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  • Fabian Hamilton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Fabian Hamilton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fabian Hamilton on 2015-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps UK diplomatic posts in China have taken under his Department’s 2010-2015 Strategy for the Abolition of the Death Penalty.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We have continued to urge the Chinese authorities to reduce their use of the death penalty, and did so during the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue in April. Through our network of diplomatic posts, the UK is working with Chinese legal experts and the Chinese judiciary to support legislative and judicial reforms to limit the use of the death penalty. We have supported a number of specific projects with the purpose of encouraging debate on the death penalty, providing information about global trends, and proposing alternatives in penal policy.

  • Fabian Hamilton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Fabian Hamilton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fabian Hamilton on 2015-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the level of freedom of religion or belief in the Tibet autonomous region.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We consider freedom of religion or belief to be a fundamental human right and support its protection and promotion around the world. We have concerns about restrictions on freedom of religion or belief and the wider treatment of ethnic minorities in the Tibetan Autonomous Region. I made clear a range of our concerns during a Westminster Hall Debate on Tibet on 18 June. We continue to raise our related concerns in detail with the Chinese authorities, for example during the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue. We have highlighted a range of our concerns in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy (www.hrdreport.fco.gov.uk). We will continue to raise our concerns as part of our wider relationship with China.

  • Stewart Jackson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Stewart Jackson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2015-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he plans to expand embassy and consular facilities in Latin America; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    As part of the Government’s Canning Agenda over the past five years we have revitalised relations with Latin America. I have opened new Embassies in El Salvador, Haiti and Paraguay. We have also opened two new Consulates General in Brazil, in Recife in 2011 and most recently last month in Belo Horizonte. We have also increased the number of diplomats in priority Posts and the number of Ministerial visits to the region.

    All future resource decisions are subject to the ongoing comprehensive Spending Review.

  • David Mackintosh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    David Mackintosh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2015-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for his policies of recent Iranian television broadcasting footage of an underground missile base and long-range missiles and launcher units.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We believe Iran to have an extensive ballistic missile programme, which it is developing in contravention of UN Security Council resolutions. Provisions of the UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) endorsing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (UNSCR 2231) retain restrictions on Iran’s ballistic missile programme for a further eight years.

  • Caroline Spelman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Caroline Spelman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Spelman on 2015-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when his Department last had contact with (a) Rebecca Prosser and (b) her family.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    Members of the consular team in Jakarta have visited Rebecca Prosser twice. The first visit took place on 2 June, shortly after her arrest, and lasted 30 minutes. The second, which lasted over two hours, took place on 10 September when she was moved from house arrest into a detention facility. Normal practice is to visit detainees in Indonesia every three months.

    Consular staff are in regular contact with Ms Prosser’s employer’s representatives, her legal team and her family. Since court proceedings began, we have provided a weekly written update to Ms Prosser, her family and their MPs. Our most recent contact with Ms Prosser’s family was on 21 October.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Fiona Bruce – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2015-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the contribution of the Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Affairs Committee on 15 September 2015, Qq 9-11, HC467, whether the promotion of human rights remains a top priority for his Department.

    Mr David Lidington

    Human rights remain an integral part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s work. They are mainstreamed across our work and they are intrinsically linked with many aspects of our national interest, including the stability and prosperity of our international partners.

  • Bridget Phillipson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Bridget Phillipson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2015-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department plans to improve out-of-hour services for palliative care.

    Ben Gummer

    This Government is committed to improving the quality of palliative care. Earlier this year, the Review of Choice in End of Life Care made a number of recommendations on how to enable greater choice and improve quality in palliative and end of life care nationally, including on the provision of out-of-hour palliative care services.

    We agree with the vision set out by the Review and are working with NHS England and others to see how this can best be achieved. We intend to respond to the Review recommendations in due course.

  • Bridget Phillipson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Bridget Phillipson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2015-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department plans to take to improve the quality of palliative care.

    Ben Gummer

    This Government is committed to improving the quality of palliative care. Earlier this year, the Review of Choice in End of Life Care made a number of recommendations on how to enable greater choice and improve quality in palliative and end of life care nationally, including on the provision of out-of-hour palliative care services.

    We agree with the vision set out by the Review and are working with NHS England and others to see how this can best be achieved. We intend to respond to the Review recommendations in due course.

  • Justin Madders – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2015-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has for additional winter pressures monitoring commencing in December.

    Jane Ellison

    Public Health England publishes a ‘winter health watch’ webpage each week throughout the winter.This includes a summary of the findings of our routine surveillance suitable for a non-technical audience, as well as links through to specific surveillance bulletins including surveillance for all- cause mortality, seasonal influenza, and norovirus.

    In addition, data will be collected and published from acute NHS trusts with a major accident and emergency department to provide an indication of where there are winter pressures in the system. This additional winter monitoring will commence on 1 December 2015, and will continue through to the end of February. NHS England will publish the first data on 11 December 2015. The data will be published every Friday over winter with the exception of the Christmas and New Year holidays where the data will be published on an alternative day. It is a routine collection that has been published weekly since 2010.

    The routine collection and publication of monthly NHS performance statistics by NHS England will continue as normal during the winter months. NHS England data can be found at:

    http://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/winter-daily-sitreps/

    “

  • Justin Madders – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2015-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress he has made on introducing independent medical examiners to the death certification process.

    Ben Gummer

    We will provide an update on our plans once the Spending Review has been completed.