The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-01-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the effect of the removal of eligibility for Renewables Obligations Certificates on businesses seeking to develop onshore wind farms.
Andrea Leadsom
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Northfield to Question 22287 on Wind Power, on 18 January 2016:
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-02-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many requests were made by his Department’s Child Maintenance Group to HM Revenue and Customs for information relating to a non-resident parent’s unearned income in each year since the commencement of the 2012 statutory child maintenance scheme.
Priti Patel
The Information requested is not routinely recorded for management information purposes and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
CMS has direct access to income information held by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) which allows the Child Maintenance Service to capture a much wider range of income types received by non-resident parents. Therefore the definition of income within variations under the 2012 scheme of maintenance has been opened to deal with almost all additional sources of income captured by self-assessment. This is referred to as “unearned income” and captures income derived from property, savings and investments (including dividends), and other miscellaneous incomes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Marcus Fysh on 2016-03-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the contribution of farmers and landowners to supporting bees and pollinators.
George Eustice
Farmers and other land managers make a vital contribution to supporting pollinators through management and creation of beneficial habitat features. This is reflected in Defra’s National Pollinator Strategy implementation plan.
Well over one thousand applications for the new Countryside Stewardship Scheme, which funds environmentally beneficial land management, contained the Wild Pollinator and Farm Wildlife Package. As part of our monitoring and evaluation programme, we will assess the effectiveness of the Scheme in supporting bees and other pollinators.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Wragg on 2016-03-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what provisions his Department has put in place to improve rolling stock as part of the rail franchise package for the North West.
Andrew Jones
The new Northern and TransPennine Express franchises commenced on the 1st April. By the end of 2019, they will have introduced significant improvements in Rolling Stock.
The Northern franchise will deliver:-
This means that 30% of this expanded fleet will be new and will operate 2000 more services per week –a 12% increase. The additional trains will provide a 37% increase in morning peak capacity into the North’s 5 major cities by December 2019.
The TransPennine franchise will deliver:-
This means that 70% of fleet is new, the fleet size increases by two-thirds, provides 13million more seats, an 80% increase in morning peak seats by the end of 2019.
These delivery plans as bid by the two operators during the Invitation to Tender process have been contracted within the franchise agreements.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Brady on 2016-05-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what information her Department holds on the viability of molten salt reactors to generate electricity.
Andrea Leadsom
In 2012, DECC published an ‘Assessment of advanced reactor systems against UK performance metrics’, which it had commissioned from the National Nuclear Laboratory. This analysis covered molten salt reactors.
These can be found online at:
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kramer on 2016-06-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the value of (1) imports, and (2) exports, from other EU member states to each local authority area in the UK.
Lord Price
Regional trade statistics at the local authority level are not available.
Trade statistics showing the value of trade in goods between UK regions/countries (NUTS 1 level) and EU member states are available from the HM Revenue and Customs’ Regional Trade Statistics database.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-09-06.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case for patients who have certain medical conditions, such as diabetes, mental health problems or other illnesses, to go into schools to talk to children about those conditions, to give them a better understanding of the nature of those illnesses.
Lord Nash
The national curriculum sets the expectation that pupils study personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education in maintained schools and academies are encouraged to teach it as part of a broad and balanced curriculum.
Schools and teachers should decide what to teach based on their pupils’ needs, and taking account of pupil and parent views, when planning health education as part of PSHE.
We believe that schools are best placed to decide whether they draw on the support of patients or resources using patients’ perspectives when delivering PSHE.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Harris of Haringey on 2016-10-21.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Viscount Younger of Leckie on 12 October (HL Deb, col 1889–90), whether any of the information supplied in response to the 20 information requests made by the Home Office of the National Pupil Database since April 2012 related to the information now being sought from schools as part of the school census on pupils’ nationality; and whether such information will be supplied in response to future requests for information.
Lord Nash
Data on nationality and country of birth have not and will not be shared with the Home Office or anyone else. It is solely for DfE research.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2015-11-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate she has made of the effect that the offshore wind industry has on stimulating investment in the north of England.
Andrea Leadsom
Recent major investments in the north of England include Siemens and APB’s investment in Hull, Offshore Structure Britain in Teesside and JDR Cables in Hartlepool. There has also been significant investment in operations and maintenance facilities. These investments are helping to deliver high quality and long term jobs to the region.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2015-12-16.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of people, including children, who continue to suffer the consequences of predictable and preventable disasters globally, and what assessment they have made of the case for Disaster Risk Reduction being included in all development assistance programmes in high-risk countries.
Baroness Verma
DFID uses the global assessment undertaken by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology for Disasters (CRED). CRED estimates that in 2014 107.3 million people were affected by disasters caused by natural hazards such as drought, earthquakes and floods. A DFID funded report recognises that, although there is limited available data, women and children are disproportionately affected by disasters.
In 2012 DFID undertook a study which highlighted the case to invest in measures to build resilience to natural hazards, including Disaster Risk Reduction. The study proved that investing in disaster resilience in advance of shocks or in the early stages of a crisis saves lives and is more cost-effective than humanitarian aid provided after a disaster strikes. It found that, for instance, in Kenya, over a 20 year period, every $1 spent on disaster resilience resulted in $2.90 saved in the form of reduced humanitarian aid, avoided losses and development gains. Since 2011 DFID has undertaken a process to embed disaster resilience in all our country programmes, resulting in the inclusion of disaster risk reduction when appropriate. The Political Champions for Resilience Group has ensured building resilience has been institutionalised in donors, aid agencies and national governments. Strengthening resilience and response to crises is one of the four priorities of the 2015 UK Aid Strategy, Tackling Global Challenges in the National Interest.