William John Olner (born 9 May 1942, Atherstone, Warwickshire) has since 1992 been the Labour Member of Parliament for Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England. Previously he had been leader of Nuneaton Borough Council (which subsequently merged with Bedworth to form Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council). [edit] Education and early career Bill Olner was educated at Nuneaton Technical College and trained as an engineer. He became a shop steward, and later area secretary for the AEEU (now Unite trade union). [edit] Local government Bill Olner was a Councillor for the Labour group on Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council for 21 years, and was the council leader from 1982-87. In 1987 he became Mayor of Nuneaton and Bedworth, serving a 1 year term [edit] House of Commons Bill Olner was first elected to the House of Commons in 1992, as the Member of Parliament for Nuneaton. He was re-elected in the 1997 general election (majority 13,540), 2001 general election (majority 7,535) and 2005 general election (majority 2,280). The next General Election must be held by 3 June 2010; although Bill Olner will not be contesting the next general election as he has announced he is standing down at the end of the present parliament.[1] [edit] Elections [edit] Committees Since 28 November 2005 he has been a member of the Communities and Local Government Committee and, since 1 November has been a member of the Chairmen's Panel Committee. Since 1997 he has been Chairman of the Associate Parliamentary Engineering Group, a group that seeks to promote the contribution of engineering.[2] Previously he has been a member of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee and of the Select Committee on Environment, Transport and the Regions and Chair of the Transport, Telematics and Cable and satellite Parliamentary Group. [edit] Performance; attendance and questions Bill Olner has been very loyal to the Labour Party, although he does not often speak on radio, TV or in the House of Commons but he does have a good attendance record. Since 2001, has been: He most frequently asks questions about: Mercury, The European Union (Public Information), Funerals, Satellite Dishes, and Skills Councils. He most frequently asks questions to, and receives answers to questions from, The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the Department of Health, and the Department for Work and Pensions. [3] [edit] Register of Members' Interests [edit] Overseas visits - Between 7 October and 9 October 2005 Bill Olner attended the launch event for Cryosat, UK science-led climate change satellite, ESRIN, in Rome, Italy. His accommodation was provided by the European Space Agency and travel by EADS Astrium Ltd.
- Between 15 June and 18 June 2005 Bill Olner visited Paris, France to attend the European Interparliamentary Space Conference. Travel and accommodation costs provided by the UK Industrial Space Committee.
- Between 27 September to 4 October 2005 he visited Hong Kong for meetings with senior representatives of both the public and private sector to be informed of the current economic and political aspects of Hong Kong. Flights and hotel accommodation provided by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government.
- Between 20 September to 26 September 2004 he visited Western Canada with the All-Party Parliamentary Rail Group, organised by the Rail Freight Group. The Rail Freight Group provided travel and accommodation including travel within Canada.
- Between 25 June and 27 June 2003 he visited Finland under the auspices of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Nuclear Energy. Travel and accommodation paid for by BNFL and Nirex Ltd.
- Between 16 May and 18 May 2003 Bill Olner, together with his wife, attended the National Association of Funeral Directors' 2003 Annual Conference at the Ramside Hall Hotel and Golf Club, Carville, Durham, at their expense.
- Between 3 September and 6 September 2002 he visited Germany with the All-Party Parliamentary Rail Group. The Rail Freight Group provided travel, accommodation and hospitality.
- Between 10 June and 11 June 2002 he visited Betzdorf, Luxembourg, with All-Party Cable, Satellite and Digital Group study trip to view technology. Travel and accommodation provided by Astra Marketing Ltd.
- Between 19 June and 20 June 2001 he visited Paris Air Show with the Parliamentary Space Committee. Travel and accommodation provided by the UK Industrial Space Committee and hospitality by the European Space Agency and EUTELSAT.
- Between 10 September and 13 September 2001 he visited Southern France and Spain, costs met by the Rail Freight Group, French Railways (SNCF), Transfesa and the Port of Barcelona.
- Between 20 March and 31 March 2000 he visited the People's Republic of China and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Flights paid for by All-Party Britain China Parliamentary Group, costs in China paid for by People's Republic of China, costs in Hong Kong paid for by Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
- Between 12 September and 15 September 2000 he visited Brussels, Antwerp and Rotterdam. Visit arranged and funded by the Rail Freight Group to provide information and experience of rail freight connections to the ports and to meet officials and parliamentarians in Brussels to discuss these matters.
- Between 11 February and 12 February 1999 he visited Turin and Milan as part of a West Coast Main Line All Party Group delegation to receive briefing on high speed train technology and to travel on the 'pendolino', as a guest of Fiat UK Ltd.
- Between 28 April and 30 April 1999 he visited Paris, with Parliamentary Space Committee delegation to attend Inter-parliamentary Space Committees Conference in the Assemblée Nationale. Travel and accommodation provided by the Parliamentary Space Committee and the UK Industrial Space Committee. Other hospitality organised by the French Parliamentary Space Committee.
- On 17 June 1999 he visited Paris, for study trip to headquarters of Eutelsat (European Telecommunications Satellite Organisation), to learn about technological developments in satellite transmission and operations, including digital technology. Visit jointly sponsored by Parliamentary Cable and Satellite Group and Eutelsat; all transport provided by Eutelsat.
- Between 6 September and 9 September 1999 he visited Switzerland and Northern Italy with All Party Parliamentary Rail Freight Group, to study rail freight services across the Alps and to the United Kingdom. Accommodation and travel costs were met by the Rail Freight Group.[4]
[edit] Parliamentary expenses As a Member of Parliament, Bill Olner receives a salary of £60,277 (with effect from 1 November 2006)[5] He is also entitled to claim expenses that are incurred as a Member of Parliament[6], these cover costs such as Cost of staying away from main home, Office running costs, Staffing Allowance, Members' Travel, Members' Staff Travel, Stationery, Computer Equipment etc. For the year 2005/06 he claimed a total of £119,013, in the previous year he claimed £114,610[7]. | Type | 2005/06 | 2004/05 (ranking out of 659) | 2003/04 (ranking out of 658) | 2002/03 (ranking out of 657) | 2001/02 (ranking out of 657) | | Additional Costs Allowance | £19,746 | £19,783 (317th) | £18,505 (348th) | £17,496 (449th) | £15,450 (303rd) | | Incidental Expenses Provision | £16,194 | £13,452 (544th) | £12,157 (616th) | £14,834 (555th) | £10,912 (493rd) | | Staffing Allowance | £72,581 | £69,589 (393rd) | £64,598 (455th) | £59,086 (544th) | £37,413 (557th) | | Members' Travel | £7,851 | £8,492 (397th) | £7,842 (402nd) | £9,133 (366th) | £6,665 (385th) | | Members' Staff Travel | £942 | £960 (191st) | £576 (244th) | £856 (190th) | £945 (142nd) | | Centrally Purchased Stationery | £466 | £188 (629th) | £656 (429th) | £572 (540th) | £713 (445th) | | Stationery: Associated Postage Costs | £1,233 | £263 (639th) | £2,201 (370th) | N/A | N/A | | Centrally Provided Computer Equipment | £0 | £1,883 (336th) | £1,883 (329th) | £1,883 (323rd) | £1,883 (304th) | | Other Costs | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | | Expenses Total | £119,013 | £114,610 (495th) | £108,418 (532nd) | £103,860 (503rd) | £73,981 (559th) | [edit] Offices As in common with most Members of Parliament, Bill Olner maintains two offices: one at the House of Commons, the other in his constituency. His constituency office is in Queens Road, Nuneaton. [edit] Labour Party and Trade Union Bill Olner is a member of the AEEU and the Co-operative Party. He was Vice-Chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party Employment Committee from 1992 until 1997. [edit] Personal life Bill Olner lives with his wife Jill and has a pet dog, and in the past has been a School Governor, . [edit] Announcement of retirement as MP Bill Olner declared his retirement as MP for Nuneaton on 25 March 2007, he will serve until the next general election in 2009/10. The Nuneaton Labour party's new candidate for the next election is Jayne Innes, with Marcus Jones standing for the Conservative party [edit] References [edit] See also [edit] External links |
