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 (a) current and (b) former members of the Armed Forces currently under investigation by the Police Service of Northern Ireland's Legacy Investigations Branch were previously informed by the Northern Ireland Historical Enquiries Team that there would be no further action against them.
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.
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 steps he is taking to (a) expedite the Government's application to the European Commission to exempt energy-intensive industries from the indirect costs of the Renewables Obligation and small-scale Feed-in Tariffs and (b) ensure that legislation on that exemption is in place before financial year 2017-18.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
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.
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 steps he is taking to secure contingency funding for the continuation of compensation for the indirect costs of the Renewables Obligation and small-scale Feed-in Tariffs for (a) the steel industry and (b) other energy-intensive industries beyond April 2017.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
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.
Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has had discussions with social media companies on improving their cooperation with police investigations.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Home Secretary engages regularly with a wide range of stakeholders to ensure that our law enforcement agencies are able to undertake effectively their core function of protecting the public. As more and more communications take place online, this of course includes providers of telecommunications services such as social media companies.
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 progress his Department has made in improving the interoperability of early smart meters.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
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:
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, whether his Department holds information on the number of households using foundation stage meters which have switched energy suppliers in each of the last five years.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Department does not hold this information.
Asked by: Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of nursing students who will apply for student finance for courses starting in January 2017.
Answered by Philip Dunne
Under the existing NHS Bursary scheme which eligible pre-registration healthcare students can access for courses that start before 1 August 2017, the NHS Business Services Authority estimate the number of nursing students applying for funding for courses starting in January 2017 will be in the range of 1,300 to 1,350.
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 he has made of the potential effect on energy (a) prices and (b) capacity of the damage done to the electricity interconnector between France and the UK during Storm Angus.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Interconnectors, as with all electricity infrastructure, may occasionally be unavailable because of the need for repairs and maintenance. However, electricity supplies are secure this winter. In forecasting capacity margins, National Grid allows for unplanned outages – such as this one – in their planning. National Grid has a variety of tools to manage the system and ensure supplies, including 3.5GW of balancing reserve.
We have not assessed how the damage sustained by the IFA (Interconnexion France-Angleterre) on 20 November will affect the wholesale electricity price, given the various other factors that contribute to wholesale costs, not least the expected direction of flow through IFA this winter.
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 whether the incident which damaged the electricity interconnector between France and the UK during Storm Angus has potential safety implications for existing and proposed interconnectors between (a) the UK and other countries and (b) Northern Ireland and Great Britain; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
National Grid and the French transmission system operator are jointly conducting a full investigation into the incident that damaged the interconnector between France and the UK during Storm Angus. Teams on both sides of the Channel are working to restore this interconnector to full availability as soon as possible.
Interconnector developers employ a variety of tools to reduce the risk of damage to the cable, including thorough sea-bed risk assessments, geotechnical analysis of the sea-bed and a review of shipping routes near the project. Where physically possible, reinforced cables are buried under the sea-bed; where the conditions do not allow for this, the cable is protected by other means, such as rock placement or concrete. Once in service, interconnector cables are regularly surveyed to ensure they remain protected.
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 effect of Shell's sale of its North Sea field assets on the long-term future of the North Sea as an energy asset.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
No such assessment has been made. The Oil and Gas Authority will assess any licence transfer as the licensing authority.