Tag: Paul Flynn

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make ithis policy to assess the potential merits of the pledge by the Austrian government set out in the report by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, A Pledge to Fill the Legal Gap, published in February 2015 for the work of the UN Open Ended Working Group on multilateral disarmament negotiations.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The UK is committed to creating the conditions for a world without nuclear weapons in accordance with the goals of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, in a way that promotes international stability, and is based on the principle of undiminished security for all. The Austrian pledge to stigmatise, prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons runs counter to the step-by-step disarmament process; and it does not take into account the current global security and stability challenges. The UN Disarmament machinery and the Non-Proliferation Treaty provide the right framework for working towards a world without nuclear weapons.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-03-08.

To ask the Prime Minister, if he will issue guidance on whether junior government ministers who are in favour of UK membership of the EU are to be allowed full access to documents in situations where the departmental Secretary of State is in favour of the UK leaving the EU.

Mr David Cameron

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to him on 7 March 2016, UIN 29278, and to the evidence given by the Cabinet Secretary to the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee on 1 March 2016, a transcript of which can be found on the Committee’s website.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he plans to require all companies registered in British Overseas Territories to publish detailed annual accounts.

James Duddridge

The Overseas Territories are separate jurisdictions with their own democratically elected governments under which they are responsible for company law.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-04-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what involvement (a) Ministers and (b) officials of his Department had in the Security and Counter Terror Conference at Olympia on 19 and 20 April 2016.

Anna Soubry

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills Ministers had no involvement in the Security and Counter Terror Conference at Olympia. Although officials had no formal involvement in the organisation of the conference, the Export Control Organisation had a stand to gather feedback from exporters about the development of a new digital export licensing system. In addition a number of officials from UKTI Defence & Security Organisation attended as delegates.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-05-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will set out the reasons for the requirement for year five children in schools in England to learn the meaning of fronted adverbials.

Nick Gibb

Accurate spelling, punctuation and grammar are the cornerstones of effective written communication.

The new national curriculum, introduced in 2014, sets higher expectations supporting pupils to realise their potential in an increasingly competitive global market.

The new programmes of study for English aim to ensure that all pupils acquire a wide vocabulary, a good understanding of grammar, and proper knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and written language. Explicit teaching of grammar is fundamental to this.

For children from homes where parents read and share books with the family, it may be possible over time to assimilate grammatical forms such as modal verbs and fronted adverbials. For a great number of children, however, the easiest way for a teacher to explain to their pupils the rules that govern our language is to establish a shared vocabulary of grammatical terms.

We have increased the range of grammar and punctuation that should be taught and the terminology that pupils should learn – the meta-language. The aim and the emphasis, however, is not on naming grammatical terms but on being able to use the grammar to be able to speak and write for a full range of purposes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that GMB is able to negotiate on behalf of 200 workers at the Lidl warehouse in Bridgend.

Alun Cairns

The Government has put in place a robust legal framework to ensure workers can be represented by unions if that is their clear, democratic choice. The Government cannot get involved in individual cases such as this one. However, the law states that for a trade union to have the right to negotiate collectively and for its workplace representatives to be eligible for time off to carry out union duties, the union must be recognised by the employer.

Statutory recognition (achieved through the Central Arbitration Committee – CAC) requires that a majority of the workforce support union recognition for collective bargaining with the employer.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information her Department holds on the number of people who have undertaken (a) training and (b) refresher training approved by her Department on humane shooting of badgers in each of the last three years.

George Eustice

1. Natural England does not hold figures for the number of operators who have been trained to undertake licensed action but does know how many are trained and are licensed. Industry organisations are responsible for running the training courses and Natural England only holds the number of trained operators who were put forward by the control companies, and subsequently become authorised to undertake licensed action. For 2016, over the 10 licensed areas, 1446 operators are authorised to carry out badger culling (latest figures: 17/10/16).

2. Natural England does not hold figures for the number of operators who attended refresher training. All operators who have been licensed in a previous year to undertake controlled shooting of badgers and who wish to be licensed again for the current year must attend refresher training. Industry organisations are responsible for undertaking refresher training. Natural England holds confirmation that each of these operators has attended refresher training.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent estimate he has made of the number of graduates who are (a) unemployed and (b) not in high-skilled jobs.

Joseph Johnson

The Department publishes labour market statistics for English domiciled graduates and postgraduates relative to non-graduates as part of the Graduate Labour Market Statistics series. The latest figures refer to the quarter from April to June 2015 and are available at the link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/graduate-labour-market-statistics-april-to-june-2015

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-02.

To ask the Prime Minister, what recent discussions he has had with President Xi of China on joint multilateral initiatives the UK and China can take towards nuclear disarmament.

Mr David Cameron

During last month’s State Visit, President Xi Jinping and I discussed the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s nuclear programme, and the importance of working together to halt its progress. The UK also engages with China on multilateral disarmament, and a range of nuclear disarmament issues, through the mechanism of the P5 Dialogue.

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

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make it his policy to end civil service performance quotas.

Mr Oliver Letwin

This Government is fully committed to delivering its manifesto. This is why we have introduced the Single Departmental Plans as a new framework for performance tracking. Single departmental plans will replace departmental Business Plans and are currently being finalised by departments. Single Departmental Plans will set out each department’s priority objectives, and the key programmes and policies that will deliver these. They will be published on gov.uk, allowing the public to track progress against a number of performance indicators. Single Departmental Plans are owned by departments and have been designed by Cabinet Office and HM Treasury working in partnership. Officials have been actively engaging with departments to ensure that the plans provide a complete picture of the measures this Government is taking to deliver its commitments.