Tag: Rushanara Ali

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2016-01-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many projects her Department is currently managing that have been developed with funding from the International Climate Fund.

Andrea Leadsom

The Department of Energy and Climate Change is currently supporting 21 projects through the International Climate Fund. The majority of these projects are managed by delivery partners such as multilateral development banks and involve donors additional to the UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2016-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, in how many local authority areas in (a) London and (b) England broadband speeds are below the recommended speed as advised by Ofcom.

Mr Edward Vaizey

Superfast broadband with speeds of at least 24Mbps is now available to 90 per cent of UK premises and this will reach 95 per cent by December 2017. The Government has also implemented a basic broadband scheme to enable all premises to gain access to speeds of at least 2Mbps. This enables residents and businesses in all parts of the UK to gain access to every government service available online.

In addition it is the Government’s intention to implement a new broadband Universal Service Obligation that will give people the legal right to request a broadband connection, no matter where they live, by the end of this Parliament. Our ambition is that this should initially be set at 10 Mbps.

There is no specific recommended speed advised by Ofcom.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2016-09-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding the Local Air Quality Management team in her Department awarded to local authorities for monitoring air quality in the last year.

Dr Thérèse Coffey

Defra monitors, models and reports on air quality at a national level in accordance with the requirements of EU and international legislation. There are 272 air quality monitoring stations in Defra’s UK national monitoring networks. Local authorities in England fund and operate approximately 720 monitoring stations, of which 59 are affiliated to the Defra networks.

Local authorities are responsible for reviewing and assessing local air quality, including decisions on local air quality monitoring. Their local knowledge and interaction with the communities that they serve mean that they know the issues on the ground in detail and the solutions that are best suited to local circumstances.

In 2015/16, Defra’s air quality grant scheme awarded £0.5m to eight local authorities to support a range of air quality related projects, including installation of pollutant monitoring stations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2016-01-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent discussions she has had with her EU counterparts on reforming the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.

Andrea Leadsom

The Government strongly supports reform to strengthen the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS). Ministers and officials have discussed EU ETS reform recently with counterparts in other Member States, as well as with members of the European Parliament, the European Commission and industry representatives. At the recent COP21 climate conference in Paris in December 2015 Ministers also participated in a session to promote the EU ETS and strengthen links to other national and international ETS.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2016-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps the Government is taking to bring the cost of pre-payment meters into line with other payment methods such as direct debit.

Andrea Leadsom

Energy suppliers are required under the terms of their licence to ensure that any differences in charges only reflect the higher levels of costs to serve pre-payment meter customers.

I welcome the positive steps some energy suppliers are taking to offer better prepayment meter tariffs including offering the same prices as direct debit customers. Nevertheless, we share the Competition and Market Authority’s (CMA) concern that there is still a limited choice of tariffs for pre-pay customers compared to direct debit and standard credit. The CMA’s final report is due to be published shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2016-09-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if the Government will take steps to work with local authorities to install air pollution monitoring facilities outside primary and secondary schools in (a) London and (b) England.

Dr Thérèse Coffey

Defra monitors, models and reports air quality at a national level in accordance with the requirements of EU and international legislation. There are 272 monitoring stations in the UK national monitoring network, of which 21 are in Greater London and 83 in England.

Local authorities are responsible for reviewing and assessing local air quality, including decisions on local air quality monitoring. Their local knowledge and interaction with the communities that they serve mean that they know the issues on the ground in detail and the solutions that are best suited to local circumstances.

Defra provides guidance, including helpdesk advice to local authorities on the appropriate type of monitoring to install. Where local authorities conduct air quality monitoring, they are expected to site monitors in accordance with local and national priorities, which may include schools and other locations where there is high risk of public exposure.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2016-01-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of the official development assistance budget was given to the International Climate Fund in (a) 2012, (b) 2013, (c) 2014 and (d) 2015.

Mr Nick Hurd

Details of the International Climate Fund (ICF) as a proportion of Official Development Assistance (ODA) are set out below for 2012-2014. Figures for 2015 have not yet been published.

	total net ODA	total ICF	percentage
2012	8,802	488.15	5.5%
2013	11,424	769.01	6.7%
2014	11,726	880.11	7.5%

NOTES:

• Total Net ODA figures are as reported in Statistics on International Development 2015
• Total ICF spend figures are as reported by the UK to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the European Union’s Greenhouse Gas Monitoring Mechanism Regulation (EUMMR)

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2016-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many applications for brain tumour research were made to the National Institute for Health Research in the last 24 months; and how many of those applications were successful.

George Freeman

In the last 24 months, 12 brain tumour research applications have been submitted to National Institute for Health Research programmes and fellowship schemes. Three are under review and nine have been rejected.

I am convening a Task and Finish Working Group on Brain Tumour Research to bring together clinicians, charities and officials to discuss how, working together with research funding partners, we can address the need to increase the level and impact of brain tumour research.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2016-09-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many of his Department’s staff he plans to have working on environmental and climate change negotiations in each of the next three years.

Mr Robin Walker

The Department for Exiting the EU now has over 200 staff, and is growing fast. The overall size and scope of the new Department, including staffing and budget, are regularly reviewed. We will ensure we are appropriately staffed to deal with all aspects of the forthcoming negotiation.

The Department has welcomed staff on secondment with relevant expertise, including on the environment, and it will continue to have a close working relationship with all relevant Departments, in particular Defra as the lead on environmental policy. I am committed to working closely with my Ministerial counterparts, and recently appeared at the Environmental Audit Committee alongside Therese Coffey, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what progress the Government has made on reforming the EU Emissions Trading Scheme as a result of discussions with her EU counterparts and the recent COP21 climate conference.

Andrea Leadsom

The Government strongly supports reform to strengthen the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS). Ministers and officials have discussed this recently with counterparts in other Member States, as well as with members of the European Parliament, the European Commission and industry representatives. At the recent COP21 climate conference in Paris in December 2015 Ministers also participated in a session to promote the EU ETS and strengthen links to other national and international ETS. Whilst the Commission has not indicated an intention to change its proposals for the next phase of the EU ETS in light of Paris, the global climate deal means robust reforms of the EU ETS are now even more important.