First elected: 6th May 2010
Left House: 3rd May 2017 (General Election)
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
These initiatives were driven by Tom Blenkinsop, 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.
A Bill to make provision about the disclosure, consideration and approval of proposals for onshore electricity power stations of 50MW or less; to require the application of Engineering Construction Industry (NAECI) terms and conditions in certain circumstances; to require sector-specific collective national workforce agreements in other circumstances; and for connected purposes.
A Bill to make provision about the disclosure, consideration and approval of proposals for onshore electricity power stations of 50MW or less; to require the application of Engineering Construction Industry (NAECI) terms and conditions in certain circumstances; to require sector-specific collective national workforce agreements in other circumstances; and for connected purposes.
The Bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament before the end of the session. This means the Bill will make no further progress. A Bill to require security search arrangements at airports to ensure that appropriate levels of privacy are provided for people with disabilities; and for connected purposes.
The Bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament before the end of the session. This means the Bill will make no further progress. A Bill to give the Coal Authority responsibility for preventing adverse environmental impacts from former metal mines; and for connected purposes
Crime (Assaults on Emergency Services Staff) Bill 2016-17
Sponsor - Holly Lynch (Lab)
Children of Armed Services Personnel (Schools Admission) Bill 2016-17
Sponsor - Anne-Marie Trevelyan (Con)
We are strengthening business influence in schools, further education, the skills system, higher education and in giving young people a broad experience of the careers options open to them. Our education reforms are ensuring that young people leave school or college with everything they need to get on and succeed in life. The new Careers and Enterprise Company aims to help schools and colleges in England to prepare young people aged 12 to 18 for the world of work, and increase the level of employer engagement in schools and colleges across England.
In further education we have given employer-led Local Enterprise Partnerships significant local influence over the skills system. National Colleges are being established by employer-led partnerships to design and deliver specific higher level training, and we are working in direct partnership with employers in reforming technical and professional education to ensure the new system provides the skills most needed for the 21st century economy. In trailblazer apprenticeships, employers develop the standards themselves.
In higher education, the government fully supports and actively encourages collaboration between universities and business. Partnership is needed to ensure graduate skills and employability meet the needs of business, to maximise the university sector’s capabilities in business-led research and innovation, and to realise the benefits of a strong role for Higher Education Institutions in the development of their local economies.
Quantifying the whole system impacts of electricity technologies is a complex exercise which requires sophisticated electricity system modelling. In order to build on previous internal analysis quantifying system costs for some electricity technologies, DECC has commissioned a project titled: Whole System Impacts of Electricity Generation Technologies.
This project will improve DECC’s internal electricity system modelling capability to better capture the costs and benefits of all generation technologies on the whole electricity system. It will also allow a better representation of the dynamics behind these costs and benefits, in particular how they vary over time and with the background electricity mix.
This project is currently ongoing and given the complex modelling involved, it requires a rigorous quality assurance process to ensure the analysis is robust. We are aiming to complete the project in the first half of 2016, and will publish the results as soon as possible.
DECC recognises the importance of considering the whole system impacts (both costs and benefits) of different electricity technologies when formulating future government policy, since it is a crucial element in delivering secure, clean and affordable energy to consumers.
In order to continue to improve its evidence base in this area and inform future policy developments, DECC has commissioned a project on the Whole System Impacts of Electricity Generation Technologies on the electricity system. This project will improve DECC’s understanding of what these system costs are (for example the impact of electricity technologies on wider system balancing actions and networks requirements), as well as improve DECC’s modelling capability to quantify these system costs and their dynamics.
Once this project is completed, DECC will be able to better quantify these system costs to inform policy decisions. Any future policy development, such as future renewable support, will be informed by the improved evidence base developed through this project.
I refer the hon Member to the reply I gave on 30 November to Question UIN 16315 and in the debate in Westminster Hall on 2 December.
This is clearly a worrying time for those affected by ICL’s announcement that it is proposing to make 220 employees and 140 contractors redundant as part of a restructuring at its Boulby mine. Those affected will be able to access Jobcentre Plus’ Rapid Response Service, which is delivered locally with partners, is tailored to an individual’s needs, and can include some or all of the following elements:
We will, of course, consider with local partners whether the area needs extra support to respond to this news - including Jobcentre Plus, the Local Enterprise Partnership and the Local Authority. However it is important to fully understand the impacts of this announcement before any decisions are taken.
Whilst this remains a difficult time, it was encouraging to read that the company intends to invest at least £20m in infrastructure at the mine to support its restructure.
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is continuing to work closely with local Task Forces in Redcar and Scunthorpe to support individuals and businesses affected by SSI’s closure and Tata’s recent announcement.
In Redcar, as part of a support package worth up to £80 million, we have agreed over £40 million of support aimed at skills and jobs creation following proposals put forward by the Task Force chaired by Amanda Skelton:
In Scunthorpe, we have announced a package, worth up to £9 million, jointly with Tata, to support Tata steelworkers, the local economy and supply chain. We are working closely with a local Task Force, chaired by Baroness Liz Redfern, to deliver this support.
The support package will be funded through central budgets.
As part of this, we have agreed over £40 million of support following proposals put forward by the Task Force chaired by Amanda Skelton, including:
All of the requests for spend in 2015/16 have been transferred from Government to the SSI Task Force, which is beginning to implement its planned programme of interventions. This is on top of the up to £3m that has been made available to four Further Education colleges in the region to support re-training activity, and redundancy and final salary payments of former SSI employees.
I can confirm that the support package covers both of these aspects. The money allocated towards redundancies factored in payments for owed salaries and does not affect the money for training and regeneration of the local economy. I also note that without Government action, SSI workers would not have been paid their salaries in September.
I received advice from Departmental officials on the legality of supporting a steel company in difficulty. The state aid rules on giving rescue and restructuring aid to steel companies are clear and all such interventions are prohibited.
We are setting up the OGA to have a strong role in the decommissioning of oil and gas infrastructure in the UK Continental Shelf. OGA are developing a decommissioning strategy, working closely with industry and government, to reduce the costs and increase the efficiency of decommissioning, and to encourage technology development. OGA is seeking to develop a more competitive model for decommissioning which stimulates market solutions and innovation. Decommissioning represents opportunities for UK industry to compete for business and I would encourage companies to engage to give themselves the best chance of winning contracts.
Transmission Network Use of System charges are charged on £/KW basis and include a locational element to reflect the extent to which the transmission system is used to move electricity from where it is generated to the centres of demand. Details of the 2015-16 charges are in National Grid’s charging statement which can be found at this link:
Neither the Office for National Statistics nor other governmental statistical sources make such forecasts for steel. The Government forecasts can influence markets and therefore must be able to be robust.
Recent data from the Bank of England shows some signs that bank lending to SMEs is starting to recover. Gross lending to SMEs in the first 7 months of 2014 was nearly £30 billion, up 21% on the equivalent period last year. Net lending was at zero or modestly positive in each of the last three months if overdrafts are excluded, reversing a long term negative trend. Credit conditions, however, remain tight for the smallest businesses in particular.
The Government has not made a specific assessment of the competitiveness of the prosthesis manufacturing industry. However, prosthetics form a key part of the wider medical technology sector, and work is underway with the main medical technology trade associations (including the British Healthcare Trades Association (BHTA)), under the aegis of the Ministerial Medical Technology Strategy Group to identify and address the competitiveness challenges across the sector and its supply-chains.
We have and continue to actively engage with a wide range of stakeholders following the laying of a Written Ministerial Statement on Disabled Students' Allowances on 7 April. A list of those who have submitted information or evidence for the Equality Analysis and Disabled Students' Allowances Guidance for 2015-16 will be published as part of this document.
Information on students awarded and paid Disabled Students' Allowance is published annually by Student Loans Company (SLC) in the Statistical First Release ‘Student Support for Higher Education England'. The latest statistics are available at the following link:
http://www.slc.co.uk/media/694170/slcsfr052013.pdf
A further breakdown for the requested constituencies, local authorities and North East region has been provided in the table for academic years 2011/12 and 2012/13.
The effective date is that used for the November 2013 Awards Statistical First Release. Hence, the figures for 2012/13 are classified as provisional and do not include students who were awarded DSA after November 2013.
Equivalent figures for the academic year 2013/14 will be available from November 2014.
Students in receipt of Disabled Students Allowance(1,2) in the North East region(3)
Academic Year
Effective date: 13/11/2013(4)
| Application Type | |||||||
| 2011/12 | 2012/13(4) | ||||||
Full-Time Application | Part-Time Application | Post Graduate DSA | Total | Full-Time Application | Part-Time Application | Post Graduate DSA | Total | |
Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland | 80 | 10 | 10 | 100 | 80 | 10 | 10 | 100 |
Middlesbrough LEA | 100 | 10 | 10 | 120 | 90 | 10 | 10 | 110 |
Stockton North constituency | 60 | - | - | 60 | 60 | - | - | 70 |
Stockton South constituency | 70 | 10 | - | 80 | 90 | - | - | 90 |
Hartlepool LEA | 70 | 10 | 10 | 90 | 70 | - | - | 70 |
Redcar constituency | 70 | 10 | - | 80 | 60 | - | - | 70 |
North East region | 1,470 | 160 | 140 | 1,770 | 1,590 | 150 | 100 | 1,860 |
Notes:
1. Disabled Student Allowance may be paid to the Student or to a Supplier on the student's behalf.
2. DSA Payments may be made at any point during the Academic Year or after the end of the Academic Year.
3. Figures are derived from the Post Code of the applicant's home address.
4. The effective date is that of the November 2013 Awards Statistical First Release. The figures are therefore provisional and do not include students who were awarded DSA after November 2013.
Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10. Totals may not add to the sum of the components due to rounding.
'-' represents a number less than 5.
Cyber security is one of the Government's top four national security priorities. DECC is working with government departments and agencies, as well as with industry partners, to ensure that the risks to the energy sector are understood and that appropriate mitigations are established. It would not be appropriate to comment on specific cases.
Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) have been established as voluntary partnerships of local business and public sector leaders, and board membership is a matter for LEPs themselves. This information will not be collected centrally.
All City Deals are available on gov.uk.
A copy of the Tees Valley City Deal has been placed in the Library of the House.
I have not made such an assessment. The UK Government's Scotland Analysis Programme identified benefits for UK businesses from common rules and institutions that create a larger domestic market, reduce administrative burdens and encourage fair competition. Diverging regulatory regimes and new burdens created by an international border may affect the level of trade (£48 billion from Scotland to rest of UK in 2012, and £59 billion in the opposite direction) and the 30,000 people who currently travel freely between Scotland and North England each day to work.
We are currently consulting with a wide range of stakeholders to help inform both the Equality Analysis and Disabled Students' Allowances Guidance for 2015/16.
Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEP) board membership is a matter for LEPs themselves and they are best placed to ensure it meets the needs of their businesses and local people.
Pricing decisions are a matter for energy suppliers. I welcome any steps by suppliers to keep energy bills down.
The incorrect reclamation of VAT by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is an historical event which the Director of the SFO has taken steps to deal with. I am satisfied that it has no implications for the policies of the SFO.
The number of offences charged under section 14(1) and 22 of the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981 that reached a first hearing in magistrates' courts in each year since 2008 are:
Make a counterfeit of a protected coin with intent | Make a counterfeit of a currency note with intent |
Total | |
2008 | 2 | 22 | 24 |
2009 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
2010 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
2011 | 3 | 17 | 20 |
2012 | 2 | 12 | 14 |
2013 | 2 | 13 | 15 |
Total | 9 | 72 | 81 |
Central government departments are required to report on a regular basis, alongside the collection of forward pipeline information, to confirm that they are compliant with the steel procurement guidance and provide evidence on how they are applying this guidance on their projects.
Local Authorities and other parts of the wider public sector are not currently required to provide this information, given their separate legal nature.
This information is published in the guidance on Procuring steel in major projects, which can be found here:
Whilst contracting authorities may not favour suppliers on purely geographical grounds, the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 allow them to consider incorporating social, ethical and environmental aspects into specifications, contract conditions and award criteria if they relate directly to the subject matter of a contract from the point of view of the contracting authority.
Furthermore, the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 places a requirement on commissioners to consider the economic, environmental and social benefits of their approaches to procurement before the process starts, at the pre-procurement stage.
We treat Cyber Security extremely seriously. Our 2015 National Security Strategy confirmed that cyber remains a top threat to the UK’s economic and national security. The threat posed by cyber-attacks continues to grow in both scale and complexity. Cyber security is crucial for keeping the UK safe.
To meet the challenges of cyber security threats, the government launched its new National Cyber Security Strategy 2016-2021 on the 1 November. Supported by £1.9billion of transformational investment, the strategy sets out ambitious policies and capabilities to protect the UK in cyber space.
The strategy is available online here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-cyber- security-strategy- 2016-to-2021.
Information relating to the proceedings of Cabinet Committees, including how often they have met and which Ministers have attended, is generally not disclosed as to do so could harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion.
A list of members of the European Union Exit and Trade Cabinet Committee is available in the Library of the House.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
The government is in continuing discussions with the European Commission on securing the remaining exemptions for energy intensive industries. Sufficient funding is in place to continue the current compensation for the indirect cost of the Renewables Obligation (RO) and small-scale Feed-in Tariffs (FIT).
The government is in continuing discussions with the European Commission on securing the remaining exemptions for energy intensive industries. The intention is to introduce the exemptions once the necessary clearances have been secured. The current compensation for the indirect cost of the Renewables Obligation (RO) and small-scale Feed-in Tariffs (FIT) will remain in place in the meantime.
The Renewables Obligation (RO) and small-scale Feed in Tariffs (FIT) schemes support the generation of renewable electricity and are funded from levies on electricity supply.
Over the past 12 months the government has provided over £190m in compensation payments to eligible businesses for the indirect costs of the Renewables Obligation (RO) and small scale Feed in Tariffs (FIT) schemes. Of this we have paid over £54m to the steel sector.
The Government has had detailed discussions with nuclear sector stakeholders since the referendum. Both officials and Ministers have been in frequent contact with nuclear industry and research stakeholders, and we will continue to work closely with them as we take the negotiations forwards.
The Department funded a twelve month £2.5 million project, led by the Energy Technologies Institute, to progress the appraisal of five selected carbon dioxide storage sites in the North and Irish Seas; three of these sites were offshore saline formations. The report, “Progressing Development of the UK’s Strategic Carbon Dioxide Storage Resource”, was published by the Energy Technologies Institute in May 2016 and is available at: http://www.eti.co.uk/project/strategic-uk-ccs-storage-appraisal/.
Withdrawal from the Euratom Treaty will not diminish the UK's nuclear ambitions for its new build nuclear programme, and the Government remains committed to delivering a world leading nuclear programme in close collaboration with international counterparts, including the USA.
Non EU countries that have a relationship with Euratom do so mainly through international nuclear cooperation agreements (NCA) with the Euratom Community. These provide frameworks for cooperation in the civil nuclear sector, but are not an absolute requirement for trade in civil nuclear material or goods with every country, and in many cases trade continues without being covered by an NCA.
We will maintain continuity of cooperation and develop new arrangements as necessary.
Maintaining the UK’s ability to trade in nuclear materials and equipment will be a key objective in negotiations to allow the uninterrupted progress of the UK’s nuclear programme, which includes the construction of Hinkley Point C. Those negotiations have not yet started, but officials and Ministers are in regular contact with industry stakeholders and will continue to work closely with them as the negotiations progress.
The Government recognises the potential of carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) technologies, even though many are still at an early stage of development. The Department has commissioned further analysis to help assess the commercially-viable technologies and the CCU carbon abatement opportunities for the UK.
In each year between 2010 and 2015, the Government has invested the following in carbon capture and storage projects:
Figures for the 2015/16 financial year are provisional.
We are engaging with the European Commission about our state aid pre-notification to move from compensation to exemption for the indirect cost of the Renewables Obligation (RO) and small-scale Feed-in Tariffs (FiT). We aim to introduce the exemption for Energy Intensive Industries (EIIs) from 1 April 2017.
The Government continues to provide relief to those EIIs most affected by the rising cost of electricity and has paid over £360m in compensation since August 2013.
We aim to introduce an exemption for Energy Intensive Industries from the indirect costs of the Renewables Obligation and small-scale Feed-in Tariffs from 1 April 2017. It is not currently necessary to allocate contingency funding for the continuation of compensation beyond April 2017.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch, on 21 November 2016 to Question 53430: