Category: Speeches

  • Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure that unspent financial resources from the Redcar Taskforce are spent in the local community.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The Government has provided £50 million to the Redcar Task Force to support individuals directly affected by the SSI liquidation and to boost economic development across Tees Valley. £43 million of that funding has already been approved, with more than £30 million paid out to accountable local authorities and colleges. Task Force members continue to work closely with officials in the Department in delivering the remainder of the support package.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the cost of maintaining flood defences in each year of this Parliament.

    Rory Stewart

    The Environment Agency spent directly £171 million maintaining flood defences in 2014/15. Many more flood defences are maintained by Local Authorities and Internal Drainage Boards.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support the UK has provided to interfaith peace-building initiatives in Nigeria; and what assessment he has made of the outcomes of such initiatives.

    James Duddridge

    We recognise the important role that interfaith understanding has to play in peace building in Nigeria.

    The Department for International Development (DFID) supports a range of initiatives and economic projects to build bridges between Muslim and Christian communities across Nigeria and break the cycle of conflict. For example, through DFID’s Stability and Reconciliation Programme (NSRP) religious, traditional and community leaders meet monthly with NGOs, the police, security services and civil society actors to discuss and act on conflict issues.

  • Lord Browne of Belmont – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Browne of Belmont – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Browne of Belmont on 2016-01-20.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are currently taking to improve support to children with disabilities in their early years.

    Lord Nash

    This Government is committed to ensuring that all families have access to high quality, flexible and affordable childcare. Children with disabilities should have the same opportunities as other children to access high-quality childcare.

    Local authorities are required by legislation to secure early education places offering 570 hours a year over no fewer than 38 weeks of the year for all three- and four-year olds, including those with disabilities. The Childcare Bill is delivering extended entitlement to free childcare for working parents of three- and four-year-olds. This will provide eligible parents with a total of 30 hours of free childcare per week, over 38 weeks or the equivalent number of hours across more weeks per year.

    Early Implementers of the extended childcare entitlement will focus on key delivery issues, including access for children with SEND, in order to provide critical learning to inform national rollout.

    All early years providers are required to have arrangements in place to identify and support children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and to promote equality of opportunity for children in their care. These requirements are set out in the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework 2014. The SEND Code of Practice, introduced as part of the wide-ranging reforms set out in the Children and Families Act, gives guidance on how children between the ages of 0 and 25 with SEN or disabilities are to be supported and providers are statutorily required to have regard for this Code of Practice.

    The Government has invested £5.3 million to voluntary and community sector organisations this year. A number of these programmes are delivering specific SEND training to the early years workforce. In particular, the National Day Nurseries Association’s current SEND Champions grant has proven very popular amongst the workforce.

    The Department funds local authorities’ high needs provision in both the early years and schools through the Dedicated Schools Grant; local authorities have reported that they are planning to spend over £90 million from their high needs budgets on children in their early years. The Spending Review provided a generous uplift in the funding early years providers will receive from April 2017 and protection for the majority of high needs funding. We recognise the critical importance of childcare to parents of children with special educational needs and disabilities; we will consider SEN funding for early years as part of wider consultations in 2016 on how we introduce a fairer funding system.

    This Government is committed to helping parents with disabled children. For example, from early 2017 working parents with children under the age of 17 who have a disability will be able to access support under Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) worth up to £4,000 per child, per year. This is double that offered for children without disabilities for whom support is offered until the age of 12.

  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-02-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether there are Reaper Ground Control Stations available for use by UK Reaper Squadrons 13 and 39 in North Africa.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The Government has a long standing policy not to comment on intelligence matters.

  • David Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    David Morris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Morris on 2016-03-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what her policy is on proposals for a tidal lagoon or barrage in the Lancaster and Morecambe area.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government remains open to considering well-developed, privately funded tidal lagoon or barrage proposals across the UK’s bay and estuaries, including in the Lancaster and Morecambe area.

    Any tidal range project would need to demonstrate strong evidence of value for money and affordable, economic benefits, energy saving and environmental impact mitigation before the Government could take a view on its potential.

    On 10 February, the Government announced an independent review to assess the case for tidal lagoons and consider whether they could represent value for money for the consumer.

  • Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, in the event that the actual cost of a Section 106 highway infrastructure scheme exceeds the previously estimated and agreed contribution, (a) what options exist for making good that shortfall, (b) whether the local authority or the developer is liable for any additional costs and (c) whether Section 106 contributions originally allocated for other schemes may be reallocated to cover such costs.

    Brandon Lewis

    It is for the local planning authority to determine what is required and seek planning obligations through a Section 106 agreement in order to make a development acceptable in planning terms. There are three statutory tests that need to be applied when considering a planning obligation, that it is: necessary to make the development acceptable in planning terms; directly related to the development; and fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind to the development.

    Developers may be asked to provide contributions for infrastructure in several ways. This may be by way of planning obligations in the form of Section 106 agreements but can also include contributions through payment of the Community Infrastructure Levy and Section 278 highway agreements.

    It is for local planning authorities to decide what provisions they make in Section 106 agreements, and agree these with the interested parties, and therefore any liabilities would depend on the individual agreement. Local authorities and developers can renegotiate planning obligations by mutual agreement at any time or under Section 106A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. However, Local planning authorities are expected to use all of the funding they receive through planning obligations in accordance with the terms of the individual planning obligation agreement. This is to ensure that new developments are acceptable in planning terms; benefit local communities and support the provision of local infrastructure.

  • David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    David Lammy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the British Business Bank’s (a) total operating budget, (b) budget for communications and (c) expenditure on third party communications consultancy and public relations agencies was in (i) 2014, (ii) 2015 and (iii) 2016.

    Anna Soubry

    The British Business Bank is a government-owned economic development bank that makes finance markets for smaller businesses work more effectively. It works with the market to increase awareness amongst smaller businesses about the available finance options.

    British Business Bank became fully operational on 1 November 2014. Therefore we are able to provide the information requested for the 5 month period ended 31 March 2015 and the 12 month period ended 31 March 2016. This is shown in the table below.

    Total Operating Budget in £000(a)

    Budget for Communications in £000 (b)

    Expenditure on 3rd Party Communications, Consultancy & PR agencies in £000 (c)

    5 months ended 31 March 2015

    9,606

    280

    280

    12 months ended 31 March 2016

    23,207

    895

    466

    *Please note that the Budget for Communications (b) includes salary related costs and Expenditure on 3rd Party Communications Consultancy and PR Agencies (c) does not.

  • Callum McCaig – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Callum McCaig – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Callum McCaig on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent estimate her Department has made of the whole-life (a) cost and (b) carbon footprint of the proposed Hinkley C nuclear power station.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Payments under the Contract for Difference for Hinkley Point C, like all other CfDs, would be funded through the Supplier Obligation and therefore by electricity consumers. Our current estimates of these costs are in the range of £4bn to £19bn depending on the level of future wholesale prices and operating costs.

    EDF commissioned a report in 2011 which concluded that, from a full lifecycle perspective, the greenhouse gas emissions associated with 1 kWh of electricity generated from Hinkley Point C would be 4.75 g CO2e/kWh.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-09-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make representations to the National Association of Estate Agents to encourage private-rented accommodation sector agencies to reduce the fixed costs that those agencies charge to tenants moving into private-rented accommodation; and if he will make a statement.

    Gavin Barwell

    Since 27 May 2015, through Section 83 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015, letting agents have been required to publish a breakdown of their fees, which redress scheme they are a member of and whether they are a member of a client money protection scheme, in their offices and on their websites. A breakdown of fees enables tenants to compare prices and assess value for money, creating effective competition that should force agents to keep their fees fair and strengthening consumer choice.

    The Government has established a Private Rented Affordability and Security working group to explore new approaches to remove entry costs and removal costs for tenants in the sector. The working group which includes representatives from across the PRS and Housing sector, including Crisis, Shelter, the National Landlords Association, the Association of Residential Letting Agents, is expected to provide its findings in the Autumn.