Category: Speeches

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

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what proportion of the coal burnt in UK coal-fired power stations originated in Russia in the first nine months of 2015.

Andrea Leadsom

DECC does not hold figures on the proportion of coal burnt in UK coal-fired power stations, by country of origin. However, from January to September 2015, 16,784 thousand tonnes of steam coal (mainly used by coal-fired power stations) were imported into the UK, while coal used for electricity generation was 22,512 thousand tonnes during the same period.

The USA provided 3,231 thousand tonnes of steam coal imports, 19% of all steam coal imports, while Russia provided 7,237 thousand tonnes (43%)

Source:

Energy Trends tables 2.1 and 2.4, available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/solid-fuels-and-derived-gases-section-2-energy-trends

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01/01/2023
Lord Patten – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-03-07.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the EU about its public response to the takeover of the Turkish newspaper Zaman.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

EU leaders discussed the issue of press freedom with the Turkish Prime Minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu, at the EU-Turkey summit on Monday 7 March. As a friend and ally, we urge the Turkish government to uphold the right of media to operate without restriction. The Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), did so when he met Turkey’s Prime Minister at the summit and underlined the importance of protections for a free press and human rights in Turkey. We welcomed the EU Commission’s Annual Progress Report on Turkey, released on 10 November 2015, which highlighted the need for further reforms from Turkey in these areas.

01/01/2023
Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what criteria Natural England uses to assess applications for badger cull licences; and when such decisions on such applications will be announced.

George Eustice

Natural England assesses badger control licence applications using guidance issued under section 15(2) of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 (NERC). The guidance can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-natural-england-preventing-spread-of-bovine-tb.

Decisions on this year’s licence applications will be announced before the start of badger control operations.

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01/01/2023
Tania Mathias – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government is taking steps to reduce the number of flights between non-UK airports entering UK airspace.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Government is not seeking to reduce the number of overflights in UK airspace. The ability to overfly UK airspace is a freedom of the air which we have granted to other signatories of the International Air Services Transit Agreement as well as non-signatory States on a bilateral basis.

01/01/2023
Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-07-06.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the proposed Apprenticeship Levy on Barnett consequentials.

Greg Hands

We applied the Barnett Formula in the usual way to changes in departmental budgets at the 2015 Spending Review, which included spending funded by the levy. We are working closely with the devolved administrations to ensure that the share of the levy they receive is fair and transparent, and to make the system work for employers wherever they are in the UK.

01/01/2023
Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-10-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of calls for food manufacturers to be forced to put traffic-light nutrition labels on the front of packs.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The United Kingdom’s voluntary scheme for colour coded front of pack nutrition labelling has been developed in compliance with Regulation (EU) 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers, but the regulation does not permit national mandatory front of pack labelling.

01/01/2023

Rachel Reeves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2016-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the budget for schools renovation was in each year from 2010 to 2016.

Nick Gibb

The Education Funding Agency (EFA) does not hold a breakdown of funding information, in the format requested, in relation to the removal of asbestos or renovation of school buildings.

Under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, the primary responsibility for managing asbestos lies with the person or persons responsible for the maintenance or repair of a building. For schools, this will be the local authority, school governors or academy trust.

The table below summarises the capital budgets from 2011-12 to 2016-17 that were provided for school maintenance, refurbishment and rebuilding, including where appropriate the removal and/or safe containment of asbestos-containing materials. As these works are covered by the capital funding programmes listed below, the Department does not allocate a separate budget for this purpose; and there are no plans to do so in future years.

The Department does not hold directly comparable allocation or expenditure data on prior years.

(All values £m)	2011-12 Budget	2012-13 Budget	2013-14 Budget	2014-15 Budget	2015-16 Budget	2016-17 Budget
School Condition Allocations (funding provided to local authorities and voluntary-aided schools)	1,054	861	749	699	690	661
Devolved Formula Capital (funding provided direct to schools)	185	162	149	138	134	130
Funding for academies, multi-academy trusts, state-funded special schools and other specialist providers for state-funded pupils (including DFC).	161	376	504	562	576	617
Priority Schools Building Programme (PSBP) (delivered by central government)	0	0	90	603	999	1,050
Total	1,400	1,399	1,492	2,002	2,399	2,458

01/01/2023

Christopher Chope – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2015-11-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 29 October 2015 to Question 12956, how many of the suspicious activity reports received under the provisions of the Terrorism Act 2000 have been investigated; and how many prosecutions have resulted from those investigations.

Mr John Hayes

The Department does not hold this information in the format requested.

All Suspicious Activity Reports received are subject to an initial assessment by the UK Financial Investigation Unit (UKFIU) in the National Crime Agency. The UKFIU Terrorist Finance Team identifies and acts upon SAR information relating to the detection and investigation of terrorist finance, whether submitted under the Terrorism Act (TACT) or the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA).

Over the reporting period, the National Crime Agency received 1216 Suspicious Activity Reports under the provisions of the Terrorism Act 2000. These SARs were disseminated to the National Terrorist Financial Investigation Unit (NTFIU) and the Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) network, to make an assessment of what further action was needed and in order for the information to be available in support of counter-terrorist investigations.

In many cases, a SAR will not merit a specific detailed investigation. However, the information remains searchable and may be used at any time to inform the development of intelligence and operational targeting.

01/01/2023
Lord Scriven – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Scriven on 2015-12-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made for the electrification of the South TransPennine route between Sheffield and Manchester.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Network Rail is currently updating its national electrification strategy taking into account Sir Peter Hendy’s Report on Network Rail’s 2014-2019 rail enhancements portfolio and the recommendations of the North of England Electrification Task Force. The Task Force placed the South TransPennine route in the second tier of lines it recommended for future electrification. The updated strategy will be subject to public consultation during 2016 and inform the Government’s Rail Investment Strategy for 2019-2024.

01/01/2023
Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-01-21.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, who the Deputy Director for Transparency is in his Department.

Matthew Hancock

All deputy directors have a responsibility for transparency policies whichreflects the breadth and importance of the agenda. An organogram of the Cabinet Office is available here: https://data.gov.uk/organogram/cabinet-office

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01/01/2023