Author: admin

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Paul Flynn on Defence.

1

Mr Philip Dunne

The UK has made it clear that the circumstances in which any employment of nuclear weapons might be contemplated are very remote. We would employ nuclear weapons only in extreme circumstances of self defence and in accordance with our obligations under international law. The UK uses nuclear weapons as a deterrent every single day as demonstrated by the Continuous At Sea Deterrence. The most recent major Government reports that explore these issues are the 2006 White Paper “The Future of the United Kingdom’s Nuclear Deterrent”; the 2010 SDSR and the 2013 Trident Alternatives Review, all of which are in the public domain.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Gregory Campbell on Defence.

1

Anna Soubry

The Ministry of Defence-sponsored cadet forces offer challenging and enjoyable activities for young people, and prepare them to play an active part in the community while developing valuable life skills.

Information held centrally by the Ministry of Defence on the numbers of sea and army cadets in Northern Ireland is provided in the following tables. For sea cadets, reliable data is available from January 2005. For army cadets, estimated information on the Army Cadet Force is available from March 2012 although comparable data about the Army Combined Cadet Force is not available in the format requested. Information prior to these dates could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

	Sea Cadets	Royal Marine (RM) Cadets	Adult Volunteers (Sea and RM)
January 2005	225	13	146
January 2014	235	22	157
Change +/-	+10	+9	+11

	Army Cadet Force	Army Combined Cadet Force	Adult Volunteers
March 2012	1,925 (estimated)	Not held	350 (estimated)
January 2014	1,422	598	397
Change +/-	-503	Not known	+47

Since 2012 the Army has worked to improve the accuracy of their record keeping with a concerted effort to identify those cadets not actively participating and to either encourage them back into cadet activities or to remove them from the management information system. This has accounted for a significant drop in Army Cadet Force figures over the past few years. However, we are actively recruiting Army cadets in Northern Ireland and numbers are beginning to increase.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Thomas Docherty on Defence.

1

Mr Philip Dunne

The UK remains committed to the Joint Strike Fighter programme, and the next Main Gate investment decision will be made in due course. The UK has already taken delivery of three F-35B aircraft and has one aircraft currently in production. It remains on track to enter service in 2018.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Alison Seabeck on Work and Pensions.

1

Esther McVey

The Department provided substantive answers to all parliamentary questions in the 2013-14 parliamentary Session.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Tobias Ellwood on Communities and Local Government.

1

Brandon Lewis

This Government has provided a range of financial support schemes to help individuals, businesses, farmers and local authorities return to normality after the winter’s severe weather: these include Council Tax Relief, Business Rate Relief, the Business Support Scheme, and Repair and Renew Grants.

The Government deals with local authorities who administer support schemes on its behalf. It does not deal directly with residents and does not therefore hold information at constituency level in terms of requests for financial support that have been granted: that is a matter for the local authorities concerned. I can say, however, that Bournemouth Borough Council has received some £350,000 to repair local roads damaged by severe weather, a further £268,000 from the Department for Transport’s Potholes Fund and my Department is aware that as at 25 June, the Council has received 70 claims for Council Tax Relief totalling some £14,000, one claim for Business Rate Relief and three applications from residents for Repair and Renew Grant to help build better flood protection into their homes. The Government retrospectively reimburses councils for the costs incurred from its flood recovery schemes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Chris Ruane on Health.

1

Norman Lamb

The 2014 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey is due to report by end of March 2017.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for David Winnick on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

1

Dan Rogerson

As independent charities, handling correspondence is entirely a matter for the Canal & River Trust and other similar trusts. However, I have asked my officials to draw this issue to the attention of the Trust at their next meeting.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Alan Whitehead on Energy and Climate Change.

1

Michael Fallon

We anticipate that some generators will seek to establish the terms of any PPA and financing arrangements before they participate in the CfD allocation round, in order to understand better their likely costs. Agreements between generators and PPA providers could take a number of different forms, from indicative terms to a signed contract. The decision to sign a conditional PPA ahead of the auction, and the duration of any agreement, are ultimately commercial matters.

We anticipate that the Offtaker of Last Resort (OLR) will encourage competition in the PPA market both at the outset of the CfD and once any initial PPA has expired. Generators agreeing to a conditional PPA would be able to participate in the later short-term PPA market, once their initial PPA had expired; backed by the protections afforded by the OLR.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Geoffrey Cox on Energy and Climate Change.

1

Gregory Barker

The supply of LPG is subject to UK competition law under the Competition and Markets Authority.

The study by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) into the off-grid energy market, published in October 2011, found that there is a generally positive initial impact of the Competition Commission (CC) Orders from 2009 to make it easier for consumers to switch Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) supplier.

In April 2012, the OFT also secured voluntary agreements from the major LPG suppliers to make changes to their domestic bulk customer contracts and improve transparency around switching and cancellation rights. These changes apply for both individual tank and metered estate customers.

The Competition and Markets Authority will continue to keep the Orders under review.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Nic Dakin on Energy and Climate Change.

1

Michael Fallon

My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has not received any recent direct representations from industry regarding the effect of load management on performance and industry.

National Grid recently announced two new balancing services to balance supply and demand in the coming winters. One of these, Demand Side Balancing Reserve (DSBR), will extend existing arrangements for companies to receive payment to reduce their electricity use or switch to on-site generators for short periods when instructed by National Grid.