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  • Lord Lansley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Lansley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lansley on 2016-02-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they intend to make permanent the restriction on HGVs overtaking between Junctions 9 and 10 of the M11, following the trial.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    There are currently no restrictions on HGVs overtaking between Junctions 9 and 10 of the M11 and there are no plans to introduce restrictions. A permanent overtaking restriction on the uphill sections of the M11 between Junctions 8 and 9 is planned to be implemented in late 2016/17 subject to the completion of statutory processes and the availability of funding.

  • Viscount Ridley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Viscount Ridley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Viscount Ridley on 2016-02-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to the finding of the report An Unholy Mess, published by the Fair Admissions Campaign and the British Humanist Association last year, that a number of religiously selective schools have asked parents for information about their occupational, marital, and financial status as part of the admissions process, and whether they consider this to be acceptable.

    Lord Nash

    Many of the findings of the report by the Fair Admissions Campaign and British Humanist Association echo those reported by the Chief Schools Adjudicator in her Annual Report for the 2013/14 school year.

    Admission authorities for all state-funded schools, including schools with a religious designation, are required to comply with the mandatory provisions of the School Admissions Code and other admissions law.

    Where an objection is made to the Schools Adjudicator, if the arrangements are found to be unfair or fail to comply with the Code, the admission authority must make changes to ensure their arrangements are compliant. Where an admission authority fails to implement decisions of the adjudicator, the Secretary of State may direct the admission authority to do so.

    We continue to keep the Code under review, and, where we consider any changes are necessary to make the admissions system work more effectively for parents, these will be subject to a full public consultation.

  • Viscount Ridley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Viscount Ridley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Viscount Ridley on 2016-02-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to the finding of the report An Unholy Mess, published by the Fair Admissions Campaign and the British Humanist Association last year, that a significant number of religiously selective schools have not conducted proper consultations on their admission arrangements, and in many cases have not published any information about their arrangements.

    Lord Nash

    Many of the findings of the report by the Fair Admissions Campaign and British Humanist Association echo those reported by the Chief Schools Adjudicator in her Annual Report for the 2013/14 school year.

    Admission authorities for all state-funded schools, including schools with a religious designation, are required to comply with the mandatory provisions of the School Admissions Code and other admissions law.

    Where an objection is made to the Schools Adjudicator, if the arrangements are found to be unfair or fail to comply with the Code, the admission authority must make changes to ensure their arrangements are compliant. Where an admission authority fails to implement decisions of the adjudicator, the Secretary of State may direct the admission authority to do so.

    We continue to keep the Code under review, and, where we consider any changes are necessary to make the admissions system work more effectively for parents, these will be subject to a full public consultation.

  • Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-02-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 23 July 2015 (HL1549), when they expect to publish proposals regarding the repeal of section 73 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 in the light of the consultation on the balance of payments between television platforms and public service broadcasters, and what is the reason for the delay in publication.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    The Government intends to publish its response to the Balance of Payments consultation in the coming months.

  • Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Black of Brentwood – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-02-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will make representations to the government of Slovenia about the case of Bostjan Bozic and the issues it raises under the European Convention on Human Rights.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    We are aware of the case of Slovenian photo journalist Jani Bozic who was given a five month suspended prison sentence by a Slovenian court in March 2015 for invasion of privacy of then Slovenian Prime Minister Bratusek. In all cases, we would expect the Slovenian government to meet its international obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.

  • Baroness Valentine – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Baroness Valentine – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Valentine on 2016-02-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the statement by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 14 December 2015 (HL Deb, col 1885) on aviation capacity, what additional work is now being undertaken on (1) air quality, (2) noise, (3) carbon emissions, (4) surface access to airports, (5) managing the wider impacts of airports on local communities, and (6) the funding and financing of new runways; and when this work will be complete.

    Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

    We are testing the Airports Commission’s work on air quality further against the Government’s new air quality plan, as recommended by the Environmental Audit Committee. This is additional work to test compliance, and build confidence that expansion can take place within legal limits. The further work on air quality is only one element of a wider package of further work.

    We are dealing with concerns about noise to get the best outcome for residents, and doing more work on carbon to address concerns on sustainability, particularly during construction. We want to make sure that communities get the best possible mitigation deal.

    In addition, we are doing due diligence on the plans for surface access to the airports by talking to both the promoters and the key delivery bodies.

    We are also carrying out extra assurance to assess the runways’ potential both locally and nationally so it can deliver more jobs, more growth and more apprenticeships.

    On funding and financing, the Airports Commission has provided an extensive examination of the costs, financing, and commercial viability of airport expansion. The Airports Commission and the scheme promoters have made it clear that new runway capacity will be privately delivered and financed.

    We anticipate that all this further work will conclude over the summer.

  • Baroness Deech – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Baroness Deech – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Deech on 2016-02-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 2 February about private representations to Saudi Arabia concerning the number of executions (HL Deb, col 1580), and the Written Answer on 1 February (HL5108) regarding private representations made to the Palestinian Minister of Health concerning incitement to violence, and in the light of their public statements condemning Israeli settlement policy, what criteria they use to determine whether criticisms of foreign governments should be made in public or in private.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The British Government makes decisions about how to deal with different situations on the basis of how it believes it can best achieve its objectives. It therefore uses different approaches in different circumstances.

  • John Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    John Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential contribution of city regions to commissioning and delivering healthcare.

    George Freeman

    Devolution of health and social care responsibilities has the potential to further progress local integration going beyond statutory health and care services – leading to better patient experience, improved outcomes and more efficient use of local resource.

    Devolution creates opportunity for strategic, innovative commissioning, underpinned by a stronger model of local shared accountability.

  • Nusrat Ghani – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nusrat Ghani – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nusrat Ghani on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to reduce stillbirths and improve the safety of maternity care.

    Mr Jeremy Hunt

    In November, I announced a campaign to halve the national rates of stillbirths, neonatal and maternal deaths and brain injuries occurring during or soon after birth, by 2030. This includes a £2.24m fund for Trusts to buy cutting edge equipment, such as CTGs.

  • Mike Freer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Mike Freer – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mike Freer on 2016-02-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress his Department is making on rolling out HPV vaccinations to men who have sex with men.

    Jane Ellison

    In November 2015, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the expert body that advises the Government on all immunisation matters, advised that a targeted human papillomavirus vaccination programme should be undertaken for men who have sex with men up to 45 years of age who attend genitourinary medicine and HIV clinics. They noted that this should be subject to procurement of the vaccine and delivery of the programme at a cost-effective price.

    JCVI acknowledged that finding a way to implement its advice would be challenging and made clear that work was needed by DH and others to consider commissioning and delivery routes for this programme. This work is already underway and we will announce our plans as soon as we can.