Tag: Matthew Pennycook

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications to the Disclosure and Barring Service from people living in Greenwich and Woolwich constituency have taken more than 60 days to process in the last 12 months.

Karen Bradley

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) provides a formal monthly performance report to the Home Office and Home Office Ministers. This includes updates on the performance of police forces in meeting the Service Level Agreement (SLA) standards for the time taken to complete local disclosure checks.

The DBS monitors the performance of all police disclosure units and works closely with any force, including the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) which is having difficulty in meeting its targets. An MPS Gold Group is overseeing the recovery plan in place at the MPS. London Boroughs do not operate their own disclosure units.

The number of applications to the Disclosure and Barring Service from people living in Greenwich and Woolwich constituency that have taken more than 60 days to process in each of the last 12 months is listed in the table below.

Month	Total Disclosures Issued to Applicants from the Constituency of Greenwich and Woolwich	Disclosures that took longer than 60 days
February 2015 – January 2016	11,446	1,688

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-02-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what proportion of existing capacity of existing Capacity Market Units that were awarded Capacity Market contracts did not place an exit bid in (a) 2014 and (b) 2015.

Andrea Leadsom

All existing Capacity Market Units (CMU) participating in the 2014 and 2015 auctions submitted exit bids in accordance with the auction rules. Confidentiality rules mean that the Government is unable to obtain from National Grid, the delivery body for the Capacity Market, the detailed information on individual exit bids.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-04-21.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the report by the Office for National Statistics, the Feasibility of measuring the sharing economy, published in April 2016.

Harriett Baldwin

HM Treasury has taken note of this feasibility study. Professor Sir Charles Bean’s Independent Review of Economic Statistics highlighted the importance of proper measurement of the sharing economy and to enable the Office for National Statistics to develop world-leading analytical and digital capabilities in economic measurement, the government will invest over £10m in a new hub for data science and a centre for excellence in economic measurement in line with recommendations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-09-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will take steps to review the decision to remove solar thermal from the Renewable Heat Incentive.

Jesse Norman

In March the Department for Energy and Climate Change published a consultation “The Renewable Heat Incentive: A reformed and refocused scheme”, including proposals relating to solar thermal.

The Government is currently considering responses to the consultation and will announce its final proposals in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2015-11-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the potential effect on costs to consumers of the contract for difference awarded to Hinkley Point C.

Andrea Leadsom

As stated in my answer to PQ 15115, under the CfD consumers won’t pay anything for electricity until the plant is powering their homes and businesses. Payments under the CfD are expected to make up around £10 (real 2012 prices) of the average household energy bill in 2030. This should be seen in the context of Hinkley Point C meeting 7% of the UK’s energy needs, and set against our estimate that a new nuclear programme could reduce average household bills by up to around £30 in 2030 (again in real 2012 prices). This is calculated by comparing the costs for consumers in a modelled scenario for the future electricity mix with Hinkley Point C and a further role out of the new nuclear programme with the cost for consumers in a scenario where there are no new nuclear power stations by 2030. Savings could be higher or lower depending on changes in the cost of alternative generation technologies and what mix of technologies would ultimately be used.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent assessment he has made of the extent of anti-competitive practices in the newspaper wholesale market.

Nick Boles

Responsibility for considering competition issues in the UK falls to the independent competition authorities. Since 2014 this role has been carried out by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT), the predecessor of the CMA, conducted a detailed investigation of the operation of the distribution arrangements for the supply of newspapers and magazines in England and Wales over a number of years. In September 2009, the OFT decided that, although there might be competition concerns, developments benefiting consumers could come about from industry parties self-assessing their distribution agreements following competition guidance provided by the OFT.

The OFT considered that it would not be feasible for the Competition Commission to obtain the necessary evidence at that time properly to assess how the supply chains were likely to evolve in the short term. This decision was reviewed and confirmed in March 2012 and was upheld by the Competition Appeal Tribunal in October 2012.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent consideration he has given to amending existing non-statutory guidelines on Residential Leasehold and Recognised Tenants’ Associations to ensure that those who reside in larger blocks and developments have the same opportunity to gain recognition as a recognised tenants’ association as those in smaller blocks and developments.

Brandon Lewis

The non-statutory guidelines available to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) when considering applications for statutory recognition of a tenants’ association, apply to all residential blocks of flats, large or small.

Recognising concerns raised about the ability to acquire statutory recognition, the Department published a detailed discussion paper last year to consider what more can be done through the existing guidelines to assist the tribunal when considering applications. We are currently considering responses to the discussion paper.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-04-21.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of low long-term real interest rates on house prices.

Harriett Baldwin

According to the latest figures published by the Office for National Statistics, UK house price growth moderated to 7.6% in the year to February 2016, down from a peak of 12.1% in September 2014. A number of factors are likely to have supported demand for housing in recent years, including low interest rates.

The Government has established the independent Financial Policy Committee (FPC) within the Bank of England, designed to monitor risks to the UK financial system and take action to address those where appropriate. The FPC has been given the authority and a powerful set of tools to tackle the risks posed to financial stability from the housing market.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2016-09-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his policy is on reform of the feed-in tariff for solar generation.

Jesse Norman

Almost 11 GW of solar capacity has now been installed. Solar continues to deploy under the Feed-in Tariff scheme, with over 140 MW of applications since the scheme reopened in February.

Changes to the Feed-in Tariff scheme were introduced in 2016 to manage costs and ensure value for money. While it is appropriate to allow for a period of stability following these changes, the Secretary of State continues to keep the performance of the scheme under review.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she is taking to ensure that the Capacity Market does not favour any class of generators.

Andrea Leadsom

The Capacity Market is technology neutral, i.e. it does not seek to procure specific volumes of capacity from different types of technology. Before the start of pre-qualification for the auction, National Grid discounts the capacity available from each technology according to its historic reliability. These steps ensure that all types of eligible capacity are able to participate on an equal basis. The principle of technology neutrality allows the market to identify which technology type is cost efficient in delivering security of supply.

We are satisfied with the wide range of different technologies that have prequalified for the next Capacity Market auction, which will take place next month.