Tag: Lord Stoddart of Swindon

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-02-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of the legalisation of same-sex marriage, they intend to legislate to allow heterosexual couples who wish to form civil partnerships to do so, and if not, why not.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

In 2014, after the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 was passed, the government carried out a review of the operation and future of the Civil Partnership Act 2004, including a thorough public consultation on potential changes to civil partnership. Views were invited on three options: abolishing, or phasing out civil partnerships; or extending them to opposite sex couples.

The review found that there was no clear consensus on the future of civil partnerships. A majority of respondents to the consultation were against extending civil partnerships to opposite sex couples and several important organisations thought it was too soon to consider making changes to civil partnerships until the impact of extending marriage to same sex couples is known. Given the lack of any consensus the Government has no current plans to make changes to the Civil Partnership Act 2004.

On 29 January 2016, the High Court dismissed a legal challenge to the lack of availability of civil partnerships to opposite sex couples. The Court ruled unequivocally that the current regime of marriage and civil partnership does not disadvantage anyone nor does it infringe anyone’s right to family or private life. We also welcome the Court’s view that it is entirely reasonable for the Government to wait to see the impact of extending marriage to same sex couples before deciding on the way forward.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-03-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what the criteria are for payments to be made from the Contingency Fund.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The criteria for access to the Contingencies Fund are set out in the Treasury publication “Supply Estimates: a guidance manual” which can be found on the gov.uk website. The Contingencies Fund enables the Treasury to make repayable cash advances to departments for urgent services, in anticipation of provision for those services being provided by Parliament.

The main criteria against which any application is judged is genuine urgency in the public interest and – in cases of new services – near certainty that any related Bill will become law. However, not all advances are dependent upon the passage of enabling legislation: existing legislation may already exist. Advances are generally made in anticipation of the relevant Supply and Appropriation Act.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-07-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to accelerate negotiations to leave the EU to ensure that they are completed before July 2017 when the UK is due to take over the Presidency of the Council of the EU.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The Government has no such plans.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2015-11-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 2 November (HL3058), whether the measures taken to counter the loss of generating capacity resulting from the closure of coal fired power stations will include (1) the use of small diesel generators, and (2) the closure or interruption of industrial production by industry to maintain security of supply during the coming winter; and what is their estimate of the extra costs of those measures to energy consumers and taxpayers.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

The operators of Ferrybridge and Longannet power plants have announced plans to cease generation in 2016 while the operator of Eggborough plant is currently consulting staff on possible closure. These announcements relate to closures from March 2016 and do not affect security of supply this winter.

Our priority is to ensure that British families and business have access to secure and affordable energy supplies that they can rely on. Since 2014 National Grid have had the ability to procure a Contingency Balancing Reserve (CBR), which consists of the Supplemental Balancing Reserve (SBR), where existing power stations stand by ready to generate additional electricity and the Demand Side Balancing Reserve (DSBR) where companies bid for contracts with National Grid to receive payments in return for reducing their electricity usage times of peak demand should National Grid so require. National Grid and Ofgem agree that we should retain the ability to procure CBR for the next two winters. Government supports this position and we expect confirmation later this month following an Ofgem consultation.

Organisations contracted under DSBR can reduce their use of grid electricity in many ways while still remaining in operation. For example, an industrial customer could switch to a back-up generator or a supermarket chain might raise the temperature slightly on its refrigerators for a short time, using less energy but maintaining safe refrigeration levels.

National Grid’s CBR is tendered competitively keeping procurement at the lowest possible cost to consumers, whilst ensuring electricity security. The additional reserve capacity that National Grid has purchased for 2015/16 represents less than 50p a year on the average annual consumer bill.

From winter 2018/19, the Capacity Market will take over as the long term solution for security of supply. The Capacity Market is a key part of our reform of the electricity market and it will drive new investment in gas and demand side capacity to help keep the lights on, as well as getting the best out of our existing power stations as we transition to a low carbon electricity future. Small-scale flexible generation such as diesel can also bid into the Capacity Market – generation that can turn on quickly has a small but important role to play in securing our electricity system. It is typically run for short periods to meet peaks of demand or local system constraints, so emission impacts can be relatively limited.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-01-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 7 December 2015 (HL3817), what assessment they have made of the fact that, in relation to men and women under 35-years of age, the pay gap is in favour of women.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

This Government is committed to ending the gender pay gap. New figures released by the Office for National Statistics show that the gender pay gap in the UK remains the lowest on record. The pay gap for women under the age of 40, working full time, is particularly low. The gap is -0.8% for women working full-time aged 22-29 and 0.6% for women working full-time aged 30-39.

As well as revising statutory guidance for schools on careers to raise young women’s aspirations, we have established a new Careers and Enterprise Company to encourage greater collaboration between employers and schools to inspire young people and supported the ‘Your Life’ campaign to encourage more young people to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and maths.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-02-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the risk that issues around financing the provision of the Hinkley Point C power station will delay the commencement of that project.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

Good progress continues to be made so that Hinkley can provide clean, affordable and secure energy that families and businesses can rely on into the future. The financing of Hinkley Point C is a commercial matter for the parties involved.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 3 July 2014 (HL280) about the expenses of former Prime Ministers, and in the light of the ruling of the Freedom of Information Tribunal in the case of Gabriel Webber v Information Commissioner (EA/2015/0194) that the disclosure of details of expenses paid to former Prime Ministers would not breach confidence nor invade privacy, whether they will commit to full transparency regarding former Prime Ministers’ allowances including the costs of providing security.

Lord Bridges of Headley

The Government is considering the Tribunal’s judgement in this matter, and will respond in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-07-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the planning inspector of the public inquiry into the Leeds New Generation Transport schemes visited any European city operating trolley bus systems to ascertain whether its system could be emulated in Leeds, and if not, why not.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

I can confirm that as part of the public inquiry into the Leeds New Generation Transport Scheme the Inspector did not visit any European city operating trolley bus systems to see if its system could be emulated in Leeds. The Inspector had regard to all the evidence put to the inquiry, this may have included information about other trolley bus schemes in the world, however the Inspector’s remit was to look at the scheme for Leeds specifically put forward by the Applicant, having regard to the evidence submitted by all parties to the case.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2015-11-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the Prime Minister’s recent assertions at the CBI Annual Conference on 9 November that the UK’s security is provided through membership of the EU, what assessment they have made of the impact of NATO membership on the UK’s security and whether they will continue to oppose any proposals for an EU army or other EU armed forces.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation is the cornerstone of our national security, and the ultimate guarantor of our defence. But the EU can play a useful complementary role, for example in missions in the Western Balkans and off the coast of Somalia. We always have, and always will, resist any proposal for an EU army.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-01-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will undertake a review of extant legislation that could be undermining the principle of free speech in the UK or rendering it conditional in some circumstances.

Lord Faulks

As set out in my answer of 20 July 2015 (HL1111), currently, there are no plans to review extant Acts of Parliament to ensure that the right of freedom of expression is not being restricted.

The Government will be bringing forward proposals for a Bill of Rights to protect fundamental human rights, but also prevent their abuse and restore some common sense to the system.