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Written Statements
Monday 29 June 2015
Energy and Climate Change
Office for Nuclear Regulation (Report to Parliament)
The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Andrea Leadsom): My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change will today lay before Parliament an annual report to Parliament by the Secretary of State. The report sets out the use of the Secretary of State’s powers under part 3 of the Energy Act 2013, which created the Office for Nuclear Regulation.
Both my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Department for Work and Pensions and the Office for Nuclear Regulation have been consulted. The report discloses which powers have been used under Section 108 of the Energy Act 2013 during the last financial year (2014-2015). For completeness the report also refers to the exercise of powers in the first short reporting period of ONR from 10 March 2014 to 31 March 2014.
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Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Magna Carta
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr Hugo Swire):
It is normal practice, when a Government Department proposes to undertake a contingent liability in excess of £300,000 for which there is no specific statutory authority, for the Minister concerned to present a departmental Minute to Parliament giving particulars of the liability created and explaining the circumstances; and to refrain from incurring the liability until fourteen parliamentary sitting days after the issue of the Minute, except in cases of special urgency. I have today laid a departmental Minute proposing to provide an indemnity of £24,000,000 in respect of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office-approved global tour of the Magna Carta and King’s Writ celebrating the 800th anniversary. This indemnity will last from 1 September until 31 December 2015 and will cover loss or damage of the documents in this period. The 800th anniversary of the sealing of Magna Carta provides a unique opportunity to support our diplomatic and
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economic objectives. This global tour supports the UK’s position as a mature democracy built upon the values it promotes globally, and our established position as a centre of finance, commerce and law. We have secured the agreement of the Dean and Chapter of Hereford Cathedral to use their 1217 Magna Carta and only surviving King’s Writ from Runnymede 1215 for this tour. If the liability is called, provision for any payment will be sought through the normal supply procedure. The Treasury has approved the proposal in principle. If, during the period of fourteen parliamentary sitting days beginning on the date on which this Minute was laid before Parliament, a Member signifies an objection by giving notice of a parliamentary question or by otherwise raising the matter in Parliament, final approval to proceed with incurring the liability will be withheld pending an examination of the objection.
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Prime Minister
Committee on Standards in Public Life (Report)
The Prime Minister (Mr David Cameron): “Tone from the Top––Leadership, Ethics and Accountability in Policing”, the 15th report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life has been published by the Committee today. I have laid the report before the House and copies have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
It is also available online at: http://www.parliament.uk/writtenstatements.
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Work and Pensions
Office of Nuclear Regulation ( Annual Report and Accounts)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Justin Tomlinson): Later today the Office for Nuclear Regulation’s annual report and accounts for 2014-2015 (HC 164) will be published. Having consulted the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change who is accountable for nuclear security and the Office for Nuclear Regulation, I can confirm, in accordance with Schedule 7, Section 25(3) of the Energy Act 2013, that there have been no exclusions to the published document on the grounds of national security.
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