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  • Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Leslie on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which 10 consultancy firms were paid the most by his Department in the last financial year; and how much each of those firms was paid.

    Dan Rogerson

    This table sets out the information requested in respect of 2012-13, the last financial year for which audited information is available. Information relating to 2013-14 will be available in July 2014, once the Department’s accounts for the year have been audited and published. The figures relate to the Core Department.

    Consultancy firm

    Amount paid

    in 2012-13 (£)

    Ernst and Young

    1,012,378

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

    587,922

    Local Partnerships

    152,226

    KPMG

    118,351

    Bureau Veritas UK Ltd.

    105,185

    Baker Tilly

    101,925

    ADAS UK Ltd.

    99,138

    GHK Consulting Ltd.

    71,424

    Resource Decisions Ltd.

    64,800

    Temple Group Ltd.

    44,380
  • Simon Kirby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Simon Kirby – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Kirby on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to deter inappropriate development in National Parks in England and Wales; and if he will make a statement.

    George Eustice

    Policy on national parks and planning are devolved matters. For Wales, they are a matter for the Welsh Assembly Government. National parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty are given the strongest protection from damaging development through the National Planning Policy Framework.

    Defra works closely with the Department for Communities and Local Government to ensure planning policies take account of the special character of England’s protected landscapes. For example, as made clear on 6 March by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Nick Boles, the extended permitted development rights for conversion of agricultural buildings to a dwelling house will not apply in national parks or areas of outstanding natural beauty (6 Mar 2014, Official Report, column 50WS).

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the amount spent per person on flood defences in (a) England and (b) Wales in each year since 2001 to date; and what estimate he has made of the amounts in each year to 2016.

    Dan Rogerson

    The figures are as follows:

    (a)

    Average Defra spend per head on flood and coastal erosion risk management in England (£)

    2005/06

    9.51

    2006/07

    9.47

    2007/08

    9.34

    2008/09

    10.61

    2009/10

    11.83

    2010/11

    12.53

    2011/12

    10.71

    2012/13

    10.77

    2013/14

    11.34

    2014/15

    14.86

    The figures for each year is the total Defra spend on flood and coastal erosion risk management divided by the most recent ONS population estimate for mid-2012

    · Figures before 2005/06 are not available in a comparable format.

    · Figures for 2013/14 and 2014/15 are budget allocations.

    · Figures for 2015/16 are not available as the budget has not yet been set.

    (b)

    Flood management in Wales is a devolved matter and Defra has made no estimate of the amount spent per person.

    “

  • Richard Fuller – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Richard Fuller – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Fuller on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps he is taking to ensure that all customers receive the full benefit of reductions in levies on energy bills.

    Michael Fallon

    All households will benefit from our changes. Whilst the reduction in individual household bills will depend on the energy supplier, this package, including VAT, will be worth an average of around £50 to households, compared to what would have happened without these changes. All customers on fixed tariffs will receive the £12 rebate from suppliers in autumn and the vast majority of them can either switch to a new tariff created since the Autumn Statement without any charge or will be switching to a new tariff anyway as a result of their fixed contract coming to an end this year.

  • Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Leslie on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, which five companies were used most often to provide temporary workers for his Department in the last financial year; and how much in agency fees was paid to each of them.

    Gregory Barker

    The Table below details the companies used and the total amounts paid to them in the last financial year. We are unable to identify separately the amounts retained by the companies as fees and the amounts passed on to the temporary worker by the company.

    Agency

    2013-14

    £k

    Adecco UK Ltd

    1,162

    Michael Page International Recruitment Ltd

    533

    Methods Consulting Ltd

    517

    Parity Resources Ltd

    461

    Allen Lane Ltd

    406
  • Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Leslie on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, which 10 consultancy firms were paid the most by his Department in the last financial year; and how much each of those firms was paid.

    Gregory Barker

    The Table below details the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s consultancy expenditure in 2013-14:

    2013-14

    £k

    KPMG LLP

    2,340

    Lazard & Co Ltd

    1,940

    Deloitte LLP

    855

    Baringa Partners LLP

    238

    Mott Macdonald Group Ltd

    91

    Redpoint Energy Ltd

    91

    Poyry Management Consulting (UK) Ltd

    61

    Oxera Consulting Ltd

    60

    Cambridge Economic Policy Associates

    55

    E S P Consulting

    48
  • Lucy Powell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Lucy Powell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Powell on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many jobs have been transferred from the public to the private sector as a result of privatisations or outsourcing by his Department since May 2010.

    Gregory Barker

    The Department of Energy and Climate Change has not transferred any jobs to the private sector as a result of privatisation or outsourcing since May 2010.

  • Tom Greatrex – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Tom Greatrex – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Greatrex on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what forecast he has made of the impact of capacity contracted under the Supplemental Balancing Reserve to the Loss of Load Expectation in the winter of (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16.

    Michael Fallon

    The Government has not made any forecast of the impact of capacity contracted under the Supplemental Balancing Reserve (SBR) on the Loss of Load Expectation for winter 2014-15 or 2015-16.SBR is one of National Grid’s two new balancing services, approved by Ofgem in December 2013. SBR and the Demand Side Balancing Reserve (DSBR) will address potential capacity shortfalls in the middle of the decade. National Grid is currently developing a methodology to determine how much capacity should be contracted via SBR. Once this is approved by Ofgem, National Grid will proceed with the procurement process.

  • Tom Greatrex – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Tom Greatrex – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Greatrex on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much has been disbursed to Ombudsman Services for work relating to the Green Deal in each month since January 2013; and how many complaints relating to the Green Deal have been processed by Ombudsman Services over the same period.

    Gregory Barker

    I can confirm that DECC pays the Ombudsman Service a fixed quarterly rate to provide Green Deal services, support to DECC and maintain systems, plus an additional fee for each investigation undertaken. The quarterly fixed rate payments work out at £3,333.00 per month.

    I would also like to point out that as part of the Government’s transparency initiative DECC publishes summary details of all payments made over £500, including payments to contractors. You can find this information using the following link:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?keywords=&publication_filter_option=transparency-data&topics%5B%5D=all&departments%5B%5D=department-of-energy-climate-change&direction=before&date=2013-03-01

    The Ombudsman Service has undertaken some casework but this has not resulted in formal complaints or investigations and there have been no investigation charges to the Department.

    “

  • Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment has been made by (a) the RIMNET network and (b) other bodies of the possibility that the sand fallout across the British Isles from the Sahara desert has been contaminated by long-lived radioactive fallout from atmospheric nuclear weapons tests conducted by France in the Algerian Sahara in the 1960s.

    Michael Fallon

    The Radioactive Incident Monitoring Network (RIMNET) is the UK Government’s radiation monitoring and nuclear emergency response system which is operated on a 24 hour a day, seven days a week basis by the Met Office, on behalf of the Department of Energy and Climate Change. Data from RIMNET has been inspected and shows no evidence of increased levels of radioactivity across the UK.

    The Environment Agency (EA) undertakes a programme of far-field monitoring, away from nuclear sites, of radioactivity in air and rainwater. This programme involves constantly sampling air through filters in High Volume Air Samplers. Filters are changed on a weekly basis and subsequently analysed. Past Saharan dust events have not caused any detectable increase in radioactivity on the filters. Results for the changed filters on 31st March and 7th April should be available in the next few days. The results will be published as consolidated data in the annual Radiation in Food and the Environment (RIFE) report which is published jointly by a number of UK and devolved agencies. Previous RIFE reports are available here:

    http://www.sepa.org.uk/radioactive_substances/publications/rife_reports.aspx.

    “