Asked by: Jamie Reed (Labour - Copeland)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what plans he has to gather data on the prevalence of paid and unpaid internships.
Answered by Nick Boles
The Government has no current plans to quantify the number of paid and unpaid interns. There is no legal definition of an intern, but all those who qualify as ‘workers’ are entitled to the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage.
Asked by: Jamie Reed (Labour - Copeland)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what his policy is on introducing a legal or standard definition of an internship.
Answered by Nick Boles
The Government has no plans to create a legal or standard definition of an internship.
Depending on the reality of the employment relationship an intern could be classed as a worker, an employee or a volunteer.
Asked by: Jamie Reed (Labour - Copeland)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what plans she has to extend consumer protections to customers of district heating schemes.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my rt. hon Friend the Secretary of State to the Hon. Member for Greenwich and Woolwich on 19 November 2015, Official Report Column 813-814:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201516/cmhansrd/cm151119/debtext/151119-0001.htm
Asked by: Jamie Reed (Labour - Copeland)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether his Department plans to collect data on Government funding allocated to brain tumour research.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The Department does not routinely collect data on government funding for research in specific disease areas or conditions. However, information on spending on research into cancer, including research on brain tumours, is collected by the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI), a UK-wide partnership between the government, charity and industry which promotes co-operation in cancer research among the 22 member organisations.
Information on all Research Council and Innovate UK research funding is published on the RCUK Gateway to Research (http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk/).
Asked by: Jamie Reed (Labour - Copeland)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent discussions she has had with her Japanese counterpart on the involvement of Japanese companies in new nuclear power projects in the UK.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
I have just returned from Japan where I met Japanese counterparts during the G7 Energy Ministerial for positive discussions on energy matters including nuclear.
Senior officials also have regular dialogue with Japanese counterparts including in relation to the proposed new nuclear power stations at Wylfa and Moorside, which are led by Japanese companies.
Asked by: Jamie Reed (Labour - Copeland)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when she expects the regulatory approval processes, including the Generic Design Assessment, to be completed for proposed new nuclear reactors at Moorside in Cumbria.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The regulatory approval process for new nuclear reactors proposed for construction in the UK is run by the UK’s independent nuclear regulators, the Office for Nuclear Regulation and the Environment Agencies. DECC does not direct or intervene in the assessment process.
Generic Design Assessment of the AP1000 reactor proposed for construction at the Moorside site in Cumbria is targeted for completion in Q1 2017. NuGen has not yet made applications for site specific regulatory approvals, such as licensing and environmental permits, but DECC expects these to be made in good time, targeting completion for 2018.
Asked by: Jamie Reed (Labour - Copeland)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when she expects the regulatory approval processes, including the Generic Design Assessment, to be completed for proposed new nuclear reactors at Wylfa in Wales.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The regulatory approval process for new nuclear reactors proposed for construction in the UK is run by the UK’s independent nuclear regulators, the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), the Environment Agency (EA) and Natural Resources Wales (NRW). DECC does not direct or intervene in the assessment process.
Generic Design Assessment of the ABWR reactor proposed for construction at the Wylfa site in Wales is targeted for completion in Q4 2017. Horizon has not yet made applications for site specific regulatory approvals, such as licensing and environmental permits, but DECC expects these to be made in good time, targeting completion for 2018.
Asked by: Jamie Reed (Labour - Copeland)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what changes have been proposed to the existing terms and conditions of the Sellafield workforce under the workforce reform initiative.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The Sellafield Change Programme is being put into place to improve business performance and provide greater value for the public purse while maintaining the priority of safe and secure operations. In relation to terms and conditions of employment, there are two improvements being proposed by Sellafield Ltd: first, changes to the pay and grading structure of existing staff, to ensure that pay and grading is fair and equitable; and second, new terms for new starters that are more closely aligned to market practice. In both cases the business has and will continue to engage with its employees and their representatives on the proposed changes.
Details of the change programme are available in the attached.
Asked by: Jamie Reed (Labour - Copeland)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department has made of the potential effect of the Sellafield Workforce Reform programme on the Sellafield workforce.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The Sellafield Change Programme is being put into place to improve business performance and provide greater value for the public purse while maintaining the priority of safe and secure operations. Sellafield Ltd will continue to offer quality employment for many people for many years and is looking at how it can deliver the decommissioning mission as effectively and efficiently as possible and in a way that strengthens the local economy. Sellafield Ltd is engaging the workforce and its representatives on plans to improve the business and specifically on what this will mean for employees.
Details of the change programme are available at http://www.nda.gov.uk/contracts-and-competition/sellafield-model-change-programme.
Asked by: Jamie Reed (Labour - Copeland)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she has made an assessment of the potential effect on carbon dioxide emissions of the life extension of nuclear reactors compared with the use of (a) coal and (b) gas-powered electricity plants producing the same amount of electricity over the same period.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
Our existing modelling estimates that in total, 187 TWh of electricity would be generated from the four nuclear plants whose lives have been extended in the period 2019 to 2030; this would lead to 0 MtCO2 emissions. By comparison, approximately 71 MtCO2 would be emitted from 187 TWh of electricity generated from gas CCGT; or 165 MtCO2 if generated from unabated coal. Like nuclear, it is estimated that around 0 MtCO2 would be emitted from the equivalent generation from onshore wind, offshore wind or solar power.
We have not performed exact modelling analysis on the impact that life extension decisions would have on carbon dioxide emissions because the reduction in emissions will depend on which generation technologies contribute to overall generation and the share of each. The mix in addition to nuclear could include a combination of coal, gas or low-carbon technologies.