Tag: David Anderson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-04-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether her Department has made a detailed assessment of the effect of the Government’s energy policy carbon dioxide emissions in the UK in each year since 2010; and if she will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom

Provisional statistics for 2015 indicate that greenhouse gas emissions have fallen 38% since 1990 and 17% since 2010.

Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions since 1990

Units: MtCO2e	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015(p)
Emissions reduction since 1990	-24%	-31%	-28%	-30%	-35%	-38%

Source: DECC (2016) Provisional UK greenhouse gas emissions national statistics 2015

A significant proportion of this reduction is being driven by policies. For those policies where we have been able to estimate the emissions impacts, annual estimates are detailed in Annex D of our Energy and Emissions Projections, available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/updated-energy-and-emissions-projections-2015.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-05-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government took in response to the report of the Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones, chaired by Sir William Stewart, published in 2000; what steps the Government has taken in response to that report’s recommendations on limiting children’s use of mobile phones; what research the Government has commissioned or undertaken since that report on that issue; and whether any such research supported or contradicted the findings of that report.

Jane Ellison

The Government published a detailed response to the Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones (IEGMP) report’s recommendations and set in place a range of measures to address concerns about mobile phones and health. International guidelines for limiting exposures to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields were adopted, and precautionary advice to mobile phone users was published. The Mobile Telecommunications Health Research Programme ran for 11 years after the IEGMP report and government continues to support research on this topic.

IEGMP concluded the balance of evidence at the time of its report did not suggest mobile phone technologies put the health of the population at risk; that remains the case after a considerable volume of more recent national and international research.

Precautionary advice to mobile phone users has been maintained and is available here:

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Mobile-phone-safety/Pages/Introduction.aspx

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-06-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish the pass rates for the year one phonics screening check by the birth month of the pupils.

Nick Gibb

We will publish phonics results for Year 1 pupils by month of birth at national level for 2016. The data will be published at the end of September in a statistical first release at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-key-stage-1

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2015-11-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how his Department plans to monitor the Government’s progress on halving the disability employment gap; and if he will make a statement.

Justin Tomlinson

Progress against the disability employment gap is a key factor in progress towards full employment. This is consistent with the Government’s manifesto commitment which said ‘as part of our objective to achieve full employment, we will aim to halve the disability employment gap’. The annual report on progress towards full employment will include an update on the Government’s progress towards halving the disability employment gap.

Bringing disabled people out of inactivity and into employment increases the productive capacity of the economy. While it is not possible to quantify exactly the economic impact of halving the disability employment gap, it would directly benefit both the individuals affected, through higher employment allowing more people to support themselves and their families, and also the wider economy, by supporting economic growth and the public finances.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2015-12-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many immigration detainees were held in each prison establishment in each of the last 12 months.

James Brokenshire

The information requested is not routinely collected and could be provided only by examining individual case records, which would result in disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, in how many countries UK Reapers are currently operational.

Penny Mordaunt

UK Reapers are currently operational in Iraq and Syria. No UK Reapers have been deployed to Libya, and no personnel from UK Reaper Squadrons have been deployed to Libya, Kenya or Somalia in the last three years.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-01-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, on what grounds Experts by Experience was not considered under TUPE arrangements when Remploy took over its contracts.

Ben Gummer

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has advised that it has taken into account the application of Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 in the new contracts with Choice Support and Remploy Ltd.

The CQC issued a press release on 28 January 2016 on this matter. It advised that the CQC’s contractual discussions with Remploy Ltd and Choice Support are still ongoing. The CQC understand that Remploy has now written to Experts by Experience confirming they will pay an hourly rate of £15 for the first six months of the contract – commencing 1 February 2016.

Departmental Ministers have not received any representations about the importance of Experts by Experience in the National Health Service or the level of payments by Remploy to Experts by Experience.

The Department has not received any direct correspondence about the importance of Experts by Experience in the NHS or the level of payments by Remploy to Experts by Experience. We are, however, aware of one email on this subject that the Department has been copied into that was sent to the CQC.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he has taken to ensure the powers of intervention over Local Government Pension Scheme funds’ non-financial investment policies do not conflict with (a) Article 18 of EU Directive 41/2003 and (b) Occupational Pension Scheme Investment Regulations 2005.

Mr Marcus Jones

The Department is currently consulting on proposals to amend the scheme’s investment regulations to allow the Secretary of State to make a proportionate intervention in the investment function of an administering authority if it has not had regard to best practice, guidance or regulations. The consultation was published on the basis that the scheme is consistent with the way in which Directive 41/2003 on the Institutions for Occupational Retirement Provision Directive was transposed into national law, including the Occupational Pension Scheme (Investment) Regulations 2005. The consultation closes on 19 February.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of supporting the deployment of ultra-super critical coal fired power stations similar to those planned by China and Germany; and if she will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom

I have made no such assessment. Any new coal plant must demonstrate carbon capture and storage on at least 300 MW of its proposed generating capacity and comply with the Emissions Performance Standard.

Coal fired power stations without abatement are not consistent with meeting our decarbonisation objectives. This is why the Government has committed to consulting on phasing out unabated coal by 2025 and to restricting the amount of coal generation in 2023.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 16 February 2016 to Question 26409, what the role and location is of each of the six Reaper Force personnel embedded with the US Armed Forces; and with which units they are embedded.

Penny Mordaunt

The six embedded personnel are undertaking various training, test and evaluation duties at Holloman Air Force Base and Creech Air Force Base.