The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Greatrex on 2014-06-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of his Department’s consumption in kWh of (a) gas and (b) electricity in each month since June 2010; and what the cost of such consumption has been in each such month.
Stephen Hammond
The Department for Transport monthly gas and electricity consumption and costs since June 2010 are shown in the tables below.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2014-06-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his comments of 18 June 2014, Official Report, column 127WH, on sulphur regulations, whether he has (a) commissioned and (b) received any specific assessment of the potential effect on diesel prices in the UK as a result of implementation of the new sulphur regulation limits.
Stephen Hammond
The Department has not had discussions with the trade unions specifically on the implementation of the sulphur rules. However, the trade unions have had the opportunity to contribute their views during the eight-week public consultation on the draft UK Regulations and the associated Impact Assessment which commenced on 29 April 2014.
The maturity and efficacy of ship-board exhaust gas cleaning system technology was one of the key subjects under consideration when I chaired the ‘round table’ meetings of industry stakeholders in October 2012 and March 2013 to which I referred in my Answer of 17 June 2014. At those meetings, first-hand information was forthcoming from both the shipping industry and the exhaust gas cleaning system technology industry.
The Department has engaged the European Commission about the potential impacts of the new regulations and the scope for financial support from EU sources, including finance from the European Investment Bank. The Commission has reaffirmed the possibility of support for the maritime sector through the new Connecting Europe Facility or the Trans-European Network (TEN-T) programme.
The Department is investigating impacts on prices as part of its assessment of the impact of the draft UK Regulations.
The Department will conduct the review at an appropriate time and not later than the timetable specified in the Regulations themselves, in accordance with normal Government practice and consistent with the principles of better regulation. It would be premature to make a commitment now concerning the precise timing of the review.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2014-06-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 17 June 2014, Official Report, column 536W, on shipping: exhaust emissions, whether he intends to have a UK review of the effect of the new sulphur regulation limits before 2019.
Stephen Hammond
The Department has not had discussions with the trade unions specifically on the implementation of the sulphur rules. However, the trade unions have had the opportunity to contribute their views during the eight-week public consultation on the draft UK Regulations and the associated Impact Assessment which commenced on 29 April 2014.
The maturity and efficacy of ship-board exhaust gas cleaning system technology was one of the key subjects under consideration when I chaired the ‘round table’ meetings of industry stakeholders in October 2012 and March 2013 to which I referred in my Answer of 17 June 2014. At those meetings, first-hand information was forthcoming from both the shipping industry and the exhaust gas cleaning system technology industry.
The Department has engaged the European Commission about the potential impacts of the new regulations and the scope for financial support from EU sources, including finance from the European Investment Bank. The Commission has reaffirmed the possibility of support for the maritime sector through the new Connecting Europe Facility or the Trans-European Network (TEN-T) programme.
The Department is investigating impacts on prices as part of its assessment of the impact of the draft UK Regulations.
The Department will conduct the review at an appropriate time and not later than the timetable specified in the Regulations themselves, in accordance with normal Government practice and consistent with the principles of better regulation. It would be premature to make a commitment now concerning the precise timing of the review.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-26.
To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, on which dates the Electoral Commission will report to (a) Parliament and (b) individual hon. Members on the progress on the implementation of individual electoral registration.
Mr Gary Streeter
The Commission informs me that it will report to both Parliament and individual Members at appropriate points, and in line with its statutory duties throughout the implementation of Individual Electoral Registration.
The Commission intends to publish updates on progress at three key points in the transition, as laid out in its March report. This is available on the Commission’s website here:
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-26.
To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, if the Electoral Commission will make it their policy to gather information on registration levels on an annual basis.
Mr Gary Streeter
The Electoral Commission informs me that they collect from every ERO, and publish, annual electoral registration statistics covering a range of topics including the number of electors on the registers, response rates to the annual canvass, numbers of additions and deletions on the registers and levels of carry forward.
This data collection will be more frequent during the transition to individual electoral registration (IER).
The Commission further informs me that they report periodically on the overall levels of accuracy and completeness of the electoral registers. Such studies are costly to conduct and it is not therefore feasible to conduct them annually. There are two such studies planned as part of the Commission’s approach to monitoring the implementation of IER.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-26.
To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, what number and percentage of electors were added to the electoral register as a result of the implementation of standard three door to door canvassing in each constituent part and region of the UK in each of the last 10 years.
Mr Gary Streeter
The Electoral Commission informs me that they do not hold the data requested. The data collected annually from EROs is household-level data rather than elector level data, reflecting the household nature of the annual canvass.
The data collected includes the number of household canvass returns made via different response methods – including personal canvasser, and this is available for each year from 2008 on their website.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-26.
To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, if the Electoral Commission will publish the names of the 10 local authorities with the (a) smallest and (b) biggest percentage increase in registration after the implementation of the Standard Three door-to-door canvassing for 2013 canvass; and which parliamentary constituencies each such local authority covers.
Mr Gary Streeter
The Electoral Commission informs me that the table below shows the ten local authorities with the biggest increases and decreases in electorate between the start and end of the 2013 canvass.
|
Local authority |
Change (November 2013 – Feb/March 2014 |
|
Edinburgh, City of |
20,241 |
|
Cheshire West and Chester |
14,676 |
|
Tower Hamlets |
10,566 |
|
Newcastle upon Tyne |
9,550 |
|
Taunton Deane |
9,023 |
|
North Lanarkshire |
9,001 |
|
South Lanarkshire |
8,926 |
|
Glasgow City |
8,710 |
|
Huntingdonshire |
8,023 |
|
Mole Valley |
7,866 |
|
Northampton |
-10,309 |
|
Barnet |
-12,743 |
|
Newham |
-16,617 |
|
Maidstone |
-10,121 |
|
Cornwall |
-13,195 |
|
East Devon |
-6,424 |
|
Birmingham |
-20,572 |
|
Shropshire |
-14,350 |
|
Leeds |
-24,119 |
|
Renfrewshire |
-7693 |
These local authorities cover the following parliamentary constituencies:
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Local authority |
Constituencies covered |
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Edinburgh, City of |
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Cheshire West and Chester |
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Tower Hamlets |
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Newcastle upon Tyne |
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Taunton Deane |
Taunton Deane |
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North Lanarkshire |
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South Lanarkshire |
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Glasgow City |
Glasgow South Glasgow South West |
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Huntingdonshire |
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Mole Valley |
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Northampton |
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Barnet |
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Newham |
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Maidstone |
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Cornwall |
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East Devon |
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Birmingham |
Sutton Coldfield |
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Shropshire |
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Leeds |
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Renfrewshire |
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-26.
To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, on what date the discussions between the Electoral Commission and the Cabinet Office on sanctions against electoral registration officers (EROs) who refuse to conduct door-to-door canvassing as per Standard Three began; when those discussions will conclude; whether the conclusions of those discussions will be made available to (a) hon. Members with EROs who failed Standard Three, (b) the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee and (c) councillors within failed local authorities; and if he will place in the Library the conclusions of those discussions.
Mr Gary Streeter
The Commission informs me that it has reported on ERO performance against Standard 3 for each year since 2008.
To support EROs in preparing for and delivering the transition to individual electoral registration (IER) the Commission has developed a new performance standards framework, which it will use to monitor the performance of EROs against throughout the transition to individual electoral registration. The Commission will continue to carefully monitor and work closely with EROs and will consider a range of options to ensure EROs are carrying out their duties in full.
Discussions between the Electoral Commission and the Cabinet Office take place regularly on a range of subjects.
The Commission made clear in its June report that it would use its statutory powers to make a recommendation to the Secretary of State to require specific EROs to do door-to-door canvassing if this didn’t happen during the introduction of IER, which began on 10 June in England and Wales.
No specific date for conclusion has been set as it will depend on the circumstances in each area, but the Commission will continue to keep this under active review. Should the Commission make a recommendation for such a direction, it will write to the relevant honourable members and local council leaders. We will also write to the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee and ask for this correspondence to be placed in the House Library.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-26.
To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, if the Electoral Commission will conduct research into the use of data matching of local and national databases to better identify people who are entitled to register to vote but who are not registered.
Mr Gary Streeter
The Electoral Commission informs me that the Cabinet Office has previously conducted several pilots on this topic and the Commission has evaluated them. The full evaluation reports are available on the Commission’s website here: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/our-work/our-research/electoral-registration-research
The Cabinet Office plans a further pilot for early 2015 and the Commission intends to evaluate this as well.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-26.
To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, what the postal vote matching rates were during the data matching dry run in each (a) local authority area and (b) constituency in the UK.
Mr Gary Streeter
The Electoral Commission informs me that the data for local authorities is available on its website here: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/excel_doc/0020/163145/Confirmation-dry-run-2013-Results-Local-Authority.xls
The Commission does not hold the data in a way that is broken down by constituency.
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