Tag: Julian Sturdy

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department has made of the relative costs of tidal lagoon projects compared to other forms of tidal power technology.

Andrea Leadsom

The Government’s extensive Severn Tidal Power feasibility study and the recent work as part of the Swansea Bay tidal lagoon Contract for Difference negotiations show that costs for tidal lagoons may be broadly comparable to other tidal range technologies. However, the detailed relative costs of projects will be dependent on their geographical location, individual design and financing models.

We have not made any comparative assessment of costs with tidal stream technologies, which are at a very early stage of development and have a highly different asset-life to tidal range.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-03-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the Indian government on the Seaman Guard Ohio since the Indian court ruling relating to that matter in January 2016.

Mr Hugo Swire

We continue to follow this case closely, raising it at ministerial and official level at every opportunity, as we have done since November 2013. Following the court ruling on 11 January 2016 Ministers have raised the case with Foreign Secretary Jaishankar, the Minister of State for External Affairs, Mr VK Singh and the Indian High Commissioner Mr Navtej Singh.

Whilst we cannot interfere in any foreign legal process, we shall continue to use every opportunity to raise the case at all levels, calling for any legal proceedings to move forward quickly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-06-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the level of variation in the availability of plastics recycling facilities in different local authorities in England.

Rory Stewart

The Government works with local authorities and the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to provide advice and promote best practice on waste and recycling. The UK Recycling rate has increased from 11% at the turn of the century, to 44.9% in 2014. This progress is thanks in large part to the hard work of local authorities and householders towards recycling more.

For 2015/16, local authority spend on waste services was approximately £3.5 billion, of which nearly £600 million was spent on recycling. In addition the Government, through the Waste Infrastructure Delivery Programme, has allocated some £3 billion in grant funding to a number of local authority waste infrastructure projects. This funding has helped authorities to build waste treatment infrastructure including energy from waste, mechanical biological treatment, anaerobic digestion and material recovery facilities, as well as to implement household recycling collection services and communal recycling centres for plastics and other recyclable materials.

Local authorities are best placed to decide on their waste recycling services and the range of materials collected, taking into account local circumstances such as geography and population. WRAP’s best understanding of collections being operated by local authorities in England as of June 2016 shows us that 99% of English local authorities offer a collection of plastic bottles while 72% offer collection of plastic packaging, pots, tubs and trays.

I have asked WRAP to work with the waste sector, to look at the benefits and opportunities there are from having more consistency in the materials collected for recycling and in collection systems. This will help local authorities to identify value for money and to help householders recycle more and put the right materials in the right bin. This not only includes opportunities for local authorities, but also what others can do to support greater consistency and increased recycling.

I am expecting WRAP to publish a framework for greater consistency in the summer.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what plans her Department has to consider the potential of other tidal energy technologies as part of its review of tidal lagoon technology.

Andrea Leadsom

The independent review, which Government announced on 10 February, will focus exclusively on tidal lagoons. It will not extend to other forms of tidal technology such as barrages or tidal stream arrays.

In October 2010, the Department published the results of the Severn Tidal Power: Feasibility Study. The review concluded it did not see a strategic case for public investment in a tidal barrage in the Severn estuary, but the outcome of the feasibility study did not preclude a privately financed scheme. This conclusion still stands

Tidal stream technologies operate on a fundamentally different basis to tidal lagoons. It would not, therefore be appropriate to include them within the scope of the review.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-03-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential economic impact of building a third runway at Heathrow on the North and Yorkshire.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Government continues to consider the large amount of very detailed analysis contained in the Airports Commission’s final report before taking any decisions on next steps.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-06-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department has made of the potential effect of the changes in business rates for small solar PV systems as a result of the planned 2017 revaluation on the (a) rate of installation of new systems and (b) maintenance of existing systems.

Andrea Leadsom

Business rates are calculated based on a property’s ‘rateable value’. The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) is responsible for determining the rateable values in line with existing legislation and case law.

I understand that the VOA is currently consulting with the solar industry over how those rateable values will apply to solar installations from 1st April 2017.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that small rural businesses can adapt to the changes proposed to the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010.

Rory Stewart

The changes referred to do not amend the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010. The changes made are to the ‘Environmental Guidance On Waste Incineration’, which now clarifies that small waste oil burners used to burn waste oil must meet the requirements of Chapter IV of the Industrial Emissions Directive or switch to non-waste fuels. This guidance can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/environmental-permitting-guidance-the-waste-incineration-directive/environmental-permitting-guidance-waste-incineration.

A consultation on the changes to the guidance was undertaken between 14 September and 26 October last year. A summary of responses can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/487892/waste-incineration-consult-sum-resp.pdf.

The impact assessment for the changes to this guidance considered some sensitivities on the price of crude oil with regard to collection fees only. The impact assessment can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/487895/waste-incineration-consult-ep-ia.pdf.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-03-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the fixed cost to local authorities for submitting bids to the New Station Fund on the number of bids being made.

Andrew Jones

In order to qualify to bid for funding from the first or current round of the New Stations Fund, proposals need to be sufficiently developed in accordance with Network Rail’s Governance for Railway Investment Projects (‘GRIP’) process, achieving approval in principle at GRIP 3 stage – option selection. We do not believe that the additional cost of submitting a bid would be so burdensome as to deter a bid being made.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-06-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what discussions her Department has had with HM Treasury on the effect of the planned 2017 business rate revaluation on small solar PV systems.

Andrea Leadsom

Business rates are calculated based on a property’s ‘rateable value’. The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) is responsible for determining the rateable values in line with existing legislation and case law. I understand that the VOA is currently consulting with the solar industry over how those rateable values will apply to solar installations from 1st April 2017.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has held with pharmacy patients on the closure of community pharmacies.

Alistair Burt

Community pharmacy is a vital part of the National Health Service and can play an even greater role. In the Spending Review the Government re-affirmed the need for the NHS to deliver £22 billion in efficiency savings by 2020/21 as set out in the NHS’s own plan, the Five Year Forward View. Community pharmacy is a core part of NHS primary care and has an important contribution to make as the NHS rises to these challenges. The Government believes efficiencies can be made without compromising the quality of services or public access to them. Our aim is to ensure that those community pharmacies upon which people depend continue to thrive and so we are consulting on the introduction of a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which will provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared to others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population.

The Government’s vision is for a more efficient, modern system that will free up pharmacists to spend more time delivering clinical and public health services to the benefit of patients and the public.

Our proposals are about improving services for patients and the public and securing efficiencies and savings. A consequence may be the closure of some pharmacies but that is not our aim. We are not able to assess which pharmacies may close or the number of people who may lose their jobs, because we do not know the financial viability of individual businesses or the extent to which they derive income from services commissioned locally by the NHS or local authorities or have non-NHS related income.

We are consulting the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee and others, including patient and public representatives on our proposals. An impact assessment will be completed to inform final decisions and published in due course.