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61035

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2014
	answering body	Department for Transport
	answering dept id	27
	answering dept short name	Transport
	answering dept sort name	Transport
	hansard heading	Biofuels: Carcinogens
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of the annual amount of carcinogens that are released by biofuels activity in the UK.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow North West
	tabling member printed	John Robertson
	uin	200012
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2014 answer text <p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Department for Transport has not made any annual estimates of carcinogens that are released by biofuels activity. This data is not required to meet the mandatory sustainability criteria under the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED), which is applicable to biofuels supplied in the UK under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO).</p><p> </p><p>Voluntary schemes approved by the European Commission can set criteria for aspects of biofuel production aimed at minimising adverse environmental impacts associated with agricultural production, including on air quality, in addition to setting sustainability criteria. In 2012/13 eighty one per cent of biofuel supplied in the UK under the RTFO was covered by an approved voluntary scheme, the vast majority of which include additional aspects aimed at minimising the impact on air quality of the cultivation and harvesting of biofuel feedstocks.</p><p> </p><p>The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' Air Quality Expert Group has considered the potential impacts of increased biofuel use on air pollutants, such as particulate matter, and concluded that these should fall with most biofuel uptake scenarios. The Group's Report <em>Road Transport Biofuels: Impact on UK Air Quality,</em> is published at:</p><p><a href="http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/assets/documents/110322_AQEG_Biofuels_advice_note.pdf" target="_blank">http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/assets/documents/110322_AQEG_Biofuels_advice_note.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p>In respect of the biofuel supply chain the European Commission produced a staff working document accompanying its renewable energy progress report to the European Parliament in 2013 which is published at:</p><p><a href="http://ec.europa.eu/energy/renewables/reports/doc/swd_2013_0102_res_en.pdf" target="_blank">http://ec.europa.eu/energy/renewables/reports/doc/swd_2013_0102_res_en.pdf</a></p><p>It concluded that between 2008 and 2010, there was limited change in threats to air quality from EU biofuel demand.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Scarborough and Whitby answering member printed Mr Robert Goodwill question first answered 17/06/2014 14:45:06 answering member 1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill
	tabling member	605 label Biography information for John Robertson

61037

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Wood: Health Hazards
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the health dangers of wood dust.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow North West
	tabling member printed	John Robertson
	uin	200011
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/06/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>I have been asked to respond as this falls under the remit of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).</p><p> </p><p>Wood dust can cause non-reversible health problems including skin disorders, obstruction of the nose and rhinitis, asthma and nasal cancer. There are appropriate workplace controls and HSE provides comprehensive guidance for employers on these.</p><p> </p><p>Exposure to wood dust in workplaces is regulated by the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (as amended) which require exposures to be reduced as far below the Workplace Exposure Limit as is reasonably practicable. Suitable control measures may include local exhaust ventilation, on-tool extraction systems and in some cases respiratory protective equipment. Workers will usually require health surveillance checks.</p><p> </p><p>HSE has recently commissioned a new study to update the evidence base for wood dust exposure and health effects in the UK construction and woodworking industries. The study will run over the next 2-3 years and is being undertaken by the Health and Safety Laboratory with support and assistance from industry.</p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning question first answered 16/06/2014 15:27:09 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning
	tabling member	605 label Biography information for John Robertson

61036

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2014
	answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept id	26
	answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	hansard heading	Green Investment Bank
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of investment by the Green Investment Bank has been given to biofuels to date.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow North West
	tabling member printed	John Robertson
	uin	200013
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2014 answer text <p>The Green Investment Bank (GIB) has yet to finance any projects in the biofuels for transport sector. To date, GIB has committed a total of £1.3billion to green projects including the following projects that involve use of biomass for energy generation:</p><p>· £100m to one coal to biomass conversion project (Drax power station);</p><p>· £40.1m to three projects (in Northern Ireland, Birmingham and Port Talbot) that involve generating energy from recovered waste wood;</p><p>· £19.7m to a number of energy efficiency projects which involve the use of biomass boilers at enterprises such as distilleries, schools and farms.</p> answering member constituency Sevenoaks answering member printed Michael Fallon question first answered 17/06/2014 12:59:26 answering member 88 label Biography information for Sir Michael Fallon
	tabling member	605 label Biography information for John Robertson

61330

	registered interest
	date	11/06/2014
	answering body	Scotland Office
	answering dept id	2
	answering dept short name	Scotland
	answering dept sort name	Scotland
	hansard heading	Companies
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what information he holds on the proportion of companies in (a) Glasgow North West, (b) Glasgow and (c) Scotland are ultimately owned by companies based in (i) Scotland, (ii) other parts of the UK, (iii) other countries in the EU and (iv) outside the EU.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow North West
	tabling member printed	John Robertson
	uin	200202
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>According to Glasgow City Council figures (November 2013), there are approximately 18,000 businesses in Glasgow. The Scotland Office holds no information on the ownership nationality of companies located in neither Glasgow North West nor Glasgow.</p><p>However, across the UK as a whole, over 99% of private sector businesses will be small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and ownership for these is therefore highly likely to be based locally.</p><p>In 2013, registered private sector enterprises with ultimate ownership outside Scotland accounted for 3.1% of firms. These are disproportionately larger firms and so account for over 35% of employment. This suggests that 96.9% of businesses in Scotland have Scottish ownership, accounting for 64.8% of employment.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale answering member printed David Mundell question first answered 17/06/2014 14:21:11 answering member 1512 label Biography information for David Mundell
	tabling member	605 label Biography information for John Robertson

61331

	registered interest
	date	11/06/2014
	answering body	Scotland Office
	answering dept id	2
	answering dept short name	Scotland
	answering dept sort name	Scotland
	hansard heading	Companies
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, if he will estimate the revenue generated in Scotland by companies that have their headquarters (a) in Scotland and (b) outside of Scotland.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow North West
	tabling member printed	John Robertson
	uin	200203
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2014 answer text <p>There are no estimates of the number of companies headquartered in Scotland, of the 343,105 enterprises operating in Scotland as at March 2013. Registered private sector enterprises with ultimate ownership outside Scotland accounted for 3.1% of firms, and 58.1% of turnover. This means that 41.9% of business turnover in Scotland is generated by enterprises with ownership in Scotland. These figures come from the Scottish Government publication Businesses in Scotland 2013.</p> answering member constituency Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale answering member printed David Mundell question first answered 17/06/2014 14:17:57 answering member 1512 label Biography information for David Mundell
	tabling member	605 label Biography information for John Robertson