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  • Robin Walker – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Robin Walker – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robin Walker on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what joint trade missions have been undertaken by the UK and the Republic of Ireland since 2010; and what steps he is taking to increase collaboration with the Republic of Ireland on trade and exports.

    Michael Fallon

    The UK and Ireland have embarked on a wide programme of cooperation following the visit of HM the Queen to Ireland in 2011. Led by my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister and the Taoiseach, this programme is designed to develop and strengthen the relationship between the UK and Ireland over the next decade across a range of policy areas.

    The UK and Ireland delivered the first ever joint trade mission between the two countries to the Singapore Airshow during the week commencing 10 February 2014. The UK-Ireland mission delegation consisted of 25 companies, 16 from the UK (including 9 from Northern Ireland) and 9 from the Republic of Ireland. Delivering a joint trade mission was one of the key deliverables for the 2014 PM/Taoiseach Summit.

    UK Trade & Investment is committed to maintaining its work programme with Enterprise Ireland to further develop cooperation on trade promotion in support of UK and Irish business.

  • Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lucas on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many (a) male and (b) female (i) HM Ambassadors and (ii) High Commissioners there are from each region of the UK.

    Hugh Robertson

    We are unable to breakdown the region that each and every one of our Ambassadors and High Commissioners was born in without incurring disproportionate costs. We are able to breakdown by the constituent country within the UK as follows:

    Male Female
    England 80 22
    Scotland 5 1
    Wales 3 0
    Northern Ireland 1 0
    Born outside the UK or not recorded on file 29 7

    There is also one post where the Ambassador’s role is shared by one male and one female, both from England.

    The key principle of all FCO appointments is selection by merit through fair and open competition. Place of birth has no effect on our appointments system. All UK based members of staff have to be British citizens.

  • Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lucas on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he plans to take to ensure women’s equal and meaningful participation in the Syrian peace process.

    Hugh Robertson

    It is vital that Syrian women are able to participate fully in decisions about the future of their country. We continue to raise international awareness of this important issue and the Foreign Secretary has written to the UN Secretary General, the Joint Special Envoy, and a number of Foreign Ministers recommending that Syrian women should be able to participate fully in the peace process. We are providing £200,000 of support to the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom to strengthen the capacity of Syrian women’s groups to engage in the transition process. The Foreign Secretary was pleased to meet representatives from the Syrian Women’s Initiative for Peace and Democracy during Geneva II, and the UK intends to offer further practical support in close coordination with UN Women and donors.

  • Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Katy Clark – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Katy Clark on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his Iranian counterpart for the release of Shahrokh Zamani.

    Hugh Robertson

    We remain deeply concerned about the detention and treatment of labour activist Shahrokh Zamani. Unions and labour organisations have been heavily repressed in Iran, and many members have been arrested, jailed or harassed. We have called on Iran to fulfil its international and domestic obligations to allow freedom of expression to all Iranians.

  • Menzies Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Menzies Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Menzies Campbell on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what response his Department has made to the expulsion of Médicins Sans Frontières from Rakhine state by the Burmese government.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    On hearing of the expulsion of Médicins San Frontières (MSF) on 26 February, the British Embassy registered our concerns with the Burmese government that same evening. Since then we have been liaising very closely with MSF tailoring our lobbying to their support, as they negotiate with the Burmese authorities. The British Ambassador visited the MSF clinic in Sittwe during his visit to Rakhine State from 19-20 March to hear first-hand the impact this decision has had on the local community.

    I summoned the Burmese Ambassador to London on 7 April to make clear our grave concerns about the situation in Rakhine State, including the expulsion of Médicins San Frontières. I called on the Burmese government to urgently restore humanitarian access to all communities in need and to ensure the security of humanitarian aid workers and all communities in Rakhine State so that they can operate free of constraint and intimidation. We continue to make clear to the Burmese authorities that there must be no deterioration in the provision of health services in Rakhine State, which is already on the brink of crisis.

  • Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether funding allocated to Action on Smoking and Health may be used for campaigning purposes by that body under the terms on which it is allocated.

    Jane Ellison

    Since 2011, the conditions for the grants provided to Action on Smoking and Health under the Department of Health’s “Section 64 General Scheme of Grants to voluntary and Community Organisations” arrangements have explicitly set out that none of the funding provided by the Department should be intended or used for political lobbying or campaigning purposes.

    Advocacy work in support of the implementation of existing Government Tobacco Control policies and programmes of work is acceptable.

  • Sarah Teather – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Sarah Teather – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Teather on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish the number of individuals held at HM Prison The Verne solely for immigration purposes as part of the quarterly immigration statistics.

    James Brokenshire

    Published figures on people detained in the United Kingdom solely under
    Immigration Act powers include those held in short term holding facilities, pre
    departure accommodation and immigration removal centres. However, figures
    exclude those held in police cells, Prison Service establishments, short term
    holding rooms at ports and airports (for less than 24 hours), and those
    recorded as detained under both criminal and immigration powers and their
    dependants.

    The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics on the number of
    people detained in the United Kingdom for immigration purposes, within
    Immigration Statistics: October – December 2013, from the GOV.UK website:
    https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/home-office/series/immigration-stati
    stics-quarterly-release.

    The provisional date for HMP The Verne to become an
    Immigration Removal Centre is September 2014 and following that change specific
    figures for the Verne would be regularly published alongside those for other
    Immigration Removal Centres.

  • Lucy Powell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lucy Powell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Powell on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many jobs have been transferred from the public to the private sector as a result of privatisations or outsourcing by her Department since May 2010.

    Karen Bradley

    Since May 2010, 77 posts have transferred from the Home Department to the private sector as a result of outsourcing.

  • Robert Buckland – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Robert Buckland – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Buckland on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Attorney General, how many cases of domestic violence have led to prosecutions for psychological abuse in each of the last five years.

    Oliver Heald

    The CPS flags all cases identified as domestic violence according to the revised Government definition implemented in March 2013. This includes the elements of coercive control, and behaviours which do not display visible injuries such as psychological abuse which were introduced in the revised definition. However the records held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) cannot separately identify the number of people prosecuted for each of these elements. Such information could only be obtained through a manual search of records which would incur a disproportionate cost.

  • Robert Buckland – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Robert Buckland – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Buckland on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Attorney General, how many domestic violence cases have led to prosecutions for non-injurious behaviours.

    Oliver Heald

    The CPS flags all cases identified as domestic violence according to the revised Government definition implemented in March 2013. This includes the elements of coercive control, and behaviours which do not display visible injuries such as psychological abuse which were introduced in the revised definition. However the records held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) cannot separately identify the number of people prosecuted for each of these elements. Such information could only be obtained through a manual search of records which would incur a disproportionate cost.