Asked by: Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat - Wells)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, by what funding mechanism NHS England pays for the treatment of NHS patients receiving stereotactic radiosurgery at non-commissioned hospitals.
Answered by Jane Ellison
No non-commissioned hospitals providing stereotactic radiosurgery are permitted to routinely treat National Health Service patients outside of national policy.
However, an application could be made for stereotactic radiosurgery through the individual funding request route demonstrating exceptional circumstances as to why an NHS England commissioned provider could not provide the treatment.
No non-commissioned hospitals providing gamma knife stereotactic radiosurgery are funded to treat NHS patients outside of national policy.
Asked by: Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat - Wells)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which NHS England non-commissioned hospitals providing gamma knife stereotactic radiosurgery are funded to treat NHS patients.
Answered by Jane Ellison
No non-commissioned hospitals providing stereotactic radiosurgery are permitted to routinely treat National Health Service patients outside of national policy.
However, an application could be made for stereotactic radiosurgery through the individual funding request route demonstrating exceptional circumstances as to why an NHS England commissioned provider could not provide the treatment.
No non-commissioned hospitals providing gamma knife stereotactic radiosurgery are funded to treat NHS patients outside of national policy.
Asked by: Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat - Wells)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to the Government response to the report from the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society on shale gas extraction in the UK: a review of hydraulic fracturing, published in December 2012, how many of the recommendations in that report which were accepted by the Government have been implemented.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The Government accepted all of Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering’s recommendations made in their report. We have implemented the majority of recommendations in full, for example:
· We have introduced a requirement, through the Infrastructure Act, that the Secretary of State will not issue a hydraulic fracturing consent unless a range of conditions have been met. These include that appropriate arrangements have been made for the monitoring of emissions of methane into the air, the independent inspection of the integrity of the relevant well and for the environmental impact to be taken into account by the local planning authority.
· The British Geological Survey has published regional data on tectonic history and faulting in many prospective areas and DECC set out new requirements for operators to control seismic risks, including a ‘traffic light’ system to pause or halt fracking if unusual seismic activity is detected.
· DECC now requires operators to compile an Environmental Risk Assessment, with the participation of the local community, at an early stage of developing shale gas projects. This is in addition to extensive guidance to drive high standards throughout the lifecycle of a project.
· The Infrastructure Act includes the requirement for relevant water companies to be statutory consultees.
We continue to respond as exploratory wells provide more data and information. For example, DECC is working with the industry to develop appropriate monitoring for the period after production ceases and the well is decommissioned.
Asked by: Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat - Wells)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if he will amend the Social and Environment Statutory Guidance to the Gas and Electric Market Authority to include families with children as a vulnerable group.
Answered by Amber Rudd
The Ofgem Review of 2010-11 recommended that the Social and Environmental Statutory Guidance to the Gas and Electricity Market Authority should be replaced with a new Strategy and Policy Statement. The guidance will be repealed once the statement is designated. The draft statement, which Government consulted on last year, makes it clear that helping vulnerable households is one of the Government’s strategic priorities to which Ofgem should have regard to when carrying out its regulatory functions.
Asked by: Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat - Wells)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many individual cold weather payments were made to recipients in the UK in winter 2013-14.
Answered by Steve Webb
Only one trigger was recorded in the 2013/14 Cold Weather season and an estimated 1,100 payments paid. Further details can be found in the ‘Social Fund Cold Weather Payments for Great Britain from 1st November 2013 to 31st March 2014’ update on Gov.uk which may be found at
Asked by: Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat - Wells)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many recipients of UK state pension reside in metropolitan France.
Answered by Steve Webb
Information on the number of recipients of UK state pension residing in France, and of those how many are in the French Overseas Departments, is available at: http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/sp/cccountry/cnage/a_carate_r_cccountry_c_cnage_may14.html
Asked by: Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat - Wells)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many recipients of UK state pension reside in the French overseas department of (a) Guiana, (b) Martinique, (c) Guadeloupe and (d) Reunion.
Answered by Steve Webb
Information on the number of recipients of UK state pension residing in France, and of those how many are in the French Overseas Departments, is available at: http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/sp/cccountry/cnage/a_carate_r_cccountry_c_cnage_may14.html
Asked by: Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat - Wells)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what limits he will impose on flaring of gas near to homes and businesses; and whether prevailing wind directions will be a consideration when setting restrictions on any flaring.
Answered by Matt Hancock
Flaring of gas at onshore sites will require a permit from the Environment Agency. The Agency will require the applicant to carry out a risk assessment in line with published guidance. Where appropriate, they may require additional modelling which may include factors such as proximity to sensitive receptors (such as occupied premises) and prevailing wind direction. In any case, the Agency would normally expect the drilling operations to be at least 200 metres from the nearer sensitive receptor.
Additionally, in their consideration of the suitability of the proposed location for any drilling, the local planning authority concerned should address potential impacts on local amenity, including from light and noise arising from flaring, as part of their consideration of the related planning application.
Flaring of gas onshore or offshore also requires the consent of my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State under the Energy Act 1976. Our policy is that any flaring should be reduced to the economic minimum.
Asked by: Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat - Wells)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment he has made of the risks posed by wells abandoned after use for high volume hydraulic fracturing.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The current regulatory framework requires that wells are made safe so that they can be decommissioned securely. Few instances are known of problems with decommissioned wells, and none of significant pollution caused by decommissioned wells.
When operations finish, the licensee (and there may be more than one for each licence) is responsible for safe decommissioning of the well(s) and for restoring the well-site to its previous state or a suitable condition for re-use.
The key aim of the procedure for decommissioning a well is to ensure that the well will require no further work and ensure that it is permanently sealed.
The Health and Safety Executive scrutinises the design of all wells prior to any construction taking place. It also monitors well construction and will undertake joint visits to all new shale gas and oil wells with the Environment Agency. HSE also scrutinises the decommissioning/ abandonment process in the same way.
Asked by: Tessa Munt (Liberal Democrat - Wells)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many representations his Department has received from the geothermal industry suggesting or requesting changes to trespass laws; and if he will publish those representations.
Answered by Amber Rudd
The Department has received a number of representations through the Renewable Energy Association (REA) on the underground access required for geothermal schemes, including representations through letters, meetings, and the Government’s ‘Consultation on Proposal for Underground Access for the Extraction of Gas, Oil or Geothermal Energy’.