The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Nye on 2014-06-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the British Ambassador to Burma has raised the jailing of Zaw Pe with the government of Burma.
Baroness Warsi
Our Ambassador has discussed the case of Zaw Pe, and those of other arrested journalists, with Deputy Minister of Information Ye Htut. The cases of Zaw Pe and many other individuals were also raised during the first EU-Burma Human Rights Dialogue in May.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Nye on 2014-06-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the total amount of international aid to Burma and what percentage is provided by them.
Baroness Northover
DFID publishes aid statistics each year on the gov.uk website as ‘Statistics on International Development’ (SID). The most recent set of data for which we can compare UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) with the total of bilateral ODA provided by OECD Development Assistance Committee countries to Burma is from 2010, when the overall total was £161 million. The UK provided around 18% of this total.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2014-06-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why HS2 Ltd, in acknowledging petitions deposited against the High Speed Rail (London–West Midlands) Bill, requires petitioners to set up an account with a secure email service (the switch data encryption system) in order to receive electronically their Petition Response Document from the Bill’s promoter, the Secretary of State for Transport.
Baroness Kramer
Petitioners are not required to set up a new email account to receive their Petition Response Document (PRD) electronically. Ensuring that petitioners receive their PRD in a timely manner is an important part of the petitioning process. The use of the Egress email system ensures that the file size limits imposed by email service providers do not prevent petitioners receiving their PRD. It also avoids the delays and inconvenience that can arise if documents are posted in hard copy, and are delayed or delivery is attempted when the petitioner is not at home. These are issues that people have complained about before, so HS2 Ltd has listened and deployed a better solution. In addition, at the request of the Select Committee, petitioners will be offered alternative means of receiving their PRD other than Egress.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2014-06-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the switch data encryption system proposed by HS2 Ltd for communication with petitioners against the High Speed Rail (London–West Midlands) Bill allows petitioners to copy, circulate and otherwise communicate as a normal email; and whether any tracking or monitoring of such communications will be available to HS2 through the system.
Baroness Kramer
Egress is an email system used by many government departments, NHS trusts and local authorities, including the London Borough of Camden, for communicating externally. It does not provide HS2 Ltd with any abilities to track or monitor emails sent by others. Petitioners will use Egress to download their petition response document; it will not be attached to an email. HS2 Ltd will only be able to confirm if and when the Petition Response Document (PRD) has been downloaded. Once downloaded, the PRD can be saved and copied, and circulated to others, subject to the constraints of email service providers on large files.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2014-06-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to support elderly people who live secluded lives.
Earl Howe
The Department is raising awareness of the issue and helping local health and wellbeing boards and commissioners to get better at measuring the issue in their local communities. This will help them come up with the right targeted solutions, and drive local improvements that really make a difference.
A measure of social isolation will be published this year as part of the Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework to raise visibility and to support local authorities to address the issue of social isolation in their local communities. This measure will be shared with the Public Health Outcomes Framework.
The Department is also working with a number of organisations including the Campaign to End Loneliness and the Royal Voluntary Service to promote ways to tackle loneliness, and the Silverline who provide a helpline offering support to older people.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2014-06-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to protect vulnerable people from radicalisation.
Lord Taylor of Holbeach
Prevent, which is a key strand of the Government’s counter-terrorism strategy, aims to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. The Prevent strategy, which was revised in 2011, now covers all forms of extremism where it creates an environment conducive to terrorism.
The Prevent strategy has three objectives: respond to the ideological challenge of terrorism and the threat we face from those who promote it; prevent people from being drawn into terrorism and ensuring that they are given appropriate advice and support; and work with sectors and institutions where there are risks of radicalisation that we need to address.
Frontline staff have a significant role to play. We have produced a training tool, ‘Workshop to Raise Awareness of Prevent’ (WRAP), which teaches staff how to recognise people who may be vulnerable to radicalisation and how to refer people who may need support to our Channel programme.
Channel is a key element of the Prevent strategy, and was rolled out nationally in April 2012. It uses existing collaboration between local authorities, the police, the local community and statutory partners (such as the education and health sectors, social services, children’s and youth services, and offender management services), to identify individuals at risk of being drawn into terrorism, assess the nature and extent of that risk; and develop the most appropriate support plan for the individuals concerned.
Since roll-out, over 2000 Channel referrals have been received, and over 300 people offered support. We are working to increase awareness of Channel, particularly among public sector frontline staff, in order to maximise the number of appropriate referrals.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2014-06-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the impact of air pollution on the development of an irregular heartbeat and blood clots in the lung.
Earl Howe
In 2010, the Department’s expert advisory Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (COMEAP) published an estimate of the mortality effect in 2008 of long-term exposure to particulate air pollution arising from human activities. The mortality burden for the United Kingdom was estimated as an effect equivalent to nearly 29,000 deaths.
Air pollution has been linked with effects on the cardiovascular system. However, it has not been extensively and consistently linked to an increased risk of developing an irregular heartbeat and there are few studies investigating whether it raises the risk of blood clots in thelung.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2014-06-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the availability of beds for accident and emergency patients.
Earl Howe
Not all patients who attend accident and emergency departments are admitted into hospital and require a bed. In 2013-14, 24% of 21.8 million accident and emergency attendances resulted in an emergency admission. Information is collected every quarter on bed availability and occupancy, including general and acute beds. In 2013-14 there were, on average, 135,964 general and acute beds open overnight, of which 88.0% were occupied. Information is collected every month on critical care bed availability and occupancy. In 2013-14 there were, on average, 4,274 adult and paediatric critical care beds, of which 82.9% were occupied. This information does not separately identify bed availability or occupancy for patients admitted via accident and emergency or any other admission method.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2014-06-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to reduce the number of children living in poverty.
Lord Freud
This Government remains committed to ending child poverty by 2020. Our approach, based on our published Evidence Review , is to tackle the root causes of child poverty, both now and in the future, by focussing on worklessness, low pay and raising educational attainment. This approach and the actions we propose to take are set out in full in our draft Child Poverty Strategy 2014-17. We will shortly publish the final version of the Strategy.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Morrow on 2014-06-09.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made any assessment of the compliance of Atos Healthcare with the Human Rights Act 1998, particularly section 6, and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, particularly Article 3; if so, what is that assessment; and whether all staff of that organisation are fully briefed and supplied with copies of the Act and Convention.
Lord Freud
The Department for Work and Pensions does not routinely assess Atos Healthcare’s compliance with the Human Rights Act 1998 or the European Convention for Human Rights under its contracts with the Department. However, our contracts with Atos and all of our suppliers include obligations to comply with all legal requirements.