Tag: Jonathan Reynolds

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will ensure that all standards explicitly linked to the Renewable Heat Incentive are non-commercialised and publicly available to all relevant parties who may wish to offer services related to the implementation of that initiative.

Andrea Leadsom

The Department is currently working with industry to establish the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) as a legal entity. The accessibility of MCS standards referenced in the RHI regulations will be considered as part of that process to ensure that those standards which are mandatory for the purpose of the RHI remain publicly available.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2016-03-03.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, which banks are permitted by his Department to hold government funds.

Harriett Baldwin

The vast majority of funds is held within the exchequer at the Government Banking Service. It is not held in commercial bank accounts. Public sector organisations require permission from HM Treasury and the Crown Commercial Representative for banking, currently the Head of the Government Banking Service, to open a commercial bank account. Public sector organisations should follow guidelines set out in the banking annex of “Managing Public Money”. The key points within these guidelines are that the balances held in commercial accounts should be minimised and the commercial bank providing the banking service needs to be a member of relevant UK clearing bodies.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether patients on assessment and treatment units have access to (a) occupational therapy and (b) speech and language therapy.

Alistair Burt

Access to an independent mental health advocacy (IMHA) is a statutory right for people detained under most sections of the Mental Health Act, subject to Guardianship or on a community treatment order. We would expect Assessment and Treatment Units to follow their statutory obligations to ensure patients have access to an IMHA where appropriate.

The Learning Disability Assuring Transformation statistics data shows that of the 2,565 inpatients at the end of April 2016, 600 patients had a main diagnostic category of mental illness on admission.

Data on the numbers of formal complaints made about patient care; the management of assessment and treatment units; access to autism-specialist services and access to occupational and speech and language therapy are not held centrally. However, NHS England, Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and Local Government Association, published in October 2015, a Service Model for commissioners of health and social care services. This model sets out that when people are admitted to inpatient settings services should seek to minimise their length of stay and any admissions should be supported by a clear rationale of planned assessment and treatment with measurable outcomes. We would therefore expect all patients, irrespective of inpatient setting, to have access to the treatment and therapeutic interventions they require.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2015-12-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what winter weather resilience measures have been put in place for the West Coast mainline.

Claire Perry

The rail industry has well-established procedures to ensure that railway infrastructure and trains are prepared for winter conditions, including the operation of specialised trains to treat the track to help keep it clear of snow and ice, the use of points heaters to prevent those freezing up, and measures to keep snow and ice out of electrical equipment on trains. With appropriate variation for the specific needs of each part of the network, these arrangements apply on the West Coast Main Line as on the rest of the network. I note that recently the West Coast main line north of Carlisle was re-opened just three days after being submerged under eight feet of floodwater.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether her Department is assessing potential alternatives to the Microgeneration Certification Scheme to which the Renewable Heat Incentive is linked.

Andrea Leadsom

The Department is in the process of working with the microgeneration industry to establish the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) as a legal entity that will operate independently of the Government. There is an established process for alternative schemes to MCS to come forward through the United Kingdom Accreditation Service and equivalent accreditation bodies in the EU. For example, through this process the Solar Keymark product scheme for solar thermal products has been recognised and treated as equivalent to MCS. In addition, the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) regulations give Ofgem the power to determine scheme equivalency; and they are currently finalising this process for equivalent schemes to be considered in specific reference to the RHI.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that environmental permitting rules for back-up electricity generating plants are up to date and continue to reflect requirements of (a) environmental legislation and (b) the electricity system operator.

Rory Stewart

Electricity generating plants with a rated thermal input equal to or greater than 20MW are already subject to environmental permitting rules.

We will consult later this year on options to reduce pollution from smaller plants, including extending environmental legislation to set binding emission limit values on relevant air pollutants from backup electricity generating plants such as diesel engines, with a view to having legislation in force no later than January 2019 and possibly sooner. These limits would be likely to apply to generators or groups of generators with a rated thermal input equal to or greater than 1 MW and less than 50 MW irrespective of their number of hours of operation during any given year.

Defra will work with the Department of Energy and Climate Change to ensure that impacts of environmental legislation on electricity supply are suitably managed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2016-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of housing benefit payments is made to non-British nationals in the last 12 months.

Justin Tomlinson

Expenditure on the main DWP working age benefits, including Housing Benefit, for European Economic Area (EEA) national-led claims can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/502129/benefit-expenditure-eea-nationals-ad-hoc-stats.pdf.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2015-12-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what contingency plans his Department has for the funding of the new Northern and TransPennine franchises in the event that projected passenger number increases are not achieved.

Andrew Jones

Revenue risk for these two franchises lies with the franchisee, not the Department. This means the Department is not responsible for covering any shortfall in farebox revenue compared to the successful bidders’ expectations.

The successful bids are backed by significant parent company support which can be called upon in life to ensure the liquidity ratios are met. Also both franchises were subjected to a financial robustness test as part of the bid evaluation process and considered low risk for the Department.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many responses his Department received to the devolving Sunday trading rules consultation.

Anna Soubry

The Department received 7,171 responses to that consultation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Reynolds on 2016-04-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what requirements are placed on the building of new academies to demonstrate (a) local need and (b) parental demand.

Edward Timpson

When applying to set up a new mainstream or 16-19 free school, applicants must demonstrate that there is a need for the school. They could do this by showing that there is either a projected shortage of school places in the relevant phase in the area where the school is proposed; a need for more high quality school places; or a need for greater local choice and diversity.

Applicants applying to set up special or alternative provision free schools must demonstrate that they have a commitment from commissioners that they will purchase places at the free school.

In relation to demand, all applicants must demonstrate that the proposed school will be popular and fill to capacity. To do this, applicants must provide evidence that they have effectively marketed the school to a cross-section of the local community and parents.

The department publishes guidance for applicants on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/opening-a-free-school

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