Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his policy is on prohibiting the use of electronic cigarettes in enclosed public spaces.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The Public Health England (PHE) report is consistent with the Government’s current policy that the best thing a smoker can do for their health is to quit smoking and quit for good. Evidence in the United Kingdom indicates that e-cigarettes can help people quit smoking, with similar or better results than nicotine replacement therapies such as patches or gum.
E-cigarettes are, however, not harmless and there is a lack of evidence on their effects in long term use. The Department has and will continue to monitor all emerging evidence and consider it in developing policy. PHE has been commissioned to update their evidence report on e-cigarettes annually until the end of this Parliament and to include within its quit smoking campaigns consistent messaging about the safety of e-cigarettes.
There are no current plans to ban the use of e-cigarettes in public places in England.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what contingency planning the Government undertook in the event of a vote to leave the EU.
Answered by Oliver Letwin
The Government had a clear position on the referendum and it was right for the civil service to work in support of that. We now have clear instructions from the British people and Government will of course work to take those instructions forward.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of the workforce in Clacton constituency are in receipt of the national living wage.
Answered by Nick Boles
2.9 million workers are expected to directly benefit from the National Living Wage by 2020, 11 per cent of which are located in the East of England. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has made no detailed assessment of the beneficiaries of the National Living Wage at local authority level.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make it his policy to seek compensation from Rolls-Royce for the remedial work for the power and propulsion systems of the Type 45 Destroyers.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The decision to procure the Rolls Royce WR21 was taken in November 2000 by the then Defence Secretary, Geoff Hoon. In announcing the decision, he accepted this decision “presents a greater degree of risk to the programme.” It was judged that these risks would be outweighed by the system’s long term benefits of greater operational flexibility, as well as long-term savings in maintenance and personnel costs and a lower environmental impact.
As the issues now being addressed result from those earlier decisions, it is appropriate that liability for funding this work now rests with the Ministry of Defence. In terms of the contractual position, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for East Renfrewshire (Kirsten Oswald) on 8 February 2016 to Question 25239.
On progress in implementing measures to improve the reliability and resilience of the Power and Propulsion (P&P) system, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Dunfermline and West Fife (Douglas Chapman) on 8 February 2016 to Question 25165.. The work to date has been carried out under the Type 45 support contract and the associated costs cannot be separately identified.
A copy of the Independent P&P System Performance Review, dated March 2011, redacted in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, was placed in the Library of the House on 13 May 2016.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress has been made on the remedial work for the power and propulsion systems of the Type 45 Destroyers; and what the total cost has been since the issues were identified.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The decision to procure the Rolls Royce WR21 was taken in November 2000 by the then Defence Secretary, Geoff Hoon. In announcing the decision, he accepted this decision “presents a greater degree of risk to the programme.” It was judged that these risks would be outweighed by the system’s long term benefits of greater operational flexibility, as well as long-term savings in maintenance and personnel costs and a lower environmental impact.
As the issues now being addressed result from those earlier decisions, it is appropriate that liability for funding this work now rests with the Ministry of Defence. In terms of the contractual position, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for East Renfrewshire (Kirsten Oswald) on 8 February 2016 to Question 25239.
On progress in implementing measures to improve the reliability and resilience of the Power and Propulsion (P&P) system, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Dunfermline and West Fife (Douglas Chapman) on 8 February 2016 to Question 25165.. The work to date has been carried out under the Type 45 support contract and the associated costs cannot be separately identified.
A copy of the Independent P&P System Performance Review, dated March 2011, redacted in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, was placed in the Library of the House on 13 May 2016.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when his Department will publish the Type 45 Destroyer - Independent Power and Propulsion System Performance Review.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The decision to procure the Rolls Royce WR21 was taken in November 2000 by the then Defence Secretary, Geoff Hoon. In announcing the decision, he accepted this decision “presents a greater degree of risk to the programme.” It was judged that these risks would be outweighed by the system’s long term benefits of greater operational flexibility, as well as long-term savings in maintenance and personnel costs and a lower environmental impact.
As the issues now being addressed result from those earlier decisions, it is appropriate that liability for funding this work now rests with the Ministry of Defence. In terms of the contractual position, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for East Renfrewshire (Kirsten Oswald) on 8 February 2016 to Question 25239.
On progress in implementing measures to improve the reliability and resilience of the Power and Propulsion (P&P) system, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Dunfermline and West Fife (Douglas Chapman) on 8 February 2016 to Question 25165.. The work to date has been carried out under the Type 45 support contract and the associated costs cannot be separately identified.
A copy of the Independent P&P System Performance Review, dated March 2011, redacted in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, was placed in the Library of the House on 13 May 2016.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 9 May 2016 to Question 36275, if he will make it his policy to ensure that disbursements from the Coastal Communities Fund are allocated to the regions of England on the basis of population share.
Answered by Mark Francois
Our policy is that every coastal community should have the chance to bid for a share of the Coastal Communities Fund to help them with projects that will have a real and lasting impact on their local economy. The 118 Coastal Community Teams (CCTs) in England now provide an important new local context for considering these bids, so that the Fund helps to deliver community-led Economic Plans. Each bid is considered on its merits and allocating the Fund to regions on the basis of their population share would not necessarily ensure best value for money.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to other EU member states at the Council of the EU on cessation of Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance II funding to Turkey in 2014-20.
Answered by David Lidington
The Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance funding is used to promote political reform and human rights, cut corruption and strengthen the rule of law and to bring Turkey - and other EU accession countries - up to EU standards, economically and politically. It has also been used to help Turkey respond to the migration crisis. It promotes cooperation on issues that matter to the UK, such as the rule of law, organised crime and migration. Improving the business environment in Turkey and other EU accession countries will lead to more commercial opportunities for British goods and investment.
As the Prime Minister has made clear, Turkey’s EU accession is not remotely on the cards for many years to come.
Turkey has to negotiate 35 different chapters. Since EU accession negotiations with Turkey started in 2005, only one chapter has been closed. Decisions to open chapters, to agree that conditions have been met and to close chapters all require the unanimous agreement of EU Member States. Once all chapter negotiations have been completed and closed, there must be another unanimous decision on accession. All 28 Member States then have to ratify an accession treaty, and the European Parliament has to approve the accession. Some EU Member States have already committed to undertake a referendum on Turkey’s accession to the EU. In the case of the UK, under the European Union Act 2011, ratification cannot take place without an Act of Parliament to approve the new accession. We can therefore ensure that our requirements are respected in any future EU enlargement.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether the UK could act unilaterally to take an equity stake greater than 25 per cent in Tata Steel while being a member of the EU.
Answered by Anna Soubry
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will make it her policy to renegotiate with EDF the strike price for Hinkley Point C power station.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Hinkley Point C is a good deal for consumers – it will provide reliable energy at an affordable cost, powering nearly six million homes for around 60 years and creating more than 25,000 jobs.
Today nuclear provides around 16% of our electricity but these ageing plants won’t go on forever. Therefore the Government is committed to our policy of building new nuclear in the interest of energy security, decarbonisation and keeping costs down for the consumer.