Tag: Paul Flynn

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information her Department holds on the number of people who have undertaken (a) training and (b) refresher training approved by her Department on humane shooting of badgers in each of the last three years.

George Eustice

1. Natural England does not hold figures for the number of operators who have been trained to undertake licensed action but does know how many are trained and are licensed. Industry organisations are responsible for running the training courses and Natural England only holds the number of trained operators who were put forward by the control companies, and subsequently become authorised to undertake licensed action. For 2016, over the 10 licensed areas, 1446 operators are authorised to carry out badger culling (latest figures: 17/10/16).

2. Natural England does not hold figures for the number of operators who attended refresher training. All operators who have been licensed in a previous year to undertake controlled shooting of badgers and who wish to be licensed again for the current year must attend refresher training. Industry organisations are responsible for undertaking refresher training. Natural England holds confirmation that each of these operators has attended refresher training.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent estimate he has made of the number of graduates who are (a) unemployed and (b) not in high-skilled jobs.

Joseph Johnson

The Department publishes labour market statistics for English domiciled graduates and postgraduates relative to non-graduates as part of the Graduate Labour Market Statistics series. The latest figures refer to the quarter from April to June 2015 and are available at the link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/graduate-labour-market-statistics-april-to-june-2015

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

To ask the Prime Minister, what recent discussions he has had with President Xi of China on joint multilateral initiatives the UK and China can take towards nuclear disarmament.

Mr David Cameron

During last month’s State Visit, President Xi Jinping and I discussed the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s nuclear programme, and the importance of working together to halt its progress. The UK also engages with China on multilateral disarmament, and a range of nuclear disarmament issues, through the mechanism of the P5 Dialogue.

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

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make it his policy to end civil service performance quotas.

Mr Oliver Letwin

This Government is fully committed to delivering its manifesto. This is why we have introduced the Single Departmental Plans as a new framework for performance tracking. Single departmental plans will replace departmental Business Plans and are currently being finalised by departments. Single Departmental Plans will set out each department’s priority objectives, and the key programmes and policies that will deliver these. They will be published on gov.uk, allowing the public to track progress against a number of performance indicators. Single Departmental Plans are owned by departments and have been designed by Cabinet Office and HM Treasury working in partnership. Officials have been actively engaging with departments to ensure that the plans provide a complete picture of the measures this Government is taking to deliver its commitments.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 4.66 of the National Security Strategy and the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, what criteria he has for determining the minimum amount of destructive power needed to deter any aggressor.

Michael Fallon

The Government continually conducts assessments to ensure that the UK maintains a minimum, credible nuclear deterrent capability.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he expects to publish the Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator’s Annual Report for 2014-15.

Mr Philip Dunne

The Defence Safety Authority Annual Assurance Report (AAR) 2014-15 was published on 1 December 2015. This was informed, in part, by the Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator’s AAR for 2014-15 which is expected to be published in early 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-12-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies on climate change of the recently published report by the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition, entitled Executive Guide to Carbon Pricing Leadership.

Andrea Leadsom

The Government welcomes the report produced by the World Bank’s Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition and its aim to encourage businesses to take up carbon pricing initiatives. The UK is strongly committed to carbon pricing as a policy tool to allow carbon emissions to be reduced at least cost. The Government has encouraged businesses to recognise the cost of carbon in decision-making by pressing for reforms to strengthen the EU Emissions Trading System as well as pursuing other market-based policy approaches. We also support other countries to develop pricing models through our international outreach and projects.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what special measures he has taken to provide assistance to rough sleepers in areas affected by floods in Lancashire and Cumbria.

Mr Marcus Jones

My rt. hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer (George Osborne) announced on 9 December that the Government has made £51 million available through the Communities and Business Recovery Scheme to help local authorities impacted by Storm Desmond to recover. The Scheme is designed to provide ready support to those local authorities to, in turn, help individuals, businesses and communities return to normality. Where local authorities judge that rough sleepers are in need of assistance, they can use the funding for that purpose. The funding can also be used to provide temporary accommodation for any family made homeless.

The Government remains committed to protecting the most vulnerable in society. That is why since 2010 we’ve invested more than £500 million to prevent and tackle homelessness in England. But even one person without a home is one too many, which is why we have committed in the Spending Review to increase central investment over the next four years to £139 million for innovative programmes to prevent and reduce homelessness and rough sleeping. We are also maintaining and protecting homelessness prevention funding for local authorities, through the provisional local government finance settlement totalling £315 million by 2019/20.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of implementing the Natural England report, Vital Uplands, published in 2009, in respect of restoration of deep upland vegetation to control hillside water run-off and valley flooding.

Rory Stewart

The Vital Uplands report of 2009 was withdrawn by the previous Natural England Board and Management Team. Natural England, the Environment Agency, Defra and by academic institutions continue to closely monitor the complex science and evidence around upstream mitigation, through peatland, forestry and other natural measures. Some such measures have now been funded by the Government and piloted in schemes such as that in Pickering in Yorkshire. Natural upstream mitigation will be a key element of our planning at a catchment level, currently being taken forward through the Cumbrian Floods Partnership and our 25-year Environment Plan.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-01-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information the Government holds on whether blueprints of (a) UK Magnox reactor designs and (b) URENCO uranium enrichment plant designs have been used by North Korea to manufacture plutonium and highly enriched uranium as fissile materials for use in its nuclear warhead programme.

Mr Hugo Swire

We remain deeply concerned by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) development of a nuclear programme. We do not know whether the DPRK, in the development of its reactor, drew upon UK Magnox reactor designs which were made public in the 1950s and 60s. While the DPRK has made frequent public statements regarding its nuclear capabilities and WMD development, it provides little substantive information on the precise nature of those capabilities. UN Security Council Resolutions prohibit the provision of technical training, advice, services or assistance related to the manufacture of the DPRK’s nuclear-related programmes; the UK strongly supports international efforts to uphold this provision to prevent the proliferation of WMD.