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  • Peter Grant – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Peter Grant – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Grant on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, on how many occasions officials of his Department have contacted representatives of a foreign government to ask for an account of private meetings or discussions held between representatives of that government and Scottish Government Ministers in each of the last five years.

    Mr David Lidington

    Foreign policy is reserved to the UK Government. The UK Government recognises the interests of the devolved administrations (DAs) in international policy which touches upon devolved areas. Under the framework of the relevant Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and concordats, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) frequently supports overseas visits by DAs ministers and officials. FCO officials generally attend such meetings overseas and expect the DAs to provide details of any international meetings at which FCO officials were not present. The FCO maintains a broad overview of bilateral relations with all countries.

  • Peter Grant – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Peter Grant – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Grant on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, on how many occasions officials of his Department have contacted representatives of a foreign government to ask for an account of private meetings or discussions held between representatives of that government and Welsh Government Ministers in each of the last five years.

    Stephen Crabb

    On no occasion have Wales Office officials contacted representatives of a foreign government to ask for an account of private meetings or discussions held between representatives of that government and Welsh Government Ministers.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2015-10-26.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 26 October 2015 to Question 12704, what the income range is of the half of tax credit claimants with the highest income.

    Damian Hinds

    The latest information on the number of tax credit recipient families by range of income can be found in the published statistics https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-and-working-tax-credits-statistics-finalised-annual-awards-2013-to-2014

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  • Jeremy Lefroy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jeremy Lefroy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2015-10-26.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the projected level of income tax that will be forgone by the taxpayer by providing higher rate income tax relief on pension contributions in (a) 2016-17, (b) 2017-18, (c) 2018-19 and (d) 2019-20.

    Mr David Gauke

    Information on the total cost of pensions tax relief is published in HM Revenue and Customs’ National Statistics table PEN6, available on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/registered-pension-schemes-cost-of-tax-relief

  • Mark Tami – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Mark Tami – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Tami on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 15 October 2015 to Question 11044, what criteria NHS England plans to use in deciding which treatments remain on the Cancer Drugs Fund.

    George Freeman

    The criteria for reviewing the drugs on the national Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) list is outlined in NHS England’s publishedCDF Standard Operating Procedure which is available at:

    www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/pe/cdf/

    “

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to tackle obesity.

    Jane Ellison

    We will put forward our plans to tackle obesity in our childhood obesity strategy in the new year.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that people involved in the conflict in Yemen are able to access humanitarian and commercial aid,

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Intense fighting and insecurity on the ground in Yemen has resulted in restrictions being placed on commercial and humanitarian shipping, and difficulties in distributing food and fuel to those who need it. The most important action to address the humanitarian situation, beyond a ceasefire, is to facilitate access for commercial and humanitarian goods, which all parties to the conflict have a responsibility to ensure. The UK continues to monitor this issue, and has engaged frequently with the Government of Yemen and members of the Saudi Arabian-led coalition on facilitating access. We have emphasised with all parties to the conflict the importance of the non-politicisation of aid. There has been some recent progress on shipping access, which we welcome, but this needs to be maintained and increased in the future. We will continue to work with the Government of Yemen, members of the coalition, and the UN to see sustained progress.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all sides in the conflict in Yemen maintain acceptable humanitarian and human rights standards.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We are aware of reports of alleged violations of international humanitarian law (IHL) and abuses of human rights in Yemen, committed by all parties to the conflict – and take them very seriously. We have raised our concerns with the Saudi Arabian-led Coalition, and have received repeated assurances that they are complying with IHL. We continue to engage with them on those assurances. We are also concerned by reports of alleged IHL violations by Houthi-Saleh forces, including attacks on civilians in Aden and Taiz; intimidation of UN ships attempting to dock at Aden; the use of schools and hospitals for military purposes; the use of child soldiers; and the targeting of aid workers and restrictions on humanitarian access. We have raised our concerns with the Houthis on the importance of compliance with IHL.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will take steps to ensure that British citizens travelling to India are aware of the illegal practice of capturing and breaking young elephants in India for use in the tourism industry.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We are aware of reports that some elephants in use in the tourist industry in India have been captured as calves and then beaten and mistreated. This practice is illegal in India. Officials in London have discussed this issue with Save The Asian Elephant (STAE), an organisation that works to stop this cruel treatment.

    The UK is committed to conserving Asian elephants and recognises the growing threats to their populations, particularly from poaching and cross-border, illegal trade in live animals to feed the demand by the tourist and entertainment industries. The UK has been working internationally through the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in discussion with elephant range states, including India, to increase protection for Asian elephants. We secured agreement from the Indian government in 2014 for elephant range states to put in place measures to prevent illegal trade in live elephants.

    It is not for the Government to make British citizens aware of this practice. However, we will continue to work together with the Indian authorities, as well as STAE and other non-governmental organisations, on protecting elephants.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Indian counterpart on preventing the practice of capturing and breaking young elephants in India for use in the tourism industry.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We are aware of reports that some elephants in use in the tourist industry in India have been captured as calves and then beaten and mistreated. This practice is illegal in India. Officials in London have discussed this issue with Save The Asian Elephant (STAE), an organisation that works to stop this cruel treatment.

    The UK is committed to conserving Asian elephants and recognises the growing threats to their populations, particularly from poaching and cross-border, illegal trade in live animals to feed the demand by the tourist and entertainment industries. The UK has been working internationally through the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in discussion with elephant range states, including India, to increase protection for Asian elephants. We secured agreement from the Indian government in 2014 for elephant range states to put in place measures to prevent illegal trade in live elephants.

    It is not for the Government to make British citizens aware of this practice. However, we will continue to work together with the Indian authorities, as well as STAE and other non-governmental organisations, on protecting elephants.