Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the use of funds levied as a result of missed targets through the proposed Clean Heat Market Mechanism on (a) investment in manufacturing of and (b) support for homeowners for purchasing heat pumps.
Answered by Graham Stuart
In the consultation, the Government has proposed proportionate and realistic targets for the Clean Heat Market Mechanism, along with a set of other flexibility options for scheme participants. The Government is confident that all market actors will be able to meet the scheme targets, avoiding the need to make payments in lieu. If companies do choose to make any such payments, these will go to the Government’s Consolidated Account.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make it her policy to prevent the importation of goods originating from illegal Israeli settlements into the UK.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
There are no current import sanctions on goods originating from Israeli settlements. However, goods originating from Israeli settlements in the West Bank are not entitled to tariff and trade preferences under either the trade agreement between the UK and Israel, or the agreement between the UK and the Palestinian Authority.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how the Regional Expert Partnerships intended to design and test the proposals in the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan published in March 2023 will be established.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Through the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Change Programme, the department will establish up to nine Regional Expert Partnerships (REP) to test and refine our reforms. Each REP will be led by a local authority, selected using objective criteria based on published SEND performance data. An additional two to three local authorities will be included in each REP, based predominantly on their geographical proximity to the lead local authority, so we can test in a wide range of local areas with differing performance, capacity and capability. Wherever possible, each REP will be located within a single Integrated Care Board, to ensure close collaboration with health partners.
REPs will be required to engage with their local partners, including health, social care, Multi-Academy Trusts, mainstream, specialist and alternative provision schools, and parents, children and young people, to involve them in testing and refining the reforms.
Real-time learning from the REPs will be fed back to the department on a regular basis, and will inform discussions at the national SEND and AP Implementation Board.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to plans set out in the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan published in March 2023 to work with a delivery partner and regional expert partnerships to implement a Change Programme, if she will publish tender documents for the appointment of that delivery partner.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
On the 6 March, the department published the invitation to tender for the Delivery Partner to support the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and Alternative Provision Change Programme, with a closing date of the 17 April. This was done through the department’s Management Consultancy Framework 3, inviting interested organisations to bid for the contract.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing the use of existing weirs to generate renewable energy.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Hydropower accounts for approximately 2% of total electricity generation in the UK. Most current deployment is in a small run of river projects which tend to be relatively expensive.
Studies in Scotland, England and Wales indicate that there is a maximum remaining technical potential of around 1.5GW for small-scale hydro, including existing weirs.
Economic and environmental constraints mean that in practice the viable remaining resource is less than 1GW, which represents less than 1% of total generation capacity, so is not a significant contributor to the Government's future generation plans
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment his Department has made of the value for money it has achieved by investing in (a) all active travel schemes and (b) cycling schemes.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Value for money is one of several factors the Department considers when evaluating the effect of its investments. Investment in active travel schemes typically delivers high value for money.
Increased rates of active travel can deliver mental and physical health benefits, improvements to the quality of journeys made, and benefits associated with mode shift from motor vehicles, such as improved air quality and reduced congestion. Investment in active travel schemes also supports the government’s decarbonisation strategy by increasing the number of trips made using carbon neutral modes.
The average benefit-cost ratio, weighted by scheme cost, for Active Travel Fund 4 estimated that for every £1 of investment in active travel infrastructure schemes, there would be a return £2.40 of economic, social, and environmental benefits.
Behaviour change interventions funded by the Department have been estimated by our delivery partners to have a benefit cost ratio of 2.5 in 2021/22 for the Big Bike Revival and 5.5 in 2022/23 for Walk to School Outreach programmes.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Plan for Water, published in April 2023, if she will take steps to ensure that existing weirs are not removed without (a) a full assessment of their potential use for hydroelectric power (b) a local consultation carried out by the Environment Agency.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Through the development of the River Basin Management Plans, the Environment Agency evaluates in each water body where redundant physical modifications are damaging ecology and should be removed. Not all physical modifications are redundant and able to be removed, for example straightened rivers. More information is publicly available at: Physical modifications: challenges for the water environment - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The Environment Agency evaluates key criteria when determining if a weir is removed including ownership, use(s), condition, maintenance costs, any associated risks and additional benefits that the physical modifications provide. These evaluations consider local site-specific factors too, such as biodiversity, flood mitigation, water supply and other ecosystem services.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Plan for Water, published in April 2023, how will her Department determine which physical modifications are redundant and should be removed.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Through the development of the River Basin Management Plans, the Environment Agency evaluates in each water body where redundant physical modifications are damaging ecology and should be removed. Not all physical modifications are redundant and able to be removed, for example straightened rivers. More information is publicly available at: Physical modifications: challenges for the water environment - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The Environment Agency evaluates key criteria when determining if a weir is removed including ownership, use(s), condition, maintenance costs, any associated risks and additional benefits that the physical modifications provide. These evaluations consider local site-specific factors too, such as biodiversity, flood mitigation, water supply and other ecosystem services.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Written Statement of 9 March 2023, HCWS625, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of reducing the active travel budget for the remainder of the Parliament from £308 million to £100 million on his Department meeting its active travel goals.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Department projects that around £3 billion will be invested in active travel over the five years to 2025, from a wide range of different funding streams, more than any previous Government has invested. The Government’s most recent assessment of progress towards meeting its active travel goals was set out in the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy report to Parliament in July 2022, a copy of which is available in the House Libraries. The Department will provide an updated assessment in its next report to Parliament in due course.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many votes each of the six shortlisted locations for the new national headquarters for Great British Railways received in the public vote conducted between 5 July and 15 August 2022.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
We will announce the chosen location for the Great British Railways Headquarters (GBR HQ) before Easter. A number of factors are being considered, including the result of the public vote. The number of votes cast for each location will be made public when we announce the winner.