Tag: 2016

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of onshore oil and gas (a) licence blocks and (b) wells with permission to be drilled are in areas with high or medium flood risk; what the Government’s policy is on permitting fracking in areas of flood risk; what assessment she has made of the effect of flooding on the risks of water contamination associated with shale gas extraction; and if she will make a statement.

    Rory Stewart

    Prior to the launch of the 14th Onshore Oil and Gas Licensing Round, a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) was undertaken for all areas offered for licensing applications, which addressed flood risk. The award of a Petroleum Exploration and Development Licence (PEDL) does not itself give any permission for operations to begin. Before a licensee can commence any operations they must apply for and be granted a number of further permissions and consents for each specific site within a PEDL area. These include planning permission and environmental permits from the Environment Agency.

    Flood risk will be considered on a case by case basis where relevant as part of the consideration through the planning system of proposals for onshore oil and gas development, including development involving hydraulic fracturing. National planning policy is clearthat inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding shouldbe avoided by directing development away from areas at highest risk. Where development is necessary, it should be made safe without increasing flood risk elsewhere. The policy is also clear that development should not contribute to, or be adversely affected by, unacceptable levels of water pollution.

    Flood risk is also taken into account by the Environment Agency before any environmental permits are issued to drill for oil and gas. If a company wishes to carry out works in, over, under or near a main river, flood defence or a sea defence, they must apply to the Environment Agency for consent. To carry out work on watercourses which are not regulated by the Agency, a company will need to apply to the relevant regulatory body responsible for that particular watercourse.

  • George Howarth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    George Howarth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by George Howarth on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he will announce the level of grant funding available to Police and Crime Commissioners; and if he will make a statement.

    Mike Penning

    I wrote to Police and Crime Commissioners on 22 January 2016 to confirm their victims’ services commissioning grants for 2016-17. We have protected the total budget for victims’ services. PCCs allocations have been held at the 2015-16 level of £63.15m. PCCs will also be allocated an additional £4.7m to support victims of child sexual abuse.

  • Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his Department’s wellness strategy is.

    Mike Penning

    The Ministry of Justices (MoJ) Wellbeing strategy seeks to help foster a culture that promotes physical and mental wellbeing for all staff and to make the management of health and wellbeing part of our daily routine.

  • Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-03-17.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Bank of England on utilising the University College London RSCoin proposal as an alternative to Western Union, CHAPS, BACS and the Faster Payment Service.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Digital currencies, and the distributed ledger technology that underpins them, have the potential to bring innovative services and products to UK customers and firms – particularly in areas like international transfers.

    The Chancellor announced in March 2015 that the Government will bring digital currency exchange firms into regulation in the UK to help the legitimate industry flourish, and to create a hostile environment for illicit actors. We will publish proposals on this regulatory regime in due course.

    As outlined in Deputy Governor, Ben Broadbent’s recent speech, the Bank of England is also exploring this emerging sector and the implications it could have for monetary and financial stability as part of its broader research agenda.

    Separately, academics at University College London’s (UCL) digital currency research centre have also been looking at how the distributed ledger technology that underpins digital currencies could be harnessed by central banks. The Government is encouraged to see this research from one of the UK’s world-leading universities. However, this a theoretical paper by an independent institution, separate from the Bank of England’s work and from Government policy.

    It is the Government’s ambition to foster the growth of legitimate digital currency firms as part of the wider FinTech ecosystem here in the UK. As part of this, the Government will consider the wider implications of a growing digital currencies sector for the financial services sector and the economy as a whole. Some parts of Government are also looking at how the benefits of distributed ledger technology can be harnessed to deliver greater innovation. However, the Government and the Bank of England do not currently have any plans to introduce a centrally issued digital currency.

    The UK has been rated as having the world’s leading FinTech ecosystem in a recent global benchmarking exercise and attracted c. £524mn in investment in 2015.

  • Antoinette Sandbach – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Antoinette Sandbach – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Antoinette Sandbach on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the cost of (a) construction of High Speed 2 through Eddisbury constituency and (b) dealing with engineering issues arising from salt mining, brine extraction or subsistence in such construction.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    No specific estimates have been made for the cost of construction or dealing with engineering issues arising from salt within the Eddisbury constituency, however the cost of construction of this section of HS2 and risk provision for engineering issues arising from salt has been included in the overall funding envelope which was confirmed in November 2015.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to protect children from in-game selling and promotions when playing games online.

    Nick Boles

    The Government is committed to ensuring that consumers are properly protected and that children’s vulnerability and inexperience is not exploited by aggressive commercial practices. We welcomed the Office of Fair Trading’s (OFT) investigation into whether children have been unfairly encouraged to spend money in online games and apps, in breach of consumer laws. The OFT’s subsequent Principles for Online and App-based Games were published in January 2014, to help ensure that online and app games publishers better understand their responsibilities and do not subject children to unfair or aggressive selling practices. The Competition and Markets Authority subsequently referred 3 games to the Advertising Standards Authority for further enforcement action.

  • Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Anna Turley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2016-07-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with Nintendo about incidences of trespass or disrespecting of cemeteries or religious sites caused by players of Pokémon Go.

    Matt Hancock

    Many people in the UK enjoy playing Pokemon Go and most act responsibly whilst doing so. It is important that all players abide by the law and respect their surroundings. During the summer Pokemon Go’s developers in the US, Niantic, added some new warnings to the game’s loading screen, for example reminding players not to trespass and not to enter dangerous areas. Owners or managers of specific sites who are concerned about players visiting a nearby PokeStop or Gym are able to use Niantic’s report system to request that the stop is removed from the game.

    Meanwhile, we are in touch with representatives of Niantic to discuss features of Pokemon Go and the advice they provide to consumers in the UK.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to enforce the EU-wide ban on 37 invasive species.

    George Eustice

    The EU Regulation on Invasive Alien Species came into force in January 2015, with the first list of 37 banned species published in August 2016.

    We are preparing to introduce penalties and sanctions for breaches of the restrictions. We will also be setting up a permitting process. We plan to consult on our proposals shortly.

  • Clive Efford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Clive Efford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Clive Efford on 2016-01-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the Colombian authorities regarding the status of the investigation into the murder of Benicio Flor Belardo Cazar on 11 October 2015 in La Meseta, Suarez.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    I was sorry to hear of the death of Benicio Flor Belalcázar. Whilst the United Kingdom cannot interfere in another country’s judicial process, we continue to encourage the government of Colombia in its efforts to prevent violence and threats against human rights defenders, trades unionists, political activists and civil society and to promptly investigate human rights violations.

    As I have said to the House on a number of occasions, I am convinced that current efforts to secure peace represent the best prospect for the rights of all Colombians. This Government remains hugely supportive of this process.

  • Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lilian Greenwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-02-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2016 to Question 24477, which railway stations in which regions are fitted with ITSO-compliant smartcard readers.

    Claire Perry

    Further to the answer to Question 24477 the attached tables list railway stations by region that are fitted with ITSO-compliant smartcard readers.

    The table contains 710 rail stations – this is 8 fewer than the previous answer, because in the answer provided to the Hon. member on 2nd February, three stations operated by more than one train operator were split into multiple entries and the five stations in addition to Gatwick Airport that were involved in January’s extension of Oyster were also listed twice. This duplication has been removed.