The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jake Berry on 2016-01-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many applications by grandparents for permission to apply for a child arrangement order were active in the final quarter of 2015.
Caroline Dinenage
This information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2016-02-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the total dispatchable electricity capacity was in January (a) 2013, (b) 2014, (c) 2015 and (d) 2016; and what estimate she has made of that capacity in January (i) 2017, (ii) 2018 and (iii) 2019.
Andrea Leadsom
Dispatchable electricity, as defined by National Grid, comprises of generation that can be switched on and off at relatively short notice. This does not include substantial capacity in the GB mix such as nuclear and wind generation.
The attached table outlines both expected Pre-Winter dispatchable capacity[1], as per the relevant National Grid Winter Outlook publications and the 2015 Future Energy Scenarios Slow Progression projection of available capacity.
Post-2015/16 figures represent the Slow Progression July 2015 outlook of generation background. We take energy security very seriously and monitor the commercial outlook of supply frequently alongside National Grid and Ofgem.
The trend of declining conventional capacity has arisen due to margins in preceding years being unnecessarily large because of the recession. The drop off in capacity is a symptom of returning to the kinds of margins we were used to pre-recession and to reflect improvements in energy efficiency as well as increasing levels of renewable technologies coming on to the system.
Our priority is to ensure that British families and business have access to secure affordable energy supplies that they can rely on. National Grid have a number of tools to ensure a secure supply of electricity including Contingency Balancing Reserve, in which additional power stations are held to provide security in times of system stress. This extra capacity will help us to ensure we meet the GB 3 hour LOLE reliability standard and will be sufficient to maintain security of supply even in the toughest system conditions.
In addition to the Contingency Balancing Reserve, from 2018, the Capacity Market will ensure that retiring plant can be replaced by new investment by providing additional secure investment for both existing and new electricity generators
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department spent from the public purse on industrial tribunals in the last 12 months.
Karen Bradley
The cost of Employment Tribunals can be found within the HM Courts & Tribunals Service annual accounts published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/433948/hmcts-annual-report-accounts-2014-15.pdf .
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2016-03-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the preparedness is of the Animal and Plant Health Agency to react to and control a potential future animal health outbreak similar in scale to the foot and mouth outbreak of 2001.
George Eustice
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), compiles the UK contingency plan for exotic notifiable disease that sits above plans designed by Defra and the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland Governments.
These are key documents that describe the strategic, tactical and operational responses required to any incursion of exotic notifiable disease, such as foot and mouth disease. These plans are complemented by specific GB disease control strategies and APHA work with the Government Departments in each administration to produce the necessary operational instructions.
To ensure the plans and instructions are fit for purpose, the UK runs a national animal disease exercise roughly every other year on various exotic diseases and we regularly include foot and mouth disease in those exercises.
The next national exercise will be in June 2018 and will be based on a foot and mouth disease scenario.
APHA also create and manage an annual programme of regional or country exercises designed to identify best practice and any gaps in existing plans or procedures. They also run table-top exercises for APHA’s policy customers to identify issues that may arise from new and emerging threats such as African Horse Sickness.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to his Department was of vehicle hire in each of the last five years.
Mr Philip Dunne
The MOD uses hire and lease vehicles to transport personnel and equipment around the country, often to areas not readily accessible by public transport. The vehicles are used for different tasks, ranging from moving defence personnel and stores to support military operations or training exercises, to enabaling taskings such as mountain rescue and emergency support to the civil authorities.
The MOD’s vehicle lease and hire in the UK is covered by the Phoenix contract with Babcock Land Limited, which was placed in April 2012. The department does not hold readily available and comparative spend data before this date. The cost to the MOD of vehicle lease and hire through the Phoenix contract is as follows:
|
FY15/16 |
FY14/15 |
FY13/14 |
FY12/13 |
|
£124.1m |
£132.4m |
£125.5m |
£101.9m |
The MOD recently negotiated a new contract with Babcock Land Limited for the continued provision of its lease and hire cars, targeting savings of around £100m over the next six years through more efficient use of the MOD’s vehicle fleet.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-06-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications for Government policies of medical and scientific evidence on the effect of moderate alcohol consumption on the risk of death from cardiovascular disease.
Jane Ellison
The United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers have made an assessment of the effect of moderate alcohol consumption on cardiovascular disease, as well as other conditions such as cancer, as part of their review of the alcohol guidelines. The alcohol guidelines give the public the latest and most up to date scientific information so they can make informed decisions about their own drinking. The advice can be read here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/health-risks-from-alcohol-new-guidelines
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assistance his Department provides to local authorities to help tackle (a) homelessness and (b) the root causes of homelessness.
Mr Marcus Jones
One person without a home is one too many. That is why the Government is clear that prevention must be at the heart of everything we do to tackle homelessness. We will be investing £500 million in work to prevent and relieve homelessness across this Parliament. This includes protecting homelessness prevention funding for local authorities, which will amount to £315 million by 2019-20, to help them continue to provide quality advice and assistance to everyone who approaches them for help. Since 2010, local authorities have helped prevent or relieve over one million cases of homelessness.
Homelessness is rarely a housing issue alone. The causes are varied and driven by issues such as health, education, justice, welfare, and employment. That is why we have increased central investment to tackle homelessness over the next four years to £139 million, including a new £10 million Social Impact Bond to support rough sleepers with the most complex needs. This builds on the success of the world’s first homelessness Social Impact Bond, run by the Greater London Authority to turn round the lives around of 830 of London’s most entrenched rough sleepers. Over half have achieved accommodation, employment or reconnection outcomes.
In addition we have invested £15 million to improve outcomes for young people through the Fair Chance Fund. This funding is turning around the lives of around 1,900 18 to 25 year olds with complex and overlapping needs, by supporting them into accommodation, education, training and employment.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the General Medical Council on their revalidation programme.
Ben Gummer
My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health meets the General Medical Council regularly and has discussed their revalidation programme with them.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-10-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 11 October 2016 to Question 46577 which foreign jurisdictions have made use of the information and resources to which she refers during the last five years; and how much has been received from such jurisdictions in fees.
Mr Sam Gyimah
As I stated in my earlier response, the National Offender Management Service can provide foreign jurisdictions access to a range of information including accredited programmes and related assessments and training in return for a fee, under a licence agreement. Over the last five years, we have provided intervention and assessment guidance under licence to Canada, New Zealand and the Netherlands and training to Ireland. We have received £11,340 in fees. All services and materials currently provided to foreign jurisdictions under a licence agreement are either free or provided on the basis of cost recovery only.
With regard to services provided under the Just Solutions International brand, which was closed down in September 2015, details are fully documented in a National Audit Office report, available here: https://www.nao.org.uk/report/investigation-into-just-solutions-international/
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Allen of Kensington on 2015-11-30.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many catapult networks have been established by Innovate UK; what is the focus of each network; and how much funding they are providing to each network.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
Innovate UK has established a network of 10 Catapult Centres covering a broad range of markets and technologies and Government investment will be around £557 million by 2015/16 but the future allocation between the individual catapults has not yet been finalised”. The Catapults are:
High Value Manufacturing Catapult – seven individual centres working together to bring their expertise in different and complementary areas of high value manufacturing to provide an integrated capability and embraces all forms of manufacture using metals and composites, in addition to process manufacturing technologies and bio-processing.
Cell Therapy Catapult – working to grow a viable and sustainable cell therapy industry in the UK.
Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult – focused on development of commercially viable technologies applicable to offshore wind, wave and tidal power.
Satellite Applications Catapult – helping UK businesses to develop new satellite-based products and services.
Digital Catapult – working to position UK business to lead the introduction of radically new applications and experiences across the increasing breadth of internet services.
Future Cities Catapult – helping to make cities to become smarter and more forward thinking.
Transport Systems Catapult – supporting UK industry in exploiting the massive global market for new products and services that will drive the integration of transport and its systems and help UK businesses to develop effective and sustainable solutions to transport needs for both freight and people.
Energy Systems Catapult – working to deliver economic value to Britain by making the transformation of the UK’s energy systems sector attractive to companies that are developing and growing new technology-based products and services by creating a critical mass of world class independent engineering and social science expertise in energy systems
Precision Medicine Catapult – working to simplify and accelerate precision medicine product development and implementation, building the necessary partnerships between different therapeutic, diagnostic and informatics players in the sector, supporting existing and new companies and attracting inward investment by global life science companies
Medicines Technologies Catapult – still being established, but will work on the development of new technologies that better predict the response of humans, animals and environment to chemicals (for example prescription drugs, pesticides and cosmetics).