Tag: Richard Burden

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-12-16.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the dates were of all meetings between July and November 2015 of the Cabinet Sub-committee on airports.

Mr Oliver Letwin

In line with previous answers on this topic, information relating to the proceedings of Cabinet Committees, including when and how often they meet, and which Ministers have attended, is generally not disclosed as to do so could harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-01-13.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what (a) discussions he has had with the Cooperative Bank and (b) what representations he has received on its decision to close bank accounts belonging to groups campaigning on matters relating to Israel and Palestine; and if he will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin

Treasury Ministers and officials receive representations and have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.

Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the recommendations for increasing the training and employment of UK seafarers in the Maritime Futures report by Professor Helen Sampson of Cardiff University, published in January 2015.

Mr Robert Goodwill

A number of recommendations made within the Maritime Futures report were put forward in the call for evidence for the Department’s Maritime Growth Study and the Department has taken forward a number of those.

The Department provides support for the training of officers and ratings through the £15m Support for Maritime Training (SMarT) scheme. A company or group which elects for the Tonnage Tax is required, each year, to recruit one new officer trainee for every fifteen officer posts in its fleet. Following a proposal from the UK Chamber of Shipping, RMT and Nautilus to allow companies to recruit and train three able seafarer ratings in place of one trainee officer, a pilot to allow ratings to be counted against the training commitment started on 1^st October 2015.

Apprenticeships are at the heart of the Government’s drive to give people of all ages the skills employers need to grow and compete. Maritime is a key part of this with the Maritime Trailblazer which is employer led and has one approved standard for deck ratings and a further three in development for maritime mechanic, maritime caterer and onboard services.

The UK government’s position on island cabotage remains unchanged but this is kept under constant review. At present those providing such services remain significant employers of UK seafarers.

UK seafarers working for UK companies on a UK flagged vessel are not entitled to an exemption to national insurance payments. They may, however, benefit from the Seafarers Earning Reductions tax relief for income tax.

An ‘in personum’ approach to the application of national minimum wage is preferred as it ensures that those who are entitled to it will benefit. International law prevents the UK from interfering in the ‘internal market’ of a vessel, this includes wages, and is applicable to those vessels visiting or operating out of UK ports. HMRC is responsible for NMW enforcement and the government takes non-compliance of the legislation very seriously.

The Carter Report was commissioned under a previous administration and was already considered at the time of the drafting of the Equality Act 2011 (Work on Ships and Hovercraft) 2012 regulations.

The Maritime Growth Study, chaired by Lord Mountevans, was published on 7 September 2015 and contained a number of recommendations for government and industry on skills, including to help maintain the UK’s future supply of seafarers. The Government formally respond to the Study in December 2015 accepting all the recommendations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Syrian opposition to encourage their participation in the Geneva peace talks; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We are in regular contact with the Syrian opposition. The Foreign Secretary spoke to Riad Hijab, Chair of the Syrian Higher Negotiations Commission (HNC) on 29 January, expressing his support for the HNC and highlighting the importance of their participation in negotiations. Our Special Envoy for Syria and his team are currently in Geneva alongside other international partners, supporting the opposition and engaging with the UN.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2016 to Question 24915, which potential employment protections would protect seafarers from nationality-based pay discrimination.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Both the Equality Act 2010 (Work on Ships and Hovercraft) Regulations 2011 and the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 (with the section pertaining to seafarers currently under review by BIS) offer protection from nationality-based pay discrimination.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2016 to Question 25769, on aviation: emergencies, whether he has received recent reports of further developments relating to the unplanned emergency landing of American Airlines flight AA109 at Heathrow.

Mr Robert Goodwill

I received no further reports relating to the flight in question.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent representations he has received on faulty tumble dryers causing fires; and when his Department was first made aware of safety concerns related to such tumble dryers.

Anna Soubry

Manufacturers, distributors and retailers are legally required to inform their Local Authority Trading Standards Department if they have placed unsafe products on the market under the General Product Safety Regulations 1995. Trading Standards work with the businesses concerned to manage any corrective actions accordingly.

In December 2015, Trading Standards made my Department aware of the safety concerns relating to particular brands of tumble dryer, as part of the formal notification procedure of the EU Rapid Alert system for unsafe products. In addition, my Department has received correspondence from consumers of these products, who have been directed to Trading Standards.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of Syrian refugees resettled under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Programme were previously resident in another country before Syria.

Richard Harrington

We do not monitor whether a resettled person has ever previously been resident in another country apart from Syria and their host country. All refugees resettled under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement (VPR) Scheme are Syrian nationals.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees identifies and proposes Syrian refugees for the VPR scheme from among the whole of the registered refugee population in the region, over 4 million people. This includes people in formal refugee camps, informal settlements and host communities in Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what research his Department has commissioned on the effect of a drone strike on a commercial aircraft.

Mr Robert Goodwill

I refer the Honourable Member to my answer given on 4 March UIN 29156 (http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=QuestionsWithAnswersOnly&house=commons%2clords&uin=29156).

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to ensure that Highways England (HE) has agreed contingency plans with each local authority for the management of major incidents in their areas; how many local authorities have agreed a contingency plan with HE; and how many local authorities have not yet agreed such a plan with HE.

Andrew Jones

Highways England has a Crisis Management Manual which provides protocols for the management of the response for incidents that significantly affect the strategic road network.

Highways England is in the process of developing partnership agreements with 120 Local Authorities. So far, 65 partnership agreements have been sent out to Local Authorities. These include protocols for agreeing and using diversion routes when a section of the network has to be closed.

The vast majority of these authorities accept the principles of the agreement, but in some cases specific local issues need to be resolved and Highways England is engaged with those authorities to resolve them. However, it should be noted that a partnership agreement or otherwise would not adversely interfere with Highways England and Local Authorities working cooperatively in an emergency.

As a Category 2 responder in the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, Highways England participates in Local Resilience Forums and contributes to the development of multi-agency plans for the response to Major Incidents (led by Category 1 responders).