Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether it is Government policy to build a satellite system to rival the EU's Galileo network.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
In the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review, the Government made a commitment to enhance the resilience of Position, Navigation and Timing services for military, key domestic resilience responders, including Critical National Infrastructure. The terms that the European Commission are prepared to offer for continued UK participation in Galileo fall short of the minimum that we consider acceptable, to be able to rely on Galileo for such critical services. As such, in December 2018, the former Prime Minister announced that we would not use Galileo for these users. The UK Space Agency with the Ministry of Defence is currently undertaking an Engineering, Design and Development Phase to confirm the viability of a UK Global Navigation Satellite System to meet the specific needs of the UK and its allies. The UK Government does not see our work on a UK GNSS as a rival to Galileo, we are designing a system that meets the specific needs of the UK and allies and one that would provide services complimentary to Galileo and other Global Navigation Satellite Systems.
This approach fits in the wider UK ambition for space, which will see the UK as leaders of the global space industry with a target to capture 10% of the global space economy by 2030.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many arrests have been made by the Civil Nuclear Constabulary in each of the past five years; and how many prosecutions arose from those arrests.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Arrests made by the Civil Nuclear Constabulary:
2015 – 5
2016 – 16
2017 – 26
2018 – 46
2019 – 29 (04 September 2019)
How many prosecutions arose from those arrests?
Any prosecutions would have been led by the relevant Home Office territorial Force or Police Scotland. The outcomes of any prosecutions are not communicated to the Civil Nuclear Constabulary. As a result, the Civil Nuclear Constabulary does not hold this information.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his timescale is for the publication of the Green Finance Strategy.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
Green Finance is a key priority for the Government - to support delivery of our ambitious Clean Growth Strategy, to drive economic growth as part of our Industrial Strategy, and to ensure the UK remains a key driving force in enabling the global transition to a low carbon economy. We have already taken action to respond to the recommendations of the Green Finance Taskforce. This includes announcing the establishment of the Green Finance Institute. We will be publishing our Green Finance Strategy in due course.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many applications for (a) electricity supply standard licences and (b) gas supply standard licences were submitted to Ofgem in (i) 2018, (ii) 2017, (iii) 2016 (iv) 2015 and (v) 2014.
Answered by Claire Perry
This is a matter for Ofgem, who as regulator is responsible for decisions to grant, extend, restrict and revoke gas and electricity supply licences. I have asked Ofgem to write directly to the Honourable Member and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.