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Tag: Margaret Ritchie

  • Margaret Ritchie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Margaret Ritchie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent assessment he has made of the potential risks posed by (a) flooding and (b) rising sea levels at the Drigg Low-Level Waste Repository in Cumbria.

    Michael Fallon

    Radioactive waste management activities are subject to permitting by the Environment Agency under legislation introduced by the Department.

    As part of the environmental permitting process for radioactive waste disposal the Agency has required the operators of the Low-Level Waste Repository (LLWR) to consider long term coastal erosion at the site and the need for and feasibility of providing sea defences. These issues are assessed within an Environmental Safety Case submitted to the Environment Agency in May 2011 which has been subject to review by the Environment Agency over the last two to three years and also the subject of a public consultation between November 2013 and February 2014.

  • Margaret Ritchie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Margaret Ritchie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2014-05-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he last met the Chair of the College of Emergency Medicine; what subjects were discussed at that meeting; and if he will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    The last meeting between my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and the Chair of the College of Emergency Medicine was held on 2 April 2014. At that meeting, their views on the health system, and emergency medicine in particular, were discussed.

  • Margaret Ritchie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Margaret Ritchie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2014-05-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 30 April 2014, Official Report, columns 712-3W, on floods: Cumbria, when the results of his public consultation will be published; and whether plans are in place for moving the nuclear waste stored at the Drigg Low-Level Waste Repository if the site is deemed at risk.

    Michael Fallon

    The Environment Agency carried out a public consultation exercise between November 2013 and February 2014 on LLW Repository Ltd’s variation application to dispose of further radioactive waste at the Low Level Waste Repository. Submissions received as part of this exercise are available on the Environment Agency’s Public Register. Responses will be published by the Environment Agency before the end of 2014, as part of a second consultation on a draft decision on the variation application. It is then anticipated that a final decision will be published in the spring of 2015.

    As part of the Environmental Safety Case for the repository, LLW Repository Ltd were required to consider the need to move some or all of the radioactive waste disposed of at the facility given the best current understanding of likely coastal erosion timescales and all relevant technical factors. This work has demonstrated that the risks presented by leaving the radioactive waste in place are consistent with relevant legislation, standards and guidance. The most appropriate option for the environment and people, now and into the future, is not to recover and move the radioactive waste and therefore no plans have been put in place for this.

  • Margaret Ritchie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Margaret Ritchie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2014-05-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with the Minister for Health in Northern Ireland on the establishment of a cancer drugs fund; and if he will make a statement.

    Norman Lamb

    We have had no such discussions.

  • Margaret Ritchie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Margaret Ritchie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2014-05-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the Goods Vehicle Levy in Northern Ireland.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The levy is supported by a majority of hauliers in Northern Ireland, all of whom pay it alongside their Vehicle Excise Duty. Hauliers from Ireland must also pay before they use roads in Northern Ireland. A typical large HGV from Ireland visiting Northern Ireland twice a day, as would be the case for a round trip, would effectively pay only £1.28 per visit if they had purchased an annual levy. Smaller vehicles pay less, and those under 12 tonnes pay nothing. These represent small amounts compared to the running cost of a UK HGV of £80,000 to £100,000 per year, and much less than the tolls a typical Northern Ireland HGV would face doing a round trip to Dublin at around £8. Parliament has already debated the exempting of some border roads in Northern Ireland, totalling around 7 miles. These exemptions are a practical measure meaning that vehicles entering Northern Ireland for a short distance do not have to pay the levy, and exempting them simplifies enforcement.

  • Margaret Ritchie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Margaret Ritchie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ritchie on 2014-05-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he last met the Minister for Justice in Northern Ireland; and what subjects were discussed at this meeting.

    Damian Green

    The Secretary of State for Justice had a meeting with David Ford, the Northern Ireland Justice Minister on 6 February 2013 in Belfast at which they discussed matters of mutual interest in relation to justice policy.