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

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

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether Ministers or officials of his Department have (a) met the Attorney General of Nigeria since January 2012 and (b) had any conversations about the sale of the OPL 245 oil concession in Nigeria involving Shell and ENI with (i) the Attorney General of Nigeria and (ii) any other senior official of the Nigerian government.

    Mark Simmonds

    No FCO Ministers have met the Nigerian Attorney General since January 2012. Given the range and frequency of meetings between FCO officials with the Nigerian Attorney General, I am unable to offer a full list of them. The Metropolitan Police Proceeds of Corruption Unit are investigating complaints made about the case of oil block OPL-245 in Nigeria. Because this is an on-going investigation, it would not be appropriate to comment any further.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Caroline Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether Ministers or officials of his Department have (a) met the Attorney General of Nigeria since January 2012 and (b) had any conversations about the sale of the OPL 245 oil concession in Nigeria involving Shell and ENI with (i) the Attorney General of Nigeria and (ii) any other senior official of the Nigerian government.

    Jeremy Wright

    I have met with the Nigerian Attorney General twice on 1 October 2013 and 9 January 2014 to discuss justice issues and was accompanied by officials on both occasions.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    Caroline Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Prime Minister, for what reasons the G7 Summit Declaration does not mention Iraq; what discussions took place at that summit on (a) the rise of Al Qaeda-linked organisations in western and northern Iraq and (b) other issues relating to Iraq; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr David Cameron

    I refer the hon. Member to my Oral Statement on the G7 on 11 June 2014, Official Report, column 549.

  • Karen Lumley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Karen Lumley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karen Lumley on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many cancer patients aged between 13 and 24 have (a) accessed treatments through the already approved Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) list, (b) applied for individual CDF requests, (c) had individual CDF requests put forward for consideration by the CDF panel, (d) had individual CDF requests approved by the CDF panel and (e) had individual CDF requests refused by the CDF panel in each of the last three years.

    Norman Lamb

    Prior to April 2013, information on the Cancer Drugs Fund was administered through clinical panels based in each strategic health authority and information on the age of patients who received cancer drugs was not collected.

    NHS England has had oversight of the Fund since April 2013 and advises that it does not analyse Cancer Drugs Fund data by age ranges.

  • Karen Lumley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Karen Lumley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karen Lumley on 2014-06-11.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of whether Atos is an appropriate body to conduct (a) the delivery of tax-free childcare and (b) other outsourced work on behalf of National Savings and Investments.

    Nicky Morgan

    On the 23 May the Government published a further consultation on the delivery of childcare accounts within Tax-Free Childcare. The consultation will be open until 27 June and the Government will consider the responses alongside those to the first consultation before it makes its decision on the provision of childcare accounts.

    Atos was awarded the contract to provide services to NS&I, and to use the NS&I related assets, processes and infrastructure to provide services to others on a shared service basis subject to assessment of scope and nature, and agreement of NS&I. The contract was awarded following an open and competitive tender process and commenced on the 1st April 2014, and is subject to ongoing scrutiny based on defined service levels, transparency requirements and a clear risk strategy.

  • 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 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the contribution by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of 13 May 2014, Official Report, columns 200-3WH, what representations he has made to the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo on the recent acquittal of 14 officers of the armed forces of that country on charges of mass rape and murder.

    Mark Simmonds

    I welcome efforts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to prosecute perpetrators on charges of mass rape and murder – but more must be done to deliver justice for the victims. I met with the Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of the DRC in London last week when he was attending the Global Summit on Ending Sexual Violence in Conflict. I emphasised to him that ending impunity was fundamental to tackling the scourge of sexual and gender-based violence. He confirmed his Government’s commitment to tackling sexual and gender based violence and to ending impunity for the perpetrators.

    The British Embassy in Kinshasa sponsors a range of projects to tackle sexual violence in the DRC focusing on security sector reform and improving service provision for survivors. During his visit to eastern DRC in March 2013 the Foreign Secretary announced over £1 million in funding to a range of organisations tackling rape and sexual violence. The UK has supported the deployment of an international expert to build capacity of health and legal professionals to address accountability and the investigation and documentation of sexual violence crimes.

    The Foreign Secretary has publicly called on the Congolese authorities to continue in their efforts to seek out and prosecute the remaining perpetrators. Senior officials at our Embassy in Kinshasa have, jointly with EU Heads of Mission and independently, also raised the issue directly with the Government of the DRC.

    The International Protocol on the Documentation and Investigation of Sexual Violence in Conflict, which was field tested in the DRC, was launched at the Global Summit on 12 June. I hope that the Protocol will be deployed widely, helping to ensure that more and more perpetrators of sexual and gender-based violence the world over will be brought to justice.

  • Mary Glindon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Mary Glindon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Glindon on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when his Department will reply to the report by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Skin into sunbed regulation in England.

    Jane Ellison

    Government has noted the All Party Parliamentary Group on Skin report and is currently considering the recommendations and the implications.

  • Adam Afriyie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Adam Afriyie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of how many properties at risk of flooding in (a) Windsor constituency and (b) the Thames Valley that will not be covered by the new Flood Re scheme.

    Dan Rogerson

    The assessment of the impact the scope of the Flood Re Scheme will have was done at a UK level. There was no specific assessment for individual constituencies or regions.

  • Adam Afriyie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Adam Afriyie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans he for the future of the UK Census; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Francis Maude

    The Government recognises the value of the census but I have long said that it is outdated in its current form and could be more effectively and more cheaply delivered. Decisions about its future will be announced in the usual way, but the Government agrees with the conclusion of the Public Affairs Select Committee that the census needs to change.

  • Adam Afriyie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Adam Afriyie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2014-06-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the UK Space Agency in promoting the UK space industry; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr David Willetts

    The UK Space Agency (UKSA) was created in April 2011 to lead and foster the growing UK space sector. It does so through funding and delivery of civil space projects and downstream space related activities, developing space policy including advice to Ministers and regulating UK space activities to meet international obligations.

    The UKSA formally tests its performance against such objectives in a number ways and includes amongst these a measure of its effectiveness in promoting the UK space industry. This is primarily through an independent bi-annual “Size and Health” survey of the UK industrial sector which assesses the growth of the UK space economy. The Agency also monitors contracts that flow back to UK industry from Agency-targeted subscriptions to the European Space Agency as well as monitoring where Agency-supported research and development work has positioned UK industry for success in future operational contracts. More recently the Agency has extended its role in actively supporting and promoting UK industrial exports of both satellite and emerging space-related data services.

    All objective measures from these activities point to a growing success story for our space industry. Indeed it is one of our economy’s fastest growing sectors, with an average growth rate of almost 7.5%, and it has ambitions to increase its annual turnover to £40 billion by 2030. The role of the Agency in this development is significant and it has developed close relationships with industry.

    The Size and Health survey due to be published in autumn 2014 is expected to show that the Space Economy has continued to grow between 2011 and 2013.

    Its coordination of a business-driven industrial space policy has provided leadership for the UK industrial community (acknowledged by the UK space Innovation and Growth Strategy published in 2013) and this has been recognised by the Parliamentary Select Committee report into the UKSA which was published in October 2013.

    The Agency serves as an effective platform to raise awareness of the successes of the UK space sector. BIS and Agency officials continue to evaluate its success in promoting that work using Government Communications Service best practice.

    A further key measure of success is the increasing number of overseas space companies choosing to invest in the UK and so growing the UK’s wider space capability and economic development.