Asked by: Bill Grant (Conservative - Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions she has had with devolved Administrations on ensuring that warning lights on onshore wind turbines do not compromise gold tier dark sky parks including the Galloway and the Southern Ayrshire UNESCO Biosphere.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Civil Aviation Authority set the requirements for warning lights on wind turbines in excess of 150 metres tall, to ensure high safety standards. Planning policy is a devolved matter in Scotland and it will be for the relevant Scottish Local Authority to consider the impact of light pollution from wind turbines.
Asked by: Bill Grant (Conservative - Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions her Department has had with the devolved Administrations on distribution density of onshore wind turbines and the effect of that distribution density on communities.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
I regularly have conversations with my counterparts in the Devolved Administrations on a wide range of issues, most recently on 24 October. The Government is rightly proud of its record on reducing emissions, and we continue to be ambitious in the deployment of renewables. Working with Devolved Administrations, the Offshore Wind Sector Deal aims to deliver 30GW of offshore wind by 2030, while boosting the UK economy, enhancing growth in the regions and continuing to reduce costs.
As planning policy is a devolved matter, it is for the Devolved Administrations to establish their planning policy and approach to deciding planning applications.
Asked by: Bill Grant (Conservative - Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps she is taking with devolved Administrations to address negative perceptions of the effects of onshore wind turbines in the (a) Carrick area of south Ayrshire and (b) Cumnock area of east Ayrshire.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
I regularly have conversations with my counterparts in the Devolved Administrations on a wide range of issues, most recently on 24 October. The Government is rightly proud of its record on reducing emissions, and we continue to be ambitious in the deployment of renewables. Working with Devolved Administrations, the Offshore Wind Sector Deal aims to deliver 30GW of offshore wind by 2030, while boosting the UK economy, enhancing growth in the regions and continuing to reduce costs.
As planning policy is a devolved matter, it is for the Devolved Administrations to establish their planning policy and approach to deciding planning applications.
Asked by: Bill Grant (Conservative - Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment her Department has made of the potential effects of (a) low-frequency sound and (b) amplitude modulation from onshore wind turbines on public (i) health and (ii) quality of life.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
In 2016 the Department for Energy and Climate Change published a report which makes recommendations for how local planning authorities can assess amplitude modulation and use planning conditions to control it where necessary.
Asked by: Bill Grant (Conservative - Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether community transport operators relying on the exclusively non-commercial exemption to holding a public service vehicle operators' licence will be able to continue to do so pending his Department’s publication of a final response to the consultation on Section 19 and Section 22 permits; and what criteria are used to define non-commercial for that purpose.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
In March the Department clarified the scope of two exemptions to the EU Regulation on operator licensing in guidance and enacted a new additional exemption; so that community transport operators can carry on taking people to the shops, work, school, hospital and the doctor.
The definitive view of what the non-commercial exemption means will be a matter for the High Court. Once it has reached a decision, the Government will revise its guidance in line with the High Court’s judgement.
Asked by: Bill Grant (Conservative - Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU without a deal on the (a) costs, (b) regulatory burden and (c) certification processes for UK fish exporters to the EU.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
In the event of the UK leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement in place, the EU will require UK exporters to provide a Catch Certificate and an Export Health Certificate (EHC) when exporting most fish and fisheries products to the EU. Direct landings made by UK fishing vessels into EU ports will need to be accompanied by a Catch Certificate but will not require an EHC.
Export health certification is a devolved matter. Responsibility for Scottish exports to third countries lies with the Scottish Government. The Animal and Plant Health Authority issues EHCs for Scotland. Charges for signing EHCs vary by local authority and are made on a cost recovery basis. The consolidation of export consignments into larger consignments covered by a single certificate could reduce this cost burden.
The UK Government and the Marine Management Organisation have developed an IT system to allow exporters to obtain a Catch Certificate around the clock at no cost to the exporter. Assuming that the information submitted is correct, the Catch Certificate will be issued immediately without the need for further checks before export.
Asked by: Bill Grant (Conservative - Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of the introduction of the (a) new NHS pension scheme in 2015, (b) reduction of the annual allowance for pension growth, (c) subsequent tapering of that allowance and (d) other cumulative changes in recent years to the NHS pension scheme on the (i) level of hours worked by practitioners and (ii) level of practitioner morale.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
The 2015 NHS Pension Scheme is valuable part of staff reward packages and remains one of the best schemes available. The reforms to public service pensions ensured that schemes are sustainable and the costs are fair to both staff and the taxpayer.
Data is not collected on the impact of the new National Health Service pension scheme, other cumulative changes, or the annual allowance on the level of hours worked by practitioners, or practitioner morale.
The Department recognises that the tapered annual allowance may contribute to decisions by NHS staff to retire early or limit their NHS commitments. The Government is listening carefully to concerns raised by senior doctors and NHS employers about the impact of tapered annual allowance.
The Department has sought to make available to NHS Pension Scheme members all possible flexibility under Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs legislation and the current fiscal framework for public sector pension schemes. The Chancellor is considering the case for further flexibility in the NHS Pension Scheme.
Asked by: Bill Grant (Conservative - Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
What recent steps she has taken to ensure the maintenance of the Common Travel Area between the UK and Ireland after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Karen Bradley
On 8 May, the United Kingdom Government and the Irish Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding codifying the Common Travel Area (CTA) and associated reciprocal rights.
Asked by: Bill Grant (Conservative - Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Government's January 2019 Clean Air Strategy, what assessment he has made of the (a) effect on air quality of the Renewable Heat Incentive programme and (b) implications of that effect for the future of that programme.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Biomass Boilers supported under the RHI scheme must meet strict air quality and feedstock sustainability rules. The air quality requirements ensure applicants for both RHI schemes with a biomass boiler (including Combined Heat and Power) will need to have emissions levels no higher than 30 grams per gigajoule (g/GJ) net heat input for particulate matter (PM) and 150g/GJ for oxides of nitrogen (NOx), which are the two main pollutants.
In the Clean Air Strategy, the Government committed to consult on removing Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme support for new biomass installations in urban areas which are on the gas grid. The Government published the consultation Renewable Heat Incentive: Biomass Combustion in Urban Areas in May 2018, seeking views on a number of proposals including the removal of RHI support for some or all new biomass boilers in urban areas, imposing geographical restrictions on biogas combustion and introducing regular maintenance checks on existing biomass boilers under the RHI. The consultation also contains an assessment of the impacts of this policy change. We will be publishing a government response to this consultation shortly.
Asked by: Bill Grant (Conservative - Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will establish a hydrogen and fuel cell task-force within his Department to assess the future role of hydrogen and fuel cells in delivering clean growth and decarbonisation.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Department is undertaking a range of activity to examine and further develop the evidence to support our own understanding of the potential role of hydrogen and fuel cells in delivering clean growth and decarbonisation in the UK.
We recognise the value of engagement with partners beyond Government and work with many bodies representing the broad range of hydrogen and fuel cell interests, including industry groupings, regional groups, infrastructure providers, and network operators.
This engagement and our ongoing assessment of the developing evidence base, shortly to include new advice from the Committee on Climate Change on meeting the UK’s long-term climate change targets, is important in informing Government ambition on hydrogen and fuel cells. We recognise the valuable role that Task Forces often have in shaping action to deliver Government ambition, and in that light we will keep the need for a specific hydrogen and fuel cell task force under review.