Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent discussions he has had with (a) ministerial colleagues, (b) his counterpart in the Japanese Government, and (c) representatives of Hitachi on the future of the proposed Wylfa Newydd power plant.
Answered by Alun Cairns
I have had regular discussions with my ministerial colleagues, Hitachi, Horizon Nuclear Power and the Japanese Government regarding the proposed Wylfa Newydd power plant, as well as visiting senior executives of Hitachi in Tokyo in August 2017. I recently met with the Japanese Prime Minister and representatives of Hitachi at Downing Street last week. We fully recognise that Hitachi’s decision will be a disappointment to people in Anglesey and North Wales, especially given the efforts of many stakeholders to support this project. The UK Government continues to discuss options for Hitachi and others to take the project forward.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions his Department had with the Prime Minister's office on the content of the Prime Minister's Brexit speech in Stoke-on-Trent on 14 January 2019.
Answered by Alun Cairns
Ministers and civil servants in my Department have regular discussions with No 10 colleagues on a range of issues.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, with reference to the Ministers Quarterly Transparency Return July to September 2018, published on 19 December 2018, if he will publish the names of the (a) the attendees of the expert panel on 17 October 2018 to discuss EU exit issues, and (b) the outcomes of that meeting.
Answered by Alun Cairns
My Department’s Quarterly Transparency Return for July to September 2018 recorded in error a meeting of my EU Expert Panel on 17 October. The meeting took place on 17 September and this has now been corrected.
The September meeting enabled me to engage directly with key stakeholders in Wales on the progress of EU exit work and to hear their views. We discussed a wide range of EU exit matters including the government’s white papers and technical notices.
The meeting was attended by representatives from the following organisations:
Farmers Union of Wales
National Farmers Union Cymru
South and Mid Wales Chamber of Commerce
Snowdonia Enterprise Zone
Wales Council for Voluntary Action
Country Landowners Association Cymru
Confederation of British Industry (Wales)
Welsh Local Government Association
Wales Environment Link
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether his Department uses an internal system to classify written parliamentary questions according to their political sensitivity.
Answered by Alun Cairns
No.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2018 to Question 194068 on Wales Office: Billing, what the reasons were for the undisputed and valid invoices that were not paid within 10 days of receipt in the last 12 months.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Office of the Secretary of State for Wales aims to pay all invoices within 10 days of receipt, and currently achieves this target in 90% of cases. The target is not met in a small number of cases for a variety of reasons, including invoices with incorrect or incomplete information and delays in the processing of payments by our service provider.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what estimate he has made of the number of days lost due to staff absences in his Department as a result of (a) physical ill health, (b) mental ill health, (c) stress and (d) anxiety disorders in each of the last five years.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Office of the Secretary of State for Wales is not an employer in its own right. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) provides employment services on our behalf, including collection of absence data.
The physical and mental wellbeing of our staff is crucially important to the department and staff have access to all MoJ employee services that help to sustain physical and mental wellbeing, including Occupational Health and a 24-hour employee assistance helpline.
The information below outlines the number of days lost due to staff absences as a result of (a) physical ill health, (b) mental ill health, (c) stress and (d) anxiety disorders. MoJ categorise stress and anxiety disorders as mental ill health. We have therefore extracted the relevant data from (b) and recorded these in (c) and (d) below. Please note that this data is collected by calendar year and therefore data is not yet available for 2018.
| Number of working days lost due to: | |||
Calendar Year | (a) physical ill health | (b) mental ill health, | (c) stress | (d) anxiety disorders |
2017 | 128 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
2016 | 27.5 | 0 | 21 | 0 |
2015 | 69 | 0 | 39 | 0 |
2014 | 135 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2013 | 289 | 40 | 273 | 0 |
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many of his Department's offices have childcare facilities onsite.
Answered by Nigel Adams
There are no on-site childcare facilities provided by the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales on its estate. However, the Department recognises that staff need flexible pre-school and out-of-school childcare of a type and in a location most convenient to them.
The Office is not an employer, with all staff employed by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). The MoJ offers a salary sacrifice scheme for childcare vouchers which enables staff to choose their own childcare provider (subject to meeting eligibility requirements) and have their childcare costs reduced by taking part of their salary in the form of childcare vouchers, which are exempt from tax and National Insurance contributions. We also follow MoJ polices by offering a range of flexible working options to staff, including term-time working, job shares and compressed hours, to allow staff with caring responsibilities to work in the way that best suits them.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions he has had with overseas diplomats about the merits of locating a consulate in Cardiff.
Answered by Alun Cairns
I have regular meetings with overseas diplomats to discuss opportunities to strengthen links between Wales and countries across the globe as the UK leaves the European Union. This engagement supports my ambition for an outward looking Wales as part of a truly global Britain.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what percentage of staff employed in his Department make voluntary pension contributions; and whether his Department supports that practice.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Office of the Secretary of State for Wales is not an employer in its own right. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) provide employment services on our behalf. As of 31 October, 100% of staff on MoJ payroll on assignment to the Department made voluntary pension contributions. MoJ supports voluntary pension contributions through Civil Service Pensions.