Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues on the inclusion of the shipping industry in the UN Framework Agreement on climate change.
Answered by Claire Perry
The UK strongly supports action on the reduction of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from shipping, and is committed to fulfilling our obligations to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement. Our strategy for the shipping industry is led by the Department for Transport and the UN body with responsibility for this area is the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), which since 2003 has been working on measures to reduce GHGs from international shipping. In April 2018, Member States are due to agree the first comprehensive global strategy on the reduction of GHGs from ships at the IMO. The UK has been an active participant in these negotiations and is working to achieve a credible and ambitious outcome in line with the Paris Agreement on climate change.
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to respond to the Hendry Review.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The Government is currently assessing the recommendations of the Hendry Review and will publish a response in due course.
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will publish the total lifetime cost of the Sellafield nuclear waste plant in Cumbria.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority publishes the amount spent on decommissioning Sellafield in its Annual Report and Accounts. It also publishes a more detailed figure on the cost of decommissioning the UK’s nuclear sites in the Nuclear Provision section of its website.
The total estimated cost for decommissioning the Sellafield site is £88 billion on an undiscounted basis.
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many management contracts placed by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority have been cancelled early in each of the last five years.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Two management contracts have been terminated early by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) in the last five years. These are the Parent Body Agreement with Nuclear Management Partners and the Management and Operation Contract with Sellafield Limited. These cancellations formed part of the process of turning Sellafield Limited into a subsidiary of the NDA which came into effect on 1 April 2016.
On 27 March 2017, my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy announced in Parliament that the NDA intends to terminate the Parent Body Agreement with Cavendish Fluor Partnership for the management of Magnox sites.
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to respond to the Hendry Review.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The issues considered by the Review are wide-ranging and complex, as they relate to an untried technology in the marine environment. The Government is currently assessing the recommendations set out in the Review, and will consider the issues which would arise from a broader lagoon programme. A Government response will be published in due course.
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential implications for its policies of the recommendations of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in its November 2016 Global Economic Outlook that caution was needed in rolling out increases to the living wage on account of their potential effect on employment.
Answered by Margot James
The Government seeks the advice of the independent and expert Low Pay Commission when making decisions on the rate at which the National Living Wage is set. The Government sets the Low Pay Commission a remit to monitor and evaluate the impact of the National Living Wage. When making recommendations in relation to the National Living Wage the Low Pay Commission is asked to consider the pace of the increase, taking into account evidence relating to the economy, employment and unemployment levels, and any other relevant policy changes. The Government’s decisions on setting the National Living Wage will continue to be guided by this analysis and advice.
The Government recently announced that the National Living Wage will increase to £7.50 from April 2017. This was the rate recommended by the Low Pay Commission. Our ambition is that the National Living Wage should continue to increase to reach 60% of median earnings by 2020, subject to sustained economic growth.
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will publish the findings of the insolvency investigation relating to Kids Company when it is completed.
Answered by Margot James
The Official Receiver sent a report regarding the winding up of Kids Company to creditors including Cabinet Office and HMRC on 1 October 2015. The Official Receiver’s enquiries into the affairs of Kids Company are continuing, and it would not be appropriate for us to comment on an ongoing investigation.
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when the Government plans to respond to the Independent Review of Tidal Lagoons, led by Charles Hendry.
Answered by Jesse Norman
We have not yet received the Hendry Review. The issues being considered by the Review are complex and relate to a new, untried technology. Therefore, Government will need to look carefully at the Review’s findings.
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what meetings Ministers or officials of (a) his Department and (b) the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills had with Sir Richard Paniguian in the last 12 months; and on what dates those meeting took place.
Answered by Margot James
Ministerial meetings with external organisations are published quarterly on the www.gov.uk website at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/bis-quarterly-publications-april-to-june-2012
Information about officials is not held centrally.
Asked by: Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will require EDF Energy to restore the land cleared and prepared for the construction of the Hinkley C nuclear plant to its previous condition in the event of the EDF Board deciding not to take a Final Investment Decision on the plant.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Planning permission for site preparation works at Hinkley Point C was granted by the local planning authority, West Somerset Council under the Town and Country Planning Act (1990) and this included conditions and planning obligations on the circumstances and arrangements for site reinstatement.