Tag: Lord Teverson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Teverson on 2016-03-07.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to review Best Available Techniques permissible with respect to environmental permits for back-up electricity generating plant.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

Back-up electricity generating plants with a rated thermal input of 20MW or more are currently regulated under the Environmental Permitting Regulations. Guidance on Best Available Techniques that plants should use is periodically reviewed. The Best Available Techniques for plants with a rated thermal input above 50MW are currently being reviewed. Research is also being undertaken to assess Best Available Technique for combustion plants operating in the capacity market.

Defra is reviewing environmental legislation for back-up generators and will consult on options to set emissions for relevant air pollutants for some plants such as diesel engines. We will consider the coherence of existing legislation with measures we will be introducing as a result of the review and the Medium Combustion Plant Directive.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Teverson on 2016-03-07.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to review the impact on the electricity market of limiting operational run hours for gas-reciprocating-engine-driven electricity back-up plants under environmental permitting legislation.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

Defra will consult later this year on options which will include legislation that would set binding emission limit values on relevant air pollutants from small engines – which may include proposals that would be implemented under environmental permitting legislation. As part of this process Defra will assess the impacts of any policy options it proposes to take forward, and will work with DECC to understand any implications this may have for the electricity market.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Teverson on 2016-05-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have plans to reconsider their decision to withdraw financial support for the Cornish language, and if not, under what circumstances they next intend to do so.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

Cornwall Council has a core spending power of £1.7 billion over the next four years, from which they can allocate the necessary resources to sustain and grow the use of the Cornish Language, if that is what local people want to see.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Teverson on 2016-06-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to promote the development of energy storage.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

DECC published a document ‘Towards a smart energy system’ in December 2015, and we are investigating the potential barriers to deployment of energy storage and possible mitigating actions, focussing in the first instance on removing policy and regulatory barriers. DECC plans to issue a call for evidence on a smart systems routemap in the near future.

Since 2012, public sector support (including Ofgem innovation funding) for storage has topped £80m.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Teverson on 2016-06-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they will take to ensure that the consumer energy storage market is properly regulated so that consumers are not miss-sold inappropriate systems, and to protect  responsible manufacturers in the sector.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

DECC has provided funding for the development of a Good Practice Guide on Electrical Energy Storage, which was published in December 2014. DECC officials are also involved in ongoing discussions led by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) and by the British Standards Institution (BSI) on technical guidance and standards for electrical energy storage systems. Independent, professional bodies, such as the IET and BSI, are well-placed to lead development of relevant technical guidelines or standards.

The BRE Trust, a charity dedicated to research and education in the built environment, has published this year the “BRE Solar Storage Consumer Guide” which provides guidance for domestic and small commercial consumers considering a battery system to work alongside an existing or new solar PV system.

DECC aims to level the playing field for the storage market, removing policy and regulatory barriers in the first instance. We will be publishing a call for evidence on a smart systems routemap, including storage, in the near future.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Teverson on 2016-06-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they intend to take to increase international student numbers from India, in the light of the publication of Indian Student Mobility Report 2016 by M M Advisory Services. which points out that, despite the high growth in overseas students from India, the number of students coming to the UK has declined steeply in recent years and is likely to be overtaken by Germany.

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

We welcome international students from all countries to study at our world-class universities. There is no cap on the number that can come here and the UK remains the second most popular destination for international students.

The Government is working closely with India to strengthen education ties with the UK. In November 2015, the Indian and UK Prime Ministers’ jointly announced the ‘2016 UK-India Year of Education, Research and Innovation’ and the following month my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Minister of State for Universities and Science led a delegation to India, accompanied by 28 vice-chancellors and college leaders to increase sector-to-sector partnerships.

We are funding major bilateral agreements, including: the UK India Education Research Initiative (UKIERI) which supports partnerships in education and research; the Newton-Bhabha Fund, bringing together science and innovation partners to tackle economic development challenges; and supporting the Generation UK-India programme which is increasing the number of UK students taking placements in India. We are also promoting recruitment to the UK through the Britain is GREAT marketing campaign.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Teverson on 2016-10-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps the Environment Agency is taking to ensure that decisions relating to the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme receive director-level attention and remain adequately staffed.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Implementation of the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme remains an Environment Agency priority and there has been no change to the amount of resource assigned to this or to the level of oversight within the Agency.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Teverson on 2015-02-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to ensure that Post Office accounts can accept monies belonging to customers of credit unions and other providers of low cost lending when those customers and members need to be paid back monies due to them.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The Post Office is one of the leading challengers in the UK financial services market and offers services under its Post Office Money brand and also services on behalf of third parties. Presently more than 95% of UK current accounts are accessible across Post Office’s counters. Post Office already works with a number of Credit Unions, and customers of these organisations are able to undertake basic financial transactions at Post Office branches. Post Office is also working with the Association of British Credit Unions on its Credit Union expansion project; this is ongoing and Post Office hopes to play a role in any solutions identified.

All of Post Office’s contracts – including with Credit Unions – are commercial arrangements and it would not be appropriate for Government to intervene in these. We support Post Office’s strategy to grow its successful financial services business to reach more customers, including potentially those of the Credit Union sector.