Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans there are for civilian defence in the event of a nuclear attack.
Answered by Michael Ellis
Nuclear rhetoric from Russia is unhelpful. It is designed to deter and distract from its barbaric invasion of Ukraine. The Government continues to call on Russia to de-escalate, starting by ceasing its assault on Ukraine and withdrawing its forces.
The UK has well developed contingency plans to respond to a wide range of eventualities. The plans and supporting arrangements have been developed, refined and tested over many years. The UK’s plans are risk-based and built on the principle of generic capabilities which are able to respond to a wide range of events, augmented by specific, niche capabilities, where needed and warranted by the risk. The scale of these capabilities is driven by classified planning assumptions derived from the UK’s National Security Risk Assessment. A public facing version is published in the form of the National Risk Register.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, which Minister will sponsor the public inquiry into the Government's response to the covid-19 pandemic, announced on 21 May 2021.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
On 12 May, the Prime Minister confirmed that a public inquiry into COVID-19 would be established on a statutory basis, with full formal powers, and that it will begin its work in spring 2022.
Further details will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what progress the Government has made on preparations for the public inquiry into the Government's response to the covid-19 pandemic, announced on 21 May 2021.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
On 12 May, the Prime Minister confirmed that a public inquiry into COVID-19 would be established on a statutory basis, with full formal powers, and that it will begin its work in spring 2022.
Further details will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of Warrington Inland Border Facility’s capacity to undertake sanitary and phytosanitary checks in the event that a Border Control Post at Parc Cybi is not operational by January 2022.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
There has been engagement with Welsh Government counterparts - as well as weekly engagement at official level - about the inland border sites in North Wales. Provision of Border Control Posts for SPS checks is a devolved matter. However, Defra, HMRC, Wales Office, and Welsh Government are working constructively to define an appropriate control regime for customs and biosecurity checks to be in place and operational at the sites in Parc Cybi from 1 January.
The Warrington Inland Border Facility has been operational since January 2021 and has the capacity to handle more than 700 goods vehicle movements per day for customs checks. Together with other inland border facilities, such as Birmingham and Sevington, there is more than adequate capacity to accommodate any shortfall capacity at Welsh ports and inland sites in January 2022, should this be needed.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions has he had with the Welsh Government regarding the establishment of a Border Control Post at Parc Cybi.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
There has been engagement with Welsh Government counterparts - as well as weekly engagement at official level - about the inland border sites in North Wales. Provision of Border Control Posts for SPS checks is a devolved matter. However, Defra, HMRC, Wales Office, and Welsh Government are working constructively to define an appropriate control regime for customs and biosecurity checks to be in place and operational at the sites in Parc Cybi from 1 January.
The Warrington Inland Border Facility has been operational since January 2021 and has the capacity to handle more than 700 goods vehicle movements per day for customs checks. Together with other inland border facilities, such as Birmingham and Sevington, there is more than adequate capacity to accommodate any shortfall capacity at Welsh ports and inland sites in January 2022, should this be needed.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much each Department has spent on Union Flags in (a) Wales, (b) Scotland and (c) England in each year since 2018.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The information requested is not held centrally.