Every parliamentary written question tabled by Nick Timothy this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 661–680 of 956 · this parliament
Media and Sport, how many times (a) Ministers and (b) officials in her Department have met with the Centre for Media Monitoring since 4 July 2024.
Ministers and officials in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport have not met with the Centre for Media Monitoring since 4 July 2024.
If his Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of increasing the UK carbon price to £147/tCO2 by 2030 on (a) energy-intensive manufacturing industries and (b) chemical industries.
The Department has no plans to make an assessment of the potential impact of increasing the UK carbon price to £147/tCO2 by 2030. The Department previously published an impact assessment in July 2023 of the impact of the moving to the current United Kingdom Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS) using the analysis at that time : https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64b91b522059dc00125d267b/developing-uk-ets-main-impact-assessment.pdf The Department produces its own traded carbon values for modelling purposes which are used to estimate the financial cost of purchasing allowances in the UK ETS under different scenarios. This figure of £147/tCO2 is higher than in any of the scenarios in those projections. The Department’s most recent projections can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/traded-carbon-values-used-for-modelling-purposes-2024/traded-carbon-values-used-for-modelling-purposes-2024
Whether her Department plans to align carbon pricing under the UK Emissions Trading Scheme with the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.
Under the terms of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), the UK Government and EU agreed to give serious consideration to linking our respective carbon pricing schemes and to cooperate on carbon pricing. As part of our reset with the EU the Government continues to explore all options to improve trade and investment.
Whether her Department is preparing for the UK to enter the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.
The UK has had its own standalone Emissions Trading Scheme since 2021. Under the terms of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), the UK Government and EU agreed to give serious consideration to linking our respective carbon pricing schemes and to cooperate on carbon pricing. As part of our reset with the EU the Government continues to explore all options to improve trade and investment.
How many prison officers recruited since 5 July 2024 are (a) British nationals and (b) foreign nationals, broken down by country of origin.
Our latest published prison and probation workforce statistics present data up to June 2024. The link to the latest publication is: Recruitment Diversity Statistics: June 2024 - GOV.UK, data tables: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66bcaa1d3cc0741b92314631/recruitment-diversity-statistics_jun-2024_final.ods. We are unable to provide data for periods following June 2024 as this could pre-empt the next set of published Staff in Post data which will be released on Thursday 20 February 2025.
Pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2025 to Question 25772 on Prison Service: Recruitment, whether prisons are obligated to (a) advertise positions for British nationals before foreign nationals and (b) hire British residents before overseas residents.
HM Prison and Probation Service publishes vacancies across formal UK advertising boards and welcomes applications from people wishing to work in prisons in England and Wales. The hiring process is the same for both UK and non-UK nationals. Selection is on the basis of fair and open competition, in accordance with the legal requirement set out in the Civil Service Recruitment Principles. The Civil Service Nationality Rules (CSNRs) govern eligibility for employment in the Civil Service on the grounds of nationality. All applicants applying to work in the Department must meet the CSNRs and other eligibility criterion published in job adverts.
How much uranium was imported annually since 2010, by country of origin.
The procurement of nuclear fuel, including uranium and enrichment services, is a commercial matter for reactors operators. The Government works closely with these operators to ensure there is a secure and resilient supply for the UK fleet. Uranium enrichment facilities in the UK operate as service providers, enriching uranium that is provided to them by customers. The stockpiles of Uranium held by these companies are a commercial matter and therefore disclosure of these amounts would be at the discretion of these entities.
What steps his Department is taking to increase domestic inventories of plutonium.
There are no plans to increase the quantity of plutonium in the UK. The domestic inventory of plutonium has arisen from historic reprocessing of spent fuel from the UK and overseas energy utilities under commercial agreements. Reprocessing stopped in the UK in 2022.
Whether his Department has received recent representations from (a) energy-intensive manufacturing and (b) chemical industries on carbon pricing.
Ministers regularly engage with a variety of stakeholders.
With reference to her oral contribution of 2 September 2024 in response to the question from the hon. Member for Crewe and Nantwich, Official Report, column 70, on what evidential basis she said that two-tier policing does not occur in England and Wales.
Schedule 4 of the Police Act 1996 requires all police constables to make a declaration that they will carry out their role with fairness, integrity, diligence and impartiality. This means that the police must, and do, enforce the law without fear or favour.The use of police powers to maintain public order is an operational decision for the relevant force and how they choose to exercise those powers will depend on the circumstances of a particular incident.The previous Home Secretary (the Rt Hon Member for Fareham and Waterlooville) was rightly dismissed from her position for suggesting otherwise.
How much plutonium was imported annually since 2010, by country of origin.
We do not import civil separated plutonium to the UK. Historically, spent fuel has been imported from other countries for reprocessing, however the imports took place prior to 2010, and reprocessing stopped in the United Kingdom in 2022. ONR publishes annual figures on the UK's separated plutonium inventory, including material held in the UK on behalf of overseas customers. The most recently published data can be found at the following link: https://www.onr.org.uk/publications/regulatory-reports/safeguards/annual-civil-plutonium-figures/2023-annual-figures-for-holdings-of-civil-unirradiated-plutonium/.
Whether his Department has made an estimate of the proportion of grid decarboinsation that will be achieved via reduced energy usage before 2030.
The Government expects overall grid demand to rise by 2030 as we electrify transport, heating, industry, and other sectors. The Government has committed to funding energy efficiency improvements in existing building stock which will make heating homes cheaper and more efficient.
What timescales her Department uses to assess public investment in energy infrastructure in (a) oil and gas, (b) wind, (c) solar, (d) hydropower and (e) nuclear.
The costs and benefits of a proposal should be calculated over its entire lifetime. The Green Book states that an appraisal period of 60 years is a standard measure for infrastructure projects. However, it is customary for departments to discuss and agree a suitable appraisal period with the Treasury in advance, based on the lifetime of the proposal.
What the specific growth regions for clean power are, broken down by (a) nuclear, (b) wind, and (c) solar.
The Government’s plan to deliver Clean Power by 2030 will deliver economic growth across the country supporting thousands of jobs and businesses. A full regional capacity breakdowns for solar, onshore wind and batteries is included in the ‘Clean Power 2030 Action Plan: A new era of clean electricity – connections reform annex’. Nuclear capacity included in the ‘Clean Power Capacity Range’ is expected to be delivered through some combination of Sizewell B, Heysham 2, Torness, and Hinkley Point C Reactor Unit 1.
Whether her Department holds (a) written and (b) statistical evidence on how police forces treat different identity groups based on (i) ethnicity, (ii) nationality, (iii) gender and (iv) sexuality.
The Home Office collects and publishes regular statistics on the use of police powers. A range of data on different characteristics are collected across the different policing collections. Specifically, on police powers (including stop and search and arrest), data is collected on sex, ethnicity and age.The collection of statistics, along with other policing statistics such as police misconduct and police workforce, are available at the following link:Policing statistics - GOV.UKOfficial statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data. These reviews allow us to balance the production of our regular statistics whilst developing new statistics for future release.
What service level agreements exist for firearms licensing.
On 5 February 2025, increased fees came into effect to provide full-cost recovery for firearms licensing applications processed by police forces. This gave effect to a commitment in the Government’s manifesto.The fees were previously increased in 2015 and they no longer met the cost of the service provided. It is essential for both public safety and police efficiency that the fees provide full cost recovery so that service improvements can be made. The need to increase firearms licensing fees to help address shortcomings in firearms licensing was highlighted by the Senior Coroner in his Preventing Future Deaths reports into the fatal shootings in Plymouth in August 2021.I have written to all Police and Crime Commissioners and Chief Constables to make clear that the income from increased fees must be used to support improvements in the service provided by their firearms licensing teams.The NPCC Lead on Firearms Licensing is currently developing a new performance framework for firearms licensing teams and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services will later this year be undertaking a thematic inspection of police forces’ arrangements in respect of firearms licensing.Improvements in police performance will be supported in addition by the introduction of national training, the Statutory Guidance to Chief Officers of Police, and the refreshed Authorised Professional Practice for firearms licensing. We will also be shortly publishing the Government response to the consultation held in 2023 on recommendations for improvements in firearms licensing.
How many firearms licence (a) applications and (b) renewals were completed in (i) the UK, (ii) the East of England and (iii) West Suffolk constituency in each year since 2015.
The Home Office publishes information annually on the number of firearm and shotgun certificate applications and renewals that have been granted and refused in England and Wales in the statistical publication on firearm and shotgun certificates. The latest available data is for the year ending 31 March 2024 and can be accessed at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/firearm-certificates-in-england-and-walesThe number of firearm and shotgun certificate applications and renewals that have been granted and refused in England and Wales, the East of England region and Suffolk police force area in each year since 2015 can be found in data tables 2 and 4.Data are not available by constituencies specifically. Police Scotland publish broadly comparable annual statistics on the number of firearm and shotgun certificates granted and renewed in Scotland:https://www.scotland.police.uk/about-us/what-we-do/firearms-and-explosives-licensing/There are no comparable statistics for Northern Ireland.
What plans she has to improve the firearms licensing service.
On 5 February 2025, increased fees came into effect to provide full-cost recovery for firearms licensing applications processed by police forces. This gave effect to a commitment in the Government’s manifesto.The fees were previously increased in 2015 and they no longer met the cost of the service provided. It is essential for both public safety and police efficiency that the fees provide full cost recovery so that service improvements can be made. The need to increase firearms licensing fees to help address shortcomings in firearms licensing was highlighted by the Senior Coroner in his Preventing Future Deaths reports into the fatal shootings in Plymouth in August 2021.I have written to all Police and Crime Commissioners and Chief Constables to make clear that the income from increased fees must be used to support improvements in the service provided by their firearms licensing teams.The NPCC Lead on Firearms Licensing is currently developing a new performance framework for firearms licensing teams and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services will later this year be undertaking a thematic inspection of police forces’ arrangements in respect of firearms licensing.Improvements in police performance will be supported in addition by the introduction of national training, the Statutory Guidance to Chief Officers of Police, and the refreshed Authorised Professional Practice for firearms licensing. We will also be shortly publishing the Government response to the consultation held in 2023 on recommendations for improvements in firearms licensing.
Whether the revenues from increased firearms licensing fees will be hypothecated to improve the firearms licensing service.
On 5 February 2025, increased fees came into effect to provide full-cost recovery for firearms licensing applications processed by police forces. This gave effect to a commitment in the Government’s manifesto.The fees were previously increased in 2015 and they no longer met the cost of the service provided. It is essential for both public safety and police efficiency that the fees provide full cost recovery so that service improvements can be made. The need to increase firearms licensing fees to help address shortcomings in firearms licensing was highlighted by the Senior Coroner in his Preventing Future Deaths reports into the fatal shootings in Plymouth in August 2021.I have written to all Police and Crime Commissioners and Chief Constables to make clear that the income from increased fees must be used to support improvements in the service provided by their firearms licensing teams.The NPCC Lead on Firearms Licensing is currently developing a new performance framework for firearms licensing teams and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services will later this year be undertaking a thematic inspection of police forces’ arrangements in respect of firearms licensing.Improvements in police performance will be supported in addition by the introduction of national training, the Statutory Guidance to Chief Officers of Police, and the refreshed Authorised Professional Practice for firearms licensing. We will also be shortly publishing the Government response to the consultation held in 2023 on recommendations for improvements in firearms licensing.
What steps his Department is taking to increase domestic inventories of uranium.
The procurement of nuclear fuel, including uranium is a commercial matter for reactors operators. However, the Government does and will continue to work closely with operators and wider industry to ensure a secure and resilient supply for the UK fleet now and in the future. There is a diverse and resilient global uranium supply and uranium deposits which are spread across the globe. The World Nuclear Association notes that the world’s known uranium resources increased by at least one-quarter in the last decade due to increased mineral exploration.