Tag: David Mackintosh

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-04-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps her Department has taken to encourage large businesses to switch to carbon neutral energy sources.

Andrea Leadsom

The Department has taken significant steps to encourage large businesses to switch to carbon neutral energy sources. With regard to heat, the Government’s Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) supports households, businesses, public bodies and charities in transitioning from conventional forms of heating to renewable sources of heat. In November, the Government renewed its commitment to the transition to a low carbon economy by confirming a continued budget for the RHI. The overall budget for the RHI is to rise from £430m in 2015/16 to £1.15bn in 2020/21.

With regard to electricity, our policies secured an estimated £42 billion of investment in low carbon generation between 2010 and 2014 alone, with more in the pipeline for the future.

Large and energy intensive businesses are incentivised to reduce their emissions – including through use of low-carbon energy sources – through the EU Emissions Trading System. The Government is also working with the eight most energy intensive sectors to produce decarbonisation action plans, drawing on a set of roadmaps published last year.

Of course, the lowest carbon energy is the energy that isn’t used and the Department also has a number of initiatives to encourage energy efficiency in business, including the announcements concerning a new carbon and energy reporting regime made by my rt. hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer at the Budget.

With regard to large businesses switching to carbon neutral energy sources for transport, that is ably supported by my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-04-21.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment his Department has made of the feasibility of introducing a centralised, national electoral register.

John Penrose

Electoral registers are compiled and maintained locally by Electoral Registration Officers primarily for the purposes of running Parliamentary and local elections in their area. A centralised, national electoral register would not necessarily help them do this, and would potentially create concerns about how government handles citizens personal data, so we have made no assessment of this kind.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-05-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Office of Rail and Road super-complaint response report, published in March 2016, paragraph 207, which three train operating companies scored 0 per cent for their sampled mystery shops.

Claire Perry

The Department does not have this information. We understand the Office of Rail and Road intends to publish the results of this work, alongside its first annual report on consumers titled ‘Measuring Up’, shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-06-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if his Department will investigate reports that BT is installing and charging for telephone lines for customers who have not requested one and who are only customers of fibre optic services.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The Department’s understanding is that BT Openreach installs fibre and other services, ordered by communications providers for their customers. This includes fibre broadband services, most of which require a copper line to be installed in order to provide a telephone service. Assurance has been provided by BT that they would not provide a telephone service, or any other chargeable service, without the customer’s knowledge and authorisation. However, should this for any reason be the case, then consumers are advised to seek redress through the usual protections that are in place.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he has taken to (a) invest in research on rehabilitation, health and social care models to improve the quality of life for ill Gulf War veterans and (b) communicate the results of US research on those issues to Gulf War veterans living in the UK.

Mark Lancaster

The Government greatly values the service of all 1990-91 Gulf War veterans, particularly as we reach the 25^th anniversary of the start of combat operations. We have long accepted that the ill health of some veterans of the 1990-91 Gulf War is associated with their service in the Gulf. In such cases compensation may be claimed under the War Pensions Scheme with appropriate medical care provided by the National Health Service across the UK .

The Department has funded extensive research into Gulf War illness including some research into rehabilitative therapies for those veterans with persistent symptoms.

Our strategy on research topics and studies has been informed and overseen by independent scientific experts nominated by the Medical Research Council taking account of published peer-reviewed international literature and international studies. We have no plans to undertake further research on Gulf War issues. We continue to monitor any Gulf War research that is published round the world including from the United States.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-03-15.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what (a) recent steps he has taken and (b) mechanisms he has introduced to increase the efficiency of work between government departments.

Matthew Hancock

Improving efficiency, both across Government and between government departments, is central to the work of the Cabinet Office. By 2014/15 the Government had saved £18.6 billion through efficiency and reform, and tackling fraud, error and uncollected debt (against a 2009/10 baseline). This includes saving:

• £6.1bn by improving how government buys goods, and services.

• Generating £1.8bn net capital receipts and saving £750 million from reducing the annual running cost of the estate.

• £4.6bn by addressing waste and inefficiency in construction and reducing costs in major projects.

• £700m through reducing losses from fraud and error.

In autumn 2015 the Spending Review announced a range of additional measures to further improve effect and joint working between departments. These include co-locating Civil Servants though the Government Hubs programme, and introducing shared ICT though Common Technology Services and the Common Platforms Programme.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that employers accord degree apprenticeships the same esteem as traditional university degrees.

Nick Boles

The Government wants young people to have the opportunity to access high quality degree level training, whether through a full-time undergraduate route or a world-class degree apprenticeship.

Both traditional degrees and new degree apprenticeships meet the high quality criteria expected of a higher education qualification. Degree Apprenticeships are designed by groups of employers working with higher education institutions, and provide a valuable route for people to obtain a degree-level qualification alongside training for a career, with the prospect of a job from day one

Degree apprenticeships will feature in the new communications campaign being launched in May, promoting the benefits of apprenticeships to employers and young people.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-04-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to encourage car manufacturers to adopt green and hybrid technologies.

Andrew Jones

The UK offers one of the most comprehensive packages of support for ultra low emission vehicles in the world. This includes the plug-in car and van grants, support for infrastructure, investment in R&D, and the ground breaking government-industry communications campaign, ‘Go Ultra Low’.

The government recently committed over £600m over the course of this parliament to support the take up and manufacture of ultra low emission vehicles, and has set itself the ambitious goal that by 2050 nearly all cars and vans should be zero emission.

We are also active in the EU in pushing for ambitious regulation of the CO₂ emissions of new cars, which will encourage the increasing deployment of new greener technologies.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent steps his Department has taken to encourage small businesses to apply for government contracts.

Matthew Hancock

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Stroud on 27 April UIN: 904721.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-06-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps her Department has taken to encourage students at Key Stage 3 to take up modern foreign languages.

Nick Gibb

The Government expects all pupils in secondary education to be taught a broad and balanced curriculum, and that includes the opportunity to study a foreign language at Key Stage 3 and 4. In 2010, only 43% of pupils were studying a GCSE in a foreign language, down from 76% in 2000. Since the Government introduced the English Baccalaureate (EBacc), the proportion of the cohort in state schools that are entered for a modern foreign language GCSE increased by 20% between 2011 and 2015. Our ambition is that 90 per cent of pupils in mainstream secondary schools will enter GCSEs in the EBacc subjects, including a foreign language.