The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2015-10-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what decommissioning provision is allowed within the proposed strike rate of £92.50/MWh for the electricity from the proposed Hinkley Point C power station.
Andrea Leadsom
The decommissioning costs for the Hinkley Point C power station, together with the waste management and waste disposal costs, account for £2-£3/MWh of the strike price.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Susan Elan Jones on 2015-10-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will hold talks with the Financial Conduct Authority on lifting the moratorium on registering new renewable energy cooperatives.
Andrea Leadsom
This Government strongly supports the community energy sector, including the mutual society model for community groups. However the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is an independent non-governmental body and it is important that the Government does not interfere with its work. The FCA recently consulted on their registration function under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014 and it is working to ensure the right balance is struck between investor protection and continued growth of this form of investment. The FCA will respond to this consultation later this year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Zac Goldsmith on 2015-10-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will revise its consultation paper on air quality draft plans, published on 12 September 2015, to take into account findings by the US Environmental Protection Agency of car manufacturers cheating in vehicle emissions tests.
Rory Stewart
The projections modelled in the draft plans were based on road transport emission factors from COPERT (Computer Programme to calculate Emissions from Road Transport). These take into account the gap between real world emissions and those from testing.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-10-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his Israeli counterpart on reducing the number of attacks on Christian religious sites in Israel.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
We condemn all extremist violence, including attacks against religious buildings. We are aware that on 18 June, the Benedictine Church of the Multiplication at Tabgha, on the Sea of Galilee, was set on fire and vandalised with graffiti. Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv raised this at the time with the Israeli Foreign Ministry and National Security Council. On 10 September the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), and the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), raised their concerns for peace in the region with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-10-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the government of the Republic of Congo on the payment of UK companies for infrastructure work undertaken in that country on behalf of the Congolese government.
Grant Shapps
We were recently made aware of a case where a company owned by a British national has found it difficult to secure payment for infrastructure projects carried out on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Congo. In June this year, my officials raised this case with the Congolese authorities, and highlighted the importance to all involved of resolving this case in accordance with the court decisions made in the Republic of Congo and elsewhere.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2015-10-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism in enabling the construction and reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
Through the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism (GRM) over 95,000 people have now been able to buy materials to repair homes that were damaged during the conflict. However, we are concerned that none of the homes destroyed have been rebuilt yet. We therefore welcome the June 2015 agreement between the Israeli and the Palestinian authorities on the Residential Stream of the GRM to support the reconstruction of homes that were completely destroyed. DFID is providing £700,000 to the Materials Monitoring Unit which monitors the import, storage, supply and use of construction materials into Gaza under the GRM. The UK is also calling on all donors to disburse pledges made at the October 2014 Cairo Gaza Reconstruction Conference without delay.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2015-10-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to increase the awareness of autism among the public and encourage patients to request a referral for diagnosis from their GP.
Alistair Burt
The Department has discussed with NHS England the difficulties that people on the autistic spectrum can have in getting an appropriate diagnosis in a timely manner. With support from the Department, NHS England and the Association of Directors of Social Services will undertake a series of visits to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to gather information that can be shared between areas that have arrangements in place to meet National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Quality Standard 51 Autism: support for commissioning, and those that do not, with the aim of supporting more consistent provision. These NICE guidelines already recommend that there should be a maximum of three months between a referral and a first appointment for a diagnostic assessment for autism. We expect the National Health Service to be working towards meeting the recommendations.
NHS England has also been working with the Health and Social Care Information Centre to develop the Mental Health Minimum Data Set. This will include provision for the diagnosis of autism to be recorded. This mandatory data set will, for the first time, provide data about diagnosis rates. The data will be published and available for everyone to use to support and develop services. NHS England has a commitment, over the next five years, to improve waiting times and this data will be invaluable for this. Information on average waiting times for autistic diagnosis in each clinical commissioning group area is not collected centrally.
The Department issued new statutory guidance in March this year for local authorities and NHS organisations to support the continued implementation of the 2010 Autism Strategy, as refreshed by its 2014 Think Autism update. This guidance sets out what people seeking an autism diagnosis can expect from local authorities and NHS bodies including general practitioners.
We are due to consult on how we set the mandate to NHS England prior to publication of the mandate itself. The mandate will be published following the Government’s Spending Review which is due to complete on 25 November.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2015-10-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what forecast his Department has made of the cost of alcoholism over the next 20 years.
Jane Ellison
Estimates for the cost of alcoholism over the next 20 years are not available centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Fabricant on 2015-10-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Welsh Government on (a) the mandatory display by restaurants of ratings and (b) empowering local authorities to charge restaurants for reassessment under the Food Standards Agency’s food hygiene rating scheme; if he will bring forward legislative proposals to make the display of such ratings by restaurants mandatory; and if he will make a statement.
Jane Ellison
The Food Standards Agency is collecting evidence on the effectiveness of the mandatory display of Food Hygiene Ratings Scheme ratings. The Government will consider this evidence carefully once it is available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2015-10-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of junior doctors likely to lose income as a result of proposed contractual changes.
Alistair Burt
The proposed contractual changes will be cost-neutral and average pay for junior doctors will not reduce. This is not a cost-cutting exercise and we are not seeking to save any money from the junior doctors’ pay bill. My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has given the British Medical Association a public, categorical assurance on this and made clear that the details of the new contract should be developed to ensure that the great majority of junior doctors are at least as well paid as they would be now.
The proposed new contract for doctors and dentists in training will: ensure that pay relates more fairly to actual work done; increase basic pay, recognising the professional nature of the role in a seven day National Health Service and pay a higher rate for work at the most unsocial times