The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness King of Bow on 2015-11-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will place in the Library of the House a copy of the research by Savills into the opportunities for estate regeneration in London, commissioned by the Number 10 Policy Unit.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
A copy of the report by Savills into the opportunities for estate regeneration in Central London will be made available in the Library of the House once published.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness King of Bow on 2015-11-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have undertaken research to establish the number of households likely to be affected by the Benefit Cap in each local authority area.
Lord Freud
The Government set out its assessment of the impacts of the policies in the Welfare Reform and Work Bill on 20th July. These are available on the Parliament website.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness King of Bow on 2015-11-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following their failure to notify Tower Hamlets Council that Housing Benefit claimants had been migrated to Universal Credit, how many claimants have been overpaid Housing Benefit by that Council, and what action has been taken to ensure any overpayment recovery action is financially sustainable for those claimants.
Lord Freud
DWP is aware of issues raised by Tower Hamlets Council. The Department’s housing costs team have contacted Tower Hamlets to ask for examples so the Department can look into their concerns.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blunkett on 2015-11-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on support services provided through the Education Services Grant to local authorities of the £600 million funding reduction announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 for (1) special needs provision, (2) psychological services, and (3) child and adolescent mental health provision.
Lord Nash
We are protecting the core schools budget in real terms, enabling a per pupil protection for the dedicated schools grant (DSG) and the pupil premium. The DSG protection includes funding for special needs provision and funding for the education of children and young people in child and adolescent mental health services units.
The Education Services Grant is not intended to fund special needs provision, psychological services, or child and adolescent mental health provision. The £600 million reduction to the Education Services Grant, announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, should therefore have no direct impact on the provision of these support services.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-11-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support they are giving to producers of biodiesel made from waste products.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) provides double rewards for biofuels derived from wastes.
The Department concluded a post-implementation review of the RTFO in April 2014. Evidence from the review indicates that double rewards for biofuels from wastes, which were introduced under the RTFO in 2011, have encouraged a strong market for biodiesel from used cooking oil in the UK.
Since the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) was established waste based biofuels have risen from 12% of total biofuel supply in the first year of the obligation 2008/09, to 50% according to the data for 2014/15 (Biofuels Statistics obligation year 7 2014/15 – Report 5).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-11-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the viability of biodiesel made from waste products in comparison to biodiesel made from virgin products.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) provides double rewards for biofuels derived from wastes.
The Department concluded a post-implementation review of the RTFO in April 2014. Evidence from the review indicates that double rewards for biofuels from wastes, which were introduced under the RTFO in 2011, have encouraged a strong market for biodiesel from used cooking oil in the UK.
Since the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) was established waste based biofuels have risen from 12% of total biofuel supply in the first year of the obligation 2008/09, to 50% according to the data for 2014/15 (Biofuels Statistics obligation year 7 2014/15 – Report 5).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-11-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why they have made no assessment of the number of people experiencing food insecurity.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
There is no single definition of food insecurity. The factors that impact on household food security are complex. There are multiple indicators such as quality, variety and desirability of diet as well as total intake, not all of which are measured consistently. It is therefore very difficult and potentially misleading to attempt to develop a single classification of food insecurity.
Defra publishes statistics annually to show the proportion of household income spent on food by (a) all households and (b) the lowest income 20% of households.The most recent statistics are in the Food Statistics Pocketbook 2015 on the GOV.UK website.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-11-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effect on high streets of ending small business rate relief.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
The Chancellor announced at the Autumn Statement that the doubling of Small Business Rate Relief will continue for a further year and therefore apply for the whole of 2016-17. Approximately 600,000 properties are benefitting, with 400,000 paying no business rates at all.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-11-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the current level of spending on infrastructure in the UK, compared to the rest of the G7.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
The National Infrastructure Pipeline outlines over £410 billion of planned investment to the end of the decade and beyond; this includes both public and private investment.
At the Spending Review, it was announced that the Government will exceed its commitment to invest £100 billion in infrastructure by 2020-21. It will now make a public investment of £120 billion. (This includes social infrastructure).
HM Government does not hold figures on infrastructure spending in other G7 countries, and methodological discrepancies prevent reliable comparison of infrastructure spending.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-11-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what were the productivity levels in the UK compared with the rest of the G7 in each year since 1990.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
The data is available on the ONS website, under the international Comparisons of Productivity section. For your ease, I have provided the table below:
Current price GDP per hour worked (UK=100)
|
Year |
UK |
G7 exc. UK |
Year |
UK |
G7 exc. UK |
Year |
UK |
G7 exc. UK |
|
1990 |
100 |
2000 |
100 |
107 |
2010 |
100 |
115 |
|
|
1991 |
100 |
119 |
2001 |
100 |
108 |
2011 |
100 |
114 |
|
1992 |
100 |
116 |
2002 |
100 |
106 |
2012 |
100 |
116 |
|
1993 |
100 |
112 |
2003 |
100 |
105 |
2013 |
100 |
117 |
|
1994 |
100 |
111 |
2004 |
100 |
105 |
2014 |
100 |
120 |
|
1995 |
100 |
111 |
2005 |
100 |
106 |
|||
|
1996 |
100 |
109 |
2006 |
100 |
104 |
|||
|
1997 |
100 |
109 |
2007 |
100 |
106 |
|||
|
1998 |
100 |
109 |
2008 |
100 |
107 |
|||
|
1999 |
100 |
111 |
2009 |
100 |
110 |
Data are in current prices, allowing cross-country comparison of productivity for each individual year.
Source: International Comparisons of Productivity, First Estimates for 2014, ONS (Sep 2015)
* Productivity data for the G7 are unavailable for 1990 due to the absence of comparable data for pre-reunification Germany.
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