Asked by: Charles Kennedy (Liberal Democrat - Ross, Skye and Lochaber)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether, in respect of the current proposals to revise the British Underwater Training and Evaluation Centre range at Kyle of Lochalsh, the new 82 square kilometre area is based upon the current take-up zone or will include the no travel zone; whether the revised Ministry of Defence area map is based on existing inner or outer limits; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The 82 square Km area is the existing byelawed area of the Raasay Ranges and includes the British Underwater Test and Evaluation Centre. This is divided into an Outer Area (around 56 square Km) in which no trawling or dredging is permitted, and an Inner Area (around 26 square Km) in which no fishing activity at all is permitted. The proposed byelaw extension is for a single range area (around 110 square Km) in which no fishing activity (including dredging or trawling) will be permitted, although this does include the possible creation of local agreements, that would permit controlled creel fishing or dive fishing in the area. In addition, the water-space around the island of Rona that is at present unavailable for fishing will also be released under the current proposals.
Asked by: Charles Kennedy (Liberal Democrat - Ross, Skye and Lochaber)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if, in respect of the current proposals to revise the British Underwater Training and Evaluation Centre range at Kyle of Lochalsh, he will list the initial consultees involved prior to his letter of 3 November 2014 to the right hon. Member for Ross, Skye and Lochaber and others; what input was sought from Marine Scotland; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Philip Dunne
On 19 August 2013 the Minister for Defence Equipment and Support (Philip Dunne) wrote to the right hon. Member to inform him that the Department was looking favourably on QinetiQ's proposals for new investment to sustain the operations of the Ministry of Defence Raasay Ranges. In addition, the Minister wrote to the then Deputy First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon and the constituency Member of the Scottish Parliament, David Thompson. In parallel officials wrote to the Highland Council and Highland and Islands Enterprise in order to seek their views on the proposal. Marine Scotland was not consulted at that stage, as the consultation focussed on new investment and implications for jobs at the site.
The views of Marine Scotland were sought in late 2014 in relation to the planned installation of new cabling to support the proposed relocation of the in-water equipment at Raasay.
Asked by: Charles Kennedy (Liberal Democrat - Ross, Skye and Lochaber)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with mobile phone operators on the effects of adverse weather on their systems; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
I have had no specific discussions with mobile phone operators on the issue of adverse weather, but there is a regular dialogue on issues of concern to both industry and Government.
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills works closely with the telecoms industry, in particular via the pan industry and government Electronic Communications – Resilience & Response Group (EC-RRG) which leads on enhancing resilience levels and the preparation and exercising of incident response.
Asked by: Charles Kennedy (Liberal Democrat - Ross, Skye and Lochaber)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many and what proportion of people in the Scottish Highlands and Islands are classed as living in fuel poverty; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Amber Rudd
Fuel poverty is largely devolved. For instance, Scotland has its own fuel poverty target and fuel poverty indicator. In Scotland, fuel poverty is measured using the 10 per cent definition.
Fuel poverty is measured at the household level rather than the individual level. Based on the Scottish Housing Condition Survey Local Authority Analysis 2011-13, the estimated number and proportion of households in fuel poverty in the Scottish Highlands and Islands is shown in the table below.
Estimated number of fuel poor households | Proportion of fuel poor households (%) | |
Scottish Highlands and Islands | 101,500 | 46.7 |
Asked by: Charles Kennedy (Liberal Democrat - Ross, Skye and Lochaber)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Service Complaints have been made in the Royal Navy Reserve in the last three years; and how long it has taken to investigate each case.
Answered by Anna Soubry
There have been 12 Service Complaints recorded on the Joint Personnel Administration Service and submitted to Commanding Officers of Royal Naval Reserve Units in the last three years.
It is not possible to determine how much time has been spent investigating each case; investigations can be conducted at any phase of the Service Complaint management process, and some of these cases are ongoing.
Asked by: Charles Kennedy (Liberal Democrat - Ross, Skye and Lochaber)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what financial information is sent to his Department from individual local authorities on the administrative costs incurred in the preparation for, and the processing of, the under-occupancy penalty; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Esther McVey
The Department has provided funding to each local authority to meet the additional costs resulting from our reforms to Housing Benefit. Local Authority Associations were fully consulted when determining these new costs.
The Department does not collect details of expenditure on Housing Benefit administration from individual local authorities.
Asked by: Charles Kennedy (Liberal Democrat - Ross, Skye and Lochaber)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will bring forward plans to enable the Green Investment Bank to purchase equity in existing offshore projects to enable similar investment in onshore wind turbine construction; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Michael Fallon
The role of the Green Investment Bank (GIB) is to help finance green infrastructure projects. The terms of its state aid approval do not allow it to invest in specific supply chain companies or activities such as turbine manufacturing. GIB has already taken equity stakes in a number of operating offshore wind farms.
Asked by: Charles Kennedy (Liberal Democrat - Ross, Skye and Lochaber)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent assessment he has made of the economic potential of the Scottish Highlands and Islands; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Alistair Carmichael
The Scottish Highlands and Islands play an important role in the Scottish economy.
The UK Government recognises this and has demonstrated strong support for rural areas through measures such the fuel duty rebate scheme, the abolition of the fuel duty escalator, and in the Budget 2014 supporting Scotch Whisky by freezing duty on spirits.