The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2014-04-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking at the High Level Meeting of the Global Partnership for Effective Development to ensure that future aid delivery via the private sector follows the Busan Principles.
Justine Greening
I refer my Hon. Friend to the answer I gave to Rt Hon. Member for East Renfrewshire (Jim Murphy) on 27 March 2014, Official Report (Col. 390W).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Murphy on 2014-04-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to prevent famine in South Sudan.
Justine Greening
The UK is the second largest donor to the Crisis Response Plan for South Sudan, and we are working with the UN and other donors to raise the prominence of the appeal, and secure new and increased commitments of funds. DFID has contributed £20.8 million of new humanitarian funding in South Sudan since December 2013. We have also allocated £17 million to support the refugee response in neighbouring countries.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-04-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent discussions she has had with the Ethiopian government on her Department’s aid funding; and what recent reports she has received of the violent expulsion of Ethiopian farmers from their land.
Lynne Featherstone
DFID ministers and senior officials continue to engage with the Government of Ethiopia on resettlement, including meetings with the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, in May 2013, November 2013 and December 2013. These discussions have included encouraging the Government of Ethiopia to follow international good practice on resettlement, implementation of a Grievance Response Mechanism, and monitoring and investigation of and action in relation to allegations of abuse.
A summary of the findings and recommendations of multi-donor visits, including DFID, to monitor resettlement in Ethiopia will be made available in due course on the Development Assistance Group’s website at:www.dagethiopia.org
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Murphy on 2014-04-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent discussions her Department has had with non-governmental agencies in South Sudan on levels of food provision.
Lynne Featherstone
The UK is extremely concerned about the deteriorating food security in South Sudan, and the urgent need to increase the provision of food supplies and livelihoods support to vulnerable populations. The eruption of conflict on 15 December 2013 has sharply exacerbated an already fragile food security situation: 3.2 million people are now at immediate risk of food insecurity and up to 7.2 million are estimated to be at some risk.
DFID South Sudan is in regular contact with critical non-government agencies operating in the country, both UN agencies such as the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), as well as with key non-government organisations, to understand and inform the humanitarian response and to monitor needs and the quality of the humanitarian operation. DFID South Sudan staff have visited displaced communities in Unity and Jonglei States in recent weeks to meet affected people, and international agencies delivering assistance, in order to better understand food security needs.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Murphy on 2014-04-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent discussions she has had with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees on the average time taken to register a Syrian refugee in neighbouring countries.
Justine Greening
My officials are in regular discussion with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) at both national and regional levels regarding UNHCR’s efforts to protect and assist Syrian refugees. UNHCR have devoted considerable resources to reducing the average time taken for refugee registration. In Lebanon, for example, average registration time has fallen from 80 days to 21 days.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-04-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what measures are in place to ensure that aid given to foreign countries is used for the purposes intended; and what proportion of such aid not being used for those purposes would result in future aid being denied to that country.
Justine Greening
DFID has a number of controls in place focussing on monitoring and evaluation, including both internal and external audits and reports from the International Development Committee and the Independent Commission for Aid Impact.
DFID has strong internal review processes in place to make sure projects are properly monitored and closed if they are not delivering good results and value for money.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Murphy on 2014-04-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions her Department has had with agencies working within Syria on the work of the Syrian Recovery Trust Fund; and how the £3 million funding announced on 31 March will be spent.
Justine Greening
DFID and FCO officials have held discussions with a range of donors to the Trust Fund as well as the trustee, implementing partners and the National Coalition.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2014-04-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to reform civil procedure rules to clarify courts’ powers to strike out cases due to exaggerated or fabricated personal injury claims; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Shailesh Vara
The Government is committed to turning the tide on fraudulent personal injury claims. To this end, it is considering what specific reforms might be appropriate, including whether the Law Commission should be asked to consider this issue. We will make our conclusions known in due course.
No figures are available on the number of exaggerated or fabricated personal injury claims struck out by the courts. Figures for 2011 published by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) indicate that whiplash claims cost customers more than £2 billion a year and add £90 to the average motor insurance premium.
The ABI describe 7% of all motor claims in 2011 – worth £441m – as fraudulent. In addition, they estimate that a further £1 billion of motor insurance fraud went undetected in 2011.
As announced last year, we are working with stakeholders in the industry to tighten the medical evidence process so that only evidence from accredited experts can be considered, and the costs for those reports can be fixed. This will mean people can no longer profit from exaggerated or fraudulent compensation claims but victims with genuine cases can still get the help they deserve. We are introducing these reforms later in the year. We are also working to secure better data on motor accident cases, including the number of fraudulent cases.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2014-04-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many insurance fraud cases were struck out due to exaggerated or fabricated personal injury claims in the last year for which figures are available.
Mr Shailesh Vara
The Government is committed to turning the tide on fraudulent personal injury claims. To this end, it is considering what specific reforms might be appropriate, including whether the Law Commission should be asked to consider this issue. We will make our conclusions known in due course.
No figures are available on the number of exaggerated or fabricated personal injury claims struck out by the courts. Figures for 2011 published by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) indicate that whiplash claims cost customers more than £2 billion a year and add £90 to the average motor insurance premium.
The ABI describe 7% of all motor claims in 2011 – worth £441m – as fraudulent. In addition, they estimate that a further £1 billion of motor insurance fraud went undetected in 2011.
As announced last year, we are working with stakeholders in the industry to tighten the medical evidence process so that only evidence from accredited experts can be considered, and the costs for those reports can be fixed. This will mean people can no longer profit from exaggerated or fraudulent compensation claims but victims with genuine cases can still get the help they deserve. We are introducing these reforms later in the year. We are also working to secure better data on motor accident cases, including the number of fraudulent cases.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2014-04-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what facilities prison libraries have to help prisoners order books through the internet.
Jeremy Wright
The NOMS policy on prisoner retail allows prisoners (via prison staff) to order books from approved mail order providers. This is at the discretion of the Governor.
An inter-library loan request service, facilitated by the librarian or library assistant, enables prisoners to request books in the same way as library users in the community.
No charge is made for prisoners using the inter-library loan service. Where a special request is necessary, for example to the British Library, a charge will be made. This is consistent with the policy applied to service users in the community.