Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the total installed generating capacity is of those gas-powered generating stations which have been constructed in England since 2000.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The current total installed generating capacity of gas-powered generating stations which have been constructed in England since 2000 is 12,611 MW.
This information is publicly available as part of DUKES (Digest of UK Energy Statistics) at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/577712/DUKES_2016_FINAL.pdf
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what proportion of the total Feed-in Tariff subsidy to date for solar PV installations has been given to installations in Scotland.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
As of the end of March 17, 5% of the solar PV capacity installed under the Feed-in-Tariff scheme (FITs) is in Scotland, with Solar PV representing 80% of all electricity generating capacity supported under the FITs.
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many renewable obligation certificates have been issued to date to accredited Scottish hydro stations built before 2000; and of those, how many were issued to hydro stations that, before 2000, had a generating capacity calculated in excess of 20MWs, but were subsequently calculated as having a net capacity of less than 20MWs.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The Department does not hold this information. However, between 1 April 2002 and 31 March 2017, a total of 21.97 million Renewables Obligation Certificates (ROCs) were issued to accredited Scottish hydro stations that commissioned before 2000.[1]
Hydro stations with a declared net capacity of above 20MW which first commissioned on or before 1 April 2002 are not eligible for ROCs.
[1] Data is not held on build dates. The figure for total ROCs issued is based on those issued and not subsequently revoked for stations that commissioned up to the end of 1999. The commissioning data is taken from Ofgem’s RO accredited stations report at: https://www.renewablesandchp.ofgem.gov.uk/Public/ReportViewer.aspx?ReportPath=/Renewables/Accreditation/AccreditedStationsExternalPublic&ReportVisibility=1&ReportCategory=1
The number of ROCs issued to these stations from 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2006 comes from Ofgem’s spreadsheets at: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/rocs-purged-roc-register . Data from 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2017 comes from Ofgem’s certificates report at: https://www.renewablesandchp.ofgem.gov.uk/Public/ReportViewer.aspx?ReportPath=/DatawarehouseReports/CertificatesExternalPublicDataWarehouse&ReportVisibility=1&ReportCategory=2
Both data sources were accessed on 23 June 2017. No information is available on previous capacity before the stations accredited under the RO.
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what plans his Department has to help fill potential skills shortages resulting from the £35,000 income requirement for settlement of Tier 2 skilled workers over the next five years.
Answered by Nick Boles
Recognised shortage occupations are exempt from the £35,000 threshold as are PhD level roles. In other cases the Government believes that it is reasonable to require Tier 2 skilled migrants to earn a minimum of £35,000 to be eligible to settle in the UK. Tier 2 workers are in graduate-level roles, and £35,000 reflects the 2011 median pay for UK workers in skilled jobs which qualified for Tier 2.
Employers and visa holders have had time to prepare. The previous Government announced in 2012 that, from 6 April 2016, Tier 2 visa holders who applied for settlement in the UK would be required to meet the £35,000 threshold. The Home Office published a full impact assessment on proposed changes to Tier 2 settlement rules when they were laid before Parliament on 15 March 2012. This is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/117957/impact-assessment-tier2.pdf.’
Skills are a devolved matter. In England we are supporting 3 million more apprenticeships in this Parliament, including degree apprenticeships and more at the higher levels. We are also focussing on the higher level skills employers demand by introducing ground breaking reforms to technical and professional education to support sectors where there are recognised skills gaps, and establishing national colleges to deliver high level specialist vocational skills.
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent assessment he has made of the applicability of the provisions of the Trade Union Bill to officials of the devolved administrations.
Answered by Nick Boles
The Trade Union Act 2016 is about employment and industrial relations law, which are reserved matters. The Act will apply to public sector officials across Great Britain in the same manner, and therefore no specific assessment has been made of its applicability to officials of the devolved administrations.