Tag: Alex Cunningham

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-12-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will develop a carbon capture and storage strategy for energy intensive industries.

Andrea Leadsom

The provision of ring-fenced capital support for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) was judged against other Government funding priorities as part of the Spending Review. Government has not taken the Spending Review decision lightly. The Government continues to view CCS as having a potential role in the long-term decarbonisation of the UK’s power and industrial sectors. Neither CCS Competition project proposed to capture CO2 from energy intensive industries.

The detailed design and implementation of CCS policy changes have yet to be determined. The Industrial 2050 Decarbonisation and Energy Efficiency Roadmaps reports published in March 2015 identified a potential role for industrial CCS technologies in decarbonising the steel, oil refining, chemicals and cement sectors. DECC and BIS continue to engage with the energy intensive industries and academics to develop decarbonisation Action Plans by the end of 2016 as the second phase of this process.

The Government remains committed to working with energy intensive industries including those in the Northern Powerhouse area. DECC provided £1million funding to Tees Valley Unlimited as part of the 2013 City Deal agreement to undertake an Industrial CCS feasibility study based on the chemicals and steel industry in the Teesside cluster and we continue to support that work. The devolution deal for Tees Valley, published in October this year, also included a commitment to explore how it can continue to develop its industrial CCS proposals.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-01-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many new homes have been built in National Flood Zone 3 in each of the last five years.

Brandon Lewis

The Department’s latest land use change statistics provide estimates on the proportion of new residential addresses created in national flood zone 3. The latest figures show that in 2013-14, 7% of new residential addresses were created in the national flood zone 3. This equates to an estimated 9,100 homes being built in national flood zone 3 in 2013-14.

Prior to the publication of 2013-14 figures land use change statistics were calculated using a different methodology so they are not directly comparable to the 2013-14 figures. Figures produced using the previous methodology were last published for the calendar year 2011 and are provided in the attached table.

National planning policy is designed to protect people and property from flooding. Local planning authorities are expected to avoid inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding by directing development away from areas at highest risk.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-01-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to make an assessment of the humaneness of hunting with dogs.

Rory Stewart

The Government has no plans to make an assessment of the humaneness of hunting with dogs. However, in 1999 a Government Committee (the Burns Inquiry) was set up to examine the facts in the debate about hunting with dogs, including whether hunting with dogs is cruel. The findings of the inquiry were published on 9 June 2000 (www.huntinginquiry.gov.uk/mainsections/huntingframe.htm).

On 12 March 2001 Lord Burns stated: “… There was not sufficient verifiable evidence or data safely to reach views about cruelty. It is a complex area …". [Hansard 12 March 2001; col. 533

http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/2001/mar/12/hunting-bill].

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-01-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on measures to ensure that banks and other financial institutions are not able to profit from the merging of any further education institutions as a result of his Department’s area reviews.

Nick Boles

I refer the hon Member to the answer to Question UIN 02129.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-02-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her speech at the Oxford Farming Conference on 6 January 2016, what additional powers she plans to grant to internal drainage boards and other groups to maintain local watercourses.

Rory Stewart

The Government believes that flood risk management work should be carried out by those best placed to do it. The Environment Agency (EA) works in close partnership with Internal Drainage Boards (IDBs) and regularly discusses local watercourse maintenance plans with them, including to agree where IDBs could do work on the EA’s behalf, through public sector cooperation agreements. We will continue to discuss with IDBs and other groups where they could take on more responsibility and control of local flood risk management, including by facilitating flood risk partnerships.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if his Department will undertake a reassessment of the adequacy of flood alleviation measures proposed in planning permissions that have been granted to developments on floodplains affected by recent flooding.

Brandon Lewis

It is primarily the responsibility of local planning authorities to determine applications for planning permission. The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that local planning authorities should avoid inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding by directing development away from areas at highest risk, including floodplains. If there are better sites in terms of flood risk, or a proposed development cannot be made safe, it should not be permitted. Any new buildings that are permitted in flood risk areas should be appropriately flood resistant and resilient.

Local planning authorities and developers are best-placed to understand the details of the development proposed and the local circumstances and risks to determine if a review is needed. It is in the interest of both the local planning authority and the developer to review a planning permission that has yet to be implemented in an area affected by the recent flooding. This can lead to an entirely new planning application being submitted by the developer to deal with the flooding issues now known. If adjustments can be made to the development, an application to make a non-material amendment under section 96A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 may follow. This would allow the local planning authority to impose new conditions and remove or vary conditions attached to an existing planning permission, and may include a requirement to submit an updated flood risk assessment.

If needed, local planning authorities also have powers under section 97 of the 1990 Act to make an order revoking or modifying a planning permission, prior to completion of the development.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will direct local planning authorities to reassess planning permissions granted to developments on floodplains that have been affected by recent flooding events.

Brandon Lewis

I am writing to local authorities affected by the recent floods to remind them of the options available where a development site with an unimplemented planning permission has flooded. Local planning authorities, in consultation with developers, are best-placed to consider whether reviewing a planning permission is appropriate, and what subsequent action may be required to ensure developments will be safe and resilient to flooding, in line with national planning policy.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects effective processes to be in place to allow the issuing of fixed penalty notices to people who are smoking in cars when children are present.

Jane Ellison

Local authorities can issue fixed penalty notices for offences related to smoking in private vehicles carrying children; the police can use the traffic offender report to pass information to local authorities who can issue the fixed penalty notice and collect the fines. Guidance on this process has been sent to police forces.

The police and local authorities can also collaborate on enforcement action, for example when carrying out local road safety operations, when the local authority can take enforcement action as appropriate.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-04-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time is for the Independent Case Examiner to review accepted cases; and if he will make a statement.

Justin Tomlinson

During the 2015/16 financial year complaints examined by the Independent Case Examiner’s (ICE) Office took an average of 37 weeks to process from the point at which they were accepted.

Improvements in complaint handling within DWP mean that the ICE Office receive far fewer cases which can be resolved, to the complainant’s satisfaction, without a full investigation of the evidence. This means that the ICE process is reserved for more complex cases which are, by nature, more time consuming.

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 11 May 2016 to Question 36451, if she will make it her policy to publish dates of meetings held between the Inter-Ministerial Group on Oil and Gas and representatives from that industry since May 2015.

Andrea Leadsom

The members of the Inter-Ministerial Group are fully engaged with this industry and use this to inform the group’s work.