The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-07-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government has given permission for Southern rail services to be cancelled during the planned strike in July 2016.
Claire Perry
We are not aware of any planned official strike in July 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-07-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he plans to take to ensure that Govia Thameslink Railway Limited operate the Southern and London Midlands franchises to a high standard.
Claire Perry
The Department monitors each train operator’s overall performance – this includes regular meetings with their senior management where performance is scrutinised and challenged. There are clear actions set out in the franchise agreement should performance drop below what is expected. Govia Thameslink Railway Ltd is the company that operates the Thameslink Southern and Great Northern franchise that includes Southern services. London Midland is a franchise in its own right.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2016-07-07.
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what facilities are available for (a) lactating mothers and (b) the changing of babies in the Government Equalities Office.
Caroline Dinenage
The Government Equalities Office is based at Sanctuary Building, London which has a facility for both nursing mothers and baby changing located on the lower ground floor. This room is clearly signed as a baby changing area and contains a baby changing fold down work top, wipes, and chairs for nursing mothers to sit comfortably.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Boateng on 2016-07-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the economies of the Caribbean and British Overseas Territories of the result of the referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU.
Earl of Courtown
We are already engaged with the Overseas Territories to capture the full range of interests they have in the EU, including the potential economic impact of any change in their relations with the EU. We will fully involve the devolved administrations, Gibraltar, the Crown Dependencies, the other UK Overseas Territories and all other regional centres of power, in accordance with their various constitutional relationships with the UK, to ensure that all of their interests are taken properly into account. In the meantime, the UK remains a member of the EU, and the full range of rights and obligations afforded under the Treaties still apply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Earl of Clancarty on 2016-07-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 28 June (HL Deb, col 1490) that the military and police need to have adequate resources, how many police staff in the UK are exclusively dedicated to the recovery of stolen art and antiques; whether there are plans to increase that number; and what sources of funding are available for those posts.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Home Office does not hold information on the police workforce engaged in the recovery of stolen art and antiquities. Ultimately decisions on the size, composition and deployment of a police force’s workforce are operational matters for individual chief constables, working with their democratically elected Police and Crime Commissioners. Specific funding is not provided centrally for this area of operations, and it is for the individual forces concerned to decide how best to allocate their available resources according to local and national priorities.
The 2016-17 funding settlement for the police ensures that the police have adequate funding to do their work. In 2016/17, direct resource funding to Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs), including council tax precept, has been protected to at least flat cash levels. This means that no PCC who chose to maximise precept is facing a reduction in cash funding in 2016/17 compared to 2015/16 and the majority are seeing marginal cash increases in their spending power.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Helic on 2016-07-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress the UK–German initiative for Bosnia–Herzegovina, announced in November 2014, has made; what recent discussions they have had with the government of Germany regarding that initiative; and what plans there are for continued UK engagement in that initiative.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The UK-German initiative was adopted by the EU at the December 2014 Foreign Affairs Council. Since then, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s (BiH) party leaders have signed a written commitment to implement a package of reforms (Reform Agenda); BiH’s Stabilisation and Association Agreement has come into force (1 June 2015); and BiH submitted its application for EU membership on 15 February 2016. Whilst some progress has been made in implementing the Reform Agenda, more needs to be done. The Government is in regular contact with Germany, other Member States and the EU institutions to encourage BiH’s leaders to maintain progress on reform. The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), discussed implementation of the Reform Agenda with the Chairman of the BiH Council of Ministers, Denis Zvizdić, when they met on 11 July.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Howe of Idlicote on 2016-07-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 21 April (HL7422), how many of the 60 foreign unlicensed online gambling websites to which the Gambling Commission has written have (1) obtained a licence, (2) ceased offering facilities for gambling in Britain, and (3) been subject to payment blocking by payment providers.
Lord Ashton of Hyde
Of the 60 foreign unlicensed online gambling websites which the Gambling Commission wrote to, 3 obtained a licence; 41 ceased offering facilities for gambling; and 11 were subject to payment blocking by payment providers. The remainder are the subject of ongoing enforcement activity by the Gambling Commission.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-07-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of reports of the use of torture by Israeli Security Forces and Israeli authorities in the West Bank and Gaza; and whether they plan to prosecute alleged torturers who reach the UK.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
Whilst we have not made any assessment on this issue, the UK is firmly committed to the promotion and protection of human rights in Israel and in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, as well as compliance with international humanitarian law. We regularly discuss implementation of those obligations with the Israeli authorities. We have confirmed with the Israeli authorities that Israel is in the process of incorporating the crime of torture into national legislation. The appropriate authorities in the UK for the investigation and prosecution of crimes are the Police and the Crown Prosecution Service, which function independently of Government in these matters.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass on 2016-07-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the call by Amnesty International for an investigation into the missile attack on Camp Liberty on 4 July.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We strongly condemn the attack against the civilian residents of Camp Liberty in Iraq on 4 July. We are aware of Amnesty International’s call for an investigation into the attack and we have publically called on the Government of Iraq to investigate the attack and bring the attackers to justice.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Royall of Blaisdon on 2016-07-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to encourage young people to serve in their community through supporting full-time, long-term volunteering.
Lord Ashton of Hyde
Government is committed to ensuring young people, from all backgrounds, have the opportunity to engage in meaningful social action, creating a lifelong habit and developing skills for work. We support Step Up to Serve’s #iwill campaign which is backed by a wide coalition of organisations offering a range of opportunities including full-time volunteering. We have also committed to expanding National Citizen Service (NCS) to reach 360,000 places per year by 2020. Since 2011, over 200,000 have participated in NCS and delivered an estimated eight million volunteer hours. The Government’s pledge to the #iwill campaign is to continue to invest in youth social action and share evidence and best practice.