Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - Saffron Walden)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if his Department will bring forward proposals to assess the skills of people seeking asylum in the UK at the point of entry.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The primary purpose of the asylum system is to decide claims in line with our international obligations and the 1951 Refugee Convention.
Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - Saffron Walden)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the UK not enforcing the EU's REACH regulations after 29 March 2019 on enabling chemical substance importers to explore alternative regulations.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
We have been engaging with a range of stakeholders, including importers, to understand the impacts of Brexit and deliver the best possible outcome for the industry after we leave. Our priority is to maintain an effective regulatory system for the management and control of chemicals to safeguard human health and the environment, respond to emerging risks and allow trade with the EU that is as frictionless as possible.
That is why we are aiming for a UK-EU free trade area on goods including chemicals. The chemical sector is highly regulated and, as set out in the White Paper ‘The Future Relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union’ published on 12 July 2018, we are seeking participation in the European Chemical Agency (ECHA), accepting its rules including the REACH Regulation, and contributing to its costs. This approach will enable us to meet our objective of ensuring that chemicals only need to be approved once in either market and ensure that UK businesses could continue to register chemical substances directly, rather than working through an EU-based representative.
In the event of a no deal scenario we will ensure an effective regulatory system is in place. The European Union (Withdrawal) Act will convert REACH into domestic law ensuring that those regulations continue to apply in the UK. As part of the Government’s Technical Notices being published later this month, we will be providing further information on our plans for this scenario in order to guide businesses and the public on how they can best prepare for leaving the EU.
Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - Saffron Walden)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress has been made on the implementation of the report, Tackling dormant assets: recommendations to benefit investors and society published by the Independent Dormant Assets Commission in March 2017.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
The Government published its response to the Dormant Assets Commission’s report in February 2018. In June, Ministers announced four senior industry champions, who will spearhead the expansion of the current dormant assets scheme, with the support of government, to include a wider set of financial assets across the financial services sector.
The champions will report to Ministers on an implementation plan for their respective sectors in due course.
Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - Saffron Walden)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment has his Department made of the effect of Heathrow expansion on airport capacity in (a) the South East and (b) Stansted Airport.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government recognises that all three schemes for expansion in the South East are projected to result in other airports experiencing lower growth in flights than they would have otherwise seen. However, while a Northwest Runway at Heathrow will help to secure the UK’s status as a global aviation hub, other airports will continue to develop their point-to-point networks. The Department’s aviation forecasts show that passenger numbers and flights at airports within the South East (excluding Heathrow) will increase by 33 per cent and 20 per cent respectively between 2016 and 2050 with expansion at Heathrow.
London is the largest aviation origin and destination market in the world, and the forecasts show demand for this market growing further. This will continue to provide opportunities for airports around London and in the South East, including Stansted, to increase their services alongside any expansion at Heathrow over the longer term. Individual airport commercial strategies – which are not modelled – could help these airports to grow even faster and further.
Lastly, as the Secretary of State set out in his oral statement on 05 June, any new operational runway at Heathrow is still a number of years away. This is why Government supports airports beyond Heathrow making best use of their existing runways. However, the Government recognises that the development of airports can have positive and negative effects, including on noise levels, and it considers that any proposals should be judged on their individual merits by the appropriate planning authority, taking careful account of all relevant considerations, particularly economic and environmental.
Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - Saffron Walden)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will bring forward legislative proposals for a car scrappage scheme that extends to all cars.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government is not proposing to take forward a national scrappage scheme at this time given concerns as to the deliverability and value for money of scrappage schemes. However, it has committed to helping local authorities support individuals and businesses affected by local air quality plans, via the £220 million Clean Air Fund.
Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - Saffron Walden)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what methodology is used to determine his Department's Objectively Assessed Housing Need and Strategic Housing Market Assessment figures.
Answered by Dominic Raab
There is currently no standard way of assessing housing need among local planning authorities, which causes delays and increases costs for councils. In the draft revisions to the National Planning Policy Framework, we have proposed a standard method that will result in an easier, cheaper and more transparent process. We intend to publish the revised Framework this summer.
Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - Saffron Walden)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the quantum of national electricity demand arising from the predicted increase in the number of electric cars between 2018 and 2040.
Answered by Claire Perry
In National Grid’s 2017 Future Energy Scenarios, electric vehicles could potentially increase peak load on the electricity system by up to 10GW by 2040 under their highest impact scenario. National Grid say that this can be reduced to around 5GW by 2040 if the charging by electric vehicles is managed through smart charging.
Therefore, the Government is taking powers as part of the Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill to mandate that all charge points sold or installed in the UK must be ‘smart’ enabled. This will enable consumers to shift charging away from the peak demand periods, benefitting the electricity system and lowering their electricity bills.
Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - Saffron Walden)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the timeframe is for the UK to stop receiving funding from the European Research Council.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The UK is eligible to fully participate in all aspects of the Horizon 2020 programme, including the European Research Council (ERC) while we remain a member of the EU. The Joint Report, reflected in the draft Withdrawal Agreement, envisages that UK entities’ right to participate will remain unaffected by the UK’s withdrawal from the EU for the duration of the programme and the lifetime of projects funded under Horizon 2020.
If necessary, the Government’s underwrite remains in place. This guarantees the funding for UK participants in projects ongoing at the point of exit, as well as any successful bids submitted before the UK leaves the EU.
As part of our future partnership with the EU, the UK will look to establish a far reaching science and innovation pact. The UK would like the option to fully associate to the excellence-based European research and innovation programmes, including Horizon Europe, the successor to Horizon 2020. The UK intends to play a full and constructive role in shaping these proposals and we look forward to discussing the detail of any future UK participation with the Commission.
Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - Saffron Walden)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the maintenance of funding for (a) universities and (b) research projects after the UK ceases to receive European Research Council funding.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The UK is eligible to fully participate in all aspects of the Horizon 2020 programme, including the European Research Council (ERC) while we remain a member of the EU. The Joint Report, reflected in the draft Withdrawal Agreement, envisages that UK entities’ right to participate will remain unaffected by the UK’s withdrawal from the EU for the duration of the programme and the lifetime of projects funded under Horizon 2020.
If necessary, the Government’s underwrite remains in place. This guarantees the funding for UK participants in projects ongoing at the point of exit, as well as any successful bids submitted before the UK leaves the EU.
As part of our future partnership with the EU, the UK will look to establish a far reaching science and innovation pact. The UK would like the option to fully associate to the excellence-based European research and innovation programmes, including Horizon Europe, the successor to Horizon 2020. The UK intends to play a full and constructive role in shaping these proposals and we look forward to discussing the detail of any future UK participation with the Commission.
Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - Saffron Walden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when his Department plans to publish guidance for higher education institutions on part-time maintenance loans.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
Student Finance England (SFE) will launch the application service for part-time maintenance loans in June 2018.
Information about these loans is already available to students on GOV.UK:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/part-time-undergraduate-maintenance-loan.
More detailed practitioner’s guidance for Higher Education providers will be published in advance of the application service launch.