Tag: David T. C. Davies

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2016-10-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department received any representations from King’s College Dental School, between 2012 and 2014, on the use of dental tests to establish the age of people claiming asylum.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Home Office received representations from a number of bodies be-tween 2012 and 2014 about the possible use of dental tests to establish the age of people claiming asylum. The view of many of those making representations was that the use of dental tests for this purpose would be unreliable, inappropriate and unethical.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2015-11-05.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much has been paid from the public purse in backdated tax credits to people who have been granted refugee leave in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Mr David Gauke

HM Revenue and Customs do not hold the requested data.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many times a Notice of Insufficient Margin has been issued in each of the last three years.

Andrea Leadsom

In the past three years, National Grid have issued one Notice of Inadequate System Margin (NISM). This was issued on 4 November 2015.

National Grid requires a safety cushion to be able to manage the system in real time and a NISM is a call to the market to maintain that safety cushion. This gives generators in the market the opportunity to provide additional generation ahead of National Grid instructing plant and demand side response held in the Contingency Balancing Reserve, if required. It is not an indication that demand is about to outstrip supply.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2016-09-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many companies have signed memoranda of understanding with the Regeneration Investment Organisation.

Greg Hands

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is a high-level arrangement, which is not legally binding, and enables the participants to work together toward a desired outcome. Between the period April 2014 to October 2015, the Regeneration Investment Organisation (RIO) negotiated MoUs with seven companies. Only one of those MoUs remains in place.

Aventa is a regeneration investor and comprises a regulated asset management company and a vehicle for managing early stage development and construction risk. The Regeneration Investment Organisation and Aventa Capital MoU was developed in October 2014 to support Aventa’s work in seeking to develop a regeneration fund and thereby encourage institutional investment into UK regeneration projects. The Department felt the proposal covered by the MoU was viable given Aventa’s sector and management experience.

There was no commitment on the part of RIO to provide any capital or resource in connection with the agreement. In addition, any recommendation from Aventa would have been reviewed and subjected to due diligence by the developer as a commercial partner. The MoU was concluded, by mutual agreement, following meetings with officials during December 2014.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2015-11-05.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people who have been granted refugee leave have claimed backdated child benefit in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Damian Hinds

HMRC does not hold the requested information.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate she has made of how much dispatchable electricity capacity will be lost in 2016 due to planned power station closures.

Andrea Leadsom

It is estimated that the total conventional capacity installed in 2016/17 will be 58.1 – 59.1GW[1]. This represents closures of around 0.5GW – 1.8GW[2] between 2015/16 and 2016/17 and reflects the July 2015 Future Energy Scenarios outlook.

However, for 2016/17, National Grid have already secured 3.6GW of capacity within their Contingency Balancing Reserve, in which additional power stations are held to provide security in times of system stress. This extra capacity will help us to ensure we meet the GB 3 hour LOLE reliability standard and will be sufficient to maintain security of supply even in the toughest system conditions.

In addition to the Contingency Balancing Reserve, from 2018, the Capacity Market will ensure that retiring plant can be replaced by new investment by providing additional secure investment for both existing and new electricity generators

[1] As presented in Ofgem’s Capacity Assessment 2015, including Nuclear.

[2] Figures presented in this response are not de-rated to reflect expected availability at Winter peak.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2016-09-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what factors Ministers in his Department took into account when signing a memorandum of understanding with Aventa Capital in 2014.

Greg Hands

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is a high-level arrangement, which is not legally binding, and enables the participants to work together toward a desired outcome. Between the period April 2014 to October 2015, the Regeneration Investment Organisation (RIO) negotiated MoUs with seven companies. Only one of those MoUs remains in place.

Aventa is a regeneration investor and comprises a regulated asset management company and a vehicle for managing early stage development and construction risk. The Regeneration Investment Organisation and Aventa Capital MoU was developed in October 2014 to support Aventa’s work in seeking to develop a regeneration fund and thereby encourage institutional investment into UK regeneration projects. The Department felt the proposal covered by the MoU was viable given Aventa’s sector and management experience.

There was no commitment on the part of RIO to provide any capital or resource in connection with the agreement. In addition, any recommendation from Aventa would have been reviewed and subjected to due diligence by the developer as a commercial partner. The MoU was concluded, by mutual agreement, following meetings with officials during December 2014.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2015-11-05.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much has been paid from the public purse in backdated child benefit to people who have been granted refugee leave in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Damian Hinds

HMRC does not hold the requested information.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the total dispatchable electricity capacity was in January (a) 2013, (b) 2014, (c) 2015 and (d) 2016; and what estimate she has made of that capacity in January (i) 2017, (ii) 2018 and (iii) 2019.

Andrea Leadsom

Dispatchable electricity, as defined by National Grid, comprises of generation that can be switched on and off at relatively short notice. This does not include substantial capacity in the GB mix such as nuclear and wind generation.

The attached table outlines both expected Pre-Winter dispatchable capacity[1], as per the relevant National Grid Winter Outlook publications and the 2015 Future Energy Scenarios Slow Progression projection of available capacity.

Post-2015/16 figures represent the Slow Progression July 2015 outlook of generation background. We take energy security very seriously and monitor the commercial outlook of supply frequently alongside National Grid and Ofgem.

The trend of declining conventional capacity has arisen due to margins in preceding years being unnecessarily large because of the recession. The drop off in capacity is a symptom of returning to the kinds of margins we were used to pre-recession and to reflect improvements in energy efficiency as well as increasing levels of renewable technologies coming on to the system.

Our priority is to ensure that British families and business have access to secure affordable energy supplies that they can rely on. National Grid have a number of tools to ensure a secure supply of electricity including Contingency Balancing Reserve, in which additional power stations are held to provide security in times of system stress. This extra capacity will help us to ensure we meet the GB 3 hour LOLE reliability standard and will be sufficient to maintain security of supply even in the toughest system conditions.

In addition to the Contingency Balancing Reserve, from 2018, the Capacity Market will ensure that retiring plant can be replaced by new investment by providing additional secure investment for both existing and new electricity generators

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2016-09-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether his Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of the memorandum of understanding signed between the Regeneration Investment Organisation and Aventa Capital.

Greg Hands

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is a high-level arrangement, which is not legally binding, and enables the participants to work together toward a desired outcome. Between the period April 2014 to October 2015, the Regeneration Investment Organisation (RIO) negotiated MoUs with seven companies. Only one of those MoUs remains in place.

Aventa is a regeneration investor and comprises a regulated asset management company and a vehicle for managing early stage development and construction risk. The Regeneration Investment Organisation and Aventa Capital MoU was developed in October 2014 to support Aventa’s work in seeking to develop a regeneration fund and thereby encourage institutional investment into UK regeneration projects. The Department felt the proposal covered by the MoU was viable given Aventa’s sector and management experience.

There was no commitment on the part of RIO to provide any capital or resource in connection with the agreement. In addition, any recommendation from Aventa would have been reviewed and subjected to due diligence by the developer as a commercial partner. The MoU was concluded, by mutual agreement, following meetings with officials during December 2014.