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 staff worked for the UK Trade and Investment Defence and Security Organisation on 1 April 2015; and what the budget of that organisation is for 2015-16.
Anna Soubry
At 1 April 2015 the UK Trade & Investment Defence and Security Organisation had 140 staff-in-post. As at 1 April the 2015-16 budget for UKTI DSO was £9.75M NET.
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 discussions her Department has had with the Arctic Methane Emergency Group on ways to mitigate methane emissions from disruption of methane hydrates caused by climate change in the Arctic.
Andrea Leadsom
The Department has had no such direct discussions with the Arctic Methane Emergency Group. The best practical way to limit methane emissions due to the destabilisation of methane hydrates is to keep the rise in global temperatures as low as possible. The UK government’s recent push to secure an ambitious global climate deal was rewarded on 12 December in Paris, where the world witnessed a historic step forward to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. A global agreement of 195 countries, including the world’s largest emitters, have now committed to hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels, recognizing that this would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change
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 Health and Safety Executive was notified of any cases of non-compliance with explosives labelling regulations at the Atomic Weapons Establishment during 2015 on which action was subsequently taken to address this situation.
Justin Tomlinson
No notifications of non-compliance with explosives labelling regulations were received from AWE during 2015, and therefore no regulatory action was required.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-01-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he visited the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January 2016, in his official capacity.
Mr Hugo Swire
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) did not attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse of the Defence Assistance Fund was in 2014-15.
Michael Fallon
The cost of the Defence Assistance Fund in financial year 2014-15 was £15.529 million.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-03-01.
To ask the Attorney General, what criteria he uses when deciding whether to make public legal advice made available to Government; and on what occasions such legal advice has been made public since May 2015.
Jeremy Wright
It is a longstanding constitutional convention, set out in the Cabinet Manual and the Ministerial Code, that the fact that the Law Officers have advised or have not advised, and the content of their advice, must not be disclosed without their authority. The convention exists for fundamental constitutional reasons and to promote the public interest in the Rule of Law. Whether the Law Officers have advised and the content of that advice is part of the collective Cabinet decision-making process. The convention reflects the public interest in collective Cabinet responsibility. It also reflects the fact that Law Officers’ advice is confidential legal advice and, as with all professional legal advice, it is subject to legal professional privilege. In addition, it acknowledges the feature of Law Officers’ advice which sets it apart from other legal advice, namely that it is sought in relation to issues of particular complexity, sensitivity and constitutional importance. It is a matter of constitutional importance that the provision of advice in these circumstances should be protected in the public interest.
A decision to disclose would require an exceptional countervailing public interest. No such case has arisen since May 2015.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-03-16.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 1.123 of the Budget 2016, whether the (a) proposed legislation to make it easier for local authorities to work together to create new garden towns and (b) consultation on a second wave of Compulsory Purchase Order reforms will apply to Wales.
Greg Hands
Housing and planning in Wales are the responsibility of the Welsh Government.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-04-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will publish the (a) agenda, (b) attendees and (c) matters discussed and decided at the forum on combatting weapons of mass destruction proliferation hosted by his Department in London on 12 April 2016.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
The Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) is a voluntary initiative, endorsed by 105 states, to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction. Of those states, 21 form the Operational Experts Group (OEG) who support the PSI by developing and disseminating best practice for all PSI endorsing states to draw on. OEG members meet annually, hosted this year by the UK. All OEG member states were represented at this year’s meeting.
The OEG discussed a wide range of issues, including current proliferation trends and challenges; transferrable skills and capacity building; intangible technology transfers; proliferation finance; aviation and shipping, including transit and trans-shipment; emerging threats; tools for capacity building and sharing best practice; legal issues; and outreach.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-04-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress has been made in rolling out Project Griffin to security managers in the private sector and what budget has been provided to the National Counter Terrorism Security Office to promote Project Griffin.
Mr John Hayes
Project Griffin is the national counter-terrorism awareness initiative for business produced by the National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO) to protect our cities and communities from the threat of terrorism. Since 2004, Project Griffin has held briefing events to increase public and staff awareness of how best to reduce and respond to the most likely types of terrorist activities.
In 2015-16 these events were delivered to around 100,000 individuals. On 20 April, NaCTSO launched a new Griffin initiative to offer organisations the opportunity to self-deliver this training, and further increase awareness.
The National Counter Terrorism Security Office is funded from the Counter Terrorism Policing Grant. We do not provide breakdowns of this funding for security reasons. As well as the work of the National Counter Terrorism Security Office, Project Griffin is promoted through a variety of other mechanisms including by police Counter Terrorism Security Advisers and Counter Terrorism Awareness Advisers, who are employed in every region to raise awareness with businesses of the terrorist threat, appropriate responses to take, and mitigation measures
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-06-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what information she has been provided by the Office for Nuclear Regulation to demonstrate the safety of Sizewell B nuclear plant restarting after in-service inspection of the reactor pressure vessel undertaken by EDF; and what assessment she has made of the implications for that process of hydrogen flaking present in the RPV Doel 3 and Tihange 2 reactors in Belgium.
Andrea Leadsom
During Sizewell B’s periodic shutdown, inspectors from the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) examined the Licensee’s arrangements for maintenance activities, reviewed test and inspection records and inspected the plant and equipment. A thorough examination (or in-service inspection) of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) was completed by EDF to confirm that it remains in good condition. An ONR team of technical specialists examined the results of the in-service inspections and they are satisfied that they demonstrate the continued integrity of the RPV and that the hydrogen flaking present in the Doel 3 and Tihange 2 reactors in Belgium is not evident at Sizewell B.
ONR inspectors did not identify any issues that would affect the safety case for the restart of the Sizewell B reactor and its safe operation up to the next planned statutory periodic shutdown in 2017, and issued clearance for it to restart on 31 May 2016. ONR expects to publish its Project Assessment Report, detailing this decision, on its website.