Tag: Paul Flynn

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-10-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the total cost to the public purse was of arrangements for the most recent visits to the UK by the (a) President of the US and (b) President of China.

James Duddridge

The full cost of inward State Visits is borne by a number of different Government Departments.

The cost borne by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for the 2011 State Visit by the President of the US was £395,095.

We do not yet have the costs for the 2015 State Visit by the President of China. These will be published on the gov.uk website once available.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-10-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the Care Quality Commission’s recent progress in meeting its inspection programme’s targets.

Ben Gummer

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care providers in England. The CQC is an executive non-departmental public body accountable to the Secretary of State for the efficient and effective discharge of its functions, duties and powers. The Department monitors CQC’s financial and operational performance and risks, including progress with recruitment of inspectors, at a general and strategic level through regular formal and informal accountability meetings. Ministers and the Permanent Secretary also hold regular meetings with the Chair and Chief Executive of the CQC and its Chief Inspectors.

The CQC has advised that it expects the inspections of NHS acute hospitals to be completed as planned by the end of March 2016 and the inspections of the remaining NHS Hospitals by June 2016. Further planning is required for the independent health sectors to enable the December 2016 commitments to be met.

The CQC is currently behind the planned trajectories to have rated all adult social care and general practitioners and out of hours services by 30 September 2016. The time it has taken to both recruit the required numbers of inspectors and to ensure they are fully trained to conduct inspections has contributed to the current position. The CQC is considering what steps it can take to bring the programme back on track.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-10-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has held with the Care Quality Commission’s Head of Inspection on the number of vacant posts in the Commission’s inspection teams.

Ben Gummer

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care providers in England. The CQC is an executive non-departmental public body accountable to the Secretary of State for the efficient and effective discharge of its functions, duties and powers. The Department monitors CQC’s financial and operational performance and risks, including progress with recruitment of inspectors, at a general and strategic level through regular formal and informal accountability meetings. Ministers and the Permanent Secretary also hold regular meetings with the Chair and Chief Executive of the CQC and its Chief Inspectors.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-10-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to increase the number of patients being offered a choice of outpatient facility by their GPs.

Ben Gummer

We are committed to giving patients more choice and control over their health care, as this can help drive up standards and improve patient care.

As set out in the Five Year Forward View, the health system is focused on embedding patient choice and, as part of this, NHS England is working to secure improvements in awareness and uptake of choice across physical and mental health services.

In addition, we have asked NHS England to come up with proposals, before the end of the year, to make sure there is choice and control over services offered in maternity and end-of-life care, as well as for those with long-term conditions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-10-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when she received the report by the group Together Against Sizewell C (TASC) Nuclear Power: New Evidence: a call for a full-scale statutory review of the Overarching National Policy Statement for Energy (EN-1); and what response she has made to the correspondents sending that report.

Andrea Leadsom

My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State received a copy of the report on 9 July 2015. The report was discussed with officials at a meeting of my department’s Nuclear NGO Forum on 21 July and it was agreed that a sub-group of the forum should be set up to discuss the Nuclear National Policy Statement. The Department wrote to Together Against Sizewell C (TASC) on 29 July confirming these arrangements. The subgroup will hold its first meeting next month.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-10-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many meetings her Department has had with Westinghouse officials to discuss the potential partnership between Westinghouse, interested nuclear industry partners and the Government on developing small modular nuclear reactors.

Andrea Leadsom

Officials within my Department have met Westinghouse on two occasions to receive their proposal on small modular reactors (SMRs). Receipt of this proposal was acknowledged by officials and it will be considered as part of Government’s wider work on SMRs which includes evidence building through the techno-economic assessment and engagement with SMR vendors where appropriate.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the annual budget is for the UK’s Centre of Nuclear Excellence.

Andrea Leadsom

The Centre of Nuclear Excellence is a Cumbrian partnership of public and private organisations which aims to maximise the benefit of the region’s nuclear capability and expertise for the local economy and UK as a whole. The organisations involved support the initiative’s work with in-kind contributions of manpower.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether the activities of the new UK-China joint research and innovation centre will be subject to oversight by (a) the Office for Nuclear Regulation and (b) her Department’s national nuclear stakeholder forum.

Andrea Leadsom

The Joint Research and Innovation Centre (JRIC) is envisaged to be the subject of a commercial agreement between the National Nuclear Laboratory and the Chinese National Nuclear Corporation.

These two organisations are still in the process of negotiating such an agreement and will need to consider details on the structures, funding, governance and accountability of the JRIC. As such, it is too early for Government to be able to comment on the outcomes of such a negotiation.

We continue to maintain an interest in developments of these discussions and will work, where appropriate, with our counterparts in the Chinese government to ensure that outcomes are mutually beneficial to the research landscape of both nations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether all projects undertaken in the new UK-China joint research and innovation centre will be subject to the (a) Freedom of Information Act 2000 and (b) Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

Andrea Leadsom

The Joint Research and Innovation Centre (JRIC) is envisaged to be the subject of a commercial agreement between the National Nuclear Laboratory and the Chinese National Nuclear Corporation.

These two organisations are still in the process of negotiating such an agreement and will need to consider details on the structures, funding, governance and accountability of the JRIC. As such, it is too early for Government to be able to comment on the outcomes of such a negotiation.

We continue to maintain an interest in developments of these discussions and will work, where appropriate, with our counterparts in the Chinese government to ensure that outcomes are mutually beneficial to the research landscape of both nations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what new departmental resources have been committed to support the UK-China joint research and innovation centre; which UK personnel have been appointed to this work to date; what process was followed in making those appointments; and where each such post was advertised.

Andrea Leadsom

The Joint Research and Innovation Centre (JRIC) is envisaged to be the subject of a commercial agreement between the National Nuclear Laboratory and the Chinese National Nuclear Corporation.

These two organisations are still in the process of negotiating such an agreement and will need to consider details on the structures, funding, governance and accountability of the JRIC. As such, it is too early for Government to be able to comment on the outcomes of such a negotiation.

We continue to maintain an interest in developments of these discussions and will work, where appropriate, with our counterparts in the Chinese government to ensure that outcomes are mutually beneficial to the research landscape of both nations.