Tag: Paul Flynn

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the evidential basis is for the Prime Minister’s statement to the press of 21 October 2015 that Hinkley Point nuclear power station will produce reliable and affordable electricity.

Andrea Leadsom

Nuclear power is a proven technology which can provide large quantities of electricity continuously, reliably and predictably. Our analysis suggests Hinkley Point C will be cost-competitive with the other technologies that can be deployed at scale in the 2020s and that it will help provide affordable base load power to complement other low-carbon sources that we need to decarbonise the power sector by 2050.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government has taken to trace the sources of financial support for (a) ISIS and (b) other terrorist networks.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The UK has led efforts to create and enforce an international legal regime to cut off support, including financial support, for Daesh and other terrorist groups. This regime is underpinned by UN Security Council Resolutions 2178 (on foreign fighters), 2199 (on squeezing Daesh’s funding sources) and 1267 (which imposes sanctions on individuals and groups associated with Al-Qaida and its affiliates, including Daesh). We are actively involved with Global Coalition partners in identifying companies and individuals that breach any aspect of this regime, including the financial ones.

UK law enforcement agencies have a well established and sophisticated system for investigating and shutting off sources of finance for terrorists, including Daesh. The Government also works closely with the private sector to crack down on terrorist-related money laundering.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Prime Minister, with reference to pages 12 and 13 of his response to the Second Report from the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, on the Extension of Offensive Military Operations to Syria, HC 457, what specific steps have been taken through the Financial Action Task Force and Egmont Groups to block funding of ISIS.

Mr David Cameron

The Financial Actions Task Force (FATF) report on ‘Financing of the Terrorist Organisation ISIL’ (Feb 2015) sets out specific measures which countries should adopt, over and above general measures designed to block terrorist financing, to ensure Daesh cannot access the international financial system. The FATF conducted a report for the G20 Leaders in November 2015 on implementation. They found almost all 194 jurisdictions had criminalised terrorist financing and 90% of jurisdictions had a legal framework to enforce sanctions. There were 33 jurisdictions which had secured convictions for terrorist financing.

The Egmont Group comprises 151 members, including the UK, USA, France and regional partners such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar and Lebanon. In June 2015 the Group expanded its membership; 42 new bilateral agreements to exchange information were announced to help combat global money laundering and terrorist threats. The Group also issued a communication to its members in June 2015 regarding Daesh which encouraged members to use its unique global network to combat Daesh money laundering and financing by increasing international cooperation, including the exchange of information.

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 UK Trade and Investment staff worked in each of the industrial sectors on 1 April 2015; and what the budget for each such sector is in 2015-16.

Anna Soubry

UK Trade & Investment supports eleven sectors, and other priority sectors, such as creative industries and the information economy.

We are working with a number of other Government departments to ensure companies of all sectors are represented in Government efforts overseas.

The table below shows the number of staff on 1 April 2015 and the most recent budget information for our core sector teams and investment organisations.

Staff	Budget, £m
Consumer, Retail & E-exporting	11	5.7
Creative Industries & Global Sports & Construction	25	3.1
UKTI Education	8	1.0
Energy & Transport	27	3.7
Healthcare UK	13	1.6
Information Economy	16	2.9
Advanced Manufacturing	8	1.2
UKTI Agri-Tech Organisation	3	1.2
UKTI Automotive Investment Organisation	5	1.7
UKTI Financial Services Organisation	8	1.7
Innovation Gateway	7	1.3
UKTI Life Science Organisation	9	2.2
UKTI Offshore Wind Investment Organisation	2	1.1
UKTI Regeneration Investment Organisation	1	1.4

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 resources were committed by the UK at the COP21 climate conference in Paris to help developing countries pay for repairing damage from extreme weather events caused by climate change.

Andrea Leadsom

The Paris Agreement recognises the importance of averting, minimising and addressing loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change, including extreme weather events and slow onset events, and the role of sustainable development in reducing the risk of loss and damage. The UK is already taking action to support insurance mechanisms that provide financial support in the event of an extreme weather event. For example, we support the G7 initiative that aims to increase by up to 400 million the number of people in the most vulnerable developing countries who have access to direct or indirect insurance coverage against the negative impact of climate change related hazards by 2020.The UK contribution to these rapid actions includes support for (i) the Africa Risk Capacity initiative and (ii) the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Assessment and Financing Initiative (PCRAFI). Other UK-supported actions are contributing to the G7 Initiative’s overall aims.

Her Majesty’s Government maintains the capacity to respond to humanitarian emergencies wherever they occur in the world.

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 investigation conducted by the Office for Nuclear Regulation into the operability and availability of fire detection systems at the Atomic Weapons Establishment has been completed.

Justin Tomlinson

The investigation conducted by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) into the operability and availability of fire detection systems at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) was completed in August 2014.

The investigation was instigated after AWE reported two events to ONR during February 2014 related to fire alarm and detection system failures, one concerning a facility at the Aldermaston site and the other a facility at the Burghfield site. Investigations of these events by AWE uncovered a configuration issue with a system in a third facility.

ONR’s investigation identified concerns regarding the competency of the maintainers, the delivery and recording of the maintenance and the configuration of the fire alarm and detection systems with regard to their required safety function.

ONR subsequently wrote to AWE requesting an improvement programme to address these matters, and has since been monitoring AWE’s progress against a comprehensive improvement programme agreed between ONR and AWE. AWE advised ONR in October 2015 that the improvement programme had been completed. This was confirmed by ONR following an intervention in December 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to promote Welsh literature in the UK.

Mr Edward Vaizey

Arts Council England funds organisations nationwide including National Portfolio Organisations offering high quality creative and professional training to writers, particularly aimed at emerging talent and funds and supports individual writers/literature via the Grants for the Arts funding scheme.

Literature Wales is the national company for the promotion and development of literature in Wales, and works with the support of the Arts Council of Wales and Welsh Government. Literature Wales receives an annual revenue grant from the Arts Council of Wales as well as a subsidy from the Arts Council’s Lottery Funds

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the UN Secretary General on the supply of arms and other military equipment sales to Saudi Arabia.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), has had no discussions with the UN Secretary General on the supply of arms and other military equipment sales to Saudi Arabia.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assistance has been (a) asked for and (b) provided to Israel to assist in (i) emergency planning in the event of a radiological incident and (ii) radioactive waste management at the Dimona nuclear plant in Israel.

Andrea Leadsom

The Department of Energy and Climate Change has not received any requests from, or provided assistance to, Israel on either emergency planning in the event of a radiological incident, or radioactive waste management at the Dimona nuclear plant.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-03-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations the Government has received in the case brought at the International Court of Justice in the Hague from 8 March 2016 by the Marshall Islands against the UK and other states on obligations concerning negotiations relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race and to nuclear disarmament.

Mr Hugo Swire

The Government received legal representations from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on 24 April 2014, when the Marshall Islands submitted their application. I met Tony deBrum, the then Marshall Islands Foreign Minister, in May 2014 to discuss the issue. The UK filed written objections to jurisdiction and admissibility with the Court in June 2015, and the Marshall Islands provided a written response to those objections in October 2015. Oral hearings on whether the case should proceed to the next phase in which the merits will be considered are currently underway at the ICJ in The Hague.