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Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-03-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much funding the Government allocated to incentivising installation of (a) solar panels and (b) home insulation in each year since 2010.

Andrea Leadsom

Solar panels have primarily been incentivised to date through two schemes: the Renewables Obligation, which typically supports larger installations, and the Feed-in Tariff, which supports smaller projects.

The value of the Renewables Obligation for solar PV in each year since 2010 is show in the following table:

Financial Year	Renewables Obligation PV scheme value, £m (nominal)
2010-11	£0.2
2011-12	£0.1
2012-13	£0.9
2013-14	£34.9
2014-15	£133.9

A proxy for the total spend each year on all eligible technologies is given by the size of the Levelisation fund. The size of this fund and solar PV’s share of total FiTs capacity is shown in the following table:

Financial Year	Levelisation fund (nominal)	% solar PV share of total FIT capacity
2010-11	£14,435,325	69.7
2011-12	£150,756,064	90.0
2012-13	£506,328,139	86.4
2013-14	£690,991,283	84.3
2014-15	£865,553,975	81.6

It should be noted that the percentage share of capacity does not necessarily equate to the percentage share of total spend under the scheme.

No payments have yet been made to solar PV generating stations under Contracts for Difference (CfDs), although three solar PV projects signed CfDs following the first allocation round.

01/01/2023

Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-03-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what support her Department plans to provide to communities that will be affected by closure of coal-fired power stations.

Andrea Leadsom

The Government will work with local partners to ensure support is available to help all those affected move quickly into new jobs, including through Jobcentre Plus’ Rapid Response Service. In Scotland, Jobcentre Plus will be an active partner in PACE (Partnership Action for Continued Employment), the Scottish Government’s redundancy support initiative.

01/01/2023
Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-03-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2016 to Question 28603, how many cleaners working in her Department are paid at the rate of (a) £7.85 and (b) £9.15.

Andrea Leadsom

The number of cleaners in the Department paid at an hourly rate of a) £7.85 is five and b) £9.15 is fourteen.

From 1 April 2016, the rate of pay will be increased to the 2016 Living Wage Foundation rates.

01/01/2023
Huw Irranca-Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Huw Irranca-Davies on 2016-03-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to the Memorandum of Understanding on renewable energy trade agreed between the UK and Ireland in January 2013, what progress has been made on reaching an intergovernmental agreement with Ireland.

Andrea Leadsom

We recognise the benefits of cooperation mechanisms and of opening our renewable support schemes to foreign generation in principle. This is why we signed the Memorandum of Understanding with Ireland. Whilst we have yet to agree with Ireland on any particular project, we remain open to new proposals.

01/01/2023
Huw Irranca-Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Huw Irranca-Davies on 2016-03-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether she plans to take forward talks on reaching an intergovernmental agreement with Ireland on expanding electricity interconnection capacity in response to the conclusions of the National Infrastructure Commission’s report on Smart Power, published in March 2016.

Andrea Leadsom

The Government is ambitious for the market to deliver an increase in electricity interconnection capacity where projects demonstrate value for money and provide benefits to consumers. We are primarily focused on facilitating developer-led delivery. Already one interconnection project to Ireland, Greenlink, has been approved by Ofgem in the first round of cap and floor applications. More projects, including to Ireland, can apply to Ofgem’s second cap and floor application window which opens this month.

01/01/2023
Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-03-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support her Department provides for local authorities to share best practice on children’s social work.

Edward Timpson

Supporting innovation and creating the right environment to drive excellence and radically transform the lives of children and their families are essential to delivering our vision for children’s social care between now and 2020.

The Department’s £100 million Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme, established in 2013, supports 53 projects to develop, test and spread more effective ways of supporting children and families who need help from children’s social care services. The Department has invested around £7 million to evaluate the projects and these studies will provide findings for local authorities over the next year as well as making a significant contribution to establishing an evidence base for driving change.

Supporting the sector to share best practice is at the heart of our What Works Centre (WWC) and Partners in Practice (PiP) initiatives. WWC will build an evidence base to show the best practice available to help social workers and other practitioners to better support children and families. PiPs represent a genuine partnership between national and local government to support long term improvement through exploring greater freedoms in the design and delivery of services; evidence about new structural models and innovations; and modelling best practice, sharing learning and supporting the wider sector.

In addition, the Chief Social Worker for Children and Families provides support to the profession and offers independent expert advice to Ministers on social work reform.

The Department also commissions research and evaluation studies that local authorities can draw on to inform and improve their practice. A recent example is the research review of Parents’ Capacity to Change (Ward et al 2014).

All studies are published on the Department’s research pages on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education/about/research#publications

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01/01/2023
Rushanara Ali – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2016-03-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to make the entitlement to an early education place a legal requirement.

Mr Sam Gyimah

English local authorities have a statutory duty under section 7 of the Childcare Act 2006 to secure a free early education place of 15 hours a week for 38 weeks of the year for all three- and four-year-olds and two-year-olds who meet the eligibility criteria. The early education entitlement is not a legal requirement for parents, and we know that the current model is extremely successful, with 99% of four-year-olds and 94% of three-year-olds taking up a place. And, Based on survey data collected from local authorities in the autumn of 2015 it is estimated that 182,000 two-year-olds – around 72% of eligible children – have taken up a place on the two-year-old programme.

The Secretary of State has a statutory duty under the Childcare Act 2016 to secure an additional 15 hours a week of free childcare for 38 weeks of the year for working parents of three- and four-year-olds.

The Secretary of State will discharge the duty in clause 2 of the Childcare Act, the duty to secure 30 hours of free childcare for working parents, through all local authorities in England. Local authorities will, therefore, be required to secure childcare provision free of charge to qualifying children.

01/01/2023
Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-03-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2016 to Question 28606, how many cleaners working in buildings managed by her Department are paid at the rate of (a) £7.85 and (b) £9.15.

Nick Gibb

The number of cleaners working in buildings managed by the Department for Education paid at the rate of (a) £7.85 is 24, and (b) £9.15 is 23. This reflects the location of the contractor/staff.

From 1 April 2016, the rates will be increased to reflect the 2016 Living Wage Foundation rates.

01/01/2023
Ian Mearns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Mearns on 2016-03-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support the academies risk protection arrangement is providing to schools affected by the recent floods.

Edward Timpson

The Risk Protection Agreement (RPA) will cover all storm related costs, including flooding, incurred by academy trusts which are members of the RPA, in accordance with RPA membership rules. Cover will also be provided for temporary accommodation while their original buildings are being reinstated.

The RPA service providers are working closely with those schools affected to minimise disruption and complete remedial works in a timely manner to the satisfaction of all parties concerned.

Further information on the cover provided by the RPA can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/risk-protection-arrangement-rpa-for-academy-trusts-membership-rules

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01/01/2023
Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-03-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the contribution of nurseries to improving literacy rates.

Mr Sam Gyimah

The early years are a critical stage for a child’s development. Nurseries have an important role in helping to ensure that all children start school with the knowledge and skills that provide the right foundation for good future progress through school and life.

All three- and four-year-olds are entitled to 15 hours a week of quality early education, free of charge, to prepare them for school and improve their life chances. This is extremely successful with 94% of three-year-olds and 99% of four-year-olds taking up the current free entitlement. From September 2017, we are introducing 15 hours of free childcare a week for the working parents of three- and four-year olds, on top of the existing early education entitlement.

The latest Early Years Foundation Stage Profile data reveal that an increasing proportion of children are achieving a good level of development at age five: 66% in 2015, compared to 52% in 2013.

In the specific area of literacy, 76% of children achieved at least the expected level in reading and 71% did so in writing in the academic year 2014/15.

Parents also have an essential role to play in their child’s development. In September 2015, we re-launched our popular guide for parents ‘What to expect, when?’ to include a strengthened focus on language, communication and literacy.

01/01/2023