Tag: Alan Brown

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-07-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the area of new woodland planting was in 2015-16; and what assessment she has made of progress towards meeting her Department’s target for such planting.

Dr Thérèse Coffey

Forestry is a devolved matter and the answer refers to England only.

Figures published by the Forestry Commission show that between April 2015-June 2016, 1,292,000 trees were planted on 968 hectares, supported by the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE).

In addition, the Forestry Commission estimates that a further 165 hectares of woodland was created without RDPE support during 2015-16.

The Government remains committed to planting 11 million trees during this Parliament.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2015-11-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department has made of the comparative merits of electricity storage and transmission network upgrades.

Andrea Leadsom

The Network Options Assessment (NOA) was introduced as a result of Ofgem’s Integrated Transmission Planning and Regulation project.It is an holistic, forward-looking analysis of the options for the development of the transmission system.The NOA has a 10-year outlook and will be published annually.In developing the annual statement, National Grid as System Operator must work closely with the three GB transmission operators to propose network solutions which facilitate an efficient, coordinated and economical system of electricity transmission. As part of this process, National Grid is required to consider the merits of solutions other than transmission build, such as storage. A cost-benefit analysis of storage compared to other assets is performed by National Grid as a part of this assessment, in which constraint payments form a part.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2015-12-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Prime Minister’s oral contribution of 26 November 2015, Official Report, column 1535, what the estimated transition period is for stability post war.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The International Syria Support Group has set out a target timeline for transition. This timeline includes the start of Syrian-led negotiations under UN auspices by 1 January 2016; transition within six months; and free and fair elections within 18 months. We are working with international partners to meet those targets and to provide the support needed to ensure that Syria can return to stability.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-03-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he expects discussions to begin with the US government on extending the lease for the military base on Diego Garcia.

James Duddridge

We have been clear that we want to see US presence continue. No decisions have yet been made about whether and when to have discussions with the US about their continued presence on Diego Garcia.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 21 April 2016 to Question 34466, for what reason a save function is only available as part of the universal credit full service.

Priti Patel

The ‘save and return’ functionality is available in the Universal Credit Full Service because the Full Service has all the security features necessary to safeguard the claimant’s data, by confirming the identity of the returning user.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that asylum caseworkers are trained to assess the claims of people who are seeking asylum on the grounds of persecution relating to religion or belief.

James Brokenshire

The Home Office carefully considers all asylum claims on their individual merits, including claims based on religious persecution. We grant protection to those who genuinely need it in accordance with our international obligations under the Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

Published guidance on the interviewing and consideration of asylum claims is regularly reviewed and takes into consideration the views of stakeholders, including religious groups. The current training and support available for asylum caseworkers includes a UNHCR endorsed Foundation Training Programme. This, and follow-on courses, covers all aspects of the asylum interview and decision making process, including the assessment of credibility and country information in religious based claims. Real-life case studies and role-play are used throughout the training programme to reinforce knowledge and understanding of the issues.

We are currently carefully considering the APPG report and it’s recommendations and will provide a response in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-07-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to reduce approval process timescales for woodland planting.

Dr Thérèse Coffey

Forestry is a devolved matter and the answer refers to England only.

We have improved the process for Countryside Stewardship applications for woodland creation in the 2016-17 planting season. Any amendments that may be required for existing Environmental Stewardship Schemes can be made earlier in this year than in previous years. The Rural Payments Agency has new systems for digitisation of land registration and parcel amendments to support smoother application processing. Scoring has been simplified and we have introduced a self-calculating and self-populating application form to ease the application process.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2015-11-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate her Department has made of the likely effect on household electricity bills of the agreement of a £92.50 MWh rate for the proposed Hinkley Point C nuclear power station.

Andrea Leadsom

Under the CfD consumers will not pay anything for electricity until the plant is powering their homes and businesses. Payments under the CfD are expected to make up around £10 (real 2012 prices) of the average household energy bill in 2030. This should be seen in the context of Hinkley Point C meeting 7% of the UK’s energy needs, and set against our estimate that a new nuclear programme could reduce average household bills by up to around £30 in 2030. This is calculated by comparing the costs for consumers in a modelled scenario for the future electricity mix with Hinkley Point C and a further role out of the new nuclear programme with the cost for consumers in a scenario where there are no new nuclear power stations by 2030. Savings could be higher or lower depending on changes in the cost of alternative generation technologies and what mix of technologies would ultimately be used.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reasons the exemption for light goods vehicles from tachograph and EC driver rule requirements has not been extended to passenger carrying vehicles (PCVs); and if he will take steps to extend the exemption to PCVs.

Andrew Jones

Small passenger carrying vehicles, with 8 or less passenger seats (like light goods vehicles, weighing less than 3.5 tonnes), are also exempt from the EU drivers’ hours rules and the need to use a tachograph. In addition, vehicles with between 10 and 17 seats used exclusively for the non-commercial carriage of passengers are also exempt from the EU rules, along with vehicles used for the carriage of passengers on regular routes, where the route covered does not exceed 50km (local bus services).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2016-03-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what further consultation he plans to hold before a final decision is made on possible resettlement of the Chagos Islanders; whom that consultation will involve; and who will make that final decision.

James Duddridge

The public consultation on a potential resettlement of the British Indian Ocean Territory concluded on 27 October 2015, and the summary of its responses was published by the Government on 21 January 2016. The Government is now considering all the relevant material, including these responses, and the recent independent feasibility study published in February 2015. The consultation is now closed and it is for the government to now make a decision.