Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment his Department has made of the options available to increase the provision of audio-visual information on buses.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The Bus Services Bill includes powers to introduce an Accessible Information Requirement, for local buses throughout Great Britain to provide audible and visible next stop announcements. The impact assessment for these new powers considered a number of options to increase the provision of audio-visual information on buses and is available at:
Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential use of deep offshore saline aquifers in developing a viable business model for carbon capture and storage technology.
Answered by Jesse Norman
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/.
Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of (a) the extent of and (b) who is responsible for growth in the level of violence in the Donbas region of Ukraine; and whether such violence constitutes a breach of the ceasefire agreement.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The increase in fighting and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in recent days around the town of Avdiivka in the Donbas represents a serious escalation. We have called publicly for all sides to demonstrate restraint, facilitate humanitarian access, and to commit to a full and sustained ceasefire, in line with the provisions of the Minsk Agreements.
Such fighting is clearly in breach of the ceasefire commitments set out in the Minsk Agreements. We are clear that the conflict in Ukraine has been caused, and is sustained by, deliberate Russian destabilisation of Ukraine.
Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the value for money of carbon capture and utilisation technology.
Answered by Jesse Norman
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.
Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much money the Government invested in carbon capture and storage projects in each year between 2010 and 2015.
Answered by Jesse Norman
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.
Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he has taken to protect members of the armed services who served in Operation Banner from persistent legal claims.
Answered by Mike Penning
Members of the Armed Forces, including veterans, who face legal action as a result of their service in Northern Ireland during Operation BANNER are offered and helped with legal and pastoral support, by the Ministry of Defence and the chain of command.
Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the changes made to the steel procurement guidelines in the last two years are being adhered to by (a) local authorities and (b) central government departments.
Answered by Ben Gummer
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:
Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to take further steps to allow local authorities to make procurement decisions which favour local economies and businesses.
Answered by Ben Gummer
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.
Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what support his Department is offering to (a) former members of the Armed Forces who are under investigation for incidents that occurred during Operation Banner and (b) the families of those former members.
Answered by Mike Penning
Where veterans are being interviewed as potential suspects in connection with incidents that arose as part of their service, taxpayer-funded legal support (including counsel where appropriate) will be provided for as long as is necessary, regardless of how long ago the incident took place, or the length of the veterans' service. The Department will also support any application for anonymity and/or screening that the individual chooses to make in relation to any court appearances that may be necessary. In addition, pastoral care is provided through Regimental Associations, directly by the Ministry of Defence - through Veterans UK - and in partnership with charities who support ex-service personnel, according to each individual's needs and circumstances. This support is provided direct to the veterans themselves; there is no separate programme of support for families in these circumstances, although we would be willing to consider help in individual cases.
Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many former non-state actors who were formerly paramilitaries have been charged following a referral by the Northern Ireland Historical Enquiries Team to the Police Service of Northern Ireland or Public Prosecution Service.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Northern Ireland Office does not hold this information.
Operational matters relating to the Historical Enquiries Team and the Legacy Investigations Branch are the responsibility of the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland.