Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West and Pudsey)
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 will publish its internal review of the rules on paid leave for parents of premature babies and sick babies and those that experience multiple births.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy recently conducted a short, focussed internal review for the purpose of providing advice to Ministers. There are no plans to publish the advice that makes up this review.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West and Pudsey)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans the Government has to bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that parents whose babies are born prematurely are allowed an extra week of statutory maternity or paternity leave for every week their child spends in hospital before they are allowed to go home.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Department is conducting a short, focussed internal review of the provisions for parents of premature babies and sick babies and those that experience multiple births. The purpose of this work is to obtain a high-level understanding of the barriers to participating in the labour market that these parents can face. It would not be appropriate to announce future policy without first establishing an appropriate evidence base.
BEIS officials are working with organisations who represent the interests of these parents (The Smallest Things, Bliss, and TAMBA) to better understand the issues that parents can face and have also held focus groups with a small number of parents themselves.This will inform our policy consideration.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West and Pudsey)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has had with Hitachi on its investment in Wylfa nuclear power station; and if he will make a statement on the future of that project.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
On the 4 June 2018, my rt. hon. the Secretary of State confirmed to Parliament that the Government has entered negotiations with Hitachi in relation to Horizon’s proposed Wylfa Newydd project, based on Anglesey in North Wales. The negotiations with Hitachi on agreeing a deal that provides value for money for consumers and taxpayers are ongoing. The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Hitachi, including during his visit to Japan in November. The Secretary of State will update the House on the status of negotiations at the appropriate point, in line with his commitment in June.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West and Pudsey)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what training his Department provides to nuclear safeguards inspectors at the Office for Nuclear Regulation on the operation of a manual system for nuclear safeguards calculations and reporting; and what the timeframe is for those inspectors to have passed that training.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The development of the Safeguards Information Management and Reporting IT System (SIMRS) is on track for testing and operations by the end of 2018. SIMRS will enable the ONR to manage and process the electronic Nuclear Materials Accountancy reports from its dutyholders and submit these, along with other relevant safeguards reports to the IAEA to enable the UK to meet its international obligations, once Euratom safeguards no longer provide this function in the UK. As a contingency measure in the unlikely event that SIMRS is not ready by 29 March 2019, these reports can be manually downloaded by ONR for submission to the IAEA.
Implementation of this contingency for SIMRS will require an understanding of nuclear material accountancy. This is one element of training which is provided to ONR safeguards staff as part of their preparation for delivering a UK State System of Accounting for and Control of Nuclear Material (SSAC) when Euratom safeguards cease to apply in the UK. Training for ONR nuclear safeguards staff is provided by ONR.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West and Pudsey)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the cost to the Office for Nuclear Regulation of the development of a manual system for nuclear safeguards calculations and reporting.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The development of the Safeguards Information Management and Reporting IT System (SIMRS) is on track for testing and operations by the end of 2018. SIMRS will enable the ONR to manage and process the electronic Nuclear Materials Accountancy reports from its dutyholders and submit these, along with other relevant safeguards reports to the IAEA to enable the UK to meet its international obligations, once Euratom safeguards no longer provide this function in the UK. As a contingency measure in the unlikely event that SIMRS is not ready by 29 March 2019, these reports can be manually downloaded by ONR for submission to the IAEA.
The Department will allocate to the ONR the funding necessary to establish a UK State System of Accounting for and Control of Nuclear Material (SSAC).
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West and Pudsey)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many staff at the Office for Nuclear Regulation are working on development of the manual contingency for nuclear safeguards calculations and reporting.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The development of the Safeguards Information Management and Reporting IT System (SIMRS) is on track for testing and operations by the end of 2018. SIMRS will enable the ONR to manage and process the electronic Nuclear Materials Accountancy reports from its dutyholders and submit these, along with other relevant safeguards reports to the IAEA to enable the UK to meet its international obligations, once Euratom safeguards no longer provide this function in the UK. As a contingency measure in the unlikely event that SIMRS is not ready by 29 March 2019, these reports can be manually downloaded by ONR for submission to the IAEA.
The development of this contingency for SIMRS is one element of contingency planning, which has drawn on the expertise of staff from across ONR’s State System of Accounting for and Control of Nuclear Material (SSAC) project team to varying degrees.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West and Pudsey)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assurances his Department has received from the International Atomic Energy Agency that a manual system for nuclear safeguards calculations and reporting would be compatible with the terms of the UK’s Voluntary Offer Agreement.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The development of the Safeguards Information Management and Reporting IT System (SIMRS) is on track for testing and operations by the end of 2018. SIMRS will enable the ONR to manage and process the electronic Nuclear Materials Accountancy reports from its dutyholders and submit these, along with other relevant safeguards reports to the IAEA to enable the UK to meet its international obligations, once Euratom safeguards no longer provide this function in the UK. As a contingency measure in the unlikely event that SIMRS is not ready by 29 March 2019, these reports can be manually downloaded by ONR for submission to the IAEA.
The Voluntary Offer Agreement between the UK and IAEA set out the reporting requirements for the UK in terms of the information that must be provided, the format in which it must be provided and the timescales for its submission to the Agency. This contingency for SIMRS has been developed to deliver all the information required in the timeframes and format agreed as part of the VOA. The VOA does not specify the manner in which such reports must be processed by the UK State System of Accounting for and Control of Nuclear Material (SSAC).
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West and Pudsey)
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 effect on data security of the manual contingency for nuclear safeguards calculations and reporting.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The development of the Safeguards Information Management and Reporting IT System (SIMRS) is on track for testing and operations by the end of 2018. SIMRS will enable the ONR to manage and process the electronic Nuclear Materials Accountancy reports from its dutyholders and submit these, along with other relevant safeguards reports to the IAEA to enable the UK to meet its international obligations, once Euratom safeguards no longer provide this function in the UK. As a contingency measure in the unlikely event that SIMRS is not ready by 29 March 2019, these reports can be manually downloaded by ONR for submission to the IAEA.
All information processed by ONR, whether through SIMRS, or manually, will be handled in accordance with standard control measures for Sensitive Nuclear Information, according to its specific security classification. ONR has well established processes for handling Sensitive Nuclear Information through their role as the safety and security regulator of the civil nuclear industry.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West and Pudsey)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how the (a) chair and (b) members of the Industrial Strategy Council are to be appointed.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
We expect the council’s membership to be multidisciplinary and include leading business men and women, investors, economists and academics from across the country. The Chair and members will be invited to participate on a personal, voluntary and unpaid basis.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West and Pudsey)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what remuneration members of the Industrial Strategy Council will receive.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
We expect the council’s membership to be multidisciplinary and include leading business men and women, investors, economists and academics from across the country. The Chair and members will be invited to participate on a personal, voluntary and unpaid basis.