Tag: Greg Mulholland

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she is taking to support the increased use of wind and solar power.

Andrea Leadsom

In 2014, renewables provided nearly one fifth of the UK’s electricity needs[1] and we are on track to reach our aim of delivering 30 per cent by 2020. Generation from onshore wind, offshore wind and solar PV is making a significant contribution to achieving this aim due to the support these technologies receive through the Renewables Obligation (RO). The deployment of substantial amounts of solar PV and wind capacity has also been supported through the small-scale Feed-in Tariff (FITs) scheme.

In addition to the support provided through the RO and FITs, fifteen onshore wind, two offshore wind and three solar PV projects, with a combined installed capacity of nearly 2 gigawatts, signed a Contract for Difference (CfD) earlier this year following the first CfD allocation round. These projects are expected to commission between 2016/17 and 2018/19.

Onshore wind and solar PV have now reached the point where there is enough capacity in the pipeline to help the UK meet its 2020 renewables commitments. We are therefore proposing changes to RO and FITs support which are intended to ensure that deployment from these technologies remains affordable under the Levy Control Framework. The changes proposed to RO support for onshore wind through the Energy Bill will also deliver our election commitment to end subsides for new onshore wind.

[1] Energy Trends

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-11-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many replies to constituent correspondence from hon. Members his Department sent by (a) email and (b) letter in each of the last three years; and what the cost breakdown of each method was in each such year.

Justin Tomlinson

We have received representations from a small number of hon. Members and where appropriate the Department obliges with email replies. Where there is sensitive personal information in a reply, it will be posted for security reasons.

The cost differential between sending postal replies and email replies is minimal.

The exact information requested on the method of dispatch is not available other than at a disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-12-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits to tourism of using daylight saving time all year.

Tracey Crouch

The Government has not made any recent assessments of the potential benefits of using daylight saving time all year. The Government has no plans to consider any changes in this area in the absence of consensus across the UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-12-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost is to the public purse of Deloittes’ consultancy services on helping to develop commissioning policies for drugs to treat ultra-rare diseases.

George Freeman

There is no contract with Deloittes’ consultancy services for developing policies for drugs to treat ultra-rare diseases.

However, as part of NHS England’s wider responsibilities to directly commission specialised services, NHS England has a significant clinical commissioning policy work programme which enables the development and publication of fair and equitable eligibility criteria for specialised treatments for patients across England, based on a review of the latest evidence of clinical and cost effectiveness.

In order to provide support to this programme, NHS England awarded a contract to Deloitte in September 2015 to provide support to the lead clinicians and patients undertaking this work. The level of support, analysis and review work varies, but the cost of developing a policy from start to finish, using the support of the Deloitte contract, is around £33,000.

Deloitte will not be making any decisions on NHS England’s commissioning policies, accessing any patient or commercially sensitive data or accessing any privileged information about specific drugs or treatments. Furthermore, all policies, whether developed solely with support from NHS England staff, or with project support from Deloitte, will be subject to the same assurance and scrutiny requirements and will considered for adoption in the same way by NHS England.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2016 to Question 21375 on flooding control: per capita costs, what official data sets were used for her calculations in that Answer.

Rory Stewart

The Grant in Aid figures used in the calculations are based on the published six year capital programme. They can be found on the GOV.UK website at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/programme-of-flood-and-coastal-erosion-risk-management-schemes.

Population figures are sourced from the Office of National Statistics data from the 2011 Census for England and Wales.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-18.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish an estimate of how many people in each region and parliamentary constituency will benefit from the rise in the income tax personal allowance to £11,000 on 6 April 2016.

Mr David Gauke

The Government estimates that the increase in the personal allowance to £11,000 in 2016/17 will reduce the income tax liability for 29.2 million individuals in the UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2015 to Question 12356, when he expects Network Rail to publish an update to its industry electrification strategy.

Claire Perry

It remains the Department’s expectation that Network Rail will publish the industry electrification strategy as a draft for consultation in early 2016, taking into account Sir Peter Hendy’s report of Network Rail’s programme of rail investment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the Russian government following the Russian airstrike in Hazzano, Syria, which damaged the bakery funded by the Department for International Development.

Mr David Lidington

We have repeatedly made clear to the Russian Government our serious concerns about its bombing campaign in Syria. We have consistently called on Russia to focus its targeting on Daesh and to cease the targeting of moderate opposition groups. We have also expressed concern over the numbers of civilian casualties being reported as a result of Russian strikes.

The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), has raised our concerns about Russia’s approach with Foreign Minister Lavrov, including at meetings of the International Syria Support Group. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), discussed Syria with President Putin at the G20 Summit in Antalya, and in a telephone conversation on 9 December following Parliament’s vote to support military action against Daesh in Syria.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding his Department is providing to museums in each region and nation of the UK.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The Department does not hold information on museums spending broken down by region or nation. Museums funding is devolved to the respective administrations. The total spend on DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries (including the British Library) was £389.7m in 2014-15. The 2015 Spending Review announced DCMS spend on museums and galleries will be maintained in cash terms.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-03-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many names were provided to Ministers to enable them to take a formal decision on the appointment of the Pubs Code Adjudicator.

Anna Soubry

I refer the hon Member to the answer I gave to the hon Member for Hove on 10 March, Official Report, Vol 607, Col 426.