Tag: Richard Burden

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with Volkswagen on irregularities in the levels of carbon dioxide emissions from cars manufactured by that firm; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones

The Government takes the unacceptable actions of Volkswagen (VW) Group extremely seriously. As we investigate what went wrong and what we can do to stop it happening again, the priority of course remains to protect the public. We expect VW to take every step necessary to protect its UK customers, but it is right that the Government carry out their own thorough and independent investigation.

A written statement was made today (10 November) informing the House of the latest developments on the Department for Transport’s vehicle emissions testing programme, following the revelations that VW had fitted defeat devices to some of its vehicles.

The Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) is working to confirm that this issue is not industry wide. They have tested two VW group vehicles known to contain a defeat device and will rerun laboratory tests on popular cars sold in the UK to compare real world driving emissions against laboratory performance. This will include measuring CO₂ .

The Secretary of State spoke to Dr Herbert Deiss of VW on 4 November to discuss CO₂ emissions, seeking information on those vehicles affected in the UK and the extent of the discrepancy. VW have stated that they are working hard to clarify the situation and are liaising with relevant approval authorities.

The Secretary of State has written jointly with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills to VW seeking clarification on several issues. Separately, officials from the Department for Transport, and its Agencies have held a number of discussions with VW regarding the recall of affected vehicles.

The Department for Transport has not made a specific assessment of on road emissions in relation to type approval requirements, but officials are aware of the findings in published reports suggesting significant differences.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions the Government has had with (a) the Egyptian authorities, (b) airlines and (c) other national and international bodies on changes to the allocation of slots for flights arriving and leaving Sharm el-Sheikh airport.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Both the Department for Transport (DfT) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) have been in regular liaison, and worked in partnership, with the Egyptian authorities to agree the allocation of slots for UK aircraft at Sharm-el-Sheikh since the temporary resumption of UK-bound flights on 6 November. As is the usual practice, UK airlines have agreed the slot timetables directly with the Egyptian authorities for the flights being arranged. Both the FCO and DfT spoke with other national bodies at Sharm-el–Sheikh on the overall initial allocation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 16 November 2015 to Question 15540, what assistance his Department gave to (a) Kent County Council, (b) other operational organisations and (c) businesses to cover costs and losses during the implementation of Operation Stack in 2015.

Anna Soubry

My department provided no direct financial assistance to those organisations or to businesses to cover costs and losses during the implementation of Operation Stack in 2015.

The Business Support Helpline was available to businesses seeking advice on managing disruption throughout.

In the Autumn Statement, the Chancellor of the Exchequer committed £250 million into finding a long term solution to Operation Stack.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-12-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what Government spending was on the Plug-in car grant in each of the last five years; and what estimate his Department has made of Government spending on that grant in each of the last five years.

Andrew Jones

The plug-in car grant awards consumers a discount on the cost of a new ultra low emission vehicle. It has proved successful in growing the UK’s early market for ultra low emission vehicles, which is now the largest in the EU and the fourth largest in the world. The Government intends that nearly all cars and vans will be zero emission by 2050.

Government spending on the plug-in car grant in each of the last financial years was as follows:

2010/11 £1m

2011/12 £4.5m

2012/13 £11m

2013/14 £20.5m

2014/15 £90.5m

The plug-in car grant is guaranteed to continue at £5,000 per vehicle until February 2016. The Chancellor announced at Spending Review 2015 that more than £600m will be spent on support for ultra low emission vehicles in the five years from 2015 to 2020. This funding means the grants can remain for several years after February, as long as there is a demonstrable market need. Future grant levels will be announced shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-12-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many households in (a) Birmingham, Northfield constituency, (b) the West Midlands and (c) the UK have prepayment meters; and what the change in the number of such meters has been in each of those areas over the last five years.

Andrea Leadsom

Data on methods of payment for domestic energy consumers are published in Quarterly Energy Prices, tables 2.4.2 and 2.5.2.

This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/quarterly-domestic-energy-price-stastics .

The tables below show the proportion of customers within the region using pre-payment meters for each year since 2010. Data is only available at the Public Electricity Supply (PES) region level.

	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
Electricity
West Midlands	15.3%	15.8%	16.3%	16.6%	17.0%
UK	15.0%	15.4%	15.8%	16.3%	16.7%
Gas
West Midlands	13.4%	14.0%	14.8%	15.3%	15.7%
GB	12.6%	13.2%	14.0%	14.5%	15.1%

Data above are produced from a sample survey (DECC’s domestic fuel inquiry).

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the removal of eligibility for Renewables Obligations Certificates for onshore wind on businesses which are considering developing wind farms.

Andrea Leadsom

The Government was elected with a commitment to end subsidies for new onshore wind projects. Onshore wind has made a valuable contribution to the UK energy mix in recent years but has now reached the point where there is enough capacity in the pipeline for the UK to meet its 2020 renewable commitments. Having proposed early closure of the RO to onshore wind, we conducted an engagement exercise to understand better the views of stakeholders on the proposal. To protect investor confidence a grace period was proposed in June 2015, and we subsequently amended this in response to stakeholder feedback over the summer, for example to take account of a possible investment hiatus whilst the measures pass through Parliament. We consider this will strike the right balance between consumer and industry interests.

An impact Assessment was published whilst the Bill was in the House of Lords that set out the potential impacts of our proposals. This can be viewed online at:

http://www.parliament.uk/documents/impact-assessments/IA15-007F.pdf

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the working group conducting the Post Implementation Review of the Equality Act 2010 (Work on Ships and Hovercraft) Regulations 2011 was set up; and how many times that group has met.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Working Group conducting the Post Implementation Review of the Equality Act 2010 (Work on Ships and Hovercraft) Regulations 2011 was created in June 2014 and has met three times.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effects of the demolition of structures in the South Hebron Hills on 2 February 2016 on (a) future compliance with UN resolutions and (b) the peace process; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The UK position on demolitions is clear: demolitions cause unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians; are harmful to the peace process; and are, in all but the most exceptional of cases, contrary to international humanitarian law. The Fourth Geneva Convention is clear that the destruction of any real or personal property in Occupied Territory is not justified unless it is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2016 to Question 24913, what assessment he has made of the likely take-up of the (a) deck and (b) other Maritime Trailblazer ratings apprenticeships (i) before and (ii) after the introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy from April 2017.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Apprenticeship Levy will encourage the take up of apprenticeships generally. It is not possible to say how it might impact on individual apprenticeships, particularly those still under development.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department has taken to ensure the (a) maintenance of and (b) appropriate location for public weighbridges.

Joseph Johnson

a) Public weighbridges are regulated under the Weights and Measures Act 1985 and the Non Automatic Weighing Instrument Regulations 2000. It is the responsibility of the owner of the instrument to ensure that it is maintained and continues to operate in line with the legal requirements for accuracy. Local Weights and Measures Authorities (LWMAs) are responsible for enforcement of weights and measures requirements and undertake enforcement using a risk based approach. The National Measurement and Regulation Office (NMRO) issues risk ratings for equipment for use by LWMAs which is updated each year and have rated weighbridges as high risk equipment.

b) The operation of public weighbridges is a commercial service and their location will be a commercial decision for the operators concerned.