The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Dowd on 2015-11-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has to review the Pet Animals Act 1951.
George Eustice
Defra is reviewing the Pet Animals Act 1951 as part of a wider review of some of the animal related licensing schemes. We are looking to consult on a set of proposals shortly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2015-11-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department spent on cleaning rivers and waterways in each of the last five years; and what estimate she has made of the level of such funding in each of the next five years.
Rory Stewart
Over the past five years, Defra has made significant investment to protect and improve the water environment through a number of different mechanisms. These include funds for local improvement projects, Countryside Stewardship, Catchment Sensitive Farming, Grant-in-Aid to the Environment Agency (EA), and funding for flood risk alleviation schemes which have wider co-benefits for the water environment.
Defra’s funding is just one contribution. The EA estimates that around £5 billion per year is invested across the public, private and voluntary sectors just to protect our waters from deterioration in the face of challenges of population growth and climate change.
Funding in future years is subject to the Government’s Spending Review.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2015-11-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her Department’s priorities are for the Clean Growth Committee; what role she will have on that committee; and whether that committee will consider her Department’s air quality consultation.
Rory Stewart
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster chairs an inter-Ministerial group on Clean Growth, which considers issues relating to air quality and decarbonisation where these have a cross-Departmental aspect. Its members include Ministers and officials from the relevant Departments, including Defra, the Department of Energy and Climate Change, the Department for Transport and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2015-11-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the average household bill for water was in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) Enfield, (c) Greater London and (d) the UK in (i) 2010 and (ii) 2015.
Rory Stewart
Customers in Greater London are served by one water and sewerage company (Thames Water) and three water only companies (Affinity Water, Essex & Suffolk Water and Sutton & East Surrey Water). Customers of the water only companies receive sewerage services from Thames Water.
Customers in both the London Borough of Enfield and the Enfield North constituency receive water services from one of two companies, Affinity Water or Thames Water.
The following table sets out the average water and sewerage charges for each of the companies and for England and Wales in 2010 and 2015.
|
Company |
2010 |
2015 |
|
Affinity Water – Central region1 (water) |
£156 |
£172 |
|
Essex & Suffolk Water (water) |
£183 |
£229 |
|
Sutton & East Surrey Water (water) |
£162 |
£184 |
|
Thames Water (water) |
£189 |
£197 |
|
Thames Water (sewerage) |
£114 |
£171 |
|
England and Wales (water) |
£165 |
£182 |
|
England and Wales (sewerage) |
£174 |
£203 |
1 Affinity Water was established in 2012, through the purchase of Veolia Water.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2015-11-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many times the National Grid has used the demand side balancing reserve in each of the last 10 years.
Andrea Leadsom
The Demand Side Balancing Reserve (DSBR) was introduced by National Grid ahead of winter 14/15 to help manage electricity margins ahead of the introduction of the Capacity Market in 2018/19. Since its introduction, the DSBR has only been despatched on one occasion.
Both last year and this year, National Grid will have instructed units within the DSBR as part of testing their capability to ensure they are able to achieve the level and speed of turn-down for which they are contracted.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2015-11-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of developing zero subsidy Contracts for Difference auctions for the electricity supply market; and if she will make a statement.
Andrea Leadsom
Stakeholders have suggested the concept of a market stabilising Contracts for Difference (CfD) and we are listening to ideas from industry about how this can be achieved and how we can best ensure a level playing field between renewable and other generation technologies. We are still working up ideas and would welcome continued input from stakeholders.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Brendan MacNeil on 2015-11-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the average time taken is for customers to switch their domestic energy supplier.
Andrea Leadsom
Ofgem published data on average switching time for domestic customers in Great Britain. It is available online at https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/chart/average-switching-time-domestic-customers-gb
On 1 June 2015 (latest published data available) the average switching time for domestic electricity supplies was 15.7 days and 15.5 days for gas.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ronnie Cowan on 2015-11-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of proposed changes to feed-in tariffs on the solar industry in Scotland.
Andrea Leadsom
In addition to the impact assessment published alongside the FIT review, part of the purpose of the consultation process itself has been to gather views on the broader economic impact of the proposals. We are currently analysing feedback submitted during the consultation, which closed on 23rd October. We intend to publish a Government response in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Callum McCaig on 2015-11-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether COBR has a role in considering resilience issues relating to security of energy supply.
Andrea Leadsom
COBR may be used as a mechanism to coordinate the government’s response to disruption to energy supplies that have a national impact, and where the response requires central government support and coordination.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Callum McCaig on 2015-11-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what plans her Department has to increase electricity generation in 2015-16 and 2016-17.
Andrea Leadsom
Our priority is to ensure that British families and business have access to secure affordable energy supplies. We are working with National Grid to make sure there is always sufficient generating capacity available to meet demand even in challenging conditions, such as extremely cold weather.
National Grid forecasts show Peak demand for electricity for 2015/16 and 2016/17 is expected to be broadly stable, which is consistent with recent trends.
Since 2014 National Grid have had the ability to procure a Contingency Balancing Reserve and they have secured 2.4GW of capacity through this mechanism to ensure supplies for this winter.
On 15 October, Ofgem commenced its consultation on the extension of the cost recovery arrangements for the contingency balancing services to allow National Grid’s contingency balancing services to continue for the winters prior to the introduction of the Capacity Market in 18/19. National Grid’s Tender for the Contingency Balancing Reserve (subject to the outcome of the Ofgem consultation) opened on 2 November. The Government supports the position taken by National Grid and Ofgem that Grid should retain the ability to procure the contingency balancing services for the next two winters and that this tool will help ensure sufficient margins until the first delivery year of the Capacity Market.
Beyond winter 2017/18, the Capacity Market will take over as the long term solution for security of supply, driving new investment in gas and demand side capacity in the future. The first Capacity Market auction was successfully concluded in December 2014 and the next will commence on 8December 2015. We have announced our intention to procure a total of 47.9GW capacity for the delivery year 2019/20 and that the target capacity for the auction this December will be 45.4GW. The balance (2.5 GW) will be procured in 2018, one year ahead of delivery.