Tag: Lord Truscott

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Truscott on 2015-12-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what studies they are undertaking into the slowing of the Gulf Stream and the subsequent impact on climate change and extreme weather patterns in the UK.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

The Natural Environment Research Council is currently funding two research programmes to detect changes in the Gulf Stream and to investigate how these changes might affect the weather of the North Atlantic (RAPID-AMOC and ODYSEA). DECC co-funds, with Defra, the Met Office Hadley Centre Climate Programme which, amongst many other research activities, uses climate models to understand the observed fluctuations in the Gulf Stream, to predict future changes, and to assess the impact that present and future changes may have upon European weather and climate.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Truscott on 2015-12-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the current weekly costs of the Chilcot Inquiry.

Lord Bridges of Headley

The Iraq Inquiry, which is independent of Government, publishes its annual costs after the end of each financial year. The Inquiry’s costs for FY 2014/15 were £1,358,500, providing an average weekly cost in the last financial year of £26,125.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Truscott on 2016-01-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of recent flooding, what plans they have to re-allocate the proposed funding for HS2 to the funding of strengthened flood defences.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

There are no plans to re-allocate HS2 funding to flood defences. The HS2 budget is to deliver HS2.

The Government is separately investing £2.3bn in flood defences through the six-year capital programme, which will better protect 300,000 homes and reduce overall flood risk in England by 5% by 2021.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Truscott on 2016-01-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether any part of the proposed HS2 rail line is to be built on a flood plain.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Given HS2 is a national infrastructure project of over 350 miles, HS2 does currently plan to cross floodplains. For Phase One, the assessment of all sources of flood risk can be found in Volume 5 of the Environmental Statement. For Phase Two, flood risk is detailed in the Appraisal of Sustainability.

HS2 Ltd has a design aim that, for the lifetime of the development, there should be no increased risk of flooding for vulnerable receptors, including residential property, taking projected climate change impacts into account. The design of HS2 does consider the practicalities of a range of environmental factors, including flooding.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Truscott on 2015-01-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will provide a detailed breakdown of the costs of the Chilcot Inquiry to date.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire

I refer the noble Lord to the answer I gave to Lord West of Spithead on 3 November 2014, Official Report, Column 1425. A detailed breakdown of these costs is available on the Inquiry’s website.