Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent estimate he has made of the level of the UK's surplus energy (a) generation and (b) storage capacity; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Matt Hancock
During the winter I assess the levels of energy generation and storage capacity on a weekly basis. This week we were expecting to have between 11 and 12GW of spare electricity generating capacity and our gas storage started the week at over 90% full. I will reassess the levels of both next week.
A further 1.1GW of electricity generating capacity has been procured by National Grid for the Winter of 2014/15 that can be relied upon when we need it, in order to help us comfortably meet Reliability Standards that have been previously set. This consists of keeping otherwise mothballed or closed plant in reserve and a small amount of voluntary electricity demand reduction by large energy users.
More widely, we have undertaken extensive assessments of the levels of gas storage available to the UK market and published the results of that very detailed work in September 2013: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/236757/DECC_FI_Final_report_09072013.pdf.
The overall conclusion of this assessment was that intervention in the gas storage market was not desirable.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to increase trade between the UK and APEC economies; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lord Swire
The Government is actively supporting British companies to do business in APEC countries. Our posts in the region help UK-based companies to identify and pursue new opportunities and work to promote the conditions in which business can succeed. To raise awareness in the UK of business opportunities, UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) has supported relevant business networks, including the UK-ASEAN Business Council and the China Britain Business Council. The Government actively supports the negotiation of an EU Free Trade Agreement with Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies. The EU-Korea FTA, signed in July 2011, has seen UK exports of goods to Korea more than double from £2.1bn to £4.6bn, and agreement has been reached on a Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with Canada and a Free Trade Agreement with Singapore. We expect these to deliver a significant boost to the UK’s trade with these economies and UKTI is working to ensure that UK business is well placed to secure the commercial benefits.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people with a disability work in her Department; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Karen Bradley
The 2014 Annual Civil Service Employment Survey showed that as at 31 March 2014, a total of 2,190 Home Office staff declared a disability.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many people with a disability work in her Department; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
There are currently 91 employees who have declared a disability. This represents 2.6% of the workforce.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many people working in her Department are over 65 years old; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
182 individuals currently employed by DFID are over 65. This represents 5.2% of the workforce.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people with a disability work in his Department; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner
Information on the number of staff who have declared themselves as “disabled” is published within the Ministry of Justice’s diversity report, which can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/378112/moj-diversity-data-report-2013-14_.pdf
The data within this report is compiled from staff who have updated their personal diversity data to indicate that they consider themselves to have a disability.
The Ministry of Justice is committed to ensuring that equality of opportunity and diversity is a normal part of everyday business, and that its policies are fair and accessible to all.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many people working in his Department are over 65 years old; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by David Mundell
The Scotland Office does not employ staff; all staff that join, do so on an assignment, loan or secondment from other government bodies, principally the Scottish Government and the Ministry of Justice. Both of these bodies and other employers of Scotland Office staff hold information relating to the diversity of staff.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many people with a disability work in his Department; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by David Mundell
The Scotland Office does not employ staff; all staff that join, do so on an assignment, loan or secondment from other government bodies, principally the Scottish Government and the Ministry of Justice. Both of these bodies and other employers of Scotland Office staff hold information relating to the diversity of staff.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps Network Rail is taking to improve punctuality on the Brighton mainline; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Claire Perry
Network Rail acknowledge the performance of the Brighton Main Line has not been acceptable over the last few months. Recent periods have seen significant levels of disruption from signalling and track faults, engineering possession overruns, operating problems within both Network Rail and Southern, and external actions including trespass and fatalities. Southern have recognised that performance has not been good enough and have published a Performance Improvement Plan, available at the following web link:
Network Rail are investing in improving the reliability of the assets on the route, including signalling and track renewal schemes, and measures to improve resilience to seasonal weather variations; they are bringing in additional fast response staff across all disciplines, from track, signalling and mobile managers. Network Rail are also bringing in new contingency arrangements to improve their response times. In addition, Southern are taking action to upgrade equipment on trains to improve reliability, to improve crew management arrangements and to communicate with passengers promptly in times of disruption.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many people working in his Department are over 65 years old; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Alun Cairns
The Wales Office does not have any staff over the age of 65 years old.