Tag: Caroline Lucas

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-04-29.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Base Case Conditions for EU approval of state aid for Hinkley Point C, whether there have been modifications to the (a) date of 31 December 2020 and (b) cap on the amount of debt drawn until Flamanville 3 has completed the trial operation period; and if he will make a statement.

Greg Hands

The Chancellor’s announcement on 21 September 2015 set out that the government and the Hinkley Point C project company had agreed the terms of a £2 billion guarantee through the UK Guarantees Scheme. This initial guarantee will be repaid in December 2020. There is no further obligation to issue guarantees after that date.

This initial guarantee is the first tranche of debt guarantees that was approved as part of the European Commission’s approval of the wider support package for Hinkley Point C. The government is satisfied that the terms of the guarantee remain within the Closing Decision of the EU Commission.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 18 April 2016 to Question 33537 on Sustainability and Transformation Plan footprints, how his Department defines a system control total; and if he will make a statement.

George Freeman

The shared NHS planning guidance, ‘Delivering the Forward View: NHS Planning Guidance 2016/17 – 2021’, published in December 2015, stated that NHS England and NHS Improvement would continue to be open to new approaches to contracting between NHS commissioners and providers and that this could, for instance, include exploring with a few local health systems applying a single financial control total across local commissioners and providers. NHS England and NHS Improvement will work, where appropriate, with local health systems that wish to develop fuller proposals as part of their Sustainability and Transformation Plans.

The Guidance is now available at:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/planning-guid-16-17-20-21.pdf

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-06-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reasons the redacted Govia Thameslink Railway remedial plan, dated 12 February 2016, was not made publicly available until 26 May 2016.

Claire Perry

There is a process in place with regard to the publication of documents and any redaction of information. Only once the redactions have been agreed by all parties, including the Department, can publication take place.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-07-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraphs 5.36 to 5.38 of the Cabinet Manual, whether the convention that a debate in Parliament should be held before troops are committed in military action applies to (a) the lethal use of armed drones, (b) military training and advisory missions (i) related to force-protection and (ii) where there is a risk of UK personnel engaging in combat in self-defence, (c) the use of special forces in long-term combat missions and (d) the embedding of UK military personnel in foreign militaries; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon

This Government is committed to the convention that before troops are committed to combat the House of Commons should have an opportunity to debate the matter, except where there was an emergency and such action would not be appropriate. The convention does not apply to British military personnel embedded in the armed forces of other nations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many financial penalties have been imposed to date on respondent employers for aggravated breach of employment law under section 16 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013; and how many such penalties (a) have been paid and (b) remain unpaid.

Margot James

Between 6 April 2014 and the end of August 2016, Employment Tribunals have imposed 16 financial penalties on respondent employers for aggravated breaches under section 16 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013. Ten have been paid so far and five remain outstanding. One company has been dissolved.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-09-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 20 June 2016 to Question 40383, when he plans to make an announcement on when passengers will have access to compensation when trains are over 15 minutes late; whether the application of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA) from 1 October 2016 will affect that access; after how many minutes of delay the consumer’s right to claim a full refund under the CRA will take effect; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Maynard

As set out in the previous answer, we are committed to improving compensation arrangements for passengers and we expect to make an announcement on this shortly.

We want to strengthen the rights of rail passengers to get compensation for poor service. The Consumer Rights Act will allow rail passengers to challenge compensation amounts awarded for delays and cancellations where the train operator is at fault.

Train operators’ existing compensation schemes will continue to provide the main means of redress for passengers after 1 October 2016, when the Act comes into force for all transport providers. We will continue to work with train operators to improve their compensation schemes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-10-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the value is of invoices sent to the High Weald Havens Clinical Commissioning Group from each trust which has incurred private ambulance costs arising from performance problems with Patient Transport Services provided by Coperforma and arms length driver operatives; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne

The requested information is not held centrally.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what difference there is between the wholesale price for electricity and the representative market price for baseload electricity referred to in her Departmental Minute of 21 October 2015.

Andrea Leadsom

The Department has used projections of the baseload wholesale price of electricity to calculate the support payments for Hinkley Point C in the Departmental Minute of 21 October 2015. They are therefore consistent with the reference price as referred to in the Annex of the same Minute.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Prime Minister, with reference to pages 18 and 19 of his response to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee’s Second Report of Session 2015-16: The Extension of Offensive British Military Operation to Syria, published on 26 November 2015, what his assessment is of the capacity of the 70,000 Syrian opposition fighters referred to (a) taking territory from ISIL, (b) holding that territory and (c) administering it; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Cameron

We estimate that there are around 70,000 Syrian opposition fighters on the ground who do not belong to extremist groups, many of whom are linked to the Free Syrian Army. In addition to these 70,000, there are around 20,000 Kurdish fighters in Syria, who are also playing an important role in combating ISIL. The information we have on individual groups which forms the basis of this estimate is drawn in large part from intelligence. It would not be to the benefit of these non-extremist opposition fighters if we were to make it public to ISIL and the Syrian regime. We have very close intelligence relationships with a range of allies and partners, and share assessments with them as a matter of course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-12-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies on child protection of the recommendations of HM Inspectorate of Prisons’ thematic report on Behaviour management and restraint of children in custody, published in November 2015.

Andrew Selous

Restraint is only be used as a last resort, when young people are putting their own safety and the safety of others at risk.

The recent report by HM Inspectorate of Prisons welcomed our new arrangements, which are designed to limit the use of physical restraint on young people in custody as far as possible.

The report does raise some concerns over how the new system is operating and we will carefully consider its recommendations.