Tag: Barry Gardiner

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-07-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many applications for her consent for disposal of school playing fields by maintained schools or academies her Department has (a) received and (b) approved in each of the last five years; and in how many such cases she has written to the school concerned to remind them of their obligations to submit an application in the correct way.

Edward Timpson

The data is not held in the format requested but there are layers of protection of playing field land. These include legislative safeguards in the School Standards and Framework Act 1997 and the Education Act 1998 and, in the case of academies, further safeguards in academy funding agreements. The Secretary of State must give consent prior to the disposal of public land which is currently used for any school or which has been used for a school in the last eight years. We publish a list of departmental decisions on applications for consent to dispose of school playing field land since May 2010 on GOV.UK at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-land-decisions-about-disposals.

The Secretary of State does not routinely write to schools to remind them of their obligations; it is the land owner’s obligation to ensure that it meets its legal responsibilities.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-09-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the company annual turnover threshold is for government intervention to block any sale or transfer of the ownership of critical infrastructure; on what occasions that threshold has been crossed; and if he will make a statement.

Margot James

My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is able to intervene on public interest grounds in transactions which are subject to merger control either within the UK or at the EU level. The turnover thresholds for such public interest interventions depend upon which of the two relevant competition bodies has jurisdiction.

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has jurisdiction to review mergers and takeovers when:

– the annual UK turnover of the target business exceeds £70 million, or

– the merger creates a 25%, or greater, share in a market in the UK.

The European Commission has jurisdiction to review mergers and takeovers when:

– the combined aggregate worldwide turnover (in the preceding financial year) of all the undertakings concerned exceeds EUR5,000 million; and

– the aggregate EU-wide turnover of each of at least two of the undertakings concerned exceeds EUR 250 million; or

– the aggregate worldwide turnover of all the undertakings concerned is more than EUR 2,500 million; and

– the aggregate turnover of all the undertakings in each of at least three member states is more than EUR 100 million;

– in each of the same three member states, the aggregate turnover of each of at least two of the undertakings involved is more than EUR 25 million; and

– the aggregate EU-wide turnover of each of at least two of the undertakings involved is more than EUR 100 million.

Unless each of the undertakings concerned achieves more than two-thirds of its aggregate EU-wide turnover within a single Member State (then the Commission does not have jurisdiction).

If none of these jurisdictional thresholds is met, the Secretary of State can still intervene in defence industry mergers, if at least one of the enterprises concerned is a relevant government contractor; or where the merger involves a supplier or suppliers of at least 25% of any description of newspapers or broadcasting in the UK.

In all cases, public interest interventions can only be made on the grounds of national security, financial stability (or prudential rules in an EU case) or media plurality.

The number of times the CMA’s jurisdiction thresholds are met is not recorded. The European Commission does not record merger notifications by country of transaction.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-03-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what domestic programmes the Government has developed to help deliver the Global Goals for Sustainable Development which were adopted in September 2015.

Justine Greening

The UK Government as a whole is committed to implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Government’s manifesto sets out the plan of action for which it will be held accountable by the British people. This includes commitments relevant to each of the Goals, and it will guide our efforts to achieve them.

The Global Goals are the starting point for, and will be embedded across, DFID’s work. Other Government Departments will lead on their respective policy areas.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-03-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimates his Department has made of the range for the value of liabilities arising from the sale of the Green Investment Bank.

Anna Soubry

Government policy is to move the Green Investment Bank (GIB) in to the private sector. Following a sale, GIB’s contractual liabilities will be funded by its new shareholders. To the extent that HM Government retains a minority stake, the Government will contribute funds towards those contractual commitments on a pro rata basis for UK based investments.

Separately, as part of the sale process, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has entered into an agreement with Poyry (provider of electricity market reports and price forecasting) (electricity market report and associated price forecast provider) (electricity market report and associated price forecast provider)(electricity market report and associated price forecast provider)to share information with potential bidders to help them to undertake due diligence. This agreement requires BIS to provide an indemnity to Poyry in relation to any resulting liability Poyry might incur. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills set out details of the indemnity in his written ministerial statement of 21 March (HCWS633) including his view that the likelihood of it being called upon is low. A Departmental minute explaining the procedure followed and describing the liabilities undertaken has also been placed in the Libraries of the House.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department’s news story of 27 April 2016, Update on a new clause to be inserted into grant agreements, whether his Department plans to hold a formal consultation on the proposed anti-lobbying clause.

Matthew Hancock

As I made clear in the House on 27 April, we are committed to protecting taxpayers’ money from being wasted on government lobbying government. We are pausing the implementation of this clause into grant agreements, pending a review of the representations made.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-05-23.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions his Department has had with other government departments on building greater consideration and transparency of climate risk for pension funds into Articles 20, 26 and 32 of the EU’s revised Directive on Institutions for Occupational Retirement Provision.

Mr David Gauke

The Government’s priority for the draft Directive is ensuring sound and proportionate regulation of occupational pension schemes, which respects differences in the national arrangements between Member States.

As is usual practice, an overall impact assessment for the draft Directive has been prepared by the EU institutions, and a national-level impact assessment will be prepared as and when the Directive is transposed into UK law.

The Government has approached negotiations on the Directive in line with the usual co-ordination process across departments.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which (a) groups and (b) individuals his Department has invited to work with the Government on developing a strategy for carbon capture and storage in the UK.

Jesse Norman

The Department continues to engage with the carbon capture and storage (CCS) industry, including with individual developers and the CCS Association as well as others such as the Committee on Climate Change, on the next steps on CCS in the UK. The Department also continues to host the CCS Development Forum, which brings government and the CCS industry together.

In addition, BEIS officials are providing support to Lord Oxburgh’s CCS Advisory Group which will report to Government on their findings and recommendations on the future of CCS in the UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-09-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reasons his Department has not renegotiated the Contract for Difference for Hinkley Point C; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman

The commercial terms of the Hinkley Point C contract, including the strike price and protections for consumers, have remained as announced in autumn 2015..

As announced on 15 September 2016, the overall package includes additional commitments from EDF to safeguard against changes of ownership of the developer which have been brought into force through an exchange of letters.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-03-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether the Government has produced a strategy to implement the Sustainable Development Goals since the adoption of the Global Goals in September 2015.

Justine Greening

The UK Government as a whole is committed to implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Government’s manifesto sets out the plan of action for which it will be held accountable by the British people. This includes commitments relevant to each of the Goals, and it will guide our efforts to achieve them.

The Global Goals are the starting point for, and will be embedded across, DFID’s work. Other Government Departments will lead on their respective policy areas.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government has made an assessment of the extent to which the single departmental plans for the current Parliament are consistent with the UK’s sustainable development aims.

Mr Oliver Letwin

The UK Government is committed to delivering the sustainable development goals as agreed by the United Nations in 2015. We will be reviewing the consistency of our plans and policies with the Global Goals.