Written Statements
(4 years, 2 months ago)
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Renewable Energy
(4 years, 2 months ago)
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The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Alok Sharma)
Today, the Prime Minister announced new investment of £160 million to support offshore wind, and a new level of ambition for the next round of the renewable contracts for difference energy auction.
This funding will support major new port-side manufacturing hubs, so that the UK can host the factories making the next generation of offshore wind equipment.
The Government also confirmed a boost to their previous target to deliver up to 30GW of offshore wind to delivering 40GW by 2030.
The Government also announced a new ambition for 1GW of the new 40GW by 2030 target to come from floating offshore wind—a brand new technology allowing windfarms to be built further out to sea in deeper waters, boosting capacity even further. This will put the UK at the forefront of the next generation of clean energy.
Together with planned stringent requirements on supporting UK manufacturers in Government-backed renewables projects, these measures will help the industry to reach its target of 60% of offshore wind farm content coming from the UK, helping to also boost lower carbon supply chains.
To help deliver these ambitious targets and accelerate the country’s progress towards net zero emissions by 2050, the Government have confirmed that the next round of the renewable energy auction will open in late 2021 and aim to deliver up to twice the capacity of last year’s successful round—potentially providing enough clean energy for up to 10 million homes.
Today’s announcement marks the latest stage of the Government’s support for renewable energy and acceleration of the transition to net zero. The Prime Minister has set out new plans to build back better and build back greener by making the UK the world leader in clean wind energy—creating jobs, reducing carbon emissions and boosting exports.
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Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse Report on Anglican Church
(4 years, 2 months ago)
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The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Priti Patel)
Today the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse has published its latest report, which can be found at: www.iicsa.org.uk.
This report relates to its investigation into institutional failures to protect children from sexual abuse within the Anglican Church. I pay tribute to the strength and courage of the victims and survivors who have shared their experiences to ensure the inquiry can deliver its vital work.
The Government will review this report and consider how to respond to its content in due course.
I would like to thank Professor Jay and her panel for their continued work to uncover the truth, expose what went wrong in the past and to learn the lessons for the future.
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HM Prison Five Wells: G4S
(4 years, 2 months ago)
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The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (Lucy Frazer)
Today I can announce that, following a rigorous and robust evaluation process, G4S has been successful in its bid to provide prison operator services at the new build resettlement prison at Wellingborough.
I can also today announce that following public consultation in 2019 and a meeting of local community representatives in February 2020, the new prison will be named “HMP Five Wells”. This was the most popular submission from members of the public and reflects the five historic wells that surround the town, and also appear on Wellingborough’s coat of arms. I am grateful for the public’s submissions to name their new prison and I am proud that HMP Five Wells will provide a significant boost to the local economy by creating hundreds of long-term jobs, support our commitment to a role for the private sector in operating custodial services, and improve rehabilitation and security in the prison estate.
The contract for the operation of HMP Five Wells follows the first mini competition launched in July 2019 under the prison operator services framework. Four of the six framework operators (G4S Care and Custody Services UK Ltd, Serco Ltd, Sodexo Ltd and a new entrant, Management and Training Corporation Works Ltd) bid as part of the competition.
Bidders were required to submit proposals that addressed specific requirements in relation to our aspirations for the new resettlement prison and set how they would deliver all aspects of the custodial service from arrival to resettlement ensuring this is safe, decent and secure. Bidders also set out how the prison would be mobilised and resourced effectively, how they would provide effective property and facilities management, and demonstrated financial robustness.
As the successful bidder, G4S demonstrated its capability to deliver a high quality, value-for-money service which will ensure that the prison is safe, decent, secure, rehabilitative and fit for modern times. All bidders should be proud of their submissions.
HMPPS did not bid in the competition but provided a public sector benchmark against which bids were rigorously assessed. If bids had not met our expectations in terms of quality and cost, HMPPS would manage the new prison itself.
It is important to recognise that the operator competition for the operation of HMP Five Wells was about driving quality and value across the system, which we have shown can be done through a balanced approach to custodial services provision, which includes a mix of public, voluntary and private sector involvement.
The result of the operator competition for HMP Five Wells, with strong bids from all bidders, bodes well for the next competition we will run for the new prison at Glen Parva in 2021 and potentially further competitions for new prisons and existing private prisons as their contracts expire over the course of the next five years.
It is another crucial milestone in this Government’s commitment to delivering around 3,500 modern places at HMP Five Wells, the new prison at Glen Parva, and via a new houseblock at HMP Stocken. This is on top of the 10,000 additional prison places being created by investing up to £2.5 billion to reform the prison estate, improve standards of decency across the estate, and reduce reoffending.
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