The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Campbell on 2016-10-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many properties affected by subsidence have been compulsorily purchased by the Coal Authority in each of the last five years.
Jesse Norman
The Coal Authority has no compulsory purchase powers in relation to subsidence and as such has not purchased any properties on that basis in the last five years.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2016-01-13.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their definition of a sink estate and what criteria they are using to draw up a list of them; what discussions they have had, or will have, with local authorities before drawing up such a list and before any decisions are made about the future of estates on that list; and which estates they have so far identified that (1) qualify as sink estates, and (2) they propose to demolish in whole or in part.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
The Estates Regeneration Advisory Panel members, criteria and terms of reference will be published in due course.
The Panel will evaluate the potential for the regeneration of particular estates over the coming months, and will report by this year’s Autumn Statement.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-02-02.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the rental income generated for investors in his Department’s sukuk bond scheme is equivalent to that of the coupon paid from a June 2014 Government five-year gilt.
Harriett Baldwin
In the Sukuk structure, rental payments provide the income for investors. When the Sovereign Sukuk were issued in July 2014 the profit rate was set at 2.036% in line with the yield on gilts of similar maturity, making the investor return on the Sukuk broadly equivalent to that on conventional gilts of similar maturity.
Three central government properties form the underlying assets which underpin the Sukuk.
The Government was clear at the time of issuance that the Sukuk issuance was not for debt financing purposes. Instead, it was issued to deliver on the government’s commitment to become the western hub for Islamic finance. The issuance showed that the UK is open for business with all parts of the world and provided high quality capital to UK-based Islamic banks.
UK based institutions that offer Islamic finance services are contributing to jobs and growth with assets totalling $4.5bn at the end of 2014.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2016-02-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department takes to monitor and assess allegations of human rights abuses by UK-listed companies.
Anna Soubry
Where allegations are made against companies (listed or otherwise) about breaches of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, including the guidelines on human rights, these breaches are assessed by the UK’s National Contact Point in accordance with the framework set out in the Guidelines.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-03-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to ring-fence special educational needs funding as part of her Department’s new national funding formula.
Mr Sam Gyimah
We are currently consulting on arrangements for new national formulae for schools and high needs funding (funding for pupils with high cost Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)). Both funding streams, along with early years funding, make up the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG), which is ring-fenced so that local authorities can only spend it on specified elements of education. The DSG will continue to be ring-fenced when the national funding formulae are in place. We have also protected the high needs budget in this Parliament and the previous one. We recently added £92.5 million to the 2016-17 allocations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2016-05-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will conduct research on the potential link between levels of productivity and the provision of high-speed data services and broadband connectivity.
Mr Edward Vaizey
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport commissioned research by SQW Consulting who produced the UK Broadband Impact Study in November 2013. The study demonstrates a clear link between improved productivity and high quality broadband connectivity. For example, the study estimated that the availability and take-up of faster broadband speeds will add about £17 billion to the UK’s annual Gross Value Added (GVA) by 2024.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2016-06-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assistance his Department is providing to the Iraqi armed forces to help reclaim the city of Fallujah from Daesh.
Penny Mordaunt
As part of Coalition forces, the RAF is conducting airstrikes against Daesh targets providing Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance in support of Iraqi Security Forces operations in Fallujah.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Conor McGinn on 2016-09-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to incentivise energy companies to assist people in (a) fuel poverty and (b) fuel debt.
Jesse Norman
The Government recently consulted on proposals to increase the amount that energy companies pay to fund household energy efficiency improvements for low income and vulnerable households to £450m by 2017 and up to £640m by 2018.
Energy companies are also required to provide over 2 million low income and vulnerable households with a £140 rebate off their energy bill each winter, under the Warm Home Discount Scheme.
These proposals combined will see up to £1bn of support for low income and vulnerable households each year from 2018.
If suppliers believe a domestic customer is having difficulty paying all or part of their energy bills, they must offer facilities to make payments by: deductions direct from benefits, known as Fuel Direct; regular instalments paid through a means other than a prepayment meter; or, using a prepayment meter, where it is safe and reasonably practicable for the customer to do so.
It is important that customers who are experiencing difficulties in paying their gas or electricity bills contact their supplier as soon as possible to arrange a repayment plan that suits their needs.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-10-24.
To ask the Attorney General, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the use of the European Arrest Warrant.
Robert Buckland
The European Arrest Warrant (EAW) provides a basis for a swift and cost-efficient extradition process between EU Member States implementing the principle of ‘mutual recognition’ of judicial decisions. The UK continues to work closely with Member States to execute EAW following the referendum.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2016-01-13.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimates, if any, they have made of the changes to the water table in Cumbria, Yorkshire and Lancashire as a result of rainfall over the last six weeks.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Environment Agency’s water situation report for the north west of England (which is published on the Gov.UK website) reports the situation for observation boreholes in the main bedrock aquifer in Cumbria and Lancashire, the Sherwood Sandstone. The Sherwood Sandstone is moderately unresponsive to rainfall events and this is partly because of the high storage characteristics of the sandstone and also because much of it is covered by low permeability glacial clays.
Hydrographs for Skirwith (Cumbria) and Yew Tree Farm (West Lancashire) are thought to be representative of this aquifer, although this monitoring is undertaken for water resources purposes not groundwater flooding purposes.
The Environment Agency routinely monitors groundwater throughout Yorkshire. Water levels in November 2015 were:
Levels in all the aquifers in Yorkshire have responded to the rainfall in late December 2015 and early January 2016:
The Environment Agency undertakes monitoring and assessment of different aquifers locally, based upon the potential risk of groundwater flooding. A system of groundwater flood alerts and warnings is provided through our incident response procedures for those communities most vulnerable to potential groundwater flooding.
Lead Local Flood Authorities (LLFAs)(Local Councils) have responsibility for local flood risk including groundwater under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. This Act gives LLFAs duties to prepare local flood risk management strategies and to co-operate with other risk management authorities, and powers to carry out local flood risk management.