Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps she (a) has taken and (b) plans to take with the devolved Administrations to improve coordination of efforts towards achieving the UK's international (i) climate and (ii) biodiversity obligations.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
DESNZ works closely with the devolved administrations (DAs) on international climate obligations and reporting to the UNFCCC. DESNZ worked with the DAs on the development of the 2030 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), and this year will be seeking their views for the 2035 NDC. This reflects the role the DAs play in the UK-wide drive to decarbonise the economy. DESNZ accredited 20 delegates from DAs to attend COP28 and will accredit DAs delegates to attend COP29.
Through the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, which advises UK-wide and international nature conservation, the four nations will coordinate to further our ambitious biodiversity agenda.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the video entitled The first individuals set to be removed to Rwanda, posted on X by his Department on 1 May 2024, what the objectives of posting the video were; when the video received ministerial clearance; and if he will publish the minutes of the meeting in which the decision was made to produce the video.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
Videos on government social media accounts should inform the public about government policy and delivery. This video showed Immigration Enforcement officers executing thier public duties as they do all the time. It was produced by civil servants as part of their routine duties and involved no additional costs. As with all videos featuring service users or sensitive content, every care was taken to protect subjects’ identities. The video went through normal approval processes for social media content.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the video entitled The first individuals set to be removed to Rwanda, posted on X by his Department on 1 May 2024, who produced the video; and how much the video cost to produce.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
Videos on government social media accounts should inform the public about government policy and delivery. This video showed Immigration Enforcement officers executing thier public duties as they do all the time. It was produced by civil servants as part of their routine duties and involved no additional costs. As with all videos featuring service users or sensitive content, every care was taken to protect subjects’ identities. The video went through normal approval processes for social media content.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an estimate of the (a) average annual cost between 31 March 2023 and 31 March 2024 and (b) projected annual cost until 31 March 2025 of (i) electricity and (ii) heating bills for households on communal and district heat networks; and if she will make a comparative assessment of the cost of (A) those customer's bills and (B) the bills of other domestic customers.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
No new estimation has been made. I refer the hon Member to the answer I gave to the hon Member for Twickenham (Munira Wilson) on 17 April 2023 to Question UIN 176758.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will take steps to bring district heating schemes under the same price protections as the rest of the energy market.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
We are introducing regulation from 2025 to appoint Ofgem as the heat network regulator. They will have powers to investigate and intervene on networks where prices for consumers appear to be unfair. Ofgem will consult on pricing regulation later in 2024 and price benchmarking will come into force in 2026.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 30 April 2024 to Question 23225 on Visas: Families, how many staff have been (a) recruited and (b) re-deployed to his Department's Family and Human Rights Unit.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Whilst this information is recorded on our systems, it is not in a reportable format.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff in his Department have a maximum payscale below £29,000.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Within the Home Office, as of March 2024, there are 10,819 staff that have a maximum payscale below £29,000.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he plans to (a) review and (b) increase the number of staff recruited to his Department's Family and Human Rights Unit in the context of trends in the proportion of people relying on their rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights in applications for family visas.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Yes, we have both recruited new staff and redeployed existing staff to this area of work.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how long the vanguard-class submarines have been on patrol at sea on average in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Royal Navy has successfully maintained Operation RELENTLESS, the Continuous At Sea Deterrent, for an unbroken 55 years. We do not disclose details of the Operation, including the duration of time spent at sea, as such information could be used to undermine the security and capability of the mission and our personnel.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make the latest Joint Analysis of Conflict and Stability assessment for Ethiopia available to Parliament.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The Joint Analysis of Conflict and Stability (JACS) report is an internal document and not intended for publication.