Tag: Lord Hunt of Chesterton

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton on 2016-10-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to provide regular reports to Parliament on the withdrawal by local authorities of public services, including welfare, educational and cultural services, including explanations of how local authorities are meeting statutory obligations for the provision of those services.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

Local authorities are independent bodies accountable to their electorate and have a legal obligation to fulfil a range of statutory duties to provide key services. Within the framework of statutory duties, councillors are free to set their own priorities and determine outcomes.

Local authorities have an important role in making their decisions on resourcing transparent. All local authorities produce public accounts, have open meetings and are required to consult the public, and all are subject to the Freedom of Information Act. The public are also entitled to have access to documents relating to council meetings and documents relating to executive decisions made by executive members or officers.

The Secretary of State can request an inspection under section 10 and intervene under section 15 of the Local Government Act 1999 where there is clear evidence that an authority is failing either to discharge its functions adequately or meet its statutory obligations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton on 2016-02-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to introduce changes to make motor vehicle tax proportionate to the emissions of gaseous and particulate pollutants from motor vehicle engines.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

Motoring taxation generally reflects the environmental impact of driving. In particular, Vehicle Excise Duty and Company Car Tax vary by CO₂ emissions and reduced rates of fuel duty are available for low-emissions fuels.

From 1 September 2015, all new cars sold in the UK must be compliant with new European-wide air pollutant standards, known as Euro 6 standards, which include gaseous and particulate pollutants.

The combination of new Euro 6 standards and tougher vehicle approval regulation for air quality pollutants known as Real World Driving Emissions Testing (RDE), which come into force from 2017, will significantly reduce air pollutant emissions from all new vehicles including diesel models.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton on 2016-10-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to circulate information to householders about the steps taken in the negotiation of the UK’s exit from the EU, and the likely final arrangements for British and non-British people and organisations, in order that people can make plans for their future; and if so, when.

Lord Bridges of Headley

The Government will ensure that the appropriate information is communicated to Parliament and the public throughout the process of exit.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton on 2016-02-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have a target for the proportion of new motor vehicles that will be electrically powered by (1) 2020, and (2) 2025; what investments they are making to ensure that a high proportion of those vehicles are manufactured in the UK; and what incentives, if any, they plan to introduce for such vehicles, such as through reducing motor vehicle tax and congestion charges.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Government has a commitment that almost all cars and vans will be zero emission by 2050. This means all new cars should be zero emission by 2040. We have not set interim targets, but market penetration of ultra low emission vehicles (ULEVs) has doubled in the last year to nearly 2% of new vehicle sales.

We will invest over £600 million during this Parliament to support the uptake and manufacture of ULEVs in the UK – including over £400m for the Plug in Car Grant that offers up to £4,500 off the price of eligible cars. ULEVs also benefit from favourable vehicle excise duty, company car tax, and enhanced capital allowances. They are exempt from Transport for London’s congestion charge and can attract other local benefits. The £40m Go Ultra Low cities scheme is supporting a range of local measure such as free parking and use of bus lanes that are designed to drive take up of ULEVs. £82m support was provided during the period 2010 to 2015 for industry-led collaborative research and development, with a similar programme of support underway for the period 2015-20. In addition the Government and industry are investing around £1bn over 10 years in the Advanced Propulsion Centre to develop, commercialise and enable the manufacture of advanced propulsion technologies in the UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton on 2016-03-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the trend in the level of continuing professional development undertaken by teachers of STEM subjects in primary schools; what estimate they have made about the effect it will have on the standards attained by pupils; and whether they will provide funds to increase continuing professional development in the future.

Lord Nash

It is for schools to determine the professional development their teachers need. The Government funds a number of programmes which make high quality, professional development available to primary teachers. This supports our commitment to making Britain the best place in the world to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects.

The network of 35 Maths Hubs is working with many primary teachers to adopt effective south-east Asian ‘mastery’ teaching approaches to make sure that more children leave primary schools having met the expected standards in mathematics. The network of 44 Science Learning Partnerships provides support to primary teachers to improve their science subject knowledge and how they teach science including good quality practical work. Support to improve the teaching of the new primary computing curriculum is available through the Network of Teaching Excellence in Computer Science. All of these programmes are subject to ongoing evaluation to assess their impact.

The Government remains committed to making sure primary school teachers continue to have access to high quality STEM professional development in the future.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton on 2016-03-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what their current plans are to improve and extend the training of entering civil servants following changes to in-house training over the past 10 years; what plans they have to use universities to help provide training for civil servants; and whether they will encourage specialised agencies and departments to provide their own training or to outsource it where appropriate.

Lord Bridges of Headley

There is a comprehensive induction programme for all new civil servants which was introduced in 2015, as well as department and role specific development provided by each department. Senior external recruits also have opportunities to hear from senior officials, network with their peers and get access to a mentor or buddy as part of their induction. As with every learning and development programme, the content and approach to induction is continually reviewed to ensure that it meets current and future needs.

Civil Service Learning (CSL) provides a core suite of learning for all civil servants, for example on leadership and management. The learning and development providers working with CSL are based around consortia containing universities and their business schools. MIT and Cranfield University are helping to develop the curriculum for the Senior Civil Service, and the Open University is a key partner in delivering learning for all other grades. They have also worked with the London School of Economics on a Policy Masters.

Whilst CSL provides learning that meets the needs of all civil servants, specialised agencies and departments do provide their own training. Examples include the Diplomatic Academy run by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and HMRC’s Tax Academy. Professions also provide their own training – for example through the Commercial College and the Government Finance Academy. This provision represents a mix of internal delivery and outsourcing. CSL provides support and guidance on good practice to departments and professions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton on 2016-03-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what has been the average time in post of Trade Ministers of Her Majesty’s Government in (1) the last five years, and (2) the five years before that.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The average tenure of Ministers for Trade & Investment from 2011 until the departure of my noble Friend Lord Maude in March 2016 is 628 days or approximately 1 year, 8 months.

The average tenure of Ministers for Trade & Investment between 2006 and 2011 was 342 days or approximately 11 months.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton on 2015-02-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, as a contribution to establishing future targets and implementation plans for the reduction of carbon emissions at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2015, what policies are being proposed by the United Kingdom delegations to the United Nations specialised agencies responsible for climate change mitigation, including United Nations Habitat, the United Nations Environmental Programme, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the International Maritime Organisation and the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

Baroness Verma

We recognise the UNFCCC as the only place where a legally binding international agreement could be delivered at the scale necessary to meet the challenge of climate change, given its universal coverage and legitimacy. As such, we are working with countries to intensify domestic preparations for the new deal and want as many as possible to put forward contributions to the UNFCCC by the first quarter of 2015, which set out how they are going to achieve their commitments on post-2020 mitigation. Alongside this we are working closely with UN institutions and relevant international agencies to assess how different international actors can best support an ambitious deal in Paris.