First elected: 23rd November 2000
Left House: 30th March 2015 (Defeated)
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
These initiatives were driven by John Robertson, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
John Robertson has not been granted any Urgent Questions
John Robertson has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
John Robertson has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
Of the peak 22 refineries operating in Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1974, seven are still operating as refineries and seven are now principally operating as oil import and distribution terminals.
Both the UKOP and MLP pipeline systems are privately owned and operated and commercial decisions on access are taken by the companies concerned. The Pipelines Act 1962 contains provisions for owners/operators to offer third party access and for any spare capacity to be made available to anyone who wishes to apply for it.
The GPSS is a government owned pipeline operated by the Oil and Pipelines Agency (OPA), a public corporation sponsored by the Ministry of Defence. The OPA lets commercial contracts on a similar basis to operators of private pipelines provided these are consistent with Defence requirements. Access to the GPSS may require the agreement of private companies which control ingress points, egress points or other pipelines connected to the network.
Following the recent cross- government review of the role of both the UK refining and import sectors in UK, and in recognition of pipeline access being cited as an issue by some stakeholders, the new independently chaired Midstream Oil Government and Industry Task Force will take forward further work on this issue.
EU Member States are required under EU Directive 2009/119/EC to hold oil stocks at the higher of 90 days of average net daily imports or 61 days of average daily inland consumption in order to mitigate a substantial supply disruption. At present, the UK is obligated at 61 days of average daily inland consumption. The UK meets this obligation by directing substantial suppliers of oil products to the UK market to hold stocks.
In order to meet the requirements of EU Directive, the UK requires that at least one-third of this obligation is held by industry in the form of gas/diesel oil, motor gasoline and Kerosene-type jet fuel.
Obligated companies in the UK are required to hold at least one-third of their obligation as finished products of petrol, diesel and jet-fuel. The remaining two-thirds of the obligation can be met with a wider range of oil products and crude oil, known as ‘Any Oil', potentially including additional stocks of petrol, diesel and jet-fuel. Companies are able to hold stocks both in the UK and in facilities within the European Union.
In April 2014 in total companies held 104% of the obligation for finished products of petrol in the UK, while for jet fuel this was 96% and diesel 78%. The higher figure for petrol is a result of stocks of this product also being held by obligated companies in the UK toward the ‘Any Oil' obligation.
UK supplies of aviation fuels are resilient to most hazards and additional protections have been put in place since the incident at Buncefield in 2005. Any impact upon supplies would depend entirely on the nature of any incident.
Both the UKOP and MLP pipeline systems are privately owned and operated. Currently there are no statutory provisions that require private pipeline owners and operators to make available commercial information on spare capacity.
The GPSS is a government owned pipeline and DECC is able to obtain information regarding available capacity on request.
Following the recent cross- government review of the role of both the UK refining and import sectors in UK, and in recognition of pipe-line access being cited as an issue by some stakeholders, the new independently chaired Midstream Oil Government and Industry Task Force will take forward further work on this issue.
The Electoral Commission is producing guidance to explain the rules on non-party campaigning. The Commission has held four roundtable discussions for charities and other campaigners across the UK and Electoral Commission officials have spoken at events hosted by charity sector umbrella bodies.
The Commission will publish its full guidance on the new rules in the summer, in advance of the regulated period which starts on 19 September 2014.
The value of goods exported by businesses in Scotland to other EU countries in each of the last five years is given in Table 1 below. Figures are not compiled for areas below Government Office Region (NUTS 1) level, such as Glasgow and Glasgow North West.
These figures relate to exports of goods only. Regional data on exports of services is not available.
The Green Investment Bank (GIB) has yet to finance any projects in the biofuels for transport sector. To date, GIB has committed a total of £1.3billion to green projects including the following projects that involve use of biomass for energy generation:
· £100m to one coal to biomass conversion project (Drax power station);
· £40.1m to three projects (in Northern Ireland, Birmingham and Port Talbot) that involve generating energy from recovered waste wood;
· £19.7m to a number of energy efficiency projects which involve the use of biomass boilers at enterprises such as distilleries, schools and farms.
Data on the average profit made by energy companies at the level of households in each constituency is not available.
The average pre-tax profit made per household consumer in 2012 was £53 or 4.3%. (Source: “Making the Profits of the six largest energy suppliers clear” factsheet, Ofgem). Ofgem also estimates pre-tax margins over the next 12 months using current data in their Supply Market Indicator. Their latest estimate of pre-tax margins for May 2014-April 2015 was £96 or 7% (Source: Understanding energy bills, Ofgem).
DECC Ministers and officials meet energy company representatives on a regular basis to discuss market issues.
It is important that all consumers, including carers, have access to information to help them make informed decisions about their energy use. That is why Ofgem introduced a new simpler tariff framework consisting of a tariff information label and tariff comparison rate to make it easier for consumers to compare tariffs across the market. In April Ofgem launched the ‘Be An Energy Shopper' campaign to empower consumers to shop around for a better deal for their energy.
DECC Ministers and officials meet energy company representatives on a regular basis to discuss market issues.
It is important that all consumers, including carers, have access to information to help them make informed decisions about their energy use. That is why Ofgem introduced a new simpler tariff framework consisting of a tariff information label and tariff comparison rate to make it easier for consumers to compare tariffs across the market. In April Ofgem launched the ‘Be An Energy Shopper' campaign to empower consumers to shop around for a better deal for their energy.
On 5th February, the government announced that all 363 local authorities and valuation joint boards in Great Britain and 5 national organisations will be sharing £4.2 million of funding aimed at ensuring every eligible person in the country, including young people, is signed up to the electoral register and has their chance to vote.
To improve registration levels for young people, The Government has made the Rock Enrol! learning resource available, which promotes democratic engagement and encourages young people to register to vote.
The Government also manages a student forum that brings together key people within the Higher/Further Education (HFE) sector, the National Union of Students and local authorities with the highest student populations. The forum aims to reinforce the maximum registration of students and increases Individual Electoral Registration awareness across the HFE sector.
We have designed and created the award-winning and world-leading gov.uk, the central web domain for Government information. We are redesigning 25 major Government services to make them simpler, clearer and faster to use. That will not only provide savings to the taxpayer, but improve delivery for the public, focused on user need, not Government convenience.
The Independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries (Ofcom) publishes broadband coverage data for the UK; its 2013 UK fixed-line broadband performance report indicates the following average modem synchronisation speed for the Glasgow City, Scotland and the UK. Data by Constituency area is not available.
Average modem sync speed 2013 | |
Glasgow City | 17.2 Mbit/s |
Scotland | 15.8 Mbit/s |
UK | 17.6 Mbit/s |
In 2008 the Competent Authority (CA) published the containment policy, a framework for upgrading existing fuel sites so far as is reasonably practicable. Upgrades are being prioritised at higher risk sites and where measures are aimed at preventing release of fuel from tanks. In order to avoid disrupting operations and supplies, the upgrading work is being phased. All necessary upgrades are expected to be complete by 2028.
The 87 fuel terminals and 7 refineries have already completed many of the high risk and low cost improvements required. Improvement plans for upgrading storage tanks at the fuel terminals have also been agreed with the CA and progress against plans is monitored on an annual basis. A new risk assessment method for the very large tanks at the oil refineries was agreed with the CA in October this year and the refineries will submit their upgrading plans for approval by March 2015.
Since the beginning of 2014-15 the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) has dealt with five 15 year marine licences for aggregate dredging.
For non-aggregate dredging Defra's Impact Assessment on exemptions and navigational dredging predicted 872 applications ranging from simple, routine and complex applications for 2014-15 (Ref: IA No DEFRA 1118 – The Marine Licensing (Exempted Activities) (Amendment) Order 2013). The actual annual number of applications being received so far is currently running at between 10-20% of the forecast.
The online marine licensing system came into force on 6 April 2011 following the formation of the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) in 2010. To date the MMO have dealt with the following numbers of marine aggregate and non-aggregate dredging applications:
Aggregate dredging
2009/10 | 2010/11 | 2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14
|
0 | 1 x 15 year dredging permission | 0 | 25 x short term marine licences; | 14 x 15 year marine licences; |
7 x 15 year marine licences | 1 x aggregate trial dredging | |||
0 | 1 | 0 | 32 | 15 |
Non-aggregate dredging
There was a transitional period from 6 April 2011 to 5 April 2014 for non-aggregate dredging. This activity mainly included navigational dredging which become licensable from 6 April 2014.
Disposal dredged material at sea
(figures below represent MMO licensing up to April 2014)
2009/10 | 2010/11 | 2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14
|
0 | 0 | 39 | 42 | 38 |
The online marine licensing system came into force on 6 April 2011 following the formation of the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) in 2010. From the start of the licensing system the estimated average time taken by the MMO to approve marine dredging applications are as follows:
Aggregate dredging
Average length of time to licence a 15 year aggregate application is estimated at 300 hours (200 hours during application and 100 hours of pre-application advice)
Non-aggregate dredging
Description of activity | Average MMO hours per case
|
Simple navigational dredging | 3.5 |
Routine navigational dredging | 9 |
Routine capital dredging | 7.4 |
Complex navigational dredging | 13.35 |
Complex capital dredging | 11.88 |
The Government welcomes the IPCC report. Climate change poses very serious consequences to human health, global food security, and can slow economic growth. Its impacts will be an extra burden for those living in poverty, and make it harder to reduce poverty in developing countries.
The Department for Transport has not made any annual estimates of carcinogens that are released by biofuels activity. This data is not required to meet the mandatory sustainability criteria under the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED), which is applicable to biofuels supplied in the UK under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO).
Voluntary schemes approved by the European Commission can set criteria for aspects of biofuel production aimed at minimising adverse environmental impacts associated with agricultural production, including on air quality, in addition to setting sustainability criteria. In 2012/13 eighty one per cent of biofuel supplied in the UK under the RTFO was covered by an approved voluntary scheme, the vast majority of which include additional aspects aimed at minimising the impact on air quality of the cultivation and harvesting of biofuel feedstocks.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' Air Quality Expert Group has considered the potential impacts of increased biofuel use on air pollutants, such as particulate matter, and concluded that these should fall with most biofuel uptake scenarios. The Group's Report Road Transport Biofuels: Impact on UK Air Quality, is published at:
http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/assets/documents/110322_AQEG_Biofuels_advice_note.pdf
In respect of the biofuel supply chain the European Commission produced a staff working document accompanying its renewable energy progress report to the European Parliament in 2013 which is published at:
http://ec.europa.eu/energy/renewables/reports/doc/swd_2013_0102_res_en.pdf
It concluded that between 2008 and 2010, there was limited change in threats to air quality from EU biofuel demand.
Concessionary Travel is a devolved policy area and the Secretary of State has not discussed carer discounts with Keith Brown MSP, the Scottish Minister for Transport and Veterans.
Since 2005 two refineries have indicated a transition to fuel import and distribution operations. One refinery conversion is nearing completion, and the other is at the planning stage.
All new and substantially modified fuel storage sites storing large quantities of gasoline (petrol) should meet the standards set out in the Process Safety Leadership Group (PSLG) Final Report published in 2009 before operations commence.
None of the former refineries are currently under review by HSE. They are subject to routine regulatory scrutiny under the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1999 (COMAH) by the COMAH Competent Authority.
Carers’ and disability benefits, and the additional State pension, must by statute be up-rated in line with prices. So the increase in those benefits over the last three years has reflected the increase in the Consumer Price Index.
The basic State pension has been increased with the triple lock (by the highest of average earnings, CPI or 2.5%), and the Standard Minimum Guarantee in Pension Credit has been up-rated in line with the cash increase in the basic State pension. In each of the last three years, this means that the Standard Minimum Guarantee has increased by more than the minimum requirement of the increase in average earnings. The resulting over-indexation of the Standard Minimum Guarantee has been funded through an increase in the savings credit threshold and the associated reduction in the Savings Credit maximum.
The table indicates the percentage increases in CPI; basic State Pension; average earnings; and the Standard Minimum Guarantee in each of the past three years.
| 2012/13 | 2013/14 | 2014/15 |
CPI | 5.2% | 2.2% | 2.7% |
Basic State pension | 5.2% | 2.5% | 2.7% |
Average earnings | 2.8% | 1.6% | 1.2% |
Pension Credit Standard Minimum Guarantee | 3.9% | 1.9% | 2.0% |
Information and advice about entitlement to Carer's Allowance is available from a range of outlets including Jobcentre Plus offices, the Government website (www.gov.uk), local authorities, Citizens Advice, public libraries, health clinics, doctors' surgeries and health visitors. Advice can also be sought from voluntary organisations such as Carers UK. In addition to this the Carer’s Allowance Unit have a regular out reach programme for the caring community.
I refer the Hon.Member to the written answer that the previous Minister for Disabled People gave on 14 July 2014, Official Report, column 589w, to the Hon. Member for East Lothian, Fiona O’Donnell.
Previous answer:
Fiona O'Donnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will classify motor neurone disease as a terminal illness which qualifies for a fast-track assessment for welfare claims. [204826]
Mike Penning: Claims to attendance allowance, disability living allowance, employment and support allowance, incapacity benefit and personal independence payment from people who are terminally ill, as defined in law, are fast tracked. Claimants are considered to be terminally ill if they have a progressive disease as a result of which they are not expected to live longer than six months. Motor neurone disease is considered to be a progressive disease.
We have taken your question to refer to Personal Independence Payment. Statistics on clearance times for Personal Independence Payment are intended for future publication and the Department's analysts are currently considering what information will be included in the release.
The COMAH Competent Authority (CA), comprising HSE and the environment agencies, is responsible for ensuring that oil refineries and fuel storage and distribution terminals meet new safety and environmental standards introduced in 2009 following the Buncefield fire and explosion. The standards were developed jointly by industry and the CA and published by the Process Safety Leadership Group (PSLG).
Refineries were required to produce risk-based action plans to implement the PSLG safety standards at their existing fuel storage facilities. HSE led the assessment of these plans during 2011 and has been inspecting sites to ensure the planned improvements are made. The timings of upgrades to containment standards at refineries' existing fuel storage facilities is based on risk and will vary for each site. Agreed improvements are embedded in environment inspection plans for each site and followed up to ensure measures are implemented on time.
The CA is working with refineries undergoing conversion to fuel storage and distribution terminals to ensure the PSLG standards are applied in full to their new facilities.
The Secretary of State has not had recent discussions with Glasgow City Council on the Glasgow Guarantee.
Since the Child Maintenance Service launched in December 2012 we have been talking to clients (via caseworkers and through our Child Maintenance Options service) about the planned introduction of charging, and letters to Child Maintenance Service clients have made reference to the charges.
More widely we have engaged with stakeholders, partners, MP caseworkers and intermediaries to share information about the reforms to the child maintenance system.
Ahead of existing Child Support Agency cases closing, a regional media trial is currently running in the Manchester area. The media activity includes digital, radio and press advertising to let parents know that the Child Support Agency is changing and to reassure them that they don't need to take any action until they receive a letter. We will evaluate the results of this media activity before confirming plans to run this campaign nationally later this year.
I have been asked to respond as this falls under the remit of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Wood dust can cause non-reversible health problems including skin disorders, obstruction of the nose and rhinitis, asthma and nasal cancer. There are appropriate workplace controls and HSE provides comprehensive guidance for employers on these.
Exposure to wood dust in workplaces is regulated by the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (as amended) which require exposures to be reduced as far below the Workplace Exposure Limit as is reasonably practicable. Suitable control measures may include local exhaust ventilation, on-tool extraction systems and in some cases respiratory protective equipment. Workers will usually require health surveillance checks.
HSE has recently commissioned a new study to update the evidence base for wood dust exposure and health effects in the UK construction and woodworking industries. The study will run over the next 2-3 years and is being undertaken by the Health and Safety Laboratory with support and assistance from industry.
The Government has not made an assessment of the effect of welfare reforms on levels on child poverty. Given the large number of reforms and variables involved, the impact of welfare changes cannot be seen in isolation.
However, the guiding principles of all of this Government's welfare reforms are to get more people into work by making work pay.
A key component of the Welfare Reform is Universal Credit. Universal Credit is expected to improve work incentives by allowing individuals to keep more of their income as they move into work, and by introducing a smoother and more transparent reduction of benefits when they increase their earnings.
We estimate this new reform will lift around 300,000 children out of poverty.
The Government does not produce forecasts of the number of children living in income poverty either locally or nationally. The number of children in poverty is dependent on a number of factors which cannot be reliably predicted, including the median income.
The Government does not believe it is possible to accurately project child poverty to 2020. Poverty projections are rarely accurate. For example, IFS projections in October 2011 suggested the number of children in relative poverty would fall by 100,000 in 2010/11, whereas in fact it fell by 300,000.
The Universal Credit Impact Assessment was published in December 2012, full details of the report can be found here
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/welfare-reform-act-2012-impact-assessments
The Universal Credit Impact Assessment was published in December 2012, full details of the report can be found here
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/welfare-reform-act-2012-impact-assessments
The reason that the referred document was not included in the previous answer is that it does not answer the question as asked.
The Department does monitor requests we receive for new statistics and consider whether we can produce and release analysis that will helpfully inform public debate. The Department is therefore looking at this issue with a view to seeing what statistics could be produced on a regular basis.
There has been no assessment made of the effect of social care budget changes on accident and emergency (A&E) attendances. However, the Government has legislated to establish the Better Care Fund from 2015-16 to provide better integrated care. One of the conditions of the Better Care Fund is to improve the delivery of health and social care by preventing people reaching crisis point, and to reduce the quantity of non-elective admissions to acute care, which may serve to ease the pressures on A&E departments.
The United Kingdom Food Standards Agency (FSA) is working in partnership with industry to tackle Campylobacter, exploring a range of interventions targeted at different points in the food chain to reduce contamination levels before the meat reaches the consumer. Also, in publishing the quarterly results of its UK-wide microbiological survey of Campylobacter contamination in fresh whole chilled chickens at retail sale, the FSA is maintaining consumer awareness of the issue and encouraging retailer action.
The FSA has provided guidance for consumers on the safety measures that they can take to reduce their risk of spreading and contracting Campylobacter from raw poultry in the home and this featured in its Food Safety Week campaign earlier in the year.
Prior to the establishment of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) in April 2006, the main part of the Department's total health research expenditure was devolved to and managed by national health service organisations. From April 2006 to March 2009, transitional research funding was allocated to these organisations at reducing levels. The organisations have accounted for their use of the allocations they have received from the Department in an annual research and development report. The reports identify total, aggregated expenditure on national priority areas but do not provide details of spend on research into specific diseases including motor neurone disease (MND).
Expenditure on MND research by the NIHR from 2009-10 through research programmes, research centres and units, and research fellowships is shown in the following table.
£ million
2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 |
0.1 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.5 |
Total spend by the NIHR on MND research is higher than this because expenditure by the NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) on this topic cannot be disaggregated from total CRN expenditure.
My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health (Jeremy Hunt) has had no discussions on funding for MND research with the Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing.
Prior to the establishment of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) in April 2006, the main part of the Department's total health research expenditure was devolved to and managed by national health service organisations. From April 2006 to March 2009, transitional research funding was allocated to these organisations at reducing levels. The organisations have accounted for their use of the allocations they have received from the Department in an annual research and development report. The reports identify total, aggregated expenditure on national priority areas but do not provide details of spend on research into specific diseases including motor neurone disease (MND).
Expenditure on MND research by the NIHR from 2009-10 through research programmes, research centres and units, and research fellowships is shown in the following table.
£ million
2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 |
0.1 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.5 |
Total spend by the NIHR on MND research is higher than this because expenditure by the NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) on this topic cannot be disaggregated from total CRN expenditure.
My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health (Jeremy Hunt) has had no discussions on funding for MND research with the Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing.
While attacks by Boko Haram continue across the North East of Nigeria, UK and other international support is assisting the Nigerian authorities to improve the coordination and effectiveness of their security operations. I led the UK delegation to the last meeting of regional Foreign Ministers in Abuja on 3 September where I stressed the importance of regional and international cooperation to help Nigeria end the threat from Boko Haram.
The remit of the Scrutiny Committee is to advise the Board and Principal Accounting Officer on issues referred by the Board for in-depth review, challenge or assurance. Since its establishment in 2013, the Committee has reviewed the departmental security strategy as well as the department's complaints handling processes.
It is HMRC's policy to publish Board and Executive Committee minutes annually. The HMRC website is due to be updated with these in the next month. HMRC's Annual Report contains a summary of the key areas of work for each sub-Committee over the previous year.
The Money Advice Service (MAS) is responsible for the coordination of debt advice funding across the UK and has a statutory duty to improve the quality, consistency and availability of debt advice. In 2013/14 MAS funded 163,000 debt advice sessions in England and Wales. MAS also co-funds debt advice in Scotland in partnership with the Scottish Government, which in the last financial year led to more than 11,000 people receiving advice.
MAS research shows that 4% of the clients of its funded services are carers. Research also suggests that advice over the phone can be particularly useful for carers and MAS has expanded its funded services to enable them to provide advice in this way. Carers are also able to access free debt advice over the phone from National Debtline and StepChange Debt Charity.
In Glasgow, there are two targeted projects which meet carers'specific needs. These are:
· Yorkhill Families Money and Debt Advice Support Project: Yorkhill hospital and Glasgow Central Citizens Advice Bureau together provide advice to families who are financially vulnerable because of their children's long-term health condition; and
· Glasgow Association for Mental Health Money and Debt Project, which provides free face-to-face advice debt advice to people with mental health problems across Glasgow and their carers.