex and relationships education (SRE) guidance, which schools must have regard to when teaching SRE, makes clear that teaching should ensure young people develop positive values and a moral framework that will guide their decisions, judgments and behaviour. This is particularly relevant to sexual consent and the guidance makes clear that all young people should understand how the law applies to sexual relationships.

    We have commissioned the PSHE Association to produce guidance for teachers on teaching about consent, which will be published shortly.

  • Lord Storey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Storey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2015-02-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made in the last six months of Sustainable Mode of Travel to School strategies; how well they consider that they are being implemented; and when they last reviewed them.

    Lord Nash

    The duty to promote the use of sustainable modes of travel to school and to develop a strategy for sustainable local travel is a statutory duty for the local authority (LA). LAs are best placed to address the needs of children and young people in their area and local walking, cycling and bus strategies should inform their approach. The Department for Education does not monitor or review these plans.

    Guidance issued by the Department advises LAs of their duties and makes it clear that it is for the LA to monitor the implementation of their strategies and revise these as they feel necessary. LAs are also required to publish their Sustainable Modes of Travel Strategy on their website by 31 August each year. The guidance issued by the Department is published online at:

    www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-to-school-travel-and-transport-guidance

    “

  • Lord Storey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Storey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Storey on 2015-02-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that young people whose 18th birthdays fall on or before the voter registration application deadline know that they can register to vote before they turn 18.

    Lord Wallace of Saltaire

    The Government recently announced that organisations that work with people who are underrepresented on the electoral register will share some £2.5 million of funding to ensure they register to vote. This includes UK Youth and British Youth Council who will target young people.

    In addition, £6.8 million has been shared across every Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) in Great Britain. EROs are best placed to determine the type of activity they deliver through this funding to maximise registration levels in their area according to local circumstances. This could include specific activity aimed at registering attainers or a write out to all households to prompt those missing to register.

  • David Simpson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    David Simpson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on the use of renewable energy in Northern Ireland.

    Amber Rudd

    My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State met with the Northern Irish Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment Arlene Foster on 2 February. They discussed the future of the renewable electricity support scheme in Northern Ireland.

  • David Simpson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    David Simpson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what his Department’s expenditure was in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Northern Ireland and (d) Wales in 2014.

    Amber Rudd

    The Department of Energy and Climate Change’s expenditure for the financial year 2013-2014 was in (a) England £2,445.6m, (b) Scotland £437.2m, (c) Northern Ireland £1.8m and (d) Wales £117.4m.

    Expenditure that is incurred for the benefit of the UK as a whole and cannot be disseminated by individual country or region is excluded from these amounts.

    The figures are published annually and can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/country-and-regional-analysis-2014

    “

  • Anne McIntosh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Anne McIntosh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne McIntosh on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how strict the standard of independent monitoring of shale gas fracking will be; and who will undertake that monitoring.

    Matthew Hancock

    The Environment Agency (EA) is the regulator for onshore gas operations in England. It requires operators to obtain environmental permits which contain conditions that ensure risks are properly managed and will not allow companies to start work unless they can demonstrate how they will provide a high level of protection for people and the environment. The EA will monitor compliance with permits and take enforcement action if it believes permit conditions have been breached.

    The EA undertakes inspections based on its assessment of the risks presented by a particular site. Often the site operator is responsible for environmental monitoring, which the EA then examines to ensure that they are abiding by their permit conditions. In some cases, depending on the risks presented by a site, the EA may undertake extra monitoring itself.

    The environmental permits require operators to monitor the emissions from their activities and assess their environmental impact. They do this in order to demonstrate to the EA that pollution is minimised and to comply with the limits specified in their permit. The monitoring must be carried out to recognised standards by competent personnel. The EA recommends that operators do this through its Monitoring Certification Scheme (MCERTS). Operators can choose to use an alternative certified monitoring standard, as long as it is equivalent to the MCERTS standard.

    MCERTS is the Environment Agency’s Monitoring Certification Scheme. It provides the framework for businesses to meet EA’s quality requirements. If operators comply with MCERTS, the EA can have confidence in the monitoring of emissions to the environment.

    The EA will adopt a compliance assessment plan for each site that sets out how it will measure the operator’s compliance and ensure that environmental risks are properly managed. This may include a variety of methods such as audit, site inspections, check monitoring, sampling, and reviewing operator records and procedures.

    In addition, DECC officials are currently developing further measures to provide independent evidence directly to the public about the robustness of the existing regulatory regime, as announced in the Autumn Statement.

  • Jonathan Reynolds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Jonathan Reynolds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if he will take steps to limit the amount energy suppliers can charge consumers for the introduction of smart meters.

    Amber Rudd

    The Government has introduced regulation to ensure that there will be no upfront charges to consumers for the introduction of smart meters.

    The Government’s approach to minimising costs and ensuring cost savings from smart metering are passed on to consumers is embedded in the strategy of mandating an energy supplier-led roll out. As commercial entities competing for customers, energy suppliers are incentivised to minimise costs and maximise cost savings. Where suppliers do not keep their customer offer and prices competitive, customers will be able to switch to a new energy supplier.

    The Government and Ofgem are committed to further enhancing retail energy competition. To this end, Ofgem has referred the retail energy market to the Competition and Markets Authority to investigate if features of the market are having an adverse effect on competition and, if so, what reforms would make competition even more effective.

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what communications he has had with the European Commission in respect of his plans to hold a departmental golden share in the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant.

    Matthew Hancock

    DECC officials had initial discussions with the Commission on the possibility of a special (or ‘golden’) share for the Hinkley Point C project. Any arrangement will be designed to be fully compliant with existing EU legislation.

  • Gregory Barker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Gregory Barker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Barker on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what discussions he or his officials have had with their counterparts in UK Trade & Investment, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on the Bangalore/Mumbai Economic Corridor; what recent progress has been made on UK participation in that project; and if he will make a statement.

    Amber Rudd

    DECC Ministers and officials meet regularly with Ministers and officials in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and UKTI to discuss a range of issues. Her Majesty’s Government continues to engage with India on the Bangalore/Mumbai Economic Corridor (BMEC). BMEC was most recently discussed on 11 February in a meeting between Chief Executive of UKTI, Dominic Jermey, and Indian Commerce Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman. We are looking forward to seeing the outcome of the BMEC perspective plan.