Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to page 38 of the Independent review of Border Force by Alexander Downer, published on 20 July 2022, whether he has made an estimate of the number and proportion of Heathrow Border Force Officers that have been informed of changes to their reasonable adjustments since that report was published.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
No members of staff have had their reasonable adjustments changed as a consequence of the Heathrow Change Programme.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to take steps to help maintain youth representation at the local authority level in the context of the closure of the British Youth Council.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
I was sorry to learn about the closure of the British Youth Council (BYC). Over its 75 year legacy, the BYC supported thousands of young people to become politically engaged and create positive change both in their local communities and internationally. DCMS was informed of the significant financial challenges faced by the BYC at the end of February 2024. The scale of these challenges unfortunately meant that DCMS could not provide emergency funding as this would not meet the key standards of Managing Public Money.
The Government is absolutely committed to the UK Youth Parliament and to ensuring that it continues to both represent and amplify the voices of young people. We have been working with UK Youth Parliament delivery partners from English regions and the devolved administrations, to understand the implications of the BYC’s closure. We have been working at pace to identify a suitable organisation which can hold overall grant management responsibility for the UKYP 24/25, and will update the house as soon as next steps have been formalised. We are also exploring how best to maintain and develop representation at the local authority level.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department took steps to help prevent the closure of the British Youth Council.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
I was sorry to learn about the closure of the British Youth Council (BYC). Over its 75 year legacy, the BYC supported thousands of young people to become politically engaged and create positive change both in their local communities and internationally. DCMS was informed of the significant financial challenges faced by the BYC at the end of February 2024. The scale of these challenges unfortunately meant that DCMS could not provide emergency funding as this would not meet the key standards of Managing Public Money.
The Government is absolutely committed to the UK Youth Parliament and to ensuring that it continues to both represent and amplify the voices of young people. We have been working with UK Youth Parliament delivery partners from English regions and the devolved administrations, to understand the implications of the BYC’s closure. We have been working at pace to identify a suitable organisation which can hold overall grant management responsibility for the UKYP 24/25, and will update the house as soon as next steps have been formalised. We are also exploring how best to maintain and develop representation at the local authority level.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to paragraph 22 of the fifth Special Report of the Energy and Climate Change Committee of Session 2010-11 entitled UK Deepwater Drilling: Implications of the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill: Government Response to the Committee's Second Report of Session 2010–11, HC 882, published on 22 March 2011, what recent progress the Government has made on ensuring that oil spill response equipment is designed to take full account of the harsh environment in the West of Shetland.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The response to pollution incidents from offshore hydrocarbon operations is led by Industry and their primary response contractor Oil Spill Response Limited (OSRL). Since the report was published, the Oil Spill Prevention and Response Advisory Group (OSPRAG) cap was developed and been in service since 2011. OSRL have also developed additional higher rated capping devices which have been in service since 2013. OSRL have also extended their response capability to include a base in the Shetland Islands to respond promptly to incidents West of Shetland. This base contains response equipment which has been specially selected for West of Shetland conditions.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the permanent closure of the British Youth Council, if she will take steps to ensure that unspent grant funding is re-allocated to support other youth organisations.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
I was sorry to learn about the closure of the British Youth Council and want to express gratitude for its work over the years. Government is committed to the delivery of the UK Youth Parliament and intends to use funding allocated to BYC in 2024/25 to support the programme. We are working alongside previous UKYP delivery partners from English regions and the devolved administrations, to understand the implications of BYCs closure for programme delivery. We have been working at pace to identify a suitable organisation which can hold overall grant management responsibility for the UKYP 24/25. A preferred candidate has been identified and we are currently undertaking final due diligence checks and negotiating terms and I will update the house as soon as next steps have been formalised.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the closure of the British Youth Council on the Youth Parliament.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
I was sorry to learn about the closure of the British Youth Council and want to express gratitude for its work over the years. Government is committed to the delivery of the UK Youth Parliament and intends to use funding allocated to BYC in 2024/25 to support the programme. We are working alongside previous UKYP delivery partners from English regions and the devolved administrations, to understand the implications of BYCs closure for programme delivery. We have been working at pace to identify a suitable organisation which can hold overall grant management responsibility for the UKYP 24/25. A preferred candidate has been identified and we are currently undertaking final due diligence checks and negotiating terms and I will update the house as soon as next steps have been formalised.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to re-deploy staff at the British Youth Council after its permanent closure.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
I was sorry to learn about the closure of the British Youth Council and want to express gratitude for its work over the years. Government is committed to the delivery of the UK Youth Parliament and intends to use funding allocated to BYC in 2024/25 to support the programme. We are working alongside previous UKYP delivery partners from English regions and the devolved administrations, to understand the implications of BYCs closure for programme delivery. We have been working at pace to identify a suitable organisation which can hold overall grant management responsibility for the UKYP 24/25. A preferred candidate has been identified and we are currently undertaking final due diligence checks and negotiating terms and I will update the house as soon as next steps have been formalised.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of Natural Environment Research Council funding rules on UK Polar research.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), is the leading funder of natural environment research in the United Kingdom. The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is part of NERC and operates polar infrastructure and facilities on NERC’s behalf, including the polar research vessel and research stations, to enable polar science and research activity. NERC funding, including to polar research, is delivered via competitive, peer-reviewed application processes. Awards are made to Research Organisations based on terms and conditions detailed in NERC’s Research Grants and Fellowships Handbook. NERC also supports strategic research and national capability programmes.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he plans to review the funding rules for the Natural Environment Research Council so that international partners can be costed in with a value up to 30% of a grant proposal.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is a constituent council of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). UKRI is responsible for managing funding policy across its councils. Where an “international co-applicant” agreement is in place, NERC funds specified direct costs for international collaborators, paying up to 100% of eligible direct costs or a maximum of 30% of the full economic cost value for eligible international costs. UKRI has no immediate plans to review this policy.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether Civil Service employees from core departments retained continuity of employment for contractual purposes when they transferred from working for their previous department to work for the Marine Management Organisation in 2009.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Continuous statutory service would be transferred as per the protocols. However, Defra does not keep information on staff who have transferred under Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment)/ Cabinet Office Statement of Practice. All data becomes owned by the organisation that the work moves to, as the staff are theirs as if they had always been their staff.