Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Susan Elan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Susan Elan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Susan Elan Jones on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will undertake an assessment of the effect on the availability of UK-sourced wood supplies of (a) 50MW and under and (b) over 50MW wood-burning biomass plants.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Department already monitors the use of wood for fuel in the UK through two means:

    • Analysis of the sustainability data returned to Ofgem (a requirement for generators >50kW under the Renewables Obligation)
    • A voluntary questionnaire which asks the large scale biomass electricity users (>50MW) of their plans for sourcing biomass for the next five years.

    Volumes of UK wood being used for electricity and CHP generation are expected to remain at a fairly constant level, at around 1.3-1.4million oven dried tonnes per year. There is no indication that use of UK-sourced biomass for electricity is causing resource constraints for other UK wood users (such as the wood products industry).

    The conclusions from our most recent analysis1 reinforce what we already understood: that while biomass generation is increasing, the demand for feedstock is being met mostly from imports.

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/woodfuel-disclosure-survey

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  • Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nicholas Brown – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what representations he has received from patient groups on the contaminated blood compensation consultation.

    Jane Ellison

    The respondents to the contaminated blood compensation consultation are not required to identify their association with any group. The Government response to the consultation will set out the number of respondents from specific patient groups, where that information has been provided.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-04-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has updated estimates of the cost of the Successor submarine programme since the publication of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    No. As stated in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, our latest estimate is that manufacturing the four Successor submarines is likely to cost a total of £31 billion, including inflation over the lifetime of the programme. We will also set a contingency of £10 billion.

  • Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what the annual budget is for food produced for his Department’s offices; and what proportion of food produced for his Department was sourced from British producers in the last period for which figures are available.

    David Mundell

    The Scotland Office has no in-house catering facilities and the provision of food is generally limited to catering associated with official hospitality and is supplied by external contractors.

    The Office does not separately record the proportion of food sourced from British Producers used by its external caterers.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-07-06.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil servants he plans to employ in the new EU Unit once that unit is at full capacity.

    Mr Oliver Letwin

    The new Europe Unit will bring together officials and policy expertise from across Whitehall. Structures and staffing are being determined.

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2016-10-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 12 September (HL1533), whether work has commenced on the third Offshore Patrol Vessel contracted for in August 2014; and if not, why not.

    Earl Howe

    Construction of the third Offshore Patrol Vessel, HMS TRENT, began in October 2015.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how her Department plans to ensure it works in partnership with businesses involved with wildlife issues to enhance public and private sector involvement in combating wildlife crime after March 2016.

    Rory Stewart

    We will continue to engage with all those with an interest in wildlife issues, including in tackling wildlife crime, as part of normal business and particularly through the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime.

  • Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2015-12-10.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government which are the 27 sites where successful bids for funding have been made in the first wave of Starter Home projects on brownfield sites; in which local authorities those sites are situated; and in each case, what measures the funding will support, how much is being offered, and whether it is in the form of a grant or a loan.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    £8,063,561 in grant funding has been awarded to 18 local authorities for site preparation, including remediation, demolition, site investigation and/or ecological works on 27 suitable brownfield sites, that will go on to deliver the first wave of Starter Homes. Further detail on the sites, local authorities and amount of funding each will receive are set out in the attached table.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Sadiq Khan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the (a) longest, (b) shortest and (c) average time serving police borough commanders have been in post in London boroughs.

    Mike Penning

    The Home Office does not hold data centrally on the number of police borough commanders in each London Borough, or the length of time that they have been in post. This information is likely to the held by the Metropolitan Police Force.

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government uses the Food Insecurity Experience Scale survey to monitor UK households’ vulnerability to hunger.

    George Eustice

    Defra does not use the Food Insecurity Experience Scale survey to monitor UK households’ vulnerability to hunger.

    There is no single definition of food insecurity and Defra does not estimate numbers of households experiencing food insecurity. The factors that impact on household food security are complex. There are multiple indicators such as quality, variety and desirability of diet as well as total intake, not all of which are measured consistently. It is therefore very difficult and potentially misleading to develop a single classification of food insecurity.

    However Defra does publish statistics annually to show the proportion of household income spent on food by (a) all households and (b) the lowest income 20% of households. The most recent statistics are in the food statistics pocketbook 2015 on the GOV.UK website.