The below Parliamentary question was asked by Antoinette Sandbach on 2016-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to announce the package of compensation schemes for phase 2A of High Speed 2.
Mr Robert Goodwill
We expect to announce the Government’s response to the HS2 Phase Two: West Midlands to Crewe Property (Phase 2a) Consultation 2015 by the summer Recess.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2016-05-24.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 23 May (HL174), what steps they are taking in particular to ensure that all employees at British airports with access to aircraft are vetted to ensure that they do not hold Islamist fundamentalist views.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
I would refer my noble friend to my Written Answer of 23 May (HL174) to his earlier question on this issue. Those staff undertaking aviation security duties are subject to additional security vetting following the minimum checks that must be completed. These arrangements, like our overall security regime, are kept under close review in light of all current threats. For security reasons, we would not comment on specific staff vetting arrangements.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Deidre Brock on 2016-07-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what targets are in place to reduce antibiotic use in the husbandry of farm animals.
George Eustice
In line with the recent recommendations of the Independent Review on AMR, Defra has committed to reducing the average across all food-producing species to 50mg/kg by 2018. Future reductions will be underpinned by industry working collaboratively with Government to set long-term, sustainable, sector-specific targets by 2017.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-10-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions his Department has had with local authorities on the possible expansion of Heathrow and Gatwick airports; and if he will make a statement.
Mr John Hayes
There have been no discussions with local authorities on the possible expansion of Heathrow and Gatwick airports.
The Airports Commission shortlisted three airport expansion schemes, two at Heathrow and one at Gatwick. The Government accepted the Commission’s shortlist in December 2015 and is considering all of the evidence very carefully before reaching a view on its preferred scheme.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Callum McCaig on 2015-11-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent projections her Department has made of the (a) total installed capacity and (b) generation output of each renewable heat technology in 2020-21.
Andrea Leadsom
The Department has made projections for the renewable heat generation of renewable heat installations under the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), the main scheme of our heat strategy. Projections to the end of 2015/16 can be found in the Impact Assessment for the RHI, which is quoted below.
Detailed projections do not go beyond 2015/16 because this is the end of agreed RHI budget; and so policy beyond that period is subject to future budget arrangements. The Department’s projections only cover the generation projected from deployment under the RHI. The Department does not hold projections for the market beyond the RHI.
The Department has not published projections for the total capacity (by technology) under the RHI, as, due to the highly variable use patterns (known as load factors) of heating technologies, capacity is not a very useful metric. Instead, we consider generation per year, which is also the unit that we report against the target set by the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED).
Renewable heat projections under RHI (GWh)
|
Source |
Low MI scenario |
Central MI scenario |
|
Small and Medium Biomass |
2,799 |
3,167 |
|
Large Biomass |
818 |
1,228 |
|
Ground-source Heat Pumps |
138 |
194 |
|
Air- and water-source heat pumps |
312 |
427 |
|
Biomethane and Biogas |
708 |
1,073 |
|
Combined heat and power (CHP) |
186 |
879 |
|
Other (e.g. Deep Geothermal) |
28 |
34 |
|
Domestic (all technologies) |
178 |
370 |
|
TOTAL (non-domestic and domestic) |
5,167 |
7,373 |
Source: Table 8, RHI Tariff Review, Scheme Extensions and Budget Management (24/09/2013).
The table uses the Low and Central scenarios for Market-Intelligence based projections of potential deployment, spend and installation numbers under the RHI (MI). Non-domestic projections are split by technology; domestic technologies are aggregated.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Donaghy on 2015-11-23.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many secondary phase students, by individual secondary subject, were recruited in 2015–16 to initial teacher training programmes delivered through (1) core university provision, (2) school-centred initial teacher training provision, (3) School Direct salaried, and (4) School Direct fee-paying provision, compared to the total number of training places allocated to each of those routes and subjects.
Lord Nash
For the academic year 2015 to 2016 we recruited 13,034 initial trainee teachers to primary programmes (compared to 12,872 in 2014 to 2015) and 15,114 to secondary programmes (compared to 12,971 in 2014 to 2015). These figures are for postgraduate only and include Teach First and forecasted trainees. This represents 116% and 82% against the Teacher Supply Model (TSM) target respectively. The target is higher this year compared to academic year 2014 to 2015.
We allocated a total of 13,962 postgraduate places in primary and 22,800 postgraduate secondary programmes, against TSM targets of 11,245 and 18,541 respectively.
We allocate more ITT places than we require trainee teachers, and the extent to which we over-allocate differs by route. When assessing recruitment overall we measure the number of trainee teachers recruited against the number required, rather than against the proportion of allocated places that are filled.
The table below shows the total postgraduate trainees by secondary subject and primary phase. The total includes 1,584 Teach First and 379 forecast trainees. The table also includes trainees and allocations by route.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bernard Jenkin on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many staff in his Department are working on matters related to (a) European policy, (b) the future of Europe, (c) reform of the EU, (d) the renegotiation of the UK’s relationship with the EU, (e) the EU referendum and (f) the consequences of the EU referendum; how many full-time equivalent staff are working on such matters; what the (i) staff and (ii) other cost of such work is; what proportion of that work is undertaken by such staff on (A) communications, (B) strategy and (C) policy; whether his Department has established any specific unit or units to deal with those matters; to whom such (1) staff and (2) units report; whether his Department has issued guidelines to staff on those matters; and if he will make a statement.
Mr David Lidington
The Government is fighting hard to fix the aspects of our EU membership that cause so much frustration in Britain – so we get a better deal for Britain and secure our future. Departments are appropriately resourced to support the Government’s priorities in Europe, including the renegotiation and referendum.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-02-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress the Government has made on an impact analysis and consultation on changes to current pavement parking legislation since the withdrawal of the Pavement Parking (Protection of Vulnerable Pedestrians) Bill.
Andrew Jones
I intend to convene a round table in March, the details of which are currently being finalised. The round table will discuss the topic, and help to inform the Department’s thinking and the work it plans to do later this year to examine more closely the legal and financial implications of alternative approaches.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Prime Minister, how many times his ministerial office has been decorated in the last five years.
Mr David Cameron
Refurbishment and maintenance at 10 Downing Street is part of a continuing programme of work. The Downing Street complex is maintained to standards appropriate to its Grade 1/2 listed status in consultation with English Heritage.
The building also fulfils an important representational role.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-03-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many applications for the Legion d’Honneur have been withdrawn since July 2015 due to the death of the applicant; and what further steps his Department is taking to ensure that people nominated to receive that medal receive it as quickly as possible.
Mark Lancaster
The Ministry of Defence has been made aware of 37 cases from the original list of approximately 3,300 names submitted to the French authorities where the veteran had died before their case could be submitted. In addition, the French Embassy has advised us of 14 cases in which the medal has been sent out but was returned to them specifically because the individual had died.
Under the terms of the arrangement with the French authorities, within which the normal timetable for processing awards has greatly reduced, the Ministry of Defence can submit 100 cases per week. Cases are normally submitted in order of their original submission to the Department; but we prioritise cases where we are notified of life-threatening or serious conditions.
Since the new system began in July last year we have sent 3,150 applications to the French Embassy and it should be remembered that this alone is more cases than would normally be dealt with by the Legion d’Honneur in all categories for a whole year. The French are also receiving applications from the other Allied nations that took part in D-Day, and the overall level of applications will clearly be far higher.