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.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether any expressions of interest have been received from neighbourhood planning groups for small-scale sites consisting of starter homes to be included in their neighbourhood plans.
Brandon Lewis
The Department does not hold this information.
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 she has made of the potential effect of the proposed removal of solar thermal from the Renewable Heat Incentive on the UK’s ability to meet its 2020 renewable heat target.
Andrea Leadsom
In March 2016 we consulted on the removal of support for solar thermal technology from the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI).
The contribution from solar thermal to renewable heat generation from the RHI is currently very small. As of 31 May 2016, solar thermal accounted for 0.2% of the total heat generated and paid for under the domestic and non-domestic RHI schemes. This figure is based on RHI deployment data published online:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/rhi-deployment-data-may-2016
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-03-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of proposals for changes to Government policy on 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.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-04-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the number of housing development sites which were previously seen as financially unviable that may now be developed under the Starter Home initiative.
Brandon Lewis
The Department does not hold this information. The Housing and Planning Bill and national planning policy changes will set the framework to deliver our starter homes commitment; and once in force will apply to all housing development planning applications. Section 106 agreements may of course be re-negotiated at any time by mutual consent. Planning guidance is clear that local planning authorities should be flexible in their requirements, taking into account site specific circumstances and changing circumstances, including regarding viability.