The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2015-10-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which events held by his Department were sponsored by Raytheon in the last 12 months.
Mr Philip Dunne
Raytheon acted as the Hackathon sponsor at the Chief Information Officer’s Information Symposium in June. No other events have been sponsored by the company in the last 12 months.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tommy Sheppard on 2015-10-26.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with Ministers in the Scottish Government on the transfer of responsibility for Air Passenger Duty to the Scottish Government.
Damian Hinds
The government is devolving Air Passenger Duty to the Scottish Parliament through the Scotland Bill. Ministers are in ongoing discussions with the Scottish Government about all aspects of the Scotland Bill and the terms of the fiscal framework.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Earl of Clancarty on 2015-10-23.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government under what legislation the Metropolitan Police has brought the action against Graham Ovenden to order his collection of art to be forfeited and destroyed.
Lord Faulks
This action was brought under section 5 of the Protection of Children Act 1978. The Government believes in freedom of expression in the arts, but it is imperative that we have robust laws to prevent the making of indecent images of children. Decisions on the destruction of any artwork are made by our independent courts and may be subject to appeal.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Tami on 2015-10-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government has taken to promote research into sustainable aviation fuels and advanced fuels technologies.
Andrew Jones
The Department for Transport ran an Advanced Fuels Call for Evidence in 2013/14 to examine the potential of advanced fuels in aviation and other transport sectors that cannot be easily decarbonised without low-carbon fuels. A summary of the evidence received was published with the Department’s response to the consultation on the post-implementation review of the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) in April 2014. Amendments to the RTFO earlier this year increased rewards for gaseous fuels, such as biomethane used in freight, to better reflect their energy content.
The Department also commissioned an independent feasibility study to examine the economic benefits and potential of advanced biofuels in the UK, published in February 2014, the study informed the design of the Advanced Biofuels Demonstration Plant Competition for £25m of matched grant funding. Winning projects were announced on 7th September 2015.
The Department for Transport and the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership established a Transport Energy Task Force in September 2014 to examine options to meet our renewable energy and greenhouse gas reduction targets, including through the wider deployment of sustainable biofuel. The Task Force included input from representatives of the Sustainable Aviation group.
The Task Force’s report was published in March 2015 by the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership. The Task Force acknowledged that sustainable biofuels have a valuable role in reducing carbon emissions from transport, particularly in sectors where there are limited alternatives such as aviation and I met with Task Force representatives, including Sustainable Aviation, in July to discuss that report.
Following the report of the Transport Energy Task Force, we are assessing the benefits of making aviation biofuels eligible for certificates under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) and support under that scheme for synthetic fuels from renewable electricity. We aim to include proposals in a public consultation next year on potential amendments to the RTFO scheme.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Creagh on 2015-10-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will assess the costs and benefits of the EU Waste Framework Directive to the UK economy.
Rory Stewart
An assessment of the costs and benefits of the revised Waste Framework Directive in England and Wales was carried out when laying the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011 which transposed the Directive. The assessment was published and is still available on the Legislation.gov webpages. As waste is a devolved issue, the Scottish and Northern Irish administrations carried out and published their own impact assessments, which are similarly available online.
The European Commission are expected to publish proposals to amend the revised Waste Framework Directive on 2 December. Once those proposals are published, we will submit another explanatory memorandum to the House, assessing the potential costs and benefits of those changes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people in each age group have been diagnosed with epilepsy in each of the last five years.
Jane Ellison
Information concerning the number of people diagnosed with epilepsy on an annual basis is not collected. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence advises that epilepsy has been estimated to affect between 362,000 and 415,000 people in England and the incidence of epilepsy is estimated to be 50 per 100,000 per year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dr Lisa Cameron on 2015-10-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many children have received a diagnostic assessment of Autism Spectrum Disorder in the last five years.
Alistair Burt
The Department of Health does not collect data on the number of children who have received a diagnostic assessment of Autistic Spectrum Disorder.
The Department for Education collects data on children’s primary special educational need (SEN).
The table below shows those children in schools in the last five years who had a statement or who were on school action plus, whose primary need was autistic spectrum disorder. These figures do not include pre-school children with autism, young people in further education, or children with autism who had a different primary need.
|
2010 |
56,250 |
|
2011 |
61,575 |
|
2012 |
66,195 |
|
2013 |
70,785 |
|
2014 |
76,015 |
In 2015, the primary need was collected also for those children on SEN support. Including this additional group, 90,775 children were recorded as having a primary need of autistic spectrum disorder in 2015, but given the change in collection methodology, this cannot be compared with the earlier years.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-10-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what reports she has received of allegations of India blocking foreign aid to Nepal.
Mr Desmond Swayne
We are deeply concerned about the impact of the border blockages and resulting fuel crisis in Nepal. This has affected all sectors of the economy and has affected the humanitarian relief effort and the supply of reconstruction materials.
The UK has urged all parties to resolve their differences through peaceful dialogue. I issued a statement on 13th October expressing concern that much needed humanitarian supplies are yet to reach many people still living in temporary shelter.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-10-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps she is taking to ensure that discussions on the Stormont House Agreement include tax credits.
Mr Ben Wallace
A range of issues are under discussion in the cross-party talks. These include welfare reform, the Executive’s budget and delivering longer term economic reform. The Government is committed to its long-term economic plan, key elements of which are tackling the deficit, making the costs of welfare sustainable and getting more people into work.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much revenue the DVLA has received from selling driver registration plate numbers to car parking companies in each of the last five years.
Andrew Jones
The table below shows the income received by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) from processing requests for information from private parking management companies over the last five financial years. The DVLA sets fees to recover the cost of processing requests and does not make a profit from providing this information.
|
Year |
Total Revenue |
|
2010/11 |
£2,910,850 |
|
2011/12 |
£3,657,859 |
|
2012/13 |
£4,831,355 |
|
2013/14 |
£6,097,898 |
|
2014/15 |
£7,573,298 |
The DVLA releases vehicle keeper information to those who can show reasonable cause for receiving it. The following table shows the number of requests from private car parking management companies for vehicle keeper information processed via electronic links over the last five financial years.
|
Year |
Electronic Requests |
|
2010/11 |
1,178,034 |
|
2011/12 |
1,574,397 |
|
2012/13 |
1,897,572 |
|
2013/14 |
2,430,130 |
|
2014/15 |
3,083,276 |
The vast majority of requests for vehicle keeper information are made electronically but information can also be requested using a paper application form. However, these requests come from a range of customers including private car parking management companies and the figures are not broken down by customer type.
The DVLA meets regularly with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to discuss a range of issues, including the provision of information for private parking management. The ICO’s most recent audit resulted in a high assurance rating relating to the release of information from the DVLA’s vehicle record.