Asked by: Baroness Grender (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many new oil drilling extraction sites have been approved in England in the last two years; and where any such sites (1) are, or (2) are proposed to be, located.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
One new oil field has been granted production consent in the last two years – Horse Hill (in Surrey).
Asked by: Baroness Grender (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many oil drilling extraction sites there are in England.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
There are currently 47 oil and gas extraction sites in England.
Asked by: Baroness Grender (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have blocked planning permission for new oil drilling extraction sites in the UK over the past five years; and if so, (1) how many permissions they have refused, (2) when these were refused, and (3) where the application sites were located.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
All questions of planning permission for oil drilling extraction sites in the last 5 years have been local planning matters. Therefore central government has not made decisions on this. As planning is a devolved matter, this answer relates to England only.
Asked by: Baroness Grender (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many driving licence test examiners based in Surrey there were in (1) 2019, (2) 2020, and (3) 2021.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has three driving test centres in Surrey: Reigate/Redhill, Guildford and Chertsey. The below figures show the number of full time and part time driving examiners permanently based at these centres:
(1) 2019 – 17 full time and 6 part time driving examiners;
(2) 2020 – 18 full time and 2 part time driving examiners;
(3) 2021 – 17 full time driving examiners.
The DVSA will deploy other driving examiners into the Surrey area depending on the demand for testing.
In the last two years, the DVSA has closed 12 driving test centres. Those test centres are:
Lerwick (Shetland) LGV, Patrick Green goods vehicle testing station (GVTS), Macclesfield multi-purpose test centre, Cheadle, Birmingham (Cocks Moor Woods), Llandrindod Wells, Westbury, Bristol, Hemel Hempstead, Greenford, Canterbury GVTS and Hayes.
The DVSA continually reviews its operational estate to ensure that it is fit for purpose and represents good value for money for the public purse, while maintaining a good service provision across its operation.
In the last two years, the DVSA has closed 18 theory test centres. The DVSA has relocated the testing provision for these 18 theory test centres to alternative locations within the new network that has greater coverage for candidates nationally to ensure testing provision can continue.
The 18 closed theory test centres are:
Blackpool, Clydebank, Driffield, Morpeth, Oldham, Salford, Scunthorpe, Skipton, Southport, St Helens, Wigan, Crawley, Basildon, Dereham, Ely, Harlow, Mansfield and Stevenage.
Note that from 6 September the contract for running theory test centres has been split into three regions. The number of theory test centres in Great Britain will increase from 180 to 202.
Asked by: Baroness Grender (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many test centres for driving theory examinations have closed in the last two years; and where any such closures have taken place.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has three driving test centres in Surrey: Reigate/Redhill, Guildford and Chertsey. The below figures show the number of full time and part time driving examiners permanently based at these centres:
(1) 2019 – 17 full time and 6 part time driving examiners;
(2) 2020 – 18 full time and 2 part time driving examiners;
(3) 2021 – 17 full time driving examiners.
The DVSA will deploy other driving examiners into the Surrey area depending on the demand for testing.
In the last two years, the DVSA has closed 12 driving test centres. Those test centres are:
Lerwick (Shetland) LGV, Patrick Green goods vehicle testing station (GVTS), Macclesfield multi-purpose test centre, Cheadle, Birmingham (Cocks Moor Woods), Llandrindod Wells, Westbury, Bristol, Hemel Hempstead, Greenford, Canterbury GVTS and Hayes.
The DVSA continually reviews its operational estate to ensure that it is fit for purpose and represents good value for money for the public purse, while maintaining a good service provision across its operation.
In the last two years, the DVSA has closed 18 theory test centres. The DVSA has relocated the testing provision for these 18 theory test centres to alternative locations within the new network that has greater coverage for candidates nationally to ensure testing provision can continue.
The 18 closed theory test centres are:
Blackpool, Clydebank, Driffield, Morpeth, Oldham, Salford, Scunthorpe, Skipton, Southport, St Helens, Wigan, Crawley, Basildon, Dereham, Ely, Harlow, Mansfield and Stevenage.
Note that from 6 September the contract for running theory test centres has been split into three regions. The number of theory test centres in Great Britain will increase from 180 to 202.
Asked by: Baroness Grender (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many driving licence test centres have closed in the last two years; and where any such closures have taken place.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has three driving test centres in Surrey: Reigate/Redhill, Guildford and Chertsey. The below figures show the number of full time and part time driving examiners permanently based at these centres:
(1) 2019 – 17 full time and 6 part time driving examiners;
(2) 2020 – 18 full time and 2 part time driving examiners;
(3) 2021 – 17 full time driving examiners.
The DVSA will deploy other driving examiners into the Surrey area depending on the demand for testing.
In the last two years, the DVSA has closed 12 driving test centres. Those test centres are:
Lerwick (Shetland) LGV, Patrick Green goods vehicle testing station (GVTS), Macclesfield multi-purpose test centre, Cheadle, Birmingham (Cocks Moor Woods), Llandrindod Wells, Westbury, Bristol, Hemel Hempstead, Greenford, Canterbury GVTS and Hayes.
The DVSA continually reviews its operational estate to ensure that it is fit for purpose and represents good value for money for the public purse, while maintaining a good service provision across its operation.
In the last two years, the DVSA has closed 18 theory test centres. The DVSA has relocated the testing provision for these 18 theory test centres to alternative locations within the new network that has greater coverage for candidates nationally to ensure testing provision can continue.
The 18 closed theory test centres are:
Blackpool, Clydebank, Driffield, Morpeth, Oldham, Salford, Scunthorpe, Skipton, Southport, St Helens, Wigan, Crawley, Basildon, Dereham, Ely, Harlow, Mansfield and Stevenage.
Note that from 6 September the contract for running theory test centres has been split into three regions. The number of theory test centres in Great Britain will increase from 180 to 202.
Asked by: Baroness Grender (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Barran on 24 March (HL14223), what assessment they have made of (1) the percentage of commercial pornography sites, and (2) the total number of commercial pornography sites, that will not be in scope of the Online Safety Bill.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is committed to ensuring children are protected from accessing online pornography through the new online safety framework. Where pornography sites host user-generated content or facilitate online user interaction such as video and image sharing, commenting and live streaming, they will be subject to the new duty of care.
The government expects that the majority of commercial pornography sites, including those that are most visited, will be captured through the new online safety regime. Only those commercial pornography sites which do not host user-generated content and instead publish their own content will not be in scope. We will continue to review our proposals to ensure we deliver the most comprehensive protections for children online.
Asked by: Baroness Grender (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which commercial pornography companies will be in scope of the Online Safety Bill; and whether commercial pornography websites which (1) do not host user-generated content, or (2) allow private user communication, will also be in scope.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is committed to ensuring children are protected from accessing online pornography through the new online safety framework. Where pornography sites host user-generated content or facilitate online user interaction such as video and image sharing, commenting and live streaming, they will be subject to the new duty of care. Commercial pornography sites which allow private user to user communication will be in scope. Where commercial pornography sites do not have user-generated functionality they will not be in scope. The online safety regime will capture both the most visited pornography sites and pornography on social media, therefore covering the majority of sites where children are most likely to be exposed to pornography.
We expect companies to use age assurance or age verification technologies to prevent children from accessing services which pose the highest risk of harm to children, such as online pornography. We are working closely with stakeholders across industry to establish the right conditions for the market to deliver age assurance and age verification technical solutions ahead of the legislative requirements coming into force.
Asked by: Baroness Grender (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the benefit cap on tenants in the private rented sector.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
The Benefit Cap aims to provide fairness for hard-working taxpaying households, whilst providing a reasonable safety net of support for the most vulnerable.
We introduced £9.3bn of welfare measures that benefit those facing the most financial disruption and, in May 2020, less than five per cent of the two million Housing Benefit and Universal Credit claimants living in the private rented sector, 93,830 tenants, had their benefit capped.
From April 2020 Local Housing Allowance rates were increased to cover the lowest 30th percent of local rents. This £1bn investment will benefit over 1 million households with an average increase of £600 this year. This will help alleviate the pressure on Discretionary Housing Payments that claimants can apply for through their Local Authority if they need additional support to meet rental costs.
We have provided £180m in Discretionary Housing Payments to Local Authorities in England and Wales for 2020/21, which includes an additional £40m to help tackle affordability pressures in the private rented sector.
Asked by: Baroness Grender (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of some mortgage providers requiring an External Wall Survey 1 certificate before lending to homeowners wishing to re-mortgage or sell their properties; and what steps they are taking to support those homeowners.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The EWS1 form was introduced by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) to assist in valuation of high-rise residential buildings for mortgage purposes. Each lender has their own policies regarding valuation requirements. Some do not require an EWS1 form, and others seek them for a greater range of buildings than the process was designed for. Where requested the EWS1 assessments are commissioned by individual building owners and so the department does not hold data on their use. The Department is working to estimate the potential impact of these requests on leaseholders and sales, and is urging a pragmatic approach by lenders and valuers, especially for lower rise blocks where the Department does not support the blanket use of EWS1.