David Anderson

The Government set out its capital budget and priorities for this Spending Review period on 25 November 2015.

Chinese investment in new nuclear power stations was not a factor in our assessment of the impact of changes to government support for renewables.

A reformed domestic supplier obligation (ECO) from April 2017 will upgrade the energy efficiency of well over 200,000 homes per year. This will help to tackle the root cause of fuel poverty and continue to deliver on our commitment to help 1 million more homes this Parliament.

We are providing support for households to improve their energy efficiency through the new supplier obligation, which will run for 5 years.

Our extension of the Warm Home Discount to 2020/21 at current levels of £320m pa will alsohelp households who are at most risk of fuel poverty with their energy bills.

I refer the hon. Member to House of Commons Library Briefing Paper Number SN01189 dated 25 November 2015 which contains at page 17 a table showing the total gross payments made to the Guarantor from the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme since privatisation:

http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN01189/SN01189.pdf

Stakeholders have suggested the concept of a market stabilising Contracts for Difference (CfD) and we are listening to ideas from industry about how this can be achieved and how we can best ensure a level playing field between renewable and other generation technologies. We are still working up ideas and would welcome continued input from stakeholders.

The Demand Side Balancing Reserve (DSBR) was introduced by National Grid ahead of winter 14/15 to help manage electricity margins ahead of the introduction of the Capacity Market in 2018/19. Since its introduction, the DSBR has only been despatched on one occasion.

Both last year and this year, National Grid will have instructed units within the DSBR as part of testing their capability to ensure they are able to achieve the level and speed of turn-down for which they are contracted.

We currently estimate that a new nuclear programme could reduce average household bills by up to around £30 (real 2012 prices) in 2030. This is calculated by comparing the costs for consumers in a modelled scenario for the future electricity mix with Hinkley Point C and a further roll out of the new nuclear programme with the cost for consumers in a scenario where there are no new nuclear power stations by 2030. Savings could be higher or lower depending on changes in the cost of alternative generation technologies and what mix of technologies would ultimately be used. Earlier analysis had identified a higher saving, but other low carbon energy technologies have become far more cost competitive which has brought down the cost.

The Government will reintroduce measures for the early closure of the Renewables Obligation (RO) for new onshore wind in Great Britain, when the Energy Bill is in the Commons. The measures will close the RO from 1 April 2016 – a year earlier than originally planned.

As set out in the impact assessment, it is estimated that the proposed early closure of the RO to onshore wind will reduce household electricity bills.

The impact assessment is available here:

http://www.parliament.uk/documents/impact-assessments/IA15-007F.pdf

The Government was elected with a commitment to end subsidies for new onshore wind projects. We are taking the steps necessary to deliver this commitment, which includes closing the Renewables Obligation (RO) early to new onshore wind projects.

An Impact Assessment (IA) considering the potential effects of the Government’s proposals to close the RO early was published on 8 September, with an update published on 8 October. The IA suggests, under the central scenario, that ending RO support early could have a small impact on employment in this sector compared with the do nothing option.

Under the Government’s proposals onshore wind is expected to deploy 11.6GW of capacity under the RO and an additional 0.75GW under Contracts for Difference by 2020. Taken together, this is sufficient to meet onshore wind’s expected contribution towards our renewables target as set out in the Electricity Market Reform Delivery Plan whilst minimising the impact of potential over deployment on consumer bills. This strong pipeline of projects will support jobs in this sector, including construction, maintenance and management opportunities out to 2020.

The government funds the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) and the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) to help employers and individuals understand their rights and responsibilities at work.

The government also funds the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) which has a wide range of information and support specifically aimed at pregnant women, new mothers and their employers, available on their website.

The government commissioned new research from the EHRC into the attitudes of employers on pregnancy and maternity leave, as well as the prevalence and causes of pregnancy discrimination in the workplace.It is the largest ever study of pregnancy and maternity-related discrimination in Great Britain, interviewing 3000 employers and 3000 mothers. The final report will be published later this year and will inform any further action the government takes to ensure both employers and employees are fully aware of their legal obligations and rights.

The government funds the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) and the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) to help employers and individuals understand their rights and responsibilities at work.

The government also funds the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) which has a wide range of information and support specifically aimed at pregnant women, new mothers and their employers, available on their website.

The government commissioned new research from the EHRC into the attitudes of employers on pregnancy and maternity leave, as well as the prevalence and causes of pregnancy discrimination in the workplace.It is the largest ever study of pregnancy and maternity-related discrimination in Great Britain, interviewing 3000 employers and 3000 mothers. The final report will be published later this year and will inform any further action the government takes to ensure both employers and employees are fully aware of their legal obligations and rights.

The government funds the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to provide a wide range of information and support aimed at women at work, particularly pregnant women and new mothers, which is available on their website.

The government also funds the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) and the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) to provide women at work with information and guidance.

The findings of the largest ever study of pregnancy and maternity-related discrimination in Great Britain will be published by the EHRC later this year and will inform any further action that the government takes to ensure women can access the information and support they need.

All consumer products including virtual reality headsets are covered by the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 which implements the EU’s General Product Safety Directive. The regulations impose requirements concerning the safety of products ensuring that only safe products are placed on the market.

It is the obligation of the producer to hold appropriate documentation such as test results and risk assessments to show that their products are safe. The Department does not hold this information.

The Department has not made an estimate of the number of virtual reality headsets sold in the UK.

All consumer products including virtual reality headsets are covered by the General Product Safety Regulations 2005. The regulations impose requirements concerning the safety of products ensuring that only safe products are placed on the market.

With respect to virtual reality headsets we would therefore expect the manual accompanying the product to give clear advice and carry appropriate warnings, including age appropriateness of the user etc. (and we believe this is generally the case).

I therefore do not feel the need to take extra steps to raise awareness but will keep the situation under review.

All consumer products including virtual reality headsets are covered by the General Product Safety Regulations 2005. The regulations impose requirements concerning the safety of products ensuring that only safe products are placed on the market.

With respect to virtual reality headsets we would therefore expect the manual accompanying the product to give clear advice and carry appropriate warnings, including age appropriateness of the user etc. (and we believe this is generally the case).

I therefore do not feel the need to take extra steps to raise awareness but will keep the situation under review.

All consumer products including virtual reality headsets are covered by the General Product Safety Regulations 2005. The regulations impose requirements concerning the safety of products ensuring that only safe products are placed on the market.

With respect to virtual reality headsets we would therefore expect the manual accompanying the product to give clear advice and carry appropriate warnings, including age appropriateness of the user etc. (and we believe this is generally the case).

I therefore do not feel the need to take extra steps to raise awareness but will keep the situation under review.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 3 July 2015, UIN 4411.

The Department plans to continue to provide funding for further education for adults. Across all our grant, loan and capital support for adult further education, we are making available over £3bn in 2015-16.

For apprenticeships, Government and employers will continue to jointly invest in the training, reflecting the economic benefits that apprenticeships bring. For older learners studying at advanced level (age 24 and upwards studying at level 3) our policy is to provide HE-style loans to fund tuition fees to colleges. We have made £498m of provision available in 2015-16. For adult further education, our policy is to pay grant to providers based on the numbers of learners they teach and characteristics of those learners. There are also specialist funds to support joint projects with employers to grow skills in strategic areas of the economy; to support prisoner education; and for community learning. We also make capital funding available to colleges. In 2015-16 £410m of capital funding is available, of which £330m is distributed according to the requirements of Local Enterprise Partnerships. Finally, our policy is to provide funding to support the learner to access the system and get the most from it.

Apprenticeships are our priority for skills and colleges have been encouraged to expand their apprenticeship offer. As government funding has reduced, colleges have responded well by looking at generating other income streams and creating sustainable business models for the future. This entrepreneurial approach will help ensure sustainable future business models with less reliance on government funding.

The financial health of further education colleges is under constant review by the Skills Funding Agency based on self-assessment information from colleges and the publication of college accounts. Colleges with inadequate financial health are subject to intervention led by the FE Commissioner.

Our funding mechanism is designed to allow providers the freedoms and flexibilities to decide how best to use their allocation to respond to local learner and employer demand. As autonomous organisations it is up to colleges to manage their own budgets including staffing numbers and what provision to offer.

Colleges are becoming increasingly responsive to employer and learner need and employers are now taking the lead in apprenticeship design so that apprenticeship training, be that in the workplace or at college, equips apprentices with the skills that employers need. We believe that our funding for adult skills through apprenticeship and further education provision can have a positive impact on learners, employers and the UK economy.

The Department plans to continue to provide funding for further education for adults. Across all our grant, loan and capital support for adult further education, we are making available over £3bn in 2015-16.

For apprenticeships, Government and employers will continue to jointly invest in the training, reflecting the economic benefits that apprenticeships bring. For older learners studying at advanced level (age 24 and upwards studying at level 3) our policy is to provide HE-style loans to fund tuition fees to colleges. We have made £498m of provision available in 2015-16. For adult further education, our policy is to pay grant to providers based on the numbers of learners they teach and characteristics of those learners. There are also specialist funds to support joint projects with employers to grow skills in strategic areas of the economy; to support prisoner education; and for community learning. We also make capital funding available to colleges. In 2015-16 £410m of capital funding is available, of which £330m is distributed according to the requirements of Local Enterprise Partnerships. Finally, our policy is to provide funding to support the learner to access the system and get the most from it.

Apprenticeships are our priority for skills and colleges have been encouraged to expand their apprenticeship offer. As government funding has reduced, colleges have responded well by looking at generating other income streams and creating sustainable business models for the future. This entrepreneurial approach will help ensure sustainable future business models with less reliance on government funding.

The financial health of further education colleges is under constant review by the Skills Funding Agency based on self-assessment information from colleges and the publication of college accounts. Colleges with inadequate financial health are subject to intervention led by the FE Commissioner.

Our funding mechanism is designed to allow providers the freedoms and flexibilities to decide how best to use their allocation to respond to local learner and employer demand. As autonomous organisations it is up to colleges to manage their own budgets including staffing numbers and what provision to offer.

Colleges are becoming increasingly responsive to employer and learner need and employers are now taking the lead in apprenticeship design so that apprenticeship training, be that in the workplace or at college, equips apprentices with the skills that employers need. We believe that our funding for adult skills through apprenticeship and further education provision can have a positive impact on learners, employers and the UK economy.

The Department plans to continue to provide funding for further education for adults. Across all our grant, loan and capital support for adult further education, we are making available over £3bn in 2015-16.

For apprenticeships, Government and employers will continue to jointly invest in the training, reflecting the economic benefits that apprenticeships bring. For older learners studying at advanced level (age 24 and upwards studying at level 3) our policy is to provide HE-style loans to fund tuition fees to colleges. We have made £498m of provision available in 2015-16. For adult further education, our policy is to pay grant to providers based on the numbers of learners they teach and characteristics of those learners. There are also specialist funds to support joint projects with employers to grow skills in strategic areas of the economy; to support prisoner education; and for community learning. We also make capital funding available to colleges. In 2015-16 £410m of capital funding is available, of which £330m is distributed according to the requirements of Local Enterprise Partnerships. Finally, our policy is to provide funding to support the learner to access the system and get the most from it.

Apprenticeships are our priority for skills and colleges have been encouraged to expand their apprenticeship offer. As government funding has reduced, colleges have responded well by looking at generating other income streams and creating sustainable business models for the future. This entrepreneurial approach will help ensure sustainable future business models with less reliance on government funding.

The financial health of further education colleges is under constant review by the Skills Funding Agency based on self-assessment information from colleges and the publication of college accounts. Colleges with inadequate financial health are subject to intervention led by the FE Commissioner.

Our funding mechanism is designed to allow providers the freedoms and flexibilities to decide how best to use their allocation to respond to local learner and employer demand. As autonomous organisations it is up to colleges to manage their own budgets including staffing numbers and what provision to offer.

Colleges are becoming increasingly responsive to employer and learner need and employers are now taking the lead in apprenticeship design so that apprenticeship training, be that in the workplace or at college, equips apprentices with the skills that employers need. We believe that our funding for adult skills through apprenticeship and further education provision can have a positive impact on learners, employers and the UK economy.

The Department plans to continue to provide funding for further education for adults. Across all our grant, loan and capital support for adult further education, we are making available over £3bn in 2015-16.

For apprenticeships, Government and employers will continue to jointly invest in the training, reflecting the economic benefits that apprenticeships bring. For older learners studying at advanced level (age 24 and upwards studying at level 3) our policy is to provide HE-style loans to fund tuition fees to colleges. We have made £498m of provision available in 2015-16. For adult further education, our policy is to pay grant to providers based on the numbers of learners they teach and characteristics of those learners. There are also specialist funds to support joint projects with employers to grow skills in strategic areas of the economy; to support prisoner education; and for community learning. We also make capital funding available to colleges. In 2015-16 £410m of capital funding is available, of which £330m is distributed according to the requirements of Local Enterprise Partnerships. Finally, our policy is to provide funding to support the learner to access the system and get the most from it.

Apprenticeships are our priority for skills and colleges have been encouraged to expand their apprenticeship offer. As government funding has reduced, colleges have responded well by looking at generating other income streams and creating sustainable business models for the future. This entrepreneurial approach will help ensure sustainable future business models with less reliance on government funding.

The financial health of further education colleges is under constant review by the Skills Funding Agency based on self-assessment information from colleges and the publication of college accounts. Colleges with inadequate financial health are subject to intervention led by the FE Commissioner.

Our funding mechanism is designed to allow providers the freedoms and flexibilities to decide how best to use their allocation to respond to local learner and employer demand. As autonomous organisations it is up to colleges to manage their own budgets including staffing numbers and what provision to offer.

Colleges are becoming increasingly responsive to employer and learner need and employers are now taking the lead in apprenticeship design so that apprenticeship training, be that in the workplace or at college, equips apprentices with the skills that employers need. We believe that our funding for adult skills through apprenticeship and further education provision can have a positive impact on learners, employers and the UK economy.

The Department plans to continue to provide funding for further education for adults. Across all our grant, loan and capital support for adult further education, we are making available over £3bn in 2015-16.

For apprenticeships, Government and employers will continue to jointly invest in the training, reflecting the economic benefits that apprenticeships bring. For older learners studying at advanced level (age 24 and upwards studying at level 3) our policy is to provide HE-style loans to fund tuition fees to colleges. We have made £498m of provision available in 2015-16. For adult further education, our policy is to pay grant to providers based on the numbers of learners they teach and characteristics of those learners. There are also specialist funds to support joint projects with employers to grow skills in strategic areas of the economy; to support prisoner education; and for community learning. We also make capital funding available to colleges. In 2015-16 £410m of capital funding is available, of which £330m is distributed according to the requirements of Local Enterprise Partnerships. Finally, our policy is to provide funding to support the learner to access the system and get the most from it.

Apprenticeships are our priority for skills and colleges have been encouraged to expand their apprenticeship offer. As government funding has reduced, colleges have responded well by looking at generating other income streams and creating sustainable business models for the future. This entrepreneurial approach will help ensure sustainable future business models with less reliance on government funding.

The financial health of further education colleges is under constant review by the Skills Funding Agency based on self-assessment information from colleges and the publication of college accounts. Colleges with inadequate financial health are subject to intervention led by the FE Commissioner.

Our funding mechanism is designed to allow providers the freedoms and flexibilities to decide how best to use their allocation to respond to local learner and employer demand. As autonomous organisations it is up to colleges to manage their own budgets including staffing numbers and what provision to offer.

Colleges are becoming increasingly responsive to employer and learner need and employers are now taking the lead in apprenticeship design so that apprenticeship training, be that in the workplace or at college, equips apprentices with the skills that employers need. We believe that our funding for adult skills through apprenticeship and further education provision can have a positive impact on learners, employers and the UK economy.

A list will be published in due course.

Improving English and maths is a top priority for Government.

40% of pupils do not get GCSE grades A* to C in English and maths by age 16. Worse still, 90% of those who don’t reach this basic standard by 16, don’t achieve it by age 19.

The Government is determined to ensure that all students who do not attain A*-C in English and maths GCSEs in KS4 are supported to continue to work towards these vital qualifications.

From August 2014 students who did not achieve A*-C in English and/or maths GCSE by age 16 must continue to work towards achieving these qualifications or an approved interim qualification as a ‘stepping stone’ towards GCSE as a condition of student places being funded.

With effect from August 2015, we will amend the funding condition, so full-time 16 to 19 students with prior attainment of grade D in English and/or maths will take GCSE, rather than any other qualification in these subjects.

For adults without a A*-C GCSE or a level 2 qualification in English and/or maths, the Government will fully fund English and maths provision up to and including level 2. English and maths are also embedded in our training programmes, such as apprenticeships and traineeships, for those who do not have a GCSE A*-C (Level 2 qualification). The skills funding letter for 2015-2016 emphasised the priority we attach to English and maths and spend has been protected through our allocations methodology.

To address the increase in post-16 students continuing their English and maths study, the Government is investing over £30m over two years (financial years 13/14 and 14/15) in a range of measures to improve the quantity of teachers and quality of teaching and learning practice. To date this investment has supported the recruitment of 680 new graduate teachers and the training of 3,250 existing maths and English teachers.

The House of Commons spends approximately £500k per annum on the mail forwarding service for Members, and, in compliance with UK Procurement Regulations, is required to seek competition for the service, and to award the contract to the supplier that represents the best overall value for money, taking service, quality and cost factors into account.

In accordance with the Regulations, and the House’s procurement rules, the mail forwarding contract was tendered using a framework set up by the Crown Commercial Service. Invitation to Tender was in September 2014 with an award of contract made in December 2014. Royal Mail submitted a bid, but were not the best overall value for money supplier; that was DX (Group), who met all the service requirements and will realise savings of between 15% to 20% on the previous arrangements.

There are no direct implications for civil servants employed in DECC as staff are members of the Principal Civil Service Pensions Scheme or for the pension arrangements for staff employed in DECC’s Arm’s Length Bodies.

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is not about lowering standards. All parties involved in the negotiations – including President Obama and President Juncker – have made this clear. EU negotiators have specified that TTIP will not affect the way the EU legislates on food safety. The following link explains more: http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2014/may/tradoc_152462.pdf

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is not about lowering standards. All parties involved in the negotiations – including President Obama and President Juncker – have made this clear. EU negotiators have specified that TTIP will not affect the way the EU legislates on food safety. The following link explains more: http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2014/may/tradoc_152462.pdf

The UK Cyber Security Strategy, published in November 2011, sets out how the UK will support economic prosperity, protect national security and safeguard the public's way of life by building a more trusted and resilient digital environment. A £860 million National Cyber Security Programme is in place to 2016 to deliver the objectives of the strategy. These objectives include making the UK one of the most secure places in the world to do business in cyberspace, and making the UK more resilient to cyber attack and better able to protect our interests in cyberspace.

Government is working closely with industry to address the threat and impact of cyber attacks. These measures include:

o Creating a National Computer Emergency Response Team, CERT UK which works closely with industry, Government and academia to enhance UK cyber resilience. It provides support to Critical National Infrastructure companies to handle cyber security incidents. The Cyber Security Information Sharing Partnership (CISP), part of CERT UK, enables companies to share information and intelligence on cyber security threats.

o The creation of a Government approved list of Cyber Incident ‘Clean Up' companies which can help companies respond effectively to incidents and get them up and running as soon as possible.

o Advice and guidance resources including the '10 Steps to Cyber Security' guidance, the CyberStreetwise behaviour change campaign www.cyberstreetwise.com and the Government and industry funded GetSafeOnline www.getsafeonline.org.

o The Government-backed and industry approved Cyber Essentials scheme, which enables businesses to certify themselves against core technical cyber requirements and implement a basic level of cyber hygiene against cyber threats.

o Practical support for small businesses with the Cyber Security Innovation Vouchers Scheme to enable individual businesses to receive £5,000 to increase their cyber security.

o Support for industry initiatives such as Nominet's ‘Cyber Assist' pilot service for small and medium-sized enterprises experiencing cyber attacks.

Applications made to the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund which comply with the scheme terms and conditions will typically be turned around and a voucher issued within 5 working days. Vouchers are redeemable once the customer has completed their installation of energy saving home improvements.

No. A portfolio of land and property was transferred to a predecessor company of UK Coal Production Ltd (“UK Coal”) in 1994. It would be for UK Coal itself to clarify what from that portfolio remains in its ownership.

The Electoral Commission informs me that the confirmation dry run involved matching all entries on the electoral registers against the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Customer Information System database. Entries would be marked as green if they matched with DWP, amber if they were a partial match or red if there was no match.

The ward results for Gateshead Council were as follows:

The ward results for the Blaydon constituency were as follows:

Results for all wards are available on the Commission's website here: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/excel_doc/0003/163146/Confirmation-dry-run-2013-Results-Wards.xls

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

NCS is delivered by a supply chain of over 200 organisations. Each organisation can tailor their offer based on their own expertise and resources to maximise the positive impact of the programme. As such, a wide range of roles and activities are performed by delivery personnel all of whom must be appropriately skilled and possess such qualifications as required to fulfil their roles.

The quality of all staff involved in NCS is vital to its ongoing success. All personnel involved in delivering the residential phase of the programme must hold a DBS certificate, be recruited in line with safer recruiting best practices and possess such qualifications as required to fulfil their roles.

All National Citizen Service (NCS) delivery staff must hold a DBS check and possess the relevant qualifications required to fulfil their roles. The NCS Trust has worked with the Institute for Outdoor Learning to develop specific quality standards.

A review of these retained papers is under way and will be completed by the end of 2015, as required by the Public Records Act.