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Tag: Paul Flynn

  • Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent reports he has received of changes in the number of Moroccan troops along the Berm in Western Sahara from the levels specified in the 1991 agreement.

    Hugh Robertson

    In its 2014 report to the UN Security Council, the UN peacekeeping operation in Western Sahara (MINURSO) recorded that the estimated number of troops along the Berm has not recently changed. It also states that this number is believed to exceed the provisions of the 1991 agreement.

  • Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-03-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps the Government plans to take to deliver the commitments on nuclear security contained in paragraph 21 of the Hague Nuclear Security Summit Communiqué of the Nuclear Security Summit held in the Hague on 24 and 25 March 2014 to keep the national stockpile of separated plutonium to the minimum level.

    Michael Fallon

    The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has published strategies for the management of spent Magnox and Oxide fuel; it is from these spent fuels that plutonium is separated. These strategies are aligned with UK Government policy and their implementation is expected to see cessation of reprocessing in Magnox and THORP facilities during this decade.

    With respect to Magnox fuel, the intent is to reprocess all of it. Only a finite amount of Magnox fuel remains, which limits the amount of further separated plutonium that could be produced from reprocessing. Reprocessing is the only approved process for managing this metal fuel.

    With respect to Oxide Fuel management, an NDA paper sets out the strategy which is to complete the reprocessing contracts in THORP, as far as is reasonably practicable, and place the remaining fuel and any future arisings into interim storage pending disposal. The paper can be found at http://www.nda.gov.uk/documents/upload/Oxide-Fuels-Preferred-Options-June-2012.pdf

    Both these strategies see the amount of plutonium separated in the future being limited in line with national requirements.

    “

  • Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if her Department will provide support to the Bright Green Energy Group for distributing solar energy systems to rural communities in Bangladesh.

    Lynne Featherstone

    DFID recognises the important role that the private sector plays in developing and delivering products to increase access to energy in poor countries. DFID make funding available to energy in Africa. This includes the Renewable Energy and Adaptation to Climate Change (REACT) window of the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund.

  • Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the (a) net and (b) gross administration charges for the national insurance pension scheme were in each of the last 10 years.

    Steve Webb

    The Department for Work and Pensions administers the national insurance pension scheme (State Retirement Pension) and fully recovers its administrative costs from the National Insurance Fund operated by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC). The net cost to the Department of administering the national insurance pension scheme is therefore zero.

    At the start of each financial year, costs are calculated on the basis of latest workload forecasts and the most recent audited unit costs. The amount to be recovered is then agreed with HMRC.

    Costs recovered from the National Insurance Fund in relation to administration costs for the national insurance pension scheme were as follows:

    Year Amount

    £ millions

    2007-08 504.5

    2008-09 391.9

    2009-10 390.3

    2010-11 348.6

    2011-12 221.6

    2012-13 252.6

    2013-14 246.9

    2014-15 209.9

    Prior to 2007 the charge was not calculated on a benefit by benefit basis and therefore we do not hold any details of costs recovered from the National Insurance Fund relating specifically to the national insurance pension scheme.

  • Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-04-01.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Royal College of Pathologists on the effects on human and animal safety of reductions in the number of national pathology laboratories from 14 to 7; and if he will publish the impact assessment produced by his Department on such a plan.

    George Eustice

    Animal Health Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) and Defra have met with the Royal College of Pathologists, to discuss the new Surveillance model, on four separate occasions between September 2012 and the introduction of changes to the Surveillance model on 1 April 2014.

    A formal impact assessment was not required for this work because it does not involve a change in regulation. Submission into the scanning surveillance system is a voluntary activity that has no regulatory aspect. However the ‘Changes to the delivery of Veterinary Scanning Surveillance in England and Wales, December 2013′ document published on the AHVLA website does consider the impact of the changes, recognises that there are negative impacts (e.g. some farms will be further from an AHVLA Post Mortem facility) but concludes that these are outweighed by the benefit of having stronger national centres of excellence and a better coordinated network of support from private practices.

  • Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-04-30.

    To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his oral Answer of 30 April 2014, Official Report, column 824, what the evidential basis is for the statement that nuclear power is carbon-free.

    Mr David Cameron

    There is a strong consensus in the global scientific community that nuclear energy represents one of the lowest carbon forms of baseload electricity generation.

    The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that the life cycle emissions associated with the generation of electricity from nuclear power groups are 16g CO2 per kWh electricity produced. This is very low compared to the equivalent figure for electricity produced by natural gas turbines, which is in excess of 400g CO2/kWh, and similar to the IPCC’s estimate for widespread non-baseload form of electricity generation, such as wind.

    The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology report ‘Carbon Footprint of Electricity Generation’ states that the operation of the nuclear power station accounts for less than 1% of the total life cycle emissions of nuclear electricity generation.

  • Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-06-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much has been paid in overtime and other costs incurred in the last three weeks due to changes in HM Passport Office.

    James Brokenshire

    The precise information requested by the Hon Member is not available. Overtime
    payments to staff are recorded by the month in which payment is made. In May
    2014, Her Majesty’s Passport Office incurred overtime costs of £964,742.

  • Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-03-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions his Department has had with the United States Department of Defense (USDoD) in respect of the installation by BT of a special communications system to link RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire with the USDoD headquarters in Washington DC and the US Africa headquarters for unmanned aircraft operations in Djibouti.

    Mr Mark Francois

    The installation of US communications systems at RAF Croughton is a matter for the United States Visiting Forces. No discussions have taken place in respect to the installation by BT of a special communications system to link RAF Croughton with the Department of Defence headquarters in the US, and US Forces in Djibouti.

  • Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether any restrictions exist in (a) Wales, (b) Scotland and (c) Northern Ireland on upland farms contaminated by radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear accident in April 1986.

    Jane Ellison

    I have been asked to reply.

    There are no longer any restrictions in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland on upland farms contaminated by radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear accident. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) previously restricted the movement of sheep in certain upland areas to prevent sheep with higher levels of contamination entering the food chain. Over time, controls were removed where the evidence showed they were no longer necessary. All remaining controls were lifted in Northern Ireland in 2000, in Scotland in 2010 and in Wales in 2012. Similarly, the final controls in England were lifted in 2012.

    Information on the historic controls and the decision to remove restrictions can be found on the FSA website:

    www.food.gov.uk/science/research/radiologicalresearch/radiosurv/chernobyl/

  • Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the annual income from the carrier bag levy in the four years from October 2015.

    Dan Rogerson

    The estimated gross revenue from the charge in England is set out in the table below:

    Calendar year

    2015

    2016

    2017

    2018

    Revenue

    £22.1million

    £110.5million

    £112million

    £113.5million

    The Government expects retailers covered by the charge to deduct reasonable costs from the revenue raised and use the remaining part for good causes. VAT will be included in the 5p charge.

    No profits generated from this charge goes to the Government.