The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2014-03-18.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will review the requirements for small and medium-sized enterprises to complete the UK manufacturers’ sales by product (Prodcom) form on an annual basis.
Nick Hurd
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, where his Department plans to base the Watchkeeper remotely piloted air systems following completion of training at Salisbury Plain and West Wales Airport.
Mr Mark Francois
Under current plans Watchkeeper remotely piloted air systems will be located at Larkhill with 32nd and 47th Regiments Royal Artillery.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Powell on 2014-03-18.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the average benefit which will be received by each family eligible to receive tax-free childcare.
Nicky Morgan
Information on the estimated number of families eligible for Tax-Free Childcare scheme and the exchequer impact of Tax-Free Childcare can be found in the Budget 2014
policy costings document: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/293740/PU1638_policy_costings_budget_2014.pdf
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what criteria his Department uses to assess the saleability of new houses when determining the potential for five-year housing supply.
Nick Boles
The National Planning Policy Framework requires local authorities to identify and update annually a supply of specific, deliverable sites sufficient to provide five years worth of housing against their housing requirements with an additional buffer of 5% (moved forward from later in the plan period) to ensure choice and competition in the market for land.
Footnote 11 of the Framework sets out that, to be considered deliverable, sites should be available now, offer a suitable location for development now, and be achievable with a realistic prospect that housing will be delivered on the site within five years and in particular that development of the site is viable. Further guidance on viability is available at: http://planningguidance.planningportal.gov.uk/blog/guidance/viability-guidance/
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Andrew Smith on 2014-03-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if he will take steps to regulate hydraulic fracturing to minimise the leakage of methane from shale gas production into the environment.
Michael Fallon
The Environment Agency has set out its regulatory controls over leakage of methane from shale gas exploration in its draft technical guidance. The Agency expects operators to aim for 100% containment of fugitive emissions of methane on shale gas exploration sites and the operator will need to provide details of how their monitoring, inspection and maintenance regime will achieve this. The Environment Agency is assessing its regulation of full production facilities and the expectation is that the requirement for 100% containment will remain in place.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what benefits he expects to accrue to the UK economy from the agreement signed in China on 26 May 2014 between the Building Research Establishment and the Shenzhen Municipal Government to set up a training and research and development centre on sustainable building construction in China.
Michael Fallon
On 26 May 2014, the Building Research Establishment (BRE) signed an agreement with the Shenzhen Municipal Government to set up a training and R&D centre in China’s fastest growing city.
The centre in Shenzhen will deliver training on a national scale to other cities and promote its services including certifying buildings to green construction standards.
BRE aims to certify over 1,000 buildings across China to its standards which will generate £10 million income and could create up to £200 million of work for UK supply chain companies.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2014-03-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what categories of personal information will be held on each database managed by his Department or its executive agencies expected to become operational in the next five years; what estimate he has made of the number of individuals’ details each such database will hold when fully operational; and if he will make a statement.
Simon Hughes
I can confirm that the Ministry of Justice and its executive agencies including Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS), the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) and the Legal Aid Agency (LAA), currently have no plans to introduce any new HR-related centralised, multi-user database systems.
In order to ascertain the individual categories of personal information across all existing, relevant centralised HR-related databases, we would be required to either allocate specialist business resources to identify the requirements and produce the data, or commission it directly from third party IT suppliers. All this would be at a disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, with reference to the Answer of 20 May 2013, Official Report, column 443W, on electoral register, what the results were of his Department’s cooperation with data holding organisations on datasets that can be used to ensure completeness and accuracy of the electoral register.
Greg Clark
The Government published the results of its pilots in March 2012 and July 2013 and are publically available at:
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Fabricant on 2014-03-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of an extension to Crewe of the first phase of High Speed 2 on the (a) route through Lichfield constituency and (b) need for an additional railway line north of the City of Lichfield connecting the end of Phase one to the West Coast mainline.
Robert Goodwill
No decision has yet been made on Phase Two as we are still considering the responses to the public consultation. Sir David Higgins’s proposals would see the Government’s preferred route to Crewe, which formed part of the recent Phase Two consultation, constructed earlier. Therefore, it is not anticipated that Sir David’s proposal alone would affect the route through the Lichfield constituency. However, the route of Phase Two through the Lichfield constituency is clearly subject to the outcomes of the recent public consultation.
The powers for Phase Two, including the section of line to Crewe, are proposed to be sought via a second hybrid Bill. As such the connection to the West Coast Main Line as part of the Phase One Bill is still required to allow Phase One to operate effectively and to enable destinations such as Stafford to benefit from high speed services.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what use his Department has made of the National Wellbeing Index introduced by the Office for National Statistics in formulating policy since the introduction of that Index in 2011; and what policies his Department has introduced to improve national wellbeing as defined in that Index since 2010.
Stephen Hammond
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is measuring National Wellbeing, not as an index but through a framework of 41 indicators which capture social progress around important aspects of life for individuals, communities and the nation. The statistics are experimental and we would not expect to have examples of major policies that have been heavily influenced by the wellbeing data at this stage.
Evidence provided to the Environmental Audit Committee for its Inquiry into Wellbeing can be found at:
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