Tag: Caroline Lucas

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an estimate of the potential (a) total and (b) average cost per register of allowing mothers names to be recorded on marriage certificates.

James Brokenshire

The cost of replacing the registers is being assessed in conjunction with our work to determine the most efficient and effective way to enable mothers’ names to be recorded on marriage certificates.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with her counterpart in Malta on the chairing of the environment sessions when Malta takes up European Presidency in 2017.

Rory Stewart

There have not, as yet, been any discussions at ministerial level with Malta on the chairing of environment sessions during the Maltese Presidency of the European Union in 2017.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will amend the terms of reference of the Pitchford inquiry into undercover policing to include operations by UK undercover officers that took place outside of the UK; and if she will make a statement.

Mike Penning

The terms of reference for the Statutory Inquiry into Undercover Policing, which were published on 16 July 2015, require the Inquiry to “inquire into and report on undercover police operations conducted by English and Welsh police forces in England and Wales since 1968”. There are no plans to amend the terms of reference.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information she holds on surveillance of hon. Members’ communications; and if she will make a statement.

Mr John Hayes

The Government’s position on the Wilson Doctrine was set out by the Prime Minister in a written ministerial statement made on 4 November 2015.

As the Prime Minister made clear, the Wilson Doctrine has never been an absolute bar to the targeted interception of the communications of Members of Parliament or an exemption from the legal regime governing interception. The Doctrine recognised that there could be instances where interception might be necessary.

The Prime Minister announced that as matter of policy the PM will be consulted should there ever be a proposal to target any UK Parliamentarian’s communications under a warrant issued by a Secretary of State. This applies to Members of Parliament, members of the House of Lords, the Scottish Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Welsh Assembly and UK members of the European Parliament. It applies to all activity authorised by a warrant issued by a Secretary of State: any instance of targeted interception and, electronic surveillance and equipment interference, when undertaken by the Security and Intelligence Agencies. This is in addition to the rigorous safeguards already in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) and the Code of Practice issued under it which set out a series of robust safeguards for any instance of interception.

It is long standing policy of successive Governments neither to confirm nor deny any specific activity by the Security and Intelligence Agencies. Under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 it is an offence for anyone to identify an individual interception warrant or an individual interception that takes place.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what briefing his Department provided on (a) the promotion and sale of arms and military equipment and (b) human rights to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales before his trip to the Middle East; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

At the request of the British Government, His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales undertook official visits in February to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the State of Kuwait, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the State of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

His Royal Highness’s visit to the Middle East was to help support Britain’s relationships in the region with key partners. His programme was designed to assist with key government objectives and the visit supported UK diplomatic, commercial and cultural interests in an important region of the world. Other themes of the tour included inter-faith dialogue, youth opportunities, and environmental sustainability.

Details of all high-level briefings for Royal tours are always confidential.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-07-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, for what reason a Renewable Obligation Certificate banding review for cuts to the large-scale PV Renewable Obligation band in 2015 and 2016 was ruled out as an option in the recent Renewables Obligation consultation.

Amber Rudd

The Government may carry out a banding review of RO support in England and Wales for any technology at any time if certain legislative conditions are met. As indicated in our consultation document and impact assessment, it is not clear that any of the conditions are met to trigger a banding review of solar support at this time. These are available on DECC’s web page:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-changes-to-financial-support-for-solar-pv.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-07-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the total amount of Levy Control Framework budget spent on the Renewables Obligation in 2013-14; and what his forecast is for Renewables Obligation spend in 2014-15.

Matthew Hancock

Total expenditure on the Renewables Obligation (RO) in 2013/14 is estimated to be approximately £2.6 billion. This is calculated by multiplying the provisional obligation for the year, 61.5 million ROCs, by the buy-out price for that year, £42.02. The final obligation, and therefore overall spend, will not be confirmed until October 2014.

Forecast expenditure on the RO in 2014/15 is approximately £3.1 billion. This is based on the provisional obligation for the year, 72.3 million ROCs, multiplied by this year’s buy-out price, £43.30.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-07-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment he has made of National Audit Office analysis indicating that £29 million will be available for Contracts for Difference contracts in 2015-16; and if he will make a statement.

Matthew Hancock

Indicative CfD budgets, including for Contracts for Difference contracts in 2015-16, will be published later this month.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-07-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the annual saving to the Levy Control Framework budget from closure of the Renewables Obligation to large-scale solar from April 2015; what that saving is as a proportion of that budget in (a) 2016, (b) 2017, (c) 2018, (d) 2019 and (e) 2020; and if he will make a statement.

Amber Rudd

In its consultation issued on 13^th May 2014, DECC has proposed closing the Renewables Obligation (RO) to new solar PV capacity above 5MW from 31 March 2015. We consider this to be necessary because large-scale solar PV is deploying more rapidly than expected. This poses a substantial risk to our ability to manage the levy control framework budget, and therefore our ability to minimise costs of renewables deployment for consumers.

The impact assessment published alongside the consultation set out the projected impact of proposed intervention on deployment and spend. Option 1 below assumes no action; option 2 is the proposed intervention:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-changes-to-financial-support-for-solar-pv.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-07-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on (a) the current waiting time following referral for a first appointment at Charing Cross Gender Identity Clinic (GIC), (b) how many people are currently receiving treatment at that clinic and how long the average wait is between appointments; what assessment his Department has made of how many patients Charing Cross GIC can treat in a year according to best practice guidelines and within existing resources; what discussions he has had with the Chief Executive of NHS England on the steps necessary to increase provision of services for trans people; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb

We are advised by NHS England that there are currently seven gender identity clinics (GICs) in England and three providers of gender reassignment surgery. The nearest GIC to Brighton and Hove is located in London. These GIC clinics have considerable experience of delivering this highly specialised service and are able to accept referrals from all over the United Kingdom. At present there are no plans to undertake a procurement exercise to increase the number of providers.

NHS England report that waiting times for pre-surgical assessment at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust one of the three NHS England commissioned providers of gender surgery are currently running at around 12 months, compared to 10 months in 2013-14. The increase in waiting times is due to the increase in demand for the service nationally that has seen referrals increase from 195 in 2011-12 to 300 in 2013-14.

Individual patient waits vary according to the needs of the patient. Currently, the average wait for surgery is just under a year from the point at which funding is confirmed.

Information from the website of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust shows that there are currently 279 patients approved for this surgery and that it carried out 178 male to female gender reassignment operations in 2013-14.

Following a change in staffing, Imperial appointed a new gender reassignment surgeon who will start performing gender reassignment surgeries in September 2014. As a temporary measure, the trust is referring a small number of patients who have waited longer than others to a private provider under a sub-contracting arrangement with that provider, Imperial retain responsibility for managing all patient pathways.

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust has published an update of the position on its website, which can be viewed at the following link:

www.imperial.nhs.uk/aboutus/news/news_044629

The trust is also sending this information directly to patients.

These issues have not been the subject of discussions between Ministers and the Chief Executive of NHS England.