Asked by: Anne McGuire (Labour - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on fatigue in long distance coach and lorry drivers.
Answered by Claire Perry
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.
Asked by: Anne McGuire (Labour - Stirling)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the Government's proposed changes to the disabled students' allowances on the drop-out rate of students who will no longer be eligible for funding.
Answered by Greg Clark
The Equality Analysis is currently being updated in light of information and evidence provided by stakeholders. It will be published in the autumn.
Asked by: Anne McGuire (Labour - Stirling)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the Government's proposed changes to the disabled students' allowances on the employment prospects of students who will no longer be eligible for funding.
Answered by Greg Clark
The Equality Analysis is currently being updated in light of information and evidence provided by stakeholders. It will be published in the autumn.
Asked by: Anne McGuire (Labour - Stirling)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what consultation his Department undertook with universities, providers of support and students prior to the announcement of 7 April 2014 on proposals to change the disabled students' allowance.
Answered by Greg Clark
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.
Asked by: Anne McGuire (Labour - Stirling)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the proposed changes to the disabled students' allowance on the participation in higher education of students with high needs.
Answered by Greg Clark
The Equality Analysis is currently being updated in light of information and evidence provided by stakeholders. It will be published in the autumn.
Asked by: Anne McGuire (Labour - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the cost of assessing the eligibility of (a) people with learning disabilities, (b) deaf people, (c) blind people, (d) people with primary or secondary MS, (e) people with Alzheimer's disease, (f) people with motor neurone disease, (g) people with muscular dystrophy and (h) deafblind people who are in receipt of disability living allowance for the personal independence payment (PIP); and how often each will be expected to be reassessed for continued eligibility for PIP.
Answered by Mark Harper - Secretary of State for Transport
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.
Asked by: Anne McGuire (Labour - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made in the development of the Woodland Carbon Code.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
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.
Asked by: Anne McGuire (Labour - Stirling)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when work will begin on the bioenergy strategy review; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lord Barker of Battle
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.
Asked by: Anne McGuire (Labour - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans that the commercial timber manufacturing sector will be represented on the proposed public forest trustee body.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
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.
Asked by: Anne McGuire (Labour - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress he has made on developing an ecosystem valuation approach.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
Defra and HM Treasury produced new Green Book supplementary guidance in 2012 on how to account for nature's value at:
This supplementary guidance covers the practical application of techniques for valuing environmental impacts in policy appraisal. It applies to all programmes, policies and projects. An important recommendation in this guidance is the use of the ecosystem services framework.
Defra is also supporting independent research on developing further our understanding of nature's economic and social value through the National Ecosystem Assessment Follow-On Project (NEAFO), which will report later this year.