Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer on 2016-04-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of how the carbon emissions of waste-fed anaerobic digestion plants compare to those of plants fed by energy crops.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    The carbon emissions from anaerobic digestion (AD) plants have been assessed by adding together; the greenhouse gas emissions from the AD plant including an estimate of their methane leakage rate, the reduction in UK greenhouse gas emissions from the use of biomethane to substitute for natural gas in the gas grid, and where this is relevant, the emissions avoided by no longer needing to dispose of the feedstock. The estimates below are for typical plants and will depend on particular circumstances.

    For food waste this net change in greenhouse gas emissions was assessed as a saving of 850 g of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilowatt hour of energy in the biomethane produced (g CO2eq /kWh). This arises principally from the reduction in emissions from the landfilling of food waste. Animal waste based AD plant save emissions of 704 g CO2eq /kWh as a result of the reduction in storage emissions of slurries and manures. The use of annual energy crops for AD was assessed as saving 102 g CO2eq /kWh.

    The assumptions behind this assessment are detailed in the Impact Assessment that accompanied the recent consultation ‘The Renewable Heat Incentive: A reformed and refocused scheme’ and did not taken account of any additional carbon emissions impacts relating to indirect land use change, which may arise from changes in agricultural land caused by the expansion of croplands for feedstock production.

    This evidence was drawn from the modelling that supported the Impact Assessment for the recent Renewable Heat Incentive consultation that closed on 27th April.

    Food waste is estimated to be considerably more cost-effective than agricultural feedstocks because of the ‘upstream’ emissions abatement that is assumed to occur as a result of diverting food waste from landfill to an anaerobic digester. This is despite the controls that are in place at landfill sites to collect and combust landfill gas.

    Agricultural wastes are also assumed to produce upstream emission abatement owing largely to avoided emissions from the storage of slurries and manures, although these are less significant than the upstream abatement from food waste. In contrast energy crops do not offer these GHG emission reduction advantages.

  • Baroness Burt of Solihull – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Baroness Burt of Solihull – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Burt of Solihull on 2016-06-13.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the average duration of employment for civil servants within the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in each of the last five years.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The length of service for employees of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills HQ, in each of the last five years, is shown in the table below.

    Period ending

    Average length of service (Years)

    31 March 2016

    16.3

    31 March 2015

    15.8

    31 March 2014

    15.6

    31 March 2013

    15.6

    31 March 2012

    15.6

    The data above relates to the total length of their employment within the Civil Service.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-09-02.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Department’s press release of 13 August 2016, Chancellor Philip Hammond guarantees EU funding beyond date UK leaves the EU, how the future allocation of European Regional Development Fund funding will be assessed.

    Mr David Gauke

    The European Regional Development Fund is one of a number of European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIFs). The relevant information on ESIFs can be found in my letter of 12 August to the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union. This letter is attached and can be found on the Gov.uk website, alongside the Treasury press notice.

  • James Cleverly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    James Cleverly – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Cleverly on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent steps his Department has taken to detect and prevent electoral fraud involving polling cards and voter registration.

    Chris Skidmore

    The Electoral Commission provides guidance on preventing and reporting electoral fraud sets out the role of Local Electoral Registration Officers, Returning Officers, the police and political parties in detecting and preventing fraud. This guidance can be found online.

    Moreover, the security of registration has been improved by the introduction of Individual Electoral Registration. This service checks the details provided by the applicant, including their National Insurance number, against government data before passing the application to the relevant local electoral administration team.

    For applications with no National Insurance number and other applications not verified through the digital service, the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) will seek further information regarding identity. For all registration applications, online or otherwise, the ERO is also responsible for ensuring that other eligibility requirements, such as the nationality of the applicant, are satisfactorily met.

    Finally, the Government considers the integrity of the electoral system of the utmost importance and has recently welcomed the report published by Sir Eric Pickles into electoral fraud.

    The Government will closely consider the recommendations laid out in that report and issue its response shortly.

  • Anna Turley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Anna Turley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anna Turley on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps (a) he and (b) his Department made to secure a buyer for Redcar coke ovens and blast furnace before the Official Receiver called for a hard closure.

    Anna Soubry

    Commercial decisions on the purchase of assets are the prerogative of the companies involved and government has no powers to oblige companies to purchase assets.

    On liquidation of a company, it is the responsibility of the liquidator to sell the free assets of the company. In the case of SSI UK, this was the Official Receiver.

    I am informed that the Official Receiver did maintain operations at SSI, including the coke ovens, for a period while he tried to find purchasers for the assets of SSI UK but as of the 12 October, no purchaser had been found and the Official Receiver ceased operations of the coke ovens and blast furnace.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-12-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to paragraph 2.64 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, how she plans to make £600 million savings from the Education Services Grant; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    Savings of £600 million will be made by reducing the Education Services Grant (ESG), including phasing out the additional funding that goes to schools and local authorities. We will be making a small efficiency saving (around £80 million) from the ESG in 2016-17, and will be setting out our proposals for savings from 2017-18 in the New Year. This will include consulting on the details of the statutory duties that will be removed.

  • Ann Clwyd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Ann Clwyd – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ann Clwyd on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2015 to Question 19906, when he expects to publish Lady Justice Macur’s report.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The report needs to be considered by law enforcement agencies and the government before it can be published. This includes considering whether redactions need to be made. Lady Justice Macur has recommended that certain material should be considered for redaction.

    The work is proceeding at pace with a view to publication as soon as possible.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what representations he has received from charities on the adequacy of employment and support allowance payments; and if he will make a statement.

    Priti Patel

    The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-03-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve educational standards in Bradford.

    Nick Gibb

    This Government is committed to educational excellence everywhere. The new powers in the Education and Adoption Bill are designed to help raise standards in underperforming areas such as Bradford, ensuring all failing maintained schools become academies with strong sponsors, and coasting schools are challenged to improve.

    The Regional Schools Comissioner has already prioritised Bradford for the Northern Fund and brought two new sponsors into the area.

    We have also significantly expanded School Direct and Teach First, to ensure schools in Bradford have access to high-quality teachers. The new National Teaching Service, which will place outstanding teachers and middle leaders into schools which most need additional support to improve their teaching, will begin with a pilot later this year; Bradford will be one of the areas eligible to participate in this pilot.

    I recently had the pleasure of being able to see some of the excellent work that is already being done to raise standards in Bradford, when I visited the outstanding Beckfoot School in Bingley, where 46% of pupils achieve the E-Bacc combination of core academic GCSEs.

  • Lord Moynihan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Moynihan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government between which dates the current President of the World Anti-Doping Agency was a consultant to UK Anti-Doping; how much he was paid; and what his responsibilities were.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    Sir Craig Reedie was appointed a Special Advisor to UK Anti-Doping in 2009. The role was created to provide expert advice to UK Anti-Doping, primarily during its formative phase, as and when required. Under this appointment, Sir Craig Reedie was not commissioned to provide any expert advice and therefore received no payment from UK Anti-Doping. He formally stood down from this role on his appointment to President of the World Anti-Doping Agency in 2014.