Tag: Caroline Lucas

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects part-time season tickets to be available to all rail passengers.

Claire Perry

Progress is being made on the delivery of more flexible tickets. We are challenging operators to introduce products which give passengers more flexibility. This month c2c launched their flexi-day season on their smartcard. Passengers who commute three times a week to London from Southend can save over £135 a year with the new ticket. Other operators such as Govia Thameslink Railway and Arriva Trains Wales already offer flexible products on selected routes that can provide passengers who work or commute part-time a better deal.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-07-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps would be needed to replace EU Atomic Energy Community safeguards inspectors with International Atomic Energy Agency Inspectors to implement safeguards provisions on (a) UK nuclear installations and (b) nuclear material used and created at UK nuclear sites under treaties to which the UK is a party.

Jesse Norman

Until the UK leaves the EU, it is expected to remain a full member with all relevant rights and obligations. The Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy will continue to work closely with stakeholders and the rest of Government during our negotiations to exit the EU to deliver energy which is secure, affordable and clean.

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, pursuant to the Answer of 7 July 2016 to Question 41740, when he expects to answer Question 39267, tabled by the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion on 3 June 2016.

Margot James

I have done so.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-09-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 12 September 2016 to Question 44023, on poultry: animal welfare, if she will make it her policy to extend the ban on unenriched battery cages for laying hens to quail egg production.

George Eustice

The welfare of quail raised for egg production, is protected by the Animal Welfare Act 2006 which makes it an offence to fail to provide satisfactorily for welfare needs and by the general provisions of the Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007. We have no current plans to introduce new legislation specifically to ban unenriched cages for egg laying quail.

Once we leave the EU, we have an opportunity to make sure all our policies are delivering for the UK, including for animal welfare.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what funding Sport England provided for the development of shooting huts within the North York Moors National Park Authority in each year since 2010-11.

Tracey Crouch

Sport England has provided no funding for the development of shooting huts within the North York Moors National Park Authority.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-11-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department examined international comparators when developing the policy of a reception baseline assessment; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb

There are several examples, internationally, of children having some form of assessment when they start school. This helps teachers to assess where extra support is needed.

The reception baseline assessment will formally recognise the progress that schools make with children throughout the primary years.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-11-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many applications his Department has received for the (a) Innovation Excellence and Strategic Development Fund and (b) Health and Social Care Volunteering Fund; and when he plans to announce the 2015-16 grant allocations from those funds.

Alistair Burt

321 applications were received to the 2015-16 Innovation, Excellence and Strategic Development Fund and 283 to the 2015-16 Health and Social Care Volunteering Fund scheme.

Decisions on allocating funds have not yet been finalised. We will let applicants know the outcome as soon as possible.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-12-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what projection she has made of a global temperature increases by (a) 2050 and (b) 2100 caused by greenhouse gas emissions trajectories (i) under current trends and (ii) if all Intended Nationally Determined Contributions are delivered; what the implications of such temperature rises are in the UK for (A) coastal towns and cities, (B) extreme weather events and (C) food security; and if she will make a statement.

Rory Stewart

The Department of Energy and Climate Change and Defra have supported the AVOID Research Programme to project long-term climate change scenarios to understand how emissions reductions translate to global average surface temperature change. Based on a snapshot of the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) pledged by 1 October 2015, with an assumed continuation of comparable global emissions reduction to the end of the century, this analysis projects:

(a) (i) by 2050, with continued rise in global greenhouse gas emissions, warming of between 2.3˚C and 2.6 ˚C;

(ii) by 2050, if all INDCs are delivered and continued, warming of 2˚C;

(b) (i) by 2100, with continued rise in global greenhouse gas emissions, warming of between 4.2˚C and 5.2 ˚C;

(ii) by 2100, if all Intended Nationally Determined Contributions are delivered and continued, warming of 3˚C.

All of these estimates are temperature changes relative to pre-industrial global average surface temperature and best estimates of the climate’s sensitivity to increasing greenhouse gas concentrations.

Under the Climate Change Act 2008, the Government has a statutory role to produce, on a five-yearly cycle, an assessment of the risks and opportunities for the UK arising from climate change. The first Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) was published in 2012. It included consideration of impacts on our coastlines, on the frequency and severity of extreme weather, and on our food production. The CCRA used the 2009 UK Climate Change Projections to assess risks under different emissions scenarios up to the 2100s.

The National Adaptation Programme report which Defra published in July 2013 sets out how we are preparing for the impacts of climate change. This sets out more than 370 actions across key sectors involving government, business, councils, civil society and academia.

Work is underway on the second CCRA, which will include an up-to-date review of evidence on the effects of climate change. The CCRA Government Report and the associated evidence report will be published in January 2017. These will inform the next National Adaptation Programme due around 2018.

The Global Food Security programme recently launched a joint research council five-year £15 million research call on resilience of the food supply chain, in partnership with Defra and the Food Standards Agency.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-12-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the in-service dates are for the Technology Development Centre at the Atomic Weapons Establishment Aldermaston and the Epure facility at the CEA site at Valduc; and when UK experiments are scheduled to commence at Epure.

Michael Fallon

The Technology Development Centre and the Epure facility have been in service since 2014, in line with Teutates Treaty requirements. UK personnel are carrying out preparatory activities for UK trials at the Epure facility, including devising an experimental schedule.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-01-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of onshore oil and gas (a) licence blocks and (b) wells with permission to be drilled are in areas with high or medium flood risk; what the Government’s policy is on permitting fracking in areas of flood risk; what assessment she has made of the effect of flooding on the risks of water contamination associated with shale gas extraction; and if she will make a statement.

Rory Stewart

Prior to the launch of the 14^th Onshore Oil and Gas Licensing Round, a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) was undertaken for all areas offered for licensing applications, which addressed flood risk. The award of a Petroleum Exploration and Development Licence (PEDL) does not itself give any permission for operations to begin. Before a licensee can commence any operations they must apply for and be granted a number of further permissions and consents for each specific site within a PEDL area. These include planning permission and environmental permits from the Environment Agency.

Flood risk will be considered on a case by case basis where relevant as part of the consideration through the planning system of proposals for onshore oil and gas development, including development involving hydraulic fracturing. National planning policy is clearthat inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding shouldbe avoided by directing development away from areas at highest risk. Where development is necessary, it should be made safe without increasing flood risk elsewhere. The policy is also clear that development should not contribute to, or be adversely affected by, unacceptable levels of water pollution.

Flood risk is also taken into account by the Environment Agency before any environmental permits are issued to drill for oil and gas. If a company wishes to carry out works in, over, under or near a main river, flood defence or a sea defence, they must apply to the Environment Agency for consent. To carry out work on watercourses which are not regulated by the Agency, a company will need to apply to the relevant regulatory body responsible for that particular watercourse.