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  • Lord Hylton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Lord Hylton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to enforce the National Minimum Wage, and in particular to protect the employees of agencies and those on zero-hours contracts from exploitation.

    Viscount Younger of Leckie

    The Government is committed to increasing compliance with minimum wage legislation and effective enforcement of it. Everyone who is entitled to the minimum wage should receive it.

    HMRC enforces the National Minimum Wage for all workers. This includes agency workers and those on zero hour contracts. HMRC investigates every complaint made to the Pay and Work Rights helpline. In addition, HMRC conducts risk-based enforcement in sectors or areas where there is a higher risk of workers not getting paid the legal minimum wage.

    The Government is taking a tougher approach on employers that break National Minimum Wage law and has already made it simpler to name and shame employers that break NMW law. The Government has also increased the financial penalty percentage that employers pay for breaking minimum wage law.

  • Lord Hylton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they support the direct and indirect negotiations between the government of Turkey, elected representatives, and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK); and whether they will encourage the government of Turkey to maintain the current ceasefire and to conclude the negotiations as soon as possible.

    Baroness Warsi

    We applaud the continuing efforts of the Turkish government aimed at concluding a peaceful settlement of the Kurdish issue. We encourage all sides, including members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, to maintain the current ceasefire and continue negotiations until a just and lasting agreement is achieved.

  • Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to introduce a measure enabling civil partners to marry.

    Baroness Northover

    Section 9 of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 provides that civil partners may convert their civil partnership into marriage under regulations to be made by my Right Honourable friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. Her Majesty’s Government is working hard to ensure that couples wanting to convert their civil partnerships into marriages are able to do so as soon as possible. The aim is to do this before the end of 2014.

  • Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Lester of Herne Hill – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lester of Herne Hill on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether public funds are used by the Police Federation to support defamation litigation.

    Lord Taylor of Holbeach

    Funding provided by the Government to the Police Federation of England and Wales may only be used for specific purposes. These are to pay part of the salaries of its principal officers, and to support their statutory function in negotiating the pay of police officers.

    As the Home Secretary announced on 21 May, all Government funding provided to the Police Federation will cease by August this year.

  • The Lord Bishop of Coventry – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The Lord Bishop of Coventry – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of Coventry on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of the resources for projects under the Human Rights and Democracy Programme were allocated to the area of freedom of religion and belief in 2013.

    Baroness Warsi

    In the 2013-14 financial year the Human Rights and Democracy Programme (HRDP) received 218 proposals for funding. Seventeen of these proposals were for work associated with Freedom of Religion and Belief (FORB), representing 7.8% of proposals received. Six projects were ultimately funded, to the value of £214,029. This represents 3.3% of the total resource available.

    The programme is keen to see more good quality project bids on this theme in future bidding rounds, and have actively encouraged more quality bids for the 2014-15 financial year.

  • The Lord Bishop of Coventry – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The Lord Bishop of Coventry – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of Coventry on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many applications they received for funding under the Human Rights and Democracy Programme in 2013 for work associated with freedom of religion or belief.

    Baroness Warsi

    In the 2013-14 financial year the Human Rights and Democracy Programme (HRDP) received 218 proposals for funding. Seventeen of these proposals were for work associated with Freedom of Religion and Belief (FORB), representing 7.8% of proposals received. Six projects were ultimately funded, to the value of £214,029. This represents 3.3% of the total resource available.

    The programme is keen to see more good quality project bids on this theme in future bidding rounds, and have actively encouraged more quality bids for the 2014-15 financial year.

  • The Lord Bishop of Coventry – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The Lord Bishop of Coventry – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of Coventry on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government for how many projects they provided funding under the Human Rights and Democracy Programme in 2013 for work associated with freedom of religion and belief.

    Baroness Warsi

    In the 2013-14 financial year the Human Rights and Democracy Programme (HRDP) received 218 proposals for funding. Seventeen of these proposals were for work associated with Freedom of Religion and Belief (FORB), representing 7.8% of proposals received. Six projects were ultimately funded, to the value of £214,029. This represents 3.3% of the total resource available.

    The programme is keen to see more good quality project bids on this theme in future bidding rounds, and have actively encouraged more quality bids for the 2014-15 financial year.

  • Lord Trefgarne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Trefgarne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Trefgarne on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there exists a standard contract for general practitioners working within the National Health Service; and if so, whether they will place a copy of that contract in the Library of the House.

    Earl Howe

    NHS England has responsibility for commissioning National Health Service primary medical services.

    NHS England has an NHS England Standard General Medical Services contract, which covers around half the GP practices. A copy of the contract is available at:

    www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/commissioning/gp-contract/

    NHS England also intend to provide a standard Personal Medical Services contract.

  • Lord Trefgarne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Trefgarne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Trefgarne on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the present arrangements for the protection of patients’ private medical information by general practitioners.

    Earl Howe

    General practitioner (GP) practices are individually responsible for ensuring that they comply with legal and ethical requirements and central guidance in relation to data protection and patient confidentiality. A majority of GP practices in England provide assurance that they do so by completing annual assessments of their compliance against information governance requirements through the National Health Service Information Governance Toolkit, and the results of these assessments are publicly available.

  • Lord Trefgarne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Trefgarne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Trefgarne on 2014-06-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the rules relating to the release of patients’ private medical information to insurance companies by general practitioners.

    Earl Howe

    General practitioners (GPs) must ensure that patients have provided explicit consent before disclosing information to insurance companies. Additionally, under the provisions of the Access to Medical Reports Act 1988, patients have the right to view medical reports prepared for insurance companies and, where a patient has exercised this right, a GP cannot disclose the report to the insurance company until the patient has had the opportunity to review it or if the patient withdraws their consent.