The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential health risks of the use of lasers by driverless vehicles.
Andrew Jones
The General Product Safety Regulations prohibit a product from being placed on the market, or otherwise supplied, unless it is safe. The lead department for these regulations is the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-04-21.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if the Government will consult on setting up a Commissioner for Older People.
Mr Oliver Letwin
There is no current plan for Government to consult on setting up a Commissioner for Older Persons.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-05-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what proportion of coal burnt in UK coal-fired power stations in each of the last three years was mined in the UK.
Andrea Leadsom
This can be estimated by subtracting the amount of steam coal imports (mainly used by coal-fired power stations) by the total amount of coal used in electricity generation. Please see the table below:
|
Imports of steam coal (thousand tonnes) |
Coal used in generation (thousand tonnes) |
UK produced coal used for generation * (thousand tonnes) |
Proportion of UK produced coal used for generation % |
|
|
2013 |
42,995 |
50,041 |
7,046 |
14.0% |
|
2014 |
35,294 |
38,400 |
3,106 |
8.0% |
|
2015 (provisional) |
20,631 |
29,342 |
8,711 |
29.6% |
* This includes stocks from earlier years.
Source:
Energy Trends tables 2.1 and 2.4, available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/solid-fuels-and-derived-gases-section-2-energy-trends.
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2015-11-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will raise with the Prime Minister of India during his forthcoming visit the welfare of elephants being trained to work in the tourism industry in that country; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Hugo Swire
We are very much looking forward to Indian Prime Minister Modi’s visit, which gives us an opportunity to discuss a range of issues. We will continue to work together with the Indian authorities, as well as STAE and other non-governmental organisations, on protecting elephants.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to mitigate the effect of proposed courts and tribunal closures on (a) staff with caring responsibilities, (b) disabled staff, (c) black and minority ethnic staff and (d) court users.
Mr Shailesh Vara
The staff impact of these proposals will be managed using the department’s Managing Organisational Change Framework which has been endorsed by the Departmental Trade Unions. This will make sure that the transition to new arrangements proceeds in a fair and transparent manner for all staff.
In an increasingly digital age, court users will not always need to attend hearings in person in order to access the justice system and whilst we have already established alternative ways users can interact with our services, we are looking to expand these provisions to provide more choice than is currently available.
In order to achieve these aims, we have secured over £700m of funding to invest in our courts and tribunals. We have worked closely with the senior judiciary to develop a plan for investing this in reforming the courts and tribunals so they can deliver swifter, fairer justice at a lower cost. This will include digitisation and modernisation of our IT infrastructure. This will mean court users can attend hearings remotely, and not be inconvenienced by having to take a day off work to come to court. It will also mean victims of crime can give evidence from somewhere they feel safe.
A full impact assessment will be published alongside the consultation response.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-01-04.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, who in the Government takes decisions on what information is shared with which members of the Royal Family.
John Penrose
The decision to share Government information lies with individual Ministers and their departments as stated in Chapter 11 of the Cabinet Manual. Government information is managed in accordance with the Lord Chancellor’s Code of Practice on the Management of Records issued under section 46 of the Freedom of information Act 2000.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-01-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what working definition of imminence his Department uses in the application of article 51 of the UN Charter.
Penny Mordaunt
It has long been the position of successive UK Governments that "the inherent right of self-defence", as recognised in Article 51 of the UN Charter, does not require a State to wait until an armed attack is actually under way before it can lawfully use force to alleviate the threat. A State may use force in anticipation of an armed attack where such an attack is imminent, provided that such force is both necessary and proportionate to averting the threat. The assessments would depend on the facts of each case, with consideration likely to include issues such as the nature and immediacy of the threat, the probability of an attack, its scale and effects and whether it can be prevented without force.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-02-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 27 January 2016 to Question 23290, what his Department’s policy is on (a) the application of the convention on giving Parliament the opportunity to debate military intervention abroad to armed drones and (b) informing the House of any exceptional operation on the grounds of self-defence of the UK.
Michael Fallon
The Government is committed to the convention that, before UK troops are committed to conflict, Parliament should have an opportunity to debate the matter except when there is an emergency. It is fitting to keep Parliament informed of major new developments and to answer questions on them.
The Government will inform the House of any exceptional operation where there has not been prior debate in Parliament as the Prime Minister did on 7 September 2015 in relation to the precision airstrike that took place on 21 August 2015.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-02-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 8 February 2016 to Question 25444, whether she has made an estimate of the proportion of coal that may have been mined by children.
Andrea Leadsom
The majority of power station operators in the UK are members of BetterCoal, an industry-led initiative which is taking action to promote responsible coal mining and has established a set of ethical, social, and environmental principles with which companies in the supply chain are expected to align. This includes conformity with a number of International Labour Organization conventions and recommendations which aim to eradicate child labour.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-02-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential risk of legal proceedings against his Department as a result of non-implementation of EU Directive 41/2003 on Institutions for Occupational Retirement Provision.
Mr Marcus Jones
I am satisfied that the potential risk of successful legal proceedings against the Department in relation to implementation of EU Directive 41/2003 is low, because it has been properly implemented in respect of the local government pension scheme.