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  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-07-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel about reports of new rules of engagement for Israeli police allowing the use of live ammunition in response to stone throwing.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    While we have not made representations to the Government of Israel on this specific issue, we have an ongoing dialogue with the Israeli authorities in order to understand their rules of engagement and express our concerns where necessary.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-07-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel regarding reports of the confiscation and sinking of fishing boats by Israeli forces in the past three months.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Whilst we have not raised this specific issue with the Government of Israel, officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv have expressed our concern previously over the Israel Defence Forces’ use of live fire against fishermen and also about the confiscation of their boats.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-07-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel concerning reports of Israeli troops shooting a Palestinian with Down’s Syndrome who posed no threat to those troops.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    While we have not made any representations to the Israeli authorities on this specific case, we have raised our concerns with the Israeli authorities in the past about the Israel Defence Forces’ use of live fire, urging robust and transparent investigations where appropriate.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-07-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they plan to make to the government of Israel in the light of remarks by the UN Secretary General following his visit to Israel on 28 June urging the Israeli Prime Minister to work towards a negotiated two-state solution.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The British Government believes that a negotiated two-state solution is in the interests of both Israel and the Palestinians. While we do not plan to make specific representations to the Government of Israel about the remarks by the UN Secretary General, we will continue to work with our international partners, including the UN, in support of a two-state solution.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-07-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel about reports of its intention to reduce the budget for Arab teacher training colleges in Northern Israel to half that of the budget allocated to Jewish teacher training colleges.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The British Embassy in Tel Aviv regularly raises the need for equal treatment of all of Israel’s citizens with the Israeli government. Although we have not raised this particular issue, we recognise the importance of equality regarding teacher training, access to education and the role of education in building understanding between communities.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-07-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel concerning reports of continuing and increasing collective punishment of Palestinian communities, including punitive demolitions of private homes in the West Bank and the withholding of tax revenues from the Palestinian Authority.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We have serious concerns about the use of punitive demolitions by the Israeli authorities to destroy the homes of the families of Palestinian suspected terrorists. Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv have expressed concerns about this policy to a number of Israeli officials: we fear that rather than acting as a deterrent, it has the potential to increase tension. We believe that a stable, well functioning, and fiscally viable Palestinian Authority (PA) is an important contributor to stability, and that it is in Israel’s own interests to secure this stability. As part of this, it is important Israel carries out the regular monthly transfer of tax revenues it collects on behalf of the PA in line with its international obligations.

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2016-07-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what hard evidence they have collected that Daesh is using small commercial drones for surveillance and for conveying explosives.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Government has a range of material, including images, that provides evidence that Daesh has used small, commercially available unmanned aerial vehicles in Syria and Iraq to extend their surveillance capability, produce propaganda material and carry small improvised explosive devices.

  • Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord West of Spithead – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2016-07-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 14 June (HL325), how government departments and agencies decide who should take executive action to prosecute a series of contacts of interest.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    Each of the Government departments and agencies represented at the National Maritime Information Centre has a specific remit and depending on what the nature of the operational scenario in question is, the department or agency with the legislatively proscribed lead responsibility for investigating activity of that kind will take the necessary action. Other departments and agencies will provide support to the lead department or agency as required.

  • Lord Adebowale – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Adebowale – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Adebowale on 2016-07-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many children aged 16 or 17 have presented to their local authority as homeless, and how many of those were accommodated under the Children Act 1989, in (1) 2015–16, and (2) 2014–15.

    Lord Nash

    The Department for Education does not collect information on the number of children aged 16 or 17 who have presented to their local authority as homeless, or how many have been accommodated as a result of homelessness.

  • Lord Adebowale – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Adebowale – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Adebowale on 2016-07-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many children aged 16 or 17 have presented to their local authority as homeless in (1) 2015–16, and (2) 2014–15, and how many of those were (a) assessed under the Housing Act 1996, and (b) assessed and then accommodated under Part VII of the Housing Act 1996.

    Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

    One person without a home is one too many. That is why we have maintained and protected homelessness prevention funding for local authorities through the local government finance settlement totalling £315 million by 2019/20. We have also increased central government funding to tackle homelessness to £139 million over the next four years.

    The causes of youth homelessness are highly complex and our priority is to ensure that young people at risk of homelessness get the support they need. That is why we have also invested in the development of a Positive Pathway framework to help local authorities and their partners support young people to remain in the family home (where it is safe to do so) through a collaborative and integrated approach, as well as identifying the relevant support services needed should they become homeless. This includes supported accommodation as a starting point for 16 and 17 year olds.

    Since 2002, 16 to 17 year olds have been classed as a priority need category and are owned a main homeless duty by their local authority. The number of 16 or 17 year olds who applied and were accepted as homeless was 580 in 2014-15, and 530 in 2015-16 (falling from 2,190 in 2009-10). All of these cases were dealt with under the homelessness provisions of Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996.

    We do not hold details on the age of applicants who reported to their local authority but were ineligible or not homeless.