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  • Angela Rayner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Angela Rayner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the viability of the UK steel industry over the next 10 years.

    Anna Soubry

    We have been working very closely with steel stakeholders to understand the needs of the sector both now and going forward. In addition, through the Competitiveness & Productivity Steel Working Group we have commissioned an independent external report to identify the relative strengths and weaknesses of the UK steel industry, and consider how this could change over different time horizons. The outcomes will support the UK steel industry develop their strategic position moving forward, and clarify how the Government can best support the sector improve its competitiveness over the short, medium and long term.

  • Chris Law – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Chris Law – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what financial support the Government has provided for academic research in Dundee in each year since 2010.

    Joseph Johnson

    Government provides financial support for academic research in Dundee through various routes, including funding from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills’ (BIS) Science & Research budget for Research Council grants, research capital grants (allocated through Scottish Funding Council – SFC) and the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund (RPIF). In addition the Scottish Government allocates funding via the SFC for recurrent research grant.

    Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) data includes information about research grant income earned by individual higher education institutions from higher education (HE) funding bodies, Research Councils and Government Departments. The SFC publish details of the BIS HE research capital funding. Details of the RPIF are published by HEFCE.

    The research grant income earned by the University of Dundee and Abertay University from these sources in each academic year are listed in the table (figures in £000s). HESA data for 2014-15 are not yet available.

    Academic year

    2010-11

    2011-12

    2012-13

    2013-14

    2014-15

    SFC recurrent research funding

    23,841

    23,606

    24,133

    24,409

    –

    Research Councils

    20,734

    22,203

    15,260

    22,387

    –

    Other Government Funding

    5,738

    4,651

    5,535

    9,371

    –

    BIS HE Research Capital

    2,270

    602

    728

    860

    974

    Grand Total

    52,583

    51,062

    45,656

    57,027

    –

    In addition, the University of Dundee secured £11.7m from UK RPIF for expenditure over 2012-15.

  • Angela Rayner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Angela Rayner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Rayner on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on businesses of the UK leaving the EU.

    Anna Soubry

    The Government is focused on delivering a successful renegotiation: it believes Britain’s interests are best served by being part of a reformed European Union, if necessary changes can be agreed. The Government believes it can and will succeed in reforming and renegotiating our relationship with the EU and campaigning to keep the UK in the EU on that basis.

  • Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will introduce regulations to monitor the sale of drones for private and commercial use.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Civil Aviation Authority keeps a record of all the permissions they have issued to fly commercial drones in UK airspace. However this does not extend to leisure users of drones. To address this the Department for Transportis currently looking at a range of options including regulation, registration and licensing options and a database to increase transparency on the use of drones for the general public. We will be looking to address these issue without placing unnecessary bureaucratic burden on this emerging industry. We intend to consult on all of these issues and other possible solutions in 2016.

  • Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Attorney General, what discussions he has had with the Secretaries of State for Defence and International Development on ensuring that full and proper account is taken of the importance of international humanitarian law in areas of potential conflict and war.

    Jeremy Wright

    I meet regularlywith Ministerial colleagues to discuss important issues of common interest, including on international humanitarian law. I am not able to talk about any legal content of those discussions because, by convention, whether the Law Officers have given advice or not is not disclosed outside Government. All legal advice provided by the Law Officers is confidential and subject to legal professional privilege.

  • Lord Kilclooney – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Kilclooney – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kilclooney on 2015-12-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the EU guidelines for labelling products made in Israeli settlements will apply in the UK, and if so, what are the implications for future meetings between the Ambassador of the UK to Israel and representatives of the government of Israel.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The principal feature of the Interpretative Notice issued by the European Commission on 11 November on indication of origin of goods from the territories occupied by Israel since June 1967 is a recommendation that goods imported into the EU which originate from Israeli settlements in the occupied territories should bear an indication which makes that provenance clear. That recommendation was included in technical advice to UK retailers and importers concerning labelling agricultural produce from the West Bank that was issued by Defra in 2009. We are currently in discussion with other Departments to consider whether revisions need to be made to the 2009 advice in the light of the Interpretative Notice. I do not anticipate that the UK’s bilateral relations with Israel will be affected by the EU’s decision to adopt this Notice, given that we have already had guidance in place for several years.

  • Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2015-12-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 17 November (HL3653), whether they will require all EU advertising notices to include information about the ratio of UK contributions to the EU budget and sums returned by way of grants.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    The government has no plans to require all EU advertising notices for Structural and Investment Funds to include information about the ratio of UK contributions to the EU budget and sums returned by way of grants. However we will seek to remove the requirement to display notices in future reforms of the CAP.

  • Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House of Lords

    Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Leader of the House of Lords

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Leader of the House whether she now considers the advisory time limit on speeches in debates should be compulsory, and if so, what recommendations she will bring forward for enforcement of the limit.

    Baroness Stowell of Beeston

    It is already open to the House to time-limit debates in the Chamber or Grand Committee to a specific number of hours, with attendant compulsory time limits for speakers (Companion to the Standing Orders, Paras. 6.65-6.66). As this facility is already available, I do not plan to bring forward additional proposals.

  • Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2015-12-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of coal-fired power stations under construction worldwide, the number that are planned for the future, and what effect those new stations will have on the total tonnage of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    The IEA estimate that global coal electricity capacity will be around 8-17% higher in 2020 than 2013, with some growth even under the IEA’s estimate of a 2°C scenario.

    We know that limiting the global growth in unabated coal use is necessary to tackle climate change. The UK Government announced at COP19, in Warsaw in 2013, its plans to end support for public financing of new coal-fired power plants overseas, except in rare circumstances. In order to limit global warming to less than 2 degrees, globally we need to rapidly move away from unabated coal power generation.

    We have negotiated a new policy in November 2015 on how OECD export credit agencies can contribute to our goal to address climate change. The new policy places significant restrictions on the financing of coal-fired power plants by OECD export credit agencies. Support for the larger less-efficient coal-fired power plants is removed, and will encourage a move away from low-efficient towards high-efficient coal-fired power plants. Over two-thirds of the coal-fired power projects receiving official export credit support from Participants between 2003 and 2013 would not have been eligible for such support under the new rules. The new rules will take effect from 1 January 2017, and are subject to a mandatory review starting in 2019, with the goal of strengthening them.

    My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State recently announced that we will consult next year on an end date for coal of 2025 and limiting its use by 2023.

  • Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2015-12-07.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Nash on 4 December (HL3456), what urgent action they are taking to remedy the shortage of male teachers and teaching assistants.

    Lord Nash

    We value diversity in the workforce but want the best people in the classroom, regardless of their gender; evidence shows that the quality of teaching is the single most important factor in determining how well pupils achieve. We are pleased that the quality of entrants to initial teacher training, as measured by degree class, remains high, with 18 per cent of postgraduate entrants, a new record, holding a first-class degree. Recent figures show that 26 per cent of teachers in publicly funded schools in England are male. The proportion of men starting initial teacher training programmes in 2015/16 is 31 per cent. The proportion of entrants to the School Direct (salaried) scheme in 2015/16 who are male is 34 per cent.

    Given this performance, the government does not feel that top-down targets for the recruitment of men into initial teacher training would be appropriate. Similarly, it is schools that employ teaching assistants and they are best placed to decide who are the most appropriate for that role regardless of gender.