Tag: Barry Gardiner

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-05-23.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the Government’s priorities are for the negotiations on the revised EU Directive on Institutions for Occupational Retirement Provisions.

Mr David Gauke

The Government’s priority for the draft Directive is ensuring sound and proportionate regulation of occupational pension schemes, which respects differences in the national arrangements between Member States.

As is usual practice, an overall impact assessment for the draft Directive has been prepared by the EU institutions, and a national-level impact assessment will be prepared as and when the Directive is transposed into UK law.

The Government has approached negotiations on the Directive in line with the usual co-ordination process across departments.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-06-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many officials are employed in (a) his Department’s London offices and (b) the UK’s global diplomatic network work on climate security.

James Duddridge

As of January 2016 149 full-time equivalent staff resource was spent on our Climate Change/Low Carbon Economy/Energy Security work across our network of 268 offices in 168 countries. Of these, 72 staff were working full-time on Climate Change and Energy issues.

As of June 2016 nine full-time equivalent staff in London work directly on climate change issues.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office allocation of resource is kept under regular review as staff and local priorities change, so there is a quite regular flux in numbers and locations. For example, in the run up to COP21, there was an increase in Ministerial and network engagement related to the Paris negotiations, to build support for a successful agreement.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-09-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the Financial Reporting Council’s ability to work with other financial regulators in the UK to address the systematic financial risk of climate change.

Margot James

Although the Financial Reporting Council’s remit does not extend to the systemic financial risks of climate change, I am confident of its ability to collaborate effectively with any financial regulators, as required, within whose remit such risks fall.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many organisations in receipt of grant funding awarded by her Department were found to have engaged in activity that influenced or attempted to influence Parliament, government, or the European Commission, or were found to have attempted to influence legislative or regulatory action in each of the last three years.

Andrea Leadsom

In line with government policy, DECC is introducing the new anti-lobbying clause mandated by the Cabinet Office. DECC has previously included a prohibition on use of the grant for activities of a political or exclusively religious nature, and DECC is not aware of any breaches of this condition, although no investigation has been carried out. Most DECC grants are awarded to cover specified costs incurred by the grant recipient in undertaking a particular project and are paid to reimburse those costs on receipt of satisfactory evidence that the relevant costs have been incurred.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-03-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what submission she has made to the Prime Minister in preparation for the European Council on 17-18 March on the proposal to raise the EU’s greenhouse gas target for 2030 to take account of the Paris Agreement.

Andrea Leadsom

The Department works very closely with the Cabinet Office to prepare for European Council discussions on climate and energy. The assessments of the Paris Agreement conducted by the European Commission and the Presidency of the Council of the EU following the December European Council do not propose an increase in the EU’s greenhouse gas target for 2030 at this stage.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-04-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what funding her Department has allocated for (a) 2016-17 and (b) 2017-18 to help the UK prepare for the effects of climate change.

Rory Stewart

Adaptation is embedded as an integral part of policy making across Defra and all levels of Government and within a broad range of programmes and activities that directly or indirectly support and build the UK’s resilience to climate change. The first National Adaptation Programme sets out more than 370 actions to help the UK better prepare for climate change and we continue to deliver on these actions. In Defra we are taking action across the breadth of the department’s policies, from our £2.3 billion flood defence programme to the Forestry Commission increasing the diversity of its planting stock so that the Public Forest Estate is resilient to the changing climate.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-05-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether the Government plans to ratify the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2016.

Amber Rudd

The UK will ratify the Paris Agreement together with the EU and Member States as soon as possible. The Commission is planning to publish a proposal on EU and Member States ratification alongside legislative proposals for the Non-Traded Sector of the EU2030 Framework this summer.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-06-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what preparations she has made for the Convention on Biological Diversity COP-13 conference to be held in Cancun in December 2016.

Rory Stewart

The UK was an active participant at the preparatory meetings for the Convention on Biological Diversity COP-13 Conference, which took place in Montreal from 2-6 October 2015 and from 25 April – 6 May, as well as at the EU-level preparatory meetings. Further preparations will take place in the autumn once the schedule and documents for COP-13 are available.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-09-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Financial Reporting Council’s operating and enforcement procedures for reviewing corporate disclosures in deterring companies from breaking the law on such disclosures.

Margot James

The government consulted on its plans to reform the structure and content of the non-financial (narrative) section of the annual report and accounts in 2011. As part of this consultation, the government asked about the remit of the Financial Reporting Council, especially the Financial Reporting Review Panel, now known as the Conduct Committee.

As part of their work to monitor compliance with the legal requirements concerning disclosure, the Conduct Committee publishes an annual report summarising the activity and findings of their review function. This annual activity report can be viewed from the FRC website:

https://www.frc.org.uk/Our-Work/Corporate-Governance-Reporting/Corporate-Reporting-Review/Annual-activity-reports.aspx

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, which organisations have received public grant funding from her Department in each of the last three years; and what the purposes of each grant were.

Andrea Leadsom

The organisations that have received grant funding from DECC in FY2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15 are summarised in the attached.