Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Callum McCaig – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Callum McCaig – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Callum McCaig on 2015-12-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assumptions her Department relied on to produce the information on expenditure on Contracts for Difference in respect of each eligible technology that it provided to inform the Office for Budget Responsibility assessment of the Levy Control Framework.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Department takes into account a number of factors to project Levy Control Framework (LCF) spending in relation to Contracts for Difference (CfD) contracts, including capacity for each individual project, strike prices, wholesale electricity prices, load factors and commissioning dates. Some of the CfD predictions that fed into the Office for Budget Responsibility November LCF forecasts are already in the public domain, such as strike prices for signed CfD contracts which are available on the LCCC website. Some predictions are based on commercial intelligence and sensitive information from the developers which we cannot disclose.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when her Department plans to publish a full impact assessment of the Government’s proposal for clean air zones.

    Rory Stewart

    We will be working closely over the coming months with the five cities in which Clean Air Zones are to be introduced to develop the detail of the actions required. An impact assessment of the proposals for Clean Air Zones will be published later this year alongside a consultation on a framework for Clean Air Zones and the secondary legislation to be introduced.

  • Lord Addington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Addington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Addington on 2016-02-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government where the criteria for standards in initial teacher training can be found, and whether there are any specific legislative instruments enforcing those criteria.

    Lord Nash

    The Teachers’ Standards were published in 2011 and apply to all teachers. They define the minimum level of practice expected of teachers. The document can be found on the GOV.UK website, and has been attached to this answer.

    The standards refer to:

    • Schedule 2 of The Education (School Teachers’ Qualifications) (England) Regulations 2003

    • The Education (School Teachers’ Appraisal) (England) Regulations 2012

    As such, the Teachers’ Standards apply to:

    • Trainees working towards Qualified Teacher Status;

    • All teachers completing their statutory induction period (newly qualified teachers [NQTs]); and

    • Teachers in maintained schools, including maintained special schools, who are covered by the 2012 appraisal regulations.

    The National College for Teaching and Leadership will use Part Two of the Teachers’ Standards, which relates to personal and professional conduct, when assessing cases of serious misconduct, regardless of the education sector in which the teacher works.

  • Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Berkeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2016-02-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 10 February (HL5652), what (1) proportion, and (2) volume, of excavated spoil from each of the HS2 Phase 1 construction sites will be transported from them by (a) rail, (b) road, and (c) river.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    Excavated material arising from the construction of Phase One of HS2 will be transported along the construction corridor (site haul) where it is reasonably practicable to do so. Where that is not possible, or for movement along longer distances, the material will be transported by public highway, along designated routes. Where reasonably practicable, rail has been considered for the transportation of large quantities of excavated material over long distances. There are currently no plans to move any of the excavated material by river.

    The approximate quantities and relative proportion of each of these transportation methods, allocated to broad sections of the proposed route is set out in the table below. These figures reflect the assumptions reported in the Environmental Statement deposited alongside the Phase One Bill and, as such, are a plausible worst case in terms of both total volume of excavated material and proportion transport by highway and rail. The project has made a commitment to maximise the amount of excavated material transported by rail and are working to increase the proportion transport by rail and decrease the proportion transported by highway wherever reasonably practicable.

    (All figures are in million tons and movements may include multiple handling)

    Site Haul

    Public Highway Haul

    Rail Haul

    Central London & Metropolitan area

    16.9 (56%)

    4 (13%)

    9.46 (31%)

    Buckinghamshire Northants & Warwickshire Country areas

    72.4 (80%)

    17.9 (20%)

    (0%)

    West Midlands Metropolitan area

    29.9 (61%)

    18.9 (39%)

    (0%)

    Total Phase One Routewide

    119.2 (70%)

    40.8 (24%)

    9.46 (6%)

  • Lord Beith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Lord Beith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beith on 2016-03-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that cases in the Court of Protection involving personal liberty are not delayed by lack of representation for persons with mental disabilities, following the recent ruling of that Court requiring representation in such cases.

    Lord Faulks

    The Court of Protection deals with some of the most vulnerable people in our society and is responsible for making difficult decisions including where a person must be deprived of their liberty for the purpose of care or treatment. The protection of vulnerable people is a priority for the Government and we remain committed to finding a fair and proportionate resolution. We are considering whether changes need to be made to the way these cases are dealt with in the courts following the recent ruling on this topic.

  • Bernard Jenkin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Bernard Jenkin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bernard Jenkin on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of all activity related to promoting the Government’s policy of remaining in the EU, including staff costs and the writing and publishing of documents and web pages by the date of the EU referendum.

    John Penrose

    The Government published details of the cost of the production, distribution and publication of its EU Referendum leaflet and associated website on 6th April 2016. The Government continues to take forward its policy on the full range of European business, including the Referendum, as part of the normal work of Departments. Departments will account for expenditure in the normal way, through Annual Report and Accounts.

  • Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the morale of police officers (a) nationally and (b) at force level; and if she will make a statement.

    Mike Penning

    The Home Office does not hold data centrally on the morale of police officers. It is the responsibility of chief officers – supported by the College of Policing – to ensure good management systems are in place to support officers in their work. It is ultimately a matter for chief constables and police and crime commissioners to monitor the morale and engagement levels of their workforce.

    The Government recognises the importance of police welfare- in October 2014 we allocated £10m to help support emergency services personnel and volunteers, focused on mental health, physical recuperation and bereavement support for those who need it.

    £4m was allocated to the charity Mind specifically for mental health issues to cover financial years 2014/15 and 2015/16.

  • Margaret Hodge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Margaret Hodge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Hodge on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will publish a list of all secondees to her Department from (a) PwC, (b) Deloitte, (c) Ernst and Young, (d) KPMG and (e) other consulting firms in the last three financial years; and what the role was of each of those secondees.

    Matt Hancock

    DCMS records show that there were no secondments to the Department from (a) PwC, (b) Deloitte, (c) Ernst and Young, (d) KPMG and (e) other consulting firms in the last three financial years.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of university technical college students who completed apprenticeship courses achieved a Level (a) 3 and (b) 4 apprenticeship qualification in each of the last three years.

    Robert Halfon

    Information on the proportion of university technical college students achieving apprenticeship qualifications over the past three years is not readily available. The Department for Education is phasing in a series of changes to our performance tables from 2018, including the inclusion of apprenticeship outcomes.

  • Deidre  Brock – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Deidre Brock – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Deidre Brock on 2015-11-05.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether under any Act arising from the Scotland Bill the Scottish Government will be enabled to pay tax credits.

    Damian Hinds

    The Smith Commission agreement, agreed by all the main parties in Scotland, set out those benefits where power should be devolved to the Scottish Parliament. Tax credits were not amongst those benefits.

    However, under the current Scotland Bill clauses, the Scottish Government will have the power to top-up tax credits, as long as it does so through using its own resources. The Smith Commission agreement said that any new benefits or discretionary payments introduced by the Scottish Parliament must provide additional income for a recipient and not result in an automatic offsetting reduction in their entitlement to other benefits. Once the Scottish Government have been clear about how they want to use their new powers, we will work with them to understand the interactions between the reserved and devolved benefit systems.