Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Government plans to put in place any measures to prevent asset stripping or other abuses by companies which purchase Green Investment Bank assets.
Answered by Nick Hurd
In its “Green Investment Bank: sale of shares” report laid before Parliament on 3 March 2016, the Government set out its objectives for the sale and the process by which the sale would be conducted. Bids have been evaluated at each stage of the process against the Government’s sale objectives.
The Green Investment Bank (GIB) is being sold as a going concern and potential investors will be buying into the company’s green business plan and forward pipeline of projects. The Government has asked potential investors to confirm their commitment to GIB’s green values and investment principles and how they propose to protect them, as part of their bids for the company.
In addition to this, to protect GIB’s green purposes in future, GIB has created a special share, held by an independent company with the right to approve or reject any changes to GIB’s green purposes should such a change ever be proposed.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what companies each Minister of his Department has responsibility for government relationships with.
Answered by Margot James
The Department for International Trade (DIT) is responsible for the Government’s strategic relations programme, which manages relationships with key investors and exporters through named contact ministers.
DIT and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy are currently refreshing the allocation of contact ministers across Government and intend to publish the updated list on Gov.uk in due course.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if the Government will take into account the atmospheric carbon dioxide level of over 400ppm when deciding on the UK's energy policy.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The UK played a leading role in securing the Paris Agreement, which drives international action towards tackling climate change and limiting the global temperature rise to well below 2°C.
At home, we remain committed to the UK’s Climate Change Act which requires us to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% by 2050 on 1990 levels, including emissions from energy.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the existing plans for the development of Hinkley C set out whether (a) the Government or (b) EDF will be financially and legally responsible for the safe storage of nuclear waste if that project goes ahead.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Government policy is that operators of new nuclear power stations will be financially and legally responsible for the storage and disposal of the radioactive waste and spent fuel produced by those power stations.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what criteria his Department plans to use to decide which companies may place bids for the Land Registry.
Answered by Anna Soubry
A Government consultation seeking views on options to move Land Registry operations to the private sector closed on 26 May. My department is analysing these response to help inform a Government decision. No decision has been taken on the future of Land Registry.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 23 May 2016 to Question 37459, whether he plans to provide additional funding or other assistance to college governing bodies which need to assess the effect of changes on groups protected by the Equalities Act 2010; what estimate he has made of the average cost to colleges of making such an assessment; and if he will make an estimate of the potential cost to his Department of conducting a single equality impact assessment on its policy of merging further education colleges.
Answered by Nick Boles
The Government’s policy is to facilitate a review of post 16 education and training, with each area establishing the best structures to offer high quality provision to meet the current and future needs of all learners and employers within the local area; this may or may not involve institutions merging.
We have discussed and agreed with a wide range of stakeholders an approach to ensuring equality is considered by colleges as part of any restructuring and will shortly be publishing guidance on this as part of a wider package of support about area review implementation.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what links firms bidding to run the Land Registry have to offshore tax havens.
Answered by Anna Soubry
A government consultation seeking views on options to move operations of Land Registry to the private sector closed on 26 May. Government is currently analysing the responses but no final decisions have been made. We have not received any bids.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has undertaken of the potential (a) costs and benefits and (b) effect on equality of merging further education colleges.
Answered by Nick Boles
We funded an independent further education adviser to undertake an assessment of mergers undertaken by the sector since 1992 in 2015. The results of the assessment were shared with the sector and are available here (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/current-models-of-collaboration-post-14-further-education). That demonstrated that mergers could deliver significant benefits but that effective leadership and management of structural change was an essential part of ensuring the full benefits were realised as quickly as possible.
In respect of the effect of mergers on equalities, further education colleges are independent corporations and it is for each college governing body to assess the impact of changes on groups protected by the Equalities Act 2010 and to take that assessment into account when making decisions around mergers.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when the Government plans to bring forward legislative proposals for the transition to a zero-carbon economy.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government believes we will need to take the step of enshrining the global goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions, reached at the UN climate summit at the end of 2015, into UK law. The question is not whether but how we do it. As a first step, our independent advisors, the Committee on Climate Change, is looking at the implications of the commitments in Paris, including the zero carbon emissions goal. It has said that it will report in the autumn. We will consider carefully the recommendations of the Committee.
This Government is committed to the Climate Change Act and the target of at least an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Our priority this year is setting the fifth carbon budget (covering the period 2028-32) by the end of June and developing our plan on how we will meet our existing targets. We are clear that this must be done while keeping our energy supply safe and costs as low as possible for hardworking families and businesses.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether Parliamentary authority is required for UK ratification of the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement.
Answered by Anna Soubry
We expect the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement will be a mixed agreement covering areas of both EU and Member State competence. In that case, it will be subject to agreement by each EU Member State, the EU Council and the European Parliament. As part of this process the agreement will be laid before Parliament for scrutiny before it is ratified by the UK. We will confirm the procedures for Parliamentary approval when it is presented for signature.