Tag: Paul Flynn

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-07-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what dates the no-fly zones around nuclear facilities have been violated since May 2010; and what steps his Department has taken to ensure such violations do not occur in future.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) maintains a complaint log for three years. Since June 2011, it has received 12 complaints from onsite Security Guards about aircraft which they believe may have overflown their respective sites at low level. 　 The dates of these incidents were:

12/06/2011	25/07/2012	25/08/2013
14/06/2011	02/01/2013	09/09/2013
24/06/2011	14/01/2013	03/10/2013
17/08/2011	15/08/2013	21/05/2014

All these recorded incidents were investigated, but due to a lack of evidence the only case which led to a successful prosecution occurred on 25 August 2013 and involved the use of a small unmanned aerial vehicle.

The need to report to the CAA all aircraft which appear to be low flying is written in the nuclear site’s security procedures manual. 　The successful prosecution demonstrates that the CAA investigates all such reported incidents and that it will take enforcement action when there is sufficient evidence available.　In addition, both the CAA and the Department for Energy and Climate Change seek to learn what they can from the investigations into reported incidents.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if he will publish all documentation relating to the nuclear power investment signed with the Prime Minister of China covering Chinese state companies on 17 June 2014; and if he will publish all subsequent documentation.

Michael Fallon

On June 17 2014, the UK and China signed the Joint Statement on Civil Nuclear Energy Co-operation. DECC was also a co-signatory to the Memorandum of Understanding on Enhancing Co-operation in the Field of Civil Nuclear Industry Fuel Cycle Supply Chain. Both documents are online at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/multimillion-boost-to-uk-economy-as-china-and-uk-government-sign-civil-nuclear-agreement-and-sign-agreement-to-deepen-cooperation-on-climate-change

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

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish the names of individuals with whom HM Revenue and Customs has reached an out of court agreement to settle cases of tax evasion that came to light as a result of information from HSBC’s Swiss branch; and what the amount of tax evaded was in each case.

Mr David Gauke

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) can only name taxpayers in specific instances. The rules governing HMRC’s entitlement to publish details of deliberate defaulters are set out in Section 94 Finance Act 2009.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assistance the UK has given to the developments of the SESAME (Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East) project; and what collaborative scientific research projects the UK supports between Israel, Iran and the Palestinian Authority.

Greg Clark

The UK became an observer member of the SESAME Interim Council in 2001. Professor Samar Hasnain of Liverpool University has represented the UK Government at the SESAME Council, following his appointment in 2004. The Government has provided funding since 2008/9 to Professor Samar Hasnain to support his role as the UK’s representative on the SESAME council as follows:

– 2008/9 – 2013/14: £15k per annum

– Additional funding of £22k per annum was recently approved following a review of the project for the financial years 2014/15 – 2015/16

Professor Samar Hasnain in his role as an observer undertakes various activities on behalf of the Government for the progress of SESAME including:

– Representing the Government at the Interim Council meetings

– Producing an annual report on SESAME and its benefits to the UK; and

– Spreading awareness of the existence and desirability of SESAME to existing and potential SESAME member countries.

He is also an active member of the Science Advisory Committee which meets twice a year.

This Department does not currently fund any other collaborative scientific research projects between Israel, Iran and the Palestinian Authority.

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.