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1126567

	registered interest
	date	14/05/2019
	answering body	Attorney General
	answering dept id	88
	answering dept short name	Attorney General
	answering dept sort name	Attorney General
	hansard heading	Attorney General: Sick Leave
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Attorney General, how many and what proportion of officials in his Department took sick leave for reasons relating to stress in the last 12 months; what proportion that leave was of total sick leave taken in his Department; and what the cost was to his Department of officials taking sick leave over that period.
	tabling member constituency	Carshalton and Wallington
	tabling member printed	Tom Brake
	uin	254076
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/05/2019 answer text <p>The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has had officials take sick leave for reasons relating to stress in the last 12 months. However, we are not in a position to release this data, as due to the small size of the office this could lead to individuals becoming identifiable.</p><p>The AGO is highly committed to the health and wellbeing of its staff, and works to help them to manage stress in the workplace. The AGO offers a range of guidance and services in place to support staff, including launching its own wellbeing statement and strategy, and receiving the commitment of the Executive Board to wellbeing. The staff volunteer led wellbeing group has organised numerous events for colleagues to help improve wellbeing and manage stress. The AGO also offers free counselling services for staff members.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 22/05/2019 14:47:16 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	151 label Biography information for Tom Brake

1126592

	registered interest
	date	14/05/2019
	answering body	Attorney General
	answering dept id	88
	answering dept short name	Attorney General
	answering dept sort name	Attorney General
	hansard heading	Prosecutions: West Midlands
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 8 May 2019 to Question 249931 on Prosecutions: West Midlands, what the average time was for the CPS to reach a decision in the West Midlands in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Edgbaston
	tabling member printed	Preet Kaur Gill
	uin	254257
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2019 answer text <p>Records held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), provide data showing the average time (in calendar days) from receipt of the pre-charge case to the decision to charge.</p><p> </p><p>The table below shows the average number of days from the date a charging decision is requested by the police to the date the decision to charge is taken for the West Midlands Area in each year from 2013/14 to 2017/18.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>2013-2014</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2014-2015</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2015-2016</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2016-2017</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2017-2018</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>West Midlands</p></td><td><p>10.54</p></td><td><p>10.95</p></td><td><p>11.65</p></td><td><p>14.41</p></td><td><p>17.31</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><em>Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System</em></p><p> </p><p>During this period there has been a shift in the type of pre-charge decisions referred to the CPS. For example, in the period between 2013/14 and 2017/18, there was an increase of over 26% in rape flagged pre-charge decisions referred to CPS West Midlands. Rape and serious sexual offences investigations can be highly complex in nature and typically involve the review of a large quantity of evidence resulting in an increase in the amount of time required for the CPS to come to a charging decision.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 20/05/2019 10:24:38 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	4603 label Biography information for Preet Kaur Gill

1126487

	registered interest
	date	14/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Renewable Energy: Cooperatives
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps his Department has taken to support communities to set up renewable energy co-operatives.
	tabling member constituency	Croydon North
	tabling member printed	Mr Steve Reed
	uin	254193
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2019 answer text <p>I continue to believe that Community Energy remains an important part of the energy system, delivering energy efficiency and demand management, supporting switching and engaging the wider community on the key challenges of the energy transition and wider climate change as well as owning generation assets.</p><p> </p><p>Renewable Energy co-operatives are one of the business models that we support and was a key part of the criteria in a number of community initiatives and support mechanisms the department funded in the past. This will also be the case for the Rural Community Energy fund which will reopen at the end of this month and provide grants to community groups for feasibility studies and development of business cases for local energy projects.</p><p> </p><p>We also work closely with community networks like Community Energy England who manage the community energy hub which shares best practice, case studies and as part of that provides advice and support for the creation of community energy co-operatives.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 21/05/2019 14:57:44 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
	tabling member	4268 label Biography information for Steve Reed

1126492

	registered interest
	date	14/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Local Enterprise Partnerships: Rural Areas
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the names are of each Local Enterprise Partnership; and which partnerships have appointed a board member with responsibility for rural issues.
	tabling member constituency	Stroud
	tabling member printed	Dr David Drew
	uin	254102
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2019 answer text <p>The 38 Local Enterprise Partnership (LEPs) areas are Black Country; Buckinghamshire Thames Valley; Cambridge and Peterborough; Cheshire &amp; Warrington; Coast to Capital LEP; Cornwall &amp; Isles of Scilly; Coventry and Warwickshire; Cumbria; Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire (D2N2); Dorset LEP; Enterprise M3; Gloucestershire (GFirst) LEP; Greater Birmingham and Solihull; Greater Lincolnshire; Greater Manchester; Heart of the South West; Hertfordshire; Humber LEP; Lancashire LEP; Leeds City Region; Leicester &amp; Leicestershire; Liverpool City Region LEP; London; New Anglia LEP; North East LEP; Oxfordshire LEP; Sheffield City Region LEP; Solent LEP; South East LEP; South East Midlands LEP; Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire LEP; Swindon and Wiltshire LEP; Tees Valley LEP; Thames Valley Berkshire; The Marches; West of England LEP; Worcestershire LEP and York and North Yorkshire LEP.</p><p> </p><p>The following 12 LEPs have appointed a board member with an explicit responsibility for rural issues: Cheshire &amp; Warrington; Cornwall &amp; Isles of Scilly; Dorset LEP; Enterprise M3; Heart of the South West; New Anglia LEP; North East LEP; South East LEP; South East Midlands LEP; Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire LEP; Swindon and Wiltshire LEP; and York and North Yorkshire LEP.</p><p> </p><p>Other Local Enterprise Partnerships manage rural issues in a variety of ways, for example in Gloucestershire (GFirst) there is a member of the LEP agri-food &amp; rural business sector group on the board, by the appointment of an agri-food champion (The Marches), through engagement at SME boards (Coventry and Warwickshire) and by drawing on the expertise of rural organisations (Worcestershire).</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 20/05/2019 16:04:27 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
	tabling member	252 label Biography information for Dr David Drew

1126500

	registered interest
	date	14/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Electricity Generation
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what criteria is used by National Grid ESO to determine acceptable levels of regional electricity system restoration capability.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow North East
	tabling member printed	Mr Paul Sweeney
	uin	254267
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2019 answer text <p>The Electricity System Operator (NGESO), has a legal obligation to have a capability to restore the electricity system in the event of a total or partial failure.</p><p> </p><p>In line with historic expectations, NGESO has sourced and procured capability to achieve the restoration of 60% of national demand within 24 hours. This level of demand equates to the level required to run a stable, interconnected Electricity Transmission System, from which remaining demand can be restored.</p><p> </p><p>This approach requires a certain number of self-starting generators to be available in each region and prioritises the restoration of supplies to other generators to maintain a broadly consistent rate of restoration across all GB regions.</p><p> </p><p>The restoration approach is reviewed at least once every two years, to ensure that GB’s restoration capability keeps pace with all relevant technologies and the changes to the electricity system.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 20/05/2019 16:05:28 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
	tabling member	4642 label Biography information for Mr Paul Sweeney

1126501

	registered interest
	date	14/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Electricity Generation: Carbon Emissions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how essential electricity system restoration capability will be provided in a zero-carbon electricity system.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow North East
	tabling member printed	Mr Paul Sweeney
	uin	254268
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2019 answer text <p>The electricity System Operator (National Grid ESO) has a legal license obligation to ensure that it has a restoration capability.</p><p> </p><p>In order to ensure that this capability evolves to provide a safe and effective restoration as the electricity system continues to decarbonise and decentralise, NGESO is undertaking a project to develop and demonstrate new approaches to restore the electricity system from Distributed Energy Resources to increase competition in the market and deliver cost and carbon emission reductions.</p><p> </p><p>BEIS will continue to monitor GB’s changing restoration capability alongside National Grid and Ofgem to ensure it remains robust and effective.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 20/05/2019 16:05:35 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
	tabling member	4642 label Biography information for Mr Paul Sweeney

1126502

	registered interest
	date	14/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Electricity Generation
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the financial sustainability of retaining synchronous synchronous generation capability to provide restoration capability to the National Grid.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow North East
	tabling member printed	Mr Paul Sweeney
	uin	254269
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2019 answer text <p>The Electricity System Operator, (NGESO) has a legal obligation to provide a capability to restore the electricity system in the event of its total or partial failure.</p><p> </p><p>Under a new regulatory framework introduced in 2017, NGESO is required to submit on an annual basis, a Restoration Strategy, which outlines how restoration will be achieved in the short, medium (one to three-year time horizon) and long-term (beyond three years), as well as a Procurement Methodology, which outlines how this approach will be delivered.</p><p> </p><p>The Government regulator for gas and electricity markets, Ofgem, is responsible for considering these methodologies and determining whether these are sufficient, efficient and cost-effective.</p><p> </p><p>In order to ensure that GB’s restoration capability evolves in line with the decarbonisation and decentralisation of the electricity system, NGESO is undertaking a project to develop and demonstrate new approaches to restore the electricity system from Distributed Energy Resources. This will reduce the reliance on large, thermal, synchronous generation for restoration services and increase competition in the market to deliver cost and carbon emissions reductions.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 20/05/2019 16:05:41 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
	tabling member	4642 label Biography information for Mr Paul Sweeney

1126525

	registered interest
	date	14/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Energy: Scotland
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what (a) plans and (b) timetable he has to review the (i) Hydro Benefit Replacement Scheme and (i) Common Tariff Obligation.
	tabling member constituency	Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross
	tabling member printed	Jamie Stone
	uin	254259
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2019 answer text <p>There is a statutory requirement to review the Hydro Benefit Replacement Scheme every three years. As part of the latest review, the Government will be shortly publishing a consultation document on the retention of both the Hydro Benefit Replacement Scheme and the Common Tariff Obligation, reflecting their importance in helping to protect consumers in the North of Scotland from the high costs of electricity distribution there. The consultation will also set out detailed proposals for spreading the costs of a cross-subsidy for Shetland across Great Britain. This would have the effect of reducing electricity costs for all consumers across the North of Scotland from 2020 onwards.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 20/05/2019 16:05:22 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
	tabling member	4612 label Biography information for Jamie Stone

1126551

	registered interest
	date	14/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Industry: Rural Areas
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has plans to include a heightened role for rural areas in the Government’s Industrial Strategy.
	tabling member constituency	Stroud
	tabling member printed	Dr David Drew
	uin	254106
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2019 answer text <p>The Industrial Strategy is the Government’s long term plan to boost productivity by backing businesses to create high quality, well paid jobs for all throughout the United Kingdom. Industrial Strategy policies recognise that different areas require flexibility to respond to local needs and to build on local strengths, this includes people living and working in rural areas, which is why the Industrial Strategy is investing in skills, industries and infrastructure. The Strategy’s Foundations consider rural needs, and will continue to do. For example:</p><p> </p><ul><li>The Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund enables investment in agritech</li><li>Apprenticeships are becoming a strong rural training route</li><li>We are investing in digital connectivity including 5G Rural First, and 5G Rural Integrated testbed pilots</li><li>Business productivity in SMEs are being tackled through Local Enterprise Partnerships and support from the British Business Bank</li></ul><p> </p><p>Furthermore, we have committed to developing Local Industrial Strategies with every Local Enterprise Partnership and Mayoral Combined Authority. Local Industrial Strategies provide an important opportunity for all rural areas to grow their economy by creating a bespoke approach to supporting the local economy and driving productivity. The government is committed to Local Industrial Strategies so that:</p><p> </p><ul><li>All places are able to increase productivity and realise their potential</li><li>We can set out the spatial impacts of national and local policy across our cities, towns and rural areas.</li></ul><p> </p><p>Building on local evidence, Local Industrial Strategies will therefore look to address challenges and opportunities across the foundations of productivity so that all rural communities can contribute to and benefit from economic prosperity.</p> answering member constituency Pendle answering member printed Andrew Stephenson question first answered 20/05/2019 16:04:40 answering member 4044 label Biography information for Andrew Stephenson
	tabling member	252 label Biography information for Dr David Drew

1126555

	registered interest
	date	14/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Sick Leave
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many and what proportion of officials in his Department took sick leave for reasons relating to stress in the last 12 months; what proportion that leave was of total sick leave taken in his Department; and what the cost was to his Department of officials taking sick leave over that period.
	tabling member constituency	Carshalton and Wallington
	tabling member printed	Tom Brake
	uin	254064
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/05/2019 answer text <p>The number of employees in the Department for Business, Energy &amp; Industrial Strategy (BEIS) during the calendar year of 2018 who were absent due to mental health reasons, including stress was 59, this represented 1.5% of the total workforce. The proportion of sickness absence related to mental health reasons, including stress, was 23% of the overall sickness absence for the department for the same time period.</p><p> </p><p>The estimated cost to the department over this period for employees taking sickness absence, is estimated at £1,421,738.30.</p><p> </p><p>BEIS is committed to supporting the wellbeing of its staff, including helping them to manage stress in the workplace, and has a Wellbeing Strategy that includes a specific focus on supporting good mental health in its employees. This strategy is based in part on the Civil Service Health and Wellbeing Strategy that also includes the promotion of good mental health for all as one of its five priorities. Through a programme of wellbeing events and speakers, a growing cohort of mental health first aiders, promotion and signposting of the employee assistance programme, and e-learning packages for staff on stress, resilience and wellbeing, the Department has seen continued awareness and engagement on wellbeing and good mental health.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Pendle answering member printed Andrew Stephenson question first answered 22/05/2019 16:20:29 answering member 4044 label Biography information for Andrew Stephenson
	tabling member	151 label Biography information for Tom Brake