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  • 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.

  • Lord Trefgarne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Trefgarne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the average time taken by general practitioners to complete the medical forms required by candidates for the Territorial Army and Army Reserve; and what is the number presently outstanding.

    Lord Astor of Hever

    The average time taken by General Practitioners to complete medical forms for Army Reserve applicants is 29 days. This includes the time taken by the candidate to provide the documents to their General Practitioner as well as the time taken by General Practitioners to process the forms. This has reduced from 37 days which was the average prior to the implementation of the improved medical process for recruits in February 2014.

    As at 6 June 2014, 1,315 sets of Army Reserve medical declaration documents were outstanding.

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

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

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

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what recent assessment they have made of the human rights situation in Sri Lanka; and what recent discussions they have had with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights about the United Nations Human Rights Council resolution on Sri Lanka of 27 March.

    Baroness Warsi

    We remain concerned about the human rights situation in Sri Lanka especially in the North. Our concerns include the continued intimidation and harassment of human rights defenders (HRDs) and activists, attacks on religious minorities, and the protection of the right to freedom of expression and opinion.

    Through our Mission in Geneva, we maintain regular contact with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Following the adoption of the resolution, we are engaging with international partners to ensure the implementation of the resolution’s international investigation into violations of international law by both sides during Sri Lanka’s conflict. We believe that progress on accountability, human rights and reconciliation is important in establishing enduring peace and reconciliation in Sri Lanka. Such progress will ensure Sri Lanka can reach its full potential as a strong and prosperous nation.