First elected: 1st May 1997
Left House: 30th March 2015 (Retired)
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
These initiatives were driven by Anne McGuire, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Anne McGuire has not been granted any Urgent Questions
Anne McGuire has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
Anne McGuire has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
The Department has recently tendered a research contract to assess the plausibility of scenarios in the report with the highest potential net greenhouse gas emissions occurring in the period to 2030 that result from increased demand from the UK biomass electricity sector.
DECC is committed to supporting sustainably produced biomass, that delivers real greenhouse gas savings, is cost effective, takes account of wider impacts across the economy and manages possible risks such as to food security and biodiversity. The Department is seeking to bring forward proposals for mandatory sustainability requirements this year. The UK has been at the forefront of developing criteria to ensure that biomass used in energy generation is sustainable and we will have some of the toughest sustainability criteria in the world.
Biomass is an important part of the UK’s energy mix, playing a central, transitional role in decarbonising the electricity grid. Our support for biomass is part of our wider ambition for a mix of renewable energy sources. Our 2012 Bioenergy Strategy analysis indicated that sustainably-sourced bioenergy could contribute 8-11% to the UK’s total primary energy demand by 2020.
The Government has acted to provide relief for energy intensive industries and is targeting its limited resources at those energy intensive products that are exposed to competition in the international markets.
However, we are bound by the European Commission’s state aid rules in this regard and cannot, therefore, simply use climate change agreements as the basis for eligibility for these schemes.
We have issued a consultation on a proposed methodology and are currently analysing the results. We expect to publish a Government response to the consultation shortly and final conclusions on which sectors will be eligible once we have state aid approval, which we expect to receive by summer 2015.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her in my capacity as Minister of State for Business, Enterprise and Energy on 7 January 2015 to Question 219138:
The Government is committed to providing relief from the indirect costs of renewables to the most electricity intensive industries that operate in global markets. We are bound by the European Commission’s state aid rules in this regard and cannot, therefore, simply use climate change agreements as the basis for eligibility for these schemes. We have issued a consultation on a proposed methodology and are currently analysing the results. We expect to publish a Government response to the consultation early in the New Year and final conclusions on which sectors will be eligible once we have state aid approval which we expect to receive by summer 2015.
The saw-milling sector was not included in the proposed eligibility list because, based on the data available, it does not pass the proposed UK sector-level test of requiring an electricity-intensity of at least 7%. Department for Business, Innovation and Skills officials are content to discuss this with the association further in the New Year.
It is worth noting that the Government has already increased the discount on the Climate Change Levy on electricity to 90% for those sectors, like sawmilling, that are in receipt of a climate change agreement and that we are also capping the cost of the Carbon Price Floor at £18 per ton of CO2 – 60% of the original 2020 target price – to reduce the indirect cost to industry.
The Government is committed to providing relief from the indirect costs of renewables to the most electricity intensive industries that operate in global markets. We are bound by the European Commission’s state aid rules in this regard and cannot, therefore, simply use climate change agreements as the basis for eligibility for these schemes. We have issued a consultation on a proposed methodology and are currently analysing the results. We expect to publish a Government response to the consultation early in the New Year and final conclusions on which sectors will be eligible once we have state aid approval which we expect to receive by summer 2015.
The saw-milling sector was not included in the proposed eligibility list because, based on the data available, it does not pass the proposed UK sector-level test of requiring an electricity-intensity of at least 7%. Department for Business, Innovation and Skills officials are content to discuss this with the association further in the New Year.
It is worth noting that the Government has already increased the discount on the Climate Change Levy on electricity to 90% for those sectors, like sawmilling, that are in receipt of a climate change agreement and that we are also capping the cost of the Carbon Price Floor at £18 per ton of CO2 – 60% of the original 2020 target price – to reduce the indirect cost to industry.
The Renewables Obligation (RO) places an obligation on UK electricity suppliers to source a specified proportion of the electricity they supply to customers from renewable sources. This proportion – called ‘the Obligation’ – is set each year by government in line with legislation. The scheme is administered by Ofgem, who issue Renewables Obligation Certificates (ROCs) to generators in relation to the renewable electricity they generate. Further details of how the scheme operates can be found on Ofgem’s website:
It is assumed that the cost of the RO to suppliers is passed on to consumers through their energy bills. The total cost that can be levied on consumers through the RO is controlled through DECC’s Levy Control Framework.
The Equality Analysis is currently being updated in light of information and evidence provided by stakeholders. It will be published in the autumn.
In 2013 the Government sought the views of stakeholders through a Call for Evidence on areas of Disabled Students Allowance. The Statement of April 7 2014 was followed by extensive discussions with stakeholders, students and their representatives and disability organisations.
The Equality Analysis is currently being updated in light of information and evidence provided by stakeholders. It will be published in the autumn.
The Equality Analysis is currently being updated in light of information and evidence provided by stakeholders. It will be published in the autumn.
The Green Investment Bank (GIB) may invest only in specified green sectors. Its scope to finance projects involving wood based industries is limited to projects that use either waste wood recovered from landfill or wood pellets made from forestry management waste as biomass fuel to generate renewable energy. GIB has directly committed £12 million of debt finance to one project that uses waste wood to generate electricity and £100 million of finance towards the conversion of Drax power station to run partly on biomass fuel pellets rather than coal. In addition, the Bank has indirectly committed through its specialist fund managers £37 million of finance to projects that generate power from recovered waste wood and £21 million to projects that generate power from biomass pellets. Information about these and other GIB transactions to date can be found on the GIB website: www.greeninvestmentbank.com.
As set out in the UK Bioenergy Strategy:
"it will be important to continue to monitor impacts and review policies and measures periodically in the light of information gained from monitoring policy impacts and the outputs of continuing research. .... We will review how the totality of UK bioenergy policies meets the direction and principles set out in this strategy in at least 5 year intervals."
We will set out our intentions closer to the time.
Agriculture is a restricted sector under State Aid rules, therefore regional growth funds cannot be allocated to Local Enterprise Partnerships for wood-focused initiatives.
The Government is making good progress in developing plans for the new, operationally independent public body to manage the public forest estate, as announced in the Forestry and Woodlands Policy Statement, published in January 2013. Defra and the Forestry Commission have worked closely with a wide range of stakeholders in designing the features of the new body. Subject to Parliamentary time, the Government intends to legislate at the earliest opportunity.
The Natural Capital Committee's (NCC) second report to the Government's Economic Affairs Committee was published on 11 March. The report does not make specific recommendations that only apply explicitly to woodland. It does however use woodland based examples to illustrate a number of opportunities to enhance ecosystem service values. A copy of the report is available at: http://www.naturalcapitalcommittee.org/. The Government plans to respond to the NCC's recommendations in summer 2014.
In 2012, the NCC published its principles for guiding decision making regarding forestry in the UK in response to recommendations made by the Independent Panel on Forestry report. The NCC's response is available at: http://www.naturalcapitalcommittee.org/advice.html
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 10 March 2014 to the hon. Member for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock, Official Report, column 75W.
Forestry is a devolved issue. UK Forestry Standard compliant management plans are a matter for the devolved administrations.
In England, the Forestry Commission, with input from the private sector, has recently published new management plan templates with accompanying guidance. This delivers the commitment in the Government's response to the report by the Forestry Regulation Task Force to develop a series of UK Forestry Standard compliant management plan templates for a range of forest types.
Grant funding is available through the English Woodland Grant Scheme to support the production of woodland management plans and similar support is planned as part of the next Rural Development Programme. In the next programme an approved UK Forestry Standard compliant management plan will be a prerequisite for further woodland grant support.
The Government supports and is very encouraged by the Grown in Britain initiative, which is working to maximise the long-term benefits that our woodlands can bring to the environment, social well-being and the economy. As Grown in Britain is a sector-led initiative, the Government is not responsible for the development of the brand licensing system that will be applied to timber products produced by Grown in Britain commercial partners.
The Woodland Carbon Code, developed by the Forestry Commission, was introduced in July 2011 following a pilot phase that began in September 2010. Subsequently, a group scheme has been launched to enable financial costs to be shared by participating schemes, alongside a shared responsibility for ensuring that Woodland Carbon Code requirements are met at all sites. In July 2013 the Code was launched on the Markit Environmental Registry to provide open and transparent project registration as well as Woodland Carbon Unit issuance, tracking and retirement. As of 31 March 2014, 202 projects covering an area of 15,401 hectares had registered with the Woodland Carbon Code, of which 67 projects had been validated.
In January this year, we set out a list of ten core principles for the new body, including that it would be managed by experts and have access to the best advice. We intend that the commercial timber manufacturing sector should be represented in the arrangements, giving effect to this commitment.
Transport Ministers have not had any recent discussions with EU counterparts about fatigue in long distance coach and lorry drivers.
The passenger and freight industries are highly regulated at European level. For example, the EU drivers’ hours rules and the sector specific working time rules limit the time drivers spend at the wheel and on other duties, thus helping reduce fatigue-related accidents. We will continue to work with the European Commission and other Member States to try to reduce the incidence of fatigue related road accidents.
The information you have requested regarding the cost of assessment for PIP regarding different types of disability is not currently available. How often a person will be assessed to decide the correct level of entitlement for PIP will be dependent on the basis of individual needs and circumstances.
HM Revenue & Customs assess all contacts made and a decision is made as to the appropriate course of action.