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Written Question
Military Aircraft: Noise
Tuesday 21st January 2025

Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to reduce noise pollution from Texan training aircraft in the UK.

Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Texan T1 aircraft complies fully with relevant international aviation noise standards.


Written Question
Administration of Justice: Wales
Wednesday 15th January 2025

Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of routinely publishing disaggregated data for Wales.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The Ministry of Justice recognises the value of routinely publishing disaggregated data for Wales. This is important for the effective delivery of justice.

The Ministry of Justice already collects, disaggregates and routinely publishes a wealth of data for Wales, including headline data on prison population (for example by age, offence group and ethnicity, and whether on remand or sentenced) and headline safety in custody data (for example deaths, self-harm and assaults on staff). We routinely publish a variety of probation data too, for example numbers of offenders starting community orders, accommodation, and employment activity. In addition, nearly all published courts and tribunals data is available for England and Wales separately.

In line with our approach to all our statistical publications, we continue to keep the content under review.


Written Question
Defence: Expenditure
Monday 13th January 2025

Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much and what proportion of defence spending is allocated to Wales.

Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

Ministry of Defence expenditure in financial year 2023-24 totalled £53.9 billion. We do not allocate this spending by nation nor region.


Written Question
Boiler Upgrade Scheme: Rural Areas
Tuesday 17th December 2024

Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many low-income households have (a) applied and (b) received vouchers for measures under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme from qualifying rural postcodes.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) offers grants to help property owners transition away from fossil fuels to low carbon heating. However, other schemes such as the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund, Warm Homes: Local Grant and Energy Company Obligation are more targeted towards low-income households.

The Government and Ofgem do not collect income statistics as part of directly administering the BUS, however, socio-economic factors are studied as part of the scheme evaluation, with an interim report due to be published next year.


Written Question
Fuel Poverty: Rural Areas
Tuesday 17th December 2024

Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will take steps to help tackle rural fuel poverty under the Warm Homes Plan.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Warm Homes Plan will help people find ways to save money on energy bills and transform our ageing building stock into comfortable, low-carbon homes that are fit for the future. The transition to warmer, decarbonised homes, will include support for the most vulnerable to help tackle fuel poverty. We will set out further details on the Warm Homes Plan in due course.

We are currently supporting rural homes and homes off the gas grid through targeted energy efficiency schemes including the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) and Home Upgrade Grant, which are aimed at low income and vulnerable consumers.


Written Question
Fuel Oil
Tuesday 17th December 2024

Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what plans his Department has to bring forward a consultation on a Renewable Heating Fuel Obligation as required by section 159 of the Energy Act 2023.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

As sustainable biomass is a limited resource, the Government expects to prioritise its use in sectors like aviation which have fewest options to decarbonise. Renewable liquid heating fuels (RLHF) are also much more expensive to use than other heating solutions.

Before taking decisions on whether to support the use of RLHFs, like hydrotreated vegetable oil, in heating, the Government would require stronger evidence on their affordability for consumers, and the availability of sustainable feedstocks.


Written Question
Boiler Upgrade Scheme
Tuesday 17th December 2024

Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of including hybrid heat pumps as an available measure under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The aim of the Boiler Upgrade Scheme is to support the transition away from fossil fuel heating to a low carbon alternative. Hybrid heat pumps are not eligible as the department wants to direct the funding available to technologies that offer the greatest carbon savings, rather than those which would continue to involve the burning of fossil fuels for heating. The Government will keep its position on alternative heating technologies under review and make further assessments as supporting evidence develops.


Written Question
Prisoners' Release: Curfews
Thursday 5th December 2024

Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people released on home detention curfew were recalled to prison in (a) Wales and (b) England in each of the last 20 years.

Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

We have provided the requested information in the Tables 1 and 2 below.


Data on total HDC recalls from 2015 onwards can be found in Table 1. A further breakdown of HDC recalls prior to 2015 could only be supplied at disproportionate cost.

Table 1: Recalls from Home Detention Curfew to prisons in England and prisons in Wales, 2015 to 2023

Year

England

Wales

2015

551

19

2016

523

13

2017

582

40

2018

1,575

93

2019

2,296

142

2020

2,040

154

2021

1,503

117

2022

1,284

92

2023

1,304

65

Data sources and quality
The figures in this table have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Methodological note
Recall data presented here are calculated on the basis of those who were recalled (and subsequently returned to custody) in this period, how many were on HDC. This is different to the method used in Offender Management Statistics Quarterly which looks at the number released to HDC who were later recalled. Numbers will therefore not be comparable.

Source: Prison NOMIS

Table 2: HDC releases from prisons in England and prisons in Wales, 2004 to 2023

Year

England

Wales

2004

18,514

781

2005

16,586

710

2006

13,157

509

2007

11,063

365

2008

11,403

318

2009

11,144

390

2010

11,915

335

2011

12,364

363

2012

12,330

473

2013

9,958

461

2014

8,228

386

2015

8,236

375

2016

8,613

429

2017

8,773

547

2018

13,699

1,070

2019

11,854

978

2020

9,884

905

2021

8,575

818

2022

7,950

781

2023

7,213

707

Data sources and quality
The figures in this table have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Source: Prison NOMIS


Written Question
Prisoners' Release: Curfews
Thursday 5th December 2024

Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were released on home detention curfew in (a) Wales and (b) England in each of the last 20 years.

Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

We have provided the requested information in the Tables 1 and 2 below.


Data on total HDC recalls from 2015 onwards can be found in Table 1. A further breakdown of HDC recalls prior to 2015 could only be supplied at disproportionate cost.

Table 1: Recalls from Home Detention Curfew to prisons in England and prisons in Wales, 2015 to 2023

Year

England

Wales

2015

551

19

2016

523

13

2017

582

40

2018

1,575

93

2019

2,296

142

2020

2,040

154

2021

1,503

117

2022

1,284

92

2023

1,304

65

Data sources and quality
The figures in this table have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Methodological note
Recall data presented here are calculated on the basis of those who were recalled (and subsequently returned to custody) in this period, how many were on HDC. This is different to the method used in Offender Management Statistics Quarterly which looks at the number released to HDC who were later recalled. Numbers will therefore not be comparable.

Source: Prison NOMIS

Table 2: HDC releases from prisons in England and prisons in Wales, 2004 to 2023

Year

England

Wales

2004

18,514

781

2005

16,586

710

2006

13,157

509

2007

11,063

365

2008

11,403

318

2009

11,144

390

2010

11,915

335

2011

12,364

363

2012

12,330

473

2013

9,958

461

2014

8,228

386

2015

8,236

375

2016

8,613

429

2017

8,773

547

2018

13,699

1,070

2019

11,854

978

2020

9,884

905

2021

8,575

818

2022

7,950

781

2023

7,213

707

Data sources and quality
The figures in this table have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Source: Prison NOMIS


Written Question
Sentencing
Thursday 5th December 2024

Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) community sentences, (b) deferred sentences, (c) conditional discharges and (d) custodial sentences have been given in (i) Wales and (ii) England in each of the last 20 years.

Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The Ministry of Justice publishes data on sentences given at criminal courts in England and Wales between January 2010 and June 2024 in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal Justice Statistics.

The attached table provides the requested breakdown of sentences for England (Tab 1) and Wales (Tab 2) for the requested time period 2004 to 2009.