Asked by: Bill Grant (Conservative - Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make it his policy to introduce an exemption for charities from authorised supply capacity charges relating to smart meters.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Government’s Smart Meter Programme applies to all domestic consumers and small businesses, who do not currently pay these charges regardless of whether they have a smart meter. Currently only certain larger businesses or organisations pay capacity charges.
Asked by: Bill Grant (Conservative - Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how his Department plans to allocate the two million pounds for assessing options for horizontal spaceports in the UK.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
As part of Farnborough International Airshow on 15th August 2018, the UK Space Agency announced £2m of funding in support of horizontal spaceflight and spaceports, to further accelerate this early-stage market. The UK Space Agency is working closely with colleagues from several government departments, including the Scotland Office, to finalise the details of this scheme.
We must, of course, ensure that any use of public funds provides value for money and will benefit the UK. We plan to make further announcements, subject to business case, later in 2018.
Asked by: Bill Grant (Conservative - Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
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 has made an assessment of the effect on the economy of the steam railway in Doon Valley; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Transport, culture and tourism in Scotland are devolved matters, and so as a heritage railway issue, any assessment would be the responsibility of the Scottish Government.
Asked by: Bill Grant (Conservative - Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has carried out an impact assessment on the effect of the change to the state pension age for women born in the 1950s on their families and dependents.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Successive Governments have taken care to give proper consideration to the impact of the proposals made in the Pensions Acts of 1995, 2007 and 2011, which each made changes to the State Pension age that affected women born in the 1950s. The exact form of the assessments has changed over time as the requirements on Government to carry out standardised impact assessments have changed.
The Pensions Act 1995 legislated to equalise men and women’s SPa at 65, over a 10 year period between 2010 and 2020. Standardised impact assessments had not been introduced at the time, but an overview of the options and evidence considered when developing the policy is provided in the 1993 white paper ‘Equality in State Pension age’. (See attached)
The Pensions Act 2007 legislated to introduce a timetable for the increase of SPa to 66, 67 and 68, so that these rises took place by 2026, 2036 and 2046.
The impact assessment for the Pensions Act 2007 can be found here: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121204130650/http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/pensions-bill-ria.pdf
The Pensions Act 2011 brought forward the equalisation of the male and female State Pension age at 65 by 18 months, so that it takes place by November 2018 rather than April 2020. It also brought forward the increase from 65 to 66 by five and a half years, so that it takes place by October 2020 rather than March 2026.
The impact assessment for the Pensions Act 2011 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/181462/pensions-bill-2011-ia-annexa.pdf
Asked by: Bill Grant (Conservative - Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to meet representatives of Heathrow Airport to discuss the provision of additional flights to Scotland.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Expansion at Heathrow is expected to deliver 100 additional flights to and from Scotland per week. Heathrow Airport Limited (HAL) believes that if it receives development consent by 2022, it will start construction soon after and that the new runway can be operational and in passenger use by 2026.
While the exact timing for the introduction of new flights will be for HAL and it partners determine, the Airports National Policy Statement requires HAL to work constructively with its airline customers to strengthen existing routes and develop new connections.
Ministers and officials regularly meet with HAL to discuss various issues, including domestic connectivity. Furthermore, the Department and HAL agreed in their Relationship Framework Document to establish a Domestic Connectivity Forum later this year to discuss the provision of these additional routes to Scotland, alongside the other commitments made on domestic connectivity.
Asked by: Bill Grant (Conservative - Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timeframe is for the planned introduction of additional flights between Heathrow and Scottish airports after the construction of a third runway at Heathrow.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Expansion at Heathrow is expected to deliver 100 additional flights to and from Scotland per week. Heathrow Airport Limited (HAL) believes that if it receives development consent by 2022, it will start construction soon after and that the new runway can be operational and in passenger use by 2026.
While the exact timing for the introduction of new flights will be for HAL and it partners determine, the Airports National Policy Statement requires HAL to work constructively with its airline customers to strengthen existing routes and develop new connections.
Ministers and officials regularly meet with HAL to discuss various issues, including domestic connectivity. Furthermore, the Department and HAL agreed in their Relationship Framework Document to establish a Domestic Connectivity Forum later this year to discuss the provision of these additional routes to Scotland, alongside the other commitments made on domestic connectivity.
Asked by: Bill Grant (Conservative - Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to compensate people for their loss of property value arising from close proximity to wind farms.
Answered by Claire Perry
We have no plans at this time to bring forward legislative proposals to compensate residents for loss of property value.
Asked by: Bill Grant (Conservative - Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring onshore windfarm developers to offer property owners within a set proximity to a windfarm the option of having their property purchased at market value by those developers.
Answered by Claire Perry
We have no plans at this time to bring forward legislative proposals to compensate residents for loss of property value.
Asked by: Bill Grant (Conservative - Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that the UK has more control of its fishing waters after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
After leaving the EU, the UK will become an independent coastal state under international law (UN Convention on the Law of the Sea) and will have the right to control and manage access to fish in UK waters out to 200 nautical miles or the median line.
Asked by: Bill Grant (Conservative - Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claimants there are in the Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock constituency.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The latest available information on the number of people on Universal Credit by parliamentary constituency and local authority is published and can be found at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/.
Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:
https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html