Tag: Tom Watson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2015-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance he has issued to local authorities about the use of (a) Twitter and (b) other social media to communicate with the public.

Kris Hopkins

Digital and social media are an effective and low-cost way of communicating with the public.

This Government has amended the law to strengthen the rights of the press and public to report and film council meetings using digital and social media. In August 2014, we published a plain English guide to help councils, the press and the public with these new rights.

We made clear that there is no prohibition on councillors from tweeting and blogging at meetings, and they should be able to do so provided it is not disruptive and does not detract from the proper conduct of the meeting.

Local authorities should have regard to the local government Publicity Code, which seeks to prevent the misuse of taxpayer-funded resources, including social media.

Notwithstanding, last June, Ministers challenged and criticised guidance to parish councils issued by the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) that sought to prevent elected councillors from issuing media comments without prior written permission of the council. NALC has now produced a new Media Policy Example that takes into account the new national rules on filming and recording at parish and town council meetings.

In December, we invited bids for local pilots to bring statutory notices into the 21^st Century. This could include supporting the increased use of digital and social media by councils and commercial partners, as one of the ways that such notices could be improved and reformed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-07-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the value is of duplicate supplier payments identified by her Department since 2010; and what proportion of such payments have since been recovered in each of the last two financial years.

Dr Andrew Murrison

My Department does not hold records of duplicate supplier payments. The system currently operating in the Northern Ireland Office registers invoice numbers and will not allow two invoices with the same reference number to be paid. To manually search through the invoices received and paid from 2010 to date would incur disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-06-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether Joint Services Publication 398 on UK Rules of Engagement has been amended to reflect use of remotely piloted aircraft systems.

Mr Mark Francois

JSP 398 was updated on 21 October 2013, replacing the previous 2004 edition. Rules of engagement govern how force can be applied in any given operation. They are not tailored to weapon system types per se, but are written to be applied as appropriate to the full spectrum of weapons systems available to UK Forces. Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) are governed by the same rules and regulations as any other weapons system; therefore the amendment of JSP 398 did not require any special provision to reflect the use of RPAS by UK Forces.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if his Department will carry out an independent qualitative assessment of the psychological and workplace stresses on the operators of remotely piloted air systems.

Mr Mark Francois

The Ministry of Defence currently has no plans to undertake an independent qualitative assessment of the psychological and workplace stresses on the operators of remotely piloted air systems.

The health and wellbeing of all of our Armed Forces personnel is of the utmost importance. We are mindful of the pressure and stresses that service personnel may be subjected to when supporting enduring intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations. These personnel are carefully monitored and where appropriate have access to the highest levels of military physical and mental health care. Looking after our people is one of the critical roles for our front-line commanders and they keenly focus on the well-being of their people.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-06-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 4 February 2014, Official Report, column 169W, on Djibouti, from which squadron armed forces have been deployed at Camp Lemonnier; and what role is undertaken by each UK officer embedded with US forces at that location.

Mr Mark Francois

The three UK Armed Forces personnel embedded in Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa (CJFT-HOA) at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti are currently from the Royal Regiment of Artillery, the Corps of Royal Engineers, and the Intelligence Corps. Their roles involve planning and supporting US military operations in East Africa.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the advice provided by Jemima Stratford QC to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Drones, if he will agree a new Memorandum of Understanding or other bilateral agreement with the US on data transfer and use.

Hugh Robertson

The UK intelligence agencies work in accordance with UK law, as described by the Foreign Secretary in his statement to the House on 10 June 2013 (Official Report of 10 June 2013, column 31). In addition, Section 6 of the recently published Annual Report for 2013 by the Interception of Communications Commissioner, Sir Anthony May, addresses the legal basis for intelligence sharing between the UK and its partners.

The UK Intelligence Agencies adhere to the law at all times. We have one of the world’s strongest legal and regulatory frameworks governing the use of secret intelligence. All of GCHQ’s activities are legal, necessary and proportionate. GCHQ does not disclose or share information other than is appropriate under the Intelligence Services Act 1994 and Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-06-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 15 January 2014, Official Report, column 578W, on unmanned air vehicles, whether his Department maintains munitions records from the UK Reaper fleet on a sortie-by-sortie basis or for each operation carried out.

Mr Mark Francois

		After each UK Reaper sortie a mission report is written detailing the aircraft used and events of the flight. This includes weapon releases on a sortie-by-sortie basis.

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