Tag: Alan Whitehead

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Whitehead on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether she plans to produce an updated version of her Department’s carbon capture and storage roadmap.

Andrea Leadsom

The Government continues to view Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) as having a potential role in the long-term decarbonisation of the UK’s power and industrial sectors. The detailed design and implementation of CCS policy changes are currently being assessed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Whitehead on 2016-09-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department’s announcement of 17 December 2015 on improving air quality in cities, what progress her Department has made on deciding what resources, funding and guidance will be made available to the five local authorities which are introducing clean air zones.

Dr Thérèse Coffey

Air quality has improved significantly in recent decades and we are working at local, national and international levels to continue those improvements. The UK currently meets legal limits for almost all pollutants.

The national air quality plan for NO₂, published in December last year, combines targeted local and national measures, forming part of a wider approach that exploits new and clean technologies, such as electric and ultra-low emission vehicles. As part of the national plan we are requiring five cities to implement Clean Air Zones. The relevant cities are Birmingham, Derby, Leeds, Nottingham and Southampton.

The Joint Air Quality Unit has been established to deliver the national plan and is working in close cooperation with local authorities. The unit will provide guidance and support to local authorities to implement the plan by producing a Clean Air Zone framework which will set out how zones should be implemented, ensuring consistency across English local authorities. This will allow businesses and individuals to make straightforward economic decisions about which vehicles to purchase, and how and when they use them. We will support local authorities to make improvements to air quality through a variety of measures, including the Air Quality Grant, a competitive fund supporting local action to improve air quality.

We are also providing dedicated support for the five cities which are required to implement Clean Air Zones by funding local scoping studies. In addition, we will provide funding to help these local authorities implement the zones and, where necessary, support the implementation of additional measures.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Whitehead on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether she plans to produce an updated version of her Department’s carbon capture and storage scoping document.

Andrea Leadsom

The Government continues to view Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) as having a potential role in the long-term decarbonisation of the UK’s power and industrial sectors. The detailed design and implementation of CCS policy changes are currently being assessed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Whitehead on 2016-09-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to publish the membership of the body which will oversee the proposed review of neonatal services in England; and whether that review will examine (a) admissions rates, (b) length of stay and (c) outcomes by (i) singleton and (ii) multiple pregnancies.

Mr Philip Dunne

The NHS England Maternity Review, Better Births (published February 2016), made a number of recommendations including a review of neonatal critical care. NHS England’s Women and Children’s Programme of Care and its Neonatal Critical Care Clinical Reference Group (CRG) will take this work forward. The review will focus on a number of themes and variables including admission rates, length of stay, outcomes and pregnancy profiles.

NHS England’s Women and Children’s Programme of Care Board will oversee the review and will also report progress to the Maternity Transformation Programme. The membership of the team that will oversee the review is not yet finalised, but Dr Peter Wilson, the Clinical Co-Chair of the Women and Children’s Programme of Care Board will be the Senior Responsible Officer.

Membership is also expected to include the Chair of the Neonatal Critical Care CRG Professor Neil Marlow, Lead Commissioner Natalie Hariram, and National Programme of Care Manager for Women and Children’s Services, Mary Passant, who are currently working on the scope of the review. The review team will also involve all Neonatal Care Operational Delivery Network Managers.

The Maternity Transformation Programme has asked that the review report initial findings in December 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Whitehead on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what plans she has for her Department’s Office of Carbon Capture and Storage.

Andrea Leadsom

The Government continues to view Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) as having a potential role in the long-term decarbonisation of the UK’s power and industrial sectors. The detailed design and implementation of CCS policy changes are currently being assessed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Whitehead on 2016-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, on what date he plans to open a consultation on the closure of coal plants by 2025.

Jesse Norman

Most of the UK’s existing coal fired power stations are old, relatively inefficient and require investment to reduce the level of damaging pollutants they emit. I expect to consult shortly on the closure of unabated coal stations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Whitehead on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of investor confidence in the carbon capture and storage industry following the CCS competition.

Andrea Leadsom

We are engaging closely with the two bidders and wider CCS industry on the implications for them of the recent decisions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Whitehead on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when she expects the Carbon Capture and Storage Development Forum sponsored by her Department to meet next.

Andrea Leadsom

I am attending the next meeting of the Carbon Capture and Storage Development Forum later this month.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Whitehead on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent discussions her Department has had with the Canadian Department of Natural Resources on the joint Statement of Co-operation with Canada on Carbon Capture and Storage.

Andrea Leadsom

Officials from the Department, as well as colleagues in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, are in regular contact with their Canadian counterparts on this and other issues related to Carbon Capture and Storage.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Whitehead on 2015-12-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much overspend against original estimates within the levy control framework has arisen from variations in (a) performance of offshore wind, (b) levels between strike price and reference price and (c) variations in allocations feed in tariff payments for solar PV installations in each of the last three years.

Andrea Leadsom

We do not break down published information on components of Levy Control Framework (LCF) spend to the level of detail requested, due to potential disclosure of commercially confidential information.

On 25 November 2015, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) published LCF projected spend of just under £9bn in 2020/21 (see Tables 1 and 2 below)¹. Between the projections Government published in November 20142 and this forecast, we have undertaken analysis to make changes to many assumptions, including technology-specific factors (including offshore wind), fossil fuel prices and electricity demand3. Collectively, changes in these factors have all affected overall estimates of LCF spend. However, we do not provide published estimates of how much is attributable to each individual factor. DECC will publish a further update to its projections, including the underpinning assumptions, in 2016.

Annex A

Table 1: OBR November 2015 main projections were as follows:

Policy (£m, nominal prices)	2015/16	2016/17	2017/18	2018/19	2019/20	2020/21
RO	3,850	4,615	5,375	5,855	6,035	6,230
FiTs	1,325	1,515	1,700	1,880	2,055	2,220
CfDs	15	225	545	1,095	2,225	2,805
Total	5,190	6,355	7,620	8,830	10,315	11,255

Figures are rounded to the nearest five million pounds. Totals may not sum due to rounding.

Table 2: OBR November 2015 main projections in 2011/12 prices:

£m, 2011/12 prices	2015/16	2016/17	2017/18	2018/19	2019/20	2020/21
RO	3,360	3,990	4,555	4,820	4,820	4,820
FiTs	1,155	1,310	1,440	1,550	1,640	1,720
CfDs	15	210	500	980	1,950	2,415
Total	4,530	5,505	6,495	7,350	8,415	8,955

Figures are rounded to the nearest five million pounds. Totals may not sum due to rounding.

[1] Note that OBR publishes figures in nominal terms, as opposed to our figures which are in 2011/12 real prices. Both sets of figures are attached at Annex A

2 Annual Energy Statement, page 73, https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/371388/43586_Cm_8945_print_ready.pdf

3 Data on fossil fuel prices and electricity demand assumptions have recently been published online at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fossil-fuel-price-projections-2015 and https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/updated-energy-and-emissions-projections-2015 respectively.