Stuart C McDonald

Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures (the CLP Regulation) is a single market measure that acts directly in all European Union (EU) Member States. Supporting guidance is provided at EU level by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), in partnership with Member States. The guidance is routinely reviewed to ensure it reflects practical compliance experience and continues to support chemical suppliers both small and large.

The CLP regulation requires every Member State to establish a national CLP Helpdesk to provide compliance advice. The HSE acts as the UK CLP competent authority and, as part of this function, has provided the Helpdesk since 2009. It provides a suite of webpages that introduce the key duties in CLP, and steer visitors to the ECHA guidance. Additionally, the HSE will consider the feasibility of developing an on-line tool to help small businesses comply with the regulation.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains a central record of the number of offences in which a prosecution commenced, including the offences charged by way of the Immigration Act 1971.

During the last 10 years, up to the end of March 2020, the number of offences charged by way of section 25 of the Immigration Act 1971 is as follows:

There is no indication of the number of individual defendants prosecuted for these offences or the final outcome of the prosecution proceeding or if the charged offence was the substantive charge at the time of finalisation. It is often the case that defendants will be prosecuted for more than one offence in the same set of proceedings.

It is not possible to separately report whether any offences involved the use or control of a vessel at sea other than by manually examining case files at disproportionate cost.

The Law Officers have not issued any guidance, advice or instructions to Crown Prosecution Service lawyers on prosecutions under section 25(1) of the Immigration Act 1971 in the last 18 months. However, the CPS has clear and published policy guidance on the prosecution of immigration offences, which reflects the Memorandum of Understanding agreed between the CPS and Home Office Immigration Enforcement in 2016. This establishes the agreed approach and public interest factors which prosecutors must consider when reviewing immigration cases. No further recent guidance has been issued to Crown Prosecutors on section 25(1) of the Immigration Act 1971.

Neither the Attorney General's Office nor the CPS have received representations from the Home Office on prosecutions under section 25(1) of the Immigration Act 1971 in the last 18 months. The joint approach between the CPS and Immigration Enforcement is to consider prosecution under section 25(1) of the Immigration Act 1971 for anyone who has been involved in organising and planning the offences.

The cost of electricity and natural gas used by the Attorney General’s Office and the Law Officers Departments (CPS, SFO, GLD and HMCPSI) is published in the CPS annual report (page 12) which can be found here.

The costs are also shown below.

It is not possible to break these figures down any further without incurring disproportionate cost.

The quantity of electricity and natural gas used by the Attorney General’s Office and the Law Officers Departments (CPS, SFO, GLD and HMCPSI) is published in the CPS annual report (page 12) and can be found here.

The figures are also shown below.

It is not possible to break these figures down any further without incurring disproportionate cost.

Sussex Police have sought early investigative advice from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), South East Area, in respect of possible criminal offences. The CPS has received some documentation and had a meeting with the officer in charge of the investigation in February 2018.

The police investigation is still ongoing and CPS will only be in a position to provide advice regarding charging or otherwise once all the papers are received.

The Prime Minister intends to request that the current session of Parliament be prorogued from the evening of Tuesday 8 October, with a Queen’s Speech on Monday 14 October.

These timings would mean Parliament is prorogued for the shortest time possible to enable all the necessary logistical preparations for a State Opening to be undertaken, including those done by the House Authorities.

Cabinet Office electricity and natural gas consumption and costs are detailed below. 10 Downing Street is an integral part of the Cabinet Office, and therefore their consumption and costs are included in Cabinet Office consumption and costs below. The Crown Commercial Service, Government Property Agency, the Infrastructure and Projects Authority and the Privy Council Office are occupiers within other buildings and would be recharged via their service charges.

Cabinet Office electricity and natural gas consumption and costs are detailed below. 10 Downing Street is an integral part of the Cabinet Office, and therefore their consumption and costs are included in Cabinet Office consumption and costs below. The Crown Commercial Service, Government Property Agency, the Infrastructure and Projects Authority and the Privy Council Office are occupiers within other buildings and would be recharged via their service charges.

The Government is giving very careful consideration to the responses it received to the consultation. In particular we are looking closely to see if there is any scope to find a set of reforms that will deliver the Government’s objectives and which will be agreeable to the unions. I expect that we will be able to publish our analysis within the 12 week target set out in the consultation document.

Employers are only required to notify my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State if they are proposing making more than 20 people redundant. However, the Office for National Statistics produce detailed statistics on redundancies by industry and individual characteristics.

There are laws in place to ensure that any redundancy process should be fair and reasonable with appropriate equalities considerations. Employees with the necessary qualifying service who believe that they have been unfairly selected for redundancy, or that the redundancy was unfair in some other way, can complain to an employment tribunal who will make an assessment. The Government publishes quarterly tribunal statistics, including on unfair dismissal and discrimination claims.

The Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) has been introduced to help small and medium-sized businesses to borrow between £2,000 and £50,000. Businesses are not required to bank with their provider in order to be eligible for a loan under the Bounce Back Loans Scheme (BBLS).

It is also not a requirement of the Scheme for businesses to operate via a business account. However, some lenders may request that an applicant opens a business account in line with their standard policies. This is at the sole discretion of the lender. There are now 14 lenders accredited under the scheme, providing more choice for SMEs. Details of accredited lenders can be found on the British Business Bank’s website.

In order to apply for the scheme, businesses need to complete a short, simple online application form. A lender may consider paying funds into a personal current account if no business bank account is held, if it has been satisfactorily evidenced that the personal current account is being used for business purposes. In some cases, borrowers may need to include their 2018-19 HMRC self-assessment tax return alongside the form to verify their status as a business.

The Government regularly engages with manufacturers and manufacturing trade associations on opportunities to support the growth and competitiveness of manufacturing sectors in the UK. Ultimately, the proposed closure of Cummins’ Cumbernauld factory is a commercial decision for the company.

The correspondence referred to is currently receiving attention. A reply will be issued shortly.

The attached table shows the cost of electricity and natural gas for the named organisations for the last three complete financial years for which figures are available.

The attached table shows the quantity of electricity and natural gas used by the named organisations for the last three complete financial years for which figures are available.

Nuclear power is proven technology with modern reactors capable of producing safe and secure low carbon electricity over many decades. Reactors deployed in the UK must meet the robust independent regulatory requirements which include early assessment of the safety, security and environmental impacts of reactor designs through the Generic Design Assessment (GDA), prior to any application for a site-specific statutory Nuclear Site Licence. This is a robust process, taking several years which ensures that all aspects of new station design are thoroughly assessed prior to construction and operation.

Hitachi’s UK ABWR reactor design completed GDA in December 2017 and full details of that assessment are available at www.onr.org.uk/new-reactors/uk-abwr/index.htm .

The Government regularly engages with a number of new build developers on a range of issues relevant to delivering new nuclear projects including financing. These discussions are commercially sensitive and it is therefore not appropriate to provide details.

As part of the process to designate a National Policy Statement (NPS) for nuclear power generation in 2011, the Government undertook a strategic siting assessment of potentially suitable sites, including an Appraisal of Sustainability. The conclusions of these assessments were included in an annex to the final NPS. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/47860/1943-nps-nuclear-power-annex-volII.pdf.

The Government is working towards a new NPS for nuclear power stations deploying after 2025 and intends to consult on a draft NPS in 2019. Siting assessments and Appraisals of Sustainability will be undertaken for those sites listed in the draft NPS.

CGN’s UK HPR1000 reactor, which is proposed for deployment at Bradwell, commenced the GDA process in January 2017. More information can be found at www.ukhpr1000.co.uk/. The GDA is a robust process conducted jointly by the Office of Nuclear Regulation and the Environment Agency over many years, ensuring that all aspects of new station design, including safety, security and environmental impacts, are properly assessed prior to construction and operation.

The Government regularly engages with a number of new build developers on a range of issues relevant to delivering new nuclear projects including financing. These discussions are commercially sensitive and it is therefore not appropriate to provide details.

The availability and reliability of financial backers for the Moorside nuclear project is a commercial matter for Toshiba, who own NuGen, the developer of the Moorside site.

We continue to engage closely with NuGen, as we do for other new build developers on a range of issues relevant to delivering new nuclear projects.

The Department has engaged with a number of parties with respect to the proposed sale of NuGen, developers of the proposed Moorside project in Cumbria. These discussions are commercially sensitive so we are unable to provide details.

The UK Government has agreed to protect the rights of EU citizens in the UK and UK nationals in the EU under the Withdrawal Agreement. This includes the continued recognition of EU qualifications, where recognition decisions were received or where recognition procedures were ongoing before the withdrawal date and where an EU citizen is resident in the UK on the date of withdrawal (and vice versa). The government has stated that it will seek to agree a continued system for the recognition of professional qualifications as part of the future economic partnership, and we hope to begin this phase of negotiations shortly.

The Department has not received any representation on the Post Office’s operation of Santander’s Transcash service in 2017-18.

The current total installed generating capacity of gas-powered generating stations which have been constructed in England since 2000 is 12,611 MW.

This information is publicly available as part of DUKES (Digest of UK Energy Statistics) at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/577712/DUKES_2016_FINAL.pdf