Asked by: Martin Horwood (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer given by Baroness Kramer on 18 June 2014, Lords Hansard, column 899, what her policy is on transferring the Public Estate Forest Land at Cinderford North Quarter site in the National Heritage Forest of Dean for development.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave to his previous question on 10 March 2015, PQ UIN 226483.
Asked by: Martin Horwood (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will invite the Pensions Regulator to submit a Climate Change Adaptation Report looking at the effect of climate change on the UK pensions sector.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
The current round of reporting under the Adaptation Reporting Power is already underway and its scope was subject to a full public consultation. The Pensions Regulator was not invited to report.
We will review and consult on the third round of reporting, taking account of our latest assessment of climate risk, during which the involvement of a range of new reporters will be considered.
Asked by: Martin Horwood (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to Greening Government Commitments Annual Report 2013 to 2014, published in February 2015, what steps she plans to take to improve implementation of policy on procurement of construction timber and office furniture by government departments.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
The Government continues to promote and support the Timber Procurement Policy (TPP). This includes the provision of practical advice to public sector procurers and suppliers through the Central Point of Expertise on Timber (CPET), which provides guidance and information through a helpdesk and regular, targeted workshops. Central Government Departments report annually on the application of the policy in construction contracts for the purposes of the Greening Government Commitments. CPET is reviewing the certification schemes that support the TPP to ensure they are sufficiently robust, and will report in the summer.
I am writing to Departments reminding them of the importance of the TPP, pointing them to the example of best practice of the Environment Agency as summarised in WWF’s recent report on Government implementation of the TPP, and asking for details of how they are ensuring implementation, for example by including the TPP in contracts and in key performance indicators. The Government Buying Standards (GBS) for Construction and for Timber Products require the TPP to be met. These GBS are now included in the CCS Facilities Management Framework contract, with work ongoing to ensure all future Government contracts include these criteria.
Asked by: Martin Horwood (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government has raised with the Colombian government the further threats to the life of Irreal Aguilar Solano; and what steps the Colombian government has informed the Government it is taking.
Answered by Lord Swire
Our Ambassador in Bogota raised the case of Irrael Aguilar Solano on 3 February 2015 during a meeting with the Presidential High Adviser for Human Rights, Guillermo Rivera. Mr Rivera informed the Ambassador that they will engage with the Colombian Authorities to ensure that full protection measures are afforded.
More than 1300 Human Rights Defenders have received protection measures from the Colombian Government, 300 of them at the highest level. The Presidential High Adviser for Human Rights also informed our Ambassador that as a result of the improvement in protection measures, deaths of Human Rights Defenders are decreasing.
Asked by: Martin Horwood (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what reasons there are for the time taken to give serving police officers information about the New Police Pensions Scheme for which the regulations were laid before Parliament on 5 March 2015 and will take effect on 1 April 2015.
Answered by Mike Penning
Information about the main elements of the reform has been in the public domain for some time. This includes: the Reform Design Framework which was published
on the Home Office website on 3 September 2012; an online calculator which allows officers to determine what benefits they might receive under the new
arrangements, published on 3 September 2012; and further detailed questions and answers which were published on 19 November 2013.
The Police Pensions Regulations 2015 were laid after extensive consultation with partners including police officers’ representatives. Members’ guidance was published on Friday 6 March, available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-police-pensions-scheme-2015-members-guide.
This provides police officers with all the information they need to seek the necessary independent financial advice on the scheme.
Asked by: Martin Horwood (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Written Statement of 18 December 2014, HCWS 161, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of new responsibilities on local authorities relating to sustainable drainage systems.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
I have been asked to reply.
Defra has been determining the appropriate level of funding for the new burden incurred by Lead Local Flood Authorities in providing technical advice on surface water drainage in planning applications for major developments. We will be sending letters to these local authorities shortly.
Asked by: Martin Horwood (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Written Statement of 18 December 2014, HCWS 161, what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on levels of fees relating to their responsibilities for sustainable drainage systems.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Planning applications which include proposals for sustainable drainage systems are subject to normal planning application fees. Guidance on fees for planning applications is published within the on-line planning guidance.
Asked by: Martin Horwood (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that police officers have sufficient time to consult financial advisers about the effects of the New Police Pensions Scheme before that scheme takes effect on 1 April.
Answered by Mike Penning
Information about the main elements of the reform has been in the public domain for some time. This includes: the Reform Design Framework which was published
on the Home Office website on 3 September 2012; an online calculator which allows officers to determine what benefits they might receive under the new
arrangements, published on 3 September 2012; and further detailed questions and answers which were published on 19 November 2013.
The Police Pensions Regulations 2015 were laid after extensive consultation with partners including police officers’ representatives. Members’ guidance was published on Friday 6 March, available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-police-pensions-scheme-2015-members-guide.
This provides police officers with all the information they need to seek the necessary independent financial advice on the scheme.
Asked by: Martin Horwood (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many days of staff absence there were in the Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area Police Anti-Poaching Unit in (a) September and (b) October 2014.
Answered by Anna Soubry
The Dhekelia Sovereign Base Police Anti-Poaching team consists of five full-time officers who work approximately 20 days each per month on countering bird trapping operations. In September and October 2014 there were a total of 32 days of staff absences, comprising annual leave and public holidays. In addition to the 168 days of man hours provided by the Anti-Poaching team in these months, they were assisted by other Sovereign Base Area Police officers who are regularly tasked with duties directly associated with countering bird trapping.
Asked by: Martin Horwood (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many clearance operations there were to remove equipment used in the illegal killing of birds from the Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area in (a) September and (b) October of each of the last five years.
Answered by Anna Soubry
The information requested is provided in the following table.
September | October | |||||||
Number of Anti Mist netting | Number of seized | Number of seized | Number of | Number of Anti Mist netting | Number of seized | Number of seized | Number of | |
2010-11 | 30 (6) | 112 | 37 | 15 | 61 (7) | 173 | 115 | 16 |
2011-12 | 52 (5) | 159 | 193 | 10 | 32 (5) | 161 | 97 | 10 |
2012-13 | 45 (4) | 125 | 288 | 12 | 57 (5) | 131 | 26 | 9 |
2013-14 | 32 (5) | 116 | 468 | 18 | 29 (6) | 99 | 48 | 3 |
2014-15 | 48 (4) | 91 | 114 | 11 | 43 (8) | 81 | 142 | 18 |
[1] Large scale clearance operations, possibly involving resources outside of the normal Sovereign Base Area (SBA) Police assets
[2] Large scale clearance operations, possibly involving resources outside of the normal SBA Police assets