Tag: Paul Flynn

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Saudi Arabian counterpart on human rights abuses in that country.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The British government regularly raises its human rights concerns with the Saudi Arabian authorities at the highest levels through Ministers, our Ambassador, and the Embassy team in Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia remains a Foreign & Commonwealth Office country of concern because of the human rights situation in the country, particularly on the use of the death penalty, restricted access to justice, restrictions on women’s rights, as well as on freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and freedom of religion or belief. We regularly make our views well known including through the UN Universal Periodic Review process and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s annual Human Rights and Democracy Report.

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

To ask the Prime Minister, under which conditions he can order the killing of a UK citizen resident abroad.

Mr David Cameron

The Government will always act in defence of the UK and in accordance with our legal obligations.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to reduce the incidences of non-payment of wages to seafarers working in (a) UK and (b) Europe.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The United Kingdom has ratified and transposed into domestic law the International Labour Organization’s Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC) which includes provisions on the payment of wages.

For UK registered ships other than those which are subject to the MLC, section 30 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 makes provision for the late payment of wages, and interest is payable on late sums under specified circumstances.

Enforcement is carried out by Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) surveyors (and any surveyors nominated by the MCA to carry out surveys and inspections) on UK registered ships in routine surveys and inspections, and, where applicable, on non-UK registered ships during port State Control inspections.

We are not aware of any incidents of non-payment of wages on board any UK registered vessels.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish all impact assessments his Department has made on privatising the Ministry of Justice Shared Services in Newport.

Mr Shailesh Vara

The Ministry of Justice are entering into detailed discussions with Shared Services Connected Limited (SSCL) regarding the future delivery of their back office services, with the intention of awarding a contract in August 2014. We expect this to bringincreased savings and efficiency in back-office functions, provide further benefits across wider Government and offer better value for money to the tax payer.

Prior to this decision, the two private sector options were compared against the option to remain a standalone organisation and assessed using evaluation criteria that considered IT, cost, staff impacts and the service to our customers. The assessments will not be published as they are commercially sensitive documents.

We will continue to work with staff, trade unions and other stakeholders to assess any impacts on staff.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will introduce legislative proposals to ensure social care workers and home care providers are paid costs for travel to clients, training and on-call time in addition to being paid for the time spent with those for whom they provide care.

Jo Swinson

The Government already makes clear in legislation and guidance that travel time between assignments should be paid at least the appropriate National Minimum Wage (NMW) rate. Whether a worker paid by the hour is entitled to the minimum wage for periods such as the time spent travelling between home and their first assignment and between their last assignment and home depends on the terms of their contract and whether they are working during that time. We have updated our guidance on the Gov.UK to make it clear that time spent travelling between assignments and rest breaks must be paid at least the NMW.

In relation to training, the NMW rules state that, where a worker is paid according to the number of hours they work, the NMW must be paid for all time spent training.

Workers who are required to be available to work, either on standby or on call, should also receive at least the NMW rate for this time, although there are exceptions in some circumstances.

We encourage any care sector worker who believes that they have been underpaid to make a complaint, using the free and confidential Pay & Work Rights Helpline on 0800 917 2368. HM Revenue & Customs investigate all complaints. In addition, they are currently undertaking proactive enforcement action into the six largest care providers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-07-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he received on the decision to give permission to the Russian company Rosoboronexport to exhibit its military technology at the Farnborough International Air show in July 2014.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

It is a commercial matter for Farnborough International Ltd (FIL) to whom they sell exhibition space, however the Prime Minister has not received any representations following their decision to allow Rosoboronexport to exhibit. In light of the continuing suspension of military cooperation with Russia, no representatives from the Russian government were issued with Her Majesty’s Government (HMG) invitations to the event. Russia was also removed from the list of countries eligible to use post-exhibition Open General Export Licenses (OGELs). The organisers also took the decision to ensure that no Russian military hardware was displayed and that there was no Russian military participation in the flying display.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy to regularly provide details on private sector bodies who collaborate with public sector bodies on projects which are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Simon Hughes

The Government already provides details of private sector bodies who work under contract with the Government. Since January 2011, as part of the Government’s transparency programme, details of contracts above the value of £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder:

https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will place in the Library a list of each of the parliamentary constituencies through which nuclear warheads are transported to and from RNAD Coulport, omitting all details of travel routes, times and frequencies.

Mr Philip Dunne

It is Ministry of Defence policy not to comment on the routes used to transport nuclear weapons as to do so would prejudice national security.

Annex A of the Local Authority and Emergency Services Information document, however, lists all local authorities that Defence nuclear material, including both nuclear weapons and special nuclear material, may travel through or fly over. The document is published on the Gov.uk website at the following link: www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-authority-emergency-services-information. The corresponding list of Parliamentary constituencies is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when his Department first learnt of the installation by Volkswagen of software to distort emissions tests on diesel vehicles; and what steps he took in response to that information.

Andrew Jones

The government first became aware of the installation of software fitted to Volkswagen vehicles to distort emissions tests following the announcement of the US Environmental Protection Agency investigation in the US on 18 September 2015.

In response, the Vehicle Certification Agency, the UK regulator, has started investigations to establish whether this affects other manufacturers.

As part of this work they will re-run laboratory tests where necessary and compare them against real world driving emissions.

The government have called on the EU to conduct a Europe wide investigation into whether there is evidence that cars here have been fitted with illegal defeat devices.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions on potential job losses in Newport took place between his Department, the Home Office and Steria prior to the decision to privatise the Ministry of Justice Shared Services.

Mr Shailesh Vara

The Ministry of Justice are entering into detailed discussions with Shared Services Connected Limited (SSCL) regarding the future delivery of their back office services, with the intention of awarding a contract in August 2014. We expect this to bring increased savings and efficiency in back-office functions, provide further benefits across wider Government and offer better value for money to the tax payer.

SSCL have stated their intention of providing 12 months job protection for all transferring staff from the point of transfer in October 2014. This means that there will be no compulsory redundancies during this period. No decisions have been made to close buildings and we expect all sites to remain open during this period.

Following the transfer of staff, services and IT, there will be a stabilisation stage during which SSCL will look at how the service is currently delivered. No decisions will be made until SSCL has had the opportunity to fully understand the operation.

We will continue to work with staff, trade unions and other stakeholders to assess any impacts on staff.