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  • Lord Addington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lord Addington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Addington on 2016-02-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to enact in full the recommendations from the Department for Education’s independent expert group, led by Stephen Munday CBE.

    Lord Nash

    Ministers of the Department for Education are awaiting the report from Stephen Munday’s independent expert group on the content of initial teacher training, which is expected this spring. The Government will consider the group’s recommendations carefully and determine how they should be taken forward.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-02-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Burma regarding the alleged torture, denial of consular access, and detention without trial of Rasalingam Niranjan.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Our Embassy in Rangoon has provided consular assistance to Mr Rasalingam Niranjan since 1 December 2014 when it was established that Mr Niranjan had been detained. That same month we raised the late notification of Mr Niranjan’s arrest in a Note Verbale and reminded the then Burmese government of their obligations under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. In May 2015 our Ambassador re-stated our interest in the case, and raised concerns about Mr Niranjan’s health and the progress of his legal cases. A further Note Verbale was sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in January 2016 re-stating our interest in the case and concern about its progress.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-02-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 27 January (HL5039), what specific recommendations the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has made in order to resolve any conflict between the demands of research and the best interests of patients, in particular regarding (1) a demand for sufficient numbers of human embryos at the single-celled zygote stage in order successfully to perform genome editing by means of CRISPR-Cas9, and (2) the usual practice of transferring embryos to the uterus after assessing their potential to develop further after either two to three days or five to six days.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has advised that it requires, through its Code of Practice, that embryo donors will be recruited in a manner compliant with standard licence conditions. These conditions prevent conflict between the demands of research and the best interests of patients.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-02-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 27 January (HL5039), whether the recently approved application by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority to perform genome editing in human embryos by means of CRISPR-Cas9 will be performed on embryos specifically created for research or only on those considered to be surplus to infertility treatments; whether that research application included any application for the creation of embryos; and if not, why the person responsible requested that reference to surplus embryos should be removed from the research project title.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has advised that this research project will make use of donated embryos that were originally created for treatment purposes. An application was not made to create embryos for the purposes of this research project.

    The removal of ‘surplus’ from the title does not reflect a change in the way embryos will be donated to the research.

  • Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-02-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 27 January (HL5039), what evidence the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has received that a major cause of miscarriage is the failure of embryos to develop to the blastocyst stage; what records they hold regarding miscarriages occurring after human embryos that were known to be unable to develop further in vitro had been deliberately transferred to the uterus of a patient; and what sanctions are imposed on clinics in which such implantations take place.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has not received any such evidence. With regards the role of the HFEA in granting a research licence, its role is to ensure that any project fulfils one of the purposed set out below:

    – Increasing knowledge about serious disease or other serious conditions.

    – Developing treatments for serious diseases or other serious medical conditions.

    – Increasing knowledge about the causes of congenital diseases.

    – Promoting the advances in the treatment of infertility.

    – Increasing knowledge about the causes of miscarriages.

    – Developing more efficient techniques of contraception.

    – Developing methods for detecting gene, chromosome or mitochondrion abnormalities in embryos before implantation.

    – Increasing knowledge about the development of embryos.

  • Lord Beecham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Lord Beecham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Beecham on 2016-02-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of (1) the annual benefits paid to EU migrants in the UK, and (2) the contribution of those individuals to the public purse through income tax receipts and VAT.

    Lord O’Neill of Gatley

    The information is not available.

  • Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-02-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government which countries where female genital mutilation is known or suspected to be practised widely receive UK overseas aid.

    Baroness Verma

    Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is one of the most extreme manifestations of gender inequality. It is a form of violence against women and girls and can result in a lifetime of physical, psychological and emotional suffering. It is a global problem – over 200 million women and girls across at least 30 countries, including the UK, have been cut.

    The UK Government remains firmly committed to bringing about an end of FGM. Our Flagship FGM programme supports efforts to end the practise in 17 of the highest burden of these countries. With the support from UK aid over 13,500 communities across these countries have publically declared the abandonment of FGM since 2008.

  • Lord Browne of Belmont – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Browne of Belmont – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Browne of Belmont on 2016-02-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what fines have been levied on the UK for non-compliance with EU directives from 2010 to date.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    From 2010 to date no fines have been levied on the UK for non-compliance with EU directives.

  • Lord Browne of Belmont – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Browne of Belmont – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Browne of Belmont on 2016-02-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much money has been received from the sale of former military sites and bases in Northern Ireland to date.

    Earl Howe

    Since 2005 the Ministry of Defence has received around £117 million in disposal receipts from the sale of surplus sites in Northern Ireland.

    All transactions were carried out in accordance with the Hillsborough Agreement.

    Over the same period, the Department gifted four bases to the Northern Ireland Executive with an estimated total combined value of £21 million. As outlined in a Written Ministerial Statement (HCWS509) released on 4 February 2016, there is also intent to gift an additional 59 surplus Service Family Accommodation units to the Northern Ireland Executive, with a combined value of £3.5 million.

  • Lord Browne of Belmont – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Browne of Belmont – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Browne of Belmont on 2016-02-04.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what joint trade missions have been undertaken by the UK and the Republic of Ireland since 2010.

    Lord Maude of Horsham

    Since 2010, UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) and Enterprise Ireland have organised a joint trade mission to the Singapore Air Show in February 2014.

    Her Majesty’s Government is committed to helping UK business succeed overseas, including in the Republic of Ireland where UKTI is represented and is actively promoting trade and investment between our two countries.