Tag: Alex Cunningham

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, for what reason the report commissioned by his Department from Ecofys on international electricity prices has not yet been published; when the Government plans to publish that report; and whether that report found that electricity price increases for energy intensive industries as a result of climate policies will be larger in the UK than any other country.

Anna Soubry

The Department is currently reviewing the findings of the Ecofys international energy price comparisons report. We are considering publication options but the report found that the increase in electricity prices for energy intensive industries varies considerably by country depending on their climate change policy landscape.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-03-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what resources she plans to allocate to enforcing comprehensive management plans in current and future Marine Conservation Zones.

George Eustice

Under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009, marine regulators are required to enforce, and ensure compliance with, any management measures put in place to protect Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs).

In December 2015, Defra confirmed it would continue to allocate £3 million New Burdens funding until 2020, which can be used for costs associated with MCZ designation including enforcement. In addition, allocations of funding to various activities are set out in an Action Plan for the Marine Management Organisation and the Annual Plans produced by the ten Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities (IFCAs).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-04-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 11 April 2016 to Question 32147, whether his Department plans to bring forward proposals to enable police to issue fixed notices for people smoking in cars with children present.

Jane Ellison

The police use traffic offender reports to record information on a range of offences, including for smoking in private vehicles carrying children. Local authorities can then take appropriate enforcement action, including the issue fixed penalty notices, rather than the police.

Guidance on the use of traffic offender reports to share information with local authorities has been circulated to police forces.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to the Answer of 14 April 2016 to Question 33419, what the next steps are and when she expects to come to a final position on the UK and French tiering proposal for Phase IV of the EU Emissions Trading System.

Andrea Leadsom

The Government supports the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) as a market-based approach to achieve least-cost decarbonisation and maintain a level playing field across the EU. Negotiations to reform and strengthen the EU ETS for the next phase of the system are still in the early stages. Following the joint UK-France proposals on tiering of EU ETS free allowances in February, officials have continued to discuss this in greater detail with counterparts in other Member States, as well as with members of the European Parliament, the European Commission and industry representatives. EU ETS negotiations are at an early stage and we expect to develop our thinking further over the coming months.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-05-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the progress of the programme to re-paint the red doors of properties used to house asylum seekers on Teesside.

James Brokenshire

The provision of accommodation for asylum seekers is provided under the COMPASS contracts. It is the responsibility of all of the suppliers to ensure that all accommodation used meets the required contractual standard and complies with the Decent Homes Standards. The accommodation should be safe, habitable and fit for purpose. The COMPASS providers are required to inspect properties each month and UKVI’s contract compliance teams reinforce this by visiting properties regularly.

The Home Office expects the highest standards and where a contractor is found to be falling short of these standards we work with them to ensure that issues are quickly addressed.

Earlier this year, we instructed our supplier (G4S) to repaint the doors of G4S and Jomast managed properties to ensure that no one colour is predominant. I have received confirmation from the Provider that this had been completed, UKVI staff have also confirmed that no one colour is predominant as they have visited properties as part of their inspection regime.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-10-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much coal the UK carbon fibre industry used in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.

Jesse Norman

The table below gives the amount of coal used for non-power generating purposes:

	UK coal demand for non-electricity generating purposes(1) (thousand tonnes)
2006	10,156
2007	10,158
2008	10,577
2009	9,037
2010	9,827
2011	9,658
2012	9,141
2013	10,139
2014	10,021
2015	8,174

Source: Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES) table 2.4 available at

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/solid-fuels-and-derived-gases-chapter-2-digest-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukes

BEIS does not hold data at that level. BEIS cannot disaggregate coal used by the carbon fibre industry from coal used by all industries.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the animal welfare benefits of the proper use of non-toxic alternatives to lead ammunition for sports shooting; and what comparative assessment she has made of the policies adopted in other countries and their effect on animal welfare.

Rory Stewart

The Government is considering the independent Lead Ammunition Group’s report on the effect of lead shot on human and wildlife health and will respond as soon as possible.

The Food Standards Agency has produced advice on the consumption of lead shot game which can be accessed at https://www.food.gov.uk/science/advice-to-frequent-eaters-of-game-shot-with-lead.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what role the National Wildlife Crime Unit will play as part of the UK’s commitment to Action on the Illegal Wildlife Trade from March 2016.

Rory Stewart

In the UK’s Commitment to Action on the Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT), published in February 2014, the Government committed to “take a national strategic approach to domestic action on IWT through . . . . funding the UK National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) until 2016”. Defra and the Home Office together have provided £544,000 for the NWCU over 2014-15 and 2015-16.

Decisions on future funding of the UK National Wildlife Crime Unit beyond March 2016 will be made as part of the current Spending Review process.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will carry out an assessment after the November Spending Review of local authorities’ capacity to meet their new duties under the Care Act 2014 following changes to local authority funding.

Alistair Burt

Funding decisions for 2016/17 onwards, including on adult social care, are subject to the forthcoming Spending Review.

Officials in the Department and across government are working hard to understand pressures on the care system and will consider adult social care expenditure and the future demand as part of this process. This includes ongoing Care Act pressures.

We will continue to review and monitor implementation of the Care Act which includes a series of stocktakes of local authority readiness and the latest, from June 2015, demonstrates an overall positive picture on implementation. It details:

– Councils’ confidence in their ability to deliver the Care Act Reforms in 2015/16 remains high, with 99% very or fairly confident.

– 89% of councils say that they are ‘on track’ with their implementation. The remaining 11% report themselves as only slightly behind.

There are two further local authority stocktakes planned for the remainder of the financial year which will monitor the progress on implementing change. It is our intention to repeat the surveys next year to continue monitoring progress, subject to agreement with local government.

The Department will also commission a piece of research to evaluate and inform implementation of the Care Act 2014. The research will focus on knowing more about how the Act is being implemented locally and to see how effectively the Act is achieving its underlying aims.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-11-20.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how his Department is monitoring the implementation of the family test across Government.

Mr Oliver Letwin

The Family Test was announced by the Prime Minister in August 2014 and introduced in October 2014, through the publication of guidance for officials – which can be found online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/368894/family-test-guidance.pdf. Consideration of the Family Test takes place as part of the usual policy making process within departments.

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