Tag: Paul Flynn

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps her Department has taken to promote Energy Efficiency Week; how her Department has worked with non-governmental organisations on such initiatives; and what the cost to the public purse was of those initiatives.

Andrea Leadsom

Big Energy Saving Week is a Great Britain wide consumer awareness raising campaign run ahead of winter in partnership with respected partner organisations Citizens Advice and the Energy Saving Trust (EST), with around £300,000 funding provided by DECC.

The campaign was delivered 26-30 October 2015 and focussed on supporting consumers to understand how they can save money by switching tariff, supplier and payment method and improving energy efficiency, through hundreds of face to face outreach events run by Citizens Advice offices and a national, regional and social media campaign delivered by EST.

The last campaign in October 2014 was a big success with over 500 events nationwide reaching an estimated 100,000 consumers face to face or through dedicated helplines with many millions more reached through a complementary media campaign.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect on the ability of the Office for Nuclear Regulation to carry out its safety and security regulatory functions in full of the guidance set out in the Legislative and Regulatory Reform (Regulatory Functions) (Amendment) Order 2014.

Anna Soubry

The Regulators’ Code which came into force in April 2014 was issued as guidance under the Legislative and Regulatory Reform (Regulatory Functions) (Amendment) Order 2014. The code provides guidance for all regulators whose functions are specified and a framework for how they should engage with those they regulate when exercising their regulatory functions independently from Government. This includes providing straightforward ways for businesses to engage, basing regulatory activities on risk and helping businesses to comply by publishing clear information, guidance and advice.

The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) is required to have regard to the code when developing policies and operational procedures which guide their regulatory activities. However, the Regulators’ Code states that where a regulator concludes, on the basis of material evidence, that a specific area of the code is either not applicable or outweighed by another relevant consideration, then the regulator is not bound by that provision but should record the decision and their rationale. This acknowledges certain circumstances where regulators may not be able to follow all provisions of the code, for example decisions concerning safety and security, and that they will not be bound by the provision where these considerations justifiably outweigh provisions of the Regulators’ Code.

The ONR is expected to demonstrate compliance with the Code without compromising its core purpose of nuclear safety and security. The ONR has recently published the results of a review they undertook to assess compliance against the Code in September 2015: http://news.onr.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/report.pdf.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the evidential basis is for the Prime Minister’s statement to the press of 21 October 2015 that Hinkley Point nuclear power station will produce reliable and affordable electricity.

Andrea Leadsom

Nuclear power is a proven technology which can provide large quantities of electricity continuously, reliably and predictably. Our analysis suggests Hinkley Point C will be cost-competitive with the other technologies that can be deployed at scale in the 2020s and that it will help provide affordable base load power to complement other low-carbon sources that we need to decarbonise the power sector by 2050.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government has taken to trace the sources of financial support for (a) ISIS and (b) other terrorist networks.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The UK has led efforts to create and enforce an international legal regime to cut off support, including financial support, for Daesh and other terrorist groups. This regime is underpinned by UN Security Council Resolutions 2178 (on foreign fighters), 2199 (on squeezing Daesh’s funding sources) and 1267 (which imposes sanctions on individuals and groups associated with Al-Qaida and its affiliates, including Daesh). We are actively involved with Global Coalition partners in identifying companies and individuals that breach any aspect of this regime, including the financial ones.

UK law enforcement agencies have a well established and sophisticated system for investigating and shutting off sources of finance for terrorists, including Daesh. The Government also works closely with the private sector to crack down on terrorist-related money laundering.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Prime Minister, with reference to pages 12 and 13 of his response to the Second Report from the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, on the Extension of Offensive Military Operations to Syria, HC 457, what specific steps have been taken through the Financial Action Task Force and Egmont Groups to block funding of ISIS.

Mr David Cameron

The Financial Actions Task Force (FATF) report on ‘Financing of the Terrorist Organisation ISIL’ (Feb 2015) sets out specific measures which countries should adopt, over and above general measures designed to block terrorist financing, to ensure Daesh cannot access the international financial system. The FATF conducted a report for the G20 Leaders in November 2015 on implementation. They found almost all 194 jurisdictions had criminalised terrorist financing and 90% of jurisdictions had a legal framework to enforce sanctions. There were 33 jurisdictions which had secured convictions for terrorist financing.

The Egmont Group comprises 151 members, including the UK, USA, France and regional partners such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar and Lebanon. In June 2015 the Group expanded its membership; 42 new bilateral agreements to exchange information were announced to help combat global money laundering and terrorist threats. The Group also issued a communication to its members in June 2015 regarding Daesh which encouraged members to use its unique global network to combat Daesh money laundering and financing by increasing international cooperation, including the exchange of information.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many UK Trade and Investment staff worked in each of the industrial sectors on 1 April 2015; and what the budget for each such sector is in 2015-16.

Anna Soubry

UK Trade & Investment supports eleven sectors, and other priority sectors, such as creative industries and the information economy.

We are working with a number of other Government departments to ensure companies of all sectors are represented in Government efforts overseas.

The table below shows the number of staff on 1 April 2015 and the most recent budget information for our core sector teams and investment organisations.

Staff	Budget, £m
Consumer, Retail & E-exporting	11	5.7
Creative Industries & Global Sports & Construction	25	3.1
UKTI Education	8	1.0
Energy & Transport	27	3.7
Healthcare UK	13	1.6
Information Economy	16	2.9
Advanced Manufacturing	8	1.2
UKTI Agri-Tech Organisation	3	1.2
UKTI Automotive Investment Organisation	5	1.7
UKTI Financial Services Organisation	8	1.7
Innovation Gateway	7	1.3
UKTI Life Science Organisation	9	2.2
UKTI Offshore Wind Investment Organisation	2	1.1
UKTI Regeneration Investment Organisation	1	1.4

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-12-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what resources were committed by the UK at the COP21 climate conference in Paris to help developing countries pay for repairing damage from extreme weather events caused by climate change.

Andrea Leadsom

The Paris Agreement recognises the importance of averting, minimising and addressing loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change, including extreme weather events and slow onset events, and the role of sustainable development in reducing the risk of loss and damage. The UK is already taking action to support insurance mechanisms that provide financial support in the event of an extreme weather event. For example, we support the G7 initiative that aims to increase by up to 400 million the number of people in the most vulnerable developing countries who have access to direct or indirect insurance coverage against the negative impact of climate change related hazards by 2020.The UK contribution to these rapid actions includes support for (i) the Africa Risk Capacity initiative and (ii) the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Assessment and Financing Initiative (PCRAFI). Other UK-supported actions are contributing to the G7 Initiative’s overall aims.

Her Majesty’s Government maintains the capacity to respond to humanitarian emergencies wherever they occur in the world.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-01-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the investigation conducted by the Office for Nuclear Regulation into the operability and availability of fire detection systems at the Atomic Weapons Establishment has been completed.

Justin Tomlinson

The investigation conducted by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) into the operability and availability of fire detection systems at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) was completed in August 2014.

The investigation was instigated after AWE reported two events to ONR during February 2014 related to fire alarm and detection system failures, one concerning a facility at the Aldermaston site and the other a facility at the Burghfield site. Investigations of these events by AWE uncovered a configuration issue with a system in a third facility.

ONR’s investigation identified concerns regarding the competency of the maintainers, the delivery and recording of the maintenance and the configuration of the fire alarm and detection systems with regard to their required safety function.

ONR subsequently wrote to AWE requesting an improvement programme to address these matters, and has since been monitoring AWE’s progress against a comprehensive improvement programme agreed between ONR and AWE. AWE advised ONR in October 2015 that the improvement programme had been completed. This was confirmed by ONR following an intervention in December 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to promote Welsh literature in the UK.

Mr Edward Vaizey

Arts Council England funds organisations nationwide including National Portfolio Organisations offering high quality creative and professional training to writers, particularly aimed at emerging talent and funds and supports individual writers/literature via the Grants for the Arts funding scheme.

Literature Wales is the national company for the promotion and development of literature in Wales, and works with the support of the Arts Council of Wales and Welsh Government. Literature Wales receives an annual revenue grant from the Arts Council of Wales as well as a subsidy from the Arts Council’s Lottery Funds

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the UN Secretary General on the supply of arms and other military equipment sales to Saudi Arabia.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), has had no discussions with the UN Secretary General on the supply of arms and other military equipment sales to Saudi Arabia.