Asked by: Dan Byles (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much carbon dioxide is saved per pound of CfD strike price offered for (a) advanced conversion technologies, (b) anaerobic digestion, (c) biomass conversion, (d) dedicated biomass (with chp), (e) energy from waste (with chp), (f) geothermal, (g) hydro, (h) landfill gas, (i) offshore wind, (j) onshore wind, (k) sewage gas, (l) large solar photo-voltaic (m) tidal stream and (n) wave.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The amount of carbon saved per MWh of renewable generation will depend upon what is assumed about the mix of technologies displaced, which is uncertain. In order to determine the carbon saved per pound of support, CfD strike prices should also be adjusted for wholesale electricity prices.
Asked by: Dan Byles (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many sites in England are designated as local wildlife sites and contain neutral grassland; how many sites in England containing neutral grassland have been de-selected as local wildlife sites in each of the last 10 years; and how many new sites in England containing neutral grassland have been designated as local wildlife sites in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by George Eustice
Local wildlife sites are usually selected within a local authority area. This process is often managed by the local Wildlife Trust along with representatives of the local authority and other local wildlife conservation groups. Local sites are afforded protection through the National Planning Policy Framework.
Defra receives annual reports from local authorities on the number and management of local wildlife sites. The latest data published in the 2013 update of our England Biodiversity indicators show that there were 43,500 local wildlife sites in the 2011/12 reporting period. We do not hold national information on the numbers of new or de-selected local wildlife sites, nor the specific habitat within those sites.
An England-wide sampling framework is under development to enable monitoring activity to contribute to an assessment of trends in habitat extent and condition.
Asked by: Dan Byles (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the proportion of (a) limestone grasslands, (b) marshy grasslands, (c) acid grasslands, (d) lowland meadows and pastures and (e) upland hay meadows that has been lost in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by George Eustice
Defra has not undertaken an estimate of this nature. Natural England published an inventory of priority grassland habitats in 2013 which shows the current area of each priority grassland habitat type as follows:
Priority grassland habitat type | Area (Ha) |
Upland Calcareous Grassland | 10,353 |
Upland Hay Meadows | 3,525 |
Purple Moorgrass & Rush Pasture | 9,328 |
Lowland Calcareous Grassland | 65,567 |
Lowland Dry Acid Grassland | 15,453 |
Lowland Meadows | 3,6129 |
Coastal & Floodplain Grazing Marsh | 218,182 |
Total | 358,537 |
An England-wide sampling framework is under development to enable monitoring activity. This is to contribute to an assessment of trends in habitat extent and condition.
Asked by: Dan Byles (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many sites in England are currently designated as local wildlife sites; how many sites in England have been de-selected as local wildlife sites in each of the last 10 years; and how many new sites in England have been designated as local wildlife sites in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by George Eustice
Local wildlife sites are usually selected within a local authority area. This process is often managed by the local Wildlife Trust along with representatives of the local authority and other local wildlife conservation groups. Local sites are afforded protection through the National Planning Policy Framework.
Defra receives annual reports from local authorities on the number and management of local wildlife sites. The latest data published in the 2013 update of our England Biodiversity indicators show that there were 43,500 local wildlife sites in the 2011/12 reporting period. We do not hold national information on the numbers of new or de-selected local wildlife sites, nor the specific habitat within those sites.
An England-wide sampling framework is under development to enable monitoring activity to contribute to an assessment of trends in habitat extent and condition.
Asked by: Dan Byles (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many coroners' inquests have been held into the death of a child below the age of four as a result of being a passenger in a road traffic accident in each of the last five years; in how many of those cases the inquest found that a faulty child's car seat was a contributory factor; and in how many of those cases the inquest found that an incorrectly fitted child's car seat was a contributory factor.
Answered by Simon Hughes
The Ministry of Justice collects data from coroners for the annual Coroners Statistics bulletin, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coroners-statistics-2013
The statistical information is collected in summary form, which does not include data at the level of detail requested.
Coroners are independent judicial office holders, appointed by a local authority within the coroner area, and are not employed by the Ministry of Justice.
To provide the information requested would require the Ministry of Justice to ask coroners in England and Wales to examine their records for over five thousand inquests to extract the information and provide a summary report to the centre. As such, this information is only available at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Dan Byles (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what plans he has to (a) amend or repeal the Pedlars Acts 1871 and 1881 and (b) amend Schedule 4 to the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 covering the street trading regime of England and Wales; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jo Swinson
The original Street Trading and Pedlary consultation was issued in November 2012 and covered the repeal of the Pedlars Acts 1871 and 1881 and other, incidental changes to the Local Government and Miscellaneous Provisions Act to ensure compliance with the EU Services Directive 2006/123/EC. The consultation had been extended in order for the Government to engage further with the UK's pedlar community and closed in April 2013. We hope to issue a response by the end of the summer.
Asked by: Dan Byles (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to the Answer of 14 May 2014, Official Report, column 595W, on electricity, what assessment he has made of whether the ability of auctions to drive value for money is dependent on market plurality and competition; and if he will make it a formal objective of his Department to ensure that independent generators are able to compete in Contracts for Difference auctions on an equal footing.
Answered by Michael Fallon
The secondary legislation for the Electricity Market Reform programme contains provisions to move straight to allocation rounds, with competitive auctions setting the price where the demand for CfDs exceeds the available budget.
DECC analysis shows that the pipeline of projects is strong and can deliver a competitive outcome, whilst the Administrative Strike Price sets a cap to protect consumers.
More generally, the auction has been designed to encourage participation, and we are introducing the Offtaker of Last Resort (OLR) to support independent renewable generators by providing them with a guaranteed route to market and improving their ability to raise project finance.
DECC officials have worked closely with developers and other stakeholders on these proposals, and the approach to implementing the OLR is currently being consulted on.
Asked by: Dan Byles (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the total amount of available coal-fired electricity generation capacity in the UK in each year up to 2030.
Answered by Michael Fallon
The Electricity Market Reform (EMR) Delivery Plan published in December 2013 included an estimate for the total amount of available coal-fired electricity generation capacity in Great Britain in each year to 2030. It is available at:
See table:
Year | Total coal-fired capacity (GW) |
2014 | 20 |
2015 | 18 |
2016 | 18 |
2017 | 18 |
2018 | 18 |
2019 | 15 |
2020 | 12 |
2021 | 12 |
2022 | 12 |
2023 | 9 |
2024 | 9 |
2025 | 8 |
2026 | 8 |
2027 | 7 |
2028 | 7 |
2029 | 5 |
2030 | 2 |
* Based on a scenario of average carbon intensity of electricity generation of 100g CO2/kWh in 2030
Asked by: Dan Byles (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to the Answer of 14 May 2014, Official Report, column 593W, on electricity, what recent discussions he has had with the Independent Renewables Generators Group on the timing of the introduction of auctioning; what assessment he has made of independent generators' ability to raise project finance against the Offtaker of Last Resort before October 2014; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Michael Fallon
I met with the Independent Renewable Generators Group on 24th February 2014 and discussed the introduction of auctioning for Contracts for Difference (CfDs).
The Offtaker of Last Resort will support independent renewable generators by providing for the worst-case route-to-market, allowing generators to raise project finance without necessarily having to enter long-term PPAs. As a result, such generators are likely only to need short-term PPAs in order to maximise their secured revenue and level of gearing. We are on track to deliver the final policy and introduce enabling regulations ahead of first allocation of CfDs. CfD applicants will, therefore, have a high degree of clarity about the arrangements for OLR in advance of the first auctions.
Asked by: Dan Byles (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment he has made of the proportion of the Demand Side Balancing Reserve that will comprise of active demand reduction rather than switching on generation assets.
Answered by Michael Fallon
The Demand Side Balancing Reserve is operated by National Grid independently from Government. Once National Grid has concluded the procurement of the reserve in the autumn it will be possible to identify the proportion of the reserve that comprises ‘load reduction' rather than the export of additional generation onto the grid (though initial expressions of interest to National Grid suggest that around 75% of the reserve may be provided by load reduction). However, it will not be possible to determine whether this load reduction is achieved through a reduction in demand, or by turning on local back up generation to meet local needs.