The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr David Hanson on 2014-03-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department has paid for the use of Interpol’s SLTD database in each year since 2010.
Karen Bradley
The Home Office accounting systems does not identify separate expenditure on the Interpol’s SLTD database. The information cannot be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2014-06-04.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many occasions in each of the last 10 years there have been incursions by Spanish naval or other state vessels into British Gibraltar territorial waters; and on how many occasions they have summoned the Spanish Ambassador or made other diplomatic representations over such incursions.
Baroness Warsi
The total number of unlawful incursions into British Gibraltar Territorial Waters (BGTW), from 2010 onwards, are as follows:
2010 – 103
2011 – 24
2012 – 229
2013 – 496
Jan-May 2014 – 185
During this period, the Spanish Ambassador has been summoned three times on incursions related matters – 15 November 2012, 19 November 2013 and 2 April 2014. The British Government cannot readily provide statistics for incursions into BGTW by Spanish State vessels before 2010. This could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost. The Government upholds British sovereignty over BGTW by challenging and protesting unlawful incursions. We will continue to make representations to the Spanish government at the highest level, making clear the damage they cause to our bilateral relationship.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2014-03-24.
To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 13 February 2014, Official Report, columns 705-6W, on domestic violence: prosecutions, if he will estimate the number of victimless prosecutions for domestic violence-related offences in 2013.
Oliver Heald
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave her on the 13th February (Official Report, Col 706W).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment his Department has made of potential health risks arising from (a) above-ground and (b) underground electricity cables which connect onshore windfarms to sub-stations.
Michael Fallon
Public Health England (PHE) is advisor on potential health risks from above ground or underground electricity cables. Government policy, based on advice from PHE, is that the 1998 International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection guidelines on public exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) are applied in terms of the 1999 EU Council Recommendation on limiting exposure of the general public (1999/519/EC). PHE remains the focus of UK expertise in such matters and keeps the scientific evidence relevant to EMF exposures under review.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Creagh on 2014-03-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2014, Official Report, column 692W, on rural bus services, to which projects the £300 million funding for major bus projects has been allocated; and how much has been allocated to each.
Stephen Hammond
The table below sets out the schemes in the Department’s Local Authority Major Scheme Programme which are entirely bus based or which include elements related to bus improvements.
|
Scheme Name and Status |
Local Authority |
Total Cost |
DfT Contribution |
|
Complete |
|
£m |
£m |
|
Mansfield Public Transport Interchange |
Nottinghamshire |
8.8 |
7.2 |
|
Rochdale Interchange |
Rochdale |
11.5 |
7.0 |
|
Weston Package Phase 1 |
N. Somerset |
13.4 |
9.3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fully Approved / Under Construction |
|
|
|
|
Portsmouth Tipner Interchange |
Portsmouth |
28.2 |
19.5 |
|
Access York Phase 1 |
City of York |
22.7 |
15.3 |
|
Loughborough Town Centre Imp |
Leicestershire |
19.7 |
14.8 |
|
Ipswich Transport Fit for 21st Century |
Suffolk |
21.6 |
18.3 |
|
Worcester Integrated Transport |
Worcestershire |
19.7 |
14.2 |
|
Bath Transportation Package |
Bath & NE Somerset |
26.9 |
11.0 |
|
Manchester Cross City Bus |
Manchester |
43.2 |
32.5 |
|
S Yorkshire Bus Rapid Transit North |
S Yorkshire |
28.2 |
15.8 |
|
Pennine Reach (Blackburn) |
Blackburn w Darwen |
39.8 |
31.9 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Programme Entry / Support Confirmed |
|
|
|
|
Bristol BRT Ashton Vale to Temple Meads |
Bristol |
46.7 |
34.5 |
|
South Bristol Link |
N. Somerset |
42.6 |
27.6 |
|
Bristol BRT North Fringe to Hengrove |
S. Gloucestershire |
92.9 |
51.1 |
|
Hucknall Town Centre Imp |
Nottinghamshire |
12.3 |
8.5 |
|
Elmbridge Transport |
Gloucestershire |
18.7 |
14.1 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what representations his Department has received from families groups on allowing the names of parents and legal guardians to be included on a child’s passport.
Mr Edward Timpson
The Department for Education has no record of family groups (or anyone else) making representations on this matter.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2014-03-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what powers the Child Support Agency has to investigate the weekly expenses of parents who are paying child maintenance.
Steve Webb
Section 14 of the Child Support Act 1991 and the Child Support Information Regulations 2008 provide the Child Support Agency and Child Maintenance Service with wide powers to obtain information from parents and third parties for the purpose of making decisions relating to child maintenance, including those decisions which relate to establishing the child maintenance of a Paying Parent.
The Receiving Parent is not responsible for estimating the weekly expenses of a Paying Parent. The Child Maintenance Service, which administers the 2012 Scheme, is built to make best use of taxable income information that is regularly and reliably available from HMRC. However, in the 1993 and 2003 schemes, administered by the Child Support Agency, the Receiving Parent can sometimes be asked to provide evidence of expenditure in order to support an application for a variation on the grounds of “lifestyle inconsistent with declared income”.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugh Bayley on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many full-time equivalent (a) police officers, (b) police community support officers and (c) police civilian staff were employed by North Yorkshire police on (i) 31 March and (ii) 30 September in each year since 2004.
Damian Green
The following table contains the requested data and covers the period up until
30 September 2013. Figures as at 31 March 2014 are due to be published 17 July
2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Greatrex on 2014-04-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what audit requirements are (a) in place and (b) planned for generating stations over 1Mw in size that use solid biomass or biogas.
Gregory Barker
The Renewables Obligation (Amendment) Order 2014, which came into force on 1 April 2014, requires generating stations with a total installed capacity of 1MW and above that use solid biomass or biogas to provide an annual sustainability audit report in respect of the biomass that they use. There are exceptions for landfill gas, sewage gas, municipal waste, manure and for other fuels which do not meet the specific definition of biomass within the Renewables Obligation (RO).
The audit report must be prepared to ISAE3000 standard or its equivalent, and must be prepared by a person who is not the owner or operator of the station or a connected person. In the case of biomass which is not waste or derived from waste, the audit must cover the information provided by the operator of the station in respect of the land criteria or Timber Standard, and greenhouse gas sustainability criteria. In the case of biomass which is waste or derived from waste, the audit must cover the information provided by the operator of the station that the biomass was waste or wholly derived from waste. Other detailed requirements for the audit report are set out in article 54B of the Renewables Obligation Order 2009, as inserted by article 15 of the Renewables Obligation (Amendment) Order 2014.
A similar audit requirement is planned to apply to Combined Heat and Power (CHP) stations receiving support under the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) if they choose not to source fuel from the RHI Biomass Suppliers List (BSL), a list of suppliers selling sustainable fuel, but instead report against the RHI sustainability criteria to Ofgem.
It is intended that the Contracts for Difference (CfD) awarded for bioenergy under the first Electricity Market Reform Delivery Plan will follow the same approach on sustainability audit as set out under the Renewables Obligation.
Ofgem, as the administrator of the Renewables Obligation, carries out a programme of audits of accredited generating stations, primarily to guard against fraud and error. This can include stations over 1MW in size that use solid biomass or biogas. They also ensure that a generating station remains an eligible renewable generating station for the purposes of the RO, that Ofgem holds the most up-to-date information for a station, and that the correct number of Renewables Obligation Certificates (ROCs) has been issued to the generator in question. The audits are carried out on a rolling basis, with targeted audits where it is deemed necessary. The CfD Counterparty company will be empowered under the Contracts for Difference to audit any generating station it chooses, with 1 business day’s written notice, to check compliance with agreed Fuel Measurement and Sampling procedures.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugh Bayley on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many business start-ups there were in City of York local authority area in each year since 2008.
Matthew Hancock
There is no single data source that comprehensively measures all business start-ups within the UK. However, as a near proxy BankSearch collates data on the number of new business bank accounts opened in Great Britain. This can be used as an indicative measure of business start-up activity and is the most comprehensive source available to BIS.
In the following table, estimated numbers of new business start-ups in the York local authority area are shown using the BankSearch data.
|
Year |
Estimated number of business start-ups in York authority area |
|
2008 |
1,100 |
|
2009 |
1,100 |
|
2010 |
1,300 |
|
2011 |
1,400 |
|
2012 |
1,300 |
|
2013 |
1,100 |
Source: BankSearch, number of new business bank accounts opened.