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  • Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to encourage the government of Bahrain to hold talks with the opposition in Bahrain on human rights in that country; and what representations he has received on the arrest and trials of Ali Salman and Ebrahim Sharif.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We continue to encourage the Government of Bahrain to make progrerss with an open and inclusive national dialogue. We continue to monitor the cases of Ali Salman and Ebrahim Sharif as well as actions taken against other opposition activists. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my righthon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) raised human rights with his Bahraini counterpart, Sheikh Khalid Bin Ahmad al Khalifa at their last meeting on 13 October. We also continue to raise these cases with the Government of Bahrain, at all levels, and call for them to ensure due process is followed.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many of the recommendations of the 2011 report on Palestinian children in military custody, funded by his Department, have been carried out.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Since the publication of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office funded independent report on Children in Military Custody in June 2012, there has been some progress on the issue of children held in military detention.

    Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv held roundtable meetings with Israeli officials, most recently on 19 May. These meetings confirmed that progress is being made including a pilot to use summons instead of night-time arrests, changes to standard operating procedures on methods of restraint, and steps to reduce the amount of time a child can be detained before seeing a judge. Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv continue to push for further progress with Israeli officials.

    On 2 June, the Minister of State, my noble Friend the right hon. Baroness Anelay of St Johns met the Israeli Military Advocate General and the Israeli Ambassador to London where the issue of child detention was discussed. She made clear that while we welcome improvements, we continue to push for the full implementation of changes and to encourage further changes in practice.

  • Liam Byrne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Liam Byrne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2015-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with Israeli and Palestinian authorities on measures to reduce hostilities.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We are deeply concerned by the recent violence across the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel. We have had a number of discussions with both Israel and the Palestinian Authority over recent weeks. We have urged both sides to de-escalate the tensions. Most recently, on 15 October, the Charge d’Affaires at our Embassy in Israel raised our concerns with Israel’s Deputy National Security Adviser. He did likewise on 12 October, with Israel’s Deputy Defence Minister. On 9 October, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Runnymead and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) spoke to President Abbas about the violence, urging him to do everything in his power to reduce tensions and restore calm.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support he is giving to EU proposals to provide sea access to Gaza.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The EU, with UK encouragement, has examined a number of options to encourage an easing of movement and access into and out of Gaza. This includes the possibility of EU assistance in establishing a sea-link from Gaza to another international port, currently envisaged in Cyprus. The UK and EU have consistently called on the Government of Israel to ease movement, including at sea, and will continue to do so. We have also been pushing for an increase in the size of the fishing zone off the coast of Gaza, in line with the limit of twenty nautical miles stipulated in the Oslo accords. On 10 September, during Israeli Prime Minister Mr Netanyahu’s visit to the UK, the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr David Cameron), and the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Runnymead and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), emphasised the importance of improving access to Gaza.

  • 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 2015-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to prevent a similar incident to the airstrikes in Afghanistan which killed Medecins Sans Frontieres doctors occurring in future.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    It is essential that there is a rigorous process to determine the circumstances surrounding the airstrike on the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) trauma centre in Kunduz in order to prevent something like this occurring again. We await the conclusions of the investigations currently being undertaken by NATO and by the governments of the United States and Afghanistan, and any lessons that these offer.

  • Liam Byrne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Liam Byrne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2015-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many of the recommendations of the report on children in military custody published by his Department in June 2012 have been implemented.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Since the publication of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office funded independent report on Children in Military Custody in June 2012, there has been some progress on the issue of children held in military detention.

    Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv held roundtable meetings with Israeli officials, most recently on 19 May. These meetings confirmed that progress is being made including a pilot to use summons instead of night-time arrests, changes to standard operating procedures on methods of restraint, and steps to reduce the amount of time a child can be detained before seeing a judge. Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv continue to push for further progress with Israeli officials.

    On 2 June, the Minister of State, my noble Friend the right hon. Baroness Anelay of St Johns met the Israeli Military Advocate General and the Israeli Ambassador to London where the issue of child detention was discussed. She made clear that while we welcome improvements, we continue to push for the full implementation of changes and to encourage further changes in practice.

  • Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of smokers who have switched to e-cigarettes; and what estimate he has made of the effect of that switch on the NHS budget.

    Jane Ellison

    Survey data suggests the use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) among adults in Great Britain has increased to 2.6 million in 2015, of whom 1.1 million have completely stopped smoking.

    The Department recognises that e-cigarettes can help smokers to quit and the evidence indicates that they are less harmful to health than smoking tobacco. There is not yet enough evidence on which to make an estimate of the impact on National Health Service costs of smokers switching to e-cigarettes.

  • Paula Sherriff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Paula Sherriff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paula Sherriff on 2015-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent steps the Government has taken to improve care and support for people with breast cancer.

    Jane Ellison

    The independent Cancer Taskforce’s report, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes: A Strategy for England 2015-2020, recommends improvements across the cancer pathway with the aim of improving survival rates, including for people with breast cancer.

    We are working with the National Health Service, charities and patient groups to deliver it. To support delivery of the strategy, NHS England has appointed Cally Palmer as NHS National Cancer Director. Whilst continuing in her current position at the Royal Marsden, she will lead the implementation of the strategy, alongside work to test new models of care at the Royal Marsden and University College London Hospitals in partnership with Manchester Cancer.

    Improving Outcomes in Breast Cancer, published by the Department in 1996 and updated by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (now known as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)) in 2002, sets out best practice evidence based guidance on the diagnosis, treatment and care of women with breast cancer. The guidance is complimented by clinical guidelines on Breast cancer (early and locally advanced) and Breast cancer (advanced) published by NICE in 2009, and Familial breast cancer published in June 2013.

    NICE has also published a quality standard for breast cancer which is designed to drive and measure priority quality improvements in a breast cancer care. This is currently being updated.

    In addition, NHS England has a Breast Cancer Clinical Reference Group, which is administratively supported by the charities Breast Cancer Now and Breast Cancer Care. It has produced evidence based service guidance to support commissioners of breast cancer services, which is in the process of review internally.

    The results of the 2014 Cancer Patient Experience survey show improvements in many areas. 89% of all patients reported that their care was either excellent or very good, and breast cancer patients on the whole reported a more positive experience than for many other cancer patients, with 93% reporting having been given the name of a Clinical Nurse Specialist.

    On 13 September, based on the recommendations of the independent Cancer Taskforce report, we announced a number of measures to improve diagnosis, treatment and aftercare of people with cancer. This included a commitment that, by 2020, the 280,000 people diagnosed with cancer every year will benefit from a tailored recovery package. The packages will be individually designed to help each person live well beyond cancer, including things such as physical activity programmes, psychological support and practical advice about returning to work.

  • Rushanara Ali – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Rushanara Ali – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rushanara Ali on 2015-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of the proposed new junior doctor contract on the ability of female doctors to take time out of training for parental leave.

    Ben Gummer

    The proposed new contract will not affect the ability of doctors in training (male or female) to take time out for parental leave. All doctors will be treated the same.

    There will be no change to the existing leave and pay entitlements for those taking a break for maternity or parental leave. Pay on return will be the same as that for other trainees at the same stage of training and/or responsibility. This is consistent with what happens for other public sector staff.

  • Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether any grant monitoring forms in relation to funds awarded by his Department to Action on Smoking and Health were submitted late.

    Jane Ellison

    Action on Smoking and Health provided grant Monitoring Reports on completion of each project. The timing of the submission of these reports was agreed with the Tobacco Control policy team.