First elected: 1st May 1997
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.
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
These initiatives were driven by Sandra Osborne, 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.
Sandra Osborne has not been granted any Urgent Questions
Sandra Osborne has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
Sandra Osborne has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
As part of their sustainability requirements, biomass generating stations must report their biomass sustainability data to Ofgem, and this includes the country of origin. This data is published annually on Ofgem’s website1. From later this year, biomass generators will also be required to have their sustainability data independently audited, annually.
In 2013, the Department carried out an analysis of domestic and imported wood use by major biomass generating stations, using both the above sustainability reporting and additional five- year forecasts that large scale generators provided to the Department as part of a voluntary exercise2. The forecast weight of domestically sourced wood used for biomass power generation is expected to remain stable between 2.3 and 2.5 million oven dried tonnes (modt). This analysis supports the Department’s assessment that major generators intend to focus on international rather than domestic sources of wood.
Furthermore, as ‘high quality’ wood, such as that suitable for saw logs and timber production, commands a significantly higher market price than residues, this makes high quality wood unattractive and unaffordable for use as woodfuel. Therefore market forces, both here and abroad, should mean mixed used of wood continues.
[1] https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/biomass-sustainability-dataset-2012-13
My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has spoken with, and exchanged correspondence with, industry representatives, academic experts and with environmental organisations about the report. Where correspondence has been received in the form of campaigns, the Government’s response has been published on its website.
DECC officials have also engaged extensively with stakeholders on the report both during and after its preparation and will continue to do so as we further develop our evidence base.
The FAS may pay members of schemes which transfer their assets to government a tax-free lump sum when payments begin, provided their scheme has not paid them during the winding up period. In the three months from January to March 2010, 263 such members were paid a scheme pension and did not receive a tax-free lump sum.
Information on job starts from the Work Programme is not available.
The available information on Job Outcomes is shown in the following table.
Number of Work Programme Job Outcomes in Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock Parliamentary Constituency for each of the last 12 months: April 2013 – March 2014
| Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock Parliamentary Constituency |
Apr-13 | 30 |
May-13 | 10 |
Jun-13 | 30 |
Jul-13 | 20 |
Aug-13 | 20 |
Sep-13 | 40 |
Oct-13 | 30 |
Nov-13 | 30 |
Dec-13 | 30 |
Jan-14 | 20 |
Feb-14 | 20 |
Mar-14 | 30 |
The available information as requested is shown in the table below.
Number of individuals with an adverse benefit sanction applied in Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock Parliamentary Constituency by each month, January to December 2013.
| Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock Parliamentary Constituency |
Jan-13 | 160 |
Feb-13 | 100 |
Mar-13 | 130 |
Apr-13 | 160 |
May-13 | 160 |
Jun-13 | 150 |
Jul-13 | 180 |
Aug-13 | 180 |
Sep-13 | 160 |
Oct-13 | 190 |
Nov-13 | 210 |
Dec-13 | 150 |
Source (JSA and ESA): DWP Information, Governance and Security Directorate: Sanctions and Disallowance Decisions Statistics Database.
Source (IS): Income Support Computer System
Notes:
1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.
2. The number of benefit sanctions applied is the number of claimants with a sanction or disallowance referral where the decision was found against them for those in receipt of Jobseeker's Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance and Income Support for Lone Parents.
3. Figures may include individuals who have been sanctioned in more than one month, i.e. if the same individual had received adverse sanction referrals in May and November, they would appear in both months in the above table.
4. Data is up to December 2013 which is the latest available.
5. Income Support Lone Parents receive a fixed sanction of 20% of the personal allowance rate of a single claimant [not aged less than 25] for each failure to attend/participate in a Work Focused Interview until 10 pence is left in payment. This sanction lasts until the individual attends and participates in a Work Focused Interview. In the case where there is more than one sanction in place the claimant need only attend/participate in one Work Focused Interview in order for all related sanctions to be removed from their benefit.
6. New sanctions rules came into force for JSA and ESA from 22 October 2012 and 3 December 2012. The number of JSA sanctions applied for the new regime is the number of low, intermediate, and high level referrals where the decision was found against the claimant. Further information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/jobseekers-allowance-overview-of-sanctions-rules
7. The information for JSA and ESA sanctions is published at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/
I wrote to Manuela Schwesig, Federal Minister of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, on 14 October 2014, asking if she would meet with representatives of the Thalidomide Trust. The specific issue of responsibility for the victims of the Thalidomide disaster was not addressed.
I met with the Thalidomide Trust on 23 June 2014 and subsequently wrote to Manuela Schwesig, Federal Minister of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, on behalf of all four UK Governments, asking if she would meet with the Trust.
The Government is committed to the future of shipbuilding in the UK. Complex warships for the Royal Navy are only built in UK shipyards.
The Type 26 Global Combat Ship programme is currently in its Assessment Phase. While the build contract has not yet been awarded, from 2015 the only shipyards in the UK that are able to build complex warships will be those on the Clyde.
The length of time each claimant has waited for the review and completion of a compensation claim under the War Pension and Armed Forces Compensation System since the inception of those schemes, in 1921 and 2005 respectively, is not available and can be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, the information below provides the average length of time taken to process claims under the War Pensions Scheme and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme in each year since 2009. Information before 2009 is not available.
WAR PENSIONS SCHEME
2009-10 45 working days
2010-11 39 working days
2011-12 51 working days
2012-13 82 working days
2013-14 110 working days
Year to date 103 working days
ARMED FORCES COMPENSATION SCHEME
2009-10 80 working days
2010-11 93 working days
2011-12 125 working days
2012-13 164 working days
2013-14 109 working days
Year to date 89 working days
The UK Government has no plans to move the strategic nuclear deterrent from Her Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde, and has not considered options for moving the deterrent. Any alternative solution would come at huge cost to the taxpayer.
The cost of retaining the nuclear deterrent at Faslane and Coulport cannot be separately identified from expenditure incurred for multiple activities at Her Majesty's Naval Base Clyde.
I refer the hon Member to the answer I gave to the hon Gentlemen for Cumbernauld, Kilsyth & Kirkintilloch East.