Tag: Paul Flynn

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he plans to require companies registered in the British Virgin Islands to publish details of all significant and beneficial owners and to place all such information on an online searchable register.

James Duddridge

Our priority for all the Overseas Territories that function with financial centres such as the British Virgin Islands has been for them to hold accurate and current beneficial ownership information on island in central registers or the equivalent, where they do not already do so, and to allow for UK law enforcement to access that information. The arrangement signed with the British Virgin Islands achieves this and represents a significant step forward in our ability to counter criminal activity and should be welcomed.

As the Prime Minister, the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) said in the House on 11 April, only about three countries in the world, including Britain, are implementing publically accessible central registers of company beneficial ownership information. If we had tried to push that on to the British Virgin Islands and other Overseas Territories straightaway, we would not have got nearly as far as we have. The actions taken by the British Virgin Islands and the other Overseas Territories puts them well ahead of many of our international partners.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-04-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what research her Department has commissioned on the particular challenges of implementing cyber security to cover small modular reactors (SMRs); and whether the recently announced competition for research on SMRs includes research on cyber security.

Andrea Leadsom

Any nuclear reactor or facility proposed for deployment in the UK is subject to regulation. Therefore, any small modular reactor (SMR) design proposed for construction would undergo safety, security and environmental design assessment, including an assessment of cyber security.

Ensuring safety and security is the legal duty of operators and safety and security at all nuclear sites are kept under regular review. The UK’s independent regulator, the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), carries out inspections to ensure operators are fulfilling their duties and that robust safety and security measures are in place across the industry.

DECC is working with ONR to ensure that the regulatory regime is fit for any possible future deployment of SMRs. DECC is currently developing the detail of the programme that will be taken forward as part of the £250m nuclear innovation, research and development funding announced by my rt. hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer at the Autumn Statement. The recommendations and advice of the Nuclear Innovation and Research Advisory Board and key stakeholders will be taken into account in the process.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-05-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many armed forces personnel are not registered to vote in the EU referendum; and what steps his Department is taking to improve accessibility to register for that vote for armed forces personnel.

Mark Lancaster

The number of Service personnel who are registered to vote was published in the 2016 Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey (AFCAS), Table B22.1-3:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/armed-forces-continuous-attitude-survey-2016

The Department takes a number of steps each year, with assistance from the Electoral Commission, to inform Service personnel of the arrangements for electoral registration. The annual information campaign encouraging Service personnel and their families to register to vote was launched on 1 February 2016, in conjunction with the National Voter Registration Drive. We have issued an updated, separate instruction for the EU Referendum and are conducting further internal communications to once again encourage Service personnel to register to vote.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what estimate he has made of the net benefit to the Welsh economy of the steel to be used in the construction of the Hinkley C nuclear power plant.

Alun Cairns

The UK Government does not hold the specific figures requested. The decision to proceed with the first new nuclear power station for a generation will provide a huge boost to the regional economy including South Wales. Construction at the Hinkley site will provide 26,000 jobs and apprenticeships, and 64% of the project’s costs will be spent in the UK.

Welsh companies are already taking advantage of the opportunities this project presents, for example, Express Reinforcements in South Wales was given preferred bidder status for a £100m contract to supply 200,000 tonnes of reinforcing steel for the project.

I would encourage businesses in Wales to register with EDF in order to take advantage of upcoming supply chain opportunities.

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 plans she has to extend badger vaccination schemes in 2017.

George Eustice

There have been a number of private badger vaccination initiatives in England over the last three years, some of which have received Defra grant funding. Resumption in Defra-supported vaccination in 2017 will depend on the availability of the vaccine, current supplies of which are being prioritised by the Government for public health use.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Government applied to the European Commission globalisation adjustment fund to secure support funding for the British steel industry plants recently closed or under threat of closure.

Priti Patel

The European Globalisation Fund (EGF) provides a financial contribution for active labour market measures, aimed at reintegrating those made or at risk of being made redundant in the labour market.

Member States are responsible in the first instance for tackling trade adjustment redundancies – the fund is therefore designed to add to national, regional and local assistance.

The UK already offers a broad range of personalised support to workers made redundant through its Rapid Response Service and Jobcentre Plus, which could not be duplicated or substituted by EGF.

The Rapid Response Service and the Jobcentre Plus Core Offer are effective reintegration tools which represent good value for money and are our primary and most effective means of response to support the industry.

In addition to this, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has also announced packages of support worth up to £80 million for SSI in Redcar and up to £9 million for TATA Steel in Scunthorpe.

Only if more support is necessary other suitable sources of support will be considered.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of potential savings to the NHS arising from an expansion of the availability of Take-Home Naloxone.

Jane Ellison

No estimate has been made of the potential savings to the National Health Service arising from expanding the availability of take-home naloxone.

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs’ ‘Consideration of naloxone’ (2012) reported that there is a lack of published research on the cost-effectiveness of naloxone provision and said that naloxone provision in local areas would be a local decision including an assessment of its cost-effectiveness.

To help local areas introduce effective and efficient take-home services, Public Health England published advice on promoting wider availability of naloxone to reduce overdose deaths in February 2015.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of a ban on snares.

Rory Stewart

Policy on wildlife management issues including snares is a devolved matter so I can only speak for England.

In 2012 Defra published research on the extent of use and humaneness of snares in England and Wales. This research included an analysis of the issues covered by the code. Ministers are currently considering options.

Defra and its agencies do not use snares on their property.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the government of Saudi Arabia on the reaffirmation in UN Security Council Resolution 2199 (2015) of 12 February 2015 of its Resolution 1373 (2001) on matters including the prevention and suppression of financing of terrorist acts.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

All UN Member States, including Saudi Arabia, are subject to the terms of UN Security Council Resolutions 2199 and 1373 and the UK consistently calls on all nations to fully implement these in multilateral and bilateral meetings. Saudi Arabia is a member of the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force which conducts evaluations of its members to assess compliance with the international standard. A Financial Action Task Force report on terrorist financing published on 16 November 2015 noted that since 2010, Saudi Arabia had achieved the highest number of terrorist financing convictions out of the 33 jurisdictions who had achieved a conviction.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the most recent review of the emergency response arrangements for a radiation emergency involving the nuclear warhead convoy was completed.

Mr Philip Dunne

The Ministry of Defence emergency response arrangements are subject to a continuous process of review through a regular series of exercises which test the effectiveness of the response. The most recent exercise took place on 12 November 2015.