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  • Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2014-06-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office-sponsored report, Children in Military Custody, on Israeli interrogation methods of Palestinian children; and what follow-up to the report they intend to undertake.

    Baroness Warsi

    The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right Hon. Friend the Member for Faversham and Mid Kent (Mr Robertson), wrote to the Israeli Attorney General on 31 March 2014 to welcome the steps taken to date and to call for further measures, including the mandatory use of audio-visual recording of interrogations, investigation into continued reports of single hand ties being used, and an end to solitary confinement for children. These were key UK recommendations at Israel’s Universal Periodic Review session at the UN Human Rights Council on 29 October 2013.

    A progress report published in October 2013 by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) indicates that Israel has taken some positive steps towards addressing the recommendations in the report. These include: the introduction of legal obligations to inform the child’s parents of an arrest and grant them legal status to be represented in court, as well as to notify minors of their legal rights; and standard operating procedures on methods of restraint. The Israeli military are also piloting a new procedure across the West Bank, whereby children are issued a summons to attend a police station in the morning, rather than being arrested at night, in their homes. The UK believes that the report "Children in Military Custody" has helped contribute to these changes in practice.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2014-06-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the new President of Egypt concerning the opening of Rafah crossing to Gaza, in order to facilitate travel and the transfer of medical supplies.

    Baroness Northover

    We continue to urge the Egyptian authorities to ease the movement of bona fide travellers and humanitarian aid through Rafah. We call on Israel, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority to work together to enable a sustained increase in the legal flow of goods and persons from and to the Gaza Strip.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2014-06-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their most recent assessment of the level of medical supplies in Gazan hospitals.

    Baroness Northover

    DFID is deeply concerned at the shortage of medical supplies and drugs in Gazan hospitals. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has estimated that in Gaza at 29% of drugs are at zero stock (less than 1 month’s supply). DFID is supporting the UN Access Coordination Unit to work with the WHO, Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and aid agencies to facilitate the transfer of medical equipment and supplies and patient referrals in and out of Gaza.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2014-06-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they plan to take to promote the education of United Kingdom citizens about the events of 1948 in Palestine.

    Lord Nash

    The new national curriculum for history, to be taught in maintained schools in England from September 2014, requires that 11-14 year olds be taught about the challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world from 1901 to the present day. This can cover Britain’s place in the world since 1945, including the events of 1948 in Palestine. It is for schools to decide what to teach and how to teach it. In accordance with Section 407 of the Education Act 1996, we would expect that the teaching of any issue in schools be consistent with the principles of balance and objectivity.

  • Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Tonge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2014-06-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have held with the government of Bahrain concerning the number of children who have been arrested there since 2011.

    Baroness Warsi

    Our Embassy in Manama has raised the rates of imprisonment of young people with the Ministry of the Interior and senior members of the Government of Bahrain on several occasions. This included supporting the decision by the Ombudsman’s Office of the Ministry of the Interior to investigate fully concerns about the imprisonment of children set out by human rights non-governmental organisations last year.

  • Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2014-06-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many, and which, local authorities have made representations to the Department for Education asking it to legislate to extend the power to outsource children’s social work functions, including child protection, under the Children and Young Persons Act 2008.

    Lord Nash

    Formal representations concerning outsourcing of social care functions, potentially including child protection, have been made by Staffordshire, Kingston, and Richmond local authorities. In addition a number of informal discussions on this topic have taken place with other local authorities.

  • Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2014-06-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in relation to their proposals to extend the power for local authorities to outsource their children’s social work functions including child protection, what assessment has been made of (1) the risks to children and young people, (2) the risks to the impartiality and integrity of statutory decision-making and interventions, and (3) the risks of conflicts of interest arising for third-party providers that bid for social work functions and for commissioned care placement.

    Lord Nash

    The Government is considering the outcome of its consultation on delegation of children’s social care functions. The proposals would place no obligations on local authorities and do not remove their statutory accountability for child protection and wider children’s social care.

    Should the proposals proceed, local authorities will need to ensure that any arrangements they put in place allow them to meet their statutory duties and properly manage questions of risk and conflicts of interest.

    Ofsted will consider these arrangements as part of local authority inspections and hold the authority to account for the quality of its children’s services.

  • Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2014-06-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the statement by Lord Nash on 9 June (HL Deb, col 167), whether the investigation by the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Education into the handling of the Trojan horse allegations in 2010 will be made public; and what is the timeframe for the report.

    Lord Nash

    The Secretary of State has asked the Permanent Secretary to conduct an internal review into how the Department for Education dealt with warnings in Birmingham since the formation of this Government in 2010, and before. The Permanent Secretary intends to present his findings to the Secretary of State later in the summer.

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

    Lord Bradley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradley on 2014-06-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what recent assessment they have made of the adequacy of National Health Service community physiotherapy services for patients who have had (1) knee, and (2) hip, replacement operations.

    Earl Howe

    No assessment has been made centrally of the adequacy of National Health Service community physiotherapy services for either hip or knee replacement operations.

    The commissioning of community therapy services is a matter for clinical commissioning groups using the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance where available.

    Recently, case-mix adjusted health gain following hip and knee replacement has been added to the Clinical Commissioning Group Outcomes Tool “Commissioning for Value”. This data should facilitate conversations between commissioners and their provider trusts.

    The Health & Social Care Information Centre publishes a National Joint Registry (NJR) of patient reported outcome measures (PROMs), which measures health gain in patients undergoing hip replacement, knee replacement, varicose vein and groin hernia surgery in England, based on responses to questionnaires before and after surgery.

    The Best Practice Tariff for total hip and knee replacements pays for the whole episode of surgery and hospital based rehabilitation. Payment of the Best Practice Tariff for primary hip and knee replacement surgery is conditional on criteria linked to data collected through the NJR PROMs. If a provider’s NJR PROMs falls into the lowest 5% nationally in terms of outcomes the commissioner is able to remove the Best Practice Tariff funding unless a plan is made for how to improve the services.

  • Lord Empey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Lord Empey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2014-06-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to recover records of royal pardons granted between 1987 and 1997.

    Baroness Randerson

    The review of Departmental record keeping ordered by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is ongoing.

    Northern Ireland Office officials continue to seek information on use of the Royal Prerogative of Mercy (RPM) for the years 1987 to 1997. This includes contact with other Government Departments where relevant material might be held.