Staff
Mr Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) permanent staff and (b) staff employed by a contractor are employed by her Department at the (i) permanent migration office, Liverpool, (ii) temporary migration office, Sheffield and (iii) older live cases unit, Liverpool in each year since 2010. [189532]
James Brokenshire: The number of permanent staff and staff employed by a contractor employed by the Home Department at the permanent migration office, Liverpool, the temporary migration office, Sheffield and the older live cases unit, Liverpool is set out in Table 1. These figures are provided for each year since 2010 with the exception of the older live cases unit where work force numbers were not recorded centrally until 2012.
The increase in contractor employed staff from 2013 is due to additional temporary staff being deployed to reduce backlogs inherited from the previous administration and improve service standards. This has also coincided with a period when work has been relocated from Croydon to Liverpool and Sheffield.
| Table 1 | ||||
| Month/year | Department | Town | Paid CS FTE | Paid Non CS FTE (Agency) |
| Key: CS = Civil Servant FTE = Full Time Equivalent | ||||
Mr Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the overtime costs paid to permanent staff in the (a) permanent migration office, Liverpool, (b) temporary migration office, Sheffield and (c) older live cases unit, Liverpool in the last year. [189533]
Karen Bradley: The Home Office can only provide information specific to these offices by cross referencing two sets of data and to do this would incur disproportionate cost.
Stephen Lawrence
Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Ellison Review will be published. [190228]
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Damian Green: The report of the Stephen Lawrence independent review was published on Thursday 6 March.
Energy and Climate Change
Electricity: Manufacturing Industries
Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment his Department has made of the incidence and impact of load management measures on manufacturing industry. [190194]
Michael Fallon: The Department has made no such assessment. The current electricity market regime enables large users of electricity to negotiate rates which reflect their usage and the time at which they use it. There is a competitive market for ancillary services in which large energy users can also participate including demand side measures. These are commercial decisions for individual companies.
Energy: Conservation
Mr Watts: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps his Department plans to take to ensure energy companies meet the targets agreed with his Department for spending on efficiency schemes and reducing fuel poverty. [189950]
Gregory Barker: The Energy Company Obligation (ECO) is an energy efficiency programme that was introduced into Great Britain at the beginning of 2013. It places legal obligations on the larger energy suppliers (known as 'obligated suppliers') to deliver energy efficiency measures to domestic energy users.
While action to ensure compliance with their legal obligations is a matter for energy companies, the Government is undertaking a range of actions to help facilitate delivery of ECO and is keeping risks and issues under close review.
Furthermore, the Government has published a consultation document which sets out proposed changes to ECO and this will be accompanied by a number of consultation events taking place across the country throughout March.
Energy: Meters
Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what criteria his Department used in its choice of ZigBee wireless standard for the UK's smart meter roll-out. [190010]
Michael Fallon: The Department used the following criteria, which were subject to public consultation in summer 2012, to determine which wireless standards should be used in the GB smart metering roll-out:
Is the standard developed, maintained and made available in an open manner;
Does the standard support the minimum functionalities required for GB smart meters;
Does the standard provide an appropriate equipment assurance regime; and
Has the standard been implemented in other jurisdictions and is there capacity for it to be delivered at scale and in time to support the roll-out of smart metering in GB.
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The Government proposal to use ZigBee as a wireless standard for GB smart metering, which was part of the public consultation in summer 2012, was widely supported by the energy industry.
Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the number of smart meters currently in use which do not meet Ofgem's regulations on smart meters. [190011]
Michael Fallon: DECC releases statistics on a quarterly basis which detail meter installations by the larger energy suppliers. For the purposes of statistical reporting, smart meters are defined as those that are, or are expected to be, compliant with the technical specifications (SMETS) defined by Government to support the smart meter roll-out.
At the end of quarter 3, 2013, a total of 200,400 smart meters had been installed in domestic properties by the larger energy suppliers. A further 900 smart meters and 507,600 advanced meters, which meet supplier roll-out obligations, had been installed in smaller non-domestic sites.
Energy suppliers have indicated that most, if not all, of the smart meters currently installed in domestic and smaller non-domestic properties will need to receive updates, which are expected to be delivered remotely, before they are fully compliant with the Smart Metering Technical Specifications.
Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent estimate he has made of the cost of a smart meter which is compliant with government regulations. [190012]
Michael Fallon: As reflected in the Smart Metering Impact Assessment published in January 2014, the estimated cost for a smart electricity meter is £43.60, with the cost estimate for a smart gas meter being £57.20:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/smart-meter-roll-out-for-the-domestic-and-small-and-medium-non-domestic-sectors-gb-impact-assessment
Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent estimate he has made of the total cost of the roll-out of smart meters to the year 2020. [190013]
Michael Fallon: The Smart Meter Impact Assessment considers a period up to 2030 reflecting that some benefits will only be realised in full once the roll-out has been completed in 2020 and assets installed during the roll-out will still have value beyond that date. Over the period up to 2030 total costs are expected to be £10.9 billion, with total benefits of £17.1 billion, resulting in a net benefits of £6.2 billion:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/smart-meter-roll-out-for-the-domestic-and-small-and-medium-non-domestic-sectors-gb-impact-assessment
Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change which smart phones are compatible with the UK-regulated smart meters. [190014]
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Michael Fallon: The Government has not undertaken an assessment of which smart phones are compatible with smart meters.
However, there are numerous ways in which the market may develop so that smart metering services or data could be made available, with consumers' consent, across a number of platforms, including smart phones. GB smart metering will support such innovation through the services provided by the DCC and by the potential to connect consumer access devices to smart meters in consumer premises, which could in turn be connected to smart phones or other platforms.
Flood Control
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will take steps to give priority to both adaptation and mitigation in his Department's flood prevention programmes to help society cope with climate change. [189791]
Dan Rogerson: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
We already prioritise the need to adapt to our changing climate across government and well beyond.
In July 2013 DEFRA published a National Adaptation Programme report which sets out a wide range of actions to address the most significant climate risks we face as a country. The report focuses on helping UK businesses, local authorities and civil society to become more resilient or 'Climate Ready' to climate change impacts such as flooding.
The National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy for England sets out how flooding and coastal erosion risk is being managed to both adapt to and mitigate the risks of climate change. DEFRA's policy clearly states that when appraising flood management options the risks over the whole life of a policy or project should be taken into account, including any impact of climate change. The Environment Agency has provided detailed guidance on how this is to be done by authorities seeking DEFRA flood defence grant in aid.
Offshore Industry
Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his policy is on implementation of the competent authority model of regulating the offshore oil and gas industry required by the EU offshore safety directive. [190198]
Michael Fallon: The Department, along with the Health and Safety Executive, Maritime Coastguard Agency and DEFRA, are currently considering how best to implement the requirements of the EU offshore safety directive, including the creation of a competent authority for offshore activities. A public consultation covering the UK Government's proposals for implementing the directive will be carried out in the summer.
Alex Cunningham:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the current status is of the memorandum of understanding agreed in 2012
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between his Department and the Health and Safety Executive on the co-ordination of their respective regulatory roles in the offshore oil and gas industry. [190216]
Michael Fallon: The memorandum of understanding has been further developed by the addition of annexes which outline the working arrangements between HSE and DECC for the undertaking of visits to offshore installations and onshore premises to regulate against the provisions of their separate regulations and jurisdictions.
Joint Drilling Strategy
Joint Inspection and Investigation
Assessment and Review of Regulatory Submissions:
well notifications;
pipelines;
permissioning of installations and approval of Field Development Plans; and decommissioning.
Monitoring of upstream oil and gas industry, activities and trends:
sharing statistics on Hydrocarbon release; and
sharing of incident data/enforcement activity of relevance to respective regulatory body
Disclosure of Information.
The memorandum of understanding is available using the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/48225/3516-mou-decc-hse-ukcs.pdf
Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment has been made of the potential effect of the recommendations of the interim report of the UK Continental Shelf Maximising Recovery Review on his Department's (a) regulatory role in the offshore oil and gas industry and (b) work implementing the recommendations of the Maitland Review. [190280]
Michael Fallon: The Government welcomes the Final UKCS Maximising Recovery Review Report, launched on 24 February 2014. We are grateful to Sir Ian and his review team for the work they have done, and to all those who contributed to the report. The Government accepts Sir Ian's recommendations, including the key message that Government should work with industry to develop a cohesive tripartite approach for maximising economic recovery for the UK. We will develop detailed implementation plans and publish a fuller formal response later in the spring.
The Maitland Review was tasked to carry out a review of the UK oil and gas regulatory regime against the issues and recommendations emerging from the key investigations into the Deepwater Horizon incident in the Gulf of Mexico and other relevant reviews. The review focused on the safety and environmental regime. The report from the Maitland Review was published in December 2011 and, as detailed in the update to the formal government response, published in December 2013, the majority of the recommendations have now been fully implemented. A small number have not been implemented either because an alternative approach has been adopted or the recommendation has been overtaken by the EU offshore safety directive.
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The interim report of the UK Continental Shelf Maximising Recovery Review did not have an impact on this work because safety and environmental issues did not form part of the remit for that review and the Maitland recommendations had been considered and implemented before the interim report was published.
Offshore Oil and Gas in the UK Review
Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change which recommendations of the Maitland Review into Offshore Oil and Gas in the UK have not been implemented due to the publication of the EU offshore safety directive. [190202]
Michael Fallon: Details of the recommendations from the Maitland Review, which have not been implemented due to the publication of the EU offshore safety directive, are fully detailed in the update to the formal government response to the Maitland Review, which was published on 13 December 2013 and can be found on the following web-link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/265799/update_government _response_independent_review_regulatory_regime.pdf
The relevant areas are the development of an Environmental Assurance Plan concept, a mechanism to bring capping devices under the jurisdiction of the regulatory regime and more formal mechanisms to ensure seamless, strategic and coordinated working between the regulatory authorities. There are other areas where recommendations have been implemented, but which will also be impacted by the offshore safety directive such as the reporting and sharing of information from offshore incidents and environmental damage and liability.
Pagers
Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many pagers have been provided to staff by his Department since May 2010; and what the cost to the Department was of providing those pagers. [190049]
Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change has not provided any pagers to staff since May 2010.
Renewable Energy
David T. C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will make it his policy to remove Government subsidies from renewable energy generating plants once the plant has achieved a reasonable return on investment. [189481]
Michael Fallon:
The Government is committed to cost-effective, affordable, renewable energy as part of a diverse, low carbon and secure energy mix. Our ultimate aim is for renewables to become competitive without the need for support. Support levels under the renewables obligation and proposed contracts for difference are set so that they decrease over time as technology improves and plants become more competitive with fossil fuel generation. For smaller scale renewable generation under the feed-in tariffs scheme, we introduced in 2012 an
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extra cost control measure, contingent degression, in order to exert a continual downward pressure on tariffs and therefore costs.
Wind Power
Mr O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the number of years it will take for (a) onshore and (b) offshore wind to be economically competitive without subsidies; and pursuant to the written statement of 6 June 2013, Official Report, columns 115-18WS, on onshore wind, what the evidential basis is for the statement that support levels represent good value for money to the taxpayer and that they reflect the true costs of deploying the technologies. [189623]
Michael Fallon: The Department has a strong focus on incentivising reductions in the cost of renewable technologies.
The level of support awarded under the renewables obligation and contracts for difference has been set based on the best available evidence on costs of renewable technologies in the UK; and at a level that remains within the budgetary constraints set through the Levy Control Framework (LCF).
DECC publishes levelised costs estimates of various generation technologies. The levelised cost of a particular generation technology is the ratio of the total costs of a generic plant to the total amount of electricity expected to be generated over the plant's lifetime (per megawatt hour). The latest published figures are available:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/electricity-generation-costs-december-2013
The figures in the report show that the levelised cost of onshore wind and offshore wind are expected to fall over time. This is reflected in the support levels that we offer under renewables obligation, which were reduced by 10% for onshore wind in April 2013. DECC undertook a call for evidence on onshore wind costs in 2013 which concluded that this reduced support rate remained appropriate.
These cost reductions are also reflected in the strike prices for these technologies in the EMR Delivery Plan, which shows support falling for a number of technologies over the coming years. Under the CfD, it is our intention that established technologies (such as onshore wind) will have to compete on price in an auction in order to secure a contract for support. This means that only the most cost-effective projects will be built and will represent better value for money for bill-payers, while continuing to deliver the investment we need in secure, low-carbon electricity generation.
Mr O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of overall savings in carbon dioxide emissions by 2020 as a result of (a) onshore and (b) offshore wind turbines; and what level of emissions will be emitted from the gas plants required for intermittent backup to such turbines in that period. [189690]
Michael Fallon:
The level of carbon dioxide emissions savings by 2020 from different renewable technologies will depend on the future level of deployment of each technology. The level of generation delivered by any
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technology in the future is uncertain as it depends on a range of factors; for example, future technology costs. Based on the deployment scenarios underpinning the DECC Electricity Market Reform Delivery Plan
1, we estimate that between 2013 and 2020, generation from onshore wind could save between around 72-80 MtC02 (around 11-13MtC02 in 2020), and generation from offshore wind could save between around 44-56MtC02 (around 8-15MtC02 in 2020). These figures are an undiscounted sum of annual estimates of carbon dioxide emissions savings between 2013 and 2020 (with estimated annual carbon dioxide emissions savings in 2020 presented in brackets). These figures assume that in the absence of wind, generation would come from CCGT plants (in addition to their other functions in the power sector, including providing intermittent backup where required).
1 Estimates of wind generation and CCGT emissions are taken from scenarios modelled for the Electricity Market Reform Delivery Plan (please see: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/electricity-market-reform-delivery-plan). Estimates for onshore wind include both large and small scale.
Justice
Claims Management Services
Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he is taking to protect those who are misled by claims management companies about how much they can claim in respect of PPI mis-selling. [189278]
Mr Vara:
During 2013, the Claims Management Regulator stepped up enforcement action, with 347 claims management companies (CMCs) warned, suspended or cancelled and 194 investigated or audited. The Claims Management Regulator is also implementing a number of steps to provide better consumer protection, stricter conduct rules and stronger enforcement in relation to CMCs which engage in bad practices. New rules have been introduced to permit only written contracts between
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CMCs and consumers, stopping any fees being charged before the contracts are signed. More resources have been deployed to improve CMC compliance and to expand enforcement action against those CMCs which fail to comply. The names of CMCs under investigation or subject to recent enforcement action are now published on the Justice website at:
www.justice.gov.uk/claims-regulation/enforcement
By the end of this year, subject to parliamentary approval, CMCs will also, for the first time, face fines for poor conduct and the conduct rules will be strengthened further to put a greater onus on CMCs to ensure claims are not made recklessly, falsely or in a way intended to mislead, and to properly substantiate and investigate those claims.
Convictions
Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were convicted for each category of conviction used by the Crown Court relating to financial gain in each (a) county and (b) other area for which figures are available in the last year. [186901]
Mr Vara: Our ability to tackle fraud has improved significantly in recent years, but we recognise that fraud continues to affect individuals, charities, public bodies and businesses. The Government is committed to working with those bodies to deter and prevent fraud and with the enforcement agencies to increase the disruption and punishment of organised and opportunistic fraudsters.
The number of persons convicted at the Crown court for acquisitive or fraud and forgery offences, by police force area in England and Wales, from 2008 to 2012, can be viewed in the table. The proportion of persons convicted and sentenced at the Crown court who were sentenced to an immediate custodial sentence has increased over the last three years for each of the four acquisitive or fraud and forgery offence groups, as has the average length of custodial sentence handed down to those offenders.
Convictions data for 2013 are planned for publication in May 2014.
| Persons1 convicted at the Crown court for acquisitive2 or fraud and forgery offences, by offence group, 2008 to 2012, England and Wales | ||||||
| Number of offenders | ||||||
| Police force area | Offence type | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
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| ‘—’ = Nil. 1 Excludes 'other' offenders, i.e. companies, public bodies, etc. 2 Acquisitive offences include all burglary, robbery and theft and handling of stolen goods offences. Notes: 1. Custody rate is calculated as the proportion of the total number of persons sentenced who are sentenced to immediate custody. 2. Excludes life and indeterminate sentences. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice. | ||||||