Tag: 2016

Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-05-05.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to ensure that the membership of the Council of Data Science Ethics includes non-public sector experts and other representatives from that field.

Matthew Hancock

The Science and Technology Committee report on the Big Data Dilemma recommended that a Council for Data Ethics be established. The Government response was published on 26th April 2016 and can be found at the following link: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201516/cmselect/cmsctech/992/99204.htm

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January 1, 2023
Stephen Gethins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Gethins on 2016-06-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on the rights of UK citizens living and working elsewhere in the EU to continue to benefit from freedom of movement in the EU.

Mr David Lidington

The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) and I have been holding, and are continuing to hold, discussions with our EU counterparts since the referendum. As the Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) said in his statement to the House on 27 June, there will be no immediate changes in the circumstances of UK citizens living in the EU. Future arrangements will be something for the next Prime Minister and their Cabinet to decide in the context of negotiations with EU Partners.

January 1, 2023
Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town on 2016-09-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the progress made by the eight Competent Authorities recognised as relevant bodies under the Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes (Competent Authorities and Information) Regulations 2015 and the amending regulations to ensure consistency across their respective jurisdictions.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The Government supports the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) to help businesses and consumers save time and money when dealing with complaints. Approved ADR is available for every consumer to trader dispute in the UK.

We have not estimated what proportion of retail businesses have a designated ADR provider as it is open to the retailer to choose a different ADR provider with the necessary skills and experience to deal with a particular dispute.

The Chartered Trading Standards Institute acts as the lead competent authority and has held working groups and individual meetings with the other competent authorities to ensure consistency of approach.

January 1, 2023
Stephen Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Phillips on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on how many occasions her Department has been notified by external consultants or other third parties of breaches by employees or subcontractors of those consultants of document retention or security policies relating to confidential or secure materials in each of the last two years.

Karen Bradley

The Home Office has no recorded breaches of material classified as ‘confidential’ or ‘official sensitive’ or above for contractors during the period from January 2014 to date. During this period, in April 2014, the Government Security Classification markings changed from a six-tier protective marking system (unclassified, protect, restricted, confidential, secret and top secret) to a three-tier system (official, secret and top secret). Official – Sensitive is a handling caveat of the ‘Official’ tier in the Government Security Classifications (GSC) Policy. Official-Sensitive is not a separate classification.

January 1, 2023
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.

January 1, 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.

January 1, 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.

January 1, 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.

January 1, 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.

January 1, 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.

January 1, 2023