Tag: Tom Greatrex

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Greatrex on 2014-03-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the contribution of the Minister of State of 3 March 2014, Official Report, column 725, on Government levies on energy bills, when he plans to present to the House the first annual report on consumer-funded policies, covering actual expenditure and forecast expenditure.

Michael Fallon

The first annual report on consumer-funded levies will be published to a timetable consistent with Ofgem’s reporting on the Renewables Obligation for 2013/14, scheduled for March 2015. Officials are currently considering how that date could be brought forward.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Greatrex on 2014-04-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) amount and (b) proportion of the budget of the Environment Agency is allocated to staff and other departmental costs associated with the regulation of hydraulic fracturing and unconventional gas in each year between 2010-11 and 2014-15.

Dan Rogerson

The Environment Agency does not keep separate records of its regulatory costs for hydraulic fracturing and unconventional gas so we cannot provide figures for previous years.

For 2014-15 the Environment Agency has allocated £2.6 million to its work on onshore oil and gas. This is 0.39% of the Environment Agency’s total revenue budget.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Greatrex on 2014-03-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the contribution of the Minister of State of 3 March 2014, Official Report, column 721, on Government levies on energy bills, what assessment he has made of the potential effects of a freeze of the carbon floor price on the number and capacity of projects that will be brought forward under the levy control framework.

Michael Fallon

The levy control framework has been designed with the flexibility to be able to respond to policy changes. The government expects to meet its renewable energy ambition as set out in the Electricity Market Reform Delivery Plan within the Levy Control Framework.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Greatrex on 2014-04-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff of the Environment Agency are engaged in regulation of hydraulic fracturing and unconventional gas.

Dan Rogerson

The Environment Agency has set up a team of ten national officers working full time to develop the regulatory regime for oil and gas activities. This work covers conventional and unconventional oil and gas activities.

This team is supported by additional technical resource from elsewhere in the organisation. The workload fluctuates and these specialists are not solely dedicated to regulating and permitting unconventional activities. It is therefore not possible to give an exact answer, but the Environment Agency estimate that approximately a further 40 staff are currently involved in this work across England.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Greatrex on 2014-03-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many personal independence payment applications have been processed in each month since April 2013.

Mike Penning

Personal Independence Payment started from April 2013 and although limited data has started to feed through, we need to wait until the Department has quality assured, meaningful figures for publication. The Department is working to guidelines set by the UK Statistics Authority to ensure we are able to publish statistics that meet high quality standards at the earliest opportunity. We intend to publish official statistics on personal independence payment from spring 2014.

An ad-hoc release of PIP information was published on Tuesday 11 February 2014. www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/277986/adHoc-pip-statistics-feb14.pdf

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Greatrex on 2014-04-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much has been disbursed in compensation for the carbon price floor in each month since April 2013.

Michael Fallon

The Government is waiting for state aid approval from the European Commission for the carbon price floor compensation scheme. We expect to get a final decision later this month and we are hopeful that we will be able to commence the scheme shortly thereafter.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Greatrex on 2014-03-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in receipt of jobseeker’s allowance were sanctioned for failing to complete their job search evidence form on 25 December 2013.

Esther McVey

Claimants are expected to do all that is reasonable within full time working hours in any week to look for work and this is not restricted to specific days.

Claimants with sincerely held religious beliefs can restrict their availability during religious festivals and holidays.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Greatrex on 2014-04-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment he has made of the likely effect of the Supplemental Balancing Reserve on energy bills for the year (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16.

Michael Fallon

The cost of procuring Supplemental Balancing Reserve and Demand Side Balancing Reserve is a matter for Ofgem and National Grid. In its draft Impact Assessment Ofgem estimated the cost of buying these services would be less than £1 a year for the average domestic customer. Ofgem’s final Impact Assessment did not revise or update this estimate. DECC has not carried out a separate assessment.

Ofgem’s draft Impact Assessment can be found at https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/ofgem-publications/84629/nationalgridsproposednewbalancingservices-draftimpactassessment.pdf

A final Impact Assessment is available at: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/ofgem-publications/85278/decisiontoacceptngetapplicationtointroducetwonewbalancingservicesandsubsequentconsultationonfundingarrangements.pdf

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Greatrex on 2014-04-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, on what date he intends to publish the Bioenergy Emissions and Counterfactual calculator.

Gregory Barker

The Department of Energy and Climate Change intends to publish the Bioenergy Emissions and Counterfactual calculator during the first half of 2014, as set out during the Commons debate on the Draft Renewables (Amendment) Order 2014, on 20^th March 2014 by my hon. Friend the Minister of State for Energy.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Greatrex on 2014-04-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much has been disbursed to Ombudsman Services for work relating to the Green Deal in each month since January 2013; and how many complaints relating to the Green Deal have been processed by Ombudsman Services over the same period.

Gregory Barker

I can confirm that DECC pays the Ombudsman Service a fixed quarterly rate to provide Green Deal services, support to DECC and maintain systems, plus an additional fee for each investigation undertaken. The quarterly fixed rate payments work out at £3,333.00 per month.

I would also like to point out that as part of the Government’s transparency initiative DECC publishes summary details of all payments made over £500, including payments to contractors. You can find this information using the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?keywords=&publication_filter_option=transparency-data&topics%5B%5D=all&departments%5B%5D=department-of-energy-climate-change&direction=before&date=2013-03-01

The Ombudsman Service has undertaken some casework but this has not resulted in formal complaints or investigations and there have been no investigation charges to the Department.

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