Tag: 2016

Baroness Scott of Needham Market – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Scott of Needham Market on 2016-02-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are planning to take to ensure that council tax billing authorities pass on to parish and town councils the council tax support funding provided for those councils by the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

Local Council Tax Support schemes are designed and implemented by billing authorities. It is for them to determine the appropriate amount to pass on to parish and town councils. Ultimately, these are local decisions based on local circumstances, so where money is not passed down, the authority must justify their decision to local taxpayers.

01/01/2023
Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2016-03-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the results of a poll of members of the Federation of Small Businesses showing that over half of respondents felt uninformed about the EU membership referendum and needed more information.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

In line with the European Union Referendum Act 2015 and commitments made in the Houses of Parliament, the Government is publishing several public information documents ahead of the Referendum. Three of these have already been published and cover: the renegotiation settlement and the Government’s opinion thereof, the process for withdrawing from the EU in line with Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, and examples of countries that do not have membership of the European Union but do have other arrangements with the European Union. An upcoming statutory paper will also outline the rights and obligations entailed by membership of the EU.

Additionally, the Chancellor has also announced that the Treasury will publish before 23 June a comprehensive analysis of our membership of a reformed EU and the alternatives, including the long-term economic costs and benefits of EU membership and the risks associated with an exit.

01/01/2023
Baroness Barker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Barker on 2016-04-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what meetings or other communications took place between Mr Sheridan Westlake, Special Adviser to the Prime Minister, and Mr Chris Snowdon of the Institute of Economic Affairs relating to government funding of voluntary organisations in the 12 months prior to the announcement on 6 February of the new clause in grant agreements restricting the use of government grants for lobbying purposes.

Lord Bridges of Headley

The Institute of Economic Affairs’ written research into the misuse of government grants was acknowledged at the time that the clause was first introduced by the Department of Communities and Local Government before the last general election, and also by the Cabinet Office when it published its guidance on the new clause.

Details of Cabinet Office Ministers’ meetings, and those of the Cabinet Office Permanent Secretaries, are centrally collated and routinely published in transparency returns available on the Gov.uk website.

Information relating to the meetings and communications of Cabinet Office civil servants, including special advisers, is not routinely collated and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

01/01/2023
Nigel Adams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Adams on 2016-05-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department has made of the case for including (a) biomass energy and (b) biomass conversions from former coal-fired stations alongside offshore wind in future Contract for Difference auctions; and what assessment has been made of the case for evaluating bids in such auctions on a whole system costs basis.

Andrea Leadsom

Biomass can be used as a feedstock in Dedicated Biomass with CHP, Advanced Conversion Technologies and Anaerobic Digestion plants. Those three technologies are already eligible to compete alongside offshore wind in the CFD allocation pot for “less established” technologies.

The Government will consider whether it is appropriate for biomass conversions to compete alongside offshore wind or the allocation pot for “established” technologies in due course.

DECC recognises the importance of considering the whole system impacts (both costs and benefits) of different electricity technologies when formulating future government policy, since it is a crucial element in delivering secure, clean and affordable energy to consumers.

01/01/2023
Amanda Solloway – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Amanda Solloway on 2016-06-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that adequate funding is directed to local mental health bodies to reduce waiting times for child mental health care.

Alistair Burt

In total the Government has made available an additional £1.4 billion over the course of this Parliament to support significant transformation in children and young people’s mental health so that there is easy access to the right support from the right service when it is needed.

The key mechanism in delivering this transformation programme, as set out in the Future in Mind report, are the Local Transformation Plans (LTPs) that all clinical commissioning groups covering all local areas have produced. These plans should meet the needs of all the local population and cover the full spectrum of services needed to ensure that children and young people can access services when they need to.

NHS England’s Local Transformation Planning guidance issued in August 2015 and the robust assurance process around it, backed by a programme of regional and national support, are in place to ensure that the additional money will be spent for the purposes intended and that locally determined key performance indicators will be met. NHS England will continue to support local areas to refresh their LTPs to take and merge into the wider Sustainability and Transparency Planning process.

01/01/2023

Baroness McGregor-Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness McGregor-Smith on 2016-09-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of the UK’s energy supply was produced from fossil fuels in each year between 1997 and 2015.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The proportion of the UK’s energy supply produced from fossil fuels in each year between 1997 and 2015 is shown in the table.

Year	Proportion (%)
1997	88.1
1998	88.3
1999	88.6
2000	89.9
2001	89.6
2002	89.5
2003	89.8
2004	90.2
2005	89.9
2006	90.1
2007	91.2
2008	91.2
2009	88.9
2010	89.5
2011	87.3
2012	87.1
2013	85.8
2014	84.3
2015	82.0

Data are published by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) in the Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics (DUKES) 2016, table 1.1.1.

01/01/2023

Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure that judges and other decision-makers have appropriate knowledge and training on issues relating to child arrangements orders made in the family court in cases in which there is a history of domestic abuse.

Caroline Dinenage

Under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, responsibility for judicial training rests with the Lord Chief Justice and this responsibility is exercised through the Judicial College. Accordingly, the independence of the judiciary means that Government Ministers do not intervene with regard to the content of judicial training.

The Judicial College has advised that judges, magistrates and their Legal Advisers have all received specific training on domestic violence issues and were trained in the new Child Arrangements Programme and Practice Direction 12J as part of the Family Justice Review reforms in 2014.

01/01/2023
Baroness Smith of Basildon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Smith of Basildon on 2016-02-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what advice has been provided this Session for ministers or senior officials in HM Treasury on whether to use secondary legislation or primary legislation for significant legislation.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

There has been no change in approach to the use of primary and secondary legislation since the General Election. Each piece of legislation is approached within the context of the policy and the existing legislative framework. There is no evidence of an increase in the number of statutory instruments laid since 2010 or since the General Election. Briefing produced by the House of Commons Library (CBP 7438) shows that the number of statutory instruments laid before the House of Commons peaked at 1,885 in the 2005-06 session, compared to 1,378 last session and 540 so far this session.

01/01/2023
Emma Reynolds – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Reynolds on 2016-03-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much funding UK universities have been allocated under (a) the EU’s 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development, (b) Horizon 2020 and (c) the Erasmus programme; and what estimate of the future level of EU funding to UK universities his Department has made.

Joseph Johnson

The UK received around €7 billion under the EU’s 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP7) and was the second highest recipient amongst Member States. Of this, €4.97 billion was awarded to UK Secondary and Higher Education Establishments. The UK had the top four Secondary and Higher Education Establishments in terms of FP7 funding received between 2007-2013 (Cambridge, Oxford, University College London and Imperial).

Under the current Horizon 2020 programme (2014-2020), UK Secondary and Higher Education Establishments have been awarded €0.89 billion up to the October 2015 release of grant data.

Under the current Erasmus+ programme, provisional figures indicate that UK Higher Education Institutions received a total of €114 million in 2014 and 2015. Approximately 220,000 students have benefitted from the Erasmus Programme since it began.

The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills does not make estimates of future funding to UK participants in these programmes.

01/01/2023
Lord Trefgarne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Trefgarne on 2016-04-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to require cyclists using the public highway to carry photo identification.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

We have no plans to make cyclists carry photographic or other forms of identification. The police already have sufficient powers if they are unsure of a person’s identity. There are other users of the highway, for instance pedestrians and horse riders who are also not required to carry personal identification, or have other forms of identification, e.g. registration numbers displayed.

The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 sets out the general powers available to the police, including in circumstances when an individual’s identity needs to be established, or when false identity information has been provided. Similarly, powers exist under Section 168 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, where the person is suspected of having committed an offence under Sections 28 (Dangerous Cycling) and 29 (Careless Cycling) of the same Act. The application of any such powers is an operational matter for the police.

01/01/2023