Tag: Caroline Lucas

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-06-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department has allocated for Network Rail to produce a feasibility study on the Brighton Mainline Upgrade; and whether he plans for that funding to continue up to 2020.

Claire Perry

Network Rail has authorised £8m from its current financial settlement to develop proposals for the upgrade of the Brighton Main Line. The Government will subsequently consider what, if any, additional funding is required, based on its emerging priorities for improvements to the national network.

This feasibility study is additional to the improvements that will already be delivered in the years up to 2020 by the massive Thameslink programme which will provide substantial additional capacity and improved frequencies together with 1,140 new carriages serving destinations including Brighton.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to publish the review on supported housing.

Gavin Barwell

DCLG and DWP have jointly commissioned an evidence review of the supported housing sector, which is currently being finalised. The Government is committed to making an announcement in the autumn, setting out its plans for future funding arrangements for the supported housing sector.

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, if he will make it his policy to introduce a paternal allowance for people who do not qualify for statutory paternity pay; and if he will make a statement.

Margot James

The Government is taking a range of steps to improve provision for working parents . The eligibility rules for statutory paternity entitlements balance the needs of parents and the cost both to employers and to the taxpayer.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Carbon Plan will outline policies that ensure that the UK meets the emissions limit in the fifth carbon budget of a 57 per cent reduction in annual emissions on 1990 levels.

Mr Nick Hurd

We are engaging with a wide range of stakeholders and other government departments in order to meet the shared challenge of moving to a low carbon economy. The Emissions Reduction Plan will set out how we will meet our carbon budgets through the 2020s (the period covering the fourth and fifth carbon budgets).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 26 July 2016 to Question 42842 and with reference to freedom of information requests ref: 2016-0032573 and ref: 2016-0042333, on pupil data sharing with the police and Home Office, how many Home Office requests for information to the National Pupil Database for individual personal confidential data that have been granted were for the purposes of immigration control; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb

The National Pupil Database (NPD) is information the Department for Education (DfE) holds on pupils attending schools in England, which includes information collected in the School Census and attainment data from awarding organisations.

The Home Office and police can request data from the NPD where they have clear evidence that a child may be at risk or if there is evidence of criminal activity. The data that can be requested does not include information on nationality, country of birth or English language proficiency.

Between April 2012 and October 2016, the Police have made 31 access requests of the NPD data and the School Census. 21 of these have resulted in information being passed to the police. All were requests for individual level data about individual pupils. Therefore, information about 21 pupils has been shared.

“Between July 2015 and September 2016, the Home Office has made requests of DfE data on 25 occasions. Two of these requests were subsequently withdrawn. During this 15 month period, requests relating to a total of 2,462 individuals have been made by the Home Office to DfE and 520 records have been identified within DfE data and returned to the Home Office.”

To address any uncertainties, I have placed an information note in the House Libraries.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when she will make a decision to proceed with the order for a Chinese-designed reactor at Bradwell.

Andrea Leadsom

EDF and its partner CGN have announced they intend to develop a new nuclear power station at Bradwell but have not yet confirmed a timescale for the project. It is therefore too soon to indicate a timescale for the planning and regulatory consents which such a project would need.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how he takes account of the wellbeing of children in agreeing the activities which lone parents are required to undertake as part of their action plan or claimant commitment.

Priti Patel

The claimant commitment, which Work Coaches put together with claimants, sets requirements that are tailored for a broad range of circumstances, including for matters relating to the wellbeing of children. These reasonable requirements are recorded within the jobseeker’s agreement or action plan.

Where appropriate, the claimant commitment may limit the hours lone parents claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance are available for work to a minimum of 16 hours a week based on their caring responsibilities.

In addition, lone parents with children aged 12 or under have the right to restrict their availability for work and work-related activities to their children’s normal school or early education hours.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-12-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Environment Agency’s 2014 Long Term Investment Scenarios recommended optimum overall investment in flood defences of £750m to £800m each year to 2019-20; and whether she expects that level of overall investment to be achieved.

Rory Stewart

The Environment Agency’s Long Term Investment Scenarios report represents the best currently available projections of potential long term costs to manage flood and coastal risk under a range of scenarios reflecting future uncertainties. It will be kept under review as any further evidence emerges.

The report confirms that current Government investment plans to 2020, together with forecast local contributions, are in line with the level the Environment Agency’s assessment indicates is necessary to reduce overall flood risk by 5%.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-12-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 2 July 2014, Official Report, column 676W on AWE, what his most recent estimate is of the (a) anticipated out-turn cost and (b) projected in-service date of each of the new build projects in the Atomic Weapons Establishment Site Development Context Plan.

Michael Fallon

The approved costs and in-service dates of the current new build projects at the Atomic Weapons Establishment, are shown below.

In-service dates are shown in bandings to avoid prejudice to national security and defence. No costs are attributed to projects detailed in Table 2 as these have yet to be formally approved.

Table 1 – Approved new-build projects

Ongoing projects	Function	In-Service Period	Approved cost £million
Warhead assembly/disassembly – Mensa	Manufacturing/production	2016-20	734
Uranium components – Pegasus	Manufacturing/production	2016-20	634

Table 2 – Planned projects not yet approved

Ongoing projects	Function	In-Service Period
Salts Processing – Octans	Testing/research	2020-25
Initiator system manufacture-Taurus	Manufacturing/production	2020-25
Large Scale formulations-Scorpius	Manufacturing/production	2025-30
Small Scale formulations-Cepheus	Manufacturing/production	2025-30
New Plutonium (Pu) Facility – not yet named	Manufacturing/production	2025-30
New depleted Uranium Facility	Manufacturing/production	2025-30
Assembly for Trials-Columba	Testing/research	2025-30
High Explosive Climatic Trials	Testing/research	2025-30
Non-Metallics & materials R&D-Libra	Testing/research	2025-30
Chemical processing-Astra	Manufacturing/production	2025-30

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-01-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether payments made under the Flood Re insurance scheme are subject to any provisions to ensure that homes are (a) rebuilt or repaired to meet standards for improved flood resistance and resilience and (b) not rebuilt on flood plains; and if she will make a statement.

Rory Stewart

There is no such duty in relation to payments made by Flood Re. However, Flood Re will consider plans to incentivise the take up of resilience measures through its published transition plan and the insurance industry have committed to discuss options for resilient or resistant repairs as part of the repair process in response to the recent flooding.

The Flood Re Scheme is only available to properties built before 2009. This cut-off date recognises that new housing development should be located to avoid flood risk, or where development in a flood risk area is necessary, it should be designed to be safe, appropriately resilient to flooding and not increase flood risk elsewhere, in line with the national planning policies in place.