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  • Natalie McGarry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Natalie McGarry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Natalie McGarry on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Turkish counterpart on the humanitarian situation in predominately Kurdish areas of Turkey.

    Mr David Lidington

    The ongoing violence in the predominantly Kurdish areas of south east Turkey is extremely concerning. The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) continues to kill members of the Turkish police service and security forces in violent terrorist attacks. The Turkish Government has responded by striking PKK targets in Turkey and Northern Iraq. They have also launched large-scale security operations involving curfews in some towns and cities in order to clear them of suspected terrorists.

    We are aware of reports of civilian casualties in the region, and a worsening humanitarian situation in certain areas in south east Turkey. The Turkish Government have said that 48 civilians lost their lives in clashes between 23 July and 23 December 2015. They also said that 93,000 people have fled their homes. We also understand that there have been investigations launched against elected officials and politicians. Any such investigations should be undertaken transparently and fully respect the rule of law.

    We believe Turkey has a legitimate right to defend itself against the PKK, whose attacks we condemn as we condemn all terrorism. Our thoughts are with the victims of these attacks, and the civilians who have been caught up in the violence. As in any conflict, civilian casualties should be avoided and human rights need to be fully protected. We have been clear, in public and private, that PKK violence must end and we support a return to the peace process, in the interests of Turkey and the region. We stand ready to help in any way we can.

    We continue to monitor the situation closely. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge and our Ambassador to Turkey have emphasised to the Turkish government the need to respect human rights, avoid civilian casualties and return to the peace process. I raised these issues with my Turkish counterpart the last time we met in August 2015.

  • Mary Creagh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Mary Creagh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Creagh on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the announcement of 19 January 2016 of the launch of the £10 million Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy, how much of the additional funding in that area will come from the budget of (a) his Department and (b) the Department for International Development.

    Mr David Lidington

    All funding for the Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy will come from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s budget.

  • Toby Perkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Toby Perkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether it is his policy to take steps towards repeal of the death penalty in states which hold the death penalty.

    Mr David Lidington

    The Government’s approach to all states which retain the death penalty is to focus first on suspension of its use as the key step towards permanent abolition. We take a pragmatic approach to achieving that goal. We welcome reforms which improve legal procedures, reduce the number of capital crimes or mitigate some of the cruelties inherent to the death penalty. We fund projects which educate the judiciary, promote reform, mount legal challenges to death penalty systems and stimulate public debate. We engage diplomatically with retentionist states to ensure they are aware of the compelling arguments against the death penalty and of the UK Government’s opposition to any execution. Our assessment is that these approaches are stimulating a long-term movement by states towards abolition.

  • Natalie McGarry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Natalie McGarry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Natalie McGarry on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the effect on the prospects for peace in predominately Kurdish areas of Turkey of the imprisonment and enforced suspension of moderate politicians in that region.

    Mr David Lidington

    The ongoing violence in the predominantly Kurdish areas of south east Turkey is extremely concerning. The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) continues to kill members of the Turkish police service and security forces in violent terrorist attacks. The Turkish Government has responded by striking PKK targets in Turkey and Northern Iraq. They have also launched large-scale security operations involving curfews in some towns and cities in order to clear them of suspected terrorists.

    We are aware of reports of civilian casualties in the region, and a worsening humanitarian situation in certain areas in south east Turkey. The Turkish Government have said that 48 civilians lost their lives in clashes between 23 July and 23 December 2015. They also said that 93,000 people have fled their homes. We also understand that there have been investigations launched against elected officials and politicians. Any such investigations should be undertaken transparently and fully respect the rule of law.

    We believe Turkey has a legitimate right to defend itself against the PKK, whose attacks we condemn as we condemn all terrorism. Our thoughts are with the victims of these attacks, and the civilians who have been caught up in the violence. As in any conflict, civilian casualties should be avoided and human rights need to be fully protected. We have been clear, in public and private, that PKK violence must end and we support a return to the peace process, in the interests of Turkey and the region. We stand ready to help in any way we can.

    We continue to monitor the situation closely. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge and our Ambassador to Turkey have emphasised to the Turkish government the need to respect human rights, avoid civilian casualties and return to the peace process. I raised these issues with my Turkish counterpart the last time we met in August 2015.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2016 to Question 22307, on parents: mental illness, if she will make it her policy to collect such data.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The Department for Education does not intend to collect this data.

    Information on parental status and mental health illness is collected through the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey managed by the Health and Social Care Information Centre.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2016 to Question 21142, what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times.

    Alistair Burt

    Pursuant to my answer and as announced by the Prime Minister on 11 January, we are providing a further £247 million over the next five years to provide 24-hours, seven days a week liaison psychiatry services in accident and emergency (A&E) departments to support people who attend A&E, who may have mental ill health, to ensure they are assessed and receive the most appropriate treatment.

    We are making additional resources available to the National Health Service to deal with increased demand in A&E departments by backing the NHS Five Year Forward View with £10 billion a year real terms additional funding by 2020-21, compared to 2014-15, with £3.8 billion real terms growth in 2016-17.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2016 to Question 21142, if he will make it his policy to make mandatory the recording of the diagnosis code in the accident and emergency data set.

    Jane Ellison

    Following a review of the Accident and Emergency Commissioning Data Set in 2014, a specific project was established to support the development of an improved data set for urgent and emergency care. This is a collaborative project which includes wide-ranging membership across our key partners. The mandatory recording of primary diagnosis within accident and emergency departments is expected to be considered within the scope of this project, which will report in due course.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2016 to Question 21586, if he will make it his policy to collect figures on the number of psychiatric nurses in each region.

    Ben Gummer

    The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) already make available workforce statistics for all Hospital and Community Health Services staff nationally and by Health Education England region in the annual National Health Service workforce census. This includes the number of nurses working in the area of community psychiatry and other psychiatry and these figures are available by region each month on request to the HSCIC.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many clinical commissioning group local transformation plans are available online.

    Alistair Burt

    123 local transformation plans (LTPs) have been produced covering 209 clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). All LTPs were required to be published locally by 31 December 2015 and the CCGs have been asked to provide details of where they are published, as part of the continued assurance process. At least 74 of the 123 LTPs are available online and by mid-February a link will be available to all 123.

  • Barbara Keeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Barbara Keeley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barbara Keeley on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the National Living Wage on the level of provision of adult social care in (a) 2016-17, (b) 2017-18 and (c) 2018-19.

    Alistair Burt

    The new National Living Wage will ensure that lower paid care workers are better paid for the vital work they do.

    The National Living Wage does not directly impact on the level of provision of adult social care.