Tag: Baroness Byford

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2016-02-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the results from the latest Blueprint for Water Scorecard as launched on 6 November 2012.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

Blueprint for Water is an ongoing campaign of Non-Government Organisations that make an assessment against the scorecard they have produced.

Government has already taken substantive action to protect and improve the water environment. For example, through reducing phosphate pollution in rivers from sewage works by a fifth and ammonia by a sixth compared to 2010 through investment at almost 500 sewage treatment works. Also, £87 million invested in local actions to restore our rivers and this has supported projects to improve over nearly 10,000 miles of rivers

Looking ahead, £900 million has been made available under Countryside Stewardship for environmental action by farmers and there are plans by water companies to invest £3.5 billion.

These investments, together with other actions, are drawn together in River Basin Management Plans which contain a comprehensive programme for the water environment up to 2021 and which will be published soon.

Since the Water Scorecard of 2012, Blueprint for Water published a further report ‘Water Matters’ in September 2015. The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs accepted an invitation from the group to speak at the launch of this report in the Palace of Westminster, hosted by the hon. Member for Richmond Park, Zac Goldsmith.

In her speech the Secretary of State made it clear that Government shares many of the long-term outcomes put forward by the Blueprint for Water and went on to explain how Government intends to pursue them through the 25 Year Plan for the Environment. Blueprint and its constituent organisations will have an opportunity to contribute to this plan as it is refined further over summer and autumn 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2016-06-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the next BBC Charter will include a requirement for public service notices to be broadcast over (1) BBC radio, and (2) BBC television.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

There are provisions in the current BBC Framework Agreement for the broadcast of an announcement in an emergency. There are no plans to change this. The new BBC Framework Agreement will be published in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2016-02-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to shorten the teacher training period for graduates in life science subjects by allowing them to qualify in a single subject, such as physics, where there are shortages in qualified teacher numbers.

Lord Nash

It is for Initial Teacher Training (ITT) providers to use their professional judgement to determine how to structure the course. However, ITT courses must be designed so that teacher trainees can demonstrate by the end of their training that they meet all of the Teachers’ Standards at the appropriate level. The Teachers’ Standards, revised in September 2012, set out the key elements of effective teaching and the minimum expectations for the professional practice and conduct of teachers. The Teachers’ Standards have been attached to this answer.

Although it is already possible within existing flexibilities for schools and ITT providers to offer shorter or longer courses, the majority of postgraduate courses are one year in length. The National College for Teaching and Leadership is working with nine School Direct lead schools to pilot a shortened School Direct (salaried) route for physics and mathematics trainees. Findings from these pilots will be shared with the ITT sector to encourage other schools and ITT providers to use the existing flexibilities to meet their recruitment needs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2016-06-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the efficacy of the three-day interval between the notification and arrival of forest reproductive material in preventing damage to, or infection of, existing forestry.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The Forest Reproductive Material (Great Britain) Regulations 2002 regulate the marketing of forest reproductive material (FRM). There is no notification period for the introduction of FRM so no such assessment has been carried out.

The Plant and Tree Notification System requirements relates to the movement of certain tree species from other EU member states and extends to oak, plane, sweet chestnut, pine, elm, prunus and ash trees (although no movements of ash trees are permitted at present, due to ash dieback restrictions).

The scheme is intended to help the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s Plant Health and Seeds Inspectorate build intelligence about particular trades, particularly those where there is a risk of introducing harmful organisms, and to help arrange targeted inspections of such trees. The information is also valuable in the event of an outbreak, to facilitate tracing of trees which may be implicated, and to help inform the development of Defra policy. The scheme is not restricted to trees intended for forestry purposes.

Notification of importation of plants and trees should be before or within 5 days of the arrival of the consignment, detailing the planned destination in England or Wales.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2016-02-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many, and which, councils in England have followed the example of Hampshire and set up locally sourced food supplies for their schools or other council-run organisations.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The Department does not hold information on the number of councils that have set up locally sourced food supplies for school and other council-run organisations. However we encourage councils to use local goods and services in any of their procurement and commissioning activity, and to be open and transparent to their local community.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2016-06-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will make the police information number 101 a free phone number.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The public have always paid to contact the police for non-emergencies and the 15 pence per call charge is a competitive and transparent rate, especially when compared to previous police non-emergency numbers (such as 0845 numbers) which could cost up to 40 pence per minute.

Research by Ofcom shows that a small fixed charge does not deter people from calling the service and reduces the likelihood of it being used inappropriately.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2016-02-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they collect statistics on the durability of condensing boilers; and if so, how they compare with the types of boilers they have replaced.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

The Government does not collect statistics on the durability of condensing boilers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2016-06-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether companies employed to remove crashed vehicles have a legal obligation to collect detached parts of the vehicles from hedgerows, ditches and property around crash sites.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The company employed by Highways England in respect of vehicle recoveries does not have a legal obligation to remove debris from, or around, the strategic road network.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2016-02-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many farmers were not in receipt of the Basic Payment Scheme payments by the end of January 2016; and whether any of those payments are expected to be paid to those living in areas affected by flooding in 2016.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The Rural Payments Agency started making Basic Payment Scheme payments to farmers from December 2015. At the end of January 2016 we had paid 66,800 some £1 billion, leaving just under 20,300 not paid. We had paid 600 farmers affected by the floods by the end of January and are prioritising the remainder for payment as promptly as possible.

Farmers affected by flooding from Storm Desmond and Eva can apply for up to £20,000 grant funding from the Farming Recovery Fund (until 1 April) to help restore damaged agricultural land. Farmers wanting to apply for the grant can find the application form and guidance on GOV.UK or call the Rural Services Helpline on 03000 200 301.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2016-06-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will review the safety standards for refrigeration units and tumble dryers in the light of the number of fires caused by such machines in individual homes.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The safety of tumble dryers and refrigeration units is regulated by the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994, which require these products to be safe and manufactured in accordance with good engineering practice. Standards, although voluntary, support the legislation by providing a benchmark as to what is considered to constitute safe in practice. The review of British Standards is a matter for the British Standards Institution (BSI) which undertakes regular reviews to ensure the standards address any safety concerns raised and follow best practice, and BIS officials participate in these activities.

I am aware that the BSI has submitted proposals to the International Electro-technical Committee (IEC) to revise the refrigeration standard to address the recent fire concerns.

The standard for tumble dryers is frequently revised, the last revision being in 2015, to ensure the relevant hazards are addressed.