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Tag: 2015

  • Bill Wiggin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Bill Wiggin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Wiggin on 2015-10-21.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will allocate a proportion of road tax receipts to the repair of roads.

    Damian Hinds

    At the Summer Budget the government announced the creation of a Roads Fund so that from 2020 all money raised from VED in England will be invested in the Roads Fund and used to improve the English strategic road network. The latest figures for VED revenue can be found in Table C.3 of Summer Budget 2015, which can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/summer-budget-2015. Revenue raised for previous years can be found in the relevant Budget document.

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  • Colleen Fletcher – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Colleen Fletcher – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Colleen Fletcher on 2015-10-21.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of auto-renewals on competition in the private motor insurance market.

    Harriett Baldwin

    This is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who are operationally independent from Government.

    The question has been passed on to the FCA. The FCA will reply directly to the honourable member by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

  • Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2015 to Question 12052, for what reasons Part M building regulations do not apply to extensions to dwellings.

    James Wharton

    When Part M was introduced in 1999 the then Government decided not to apply the requirements to extensions to dwellings. To do so would require alterations to the existing dwelling (or the approach to the dwelling or extension) in order to accommodate Part M requirements which are not considered to be reasonably practical for dwellings built before Part M was introduced.

  • Kevan Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kevan Jones – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2015-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much UK-produced steel has been used in the manufacturing of the Scout Specialist Armoured Vehicles being procured by his Department.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Steel for key defence programmes, is sourced from a range of suppliers. It is the responsibility of prime contractors to obtain the steel required to complete Ministry of Defence programmes at a competitive cost, within time constraints and to the required quality. The quantities of steel required for the AJAX programme, previously known as Scout, are relatively small and spread over eight years of manufacture. The steel is specialist in nature with the majority coming from Sweden. There is an additional requirement for a small quantity of training armour, which is regular steel and General Dynamics Land Systems, intends to run a competition later this year.

  • Catherine McKinnell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Catherine McKinnell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Attorney General, what assessment he has made of the effect of the criminal courts charge on the reduction in costs awarded to the Crown Prosecution Service under the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 as a result of (a) magistrates and (b) judges using their discretion to lower the level of costs awarded.

    Robert Buckland

    The criminal court charge imposed a non-discretionary charge on all adult offenders convicted for offences committed on or after 13 April 2015 and is imposed separately from other financial considerations and orders the court may make. It is premature to fully appreciate the implications of the charge on the criminal justice system.

    The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not maintain data on the value of costs awarded to the CPS but does have data on the value of costs recovered following the award of costs. The value of costs recovered and paid to CPS, following the award of costs under the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985, in quarter 1 2015-16 was about £10.7m, in line with expectations.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if his Department will take steps to ensure that graduates from a working class background are recruited onto the Civil Service Fast Stream.

    Matthew Hancock

    To govern modern Britain, the Civil Service needs to look and sound likemodern Britain. We need access to the broadest possible pool of talent, drawing on peoplefrom all backgrounds and all parts of the country.

    The Civil Service is implementing a number of initiatives to recruit individuals from lower socio-economic backgrounds onto the Fast Stream and Fast Track Apprenticeship schemes, including internship programmes, schools and colleges mentoring and discovery days, work experience programmes and engagement with universities with a high representation of lower socio-economic students.

    Information on the socio-economic status of recent appointees to the SCS was published in 2014,and the socio-economic status of Fast-Stream applicants has been published since 2011.

    In 2015 16.8% of new joiners to the Fast Track Apprenticeship Scheme were from lower socio-economic backgrounds, up from 8.5% in 2013/14. From 2015 this data will be published as part of the Fast Stream applicants publication.

  • Stewart Jackson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Church Commissioners

    Stewart Jackson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Church Commissioners

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, what progress has been made on land disposals for residential housing by the Church Commissioners at (a) Paston Reserve and (b) Norwood urban extensions near Peterborough; and if she will make a statement.

    Mrs Caroline Spelman

    The Church Commissioners have two strategic land sites at Peterborough; Paston Reserve and Norwood. Both sites are allocated as residential urban extension sites in Peterborough City Council’s adopted Core Strategy and Site Allocations Development Plan Documents. It is the Commissioners’ intention, over the long term, to make these sites available to facilitate the delivery of housing and other infrastructure.

    The construction of Paston Reserve, which has planning permission for over 1,000 houses, local facilities (including a primary school), open space and other infrastructure, began in 2014. The first residential phase of development comprises 87 houses and the first houses on site were sold by the developer, Keepmoat Homes, in early 2015. Discussions in regard to a second phase of development on the site are underway and it is expected that work on site will commence in late 2016.

    With respect to Norwood, the Commissioners worked with the local planning authority through the development plan process, which saw the site’s allocation for 2,300 new houses, and are committed to bringing forward the land for development. Pre-application work is currently being progressed with the other landowners across the site and initial discussions have been had with Peterborough City Council about the site’s delivery and potential timescales for an outline planning application.

  • Poulter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Poulter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Poulter on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of progress on defeating Daesh; and what steps his Department plans to take to protect national security from the threat of terrorism.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The UK is making a significant contribution to the coalition of more than 60 countries, supporting the Iraqi security forces to deny ISIL the freedom to operate in 30% of the Iraqi territory it once held, helping Syrian Kurds take 17,000 sq km from ISIL in Syria, and degrading ISIL’s ability to refine oil or to access the international financial system.

    But defeating ISIL is not a military task alone and the global coalition is working to defeat ISIL on all fronts – militarily, cutting off ISIL finance, reducing the influx of fighters, challenging its ideology and providing humanitarian assistance.

    Within the UK the Home Office has the lead for counter terrorism but certain military specialist capabilities are always available, should they be required.

  • Alan Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Alan Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 15 October 2015 to Question 11217, what rate of non-guaranteed reasonable profit has been included in the calculated strike price.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The forecast rate of return is commercially confidential and is naturally subject to change as it will depend on the performance of NNB Generation Company Ltd. (NNBG), given that the Contract for Difference (CfD) is designed so that many of the risks belong to NNBG. The CfD contains a series of gainshare mechanisms in which consumers would benefit if the project construction costs or equity returns were more favourable than forecast.

    However, although the actual number is confidential, the European Commission’s Closing Decision for the Hinkley Point C State aid case, where they judged the Strike Price to be proportionate, gives an expected range for the project rate of return of between 9.25 and 9.75% as of October 2014.

    http://ec.europa.eu/competition/state_aid/cases/251157/251157_1615983_2292_4.pdf

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  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to control populations of invasive non-native waterfowl.

    George Eustice

    Defra, in conjunction with the Great Britain Non-Native Species Secretariat, takes the problems and risks associated with non-native waterfowl very seriously. Since the 1990s Defra has commissioned and invested in a range of research projects, carried out by the Animal and Plant Health Agency, on invasive non-native waterfowl, including an assessment of the options for large-scale control and field trials of removal techniques for Egyptian geese. Additionally, best practice management guidelines have been published for Canada geese.

    Since 2005 Defra has also supported the UK Ruddy Duck Eradication Programme, and recently, established an Invasive Species Action Plan for the sacred ibis, and is developing an action plan for zoos to reduce the risk of escapes of all species, including waterfowl.

    Section 14(1) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 makes it illegal to release or allow to escape into the wild, any animal or plant which is not ordinarily resident in Great Britain and is not a regular visitor to Great Britain in a wild state, or is listed in Schedule 9 to the Act. This applies to all animals including waterfowl. An amendment to the 1981 Act, introduced this year in the Infrastructure Act 2015, introduced the provision of Species Control Orders, which can be used to remove any non-native species where they cause significant threats to biodiversity, the water environment, human health or the economy, in cases where a voluntary approach with landowners has otherwise failed.