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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of when new, cheap forms of blood cancer tests are likely to be made available on the NHS.
George Freeman
A number of new blood tests, which show promise in diagnosing cancers earlier, are currently undergoing clinical trials. We would expect these to become available in the National Health Service once they have satisfied the regulatory requirements.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-12-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to collect information centrally on how much clinical commissioning groups are overspending on mental health.
Alistair Burt
NHS England already collects information on clinical commissioning groups’ (CCGs’) planned spending on mental health through the annual CCG business planning and assurance process. NHS England also collects information on actual annual spend by CCGs through the programme budgeting process.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-01-20.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government which stakeholders were invited to the first meeting of the new Strategic Oversight Board.
Lord Prior of Brampton
The invitee list for the first Strategic Oversight Board meeting which took place on 18 November 2015 is below:
|
Name |
Organisation |
|
Professor the Lord Ara Darzi of Denham (Chair) |
Imperial College London |
|
Andrew Morris |
Farr Institute |
|
Anna Beckett |
Care Quality Commission |
|
Arvind Madan |
Primary Care |
|
Bethan George |
Tower Hamlets Clinical Commissioning Group |
|
Cynthia Clark |
Patients 4 Data |
|
Dame Sally Davies |
Department of Health |
|
Dawn Monaghan |
Information Commissioner’s Office |
|
Dr Aisling Burnand |
Association of Medical Research Charities |
|
Dr Ben Goldacre |
Bad Science |
|
Dr Grant Ingrams |
British Medical Association |
|
Dr Janet Valentine |
Clinical Practice Research Datalink |
|
Dr Mike Knapton |
British Heart Foundation |
|
Eve Roodhouse |
Health and Social Care Information Centre |
|
Gary Leeming |
Greater Manchester Academic Health Science Network |
|
Gerard Crofton-Martin |
Healthwatch England |
|
Jeremy Taylor |
National Voices |
|
John Newton |
Public Health England |
|
Katherine Rake |
Healthwatch England |
|
Katie Farrington |
Office of National Data Guardian |
|
Lisa Harrod-Rothwell |
NHS England |
|
Louise Wood |
Association of Medical Research Charities |
|
Neil Stutchbury |
Monitor |
|
Nicola Perrin |
Wellcome Trust |
|
Paul Bate |
Care Quality Commission |
|
Prof John Appleby |
The Kings Fund |
|
Prof Nigel Mathers |
Royal College of General Practitioners |
|
Prof Simon Wessley |
Royal College of Psychiatrists |
|
Prof Sue Bailey |
Royal College of Psychiatrists |
|
Ronan O’Connor |
NHS England |
|
Ros Roughton |
NHS England |
|
Sarah Schofield |
West Hampshire Clinical Commissioning Group |
|
Sir Bruce Keogh |
NHS England |
|
Sir Cyril Chantler |
UCL Partners |
|
Steven Black |
Monitor |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-02-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2016 to Question 26339, what representations he is making to the Egyptian government on an independent inquiry being carried out into the death of Giulio Regeni.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
We are aware of the tragic death of Mr Regini, an Italian national, following his disappearance on 25 January and pass our condolences to his friends and family at this difficult time. We support Italian and Egyptian efforts to investigate the circumstances of the tragic death of Mr Regeni, and are in contact with the Italian and Egyptian authorities.